Blackberry 9000 will get iTunes sync

Blackberry 9000 will get iTunes sync
Smartphone fans are excited about yesterday’s announcement of the Blackberry 9000, aka Blackberry Bold, aka Research In Motion’s iPhone killer. But Blackberry users are a different breed than iPhone users–the Blackberry’s reason for existence is always-connected e-mail, and Blackberry users tend to be all business, afraid of being out of touch for even a moment. (An old friend in Washington D.C.–where Blackberry users are legion–had to make a vow after her third child was born not to check her e-mail after 6 p.m.)

(Credit: RIM)
So while the iPhone grew out of the iPod, and thus counts music playback as one of its primary features, the Blackberry Bold focuses more on its core communications features–e-mail, messaging, and telephony–as well as new physical improvements, like a bright color screen. You can see this focus in the first detailed hands-on review of the product at Crackberry.com, where media playback isn’t even mentioned until part III (of IV) and gets no more than a paragraph. And 1GB of onboard memory isn’t really enough for serious music listeners anyway, although it’s expandable to 16GB.

But the clearest indication of all: while the 9000 might echo past Blackberries and ship with a Roxio application for organizing music on your PC and transferring it to your phone, RIM is also preparing a new application called Blackberry Media Sync that will let you use Apple’s iTunes to transfer files to the phone. Of course, once you do get music onto the device, a relatively powerful internal stereo speaker system might actually make listening without headphones a reasonable option–sort of like the boombox of tomorrow. The iPhone’s speakers are apparently not quite up to the task.

Still, for music fans in desperate need of a new phone–like me–the iPhone is still the most obvious choice, especially now that a 3G model is almost certainly on the way. But if you’re already a Blackberry fan, or are primarily concerned with having access to e-mail at all times, the 9000 seems like the clearest alternative to the iPhone.”

(Via CNET.)

Warner Bros. to Release Movies for Apple TV and On Demand Same Day as DVD

Warner Bros. to Release Movies for Apple TV and On Demand Same Day as DVD [Home Entertainment]

The format war over, and Blu-ray safely enthroned as the victor, Warner can now turn its sights beyond—to downloads and the infinite format war. Time Warner’s chief executive announced today that Warner Bros. will release movies for on-demand systems like Comcast’s and Apple TV on the same day they are released on DVD from now on.

Warner’s been toying around with it for a little while and been increasingly open to internet distribution, so it doesn’t come as a major surprise. Interestingly, according to their numbers, offering same-day releases on the internet only eats into DVD rentals by 3-5 percent, and actually increases sales. Plus, online rentals/sales double bring them more than double the profit margin of physical discs, so everybody wins, except for Blockbuster. (So Hollywood really does have nothing to fear from online distribution.)

The best news though? Head of Warner’s home video said that they’re trying to make online rentals “at least as lenient” as grabbing a DVD from Blockbuster, breaking open that 24-hour window. Now that would be a deathblow for Blockbuster. [<A href=”http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/04/30/warner-brothers-to-rent-movies-online-sooner/index.html?ref=technology&#8221;

(Via Gizmodo.)

Free Wi-Fi Access to iPhone Users???

AT&T Providing Free Wi-Fi Access to iPhone Users
A couple of readers (of MacRumors) have reported that AT&T hotspots are now offering free Wi-Fi access to iPhone users. AT&T Wi-Fi hotspots at Barnes and Noble as well as Starbucks are now offering iPhone users a custom portal to access free Wi-Fi. A special iPhone formatted page asks for your mobile phone number. Once entered, you can access the Wi-Fi access for free. MacRumors has been able to confirm this finding at a local Barnes and Noble. Blurry photo provided:

AT&T recently partnered with Starbucks to provide Wi-Fi access to Starbucks’ 7000 stores nationwide. This partnership allowed existing AT&T broadband customers free access and AT&T promised that it would “soon extend the benefits of Wi-Fi at Starbucks to its wireless customers”, but no official announcement has yet been made

(Via MacRumors.)

Vista is ‘a Work in Progress’ – Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer: Vista is ‘a Work in Progress’

While Microsoft recently extended the date when the XP software will be available for low-cost PCs, it doesn’t plan to listen to some other complaints, including that Vista is too big. “Vista is bigger than XP and it’s gonna stay bigger than XP,” Ballmer said. “We have to make sure it doesn’t get bigger still.””

(Via url}view/technology”>Digg.)

Windows Software Update Utility Gets Fixed

Apple fixes Windows Software Update utility

Following considerable public criticism, Apple has release a new version of its Software Update utility for Windows, bringing it to v2.1. The patch is available through the current version of Software Update — bundled with programs such as iTunes — and addresses an earlier policy of Apple, under which Safari 3.1 would be pushed to Windows users whether they wanted it or not, as if they had already downloaded the application previously. Some have accused Apple of trying to artificially improve the distribution of the Safari web browser in the Windows sphere.
Safari continues to appear as a default checked item in Update 2.1, but has been moved to the “New Software” category, and so is readily identifiable as non-essential. New versions of Safari should now also stop triggering the automatic appearance of Software Update, unless users do in fact already have an earlier edition.

(Via MacNN.)

Hulu to come to phones, other platforms?

Hulu to come to phones, other platforms?

NBC’s Hulu TV streaming service is likely to expand beyond its web-only presence of today, the service’s CEO Jason Kilar said this week at the NAB video production expo. While not committing to any one format, the company head explains that cellphones and “anything connected to the Internet” would be an ideal platform for the feature, which allows users to stream (but not download) episodes of NBC and Fox shows.
Kilar also observes that the presentation would have to change on each device, potentially evading the requirement to use Adobe’s Flash browser plug-in to view shows. The NBC senior staffer doesn’t explain how he would expect ads to air on non-Flash platforms; currently, the technology is built to automatically insert ads in between segments, keeping a fresh rotation of advertising and mirroring conventional TV.

The change follows similar efforts by the BBC to bring its iPlayer video archive service to mobile platforms. In its implementation, the British TV producer has already created versions of iPlayer for the iPhone and iPod that stream the raw video files rather than requring Flash, though the public, UK-only nature of the service lets the BBC avoid ads. A similar service is available for the Wii.

Services for Apple devices may prove difficult, as NBC continues to decline hosting shows on the former’s iTunes Store after a pricing dispute and hints that it would prefer a return only if iTunes adds DRM to the software itself rather than just purchased media files.

(Via MacNN.)

“Most Innovative” – Apple tops BusinessWeek’s List

BusinessWeek today released its list of “The 25 Most Innovative Companies” in the world, with Apple, Google, and Toyota taking the top three spots, respectively. The publication states the list is based on companies who nurture cultures that value creative people in good economic times and bad, as well as those that develop a diversified stock portfolio, and display independent though for corporate strategy, despite “finger-wagging” from analysts.
The Boston Consulting Group compiled these results from recommendations by executives who were asked to identify the most pioneering companies in the last year. BCG weighted the results financially as well, with 80-percent coming from the survey, 10-percent from stock returns, with margin growth and three-year revenue each at 5-percent.

Rounding out the top 10 are General Electric, Microsoft, Tata Group, Nintendo, Procter & Gamble, Sony, and Nokia.

(Via MacNN | The Macintosh News Network.)

Death and Taxes – Is the taxman eyeing iTunes?

Analysis: Is the taxman eyeing iTunes?


California State Assembly Bill 1956, which would have added digital downloads to the list of the state's taxable items, was narrowly defeated this week. But the question of taxing items such as iTunes downloads isn't going away.”

(Via Macworld.)

100 HD Movie rentals from Apple but misses 1,000 SD mark..oops

News: Apple hits 100 HD-Dolby rentals, still misses 1,000 SD mark


If the latest summary pages generated by the iTunes Store and Apple TV can be believed, Apple has reached its previously stated goal of offering 100 “high definition video[s] with 5.1 Dolby Digital surround sound” for rent, yet still lags considerably behind its promised 1,000 standard-definition rentals—numbers originally promised by the end of February, but missed by wide margins. A count this afternoon of titles listed in Apple…”

(Via iLounge.)

Software makes Apple, not hardware says Forbes

Forbes: Software makes Apple, not hardware
Despite popular perceptions, Apple’s primary strengths are not in hardware but in software, according to Forbes. The business magazine notes that while the iPhone is an increasingly popular smartphone, and sales of Mac desktops and notebooks are eating further into PC marketshare, it is actually software which makes Apple products distinct.

(Via MacNN.)