Tech News Today 184

Tech News Today
Episode 184


"It's Dangerous To Go Alone, Take This"Hosts: Tom Merritt, Veronica Belmont, Philip Allingham Recorded: February 22, 2011 Published: February 22, 2011 Duration: 44:35 Transcript Previous episode – Next episode

Tech News Today 184: It's Dangerous To Go Alone, Take This

Sony's lawsuit, an Ivy.com judgement, print your own ears, and more.

Hosts

Tom Merritt (@acedtect)
- TomMerritt.com
Veronica Belmont
- Veronica
Philip Allingham
- pga-law.com

Topics

Amazon launches Prime Instant Video, unlimited streaming for Prime subscribers
Paid prime subscribers ($79 a year) automatically have access to streaming video of TV and movies. 5,000 pieces of content.
Amazon Prime Instant Video hands-on
Netflix fires back at Amazon with CBS deal
Mostly library shows like Star Trek. Current shows like Medium will not be available until next year.

Exclusive: Apple iPad 2 Event Set for March 2
Analyst: IPad 2 Will Launch in June, Not April [Updated]
Taiwanese brokerage Yuanta Securities said Production bottlenecks at Apple’s manufacturing partner Hon Hai may delay the rumored device’s launch by as much as two months. JimDalrymple at the Loop said delays of the iPad or the iPhone are simply not true.
Rumors of iPad2 iPhone 5 delay are not true
Apple schedules secret retail employee meeting this weekend
Apple has asked its retail employees to sign non-disclosure agreements ahead of an all-hands meeting likely to be held later this week. On Feb. 20, the blog Apple Insider reported some Apple retailers receiving a warning from the company not to open sealed pallet shipments due to arrive sometime this week.
New MacBooks seem imminent, may feature Light Peak tech “We expect refreshed models with faster processors; however, we do not expect a dramatic redesign,” Gene Munster, an analyst with Piper Jaffray, wrote in a co-authored Feb. 22 report.
Apple MacBook Pro Refresh Won't Be Radical: Analyst

Microsoft welcomes Xbox Kinect 'hackers' Microsoft is to open up its Xbox Kinect technology to allow amateur software developers to experiment with it. The company is to release a software development kit in the spring, which will give developers access to the secrets behind the technology. The announcement was made during an open day at Microsoft's research centre near Seattle.

Discussion Stories

French search company lobs new antitrust complaint at Google French company 1PlusV is behind the legal search engine Ejustice.fr, and says that Google won't allow the site to use AdSense to make money. They have filed a complaint with the European Commission.

Internet streams of over-the-air broadcasts illegal, says judge
Judge Naomi Buchwald ruled today that ivi is now under a preliminary injunction and must stop the retransmissions. ivi pays a compulsory license fee to the copyright office under a law from the 1970s designed to allow cable companies to carry over the air broadcasts on cable.

"OtherOS" class-action lawsuit: GeoHot, Sony now share same charge a claim that Sony violated the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act by removing the ability to run Linux. This is the same law under which Sony is suing George Hotz for hacking the PS3, in fact.
Geohot starts blog, raises cash for legal fees
Geohot's blog address
PlayStation hackers reportedly able to unban selves, ban others, turn tables
Destructoid reporting hackers may be able to unban themselves and even ban others. Looks pretty theoretical.

Should Employers Be Allowed to Ask for Your Facebook Login? According to an ACLU letter sent to the Maryland Department of Corrections, the organization requires that new applicants and those applying for recertifications give the government "their social media account usernames and personal passwords for use in employee background checks."

News Fuse

Motorola Xoom is expected to go on sale this week with Android 3.0 Honeycomb but not Adobe Flash. But the pain won't last as long as it does on iOS. Adobe says that Flash Player 10.2, the version of Flash that will be compatible with upcoming Android tablets will be ready "within a few weeks" at which point it will be available for over-the-air installation on Android 3.0 tablets.

Windows Phone 7 got an update. But it's just an update to the updater. How cruel is that? To add insult to the injury, many Windows Phone users report the updater update bricked their phone. Micrsoft is looking into the problem and recommends returning the phone to the store to have it exchanged if you're having this problem. Ouch!

Nintendo announced today that launch titles for the 3DS game consoles will cost $40. 16 titles were announced including three from Nointendo like the new 2011 Mario Kart, PilotWings Resort, which uses the 3D screen to good effect. "The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D, Star Fox 64 3D, Kid Icarus: Uprising and new installments in the Mario Kart series" will be coming later in 2011.

Are you one of those audio snobs who thinks MP3 sounds like a tin can being dragged through a field of rotten corpses? Take heart. CNN reports that Apple iTunes and other digital music retailers are negotiating with record labels to offer professional quality, 24 bit audio tracks. Audio players might need some updating to be able to play the tracks though.

New HP CEO Leo Apotheker presided over his first earnings call since taking over the top spot at the company last November. HP said Q1 revenue rose 4%, year over year, to $32.3 billion, missing the $32.9 billion estimate but earnings per share did beat estimates. HP stock dipped on the announcement.

Verizon's in trouble with the FCC, not over net neutrality, but something some often think of as the problem of other carriers: dropped calls. Reports indicate Verizon’s network failed to connect 10,000 calls to 911 numbers in Washington’s suburbs during the Jan. 26 snowpocalypse. Verizon says their addressing the issue and called it a "mass call event"

Using your phone as a cash register just got cheaper. Mobile payments company Square is dropping the per transaction charge for any business using its mobile payments device and service. Square previously charged 2.75% of each transaction amount plus a flat 15 cent per transaction fee. Today, Square is completely dropping the 15 cent charge and only charging the percentage.

And we want to take a moment to acknowledge the earthquake in Christchurch New Zealand. We hope any of our listeners there are safe and sound. Google is offering its "personfinder" database to help people in Christchurch find friends and family. The address is christchurch-2011.person-finder.appspot.com The service was first offered in Haiti after last January's earthquake.

Kickers and Weird Science

Cornell University scientists use 3D printer to engineer human ear made of silicone

Calendar

Email

"Hello TNT and/or Fourcast

Here's an angle on all the hoop-la about Apple's onerous terms... or my prediction ;)

I predict magazines will break themselves up into smaller chunks. We'll use the Wall Street Journal as an example, substitute any others you'd like. The Wall Street Journal would separate into The Wall Street Journal Syndication that writes the articles. Next, AndroidStreetJournal would get most of it's content from WSJS. Then AppleStreetJournal, WSJWeb, etc. You will get a few authors or at-least editors moving into those divisions that will really solidify it as a ""separate business"", you will even see a lot more authors going freelance and just ""happen"" (wink) to sell their articles exclusively to all of the previous WSJ properties.

-- Aaron Coakley AaronC "

Production Information

Edited by: Jeff
Notes:

This area is for use by TWiT staff only. Please do not add or edit any content within this section.

Tech News Today 184

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