loosy|goosy|ness - Blog

Don’t hold your breath waiting for the iPhone to support Adobe’s Flash software: Apple’s terms-of-service agreement prohibits it.

Although Adobe says it is working on a version of its popular Flash player for the iPhone, Apple is unlikely ever to permit it to appear in the handset’s App Store, no matter how much customers want it.

“I’m pretty skeptical that Flash could be implemented in a way that doesn’t violate the Terms of Service of the developer’s agreement,” said Bart Decrem, CEO of Tapulous, developer of the popular Tap Tap Revenge iPhone game.

Flash is Adobe’s highly popular platform for displaying interactive graphics, animations and multimedia within a browser. According to Adobe, 98 percent of desktop computers currently support Flash, which has led to its widespread use by web developers. Adobe’s recent announcement that it is working on a version of Flash for Windows Mobile has prompted speculation that an iPhone version might be coming soon. But the speculators may be waiting in vain, based on Apple’s TOS and the company’s history of tightly controlling applications for its smartphone platform.

Allowing Flash — which is a development platform of its own — would just be too dangerous for Apple, a company that enjoys exerting total dominance over its hardware and the software that runs on it. Flash has evolved from being a mere animation player into a multimedia platform capable of running applications of its own. That means Flash would open a new door for application developers to get their software onto the iPhone: Just code them in Flash and put them on a web page. In so doing, Flash would divert business from the App Store, as well as enable publishers to distribute music, videos and movies that could compete with the iTunes Store.

Apple’s well aware of these problems, which is why the company wrote a clause in its iPhone developers’ Terms of Service agreement (.pdf) that prohibits Flash from appearing on the iPhone:

“An Application may not itself install or launch other executable code by any means, including without limitation through the use of a plug-in architecture, calling other frameworks, other APIs or otherwise,” reads clause 3.3.2 of the iPhone SDK agreement, which was recently published on WikiLeaks. “No interpreted code may be downloaded and used in an Application except for code that is interpreted and run by Apple’s Published APIs and built-in interpreter(s).”

This could come as major disappointment to iPhone owners, as the lack of Flash support has been a paramount complaint about the handset since its release. No Flash means that the iPhone browser is incapable of displaying a large portion of the internet. For example, free Flash games aren’t supported, videos can’t be streamed from the vastly popular television and movie site Hulu, and websites that use Flash to render content or navigation won’t work on the iPhone.

It’s no wonder Adobe is expressing reluctance about the prospects of Flash for iPhone. The company on Monday demonstrated a version of Flash for Windows
Mobile handsets. And all that product manager Michele Turner could say about iPhone was, “We are working on Flash on the iPhone, but it is really up to Apple.”

Adam Dann, CEO of Nullriver, agrees that Flash would take away some of Apple’s control. Apple eventually banned Nullriver’s application NetShare because it violated AT&T Terms of Service agreement by turning the iPhone into a wireless modem for tethering. If Apple introduced Flash to iPhone, it’s possible Nullriver could code a Flash version of NetShare, repeating that violation, Dann said.

Dann added that the only way Flash could ever appear on the iPhone is if Adobe offered an extremely stripped-down version of the software. But even if there is a “Flash Lite” for iPhone, that just reinforces the point that the handset’s owners still will not have a true Flash experience.

And aside from taking software control away from Apple, Flash would introduce a slew of other potential headaches as well. Flash apps could hurt battery life, suck up the graphics-processing unit’s power, use an inordinate amount of memory, or potentially introduce security risks. Apple has plenty of customer complaints to address about the iPhone; the last thing it needs is to add Adobe and Flash to the pile.

In August, Britain’s Advertising Standards Authority pulled an iPhone advertisement because the commercial said, “All the parts of the internet are on the iPhone.” The lack of Flash and Java support on iPhone were enough for the ad to be deemed misleading. And it’s looking like Apple won’t be able to air that ad again.

Apple did not return phone calls for comment.

[via wired], [Download Apple iPhone SDK Agreement via wikileaks]

Zune HD is the latest player in the Zune device family, available in 16GB and 32GB capacities and is the first touch screen Zune with HD functionality and powerful technology to give consumers a different way to experience music and video on-the-go.

• HD Radio –Zune HD comes with a built-in FM HD Radio receiver enabling users to tune to more free stations with even better clarity and sound quality.
• HD Video Out – Connect your Zune HD to the optional Zune Premium A/V docking station and watch HD videos, TV shows and movies in your large screen TV in 720p high definition
• Internet Browser and Wi-Fi - Zune HD includes a full-screen Internet browser optimized for multi-touch and Wi-Fi connectivity

Zune Software

• QuickPlay – A whole new user interface that offers one-click access to your favorites, and recent activity on both the PC and your Zune HD
• Smart DJ -  With one click, Zune becomes your personal DJ, creating and serving you an endless playlist based on the genre, style and influences of the song or artist you choose

Zune Services (Zune Marketplace and Zune.net)

• For the first time, Zune Marketplace is offering full-length movies in HD and SD format for download and rental; download HD TV shows and movies and watch them on your Zune or PC.  Or with the optional A/V docking station, watch them in high definition on your HDTV
• Zune.net Streaming - With a Zune Pass, stream music directly from Zune.net from any internet-connected computer.  No client software download needed
• Zune Pass - Access nearly 6 million songs for only $14.99 a month and keep 10 free MP3 downloads each month 
• Zune Pass + SmartDJ - If you have a Zune Pass you can use SmartDJ to stream an endless playlist from the nearly 6 million song Zune catalog from any internet connected PC via Zune.net, no download required

Expansion into Xbox

• Later this fall, Microsoft will bring the Zune video service to the nearly 20 million Xbox Live users as Zune becomes the video store for Xbox Live
• “Buy Once, Play Anywhere” - Consumers will be able to buy a movie once and watch it on multiple devices:  Xbox 360, Zune device and PC

Pricing

• Zune HD 16GB for $219.99 on Amazon (as of 9/17/09)
• Zune HD 32GB for $289.99 on Amazon (as of 9/17/09)

Zune HD is available in the retail channel on Sept 15, but for the time being the Zune HD device will remain US only.

Learn more: http://www.zune.net/en-us/products/zunehd/default.htm

Slingbox owners love their devices. They allow you to watch your home television content anywhere you are in the world with an Internet connection. A new startup, Spawn Labs, launching today at TechCrunch50 wants to extend that concept to video games.

But Spawn Labs offering is actually a bit more robust because it includes a social element as well. A key part to playing video games is playing them against other people. And with the Spawn HD Pro appliance, you’ll be able to do just that. Say a friend has an Xbox 360 in California and wants to play a game against you, but you’re in New York. From New York, you would simply install the Spawn Player application on your computer, and you could remotely connect to their system, to play a game.

The key to all of this is of course the Spawn HD Pro box, which will retail for $199 (available on their site today). These boxes will be able to transmit HD-quality (720p) content over the Internet to the computer on the other end. On those computers, users can play the game with an input device of their choosing.

The idea of playing popular video games over the web is a hot area right now. The two most well-known names in this field are OnLive and OTOY. But both of those are attempting to use their own servers to create a completely online experience, Spawn Labs is simply allowing you to take an existing console and transmit the content over the Internet. Of course, one potential issue with this method is that someone must be on the other end (where the console is) to make sure it has the game disc you want to play inside of it.

Eventually, the plan is to expand Spawn Labs’ technology beyond video games as well. They’d basically like to handle any and all video content over their box. Computers, other set-top boxes, and even mobile devices are all in the pipeline to be hooked up to Spawn Labs’ services.

Today, President and CEO David Wilson presented alongside QA engineer Daniel Bethke.

Expert Panel Q&A (paraphrased)

The experts: Don Dodge, Yossi Vardi, Ron Conway, George Zachary, and Jason Hirschhorn.

Q: Is it a weakness to have one game in at a time?
DW: That is something we thought about, but the direction of the industry is to have games on console’s hard drives.

Q: How do the graphics travel? And is this software on the console itself eventually?
DW: When you’re in a bandwidth constrained around, the network will downscale.

Q: So this is more targeted in the home?
DW: We’re targeting both.

Q: The bet is that customers will pay $200 for a hardware device to play games remotely. How often do players do that?
DW: Right now they can’t do it. But there is a strong desire for this. We have orders from several of the top game developers in the world for this.

Q: What kind of support?
DW: It runs any game on the supported consoles. (Xbox 360, Wii, Gabecube, PS3, etc)

Q: This also assumes the player has their controller?
DW: You don’t need one, but you can use any controller you want.

Q:  What about the handhelds?
DW: Theoretically yes, not sure yet though.

Pictures:

Source: http://www.techcrunch.com

>> Dan released the first 'technology preview' release of EncodeHD to replace the Encode360(info) tool. EncodeHD is a an application to re-encode all types of video files for use on your home media player or on-the-go device. It aims to provide a simple interface with no fuss.
From dcunningham.net:

[QUOTE]
So firstly, let's talk EncodeHD. Look at the current beta release (0.71) as a 'technology preview' of sorts. The idea here is to verify that we've got the primary encoding mechanisms up to scratch. So what I'm looking for here is to make sure that video converts for all devices as expected and that the quality is good (or great).

The key things to note for EncodeHD are:

• Outputted video is MPEG4 and H.264 with AAC (or AC3) audio, NOT WMV (this is not strictly for X-Box 360 anymore)
• This means that 5.1 audio for the X-Box 360 is not yet supported in these formats
• Subtitles are also not yet possible, although I'm looking into it

As of now, there's still a lot of unimplemented functionality that will be added later. If you want to see something in particular, please let me know. However, if it's going to cludge up the interface and start making things complex, I may not implement requests. We'll have to see.

One of the nice things about EncodeHD is that it has built-in bug reporting. If you hit a problem, it will ask you if you want to submit a bug report - including all the details I need to help solve the issue. If however, the problem is with video output, it may not detect any problems. In this case, could I ask you to email my bug-tracking system: cases@dcunningham.fogbugz.com, and attach the EncodeHD.Log file which you can find in your Temp folder (Click Start > Run and type %TEMP% to access it).
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Official Site: http://dcunningham.net
Download: here

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1. Connect your Xbox 360 to two screens at once

If you've got one of the component/composite dual video cables – the one that comes in the box with most 360s – you can have your console display its gamey goodness on two TVs simultaneously. The trick is to flick the cable's switch to Standard Definition but hook up the composite (yellow) cable to one screen and the component (the red, green, blue) cables to another. It won't be high-def, but it could be handy if you're staging a mini LAN party and want to set up a display for bored spectators to point their eyes at.

2. Play your own music in original Xbox games

That you can fire up your own MP3s during a 360 game is common knowledge (and re-soundtracking moody horror games with the Benny Hill theme tune never stops being funny), but it doesn't work if you're playing a title from the original Xbox. There's a way around it – start playing your album or playlist before you load the game, and it'll keep on playing once you do fire the title up. The game's own music won't be muted, however, so if you can't do that in its settings you'll go mad from the weird cacophony.

3. It can write its own blog

Ah, the internet – founded upon crazy men making crazy things for free. Such as a blog supposedly written by your 360, based on what you've been using it for. It monitors your Live account and automatically generates entries about what it's been up to that day (or what it hasn't been up to – expect many posts about neglect if you don't turn it on for a while). The tone is very much American geek, but it's a fun record of your own gaming habits, and of keeping an eye on what your chums are up to. Get set up atwww.360voice.com.

4. Play Xbox 360 games online for free – without a Live account

That you have to pay a subscription for online gaming, something that's free on other consoles and on the PC, is perhaps the 360's greatest bugbear. Stage your own form of peaceful process by playing online without paying a penny. You'll need XLink Kai, a free app you run from a PC on the same network as the console that tricks the 360 into thinking the internet is a LAN.

So it'll treat remote opponents as though they're in the same room as you – and you don't have to pay for local multiplayer. Clever! One snag – Microsoft has set the 360 to boot out anyone with a ping higher than 30ms, so you'll have to be selective about who you play with. Local chums are best, not your Chinese penpal.

5. Interact with your Xbox 360 music

Hit X whilst playing a music CD or file (whether from the 360's hard drive, an MP3 player you've plugged in, or streamed from a PC) and you'll enter Psychedelic Wonderland. Well, some artful visualisations, anyway. Grab a controller or two (or up to four, as it happens) and start moving thumbpads and pressing buttons to interact with the crazed shifting colours. There are actually some fairly elaborate controls – read the full manual athttp://www.llamasoft.co.uk/x360manual.php. Good at parties, this.

6. Connect your Xbox 360 to a wireless network without an official adaptor

The good news is you don't have to drop £50 on Microsoft's offensively overpriced Wi-Fi adaptor. The bad news is you'll need a laptop with W-Fi to do it. Head to Control Panel – Network Connections (In Windows XP) or Network & Sharing Center – Manage Network Connections (in Vista). Select the Local Area Connection and the Wireless Network Connection at once, then right-click and hit 'bridge connections'.

Disconnect then reconnect to your wireless network, run a network cable from the laptop's Ethernet port to the 360's, and you should be good to go. Unfortunately, you may have to remove the bridge (repeat the above process and you'll see the option) whenever you want to browse the net with the laptop.

7. Play music from your iPod

Not a secret as such, but Microsoft doesn't exactly shout about the fact it plays nice with a device made by uber-rival Apple. Hidden in the depths of the Marketplace, you'll find a teeny download called 'optional iPod support'. Once you've grabbed that, plug in your iPod (iPhones aren't supported yet, sadly) and head to the Media Blade. You'll see your pod appear there, and can now browse its music by album, artist, genre or whatever. It'll also charge via the USB port, usefully.

8. Reset your Xbox 360 video settings

Remember this one if you're in the habit of carrying your console to chum's houses and hooking it up to different displays. It can end up trying to output the wrong signal, so you can't see anything or get a flickering screen. Fortunately, there's a fairly simple fix if this happens. Remove any discs from the tray and turn the thing off. Then turn it on using a gamepad. As it boots, hold down the Y button, then hit and hold the right trigger. The video settings will reset to default, and you'll stop your sobbing.

9. Play any media file, plus online videos on your Xbox 360

Free app Tversity neatly sidesteps the pointless video/audio restrictions Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo alike slap on their consoles, making them able to play any format. Again, you'll need a PC on the same network, but it's a simple matter of installing the program and having it scan the folders you keep your media in. It'll replace the standard network file-sharing system Windows uses, but behaves pretty much the same way at the 360's end. As well as that, it'll convert unsupported files on the fly – though you'll need a pretty beefy PC to do this with large video files, otherwise you'll be waiting ages. You can also add online video URLs on the PC's end – including Youtube – and then access those from the console.

10. Use any HDMI cable and still get digital surround sound

Though the newer 360s have an HDMI output for optimal video quality, they've built the ports in such a way that you can't have the standard component/composite video cable, with its crucial optical audio output, plugged in at the same time as HDMI. Instead, you're supposed to drop a frightening amount of money on the official HDMI cable with audio adapter. Balls to that. See the big plastic box at the end of the standard video cable that connects to the console? Wedge a knife or screwdriver into the join and twist to pop it off. The result looks messy, but is small enough to plug in alongside a standard, cheapo HDMI cable.
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Source: www.techradar.com

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One of the questions we've been hearing here at E3 is how existing themes you've bought from Xbox LIVE Marketplace will work with the new Xbox experience. The design team sent over this mock up to give you an idea of how it's going to work.

We've also been asked about the Game Detail Pages. Here are mock ups for a couple of them.

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Update:
In case you missed it on Inside Xbox, Marc Whitten gave an overview of the New Xbox Experience, including a peek at the Guide design. You will be able to access every part of what exists in the "blades" today, by calling up the Guide. A quick way to get to something specific, all without leaving the game you're in. Nice.

Source: gamerscoreblog.com via www.xbox-scene.com

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I just got off the phone with Adam Sessler over at G4 (check here to see if G4 is available in your area.) who filled me in on G4’s plans for E3 next week. If you’re not headed to LA but you still want to get in on all the gaming action, don’t worry…it sounds like they have you covered.  They’ve posted a schedule of coverage on their site, and the great news is that they’ll be carrying the complete Microsoft Press Briefing on Monday (They’ll also be carrying the Sony and Nintendo events as well) without commercial interruptions. I guess the learned their lesson from last year. According to that schedule, it looks like they’ll have a stream available on G4tv.com as well. So set your DVR’s and get ready for some gaming news.

P.S. I’ll also be recording our show and live blogging it from backstage, but more on that later this week.
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Source: http://majornelson.com

>> From an interview with Robbie Bach, president of Microsoft's entertainment and devices division, on sfgate.com:
[QUOTE]

• Q: It sounds like you are also seeing advertising opportunities with the Xbox. How do you do that without alienating or aggravating your users?
• A: Whether it's a phone or the Xbox or the PC, the ideal goal is to make the ad relevant in a part of the experience, as opposed to something that intrudes on the space. In the game space, one of the things we have found is making ads part of the game. If you're in the car racing game and you're driving around the city, product placement works. There are ads in a city. There are billboards in a city. We can place those and we can actually dynamically rotate ads to those locations.
  We've done some very successful campaigns with big, national brands like Nike, Doritos and Toyota that want to get their brand in front of a very desirable target audience. They want to do it in a way that's relevant. People are sponsoring game development contests. They are sponsoring tournaments. Toyota has done that. Toyota has actually launched products in our games where the car will appear in a game. People can race the car and it's a special car that you get for achieving a certain level in the game. There are really creative ways to get people exposure to these things.
• Q: In January, Warner Bros. announced that it was going to support Blu-ray, the high-definition DVD format. Since then, the rival HD DVD format has gone away. Microsoft supported HD DVD with an Xbox HD DVD attachment. What is your plan there?
• A: Our plan continues to focus on high-definition experiences. Xbox 360 has a great ability to deliver those through the Xbox Live (online download) service. It's a great way to get the high-definition concept because it's right there. There's no additional media. There is nothing you need to purchase.
  If you look at the Blu-ray player market, you haven't seen the acceleration everybody expected (since the demise of HD DVD). It's not as much about whether all the content is in a Blu-ray format or a HD DVD format. You have to look at how fundamentally compelling the difference is between a progressive scan DVD player and the picture that it can produce and what you get on a high-definition player. The reality is there is some difference, but most people look at it and say, "I am not going to pay extra for that."
• Q: So no plans for Blu-ray in the next generation Xbox?
• A: No. There is nothing to even talk about right now with regard to the next generation. That is so far out that there isn't anything to talk about.
• Q: Just the same, we are coming up on a few years now with the Xbox 360. Is there some point when you start to say that we need to start looking at its replacement?
• A: There is no real projection on that. The last generation for the Xbox was a little short because we entered the market a little bit later in the cycle. I suspect this time the cycle will be a little bit longer for us.
  In terms of our actual thinking about that, we started thinking about the next generation before we finished creating the last one. It's a continuous process. We're always thinking about new ideas and new things. We don't have anything specific to talk about. There are so many things going on in the current generation that will keep us more than occupied for the foreseeable future.

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Source: sfgate.com via xbox-scene.com

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Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer got on stage at D6 with Walt and Kara to talk... Microsoft, of course. While the company is still being rather coy about Windows 7 -- some have blamed loose lips early on in Vista development for saddling the OS with too high of expectations and making things difficult for developers -- they were nice enough to show off what Ballmer called "the smallest snippet" of Windows 7. The big reveal was multi-touch support, which utilizes technology developed by the Surface team. The taskbar seems to have been reworked a bit, and the demo was running live on a Dell Latitude XT tablet. Apparently Microsoft is reworking the whole user interface with a multitouch experience in mind. Steve reiterated the "three years after Vista" mantra for availability. Not exactly earth-shattering, but we'll take what we can get at this point.

Video: Multi-Touch in Windows 7

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/

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Microsoft stepped up to deliver iHD (later renamed HDi), which was a trademarked implementation of HD DVD's XML markup language. Toshiba liked it. They made HDi functionality a standard for HD DVD players, and eventually partnered with Microsoft to expand HDi's reach by founding the Advanced Interactivity Consortium. The primary goal of this group was forging industry relationships to further promote HDi in emerging outlets like downloadable and streaming media.

The deal gave HD DVD its competitive next-gen features, but here's the rub: Microsoft didn't need physical media to implement HDi. All of HDi's interactive bells and whistles could theoretically be applied to downloadable video content, as long as a runtime environment was available. Even as the disc format war raged on, elements of HDi's runtime environment showed up in Microsoft products like the Xbox 360 and Vista.

So, let's put everything together. Microsoft has a popular gaming console and an operating system that are HDi compatible. It also has a group of developers working on HDi applications, and a 360-accessible HD video library that could feasibly be outfitted with next-gen interactivity features. All that's left is the dog and pony show needed to convince content providers that HDi-enhanced content and Microsoft's video outlets are key to making HD video downloads a viable revenue stream.
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Full Story: thestandard.com

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Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer has admitted that the company is working on ways to support Blu-ray, the next-generation DVD format.

Although he did not talk specifically about the format in relation to gaming, he did concede it was time to move on following the collapse of the HD-DVD format earlier this year.

"We've already been working on, for example, in Windows, device driver support for Blu-ray drives and the like, and I think the world moves on," said Ballmer at the Mix08 conference.

"Toshiba has moved on. We've moved on, and we'll support Blu-ray in ways that make sense," he said.

Many are expecting Microsoft to announce a Blu-ray peripheral for the Xbox 360 in the near future, following the demise of the HD-DVD format and Microsoft's decision to end production of a HD-DVD add-on for its console.

According to a Financial Times report yesterday, Microsoft and Sony are currently in talks to offer a Blu-ray drive for the Xbox 360.
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Source: http://www.gamesindustry.biz

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Toshiba Corporation today announced that it has undertaken a thorough review of its overall strategy for HD DVD and has decided it will no longer develop, manufacture and market HD DVD players and recorders. This decision has been made following recent major changes in the market. Toshiba will continue, however, to provide full product support and after-sales service for all owners of Toshiba HD DVD products.

HD DVD was developed to offer consumers access at an affordable price to high-quality, high definition content and prepare them for the digital convergence of tomorrow where the fusion of consumer electronics and IT will continue to progress.

"We carefully assessed the long-term impact of continuing the so-called 'next-generation format war' and concluded that a swift decision will best help the market develop," said Atsutoshi Nishida, President and CEO of Toshiba Corporation. "While we are disappointed for the company and more importantly, for the consumer, the real mass market opportunity for high definition content remains untapped and Toshiba is both able and determined to use our talent, technology and intellectual property to make digital convergence a reality."
Toshiba will continue to lead innovation, in a wide range of technologies that will drive mass market access to high definition content. These include high capacity NAND flash memory, small form factor hard disk drives, next generation CPUs, visual processing, and wireless and encryption technologies. The company expects to make forthcoming announcements around strategic progress in these convergence technologies.

Toshiba will begin to reduce shipments of HD DVD players and recorders to retail channels, aiming for cessation of these businesses by the end of March 2008. Toshiba also plans to end volume production of HD DVD disk drives for such applications as PCs and games in the same timeframe, yet will continue to make efforts to meet customer requirements. The company will continue to assess the position of notebook PCs with integrated HD DVD drives within the overall PC business relative to future market demand.
This decision will not impact on Toshiba's commitment to standard DVD, and the company will continue to market conventional DVD players and recorders. Toshiba intends to continue to contribute to the development of the DVD industry, as a member of the DVD Forum, an international organization with some 200 member companies, committed to the discussion and defining of optimum optical disc formats for the consumer and the related industries.

Toshiba also intends to maintain collaborative relations with the companies who joined with Toshiba in working to build up the HD DVD market, including Universal Studios, Paramount Pictures, and DreamWorks Animation and major Japanese and European content providers on the entertainment side, as well as leaders in the IT industry, including Microsoft, Intel, and HP. Toshiba will study possible collaboration with these companies for future business opportunities, utilizing the many assets generated through the development of HD DVD.
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Source: www.toshiba.co.jp

[QUOTE]
Toshiba Corporation has decided to withdraw from next generation high-definition DVD production.

The company said it will continue to sell HD-DVD products for a while but will stop further development of HD DVD. Meanwhile, it said its DVD factories in Aomori Prefecture, northern Japan, would be closed.

Market observers said that Toshiba could suffer a loss of hundreds of millions of US dollars.
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Full Story: nhk.or.jp

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The weekend saw devastating news arrive that's all but killed off HD DVD as a next-gen video format - Warner Bros. has dumped HD DVD and will release its films only on Blu-ray from May of 2008.

But insiders over at the AVS Forums - who are proper, actual insiders who work for companies like Microsoft, Universal and representatives of the Blu-ray consortium - reckon the decision could've gone either way.

Warner dumping HD DVD for Blu-ray went down to the wire - and it could've been persuaded, along with 20th Century Fox, to go exclusively with HD DVD instead.
In fact, they both nearly DID - an agreement was apparently in place between Warner, Fox and HD DVD backer Toshiba for the HD DVD WIN SCENARIO, only for Fox to pull out at the last minute and go crying off to Sony instead. Which gave Warner cold feet, so it went Blu-ray as well. It really was that close to being an HD DVD victory.

So if Warner and Fox had gone for HD DVD it'd be Blu-ray that'd look like the failed format today, and perhaps Bill Gates just might've pulled out an HD DVD-packing Xbox 360 from under his podium at CES last night, rather than blather on about a few new downloadable films instead.

In fact, I'd bet money that Microsoft's much-rumoured HD DVD-enabled Xbox 360 was one of the deals on offer to tempt Warner to support HD DVD exclusively in a "you support our format, we'll send out a few million more players over the next year" kind of deal.

But now Warner has dumped HD DVD, effectively killing the format, Microsoft has binned the prototype HD DVD 360 as well. Out of SPITE (and business sense).

No doubt we'll find out what really happened here in a few years, once the anger has subsided and the council has helped drain all the tears away. It's all been a terribly exciting weekend in the HD format war, in the geekiest and saddest way possible.

Related posts
Microsoft literally GIVING AWAY five HD DVD movies
Paramount dumps Blu-ray support and goes HD DVD exclusive

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Source: xboxer.tv

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To some music lovers, the fact that Josh Groban's Noel was the highest-selling album of 2007 is all the proof they need that major-label music is dying. To shareholders and label execs, though, the numbers are more important, and the numbers are grim: music sales are down 21 percent this Christmas season.

Variety has the latest music numbers from Nielsen Soundscan on music sales from Thanksgiving to Christmas Eve. In 2007, 83.9 million albums were sold, down 21.4 million from last year. A 20 percent drop in sales is more than a blip; it's serious trouble.

The industry has been under pressure for years, of course. Back in August, we took a detailed look at trends in the movie, music, and video game businesses and noted that RIAA companies have seen sales drop by 11.6 percent between 2002 and 2006, even as movies hold steady and games are showing sales increases.

Data sources: RIAA, MPAA, The NPD Group

The recent news suggests that people are turning away from the CD as a Christmas present, due in large part to the rise of online music services like iTunes, eMusic, and the Amazon MP3 shop. Now that non-DRMed music is widely available from many popular artists, giving the gift of digital downloads can be an attractive option for holiday shoppers. Certainly it's becoming more mainstream; even my local supermarket now stocks iTunes gift cards.

Music buying has certainly been migrating online, and the spectacular decline of CD sales is putting extra pressure on labels to move more online copies of the music they publish. This is clearly one of the reasons that Warner, traditionally a staunch DRM defender, agreed to strip DRM from its tracks offered on Amazon; it needed to do something (anything) to shore up flagging sales.

But as albums move online, the "album" is also losing its luster. Download services let consumers pick and choose, and many buyers seem to do just that, snagging the hits and leaving the rest behind. While digital distribution enables this, it's hard to blame digital for the common perception that most top 40 albums contain their share of filler.

Padding out discs with mediocre tracks just won't work anymore, but it might also keep listeners from discovering the deeper cuts on quality discs. It's not just a sad day for music companies when customers decide to cherry-pick one Josh Ritter song, for instance; it's a sad day for the buyers as well, as they miss out on the complete album experience of a consummate artist.

Sadly, Ritter and his kind are the exception; so long as they are, music fans will continue to grab the hits, and they'll do so online. At least now they can get them DRM-free.
[/QUOTE]

Source: http://arstechnica.com

[QUOTE]
BOSTON, Massachusetts, USA—Thursday, June 28, 2007—On Friday, June 29, not everyone in the continental U.S. will be waiting in line to purchase a $500 iPhone. In fact, hundreds of thousands of digital aficionados around the globe won't be standing in line at all, for June 29 marks the release of version 3 of the GNU General Public License (GPL). Version 2 of the GPL governs the world's largest body of free software—software that is radically reshaping the industry and threatening the proprietary technology model represented by the iPhone.

The author of the the GPL is Professor Richard M. Stallman, president and founder of the Free Software Foundation, and creator of the GNU Project. With his first revision of the license in sixteen years, version 3 of the GPL fights the most recent attempts to take the freedom out of free software—most notably, version 3 attacks “Tivoization”—and that could be a problem for Apple and the iPhone.

Now, from China to India, from Venezuela to Brazil, from Tivos to cell phones: Free software is everywhere and it is slowly building a worldwide movement of users demanding that they have control over the computers and electronic devices they own.

Tivoization and the iPhone?

“Tivoization” is a term coined by the FSF to describe devices that are built with free software, but that use technical measures to prevent the user from making modifications to the software—a fundamental freedom for free software users—and an attack on free software that the GPLv3 will put a stop to.

The iPhone is leaving people questioning: Does it contain GPLed software? What impact will the GPLv3 have on the long-term prospects for devices like the iPhone that are built to keep their owners frustrated?

Peter Brown, executive director of the FSF said, “Tomorrow, Steve Jobs and Apple release a product crippled with proprietary software and digital restrictions: crippled, because a device that isn't under the control of its owner works against the interests of its owner. We know that Apple has built its operating system, OS X, and its web browser Safari, using GPL-covered work—it will be interesting to see to what extent the iPhone uses GPLed software.”

You can help spread the message

The GNU GPL version 3 will be released at 12:00pm (EDT)—six hours before the release of the iPhone—bringing to a close eighteen months of public outreach and comment, in revision of the world's most popular free software license.
[/QUOTE]

Found on: http://www.fsf.org/iphone-gplv3

[QUOTE]
Blu-ray players are in roughly 1.5 million homes -- five times more than its high-def DVD rival, HD-DVD.
That's according to the research firm Digital Entertainment Group, as reported by Video Business.

DEG says the 1.5 million Blu-ray homes include about 100,000 standalone Blu-ray players with the rest PlayStation 3 game consoles, which include Blu-ray players inside.

The research firm says there 300,000 HD DVD homes in the United States -- evenly split between standalone players and HD DVD XBox 360 attachment drives.
[/QUOTE]

Full Story: tvpredictions.com

[QUOTE]
Amir Majidimehr, the corporate vice president of Microsoft's Consumer Media Technology Group, announced on the AVS Forum that a software update for the Xbox 360 HD DVD Player is scheduled for release tomorrow:

"It is my pleasure to let you all know that the HD DVD update for Xbox 360 is slated for release on 5/15 (i.e. tomorrow!). So when you wake up in the morning, you should be able to upgrade your software. And me free from telling you when are going to get it . Hope you all download it and provide feedback on what you think!"

Here's what the HD DVD audio update will include on May 15th:

• Fix DD being stuck in "Night Mode" which is essentially Dynamic Range Compression leading to the sound sounding very flat
• Option to output ALL HD DVD audio as DTS 1.5Mbps (list includes DD+, TrueHD, DTS, and any other audio option offered on HD DVD discs I may have missed)
• Option to output ALL HD DVD audio as DD 640Kbps, (which it currently does, but will be fixed from the Night Mode bug), list includes DD+, TrueHD, DTS, and any other audio option offered on HD DVD discs that I may have missed.
• Option to output ALL HD DVD audio as WMAPro (768Kbps I think), (list includes DD+, TrueHD, DTS, and any other audio option offered on HD DVD discs I may have missed) for those receivers that support WMA.
• Option to enable/disable Night Mode (with the default set to off)
• Fix a number of disc incompatibilities (including DVD Essentials) as well as a number of Lip Sync issues.

[/QUOTE]

Full Story: teamxbox.com

[QUOTE]
Everyone's got their own idea about how we're gonna get our work done in the future, and except for the camp that envisions us toiling away in the silicon mines for our robotic overlords, most of these concepts seem to have converged around a few of the same elements. Well Microsoft was showing off its Center for Information Work's take on the ideal workstation at Convergence 07, and the so-called DigiDesk does indeed incorporate many features we've seen before, including a multi-touch display (we know, we know), document digitizer, speech recognition engine, and ability to resize objects on the fly a la Jeff Han's famous TED presentation. Of course Redmond conveniently neglected to tell us when we can expect to to find the DigiDesk at our local Office Depot, meaning that like most of these neat-o concepts, a YouTube vid (after the break) is probably the closest you're gonna get to this tech for a long time.
[/QUOTE]

Source: www.engadget.com

[QUOTE]
The Sony backed Blu-ray format has been dealt a blow by the news that a number of independent European studios have decided to release films primarily on Toshiba's HD-DVD format.

Despite trailing Blu-ray sales in Northern America, a Financial Times report claims that HD-DVD appears to be winning the next generation format war in Europe, where 35 films from independent studios such as Studio Canal, Pathe and Filmax have been released on HD-DVD, opposed to just 10 released on Blu-ray.

While admitting that there is a long way to go before a clear victor emerges, Rodolphe Buet, Studio Canal's chief marketing officer, states that the marketing strategies employed by HD-DVD backers were far superior to those of Blu-ray manufacturers.
[/QUOTE]

Source: next-gen.biz

You can now stream your favorite videos from your computer to your TV, via the Xbox 360, PS3 or Wii with a free Client called Orb. Orb enables you to play any videos from your PC or from the Internet on your TV, via your Xbox 360, PS3, Wii.

The software and service are FREE. And there’s no additional Hardware to buy or install, and no subscriptions to sign up for.

Get Orb here: http://www.orb.com

[QUOTE]
We're not trying to hate, but we think it's about time Microsoft acknowledged that the ball's been dropped -- and then pick it back up. Stop promising bug fixes and vaporous new features, and stop talking about future Zune products when the current product is ailing. Here are five simple things Microsoft should do to fix the Zune right now, and even make it into a somewhat aggressive contender in one of the most cutthroat gadget categories. In order:

1. Fix the DRM, syncing, and system bugs, and get firmware v1.3 out the door!
   
2. Add useful WiFi features: wireless streaming to friends, Zune Pass (subscription) song transfer to friends' Zunes (á la MusicGremlin), computer-free downloads content downloads.
   
3. Add podcast and vidcast support. It doesn't even have to be as comprehensive as the iTMS, just a basic RSS reader / enclosure scraper or something.
   
4. Increase codec support. Go out on a limb and add open (read: free) codecs like FLAC, APE, OGG, XviD; if you really want to make your customers happy, belly up to the bar and license DivX.
   
5. Drop the price. For most consumers, there is still a huge mental barrier in paying $250 for a Zune when you can pay the same $250 for an iPod. One isn't necessarily better than the other, but people really love the iPod. Make it $230 MSRP, and let that sink down to like $210 for online retailers. People will freak out that this player, that does all these things it does, is barely more than two bills.

[/QUOTE]

Full Story: engadget.com

[QUOTE]
Bad news MPAA, good news fair use folk: this weekend not only marks the date of extraction for PowerDVD's AACS key (which, as you may recall, is one of the two HD disc-playing apps in Windows right now along with the already cracked WinDVD), but also signals the release of AnyDVD 6.1.2.9, which officially adds Blu-ray support.
[/QUOTE]

Full Story: engadget.com | forum.doom9.org | forum.slysoft.com

[QUOTE]
Microsoft will showcase the Xbox 360's IPTV service for the first time in Europe at The Connected Home Show at London's Olympia next month.
Ed Graczyk, Worldwide Director of Marketing and Communications for Microsoft TV will demonstrate the service during his keynote at the conference, specifically showcasing what happens when "next-generation television is combined with next-generation gaming in a unique, new service delivered by your broadband provider".

IPTV is expected to be available as early as Christmas 2007 in Europe, and telecom providers BT, Deutsche Telekom and T-Online in France have already chosen Microsoft IPTV Edition as their IPTV software choice.
[/QUOTE]

More at computerandvideogames.com.

[QUOTE]
Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ:MSFT) chairman Bill Gates unveiled a slew of new products and content partners Sunday in his keynote address kicking off the 2007 International Consumer Electronics Show, vowing to deliver access to video and data no matter where the consumer might be.

"It's a dream if you're a sports fan or there's a sports fan in your house," said Robbie Bach, president of Microsoft's entertainment and devices division and the company's chief liaison to Hollywood. Bach and Gates alternated introducing new products during Microsoft's CES presentation.

In addition, Microsoft said that it has signed Lionsgate (NYSE:LGF) to its roster of programming contributors to Xbox 360 Live Marketplace, joining Paramount and Warner Bros. Bach hailed the addition of a library of video content to Xbox Live that either can be streamed or downloaded, noting that 100 million downloads of games, TV episodes and movies have been generated over the past 13 months; he did not offer a separate account of how video alone has fared since Microsoft signed content partners including ABC, Comedy Central and the CW as of Nov. 22. Xbox 360 also will provide an IPTV service that can deliver video programming, essentially functioning as a set-top box.

Although that doesn't put Microsoft in the video distribution business, it opens up the possibility that the company could partner with AT&T (NYSE:SBT) (NYSE:T) to offer a mix of voice, video, data and wireless. Microsoft already provides software for AT&T's IP-based rollout, raising the specter that the telco's current U.S. service, U-Verse, could eventually be bundled with Xbox 360.

IPTV video has DVR and video-on-demand functionality and also will enable seamless switching between video programming and games, and even blur the two, demonstrating functionality that allowed a community of users to talk to their Xbox even while its in TV mode.
[/QUOTE]

Full Story: money.cnn.com

Microsoft unleashed its Soapbox Web video platform (its YouTube competitor) to the unwashed masses yesterday, taking the service out of private beta. The service has a clean and simple layout, and manages to keep both the MSN moniker and the often-clunky Windows Live Login (formerly .NET Passport). What baffles me about this is that despite having access to all your personal information, Soapbox won't parse your Windows Live ID to fill in simple profile information like your name and location, unless you've recently gone through and updated it since opening a Hotmail account in the 90s. Nor will it go through your Windows Live e-mail to see if you want to share any videos that have been sent to you by friends. If Microsoft is aiming for no-nonsense integration with its Web services, it's sadly not there yet.

That being said, Microsoft did add the ability to post videos in your blog, which was one of the original Soapbox criticisms. The catch is that it has to be a Windows Live Spaces blog. Alternatively, there are the standard permalinks and embed codes for you to send to friends or put on your blog or Web site.

Below I've embedded one of my favorite videos. Note the fact you can access both share codes and description from the player itself. Neat.

Video: Amazingly Cool Ad

SideLink, from Interlink Electronics, uses both Windows SideShow and Bluetooth® wireless technologies to put control of the Windows Vista Media Center in the palm of your hand from anywhere in the home.

Developed as a remote control interface for integration into Windows Vista Media Center products, Interlink's SideLink features a 2.5" color QVGA (320 x 240 pixels) display that enables menu navigation and viewing of Media Center content directly on the remote, independent of the main computer or TV screen. With SideLink, users can select songs, schedule recordings, navigate video clips and photographs, display TV program guides and even browse recorded TV shows--all right on the remote. SideLink uses Bluetooth RF wireless technology to ensure fl awless wireless communications at ranges up to 100'.

"SideLink from Interlink Electronics is the first Media Center remote control to enable Windows Vista SideShow technology," said Bill Mitchell, corporate vice president of the Mobile Platforms Division at Microsoft Corp. "SideLink is an excellent example of how Windows SideShow technology enables new benefits for users of Windows Vista. SideLink and the new Windows Vista Media Center gadgets enable features that users of previous Media Center Editions have requested, but were not possible with a single display."

Paper: http://interlinkelectronics.com/library/media/papers/pdf/20070108a.pdf

Video Preview: http://reviews.cnet.com/SideLink_Remote/4660-12760_7-6683680.html

The Consumer Electronics Show Conference is over now.

Here's a video of the CES Keynote that was quickly encoded and uploaded to google video.

It's the complete keynote (over 1 hour, which includes Bill Gates Keynote and a part hosted by Robbie Bach from Microsoft's Entertainment Division, who tells you everything about the Xbox360 including the IPTV demo toward the end of the video).

Microsoft will release a high-quality video of the complete keynote very soon here.

Engadget has some high-res pictures of the Xbox360 IPTV interface.

Xbox-Scene has 2 press releases and a LIVE coverage of Bill Gates' Keynote at CES 2007.

[QUOTE]
So the "next gen" format war is upon us with two sides lined up, ready to take your money for your fourth version of Full Metal Jacket (I can't believe that you actually got it on Laser Disk...what were you thinking). If you are like most people, you are wondering a couple of things, the first being why would I want to buy another version of Full Metal Jacket, and is the $200 add on drive for the 360 worth the money, especially if I already have the PS3? More importantly, which one of the two (the PS3 or 360 HD DVD drive )looks and performs better. This article will attempt to answer these questions with background and information, as well as present evidence to why the ultimate conclusion was reached.

Overall this test was to see what next gen game system player is superior, and based on these tests, I would have to say that the 360 add on is the clear winner. Movies on the Blu Ray do look great, but with color levels that are more even allowing for greater levels of clarity, HD DVD just looks better, even over component cables.
[/QUOTE]

Full Story: gamescentral.com