9to5Mac reports that Apple has been working on a home media server to access your iTunes and other files anywhere you have internet access. The site compares it to HP’s just updated Media Smart Server which offers a centralized location for backup, storage and file delivery to your computers locally as well as remotely:
Your music, photos, videos and other media are part of your life — but they’re scattered over multiple computers, disk drives, CDs, DVDs, and MP3 players…. Macs and iPods too. The HP MediaSmart Server centralizes all your files, from all your home computers, in one place so you can grab them anywhere you have an internet connection and share how you want.
Apple’s take on the system would reportedly expand out Time Capsule’s functionality from being a single drive backup system into a more robust multi-drive backup server. In addition, tie ins would be made to Apple’s MobileMe services to deliver access to your files and media from anywhere on the internet.
9to5mac suggests that media could also be shared to your iPhone and iPod touch, providing full access to your media while mobile. The device could also serve media files to other computers at home as well as to your Apple TV.
With Xbox Live down for maintence, everybody is digging for more information on the upcoming Xbox Live experience. Saturday, Xbox released a new site to preview some of the features for the new experience. They may have released more information then they wanted. If you look at this video with Xbox Live General Manager, they come across a “Browse” feature very breifly.
This may be reaching or wishful thinking, but only time will tell.
In the 1999 geek classic, “Pirates of Silicon Valley”, an Apple employee watching the famous “1984″ commercial with Steve Jobs points to the Big Brother character — intended to represent IBM — and then points to Bill Gates of Microsoft, whom Jobs has just introduced as part of Apple’s family. The silent message is that the real threat to Apple is Microsoft, not IBM, and indeed the following scene depicts Jobs confronting Gates after Jobs sees Windows 1.0 running on an NEC PC.
That scene, set in 1983, could be easily recreated 25 years later, substituting the iPhone for the Macintosh, Microsoft for IBM as the iPhone’s perceived threat, and Google for Microsoft as the iPhone’s more serious threat. Like Microsoft in 1983, Google is a key Apple partner in 2008. The iPhone features Google Maps, GMail and Google as its default Web search engine, and Google CEO Eric Schmidt even sits on Apple’s board of directors. And also like Microsoft in 1983, Google is working fervently to create a wide range of competitors to Apple’s iPhone. None of these may ever match the integrated experience of Apple’s iPhone, but it’s clear that the first Android phone has come closer to the iPhone experience than Windows 1.0 did to the original Macintosh operating system.
Nevertheless, Google’s task is a lot more daunting than Microsoft’s was at the dawn of Windows for several reasons.
First, unlike Microsoft of yore, Google has no incumbent operating system like DOS that makes Android a natural successor to whatever major manufacturers handset are using now. Second, while Microsoft has always had to account for many hardware variations among PCs, smartphones vary even more in terms of their capabilities and design. And third, at least in the U.S., there is a layer of carrier distribution control that is far more restrictive than the scrutiny of many IT managers that made Windows a corporate standard. Indeed, while a goal of Android is to make phones more PC-like in terms of the freedom they afford developers, tethering and VoIP apps won’t likely get far due to carrier oversight.
Overcoming these obstacles might require an army, and Google has one in the open-source development community. Taking many cues from the iPhone but introducing new tradeoffs, Android has set a clear example of an effective touch UI that — unlike flashy shells such as HTC’s TouchFLO — carries through deep into the operating system. At launch, the T-Mobile G1 won’t support Exchange connectivity or local video playback out of the box, but it will enable background tasks, keyboard-based shortcuts and, yes, copy and paste. What’s more, if applications want to take advantage of video recording or Bluetooth features not supported by the base operating system, they will have the freedom to do so.
Ultimately, though, consumers care about capabilities, not plumbing. Much of the lack of oversight in the Android market can be addressed by community feedback, but Apple still has an advantage in the stability of the platform; the iPhone’s almost console-like uniformity has been one reason it has won support for the important mobile applications category of games from leading publishers such as Electronic Arts and Sega.
This illustrates why, despite the visual and user interface similarities between the iPhone OS and Android, Android’s real mission is to remain a foil to Windows Mobile. While Android may have the upper hand on the consumer experience now, Microsoft will of course not cede that massive market lying down. Android devices may compete with one from Apple, but Android’s success will depend on how well it fares among those who peddle choice along the cellular networks more commonly traveled.
Online retailer Amazon.com is gearing up for the holidays by launching a massive Blu-ray Disc sale including a number of recently released titles. The sale cuts prices up to 55% off list.
In total, 95 titles are included in the sale covering multiple studios like Buena Vista Home Entertainment, Warner Home Video, Anchor Bay Entertainment and others.
The marquee title in the sale is Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas re-priced at 43% off list at $22.99.
Other notable titles in the sale are 300 for $18.95, No Country For Old Men for $19.95, Short Circuit for $8.99 and National Treasure 2 for $19.95.
Amazon’s other Blu-ray promotions include the Sony BDP-S300 Blu-ray Disc player priced aggressively at $199.99 (more info or purchase from Amazon) and a buy three Blu-ray Disc movies and get a free Playstation 3 Blu-ray Disc remote control offer (view the list of eligible titles).
T-Mobile, Google, and HTC finally officially launched the first Android-enabled mobile device to hit the market. As expected, the first Android phone will be the HTC Dream (also known as the T-Mobile G1), a device with a large touchscreen and a slide-out physical keypad that will run Google’s new mobile platform. The Dream will be available through T-Mobile and will launch “simultaneously on both sides of the Atlantic.”
The subsidized device will cost $179 (with a two-year contract), and starting today, existing T-Mobile customers will be able to order it online to be delivered to them when it becomes available. The official commercial launch date will be October 22 at T-Mobile stores. T-Mobile said that there will be two data options available for the device in addition to a voice plan: a $25 data plan with limited messaging, and a $35 plan with unlimited messaging and mobile web. Additionally, the company said that its 3G network would be live in 16 markets by the G1 launch, live in 22 markets by mid-November.
In addition to being chock full of Google’s open source goodness, the companies have worked to ensure that the Android-enabled Dream is also chock full of familiar features and apps. Users will have one-click access to all of Google’s mobile apps, such as Gmail, Google Maps (including street view, a feature that is infuriatingly missing from the iPhone), Google talk, Google Calendar, and more.
A mobile version of Amazon’s MP3 store will be preloaded onto the G1 that will allow users to search, download, buy, and play music directly from the popular DRM-free music store. Like Apple’s iTunes WiFi Store, Amazon MP3 on the G1 will require a WiFi connection in order to purchase tracks, but users can search, browse, and listen to samples while anywhere on T-Mobile’s network.
And finally, the G1 will come equipped with the Android Market, a mobile app store akin to Apple’s own App Store for the iPhone. The companies said that there would be a “steady stream of innovations” in addition to old favorites, like classic games.
Reaction to the announcement so far has been somewhat positive. “Today’s unveiling of the T-Mobile G1, the first mobile phone based on the Android platform from the Google-spawned Open Handset Alliance, may be the beginning of a significant movement towards a situation in which a majority of mobile phones will run a high-level operating system, rather than the variety of real-time operating systems currently powering more than 85 percent of the world’s mobile phones,” ABI Research director Kevin Burden said in an e-mailed statement.
During a Q&A session at the press conference, the company said that there is currently no Exchange compatibility (the companies will rely on a third-party to implement this functionality), but that the G1 will be able to read Microsoft Office documents. In response to a question about whether the device will be tetherable to a laptop, the company said that the G1 was “meant to be used as a mobile device, not as a tethered modem.”
There will not be a desktop application “initially,” as it is meant to be used as a mobile device. “All synchronization will be handled on the back-end.”
The G1 will be SIM-locked to T-Mobile. The company believes that $179 is a “really attractive price” even though it costs considerably more without heavy subsidies, and users should use it on “the network it was built for.” There is currently no Skype compatibility, although T-Mobile did not specify whether such a thing would be allowed if a third-party were to develop it.
The event ended without much substantial talk about the platform’s openness, although the companies emphasized repeatedly that they are committed to being open source and that the Open Software Alliance would enable Android to be used in many different ways in the future.
While the world waits to see the first Android cellphone revealed in New York later today, others are hard at work extending the reach of the open-source OS beyond just handsets. John Bruggeman, chief marketing officer at Wind River Systems says, “We’re starting to see Android get designed in on devices that extend way beyond the phone–things that might go in the automobile or things that might go in the home.” Bruggeman then collects his wits and adds, “I don’t want to pre-announce any design wins, I think you’ll see them in 2009. I would be shocked if you didn’t.” Indeed. After all, Intel and Wind River (both Android Open Handset Alliance members) have been working on an open, Linux-based car-computing platform since at least May of this year — so a switch to Android would be an over-simplified snap. It certainly makes sense for the hardware independent — thanks to Java-based Dalvik virtual machine — OS, middleware, and apps to spread throughout a consumer electronics industry lacking a common development platform. Whether this occurs by Google’s design or just a happy by-product of Android’s momentum remains to be seen.
EngadgetHD has been keeping a close eye on the prices of Blu-ray players, and recently noticed that both the Samsung BD-P1500 and Sony BDP-S300 have fallen below the $200 mark at certain stores (RadioShack and Amazon, respectively.) This is right in line with previous reports of falling Blu-ray prices, and while the BDP-S300 is pretty old, the BD-P1500 is currently Samsung’s most recent Blu-ray player. In many ways, these cuts are more important that the budget players we’ve seen from Insignia and Memorex, since for many people it’s a lot easier to drop $200 on Blu-ray if they know they’re getting a “Sony”.
EngadgetHD’s link to RadioShack is no longer working and we couldn’t find the BD-P1500 on the site by searching–we’re guessing they’re sold out. But if you can find the BD-P1500 for $200, it’s a much better deal than the BDP-S300. When we tested the BDP-S300, we found it painfully slow and it only supports the older Profile 1.0 standard. The BD-P1500, on the other hand, is currently Profile 1.1 compatible and is upgradeable to Profile 2.0, and considerably faster to use than the BDP-S300. The BD-P1500 is also on deck to get DTS-HD Master Audio decoding in the future, which means you’ll be able to get high resolution soundtracks using most HDMI-equipped AV receivers.
A lot of hopes and open-source dreams are riding on a plucky little phone platform called Android, and its public debut on a real-live phone happens Tuesday. Those of us at Lifehacker HQ who didn’t spring for an iPhone, and even some who did, are eager to see how it performs and, more importantly, what kind of useful apps will soon appear for the open Android. That’s not o say we (and many other bloggers) don’t have our reservations and lingering questions. We’ve put together a guide to get you up to speed on the Android platform and the first phone that runs it, along with what we expect, or just hope, to see in Android’s very near future.
What is Android, exactly?
Android isn’t the “Google Phone” or “GPhone.” It’s a (mostly) free and open-source mobile operating system that’s made to run on all kinds of cell phones, and allow nearly anyone who can program in Java to create and distribute applications for it. Google spilled their plans for Android at the same time—November 2007—they announced that 34 hardware, software, and network companies had signed onto their Open Handset Alliance. In other words, Tuesday’s press hoopla surrounds just the first phone to utilize Android, T-Mobile’s HTC Dream; unless it’s an outright failure, most cell customers can expect to see their carrier hawking an Android phone in the not-too-distant future.
So what will Android look and feel like? We know that, at least with the Dream, phone users will use the flip-out mini-keyboard to enter text, but rely on a prominent, iPhone-like touch screen for navigation. Of course, if an Android developer wants to build a touch-screen keyboard, there’s nothing to stop them. One major difference between any Android phone and Apple’s iPhone stems from the Cupertino company’s patent application for “multi-touch” features; Android users can’t resize their screens by pinching and expanding, or use two fingers to dual-finger scroll, but, other than that, you’re flipping between work screens with a finger flick, tapping and dragging icons around, and otherwise manipulating your phone world with your fingers.
Don’t take our word for it, though. To see Android in action, check out our sibling Gizmodo’s in-depth video tour of Android’s 0.9 development environment. The Dream and other Android phones may end up looking different (and, inevitably, deeply branded with your carrier’s colors and logos, because you obviously can’t remember who you pay more than $40 each month to), but they’ll share the basic navigation, app-launching and phone-using functions explored in that video.
For a real-world Android demonstration on what is almost certainly a working Dream model, check out this video, shot earlier this week at the Google Developers Event in London:
So, should I get my wallet ready or not?
After showing off the HTC Dream Tuesday, T-Mobile might just surprise everyone by making the phone available that day, but most buyers are expecting to grab it in late October. The comprehensive AndroidGuys blog suggests that T-Mobile might release another handful of Android-based phones, followed by Sprint, and then, possibly, Verizon and even AT&T. Four of the top five cell manufacturers are working on an Android-based model, though, so a strong market response may push the carriers toward open handsets.
If you’re eager to see how the first Android phone stacks up against the iPhone, here’s a side-by-side chart, compiled from the stats released in FCC filings, mostly-confirmed blog leaks, and news releases:
A pure numbers analysis doesn’t tell the whole tale, of course. If Android ends up being a lightweight, responsive phone OS, a comparatively weaker phone may end up feeling snappier than the (now) often-buggy iPhone.
If Android delivers on its anything-goes promises, we’ve got high hopes for it. iPhone owners can be reasonably sure that their phone remains an attractive target for developers, just as OS X continues to pull in software apps. But for those used to praying an application will work on their very particular model, Android should be seriously attractive. Here’s a few things your Lifehacker editors, and, most likely, fellow readers, hope to see from a fully-functional Android:
Calendar, contact and mail syncing without USB cables, iTunes, or third-party, run-once apps.
Easy to configure computer control with VNC, SSH, Remote Desktop, and other open protocols.
Desktop backups and syncing. Can we get that with iterative backups that don’t take 5+ minutes? Thanks.
Real, honest-to-goodness VOIP calling. Because if Android is truly an open platform, this shouldn’t be all that hard—right?.
Does Android have a chance?
The huge buzz around an iPhone-killing “Google Phone” died down a bit after Android was revealed, but there’s still a lot of optimism amongst openness advocates—as well as those interested in seeing anything the Big G puts out. It’s all tempered, though, by the realities of the cell phone market and open-source environments. Here’s our take on whether the Android can thrive:
Yes, it can
It’s open for anything: With Google opening up the Android’s SDK to anyone, free of charge, and basing it on Java language that most programmers (often grudgingly) got through in college, there are few limits on the kinds of stupid-cool or uber-useful apps that can be released. We’re already expecting to see the full Google suite—Calendar, Gmail, contacts, and more—find a place on the phone, of course, along with many other webapps. But projects like the TuneWiki music player show that already-working software can also find a home on Android. In other words, bring on the phone-activated backup software.
Google’s doing the marketing: The handset makers and cell providers might put big money and time into touting their shiny and new phones, but Google will definitely be driving innovation and spreading the word. In a few short weeks, their Chrome browser jumped into third or fourth place on many web sites’ traffic stats, based mostly on news coverage and a tiny link on their home page. Assuming Android doesn’t cause a rash of pocket explosions, it’ll get good play with cell owners, developers, and a Google-crazed press.
No lock-in: Most carriers will make Android phones affordable only with two-year contracts, but Android still presents a savvier purchase for those concerned about the iPhone’s data portability and proprietary lock-in. There’s no iTunes-required activation or SIM chip lock-down, and given the nature of the OS, most of your phone’s guts will be open to hack-friendly tools and useful backup features.
Well, then again …
The corporate factor: There’s a reason Apple put so much effort into touting the iPhone 3G’s compatibility with Microsoft Exchange servers and push email. Big companies, stuffed with data-hungry managers, are prime customers for cell companies, and, at least at launch, Android is just as easy to link to proprietary servers and systems as most open-source projects—and that’s kind of a put-down. It’ll be up to clever hackers to come up with the tools needed to put the Android in an executives’ hand, because the firms themselves will just stick with BlackBerry.
Open-source, closed carriers: As our sibling site has noted, Android’s Apache license allows phone companies to do pretty much whatever they’d like with their code. That means, if they chose to, companies like Verizon and Sprint could disable or enfeeble parts of the system, and the “Android store” can be filtered to carry only carrier-approved apps. There might be work-arounds in the wild, but the average customer isn’t inspired by the phrase “firmware hack.”
The familiar Apple-is-just-easier argument: Back in June, the Wall Street Journal cataloged phone makers and software writers’ woes with the constantly-updating, not-quite-polished Android development kit. By comparison, Apple’s iPhone development kit is intuitive for anyone developing for OS X, and it’s made for one device with pre-configured features. That’s kept some folks—like AT&T and Verizon—away from the first round of Android, and if problems persist, well, ask a game console maker what an unfriendly development kit can do for sales.
I don’t know you but when I saw those ads, my first impression was: “Those ads resemble Vista - unfunny and complicated”. I think after that, Apple now will have tons of materials to make fun of Windows using their Apple vs Windows ads.
Microsoft flacks are desperately dialing reporters to spin them about “phase two” of the ad campaign — a phase, due to be announced tomorrow, which will drop the aging comic altogether. Microsoft’s version of the story: Redmond had always planned to drop Seinfeld. The awkward reality: The ads only reminded us how out of touch with consumers Microsoft is — and that Bill Gates’s company has millions of dollars to waste on hiring a has-been funnyman to keep him company.
Update: In a phone call, Waggener Edstrom flack Frank Shaw confirms that Microsoft is not going on with Seinfeld, and echoes his underlings’ spin that the move was planned. There is the “potential to do other things” with Seinfeld, which Shaw says is still “possible.” He adds: “People would have been happier if everyone loved the ads, but this was not unexpected.”
EA Blackbox has just released the first gameplay footage for Need for Speed Undercover. Little is known about NFS: Undercover other than it will feature a “Most Wanted-ish” sandbox style of gameplay and police vehicles will include helicopters. Need for Speed: Undercover is set to release Nov. 18 in U.S. and Nov. 21 in EU.
How the PS4 is shaping up to be the next must-own console
If Microsoft is secretly readying a new Xbox to succeed the Xbox 360, then surely Sony must be working on a PlayStation 4?
Speculation is rife that the next console battle will be fought around 2011-2012. This is when Crytek’s CEO Cevat Yerli and industry analyst Colin Sebastian believe that a potential Xbox 720 and PS4 could appear.
Recycling PS3 for PS4
To imagine what a PS4 might be capable of we should look at what the current PS3 doesn’t have or doesn’t do well. For starters, Sony will need to closely integrate the hardware and software development for its next console.
According to SCEA’s CEO Jack Tretton: “The hardware guys developed the [PlayStation 3] fairly independently, then dumped it onto the software guy’s lap, effectively saying ‘do something with it.’”
Considering that Sony spent around $3 billion developing the PS3, it seems likely that it will use an improved version of the Cell processor for a PS4. IBM has already released an improved version of the Cell for its blade servers. The PowerXCell 8i is a 65nm chip, with support for 32GB of DDR2 memory and eight fully-functional SPEs (compared to seven on the PS3).
The advantage of recycling the Cell is that Sony could retain a familiar development environment and use existing code libraries. The modular design of the Cell architecture could also allow extra Synergistic Processing Elements (SPEs) to be added to future chips. Twenty or more SPEs might be possible on a single 32nm Cell processor.
And if increasing the on-chip SPEs isn’t an option in the proposed 2011-2012 time frame, then a PS4 could incorporate multiple Cell chips. IBM’s Cell roadmap includes a PowerXCell 32iv, which appears to feature four PPEs (Power Processor Elements) and 32 SPEs, ie four Cell chips running in parallel.
Inside the PlayStation 4
If the PS4 is a revamp of the PS3, we’re likely to see some obvious technology upgrades – 802.11n to replace the existing 802.11b/g chipset; an external power supply (to reduce the size of the box and to improve cooling); a massive hard disk; new graphics processor and an increase in the onboard memory.
The memory architecture in the PS3 splits 512MB equally between graphics and application use and it’s been suggested that this limits developer freedom. You’d expect the PS4 to address this issue, giving developers more dedicated memory in which to load game levels. Although it’s worth pointing out that the PS3 (and any future Cell-based consoles) can use the SPEs for maths-intensive tasks like physics.
New graphics processor
What about a replacement for the PS3’s NVIDIA-built RSX graphics processor? We’ve already speculated that Microsoft could use Intel’s general purpose Larrabee chip in its next Xbox to handle real-time physics and AI. Rumours also suggest that Intel is pimping Larrabee to Sony for the PS4.
Like any Xbox 360 replacement, the PS4 is also going to have a much bigger hard disk. This will be in readiness for a wealth of downloadable content that will include games, demos, music, movies and TV shows. A terabyte HDD isn’t out of the question. And in a world that will increasingly be looking to online services for content, does any PlayStation 4 still need a Blu-ray drive?
A PS4 without Blu-ray?
While the PS3 was instrumental in helping Blu-ray beat off HD DVD, there’s a strong argument for dropping an optical drive from the PS4 altogether. Console owners are already downloading gigabytes-worth of game demos, video trailers, full-length movies and TV shows. With a giant hard disk in the PS4, games could simply be piped straight to the console on release day; long install/level load times would be eliminated.
Along with the Cell processor, the Blu-ray drive is one of the PS3’s most expensive components. The PS3’s high price has forced it into third place behind the Nintendo Wii and Xbox 360. Sony will be keen not to price itself out of the next console battle.
As Acclaim boss Dave Perry recently claimed: “Because of the cost of making the PlayStation 3 and because they sold it at a loss, Sony basically has pretty much no chance of making money on the PS3, because it’s lost more money than they made during the entire peak of the PlayStation 2 – it’s not going to happen again for Sony.”
Sony can’t simply slash its prices like Microsoft has recently. And Blu-ray is partly to blame. Billy Pidgeon, an analyst at market researcher IDC points out: “Blu-ray licensees would be threatened by pricing the PS3 below stand-alone Blu-ray players. The PS3 is a bit challenged on that side.”
Chasing the dream of a digital hub
Do consumers really want a PlayStation 4 that does everything? Sony’s next console needs to be a machine that plays the best games. Just like the PS2 did. The PS4 could go one of two ways – a premium all-in-one box that offers Blu-ray, integrated playTV and a much larger hard disk; or a pure games machine, stripped of its expensive technology in favour of mass market appeal?
Whatever the PS4 looks like, the final question to be asked is: when will it launch? Sony’s Kaz Hirai has already given us a hint: “If you look at the history of the way we’ve managed our console business,” he said, “we always try to hit a 10-year life cycle “
That might put any PS4 launch back to 2016. But when you consider that the PS2 is still chugging along in the shadow of the PS3, a PS4 could easily sit alongside and overlap the existence of the PS3.
A lot of hopes and open-source dreams are riding on a plucky little phone platform called Android, and its public debut on a real-live phone 
Android isn’t the “Google Phone” or “GPhone.” It’s a (mostly) free and open-source mobile operating system that’s made to run on all kinds of cell phones, and allow nearly anyone who can program in Java to create and distribute applications for it. Google spilled their plans for Android at the same time—November 2007—they announced that 34 hardware, software, and network companies had signed onto their 
So what will Android look and feel like? We know that, at least with the Dream, phone users will use the flip-out mini-keyboard to enter text, but rely on a prominent, iPhone-like touch screen for navigation. Of course, if an Android developer wants to build a touch-screen keyboard, there’s nothing to stop them. One major difference between any Android phone and Apple’s iPhone stems from the Cupertino company’s patent application for “multi-touch” features; Android users can’t resize their screens by pinching and expanding, or use two fingers to dual-finger scroll, but, other than that, you’re flipping between work screens with a finger flick, tapping and dragging icons around, and otherwise manipulating your phone world with your fingers.
After showing off the HTC Dream Tuesday, T-Mobile might just surprise everyone by making the phone available that day, but most buyers are expecting to 
It’s open for anything: With Google opening up the Android’s SDK to anyone, free of charge, and basing it on Java language that most programmers (often grudgingly) got through in college, there are few limits on the kinds of stupid-cool or uber-useful apps that can be released. We’re already expecting to see the full Google suite—Calendar, Gmail, contacts, and more—find a place on the phone, of course, along with many other webapps. But projects like the 
Open-source, closed carriers: As our sibling site 
I don’t know you but when I saw those ads, my first impression was: “Those ads resemble Vista - unfunny and complicated”. I think after that, Apple now will have tons of materials to make fun of Windows using their Apple vs Windows ads.
Loading ...
