03:17 PM by Colin Dunstan in Archive | Portable Audio/Video

WSJ Online reports that Apple is seeking to license music videos to sell through its iTunes Music Store. The newspaper further states that it is likely that Apple will announce an iPod player that can play video by September. A music clip would be sold for $1.99 each, with the possibility of a discount if consumers buy a music video and a song at the same time. Apple has refused to comment on the report, calling it "industry speculation."

In addition to licensing music video content, Apple might also be looking to license television shows. The creation of a whole video-distribution service could hint at the possibility of future portable Apple devices dedicated for playing video content.

Among those media companies approached were Warner Music Group Corp., EMI Group PLC, Vivendi Universal SA's Universal Music Group and Sony BMG. As to the question whether his Pixar company is also going to make its blockbuster movies available for portable video players, Steve Job replied:

"So far there really hasn't been a successful portable video device other than those that play industry standard DVDs, and that we participate in just because we sell DVDs," Mr. Jobs said in the call. "So who knows what's down the road?"

Update: Paul Sloan has some more information regarding Disney's intent to team up with Apple on the Video iPod.

06:00 AM by Bob Russell in Archive | Handhelds and Smartphones

"We Already Have All The Gadgets We Need"... That's the newest entry for PDA Thoughts by Shaun McGill over at PDA 24/7.

Surely, he doesn't really believe that!

06:50 PM by Alexander Turcic in E-Book Formats | Workshop

PDFOnline is a free online solution to convert documents in various formats, images, and web pages to Adobe PDF. Even better, you can also upload an existing PDF file to receive back its HTML version via E-Mail (only restriction: 2MB size limit).

The results look good, no wonder since they use the SDK by BCL Technologies which is known to deliver pretty good results.

[via Lifehacker]

05:23 PM by Alexander Turcic in Archive | Handhelds and Smartphones

Lindsey from PalmAddicts found this gem for us: Get $50 off if you purchase a new handheld from Palm. The deal currently only applies to Tungsten T5 (my personal favorite), Tungsten E2, and Zire 72.

04:40 PM by Alexander Turcic in Archive | Handhelds and Smartphones

It's easy to corrupt a PDA device during a ROM update, especially if a power loss or software error occurs during the flash update. Most PDA vendors including PalmOne release ROM updates on a regular basis. While they usually provide detailed instructions for the upgrade procedures, the chance of ROM corruption is a known risk.

PalmSource addresses this risk with increased security through a fault-tolerant Flash ROM update procedure. In the recently received US Patent 6,918,017, the company describes the procedure as such (see also attached drawings):

1. The PDA contains two reset-resistent memory areas, whereas one (memory 1) is used to hold the actual Flash content that is normally used to startup the PDA, while the other (memory 2) is used for temporary storage;
2. during a Flash upgrade the content of the new Flash is copied from your desktop to memory 2;
3. upon the next reset, the device verifies the content in memory 2 and ensures that it is safe to load the information into memory 1;
4. upon a positive verification, the content from memory 2 is copied to memory 1 and the device is resetted to load it with the new Flash content.

02:44 PM by Bob Russell in Archive | Handhelds and Smartphones

There are less and less mobile device users that don't also use a memory card. But we've also learned that it's usually much slower if you use your device synch to move data between a desktop computer and a memory card.

So a card reader becomes the natural choice. Personally, I'm very happy with my Sandisk ImageMate 5 in 1 Reader. Be careful of older card readers because the old firmware can cause cards to be corrupted or even rendered unusable. (I've experience this myself, and ended up throwing away the old card reader.)

Palm Addicts is pointing us to a nice review of SD card readers at TreoCentral..."I hate performing HotSync operations. Back in the day, Palm users did not have fancy NVRAM that prevented data loss when your battery died, so a daily HotSync was almost a necessity. Since a daily sync operation took less than a minute, it wasn't too bad. However, with the Treo's multimedia features, syncing can be a real pain. It can take 10-20 minutes to transfer a few sound or video files to the Treo's SD card. With 1 GB SD memory expansion cards prices are coming down, it can really take a long time to get your multimedia files over to the SD card."

02:04 PM by Bob Russell in Archive | Handhelds and Smartphones

There's a new Linux PDA on the horizon. The market is certainly not standing still while PalmOS is being prepared for Linux.

LinuxDevices reports "Taiwanese pager maker Unication demonstrated a Linux-based PDA at Computex last week. The Magpie offers unique and sophisticated features, including an integrated FM transmitter, WiFi, and full Opera browser. However, the device has a low-quality plastic case reminiscent of handheld gaming devices, according to BargainPDA."

This joins the most exciting product announcement I've seen yet, which is the Nokia 770 Linux pda. Even though a calmshell device would be nice, this one from Nokia may win a lot of early adopters who just can't bear to wait any longer.

The future is starting to look really bright for the consumer, soon to be flooded with choices of PalmOS for Linux, improved versions of Windows Mobile, and all kinds of Linux PDA devices! I think I'd better start saving a few dollars...

12:06 PM by Bob Russell in Miscellaneous | Lounge

I hear people complain and argue all the time about how studios are forcing people to pirate. It's definitely not a clear cut and simple issue, and people are writing about it all the time. But no one on either side has made it this "cute" before!

How Bob The Millionaire Became a Pirate

Winning the hearts and minds of the people on this issue (and therefore shaping the law) is how I think this will be determined. With all the creative skills and resources on the motion picture and recording artist side of the world, one has to wonder why they aren't making use of it to sway our opinions. How about a few blockbusters with messages about content piracy? Hollywood has never shyed away from a message before.

But what I'd really like to see is Mark Cuban use his resources to make some clever multimedia spots on the side of "DRM is stupid, and stop treating your customers like criminals." How about it Mark!? You could even simply host it on your website and it will spread like wildfire!