More Photos, More Storage

When I read the news today that Comcast had upgraded free storage for customers to 1 Gig per Comcast.net email address, it happened to be right after reading another stat from a firm called InfoTrends. InfoTrends predicts that Americans will take 50 billion digital photos in 2007 and 60 billion by 2011. Putting the two … Read more

Guitar Hero III Details

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I managed to break away from my work-related responsibilities for about 30 minutes last evening and attended a pre-pre-DigitalLife event. There wasn’t a whole lot going on, and the Ford Sync SUV running Microsoft’s Auto software didn’t even sport a MS logo to photograph. On the flip side, it didn’t sport a BSOD either – which seemed to be the running joke. Poor Softy.

The hit of the show was the open bar Guitar Hero III playable demo… with wireless guitar (finally). I didn’t bother waiting in line to jam, but I did quiz the rep:

  • October 28 Release
  • PS2, Wii – $89.99
  • PS3, Xbox 360 – $99.99
  • 2 AA batteries for about 80 hours of strumming
  • 73 tracks, 70% by original artists
  • Online coop play (platform dependent, obviously)

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Amazon MP3 Music Store – I’m Having So Much Fun

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I should preface effusiveness by saying that there are plenty of things not to like about Amazon’s new digital music store, Amazon MP3. As Om Malik points out, the interface is really not that great, though the downloader application is virtually transparent once you’ve downloaded it. I was also seriously disappointed at not being able to find a lot of the songs I wanted to download. Music that may not be recent, but is relatively mainstream. Bummer.

However…

Wow. Overall I love Amazon MP3. After running through set-up and trying my free download (a song called “Energy” by The Apples), I found and purchased a song by Mike Doughty of former Soul Coughing fame. A click of the mouse and “I Hear the Bells” downloaded to my laptop and transferred automatically into iTunes. Nice touch.

Once I had the song safely on my laptop (for a mere 89 cents) I walked over to my Squeezebox remote. It’s been a long time since I’ve streamed anything from my computer to my Squeezebox since mostly I just listen to Internet stations and podcasts. But that’s because most of my downloaded music is sadly DRM-protected by Apple and can’t be heard through the Squeezebox. Different story with my new Amazon download. A couple of clicks with my remote and my newly purchased song was blasting through my living room speakers. Glorious.

Yes, yes, I know you can get DRM-free music from iTunes, but there’s something great about going to an online store where you know everything available is music that can be moved around to any device. And it’s a bit shocking to pay only 89 cents for some tracks. Dangerous. I see possible addiction ahead.

I can’t wait until Amazon adds more music to its DRM-free catalog. Maybe, just maybe we have an actual iTunes competitor now.

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The Pudding Experience

The press has had a field day with Pudding Media’s new VoIP offering. In a nutshell, the company lets you make VoIP calls for free if you let them listen in and provide targeted ads. Since many folks have already written about the horrific Big Brother implications, I thought I’d take a different approach to the news. Here are the “contextual” ads I imagine when I think of the Pudding experience…

Mari on the phone: “My daughter was really cranky yesterday afternoon. She had a massive temper tantrum and threw herself down on the hard floor…” Note: my daughter is a perfect angel and would never actually do this. ;)

Imagined Pudding ads:

Child harness! Easy. Safe. Keeps you in control.

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Softest rugs you’ll ever find! 3% off now through Sunday.

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Are you having trouble coping? Ask your doctor if Prozac is right for you.

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EchoStar Announces Agreement to Acquire Sling Media, Inc.

Combination Will Create Industry-Leading Digital Media Solutions Provider

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. and FOSTER CITY, Calif., September 24, 2007 – EchoStar Communications Corporation (NASDAQ: DISH) announced today that it has agreed to acquire Sling Media, Inc., a privately-held digital lifestyle products company. EchoStar, through its DISH Network®, is the third largest pay-TV provider in the United States. The transaction values Sling Media at approximately $380 million and is payable in cash and EchoStar options. The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions, and is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2007.

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The Business of Wi-Fi

Usually when I go up to NYC I take the train from Trenton to Penn Station NY, but clearly I’m going to have to find a way to start traveling to Grand Central Station instead. The Weather Channel has announced it will sponsor free Wi-Fi at Grand Central for a year starting October 1st. It’s … Read more

TiVo Rolls Out Fall Software Update

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Over on TiVo Lovers, I caught news that TiVo has begun rolling out their Fall 2007 software update (9.1). Other than the advanced Boolean Wishlist searches, most of the visible enhancements appear to be pretty minor. Guess TiVoToGo, Multi-Room Viewing, and eSATA storage support for Series3/HD will be part of the “Winter” update? November’s quickly approaching…

Since I’m on the road, I hadn’t spent any time looking at TiVo system messages – but I did check last night. And as you can see from the pics, our bedroom Series2 received the 9.1 update.

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