Marketing and Technology News

Sony: Blu-ray Discs Cost Too Much

Geoff — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 15:41:31 +0000

A top Sony executive is suggesting that the high price of Blu-ray high-def discs is slowing consumer acceptance of the new home video format.

In an interview with Reuters, Stan Glasgow, president of Sony Electronics, said Blu-ray player sales will likely fall short of forecasts this year. While many analysts have said dropping player prices could spark a holiday sales rush, others have said the high price of a Blu-ray movie title will continue to damper consumer enthusiasm.

Many new Blu-ray releases are priced around $10 more than the standard-def DVD edition.

“They (movie studios) need to make money, and the packaged media (discs) is a critical way for them to make money so I understand their problems also,” Glasgow told the wire service. “But I’d love to see those prices come down, as well as the price of Blu-ray players, to drive adoption.”

Glasgow added that Blu-ray manufacturers will fall short of their target of selling five million Blu-ray players across the globe in 2008.
“It’s not that far off of it,” Glasgow said. “Maybe 10 percent off of what we had thought. It’s truly one of the items that has performed well during this economic mess.”

Several retailers are now selling entry-level Blu-ray players for under $200 and some officials are suggesting that the price could drop as low as $128 during the holiday shopping season.

Glasgow also said in the interview that sales of high-def sets are slowing some thanks to the sluggish economy.

“We expected the TV industry to just skyrocket this holiday season. It’s going to grow, but its not skyrocketing,” he said. “There are less consumers…willing to spend money. I believe 80 percent of that is just consumer confidence. They don’t feel as comfortable making a major investment in a television.”

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Source: TV Predictions.Com

Posted by: Geoff Caplan

http://geoffcaplan.com

Twitter Updates for 2008-11-20

Geoff — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 03:59:59 +0000

Another visit to gym tonight. Feeling great. #
Trying to get back into shape. Arms were hurting bad this morning after triceps workout. Need to be careful. #
Netvibes rocks. I have my feeds, GMail and more set up in an easy to customize portal. Using RSS feeds much more now. Email inbox is tamed. #

MacBook Owners Up In Arms About New Copyright Software

Geoff — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 14:11:20 +0000

Listen to this article

Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) is bundling a form of copyright protection software into new MacBooks that has some buyers up in arms. Called High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection (HDCP), the technology prevents MacBook owners from playing movies they’ve purchased through iTunes on many external monitors, TVs or projectors—meaning they’re stuck watching flicks they’ve paid for on much smaller screens.

HDCP is designed to prevent film piracy by blocking the connection between a computer and a copying device (like a DVR). The problem is that legitimate devices like TVs—particularly older units—also get blocked in the process. It also doesn’t help that manufacturers like Apple, Panasonic and Sony aren’t forthcoming about how they’re adding the technology to products. Even Microsoft’s Vista and Windows Media Center have varying degrees of HDCP compliance.

Wired says Intel bowed the technology back in 2001, but Apple began quietly embedding it in new MacBooks this year as a way to appease Hollywood studios wary of licensing content to iTunes. Since iTunes files get downloaded right to a user’s hard drive, a film could feasibly be burned to a DVD and recopied ad nauseum. Analysts say that’s why the iTunes movie library is anemic in comparison to the libraries of Netflix (NSDQ: NFLX) or Vudu—which don’t let users store the files. Apple hasn’t released any statements addressing the issue, but it’s not alone

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Source: PaidContent.Org

Posted by: Geoff Caplan

http://geoffcaplan.com

http://leadflash.com

http://moneyremix.com

http://teddyfitzbear.com

Apple Mac Macintosh MacBook HDCP High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection

Twitter Updates for 2008-11-19

Geoff — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 03:59:59 +0000

My job is amazing - exciting and interesting in every way. #
So far, not impressed with Google voice search app for iPhone. Great idea but needs some work. #
Finally got back to the gym again. Feel great. Now, I need to stay with it. #

Apple Mac Macintosh MacBook HDCP High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection

Why Developers Are Moving to Macs

Geoff — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 17:35:47 +0000

Programmers are finding themselves increasingly drawn to the Mac as a development platform, in large part due to Apple’s decision to move to Intel chips and to embrace virtualization of other OSes, which has turned Mac OS X into a flexible tool for development, InfoWorld reports. The explosion of interest in smartphone development is helping the trend, with iPhone development lock-in to the Mac environment the chief motivating factor for Apple as a platform of choice for mobile development. Yet for many, the Mac remains sluggish and poorly tuned for development, with developers citing its virtual memory system’s poor performance in paging data in and out of memory and likening use of the default-network file system, AFS, to engaging oneself with “some kind of passive-aggressive torture.” What remains unclear is whether Apple will lend an ear to this new wave of Mac-based development or continue to develop products that lock out uses programmers expect.”

Discuss this story at:
http://developers.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/11/17/1920206

Links:
http://www.infoworld.com/
http://www.infoworld.com/article/08/11/17/47TC-developers-mac_1.html

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Source: Slashdot

Posted by: Geoff Caplan

http://geoffcaplan.com

http://leadflash.com

http://moneyremix.com

http://teddyfitzbear.com

Apple Mac Macintosh developers

Twitter Updates for 2008-11-17

Geoff — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 03:59:59 +0000

Absolutely beautiful day here in South Florida. Great time of year to be here. #
What’s with iGoogle? It’s my favorite homepage/reader but my old tabs with feed content disappeared. Arghhhhh. #
Found a post in a Google forum that helped me to bring the old iGoogle back with my tabs. If this didn’t work I would have gone to NetVibes. #
My iGoogle fix didn’t work, once page refreshed. Frustrating. Tabbed content is on left side but don’t see way to add new tabs or content. #

Safari 3.2 Is Available

Geoff — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 14:05:05 +0000

Listen to this article

Yesterday Apple quietly slipped out an update to their Safari Web browser to version 3.2. The notable feature is that it finally adds anti-phishing technology, an area where Safari has lagged behind competitors. Aside from that, it provides some security fixes, improved JavaScript performance, and a slightly newer version of Webkit, pulling their Acid3 score up to 77.

Apple forums across the Net are reporting frequent crashes in Safari 3.2, some possibly caused by 3rd-party add-ons, others perhaps related to the anti-phishing feature.

Discuss this story at:

http://apple.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/11/16/0152220

Links:
http://www.macfixit.com/article.php?story=2008111400261368
http://news.softpedia.com/news/Safari-3-2-is-a-Crash-Frenzy-97921.shtml
http://forums.macnn.com/82/applications/381330/safari-3-2-causing-crashes/
http://twitter.com/MILE/status/1005253050

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Source: Slashdot

Posted by: Geoff Caplan

http://geoffcaplan.com

Apple Safari web browsers

Twitter Updates for 2008-11-15

Geoff — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 03:59:59 +0000

No, it’s The Clock at 441 & Glades, behind the Sports Authority. I’ve been going there for years. #
Welcome back! #
Been looking for the new Google voice search app for iPhone. Can’t find it…yet. #

Twitter Updates for 2008-11-14

Geoff — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 03:59:59 +0000

At one of my favorite budget restaurants, The Clock in West Boca. #

Google Launching Speech-to-Search iPhone App Today

Geoff — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 18:46:16 +0000

It’s being reported from numerous technology news sources that Google is about to launch an application today that will allow the user to speak into an iPhone and receive search results. Initial reports are that there are some bugs with the system but that it generally works well.

Photo: TechCrunch

Posted by: Geoff Caplan

http://geoffcaplan.com

Google iPhone iPhone 3G speech-to-search