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Canada's Rogers to get both 'Google phones'

Publié: mai 7, 2009, 10:48pm CEST par Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews
Canada's largest mobile carrier Rogers Wireless announced today that in addition to carrying the iPhone, it will soon have both "Google phones" from HTC, the Dream (also known as the G1) and the Magic.
Rogers has a countdown timer on its site, which promises that the "revolution" will occur on June second, but details of subscription packages and subsidiaries have not yet been mentioned.
The launch of these devices in Canada will closely follow the long-awaited Android 1.5 (also known as "Cupcake") upgrade for users of the G1 in the United States, and will give Rogers four of the top five most popular smartphones according to recent NPD reports. Rogers will have the BlackBerry Curve and Pearl, Apple's iPhone, and HTC's Dream. The only device Rogers does not currently carry from NPD's list of popular devices is the BlackBerry Storm, which is carried by number three wireless operator Telus.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2009
Here comes WiGig, another shot at wireless HD

Publié: mai 7, 2009, 10:27pm CEST par Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews
With support from more than fifteen major companies including Microsoft, Intel, Marvell, Nokia, and NEC announced today, the new Wireless Gigabit Alliance is pushing for yet another brand name wireless standard in the already overcrowded wireless spectrum. WiGig works on the 60 GHz frequency band and promises a 6 Gbps data transmission speed.
The 60 GHz band is an unlicensed portion of the electromagnetic spectrum that has typically been used by the intelligence community for point-to-point data links. It's best suited only for very short distance communication (under 2 kilometers) because it falls within the "absorption band" for oxygen. In other words, oxygen molecules readily absorb a 60 GHz wave's energy and weaken the signal. In satellite-to-satellite communication, the vacuum of space allows these types of waves to travel greater distances while the Earth's atmosphere acts as a huge shield against terrestrial signal interception.
Because of its short range application, the Alliance is grooming WiGig to be the in-home networking standard that allows for wireless HD streaming, virtual PC docking, as well as high-speed sync and file transfer.
The 60 GHz band also happens to be the same one that WirelessHD uses, a technology promoted by many of the same companies promoting WiGig, and already manufacturing products. The WiGig standard will not be published until the fourth quarter of 2009.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2009
Top 10 Windows 7 Features #7: 'Play To' streaming media, courtesy of DLNA

Publié: mai 7, 2009, 10:20pm CEST par Scott M. Fulton, III
By Scott M. Fulton, III, Betanews
Perhaps you've noticed this already: Getting media to play in a Windows-based network is a lot like siphoning water from a pond using a hose running uphill. If you can get enough suction, enough momentum going, you can get a decent stream, but there are way too many factors working against you. Foremost among these is the fact that you're at the top of the hill sucking through a hose, rather than at the bottom pushing with a pump.
So home media networking is, at least for most users today, precisely nothing like broadcasting whatsoever. That fact doesn't sit well with very small networked devices like PMPs, digital photo frames, and the new and burgeoning field of portable Wi-Fi radios like Roku's SoundBridge. Devices like these don't want or even need to be "Windows devices;" and what's more, they don't want to be the ones negotiating their way through the network, begging for media to be streamed uphill in their general direction. They want to be plugged in, shown the loot, and told, "Go." Back in 2004, a group of networked device manufacturers -- the Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA, and yes, it's another network association) -- coalesced with the idea of promoting a single standard for being told "Go." But up until today, there hasn't been a singular, driving force uniting the standards together, something to look up to and follow the way Web developers followed Internet Explorer.
That changes with the advent of Windows 7. Starting now, Microsoft will be utilizing a way to push its media upstream, if you will, by means of a cohesive "Go" concept around capturing and commandeering media devices called Play To. The DLNA introduced the concept last December, knowing and being driven by Microsoft's intention to use Play To in Win7.
The idea begins simply enough: DLNA-capable wireless and wired devices may be all over your house. Rather than set them up using their own controls, wherever they may be, a router or access point in the home should be able to push the setup information they need to enroll themselves in the network. From there, those devices (which may include a picture frame, an MP3 player, a Zune, an Xbox 360, or conceivably another computer) may serve as destinations for media being pushed from a Windows 7 machine, either through Media Player 12 or Windows Media Center.
Add to this formula the notion that the media that Windows pushes to a DLNA device may come from another DLNA device, such as a Windows Home Server machine or perhaps a DV-R device from Toshiba or Sony (though it would be nice if Slingbox and TiVo were on this list).
And keep in mind here once again, there doesn't need to be a Media Center Extender in this operation (apparently Microsoft's making them anyway, though in an optimum setup, you wouldn't need them). The DLNA-compliant access point has handled the problem of identifying the media playing device and enrolling it in the network, so the device doesn't have to be a slave to whatever Windows machine is sending it a stream.
In a demonstration video released last December on Microsoft's Channel 10 (see above, Silverlight required), company developer Gabe Frost demonstrated how the DLNA standard would play into a Windows 7-endowed home media network. The new "Play To" command in Win7 enables a user to push content from a PC to a device gathered into the collective DLNA pool. There's no need for shared directories or creating named network shares, which would normally serve as points of location -- the type of tool you'd need if you were trying to hunt down the location of the streaming device from the playing device. "Play To" pushes the content to where you want it to go.
Next: How DLNA may make your HDTV into a Windows 7 "receiver"...
Download Windows 7 Release Candidate 32-bit from Fileforum now.
Download Windows 7 Release Candidate 64-bit from Fileforum now.
What the new DLNA scheme in Windows 7 enables, goes a little deeper and further than just the addition of the "Play To" command. Since network attached storage devices are now DLNA compliant (never mind the kerfuffle, to borrow an Angela Gunn term, over the variable degree of compliance there is in the market today), a Media Player- or Media Center-enabled PC can pull content from a NAS device and push it to another destination. Since more HDTVs are entering the DLNA scheme, that destination may be the family room TV, even without connecting that TV to the Windows PC as its monitor. And to do this, the PC doesn't even have to have a big display -- it can be the family laptop.
This gets bigger still: Another networking alliance which is itself allied with the DLNA is the Multimedia-over-Coax Alliance (MoCA). Its mission is to evangelize home networkers on the idea of using the sideband of the coaxial cable already wired throughout their house, as a backbone for a wired (and thus certainly more secure) network. The upshot of such a scheme would be that modern HDTVs could become network-ready devices without the user having to add any other cabling to them beyond what the cable guys have already installed.
So the "Play To" command in Windows 7 could theoretically, by means of DLNA, push anything that can be played in Windows Media Player 12 on the big HDTV in the living room. The consumer would need to purchase one device to make this happen, however: It's called a MoCA bridge, and we saw the first such devices from D-Link premiere at CES back in January of 2008. It's a simple device that has an Ethernet input and a coaxial output, where the coaxial is simply the same loop that runs through the house already, delivering CATV or satellite signals. Why haven't MoCA bridges taken off yet? Maybe because there's no one certified way to make them work yet...and that will likely change with Windows 7.
As with any so-called "networking alliance" -- which regular Betanews readers will know to be a favorite oxymoron of ours -- so many disparate factors and dissonant voices must still come together for the dream of making any Windows PC a home broadcaster to become a reality. As of now, reports are piling up of home networks that use third-party media software that recognizes DLNA devices (there's been a cottage industry there since at least 2007) that fails to connect networked storage devices with DLNA-certified, registered output devices. And in that latter category, Sony's PlayStation 3 is one of the more prominent...and notorious. When issues such as these arise, home users end up having to learn more about their computers, about Ethernet, about Wi-Fi, and about the Federal Communications Commission than they'd ever have to know if they had just stuck with something like, say, Nero MediaHome 4 and an Xbox 360.
What should change that state of affairs is the active participation of Microsoft, and the prominence of the "Play To" command. One of the unsung heroes of Windows Vista to date has been its Media Center, which often works so flawlessly and so simply that it's amazing to acknowledge its manufacturer. If the same degree of knowhow that went into Media Center for Vista is applied to DLNA networking for Windows 7, there will very likely be more households applauding this part of the operating system than critiquing it. And after Vista, the promise of shifting the balance in the direction of praise should be incentive enough to get Microsoft to finally, for once, "Go."
Download Windows 7 Release Candidate 32-bit from Fileforum now.
Download Windows 7 Release Candidate 64-bit from Fileforum now.

FOLLOW THE WINDOWS 7 TOP 10 COUNTDOWN:
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2009
Blu-ray sales skyrocket, provided you lower the sky

Publié: mai 7, 2009, 8:26pm CEST par Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews
Market data from the NPD Group released this week shows that in the first quarter of 2009, more than 400,000 standalone Blu-ray players were sold, constituting a year-over-year increase of 72%. Dollar sales likewise increased by 14% and hit $107.2 million.
Last month, Futuresource Consulting predicted that 2009 will be the year that Blu-ray breaks, estimating shipments of more than 12 million standalone Blu-ray players for the total year. Futuresource's Jack Wetherill said his group anticipated 1.2 million units would ship in Q1 2009, some three times more than NPD says were sold to consumers.
If sales maintain their first quarter pace, 2009 will end with only 1.6 million players sold, meaning Futuresource projected an oversupply of 10.4 million units. Of course, the group expects the fourth quarter holiday shopping blitz will greatly impact Blu-ray sales as it has in previous years. Last year, for example, holiday Blu-ray buying represented more than half of the year's total sales in a single quarter.
In NPD's survey, however, more than 58% of the nearly 7,000 consumers surveyed in late February and early March admitted they were "not very familiar" with Blu-ray, and its share of total movie sales is still tiny. Though sales of individual Blu-ray titles has climbed with each successive release, the format is being dramatically outsold by DVD. For example, Blu-ray sales for Disney's Wall-E, one of the format's most successful titles -- and one of which the Blu-ray Disc Association is quite proud -- represented only one-tenth of the title's net disc sales in March.
NPD Entertainment Industry analyst Russ Crupnick said, "The leading driver of Blu-ray purchase intent is recommendations from friends, family or co-workers. Blu-ray's superiority used to be difficult for many consumers to grasp, but when friends rave about it, or demonstrate Blu-ray in their homes, they are selling the benefits in a way that is far more effective than simply viewing an advertisement or seeing it demonstrated at a retail store."
Very few studies have examined the role of social influence on consumer tech adoption, but peer evangelism has long been considered one of the strongest determinants in consumer attitude. A critical examination from Kulviwat, Bruner, and Al-Shuridah published in the Journal of Business Research last September (v. 62 #7) suggested, "There are two very different ways that companies can attempt to affect individuals' attitudes about adopting a high tech innovation: One way is to focus on the product's attribute-based benefits while the other way...is to convince potential adopters that a relevant group has endorsed the product. "
Thus far, these two areas have been weak for Blu-ray. The format's attribute-based benefits (i.e., picture and sound quality, bonus material quality) have repeatedly been called into question, and even though the stable of relevant supporters is substantial (Dell, Samsung, LG, Apple, Sony to name only a few) there is a colossal presence absent from the Blu-ray party: Microsoft.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2009
Xerox rolls out pioneering ColorQube printer with crayon-like ink

Publié: mai 7, 2009, 8:22pm CEST par Jacqueline Emigh

By Jacqueline Emigh, Betanews
Formerly codenamed Jupiter, the ColorQube 9200 series printers unveiled today will bring groundbreaking cost efficiencies to color printing through a combination of solid ink technology and per-click pricing plans, Xerox officials contended, in a series of press launches.
"Ladies and gentlemen, I'm pleased to announce that, for the first time, you can release your 'true colors' in the office," declared Xerox Corp. President Ursula Burns, touting ColorQube as the "most significant change in office printing in the past 30 years."
Of the roughly two trillion pages printed out in offices last year, almost all were printed on laser printers, but only 15% were done in color, Burns noted, during a launch event broadcast over the Web from Chicago.
"I know that the world is not black-and-white," she said. "[But] companies have put a lock on color printing."
"Price is the number one barrier to color printing," concurred David Bates, director of product marketing for the Xerox Office Group, during an earlier press preview in New York City.
Beyond saving money for businesses, the technology used in the ColorQube 9201/9202/9203 printers is "cleaner" than laser technology, and also much easier for office workers to deal with, the Xerox officials said.
Jim Rise, vice president and general manager of Xerox's Solid Ink Products Business Unit pointed to the "simplicity of the cartridge-free consumables."
In contrast to laser printers, which use cartridges containing powdered toner, Xerox' latest solid ink technology uses blocks of a crayon-like substance. Printing happens when the melts the waxy "ink sticks" and sprays the non-toxic substance on to a spinning color drum inside the machine. The printers contains 3,000 print heads apiece, with 900 ink nozzles each.
During a press demo in New York, Rise and Bates showed how office workers can quickly pop the ink sticks into the $20,000-or-so printers, without taking a chance on spilling toner anywhere. Solid ink printing also requires less energy power than laser technology, with no cartridges and less packaging to dispose of, according to Bates. The ColorQube printers power down when not in use.
The new printers from Xerox use only one customer-replaceable component. The long-life "Cleaning Unit," which yields an average of 200,000 prints, can be recycled through the Xerox Green World Alliance program.
Xerox' new ColorQube printers produce 90% less waste than laser printers, estimated Angela Boyd, an IDC analyst.
"We believe this is the easiest-to-use MFD in the industry," maintained Bates. In addition to printing, the network-ready ColorQube handles copying and faxing.
In Xerox' accompanying metered pricing plans, businesses can decide how much color they want to use on particular pages, and get charged accordingly. Choices range from full color, to spot color, to black-and-white only.
A business might opt to liven up the looks of a proposal by printing out its logo in color, while leaving the rest of the page in black-and-white. The use of spot color can also come in handy for printing out graphs and charts.
"Our mission is to make 'black-and-white only' printing obsolete," according to the product marketing director. The ColorQube's printing speeds are also "flexible," ranging up to 85 pages per minute, he added.
Industry analysts briefed on the announcement were largely highly impressed with the cost-saving capabilities of the ColorQube MFDs, in addition to their eco-friendliness and the quality of their print output. Asserted InfoTrends analyst Robert Palmer, "I believe that this product has a a disruptive capability."
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2009
Even more fusion after the latest AMD reorganization

Publié: mai 7, 2009, 5:37pm CEST par Scott M. Fulton, III

By Scott M. Fulton, III, Betanews
In the business press and in business marketing, the term "merger" is often used quite loosely, sometimes to mean the incorporation of another company as a division of the acquirer. When AMD acquired ATI in July 2006, the merger was touted as a pairing of equals, and the forging of a permanent fraternity between two giants in their respective fields. But almost immediately afterward, talk of ways to build processors that used AMD cores and ATI pipelines together led to discussion about truly fusing the two divisions' business units; and the first sign of the fallout from that discussion was former ATI CEO Dave Orton's departure from the AMD executive ranks in July 2007.
Almost precisely one year ago, the actual fusion of the two divisions began, with the creation of a Central Engineering group that would conduct research and development for all the company's processors. Freescale Semiconductor veteran Chekib Akrout was brought in to lead that department, but in a partnership arrangement with AMD veteran Jeff VerHeul. Yesterday afternoon, AMD announced the remainder of its fusion is complete: As AMD spokesperson Drew Prairie explained to Betanews this morning, there is now one marketing department and one product management department as well, while some of the functionality of Akrout's department is being shifted.
"Chekib will be in charge of long-term technology development -- IP cores, CPU cores, GPU cores, and putting the building blocks in place," Prairie told us. Meanwhile, "Rick Bergman will lead a unified product development and management organization."
In the AMD vernacular which dates back a few decades, a "core" is a complete component of intellectual property -- it's the thing a company builds upon in order to create a platform. Since Akrout's ascension at AMD's research arm, he's been actively in charge of the "Stars" core, which is currently at the heart of its Phenom processor line. The first culmination of AMD's technology acquisition from ATI, the "Accelerated Processing Unit" (APU), is part of a platform code-named "Shrike" which builds on the Stars core.
Just last week, in a planned Q&A released by AMD, Akrout was asked to describe his job at what was still being called Central Engineering: "At the high level, it's managing the decision-making around what technology we will be using and developing at AMD. That includes longer term R&D considerations, as well as new directions and specific innovations we'll be incorporating into the product line. On top of that, I'm responsible for managing all of AMD's IP development ??" core processors for all market segments and associated IP such as analog, I/Os, accelerators and memory."
Until today, VerHeul was paired with Akrout in the Central Engineering department in building a technology plan around the Stars core. After today, however, VerHeul's duties are shifted to the product management department, led by Rick Bergman. The idea there is to "product-ize" the company's fusion-oriented technologies, although as Prairie explained, that won't mean an acceleration of AMD's current roadmap.
"There are no changes to our roadmaps one way or the other," he told Betanews. "The goal of the organization is to keep the pedal to the metal with discrete CPUs and GPUs, but give more opportunities for fusion." For example, Bergman will now be working with VerHeul in the development of already-planned platforms that build on Phenom II, the latest incarnation of the Stars core.
After Akrout was brought on board last year, quarter-century AMD veteran Randy Allen was moved from his former homebase in servers and workstations to oversee more consumer-oriented products. That move seemed a bit ominous at the time, and now Allen has decided to leave the company. Prairie declined to discuss what may have led to Allen's decision, though he confirmed that decision was his and not the company's.
From an outside perspective, Prairie said, there really won't be that much of a change at AMD, and the org chart doesn't change all that much. VerHeul had been working hand-in-hand with Akrout in moving Stars core products; now he'll be working with Bergman to move Phenom products. "The new charter of Rick's organization is soup-to-nuts," he told us, "to get the products out the door." In that respect, he added, the characterization by the business press this morning of ATI and AMD actually merging yesterday is "a lazy word choice."
Inside those doors, however, the change is much bigger -- that one organization that's being shifted between departments is essentially the heart of AMD right now. One immediate change that takes place as a result is that VerHeul's focus won't just be on fusion products, but instead "to take advantage of any and all the platform opportunities we have," said Prairie.
But does this conclusive zipping up of the last paired business units to be working in tandem mean that the final piece of evidence of ATI's existence -- its brand name -- will also be folded in? While AMD's Prairie characterized that event as highly unlikely, he would not close the door on his employer's behalf, telling Betanews: "I wouldn't rush to any implications as to what the branding implications may or may not be."
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2009
Muzu strives for fair music video compensation

Publié: mai 7, 2009, 1:47am CEST par Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews
Since launching in beta last July, Ireland-based music video site Muzu.tv has secured a decent amount of recognition for its monetization priorities. The site gives 50% of the net ad revenue generated by an artist's content back to the artist (or label) without any exclusivity contracts.
Banner ads and in-video advertisements are embedded in an artist's content in the Muzu player, which is itself embeddable in sites like MySpace, Facebook, and Twitter. Anybody or any band can create a channel on Muzu dedicated to their personal music, and monetize their video content. While monetization has been somewhat problematic on YouTube, the option to make money there does exist.
Muzu takes exclusivity to a different level. The site will digitize old film and video content in exchange for exclusive hosting rights, and it even has a studio in Dublin where artists can freely film their own live shows for exclusive broadcast on the site. Record labels have thus far been keen on the deal, and Muzu now hosts content from majors Sony BMG, Universal Music Group, and EMI, as well as legendary indie labels 4AD, Matador, XL, and Rough Trade.
Guardian UK blogger Helienne Lindvall praised Muzu in April, and likened it to a Fair Trade coffee producer, where just compensation is given to those most commonly exploited.
Of course, like all money making deals in the music business, it's the math that ends up compensating for all that fairness.
While it is true that the site has been forthright with its monetization and distribution, the 50% of net revenue promised is actually considerably less. In reality, it is more like 30% because Muzu subtracts 20% of the net to cover bandwidth, storage, and payment processing. Another deduction is taken to compensate the rights societies (ASCAP, BMI, MCPS, and PRS, for example) through which most royalties must be piped. So artists will generally receive less than a third of every Euro made.
Lastly, if the inclusion of the currency didn't give it away already, payments require an international bank account (BIC/IBAN). This renders Muzu monetization effectively off limits to unsigned United States artists due to this country's incompatible banking system, unless they belong to that rare brand of starving artist that also has an offshore account.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2009
EU Parliament approves law ensuring Internet access as a fundamental right

Publié: mai 7, 2009, 1:05am CEST par Scott M. Fulton, III

By Scott M. Fulton, III, Betanews
For years, the European Commission has been planning a comprehensive package of telecommunications reform, with the aim of creating a "bill of rights" spelling out what individual European citizens should have a right to do online, and what kind of business environment they should expect. For instance, consumers should have the right to change their carriers while keeping their old phone numbers, reads paragraph 1 of the Telecoms Reform bill; and in paragraph 3, when a member state imposes a measure that a telecom business believes threatens free competition, it may raise the issue before a higher, continental authority that may trump national lawmakers.
But it's paragraph 10 that's been the cause of considerable debate. After the EC submitted the reform bill to the European Parliament (the lower house of the EU's legislative branch) it amended that paragraph with stronger language about the rights of a European citizen to Internet access -- language that attempts to quite literally equate the right of access to the right of free speech. Last November, the text of that amendment looked like this: "No restriction may be imposed on the fundamental rights and freedoms of end-users, without a prior ruling by the judicial authorities, notably in accordance with Article 11 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union on freedom of expression and information, save when public security is threatened where the ruling may be subsequent."
That language met with opposition from Parliament members who supported French President Nicolas Sarkozy, whose "three strikes" bill against alleged IP pirates was re-introduced in his country's parliament last week, after suffering a defeat there just one week earlier.
At the same time Pres. Sarkozy's bill was being resurrected, EU Parliament members came to agreement on compromise language about access assurance. At issue there was how best to phrase the part about "the judicial authorities" -- essentially, how to determine who gets to take that fundamental right away, and for what reasons. According to press reports, part of the debate revolved around whether a hardening of the language should be tucked in paragraph 10 itself, or perhaps in the preamble -- in an area of the bill that could be treated like the "small print" accompanying a pharmaceutical company's promise of instant relief.
"The rules therefore provide that any measures taken regarding access to or use of services and applications through electronic communications networks must respect the fundamental rights and freedoms of citizens, including in relation to privacy, freedom of expression and access to information and education, as well as due process," reads a dispatch from the EC this morning. "The new rules also clarify that the final word on this important matter of Internet access must be with a judicial authority."
But even with the support of both houses of the EU legislature, the bill cannot become law without the approval of the Council of Telecoms Ministers, which represent the collective regulatory power of the member states with respect to telecommunications. The Council has already voiced its opinion on telecoms matters in recent months; last month, for instance, it suggested watering down the part about the creation of an oversight authority with the power to nullify measures such as Sarkozy's, replacing it instead with a kind of grievance forum with only the power to render "opinions." The Council has appeared worried that the bill's reference to "a judicial authority" leaves open the door for bestowing arbitration power in personal rights matters to a tribunal, making it a kind of appeals court for individual citizens who may feel infringed upon by Sarkozy and leaders of other member states.
In her trademark style, European Commissioner for the Information Society and Media Viviane Reding effectively laid down the law for the Telecoms Ministers, saying that a vote against telecoms reform for this reason could be construed by their respective constituents as no less than a vote against fundamental human rights.
"Now the ball is in the court of the Council of Telecoms Ministers to decide whether or not to accept this package of reforms," stated Comm. Reding this morning. "This amendment is an important restatement of the fundamental rights of EU citizens. For many, it is of very high symbolic and political value. I call on the Council of Ministers to assess the situation very carefully, also in the light of the importance of the telecoms reform for the sector and for the recovery of our European economy. The Telecoms Council on 12 June should be used for a political discussion on whether agreement on the package is still possible or whether the discussion will have to start again with the new European Parliament in autumn."
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2009