Tech blog: Apple TV overhaul in the works

Tech blog: Apple TV overhaul in the works - ContraCostaTimes.com

Apple will make its next version of Apple TV more like the iPhone and iPad, according to an anonymous report Friday in the tech blog Engadget.

An Apple TV revamp would follow Google's announcement last week that it has joined with marquee tech names such as Intel, Sony and Adobe Systems to develop the Google TV platform.

However, according to Engadget, the new Apple TV has been in the works since "long before" Google's announcement.

"The new architecture of the device will be based directly on the iPhone 4, meaning it will get the same internals, down to that A4 CPU and a limited amount of flash storage — 16GB to be exact," Engadget's Joshua Topolsky wrote in a post citing sources, including one "very close to Apple."

Other details, according to the Engadget report: The device would be priced at $99, allow full 1080p high-definition TV and would emphasize cloud-based storage of content, while allowing the use of Apple's Time Capsule technology for external storage. The current version of Apple TV costs $229 and includes a 160-gigabyte hard drive.

Apple allows cash sales for iPad

Apple allows cash sales for iPad | The Digital Home - CNET News — When Apple first started selling the iPad, it didn't allow consumers to buy its tablet with cash. The idea, the reasoning went, was that forcing people to buy the iPad with a debit card or credit card would help ensure that no one violated Apple's two-iPads-per-person rule.

But all that has changed. Recently a California woman named Diane Campbell went to an Apple store in the hopes of buying an iPad with greenbacks. She was turned away by the store's employees, who cited the no-cash policy. After she contacted KGO, an ABC television affiliate in California, the news outlet ran a story on her ordeal. After hearing the story, in which Campbell asked Steve Jobs to "give a sister a break," Apple decided to reverse policy and allow cash customers.

"We want to make sure it's as fair as possible for people to get iPads," Ron Johnson, a senior vice president at Apple, told KGO, adding that the company decided to change its policy after hearing Campbell's story. He also had two Apple employees personally deliver an iPad to her house for free.

According to Apple, anyone who would like to pay cash for the iPad at an Apple Store can now do so. The only catch is that cash buyers must create an Apple account in the store. Those who pay with a credit or debit card can set up their Apple accounts at home.

Contrite Facebook CEO promises new privacy controls

Contrite Facebook CEO promises new privacy controls - Yahoo! News — Buffeted by privacy snafus and the lingering fallout from a damning, years-old instant messaging thread, Facebook chief exec Mark Zuckerberg switched into full-on damage control Monday, confessing that the sprawling social network had "missed the mark" when it comes to its complex privacy controls — and pledging to do better. In an open letter published Monday in the Washington Post (whose chairman, Donald E. Graham, just so happens to sit on Facebook's board of directors), Zuckerberg wrote that Facebook has been "growing quickly" and admitted that "sometimes we move too fast." "Many of you thought our controls were too complex," Zuckerberg's letter reads. "Our intention was to give you lots of granular controls" — uh, you can say that again — "but that may not have been what many of you wanted. We just missed the mark." Zuckerberg promised, in "coming weeks," privacy controls that will be "much simpler to use" — including an "easy way to turn off all third-party services" that can access your account. But Zuckerberg wasn't just announcing new privacy features in Monday's open letter; he was also clearly trying to bridge a growing trust gap between Facebook and its increasingly suspicious users, especially in light of reports last week that Facebook (among other social networks) had been passing along user name and IDs to advertisers (including Google's DoubleClick and Yahoo!'s own Right Media) without users' consent. Those privacy loopholes have since been plugged, say Facebook, MySpace and other social networks.

Steve Jobs: 'You won't be disappointed' by Apple keynote

Steve Jobs: 'You won't be disappointed' by Apple keynote - Yahoo! News — More of Steve Jobs' trademarked one-line e-mail messages have surfaced, with the capricious CEO promising a concerned iPhone user that "you won't be disappointed" by his upcoming WWDC keynote — which, by the way, has just been confirmed for June 7, the first day of Apple's annual developers confab.

For the past two years, Apple's Worldwide Developer Conference has served as the launching pad for the latest iPhones, and we've known for weeks that the annual event would be held from June 7 to June 11. But Apple hadn't officially disclosed the exact day and time of the keynote address — until now . Mark your calendars for 10 a.m. Pacific time June 7, and yes, Jobs will be delivering the keynote. Just to be clear: Apple hasn't confirmed that it'll have the next, already well-leaked iPhone on display that day, but c'mon ... it's a pretty safe bet. As if to stoke excitement, Jobs has apparently been replying to customer e-mails again. MacRumors reports that Jobs fired off a message to a user chiding Google and the (red-hot) Android mobile platform, with the customer asking Jobs whether he has "some good WWDC announcements to blow [Google] out of the water." Jobs' characteristically curt reply: "You won't be disappointed."

SHOW #91 - NerdBoyTV: HTC EVO 4G

In this episode of NerdBoyTV, Ryan Yee takes a look at what's coming with the new HTC EVO 4G on Sprint. Awesome 4.3" screen with lightning-fast Snapdragon processor and an 8 megapixel camera — NICE!

Google is leapfrogging Apple

Google is leapfrogging Apple - Gizmodo- msnbc.com

Google is done playing catch-up. Today they're setting the agenda: With Android Froyo, Google TV, mobile ads and streaming media, Google isn't just matching Apple — they're taking the lead.

The Google I/O conference has been dizzyingly dense, with announcements from nearly every corner of Google's ever-expanding apparatus. The meatiest news comes direct from Google's most intense battlefronts: Android Froyo (version 2.2); a bevy of clever new cloud services; and a mobile ad platform paired with Google TV marching into battle with competing products from Microsoft, and much more pointedly, Apple.

Google's last 18 months have been a period of frantic catch-up, in which we saw Android reach feature parity with iPhone OS, the Android Market explode, and Google's confidence slowly build. Apple had been setting the terms of the battle, baiting Google into action. The competition was fierce, but the fight was on Apple's terms.

60% consider quitting Facebook, privacy poll says

60% consider quitting Facebook, privacy poll says - Yahoo! News

The scary headlines about Facebook privacy (or lack thereof) seem to have struck a chord with users of the ubiquitous social-networking service, with more than half of users in a recent online survey saying they're poised to bail on Facebook over worries about their private info.

Internet security firm Sophos posted the poll (which it acknowledged was unscientific), and its senior technology consultant Graham Cluley reported that of the 1,588 Facebook users who responded, a full 60 percent thought they would "possibly" quit Facebook or were "highly likely" to do so over privacy concerns. Sixteen percent said they'd already nixed their accounts. (Computerworld Philippines reported on Cluley's blog post.)

The survey results coincide with yet another Facebook privacy controversy: The Wall Street Journal reported Friday that several social-networking sites, including Facebook and MySpace, had been sending user names and IDs to advertising companies (including Google's DoubleClick and Yahoo!'s own Right Media) without users' consent.

Michael Dell flaunts the Android-powered, 5-inch Streak

Michael Dell flaunts the Android-powered, 5-inch Streak - Yahoo! News

Elements of Dell's long-rumored mini-tablet have been spied on, leaked and whispered about for months now, but the device had never been officially announced — until Thursday, when none other than Michael Dell whipped the Android-powered, 5-inch Streak out of his pocket for an impromptu public demo. Dell even went a bit further, spilling details on the Streak's release dates and carriers.

The action happened Thursday during Dell's keynote at Citrix Synergy, a desktop virtualization conference being held this week in San Francisco. The CEO was pontificating about how "the device we use to access our information shouldn't matter anymore," eWeek reports — when all of a sudden, Dell surprised the conference's "full house" by whipping the Streak out of his pocket.

"Actually, I've got a new little device right here," said Dell (according to the eWeek story), who then gave the startled audience a quick demo of Citrix's Receiver app on the Streak and revealed some release dates: June for European carrier 02 Telefonica and "later this summer" on AT&T here in the U.S.

Dell wasn't all that forthcoming about the Streak's exact features and specifications, but we've already got a pretty good idea thanks to the cascade of leaks about the not-so-secret device.

Engadget got its hands on a prototype Streak back in February and dished out some juicy details: a 5-inch, 800-by-480 capacitive display, a 1GHz Snapdragon processor, Wi-Fi, GPS, 3G support, 1.63GB of storage plus microSD memory expansion, and a 5-megapixel camera with a flash.

Wireless users opt for service without commitment

Wireless users opt for service without commitment - Yahoo! News

NEW YORK – For wireless subscribers, commitment is out and short-term relationships are in.

This year, customers have been making a big shift away from two-year contracts toward "prepaid" cell phone service, which often costs less and does not require contracts. This is happening even though contracts are needed to get popular phones such as the iPhone and the Droid.

Now prepaid service looks like it will get even more attractive, with further price cuts. That's because wireless carriers have hit a wall when it comes to finding new customers who will sign contracts.

"I would love to have an iPhone. I just can't swallow the $70 or more bill that would come with it," said Jeff Finlay, a 45-year-old stay-at-home dad in San Antonio who uses a prepaid plan.

Unlike contract plans that bill subscribers each month for the services they used the previous month, prepaid services traditionally let subscribers buy minutes in advance for around 10 cents to 20 cents each. When the minutes are used up, people "refill" their accounts as needed.

For years, such plans were marketed primarily to people who did not have the credit to qualify for plans with contracts. But as the recession forced more people to cut costs, prepaid service appealed to a broader slice of the market, and prepaid services responded by offering better deals.

Droid Incredible by HTC - Product Video

NerdBoyTV loves this smartphone—this HTC Incredible looks like a total winner!

Steve Jobs: How to live before you die

Steve Jobs: How to live before you die | Video on TED.com

At his Stanford University commencement speech, Steve Jobs, CEO and co-founder of Apple and Pixar, urges us to pursue our dreams and see the opportunities in life's setbacks -- including death itself.

NerdBoyTV NOTE: This is a very inspirational video from the folks at TED.

Nintendo Wii sales plummeting

Nintendo Wii sales plummeting - Yahoo! News by Christopher Null

Everyone loves that Nintendo Wii, don’t they? Why, just this weekend I went to a housewarming party, and sure enough, Wii Sports was up and running for the kids to play with. You can’t get away from it. Wii is everywhere.

And perhaps that is why no one is buying any more Wii consoles. Nintendo is now in a bit of a pickle, as its Buddha-belly-sized coffers are shrinking, thanks to rapidly decreasing interest in the Wii.

According to Bloomberg Businessweek, for the second year running, Wii sales have fallen, and the company is now missing sales forecasts. Nintendo's net income is declining, too, estimated to fall 13 percent this year, on top of an 18 percent drop last year.

Why the disinterest? Aside from the obvious issue that these consoles have already saturated the market, the Wii continues to suffer from a lack of good games. The only really hot titles are still those produced by Nintendo itself — mainly continuations of the Mario and Zelda saga — and there’s really only so much milk that can be squeezed from that teat.

With Wii-mania fading, the company is now focusing on its upcoming 3-D DS handheld console, which was announced earlier this year and has a targeted release date in early 2011. Nintendo launched the original DS in 2004 and has tweaked it bit by bit ever since, but it hasn’t seen a major upgrade since the start, and the no-glasses 3-D capabilities of the new handheld could be a compelling sell.

Unfortunately, Nintendo, once the leader — by far — in a two-horse mobile-gaming race alongside Sony, now has every cell phone to deal with as competition, as players have turned to iPhones and Droids to game their way through flight delays and post-office lines. And now there’s the iPad to contend with as well: It’s not just a Web browser and e-book reader; it also makes a pretty good gaming device with a giant screen.

So while its work is cut out for it in the portable space, what does Nintendo do with the home-game-console market? The Wii isn’t dead, but it’s already looking like it needs an upgrade, and a big one. Something to attract serious gamers, developers, and even more of that casual market. What about 3-D? Why not extend what’s going on with the handheld into the world of the television ... or is that just not possible?

Can't translate the menu? Let Google Goggles give it a shot

Can't translate the menu? Let Google Goggles give it a shot - Yahoo! News

I must have studied French for, oh, five years or so, but I have to admit: Drop me into a Parisian cafe with a non-English menu and I'm hopeless. Luckily, help for monolingual misfits like me is here in the form of the just-updated Google Goggles for Android, although the app — which translates text captured by your phone's built-in camera — is still rough around the edges.

Google Goggles, if you recall, is the still-in-beta Android app that identifies and cranks out search results for landmarks, product logos, book covers and other items that you've snapped with your phone's digital camera. Take a picture of, say, that big tall pointy-looking thing in Paris, and Goggles will tell you that you're standing in front of the Eiffel Tower.

Now Google Goggles adds a new feature in its just-released version 1.1: the ability to translate text in a variety of languages simply by aiming your phone's camera at, for example, that indecipherable menu item you're thinking of ordering. Just snap a picture, and wait a second or two for Google to take a stab at a translation. (You'll need an Android-based smartphone to use Google Goggles, with version 1.6 or higher of the Android OS.)

Five languages are supported — English, French, Italian, German and Spanish — and Google says it's "hard at work" on other "Latin-based" languages, and will "eventually" be able translate languages such as Chinese, Hindi and Arabic.

SHOW #90 - NerdBoyTV: Shopping for a SmartPhone

In this episode of NerdBoyTV, Ryan Yee shares some tips to keep in mind when shopping for a smartphone. The phones all look hot, but the various costs associated with these smartphones add up quickly.

MobileCause explains fundraising by text messaging

Courtesy of Press:Here

MobileCause CEO Doug Plank is the brains behind American Idol's "Idol Gives Back" fundraising by text message. He explains the business model behind sending money via cell phone.