Developages - Development and Technology Blog

Will Joe the Plumber reach that $250,000 threshold with some endorsement money instead of his own plumbing business?

Joe Wurzelbacher, an Ohio plumber immortalized as “Joe the Plumber” during the 2008 presidential debates, has been hired by velocitystore.com to promote the DTV converter boxes being sold on its Web site.

Wurzelbacher will appear in a series of instructional videos that detail how consumers can order and set up their digital TV converter boxes in advance of next year’s DTV transition.

TV stations are required to switch their signals from analog to digital by February 17, 2009, and those with traditional over-the-air TVs will be required to purchase a converter box if they want to continue receiving a signal. The government will provide each American with two $40 coupons for the purchase of these boxes.

This isn’t about politics, this is about doing the right thing,” Wurzelbacher says in the first video posted to the site. “I partnered with velocitystore.com because they are the only online retailer providing converters and information in English, Spanish, and in Chinese, with other languages to be added in the near future.”

What can Joe do?

Wurzelbacher promises to provide details on: Why the transition is taking place and the public safety benefits it provides your options where and how to apply for coupons where you can purchase TV converter boxes how to connect them and how to help America go digital.

Velocitystore.com currently has five converter boxes on sale from Zentech, Tivax, Sansonic, Channel Master, and Philco.

Hopefully Joe’s advice will cost less than the average visit from a plumber.

Check out audio analyst Tim Gideon’s wrap-up of converter box options on pcmag.com.

Original post by Chloe Albanesius

Blockbuster, bless its heart, is not giving up without a fight. The video rental company has released a set-top box to deliver content, and is aimed directly at Netflix’s streaming offering. Blockbuster is employing hardware from 2Wire, delivering à la carte rentals, rather than Netflix’s subscription offering–a reflection of sorts of the company’s more traditional approach to movie rentals.

Users can pick up the box now from Blockbuster’s site for $99 (which also gets you 25 rentals for free). After you’ve burned through those videos, rentals will run you $1.99 a piece. The box can also stream video from sites like YouTube, as well as other multimedia content accessible across your home network, like photos and music.

NewTeeVee points out that Blockbuster has chosen not to brand with its logo, opting instead to settle for the UI.

Original post by Brian Heater

Amazon kicked off its annual “Amazon Customers Vote” special this morning–a holiday savings deal that could get you a 46-inch Samsung 1080p HDTV for $699, an Asus Eee PC for $129, or a KitchenAid mixer for $69.

Sound too good to be true? That might be the case. For six days starting Thursday, Amazon will offer steep discounts on select items–but only to customers randomly selected to participate.

Customers who want to try their luck can sign on to the Customers Vote page right now and choose one of three items in six categories that they would most like to go on sale. Categories include Blu-Ray gaming, tech toys, high-definition gadgets, portable devices, GPS systems, and a wild card.

Would you rather have that 46-inch Samsung 1080p HDTV for $699, a Samsung T᷒HD 14.7MP camera for $139, or a Sony Blu-Ray DVD player for $99?

Vote for your favorite, and if your choice wins a majority of votes, you will be entered for a chance to buy that item. Amazon will notify winning customers via e-mail the day before the sale, but place your orders fast–only 500 of each item will be available.

What else is up for grabs? More details after the jump.

BLU-RAY

1. An 80GB Playstatioя sci-fi bundle with “Firefly: The Complete Series″, “Star Wars: The Force Unleashed”, and a PS3 Blu-ray disc remote. Price dropped from $574 to $199.

2. An 80GB Playstation3 action bundle with James Bond Collection 6-Pack (”Dr. No,” “Die Another Day,” “Live and Let Die,” “For Your Eyes Only,” “From Russia With Love,” and “Thunderball”), “Far Cry 2″, and a PS3 Blu-ray disc remote. From $664 to $229.

3. An 80GB Playstatioя family bundle with the “Pirates of the Caribbean″ trilogy, “Little Big Planet”, and a PS3 Blu-ray disc remote. From $567 to $199.

What’s winning: As of Monday morning at 11a.m. EST, the family bundle had 50 percent of votes.

GO PLAY

1. Eyeclops night vision, recently tested by Gearlog. From $79 to $39.
2. U-Dance dance game. From $74 to $35.
3. Razor PowerWing Caster Scooter. From $129 to $49.

What’s winning? Eyeclops is also currently getting 50 percent of the vote.

HIGH DEFINITION

1. 46-inch Samsung 1080p HDTV. From $1,500 to $699.

2. Samsung TL34HD 14.7MP camera. From $299 to $139.

3. Sony Blu-Ray DVD player. From $299 to $99.

What’s winning? No surprise here. About 56 percent of the vote is for the HDTV.

PORTABLE DEVICES

1. Nokia N95-3 (Unlocked). From $599 to $199.

2. ASUS Eee PC 900 8.9-Inch Netbook With Windows XP Home. From $449 to $129.

3. Flip Video Ultra Series Camcorder, 60-Minutes (Black). From $149 to $49.

What’s winning? Eee PC is now taking 69 percent of the vote.

GPS

1. Navigon 8100T. From $599 to $299.
2. TomTom GO 730T. From $449 to $245.
3. GolfLogix GPS by Garmin. From $299 to $149.

What’s winning? TomTom’s navigating to a victory with 64 percent of the vote.

GO CRAZY

1. The Sopranos–The Complete Series. From $399 to $130.

2. The Tales of Beedle the Bard, Collector’s Edition. From $100 to $50.

3. KitchenAid Professional Stand Mixer (Licorice). From $499 to $69.

What’s winning? Chefs are weighing in with 73 percent voting for the mixer. Hell, I don’t even bake and I want one.

Original post by Chloe Albanesius

Do you work for a government agency? Are you looking for a way to convey an important bit of news to the country at large? What better way than by advertising via America’s favorite sport, NASCAR? Such was the impetus behind FCC Chairman Kevin Martin’s decision to spend $350,000 promoting the national conversion from analog to digital TV on a car in three races.

No one can blame pundits for pointing out the fact that the idea quite literally crashed and burned–twice. The car was involved in not one, but two crashes–the second causing a nine-car pileup on the track.

“Except for the cars that win the races, the cars that are in wrecks get a lot of attention,” Martin told Reuters after the first crash.

The federal government sure has a way of maintaining public confidence, doesn’t it?

Original post by Brian Heater

You know how it is: you have a decent buzz going, it’s the third quarter, and, honestly, it’s not like your girlfriend is going to know you used one of empty beer bottles as a urinal. But you′re hungry. The cordless is all the way across the room, and the bloody dog will chase a stick all day, but not fetch the $%&amp#^@ phone.

Last week, you would have been boned. But not today! As of Monday, you can order a fresh piping hot pizza from Domino’s via your TiVo! We have the super-secret methods inside.

Users have two ways of ordering pizza: first, they can set up an account with Dominos.com, then simply enter an access number to begin the order process. Users can also access the Dominos site through any number of entry points — Gold Star sponsorship, program placements, interactive tags in live TV spots, and through Music, Photos, Products & More by clicking on “Order Your Pizza” — and manually enter an address and pizza order. Users will also be able to track their pizzas, according to Domino’s.

“Joining forces with Domino’s Pizza creates an effective marketing and commerce tool for Domino’s while enhancing and further distinguishing TiVo as the ultimate way to watch TV with a closed-loop advertising experience,” said Karen Bressner, senior vice president of advertising sales for TiVo, in a statement. (For the love of god, Karen, just say that people might like to order a pizza while watching six straight episodes of “Ghost Hunters” back to back.)

The Domino’s service is free, but users will have to pay in cash for their order, TiVo sai — OK, hold up, Whoa. You mean I actually have to get up off the couch, find my wallet, and walk over to the door?

I want a way to send an email from my TiVo controller to Karen. It may take me a good half hour or so to write using the on-screen keyboard, but I can assure you it will be scathing.

Original post by Mark Hachman

That new HD LCD TV is great, but you know it really needs? A DVD/Blu-ray player, for starters. Also, if you could toss in an Intel Core2Duo processor and a terabyte of storage, that would be nice. And while we’re at it, I’m going to need a wireless keyboard and mouse, plus a split-screen feature, so I can multi-task. Got all that? Good.

Silicon Mountain is referring to its new 32/42-inch LCD TV as an all-in-one device, and save for a few amenities–a built-in toaster, and a bidet come to mind–I’d say the description is fairly apt. The Alio features an integrated Blu-ray player and its own PC, complete with an Intel Core2Duo E8400 processor, 4GB of RAM, and a 1TB hard drive. The set has all the standard A/V ports and a few USB inputs thrown in for good measure.

The system starts at $1,599 and comes in six configurations. The terabyte version will run you $2,799. Those looking to save some cash (relatively speaking, of course) can opt for a Linux version of the set.

Original post by Brian Heater

That new HD LCD TV is great, but you know it really needs? A DVD/Blu-ray player, for starters. Also, if you could toss in an Intel Core2Duo processor and a terabyte of storage, that would be nice. And while we’re at it, I’m going to need a wireless keyboard and mouse, plus a split-screen feature, so I can multi-task. Got all that? Good.

Silicon Mountain is referring to its new 32/42-inch LCD TV as an all-in-one device, and save for a few amenities–a built-in toaster, and a bidet come to mind–I′d say the description is fairly apt. The Allio features an integrated Blu-ray player and its own PC, complete with an Intel Core2Duo E8400 processor, 4GB of RAM, and a 1TB hard drive. The set has all the standard A/V ports and a few USB inputs thrown in for good measure.

The system starts at $1,599 and comes in six configurations. The terabyte version will run you $2,799. Those looking to save some cash (relatively speaking, of course) can opt for a Linux version of the set.

Original post by Brian Heater

For the past three years, DirecTV fans have been holding their breath in anticipation of a new tuner to link the service to Windows Media Center. Announced at CES in 2006 (!), the HDPC-20 promised just that connectivity, but it’s been mired in development ever since. If you believe what you read on the Internet, support for the device was planned, then retracted, from the Windows Media Center TV Pack. But over the weekend, ZDNet’s Ed Bott discovered a signed driver for this device in the pre-beta build of Windows 7 distributed at PDC, and that plus the forthcoming support for H.264 playback may mean the tuner’s release is imminent.

According to Ed’s Blog on ZDNet, “H.264 support is a prerequisite for full satellite support, both here in the U.S. and overseas. The presence of a signed driver in this beta build suggests that DirecTV’s hardware is ready to go–or at least ready to test. That’s excellent news for digital media enthusiasts looking for an alternative to CableCARD tuners, which have a well-deserved reputation for being flaky and expensive.

Release at CES, or at least a public announcement/demonstration, seems like a logical next step for the company. And judging by the enthusiastic comments on Media Center fan site The Green Button, the sooner the better.

Original post by Jeremy Kaplan

After a five-hour delay, the Federal Communications Commission on Tuesday approved a rule that gives conditional support to the production of white spaces devices.

White spaces devices “should be of enormous benefit in solving the broadband deficit in many rural areas of the country,” said Democratic Commissioner Michael Copps. “Ultimately, this careful threading of the needle between the path-breaking new and the tried and true old is going to reap huge benefits for the American people.”

Democratic Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein agreed. “White spaces are the blank pages on which we’ll write our broadband future,” he said.

It is a “giant leap for American consumers to be able to use the untapped white spaces,” said Republican Commissioner Robert McDowell.

The vote would allow the production of white spaces devices that use sensing plus geo-location at 100 milliwatts of power. The FCC would have to certify all devices before they go to market.

Devices that use sensing alone must be submitted for additional FCC tests, and that approval process would be open to the public. Approved devices would have to operate at a maximum of 50 milliwatts of power.

Sensing devices scan spectrum for unused channels while geo-location cross references a user’s location with a database of licensed spectrum users in the area to make sure white spaces devices do not interfere.

What are white spaces? When TV stations switch from analog to digital signals in February 2009, unused spectrum - or white spaces - will emerge, and companies like Microsoft and Google want to use it for mobile broadband. Broadcasters, led by the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB), argue that such activity could disrupt TV signals and wireless microphone transmissions.

The FCC’s Office of Engineering Technology (OET) released a report last month that approved the use of white spaces devices, and Tuesday’s vote approves those guidelines.

“The FCC must recognize that technology cannot stand still,” Copps said.

Though NAB actually supports the production of white spaces devices that combine sensing and geo-location, it has reserved its fire for the possibility that the FCC might approve sensing-only devices down the line.

NAB had been lobbying to delay Tuesday’s vote until after a public comment on the OET report, an effort that had gained the support of various entertainment and sports groups, as well as politicians.

White spaces advocates said that FCC testing - which has spanned four years in total — had been more than adequate and that a rule needed to be in place in order to take advantage of white spaces after the February transition as soon as possible.

Commissioner Adelstein agreed with NAB on this issue, though he ultimately approved the rule in its entirety. The process was “not a model of transparency” and the final result was “something of a rush,” he said.

It “creates unnecessary resentment [and is] not the process I would have undertaken” but because the OET includes “engineers of the highest caliber” who gave their support to the rule, “I will approve the policy and with great enthusiasm,” Adelstein concluded.

Republican Commissioner Deborah Taylor Tate praised the potential for white spaces to bring broadband to rural areas like her home state of Tennessee, but also raised some concerns and ultimately dissented in part.

Get the rest of this story on pcmag.com.

Original post by Chloe Albanesius

Netflix is shutting down its previously viewed DVD business in order to focus on rentals.

“As you know, our core business is delivering great movie rentals to you on DVD by mail and instantly to the computer and TV, so we’ve decided it makes sense for us to focus exclusively on that,” according to a Monday blog post. “This means we will stop selling previously viewed DVDs through the Web site. We’re sorry for any inconvenience for those of you who regularly purchase DVDs at Netflix.”

The last day to purchase previously viewed DVDs will be November 30.

Movies typically sell for $9.99, but certain films are now available for $5.99. If you want to buy, sign into your account, click “buy”, and Netflix will charge your account and mail out the DVD.

Last month, Netflix announced that it will add a $1-per-month fee for access to its Blu-ray library.

Original post by Chloe Albanesius

Western Digital today announced the release of the WD TV. The $129 box plays a number of video, photo, and audio formats including 1080p HD video, various MPEG formats, Ṃ, OGG-Vorbis, MKV with subtitle support, JPEG, TIFF, and more.

The device essentially works as a hub between any USB portable hard drive (the company recommends the WD My Passport, naturally). Component Video or HDMI-equipped HDTVs, no networking required.

The WD TV also includes a remote, which lets users flip through the device’s animated menu.

Original post by Brian Heater

A DVD rental service is accusing Universal Studios Home Entertainment (USHE) of threatening to pull its distribution channels unless it agrees to a revenue-sharing agreement.

Redbox, which sells and rents DVDs at approximately 10,000 self-service kiosks across the country, filed suit against USHE earlier this month after USHE allegedly demanded that Redbox adhere to certain conditions.

Specifically, Universal wanted Redbox to wait 45 days until after the DVD release date to make it available in their kiosks; limit the number of USHE DVDs that Redbox could stock; and destroy all DVDs not used in kiosks rather than offer them for sale.

If Redbox refused to sign this agreement, USHE threatened to stop selling its DVDs to Redbox’s distributors, VPD and Ingram.

Redbox claims in its suit that USHE′s actions violate antitrust laws and constitute copyright misuse.

Approximately 15 percent of the DVDs that Redbox purchases from VPD and Ingram are marketed and sold by Universal, Redbox said. USHE has threatened to cut off Redbox by December 1, 2008 if the agreement is not signed, the suit said.

“The revenue sharing agreement is a naked restriction on output that directly reduces the supply of goods to consumers, and will increase the prices consumers must pay,” according to the suit.

Redbox debuted in 2002 in Washington, D.C. and has since expanded to 10,000 kiosks, which can be found in outlets like McDonald’s, Wal-Mart, Walgreens, and grocery stores such as Albertson’s, Stop & Shop, Harris Teeter, and Meijer’s.

Consumers use the touch-screen kiosks or reserve DVDs online and pay $1 per night for the discs. Previously viewed movies can be purchased for $7 per DVD.

“This is a breathtaking attack on the first sale doctrine, which makes it crystal clear that once you′ve bought a DVD, you can rent and resell it at any price and on any terms you like,” Fred von Lohmann, a senior staff attorney with the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), wrote in a blog post. “Universal Studios apparently would prefer a world where millions of DVDs are shredded and put in landfills to one where consumers can rent a DVD for $1.”

Original post by Chloe Albanesius

Multimedia streaming device manufacturer Sonos just announced updates that will make the company’s line of products even more Apple-friendly. Beginning today, Sonos owners can download a free application from the iTunes App Store that lets them control their streaming devices from an iPhone or iPod Touch.

According to PC Mag, the download essentially turns the Apple device into a Sonos remote, performing all the same functions as the device bundled with the high-end multimedia system. Users can control sound sources, manage music libraries, control Internet radio streaming, and monitor audio output.

Sonos also announced the release of Version 2.7 of its software, which will add 15,000 radio station feeds.

Original post by Brian Heater

Thanks to a mandate by FCC commissioner Jonathan Adelstein, a number of networks in metropolitan areas across the US will turn off their analog broadcasts, for a full two minutes tonight. The goal is to test the networks′ preparedness for the February 17 switch over to digital TV.

During that time, an on-screen message will inform users whether they are digitally connected. If viewers are not fully prepared, text will direct them to the government’s conversion site, www.dtv.goc.

Stations including ION Media Networks, NBC Universal, and Telemundo will be participating in New York, Los Angeles, Washington, D.C. and Hartford, Conn. The shutdown will occur between 5:59 and 6:01 PM.

Original post by Brian Heater

After a solid year of testing, Microsoft has finally released a SideShow-enabled Media Center gadget, letting you browse the TV guide, schedule recordings, browse and play music, and more. Microsoft’s Windows SideShow Team Blog gives the following description of the features included in the 32-bit and 64-bit software packages:

4 gadgets are included:

• TV: Browse the program guide, schedule recordings, and browse and play back recorded TV shows


• Music: Browse and play music


• Pictures + Videos: Browse pictures on your device and play slideshows and video


• Now Playing: Provides information on what is playing in Media Center and provides playback controls like those on your Media Center remote

This would be perfect to control a Media Center PC in your living room, with a SideShow-enabled remote control or other gizmo. The problem, of course, is that no one, simply no one, has released any such devices. The last great hope of the SideShow follower was Ricavision, which has been working on a very nice looking model for literally years now. It’s still for presale on Amazon.com, but according to several reports, Ricavision is out of business. And none of my contacts at the company returned repeated requests for information. Besides, the new gadgets are incompatible with the recently released TV Pack 2008 software–of course. Why would Microsoft’s various teams work with each other?

Original post by Jeremy Kaplan