service
Latest
Virgin Mobile USA restores service, apologizes for the inconvenience
A dozen or so hours after the carrier came clean with its most recent outage, Virgin Mobile USA service has been restored. Data, texts and calls should be flowing normally now, and the company has stated that those still experiencing issues should "try removing your battery and restarting your device." Not recommended? "Visiting your nearest T-Mobile, AT&T, Verizon or Boost Mobile retailer." Curious, right?
AT&T service in the works to let app developers pay for users' data use
AT&T has been making news all over MWC in the past couple of days. The most recent report from The Wall Street Journal says that Ma Bell is planning a service that will enable app devs and other content providers to pay the carrier for subscriber's data usage. AT&T's head of network and technology said today that "A feature that we're hoping to have out sometime next year is the equivalent of 800 numbers that would say, if you take this app, this app will come without any network usage." Donovan goes on to say that interest is swirling from companies that offer services like streaming music and video that feed on a steady diet of data and that the carrier's rollout of LTE would make the new service possible. Imagine if your Spotify habit didn't eat up a chunk of your precious monthly allotment. Sounds pretty good, eh? We're going to withhold judgment to see what mobile services adopt the new plan and continue to keep our Yacht Rock playlist(s) to a minimum.
OnLive Desktop Plus out now, $4.99 a month for extra software and features
OnLive Desktop originally went live back at CES earlier this year, and since then it's been making magic happen on iOS devices everywhere, whether you've used it yet or not. The cloud-based service provides a Windows computer packed with standard software, streamed right to your iOS device, practically whenever and wherever you need it. Seriously, if you have not tried OnLive yet, it is just as amazing as we've said it is. The gaming side of things will allow you to play all sorts of PC games on your Mac, and while the gaming app hasn't yet been released on the App Store, the Desktop app is out and working right now. Go sign up on OnLive's site and use it for completely free to see for yourself. Back when the Desktop service was first announced, OnLive also promised that a subscription service was coming, and now it's here as well: OnLive Desktop Plus is available on OnLive's website as well. For the cost of $4.99 a month, you get priority access to the service, a cloud storage option (so you can actually save your files out on the server), the option to attach files to webmail services (so you can send them back to any computer you like through email) and a full installation of Adobe Flash to play with. This also means that Flash is installed on the Windows computer, so you can pull up a browser on the cloud server's Windows setup, pull up a Flash-based website, and browse Flash over the web, right on your iPad. There have obviously been solutions for this before, but this is as easy as it gets. As you can probably tell, I'm a huge fan of the service -- there is still a little bit of lag occasionally (and I unfortunately haven't had a lot of luck using the service over a bad Wi-Fi connection, which really limits the possibilities while traveling, I'm sorry to say), but otherwise it's very impressive to see, and it really opens up what you can do with your iPad in terms of playing PC games and using Windows software. If you haven't given OnLive a shot yet, definitely try it out for free and see what you've been missing.
Man gets served on Facebook, literally
Being unceremoniously dumped online isn't the only indignation made easier by social networks. For the first time, lawyers in the UK have been granted permission to serve a legal suit via Facebook. Traditionally, documents must be delivered physically, be it in person, by post or even fax. But, in a pretrial for a commercial dispute, these old-fashioned methods proved fruitless. The prosecuting team then decided to check online, and noticed recent updates on defendant Fabio De Biase's profile. Satisfied it was currently active, they sought permission to send documents via the website, with Justice Nigel Teare duly obliging. Wondering what that noise is? That's the sound of millions of mice clicking on "privacy settings" all at once.
EMIEW 2 robot connects to the internet, wants to google your stuff (video)
The adorable, metallic-haired EMIEW 2 has been given permission to go on the internet and it's going to use that privilege to find exactly where you left that stapler. First, the android uses its built-in camera to take a snapshot of objects and then queries the visual data online to recognise it. Then, as shown in Hitachi's recent demonstration, it teams up with an array of cameras dotted around a hypothetical office. These help the robot seek out specific objects and guide puny humans to what they need -- with some voice recognition thrown into the mix. Skeptical types can watch the robot find and destroy all that lost property right after the break.
Apple reduces iAd pricing, revenue sharing
Apple is reportedly cutting the minimum cost of its iAd service again. According to Ad Age, the threshold for advertisers to acquire the iAd service has dropped from US$500,000 to just $100,000. Furthermore, Apple will reduce revenue sharing by no longer charging advertisers when users click on an ad, as has been the case since iAd launched. Apple's iAd service has not seen the greatest of success. Having launched in 2010, Apple originally charged $1,000,000 for an ad campaign, but many of its initial clients abandoned iAd for services like AdMob, Greystripe, and Millenial Media who operate on multiple platforms. Apple then reduced iAd's minimum rate to $500,000 per campaign. And in July, 2011, Apple offered further incentives by lowering the cost to $300,000 under certain circumstances. At the beginning of this year, Apple brought in former Adobe VP, Todd Teresi, to reinvigorate the service. The new price point seems to be the first step in getting iAd back on track.
Dashwire closes up shop, all your data to get flushed on February 15th (update: Windows Mobile devices only)
Ok, so chances are you probably haven't thought about Dashwire much in the last couple of years. Last time we covered the service was back in the halycon days of Windows Mobile 6.0, early on in the modern smartphone revolution. In case you need a bit of a refresher, Dashwire was a cloud service that delivered many of the ammenities we now take for granted in mobile device -- visual voicemail, threaded SMS, automatic syncing of photos, and status updates. Earlier this year, HTC snatched up the company which last made news with the free, and appropriately-named, Awesome Drop for Android (which seems to be dying a quiet death in the market). Well, the actual Dashwire service has been languishing for sometime now, but the company has decided to finally discontinue it completely for Windows Mobile devices and, on February 15th, will be shutting down its servers and deleting all user content. So, if you've got anything still sitting up in its aging cloud, now is the time to reclaim it.Update: Despite the Dashwire service itself (apparently) no longer being listed on its site, HTC has contacted us to clarify that "that Dashwire is only closing down the original/old Dashwire.com service for Windows Mobile devices" and that it has "new services with Tier 1 operators that are live in market."
Love is in the Air customer support policy
Blizzard has posted a guide to what customer service and support can and cannot do for players during Love is in the Air, the WoW in-game holiday that runs between Feb. 5 through 20. As with most in-game events like this, players will be getting exclusive items, quests, tokens, prizes, and chances on really rare items like mounts from daily bosses. These events are designed to be rare and happen only once a year, and Blizzard stresses (again, by design) that these titles, achievements, and other event goodies need to be acquired during the holiday. Legitimate claims of items lost with logs will be restored as normal, but Blizzard wanted to make sure people knew in advance that item purchases and achievement-related issues during this limited-time event will most likely not be able to be addressed. Putting out notices like this is definitely a nice move by the community team. Many people have complained in the past of not knowing when a new event was starting in game or that their schedules did not permit them to complete all of the necessary holiday achievements and get all of the accompanying items. For many of those, the bright line rule is that "Blizzard wants these things to be rare," so they are rare by design. Remember: Get your holiday stuff done ASAP. This is your early notice that things will most likely not be given to you if you miss the event. The full blue post, after the break.
Google's 'Bouncer' service scans the Android Market for malware, will judge you at the door
Google has had its fair share of malware-related problems in the Android Market, but that's hopefully about to change, now that the company has announced a new security-enhancing service. Codenamed "Bouncer," Mountain View's new program sounds pretty simple, in principle: it just automatically scans the Market for malware, without altering the Android user experience, or requiring devs to run through an app approval process. According to Hiroshi Lockheimer, Android's VP of Engineering, Bouncer does this by scanning recently uploaded apps for spyware, trojans or any other lethal components, while looking out for any suspicious behavior that may raise a red flag. The service also runs a simulation of each app using Google's cloud-based infrastructure, and regularly checks up on developer accounts to keep repeat offenders out of the Android Market. Existing apps, it's worth noting, will be subject to the same treatment as their more freshly uploaded counterparts. Lockheimer went on to point out that malware is on the decline in the Market, citing a 40 percent drop between the first and second halves of 2011, and explained some of Android's fundamental security features, including its sandboxing and permission-based systems. Head for the source link below to read the post in full.
Rhapsody officially acquires Napster International, eyes European launch
After having already acquired Napster here in the US, Rhapsody has taken its expansion one step further, with the acquisition of Napster International. Under the deal, announced today, Rhapsody will continue to offer Napster-branded services across the UK and Germany, as promised, and will eventually migrate Napster subscribers to its own infrastructure in March, with existing personal libraries remaining intact (Napster is already live in the UK, but has yet to make its official German launch). The move will also bring changes to Napster users' mobile apps and web clients, with Rhapsody promising improved offline playback and enhanced library management tools "in the coming months." For more details, check out the full PR after the break.
OnLive goes from gaming to Desktop and TV
The folks from OnLive, who we met up with last week at CES, are understandably apologetic about the fact that the iOS app for gaming hasn't yet shown up in the App Store. But though they may be sorry it hasn't appeared, OnLive's Bruce Grove is still mum on what the holdup is all about, only saying that the app is still going through Apple's "approval process." Is Apple holding the app up for breaking subscription rules, or did OnLive submit it a little late to the App Store over the holiday season? Grove doesn't budge, only saying that OnLive is currently "learning about the process a little more." At any rate, the gaming app is still due out "soon" -- whenever that may be. But that doesn't mean OnLive isn't working; The company did introduce its OnLive Desktop app last week on schedule, and that one is available right now for free. The app provides a full touch-enabled Windows 7 installation on the iPad, and just like the gaming app, the software is streamed in via audio and video from a powerful server, and controls and touches are streamed back, basically enabling you to use and run Windows apps on a computer of almost any make or power. As you might imagine, that has a lot of consequences for all kinds of functions and businesses. The app also will run on the Mac, which means that from anywhere, you can log into OnLive's computer, and use the basic Word, Excel, or PowerPoint installations that come with the free version. 2 GB of files are saved on a cloud folder (with more memory and a persistent desktop saved under a $9.99 a month premium subscription charge that's coming soon), so OnLive Desktop really grants anyone with a fast enough connection access to their own super-powered Windows computer. Grove says all of the software is already covered under Microsoft's cloud access licenses, so obviously it's all legal and taken care of. And OnLive is also working with other companies, including Adobe and Autodesk, to provide even more apps to users in both the free and premium programs. Users of the premium service will also have access to a browser, and of course since it's running in a full installation of Windows, that means you'll be able to access Flash-based websites directly on the iPad through OnLive's servers. Running Word or Excel is one thing, but remember, says Grove, that these servers are extremely powerful, so even graphically intensive apps like AutoCAD or Maya can load and run quite easily. Once the deals are all made ("Autodesk was one of our investors from the beginning," Grove reminded us), users will be able to have access to big-time software running on very powerful hardware from nearly anywhere, all at a fraction of the cost. That's not all -- OnLive also wants to start enabling multiple users to log into the same server at the same time, so they can even share collaborative work over the OnLive network. The company is also offering the server to larger businesses on an enterprise basis, so companies could create their own desktops for OnLive to send out, with specific apps available to specific users. The possibilities are really incredible when you think about it. OnLive's other big news from CES is that the gaming service is itself coming to smart TVs, including Google's own television service. Obviously that won't directly affect Mac users (and this is, after all, an Apple blog), but Grove says that move will raise OnLive's profile "from a brand awareness standpoint", which should grow OnLive's user base, and give the company even more leverage to provide more apps and services to users on all of its platforms. Grove says the company is planning to keep the desktop and gaming services separate -- there will be a single logon for both, but customers have "a desire to keep productivity separate from gaming," he says. As for what's next for OnLive, the company now offers a pretty complete set of features, and once that iPad gaming app comes out, Grove says marketing the service and gaining a larger set of users will be a priority. The company is also trying to get on "as many connected devices as possible," from those smart TVs to phones like the Xperia Play and other Internet devices. The company is also selling its wireless controller, and that controller is designed to work with many of these devices directly, in the hopes of creating a unified OnLive experience from box to box. OnLive has created some pretty incredible experiences in these two services. It's hard to believe that cloud delivery of streaming software usage like this can work so well, but it is true: Just load up the gaming app on your Mac or the desktop app on your iPad while hooked up to a solid Internet connection to see the service working in action. OnLive seems destined to become extremely popular, and once more users realize just what's available here, all of those possibilities will no doubt be realized and then some.
ViaSat 12Mbps 'exede' broadband gets official date and data bundles, eyes up you rural types
Still fancy some of that 12Mbps satellite broadband ViaSat announced last week? Well, the service finally got a name: Exede. Also, that suggested January 16th date for consumer roll-out has been confirmed. If you're still undecided whether you want some of that "feels like fiber" service, then maybe the freshly revealed package details might sway you? The $50 basic bundle will get you 7.5GB monthly quota which can be increased to 15GB ($80) or 25GB ($130) if that doesn't fill your data belly. Tap the PR if you want to read more.
Dish Network announces Hopper DVR system, Joey set-top box, launches broadband, Test Drive services
Dish Network just made a slew of big announcements at its CES press conference today, introducing the Hopper HD DVR system, the corollary Joey set-top box, and a new, TV Everywhere-based Test Drive service. Let's start with the hardware: the Hopper unit is comprised of three satellite TV tuners, a 2TB hard drive that promises up to 2,000 hours of entertainment, including up to 250 hours of HD viewing and 1,000 hours of SD recording. The device can record up to six TV shows at once, and allows users to watch as many as four recorded shows in four different rooms. When combined with the Joey, users can take advantage of a 750MHz Broadcom processor that, according to Dish, is the fastest satellite receiver on the market. Also announced today is something known as Test Drive -- a new "try before they buy" service that allows customers to get a free taste of TV Everywhere for 24 hours. As of February 1st, users will be able to sign up for Test Drive and stream select TV shows to their PCs, tablets or smartphones at no charge (for a limited time, of course). Also in February, the company will launch a new satellite broadband package, as part of a new service launched with ViaSat. These new packages will offer download speeds of up to 12Mbps, and upload rates of up to 3Mbps. Installation prices will start at $99, with bundles starting at around $80 per month. For more details, hit up the troika of PRs, after the break.
ViaSat residential satellite broadband internet hands-on (video)
Last Thursday, ViaSat announced pricing for its new home broadband service, which is set to deliver 12 Mbps+ download speeds (3 Mbps+ up) beginning next week for $50 per month. We just dropped by the company's demo home just a few feet from the Engadget trailer at the Las Vegas Convention Center parking lot to try it out, and were quite impressed with the speeds we saw, especially considering that data was passing through the ViaSat-1 satellite thousands of miles above the Earth. We've used other satellite internet services before, and while there's still just over a half-second of latency, bandwidth speeds were significantly faster than what we've experienced with other services in the past. HD YouTube videos loaded very quickly, after a brief delay, as did Engadget and many other media-rich news websites. We performed a speed test and registered ping speeds of about 600ms, download speeds of about 30 Mbps and upload speeds of about 2 Mbps, but results aren't as accurate as they would be with a land-based connection because of latency and the way packet data is handled. We also placed a VOIP call, and while the delay was noticeable there, it was still usable. Want to see for yourself? Jump past the break as we step through ViaSat's front door to hop online.
ViaSat details home broadband, 12 Mbps service to roll out on the 16th for $50 per month
Earlier this year, ViaSat launched its ViaSat-1, a 140 Gbps capacity satellite positioned over North America. We've already heard about plans to bring Ka-band coverage to the friendly JetBlue skies later this year, but now the new broadband provider has detailed residential availability as well, through the National Rural Telecommunications Cooperative. NRTC members will have access to 12 Mbps service packages starting at $50 per month as soon as January 16th, finally bringing high-speed broadband to areas where fiber and cable services are not available. ViaSat may not be rolling out to consumers for another couple weeks, but the provider will be on-site at CES to demo the service in "residential, commercial airline, and satellite newsgathering" scenarios beginning Tuesday, and you better believe we'll be there to test it out.
Apple brings in former Adobe VP to help out iAd
Apple's iAd service hasn't been as successful as the company hoped. While Apple has been able to keep iAd "premium" by keeping up ad costs and only bringing in high profile clients interested in putting out high quality advertisements, it hasn't actually made much money with the service, either for itself or developers who are trying run the ads. Hopefully that will change now that Apple is bringing in a former Adobe VP named Todd Teresi to reinvigorate the iAd service and turn it back into the premiere ad and money generator that Steve Jobs hoped it would be. Teresi formerly oversaw Adobe's media solutions division, and he may either tweak the system so it's a little more appetizing for advertisers or bring more and bigger accounts on board so these ads can be served to developers. As for the developers we've talked to, they're more than happy to keep serving iAds as long as they can also serve ads from other services. Competing ad services may not pay as much to developers, but at least they pay something -- many iAds never get shown simply because advertisers aren't willing to pay for them. Hopefully Teresi can fix that and get iAd back up to where Jobs originally wanted it to be.
Apple to appeal ruling in Italian court
Earlier this week, Apple was fined for poor communication of its warranty policies in an Italian court. Today, Apple has stated that it will appeal that ruling, according to The Register. Apple was fined 900,000 Euros (approximately US$1.2 million) for failing to inform customers that they may receive free service biennially (via the Consumer Code) and for selling Apple Protection Plans that overlapped availability of that free service. Apple denies up-selling the typically year-long Apple Protection Plan, and will appeal the associated fines, according to The Register. Apple was also ordered to alter AppleCare packaging so that it mentions the free Customer Code service.
Google looks to compete with Amazon Prime, offer speedy delivery service in 2012
You ordered a nifty thing. Now the nifty thing has to make your day by arriving. Then you'll have your nifty thing and a warm and nifty feeling inside. Evidently, Google's following this very line of thinking, as it appears to be in talks with various retailers and shippers to create a service that lets customers receive their wares within 24 to 48 hours. According to sources cited by the Wall Street Journal, the company's effort is motivated by the success of Amazon's Prime service, which allows customers to receive many purchased items within a day or two for an annual fee of $79. Google, in turn, has apparently pitched the project to retailers such as Macy's, Gap and OfficeMax. Under the proposed system, when shoppers place an order on an affiliate's website, Google's system could kick in to offer them an option for same-day or possibly next-day delivery, said a person familiar with the matter. Sources indicated that Google plans to start a pilot test of the service in the San Francisco Bay Area sometime in 2012, which -- by then -- we'll have far more serious issues to deal with than tracking numbers.
Daily iPad App: eHarmony
When eHarmony first brought its iPad app to us a couple of months ago, I had the great idea (I thought) to put together a feature for TUAW around the idea of only the iPad app to access the very popular Internet dating service, find a date, and then review both the app and the date itself. So eHarmony kindly provided me with a couple months of membership, and I set to work using the iPad app to craft my profile, find some nice women to date in Los Angeles, and eventually go out with one of them. Unfortunately for eHarmony, my lack of appeal outlasted their service, and despite chatting with a few nice women, none of them wanted to meet me over dinner or drinks. But I can't fault the iPad app itself. The whole experience is really impressive, featuring an interface that I actually enjoyed using more than the official web site. If you're a real loser like me, eHarmony still won't guarantee you a girlfriend or boyfriend. But if you're already using the service and have an iPad, the app is definitely worth a look. The whole process is surprisingly quick and clean on the iPad -- the app's interface is modeled around a big circular table of sorts, with the view zooming and rotating around to look at various physical items portrayed on the screen. Your sign-in page is a notebook, for example, where you can write your name and password, and then the view zooms to another book where you can enter your information and fill out your profile with the usual dating site information (likes, dislikes, personal information and questionnaires). After it's filled out, you can browse around the rest of the site, checking out a "Book of You" that has information about your personality and who you're compatible with, and your "matches" which are laid out like a series of Polaroid photos on the wooden desktop. The physical metaphor is really effective, and the iPad is an excellent medium for browsing through photos and information. The app works smoothly (though my iPad is only WiFi, so I'm not sure how it loads over 3G), and there are lots of really fun touches, which surprised me a bit. When you first log in, there's a coffee cup on top of the screen, and you can actually play with it, causing ripples and splashes on the surface of the java. When you touch a match's picture, you don't just get transferred to their profile, their picture actually zooms over to another section of the table and then gets inserted into their profile page. This is all with sound effects, too. The app shows a surprising amount of design thought and consideration. I'd guess that's because eHarmony probably hired an experienced Mac and iOS development house to make it, but I don't know who that is (and the companies in those kinds of work-for-hire agreements don't usually talk about that anyway). At any rate, the eHarmony app is terrific, and I actually did come to prefer it to using the main web page, mostly because the web itself doesn't offer up pictures of matches before you actually go and see their profiles. There were a few settings that I had to go in and change that I couldn't on the iPad version (specifically where my matches were supposed to come from. Being in Los Angeles, I obviously wanted to meet someone who lived close to me), but when actually browsing the service and reading and responding to messages, I found being on the iPad was the ideal. The app is free, but to use it, you'll need an eHarmony membership, which comes with a few different prices. You'll have to decide for yourself whether or not that's something you're interested in. Some folks have found a lot of good relationships with apps like this, while some have a better time just going to a bar. As for me, my search continues. Ladies, if any of you are looking for a smart and funny professional blogger who knows a lot about iPhone games and enjoys running around Santa Monica, I'll be here!
Three brings 3LiveShop to Denmark, offers webcam chat and heads-up product display (video)
Well, it appears that Three's call center agents in Denmark won't be able to wear pajamas into work anymore. Following the introduction of 3LiveShop in Sweden, the mobile carrier's other Scandinavian group is introducing this rather novel way of shopping for new phones to Danes. Properly situated consumers may now elect to participate in live video chats with Three employees, who manipulate product photos and information on a heads-up display for customer convenience. (We'd like to imagine this nice lady has placed the Galaxy S II and iPhone 4 into the "maybe" pile.) Thankfully, shoppers won't have to look presentable at all, as participating in two-way video conferences is entirely optional -- along with more traditional voice and chat methods. If you're curious to see a demo of the system in action, just check the video after the break. [Thanks, Jonas]
