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Samsung looking to hasten BD Live implementation?
It's no secret that BD Live functionality hasn't been the standout feature that we had all hoped for, as a majority of the current players on shelves now don't even sport all the necessary equipment to fully take advantage, but it sounds like Samsung is hoping to change all that by getting serious with interactive niceties. In an admittedly poor translation of Korean, a recent report outlines Samsung's desire to "commercialize" BD Live "by the end of the year," aiming to get downloadable content and internet-enabled services to the end user before we all forget about this once hyped technology. Apparently, the firm is already in talks with major Blu-ray disc producers such as Sony, Disney, 20th Century Fox, Warner Bros., and Paramount, and there was also hints that broadening the appeal of BD Live could indeed help Blu-ray gain an edge over HD DVD. Now we just hope that its second-generation lineup doesn't do something awkward like not offer up full support of BD Live, alright Sammy?
TinyURL Service
Over at Hawk Wings, Tim Gaden points to the TinyURL Service by Rachel Blackman. Once installed (which annoyingly requires a restart), this Service allows you to create a TinyURL simply by selecting the URL (e.g. in the address bar of your browser) and invoking the Service (either through the Services Menu, with the global hotkey, or with Quicksilver). This saves some steps compared to using TinyURL's bookmarklet. Tim draws attention to this because using TinyURL is one of the workarounds for dealing Mail.app's unfortunate tendency to break links in emails sent from it. Instead of dragging the URL from your browser, just select it and invoke "Shrink URL," and the appropriate TinyURL will appear in your address bar for dragging and dropping. Another ready constituency for the Service is the whole mob of Twitter fanatics, of which you can include us here at TUAW.Rachel's TinyURL Service is a free download from Riverdark Studios.[Via Hawk Wings]Update: In the comments below, Sparks (i.e. Rachel) notes that she has addressed some of the concerns with her first version and has a new version that can Shrink the URL to the clipboard. It can be downloaded from her site here (zip).
Microsoft 'enhances' Xbox 360 support
Next Generation tells us about Microsoft's new-and-improved Xbox 360 warranty support, including faster service and something the company calls "cost-free shipping." (As opposed to fat-free, perhaps?)Microsoft is also offering to replace any first-party 360 game discs that are damaged -- even if it's your fault. The catch? You gotta send in your broken disc ... along with a cool $20. So why does Microsoft label this a "limited time offer?" You'd think they'd be psyched to reap another $20 for the same software you already spent $60 on and weren't allowed to back up. (Thanks so much, DMCA!)
Apple TV overnight upgrade services debut
Worried about ruining more than the warranty of your Apple TV whilst trying the DIY hard drive upgrade? Then why risk getting your hands dirty - TechRestore and MacService are more than happy to take care of the heavy lifting for you. Both companies have recently debuted overnight Apple TV hard drive upgrade services that begin with 60GB drives and go all the way up to 160GB. While both companies are fairly hush-hush about what this service does to your warranty (hint: say your goodbyes before shipping the device off), the good news is that drives they install do carry warranties of 3-5 years.Looking through the two services reveals some interesting differences. First, MacService more or less offers all-inclusive packages - overnight shipping through and through, with a single list of prices laid out to keep things simple. TechRestore, on the other hand, offers a couple of shipping options and seems to be slightly cheaper (especially when choosing the full overnight option) in price, though I've never had experience with either company to see if 'you pay for what you get' (a Dave Matthews twist on the ol' adage) holds true.Both services are live and kicking, so feel free to comment on your experience if you take advantage of the upgrade.
University of Tokyo crafts tea-grabbing humanoid to serve you better
If you've got a domesticated service bot around to flip your channels and chase away any uninvited intruders, there's not too much else a lonely, elderly individual needs from a fellow humanoid, but researchers at the University of Tokyo are crafting more lifelike and more agile servant bots nevertheless. In an effort to create a tactical team of droids ready and willing to serve the aging population of Japan, the team is working with Kawada Industries Inc. to create friendly robots that can assist folks with around the house chores such as pouring tea and cleaning the dishes. Several models were out and about during a recent demonstration, as one wheeled bot delivered beverages to its master, and other renditions responded to human movements and the bevy of sensors installed in the floor and sofa of a room. Essentially, the team is attempting to seamlessly integrate robotic life with our world, and they're already prepared to feel a lashing from privacy advocates who will protest the embedded camera systems that the robots feed off of. Still, we'd rather have a potentially Big Brother-equipped servant to make sure our favorite dramas get recorded than no one at all.
Yuki-taro chrews through snow, chunks out ice cubes
The Japanese are well known for crafting useful robots to do the dirty work for humans who'd rather park it at home, and the Yuki-taro autonomous snowplow is just another example of machines taking care of the business people can't (or won't). In a collaborative effort between five Niigata-based organizations, the snowbot was created to go off by itself and chew through massive sections of snow to make areas passable once more. The nearly 900-pound machine rocks a yellow and black shell, scoots about on tracks, and features a wide mouth to gobble up the fallen snow, compress it into small blocks, and then expel them from the device's rear. Internally, it boasts a GPS module and a pair of video cameras integrated into the eyes, and while we're not certain what type of energy this thing utilizes, its inventors did manage to receive a design award for its snow-crunching abilities. So if you're tired of shoveling for hours on end in a seemingly futile attempt to uncover your driveway, keep an eye out for a commercial version of the Yuki-taro, as plans are to bring it to market for around $8,300 within five years.[Via Pink Tentacle]
BoxCloud: dead simple file sharing
Billing themselves as "dead simple file sharing for design and media professionals," BoxCloud seems to have a good thing going here. If you deal with a lot of clients and customers who simply aren't hip to FTP or other ways of transferring large files, BoxCloud offers a pretty simple, nay - dead simple - alternative. Featuring software clients for both Windows and Mac OS X (though when Download Squad found them last year they apparently offered a Linux client too), all you need is someone's email address to share a file of any size with them. Your lucky recipient, be they a client, friend, family member or co-worker, will receive an email with a link to download the file from your BoxCloud page. But herein lies the twist: BoxCloud doesn't host the file, so you aren't charged for space - your computer must be running BoxCloud's client, be on, and connected to the internet in order to share the file (i.e. - you host it). Their service plan then simply charges you for monthly bandwidth, not storage space, and plans start at 1GB/month for free, moving on up to 20GB for $9/month.Sure, anyone who's domain + hosting savvy will scoff at this service, but anyone looking for brainless and painless file sharing might appreciate BoxCloud's simplicity. If you're interested, take their tour for more info on how simple sharing can be.
Stikkit web service has all sorts of Mac OS X integration
Stikkit is a new web service in the same organizational vein as Backpack, but it employs some pretty wild tricks and technology to help get your productivity on. The idea behind Stikkit is to get rid of the manual page organization that locks you into one form of hierarchy or another by allowing you to create simple text notes, and organizing your information by watching the language you use in these notes. Tags also play a heavy role here, but for example: if you start writing some ideas down in a note, but then start a new line with "buy eggs," Stikkit now knows you just created a todo, and it automatically lists that note in your todo section, but it can also list the note in your bookmarks section if, say, you add a link to a site you need to visit at a later date. Stikkit is also smart enough to catch notes with a person's name, phone number and IM name, as it will then file that under your peeps section as a contact card. It's a pretty wild system that I urge you to check out, and they have a few screencasts listed on their main page to help you get your feet wet. But why am I telling you all this, you ask? Well, Stikkit is gaining some pretty impressive Mac OS X integration that makes using this service a real dream. First up is a 'New Stikkit Package' created by Nik, one of their enthusiastic users (found via DF). This bundle of tools allows you to create a new Stikkit via AppleScript, your favorite app launcher like Quicksilver or LaunchBar, and even a Service (you know, Apple Menu > Services) which lets you create a Stikkit from text selected in almost any Mac OS X application. It's a pretty handy bundle that offers a lot of flexibility in how you work with Stikkit. Another really impressive integration trick this service has is accepting drag and drop calendar events from iCal. I found this screencast on Stikkit's blog which demonstrates literally dragging an event from iCal onto a new Stikkit note in a browser, and the note collects all the info it needs like the name, date and time of the event, and even any notes you might have added in iCal. I was impressed to discover that this even works with Firefox, where traditional Mac OS X drag and drop goodness like this tends not to play. If you've been looking for a handy online PIM to store your stuff, Stikkit is a great option, though due to its unique technology, it might take some getting used to. I urge you to check out their screencasts to get started, and then move on to cool tools like Nik's package if you catch the bug.
Korean carriers to offer anti-eavesdropping service
Just as Japan announces that it'll pretty much have an eye on every single cellphone user in the nation, Korea is going against the grain somewhat by offering up an anti-eavesdropping service on users' handsets. SK Telecom, KTF, and LG Telecom will all be offering private long code service, a digital encryption system to keep voice snoopers at bay, and will dub the service "Voice Private." Marketed primarily towards people of utmost importance, such as politicians, public officials, journalists (ahem), and CEOs, the luxury will purportedly operate on any mobile phone and will cost between W1,500 ($1.60) and W2,000 ($2.13). Interestingly, it wasn't noted if these fees were a monthly charge (less likely) or a per-call exaction (more likely), but regardless, the service should go live just as soon as the Ministry of Information and Communication approves it.
AOL Music Now closing doors, porting customers to Napster
AOL's Music Now, yet another iTunes Store competitor, has announced they are closing their doors in favor of lending the space to Napster (disclosure reminder: we're an AOL property). In a press release this morning, Napster announced it is partnering with AOL to integrate their services into the AOL Music Now site, and customers will be notified that their accounts are being rolled over into the new service, with the ability to opt out. Of course, AppScout, who found this, has already asked one good fundamental question: "Naster and AOL join forces to create... what?"Let us all take a moment of silence for AOL's fallen service.[via MacDailyNews]
Japan crowns top robots in lavish Tokyo ceremony
With all these award ceremonies going down to close out the year, it's only appropriate to crown a few winners in the robotic realm as well -- you know, since they'll be law-abiding citizens someday. The Robot Awards were set up earlier this year by the Japanese government to "promote research and development in the robotics industry," and just ten creations took home prizes out of the 152 entries. The cream of the crop started with the currently-available My Spoon feeding contraption, which helps the elderly and disabled to eat with a "joystick-controlled swiveling arm." Not far behind was the Paro seal, who rocks a furry, huggable outfit with sensors beneath its whiskers that allows it to "open and close its eyes and move its flippers" when petted and held by folks in hospitals. In another instance of "robots replacing human jobs," a "mammoth, automated vacuum cleaner that uses elevators to travel between floors" was highly praised for its sucky actions. So if you're interested in seeing what other bots are taking home the jewelry (as well as the how to enter yourself in the future), be sure to hit the read link and bust out your broken translator, um, translator.[Via Yahoo]
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DISH Network looking to offer movie downloads via IPTV?
With all the zany competition going on in the television world, it's not too surprising to see DISH Network hopping on the (quickly growing) movie download bandwagon. Apparently, the satellite provider is readying an IPTV service to offer "SD and HD quality movies, music, adult programs, entertainment news, and other services such as CinemaNow." While some of the content would presumably be free, other things like download-to-keep films would demand a one-time charge, and while the on-demand offerings could be accessed whenever you desire, "certain programs such as international channels and music services will be streamed in real time." Of course, the eventual success (or failure) of the program will likely depend on how zany (or reasonable) the pricing structure ends up being, and if all goes as planned, the service will reportedly go live on February 15th, 2007.[Via PVRWire]
Apple discontinues UK repair-by-mail service
According to Ping Wales, the Welsh IT News site, Apple has discontinued its UK mail-in repair service. Until now, customers with units covered by the AppleCare Protection Plan were sent prepaid shipping labels and packing materials. Items needing repair were then shipped to repair centers and returned directly to the customer. Customers are now being directed to physically take their items to authorized repair centers. The mail-in service was discontinued, according to Ping Wales, over a month ago without notice to customers or resellers. This change in policy means that customers may now have to make long trips to find a repair center, to deliver and pick up their equipment.
OnStar could go black for millions of analog subscribers in '08
If you just so happened to pick up a 2004 (or earlier) year model GM vehicle while waiting for that oh-so-tempting self-driving edition to land in '08, and can't wait to take full advantage of the svelte built-in OnStar system, you better start now. When analog networks have the option to go silent in 2008, vehicles equipped with analog-only hardware will not be able to communicate with those friendly voices on the other end of the blue button, which could leave some (previously) loyal GM customers seeing red. All vehicles kitted prior to 2002 will unfortunately not sport the same sense of security they once did, while select vehicles from 2002 to 2004 can be upgraded with digital equipment. Verizon Wireless -- the current network of choice for OnStar -- "has not said how or when it will dismantle its analog network," but will likely pull plugs in stages. While the value of OnStar's service is certainly debatable, leaving a substantial amount of your four million customers without a resolution certainly doesn't bode well if you're looking to snag repeat buyers, but we suppose it's the price you pay for keepin' things fresh.[Via Autoblog]
Latest PSP survey suggests impending TV streaming service
Apparently dishing out surveys to garner potential interest in (hopefully) forthcoming products and services is the fad of the month, as Microsoft barely received back all the results in its latest Xbox 360 questionnaire before Sony threw down a few of its own. Most recently, however, a question was posed to PSP owners that piqued our interest, and it involved the possibility of receiving TV streams on that oh-so-sexy widescreen LCD. The higher-ups at Sony HQ seemingly have streaming video on the brain, as users were asked to choose which scenario they'd prefer when kicking back and catching a show on their handheld. The choices involved a "Sony LocationFree TV box" that would stream content directly to the PSP using a local WiFi connection, or a subscription-based service that would broadcast TV shows using "always on cellular technology" for $9.99 per month. Considering Sony can hardly pay folks to take those dust-gathering UMD flicks, we don't think that making a move in the television realm would be such a bad idea -- so, what's up Sony? Inquisitive minds (and PSP / DS Lite fence-sitters) are yearning for an answer.[Thanks, Simon V.]
University of Florida students grumble over Cingular service
While Cingular has claimed that its GSM network integration with AT&T Wireless is complete (thus more reliable), and throws out a bajillion advertisements gloating about the "independent research" proving the company's lack of dropped calls, you'd probably have a hard time convincing the Florida Gators that those statements are entirely accurate. While we know that Engadget has been banned from Cingular's forums, there's no denying the bevy of complaints from UF students regarding the atrocious service around the Gainesville campus. Things got so bad that students rallied around the issue of Cingular improving its service, finally escalating it to the Student Senate, where unfortunately it was voted down after "fierce debate." The resolution called the carrier's service on campus "unacceptable," and cited problems ranging from consistently dropping calls to receiving error messages when trying to dial out. When local Cingular representatives were asked to comment on the outcry, they reportedly blamed the students "lack of reporting problems" as the culprit, curiously omitting the entire debacle that just went down. Nevertheless, we don't expect the members of the Swamp to take this subpar play laying down, but you may want to think twice about which provider to snap up if you're headed to UF next fall.[Thanks, Anthony]
Verizon in talks to bring YouTube to V CAST, television
Verizon seems to be throwing as many trendy extras as humanly possible into its (oftentimes overpriced) monthly add-on pool, and may now be nearing a deal with the video clip-broadcasting extraordinaire, YouTube. Not long after announcing a simplistic fee-based system to keep your contact list from being destroyed, Verizon Wireless "is in advanced talks" with YouTube in a deal that would bring the zany segments we all love to your very own mobile screen (and television, too). America's second-place carrier is looking to grab an edge in the marketing department as it hopes to "further its efforts to expand into internet and entertainment services." Under the terms being discussed, V CAST users would have access to YouTube videos for a currently undisclosed price, and Verizon reportedly hopes to "offer YouTube videos as an on-demand feature" while watching TV (FiOS anyone?). YouTube isn't selling the rest of its soul without caution, however, as the deal could end up being exclusive in nature, but only for a limited time. We'll keep you posted on how much "America's most reliable wireless network" plans on bumping your already overwhelming monthly bill should this deal go down.
Review: new .Mac webmail delivers, mostly
Apple teased us with an announcement of a .Mac webmail upgrade at the end of September, and yesterday they delivered. The new webmail feels zippy (though it was understandably a little sluggish a couple times while I was testing it last night), and the innovative, refreshing new features raise the bar for competing services. Still, with all the slick new polish, a few long-standing gripes have yet to be addressed, and some of the web client's new abilities bring along irregularities and new complaints. But don't think I'm a hater - I just renewed my membership last week, and this is a most welcomed update to one of the most important components of Apple's hotly debated .Mac suite of web services. With this yin and yang balance in mind, let's dive into the review..Mac webmail goes web 2.0Of course, the most significant and obvious upgrade is the completely revamped UI, which now resembles and behaves (in some ways) like Apple's desktop Mail.app client. As you can see from the screenshot, a new 3 pane view offers a folder list on the left, a customizable (10-50) message list on top, and a message preview pane on the bottom, just like mom used to make. As an added UI bonus, the separation bar between the message list and preview panes is draggable. Nice.But the webmail update isn't just skin deep - plenty of keyboard shortcuts accompany the new polish for a great combination of beauty and brains (though I'm laying down a penalty of 10 points by not enabling the shortcuts by default, regardless of who .Mac's demographic is). A complete list of shortcuts is linked from the preferences, and there are keys for nearly every action including: sending messages, deleting, navigating up/down messages, back/forth between batches of messages (take that Gmail), searching and printing.Besides keyboard shortcuts, some clever features and UI tricks are peppered throughout. On the left is a shot of an Address Book search, which lives below the folder list. Results are displayed below the search box, and clicking on a name offers a popup with their information, and things like email addresses and public iDisks are linked for easy access. On the right is the Quick Reply window, accessible by clicking a button which appears next to selected messages (a quirky 'only when you clicked on it' UI element that first reared its head in iTunes 7). Opera's built-in email client has done this for a while, and Apple's implementation is nice and simple.
Widget Watch: Goggle Browser
This isn't just some little Google search widget that takes you to your default browser for the results - the Goggle Browser (note: Goggle, not Google) is the Google Dashboard widget to end all Google Dashboard widgets. Along its left side is a list of more Google services than I knew existed, and they all load right inside the widget, using what I assume is Apple's WebKit (the open source web rendering engine that powers the likes of Safari, OmniWeb and others).While it's an impressive setup, the widget isn't without its shortcomings. First, it's 1000 x 750 pixels, and I can't find any way of changing its size. This means that on my 13-inch MacBook, the Google Browser widget gobbles up nearly my entire Dashboard. My other big beef is the lack of visual feedback - the sidebar buttons don't act 'pressed' when I click them, and when pages/services are loading, there isn't even so much as a spinning circle to let me know I should be patient. Still, this is an impressive 1.0 offering that should keep even the most obsessed of Google's fans who just gotta have everything at the press of F12 satisfied.
Mac Hints & Tips seeking donations to continue
Mac Hints & Tips is a killer site that catalogs (of all things) over 6,000 hints, tips, workarounds and other handy pieces of Mac OS X trickery. Compiled from Mac user groups, Apple websites and various other published and unpublished sources around the globe, this highly bookmarkable (and subscribeable) resource is run by one mere mortal by the name of Paul Taylor, who is seeking donations and subscriptions to keep the site and monthly PDF truckin'. Paul currently allows users to sign up for a yearly membership to gain access to the entire database of tips, searchable by keyword or application name, and he also accepts good ol' fashioned donations (though we've all seen how well those go), but he's trying to get the word out to see if the community can toss a few more dollars into the bucket o' hosting bills. To see whether Mac Hints & Tips could be worth your time and a donation or a membership, Paul keeps archives of the past three months available on the main page (in both HTML and PDF), in addition to the current issue.Check out Mac Hints & Tips, as I know I've found it to be an invaluable resource over the year or so I've been a reader, and it would be great to see such a killer resource get credit where it is most certainly due.
