Now live on DirecTV: TV's first set of 3D-only HDTV channels
With hordes of folks flocking to movie theaters for Toy Story 3 and other 3D films, DirecTV and its content partner Panasonic have decided that the time is right to bring the TV industry's first suite of dedicated 3D TV channels into living rooms, for home viewing on 3D-enabled HDTVs from all manufacturers.
At a press event in New York City on Thursday, the two companies threw open the switch on a trio of new DirecTV channels, which offer movies, documentaries, sports and other 3D content around the clock, unspoiled by conventional 2D TV fare. DirecTV had already launched ESPN on channel 106 of its satellite-based TV service on June 11.
Windows Phone 7 is doomed
In February, I asserted that Windows Phone 7 "is a lost cause." Matters are worse following this week's KIN killing and late May's Entertainment and Devices division reorganization. Microsoft mobile development has run aground, and at the wrong time. The company is poised to miss two crucial platform transitions that will doom its mobile strategy and assure that the Office-Windows-Windows Server applications stack will join the mainframe in gradual obsolescence.
There's irony here: Microsoft succeeded during the 1990s by driving platform changes that doomed competitors. Companies like Lotus and WordPerfect had market-leading products that fell away after they missed operating system changes that Microsoft lept on (and through its market dominating position helped push forward). Now it is Microsoft that will miss crucial platform changes: Smartphones replacing dumb phones and the mobile Web (including services and resident applications) diminishing the PC's computing and informational relevance.
New Internet Sales Tax bill (The Main Street Fairness Act) faces opposition
Yesterday, Representative William Delahunt (D-MA) introduced the "Main Street Fairness Act" in Congress that would allow states to collect sales tax for online purchases. The bill, H.R 5660 is described as an attempt to "promote simplification and fairness in the administration and collection of sales and use taxes, and for other purposes."
The bill was praised by the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) yesterday as an equalizer that creates a level playing field for all sellers, regardless of their status as a brick-and-mortar retailer or as a purely online seller.
Dell: We did not knowingly ship faulty motherboards
Dell on Thursday attempted to minimize the damage done by the release of documents related to a 2007 court case involving faulty PCs, saying it did not knowingly ship faulty motherboards to its customers.
The continuing fallout may be enough to force CEO Michael Dell to go public in defense of his company. The statement, published to the Direct2Dell blog by chief blogger Lionel Menchaca, seems to contradict what appears to be in internal Dell documents unsealed by the court. They included internal e-mails, studies done by the company themselves, and even instructions from superiors to play dumb when customers called.
Facebook begins pushing updates to photos application, tagging first
Facebook realizes that its photo application is sometimes cumbersome to use, and promised late Thursday that it is working to make things better.
The impetus behind making one of the most commonly-used features of Facebook better seems to be Facebook's acquisition of photo sharing site Divvyshot in April. In fact, the social networking site turned to Divvyshot co-founder Sam Odio -- now a product manager at Facebook -- to introduce the first enhancement: facial recognition.
Apple: iPhones all the way back to the 3G have been incorrectly displaying signal strength
Apple has been in the habit of issuing very short press releases that simply and clearly address concerns of the public without much in the way of formalities. Today, in an unusually long and formal message, Apple says it has found the cause of the iPhone 4's poor reception when it is held in a "death grip."
According to the company, it's not a reception issue at all, but a problem with the way iPhones all the way back to the iPhone 3G have calculated signal strength.
What does it mean that KIN, Sidekick and Symbian-Guru went R.I.P. within about 24 hours?
The last 24 hours has brought remarkable upset to the mobile marketplace, just one week after Apple and its partners started selling iPhone 4. Will this tsunami never end?
Late yesterday, the blogosphere, twittersphere and news media cosmos burst with reports that Microsoft had killed KIN just six weeks after the consumer smartphone went on sale. Today, T-Mobile revealed that Sidekick sales stop tomorrow, which isn't exactly shocking considering KIN's demise. In early 2008, Microsoft bought Danger, which makes the software used by Sidekick.
No 3D TV? Watch the final World Cup matches in 3D movie theaters
Though Hollywood studios and consumer electronics manufacturers are pushing 3D home entertainment as the next big thing, opportunities to catch live events on 3D TVs are still very rare for people who haven't already taken the plunge and bought a new 3D-capable TV.
And even for those people, it requires a DirecTV, Comcast Xfinity, or AT&T U-Verse subscription with supportive 3D programming, and there have still only been a handful of events broadcast in 3D.
Simple tutorial creation app iorad opens in beta, automatically turns walkthroughs into annotated slides
When a new piece of software is released, companies frequently include a video of someone walking through the features of the software, explaining how it works. Unfortunately, videos like this lack the basic interaction of a step-by-step tutorial.
Now, a Web app called iorad has opened in beta, which lets developers create interactive instructions for their software completely within the browser.
Microsoft debuts bipolar battery technology, Duracell endorses
The age old problem of putting batteries into electronics the wrong way is about to end if Microsoft has its way. The Redmond company on Thursday introduced InstaLoad, a technology aimed at making electronics work whichever way the battery is inserted.
Battery-maker Duracell has already endorsed the system, although the technology would not affect the way a battery is made -- more how the electronics are manufactured. It would work with CR123, AA, AAA, C, and D batteries, the company says.
Disney acquires popular iOS game maker Tapulous
TechCrunch is reporting this afternoon that iPhone OS game developer Tapulous has been acquired by Disney, and the team of developers and executives at the startup will join the staff at Disney Interactive Studios.
Tapulous has released a slew of rhythm games in the vein of Guitar Hero and Dance Dance Revolution, which began in 2008 with "Tap Tap Revenge." That title went on to be the most downloaded game in the app store that year, and was later ranked "game of the year" for the iPhone/iPod platform. Since that time, the company has released some 14 different versions of the game for iOS ranging in price from $0-$3.99.
Yahoo drops new Android apps for Mail and Messenger
Hooking up Android's email client to a Yahoo! account was not typically a simple affair. With Gmail and Windows Live Hotmail, you could just type in your email address and password, and the Android client would set it up for you. Yahoo mailboxes could be hooked up, but only through manual setup, and casual users unfamiliar with incoming and outgoing server settings often hit a brick wall.
As the resident "Android guy" of my peers, I've had to set up at least half a dozen different devices to connect to Yahoo mailboxes.
Amazon unveils higher contrast, lower cost Kindle DX
Keeping the Kindle momentum high, Amazon has announced the next generation of Kindle DX is available for pre-order today, and will be shipping on July 7th.
The new Kindle DX has the same 9.7" screen size, and the same free 3G wireless, but features a new graphite chassis and a higher contrast e-ink screen with a purported 50% improvement in contrast. Furthermore, all of this is available at a price about 25% less than the first generation DX.
Mozilla submits Firefox iPhone app, but it's not exactly a browser
Firefox may be coming to your iPhone soon, however not in the form you might expect. Mozilla on Wednesday said that it submitted an app called "Firefox Home" to Apple for iTunes App Store approval, an application which would sync browser activity between the user's iPhone and desktop.
It is not a separate browser, as Mozilla knows that Apple would likely reject it if it was. Instead, Firefox uses the WebKit API provided by Apple and intended for use in web browsing applications.
Somebody notify the next of kin, Microsoft KIN is dead
Perhaps those rumors about iPhone going to Verizon are true. Microsoft is killing off KIN, just six weeks after putting the smartphone on sale. Microsoft launched the KIN -- its youth-oriented, consumer social networking smartphone -- in early April. Today, the company answered the question I asked on May 5: "Is Microsoft KIN stud or dud?" Somebody up the corporate decision tree decided the latter -- or perhaps that KIN isn't stud enough to share Verizon with iPhone. Concurrent with KIN's sudden death -- oh, baby, we hardly knew you -- Microsoft is shifting resources and personnel to Windows Phone 7.
Earlier today I asserted that iPhone 4's "Death Grip" launch "may rank among the top marketing fiascos of the 2010s." Microsoft already has one-upped Apple. KIN is a disaster of magnanimous proportions. In February 2008, Microsoft announced acquisition of Danger, which technology and resources were dedicated in part to KIN. Thereafter, Microsoft spent millions of dollars developing KIN, in two models, and bringing it to market. As recently as the weekend, I saw KIN commercials during prime-time programming; Microsoft invested in a massive marketing campaign, too.
BetaNews, your source for breaking tech news, reviews, and in-depth reporting since 1998.
© 1998-2025 BetaNews, Inc. All Rights Reserved. About Us - Privacy Policy - Cookie Policy - Sitemap.