Mari Silbey

Mari’s tech career started when she became the default “IT guy” in her first job out of college. Since leaving help-desk duties to the experts, she’s focused on trends in technology as a consultant, writer, reporter, analyst and at-home gadget tinkerer. Her current paid gig is with the non-profit organization US Ignite where she focuses on how networks and digital technologies impact smart cities. All posts on ZNF represent her own opinions and not those of US Ignite. Mari is a sucker for anything in the digital media space and covers interesting happenings in cable, telecom, and whatever else she feels like. Find her on Twitter at @msilbey.

The HTC Thunderbolt Gets a Gingerbread Update

Maybe it should have been named Pumpkin Spice given the timing, but the Android 2.3 update, aka Gingerbread, has been rolling out successfully to HTC Thunderbolt owners over the last several days. I left my own Thunderbolt on overnight, and woke up pleasantly surprised to see the OS update installed and running smoothly.

Some of the immediately noticeable differences in the latest software release (2.11.605.5) include updated icons, a new Quick Settings tab, and a favorites section with frequently-used apps. The Quick Settings tab is useful because it provides shortcuts for turning on and off Wi-Fi, mobile data, GPS, etc. Not that you can’t bookmark these functions anyway, but it makes sense to have them readily available from the get-go. The icon updates are generally nice, and the favorites section is a helpful alternative to scrolling through pages of apps on a regular basis.

Digging a little deeper, the latest software build also adds a few new apps to the 4G smartphone, including Google Books and a desktop mode app. I hit up Google Books for a free excerpt of the Steve Jobs biography, but given my Kindle account, I doubt I’ll make any further use of the Google software. The desk mode app, meanwhile, only works with the official HTC hardware dock, but it’s making me think that a dock purchase (or gift request) might be worth re-evaluating. The landscape view offers time and temperature, a stream of friend updates, and three icons for photos, music, and calendar access.

The other biggie in this release is a security update. When HTC first started sending out its Gingerbread upgrade, there was a major security hole in place that allowed apps to access a slew of tracking information. That issue’s reportedly been fixed, and HTC says it’s improved Bluetooth security as well.

Hands On with Skifta – AirPlay for Android

We’ve written about Skifta before, but now that it’s out of beta – and I have an Android phone that rates above the 2.1 OS – I decided to give it a try. Skifta is a DLNA app from Qualcomm that lets you stream content around to different networked devices. Sadly I don’t have a DLNA TV, or a media streamer that supports DLNA, so my testing was limited, but I was able to get the gist of the app with just my phone and PC.

First the good stuff. After downloading Skifta, my phone instantly identified my PC as an available content source. I selected the source, and my playback device, and Skifta popped up an option for browsing available media. From my phone I was able to see photos, music and video on my computer. I opened the video folder first, and immediately played an old home movie I digitized for Christmas last year. It was an odd moment. Here was a video recorded on VHS nearly 20 years ago, now available on my smartphone. Surreal. Music streaming worked reasonably too, though there was a bit of a lag when trying to skip between tracks.

UK and Ireland Get the Netflix Love

Netflix announced this morning that it’s ready to share the streaming love with consumers in the UK and Ireland starting in early 2012. Like the company’s other international launches, this expansion doesn’t appear to include the DVD-by-mail service, but for the moment, further details on Netflix’s first excursion across the pond are scarce. The company … Read more

Slacker Now Powers AOL Radio, More Deals Coming

Slacker’s got a channel strategy. Yesterday, the streaming music company announced it’s made good on a deal with AOL to replace CBS Radio as the engine behind AOL Radio. On the face of it, the deal may not sound like much, but according to VP Jonathan Sasse, the new agreement could double the amount of content Slacker serves to its listeners. In addition, AOL is not likely to be a “one-off” deal. Sasse hints that we’ll probably see other, similar agreements in the coming months.

The partnership program is an interesting one because of how Slacker structures its relationships. Slacker technology is the engine behind all of its partners’ apps (the company struck a deal with AARP this summer too), but partners can bring their own targeted content with curated stations produced by their own DJs. In the case of AOL, there’s a mix of Slacker stations and AOL ones. Partners can also bundle the service in different ways. AOL is sticking with the Slacker model of offering one free version and two premium tiers (coming in November), but other partners may package their services differently.

I had a brief moment of panic thinking Slacker might be ending its own, beloved, direct-to-consumer business in favor of partner distribution, but Sasse assures me that’s not the case. The channel program is a complement to Slacker’s direct retail business, not a replacement. (Phew.)

First Draft of H.265 Spec Due in February

Our growing appetite for high-def video is putting a serious strain on operator networks, and the result is an enemy we all love to hate: bandwidth caps. So bearing that in mind, it’s good news to hear there’s continued progress on the development of a new video compression standard, the High Efficiency Video Coding specification, or … Read more

DirecTV Launches DVR-Shifting Nomad

While Roku is getting the big headlines this morning with its HBO Go support and a sub-$50 streamer, DirecTV has a newsworthy launch going on as well. As Jeff Baumgartner points out, the product page is now live for the company’s Nomad ($149) product that lets subscribers transfer DVR recordings to a PC, iPhone or iPod … Read more

Playing with the Funnest Apple Products

If you’re a tech blogger, you write about Apple. And if you’re a tech blogger today, you write about Steve Jobs. Unfortunately, I have nothing witty, insightful or inspired to say that hasn’t already been said. So instead, here’s a quick collection of posts over the years cataloging ZNF’s excitement over Apple products. Not that … Read more

Microsoft TV is About Cable Testing IP

Microsoft formally announced partners for its latest Xbox TV initiative today. In addition to Comcast and Verizon FiOS (two partners that were leaked last week), Xbox owners will be able to access content in varying degrees from Bravo, HBO Go and Syfy in the US, along with BBC in the UK, Telefonica in Spain, Rogers … Read more