Tuesday, November 29, 2011

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'Olive' Aims To Be The First Feature-Length Smartphone-Shot Film In Theaters Top
Screen Shot 2011-11-29 at 8.18.16 PMWhat's former Facebook CTO Chris Kelly doing post-Democratic Attorney General run? Why backing a feature length film shot on a smartphone of course! The film, called Olive, went up on Kickstarter today and was shot entirely using a Nokia N8 phone and a specially crafted 35mm lense.

Director Hooman Khalili tells me that what differentiates Olive from other films that have tried the whole "movie shot on a smartphone" gimmick -- like The Wrong Ferrari -- is that he actually intends to show the film in theatres. Khalili even wants to submit it for Oscar consideration -- which would be a first for a smartphone-shot film  .

 
How Neustar Plans To Make UltraViolet DRM Work, With or Without Apple (TCTV) Top
UltraViolet NeustarThere's a lot of skepticism about the the success potential of UltraViolet, a new cloud based digital distribution format designed to make digital rights management work across devices. That's because people hate DRM, but also because the standard currently lacks support Amazon and iTunes, the two biggest digital video sellers and renters. I wanted the real story on where UltraViolet is going, so I sat down with the Tim Dodd, VP and GM or Neustar Media, developers of the technology that powers UltraViolet. Watch here on TCTV as he defends UltraViolet, explains how it works on iOS devices without support from iTunes, and claims that there's still a future in physical media.
 
Ultrabook Prices May Fall 5-10% In The First Part Of 2012, Says Report Top
acer ultrabookThe first ultrabooks are just now hitting the market but despite Intel's stated wishes, prices are generally north of $1000. But that might change early next year, per Digitimes who cites several supply chain makers. Reportedly, Acer, Asustek and Toshiba are looking to lower prices in 1Q12 to below $1000. Plus, a $100 marketing subsidy from Intel cause a overal dip of 5-10% next year. But even without the potential price drop, it's best to wait for the next round of ultrabooks anyway.
 
Atari Looks To Reinvent Itself As A Mobile Games Company; Hires Former iWON/Marvel Exec As EVP Top
Screen shot 2011-11-29 at 2.04.17 AMFounded in 1972 by Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney, Atari played a central role in the early history of video games, going on to create what are still some of the most recognizable arcade games on the planet, like Pac-Man and Pong, to name a few. Not to mention the fact that its joystick-controlled Atari 2600 console was pretty much synonymous with "video games" in the 1980s. Although Atari remains a recognizable brand around the globe, the company struggled through the video games crash of 1983, financial issues, and various assets have fallen under a number of different ownership and leadership regimes, including Warner Communications and Hasbro -- among many others.
 
Zuckerberg Loves That The FTC Wants You To "Like" Them On Facebook Top
zuckftc copyFacebook and the FTC made peace this morning, after the government agency complained that the social network violated user privacy. The two reached a settlement which will fundamentally change the way Facebook deals with privacy  moving forward -- including measures like bulking up its privacy division and submitting to new privacy audits every two years. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg emphasized that he did not take the issue of consumer privacy lightly in a public statement, "Not one day goes by when I don't think about what it means for us to be the stewards of this community and their trust."
 
Keen On… How Your Cell Phone Might Be Killing You (TCTV) Top
Screen Shot 2011-11-29 at 4.13.24 PMYes, we've heard it before: cell phones, they say, give us cancer. But this time, the message is from a noted medical researcher and this time it's a message that is supported by a number of governments including Finland, Israel, France and even Canada. Dr. Devra Davis is the author of Disconnect: the Truth about Cell Phone Radiation, What the Industry Has Done to Hide It, and How to Protect Your Family a new book which suggests that there is indeed all-too-intimate connection between our cell phones and our bodies.
 
BeachMint's Celeb-Filled Cyber Monday Draws Over 50,000 Viewers (With Help From RtoZ) Top
cybermondayshotThere were a lot of sales going on this past Cyber Monday, as many sites across the web slashed prices in a celebration of consumerism. But few sites had the star power that BeachMint did. Yesterday, the company launched a unique Facebook application including a live video stream featuring the likes of Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, Kate Bosworth, and Rachel Bilson. The celebrities are, of course, all affiliated with BeachMint's sites — the Olsens are attached with StyleMint, Bosworth with JewelMint, and Bilson with ShoeMint. During the two-hour stream, each of the celebrities (as well as several other guests), introduced a series of products that were available in limited quantities — users could purchase these products, watching the inventory counting down in real-time. In effect, it was an online, social version of Home Shopping Network.
 
A New Google Bar: Black Is Out, Google Search Across Products Is In Top
Screen shot 2011-11-29 at 4.12.32 PMOver the last six months, Google has been doing a full house clean -- or maybe it's been shedding an old skin. On the one hand, that's meant sunsetting products that just aren't cutting it anymore, like in September when it announced plans to shutter Aardvark, Desktop, Notebook, and Fast Flip, etc. and then last week it continued with saying au revoir (officially) to Wave, Knol, Friend Connect, and more. Then, on the other hand, Google has been updating its look, well, its design. Today, Google announced on its blog that it's "ready for the next stage" of its redesign, which apparently includes a new Google bar that will enable users to quickly switch between each of its products, and share easily with Robert Scoble (er, Google+ users). That means arrivederci to the black bar.
 
Restored Polaroid SX70s, With Designer Accents – For A Price Top
sx70An original Polaroid SX70 camera would be a dream for many an analog photography lover. But not only are they difficult to find in good condidion, they're also maddeningly expensive when they show up. Today is no exception, but they're rare enough that to find 50 restored cameras ready for sale is an event worth shouting from the rooftops. These SX70s have been restored by The Impossible Project, which if you have been following along for the last few years, has taken it upon themselves to manufacture Polaroid film cartridges and fix up some of the old cameras. They show up in small batches on Impossible's site and others, but quickly sell out. And starting on December 5th there will be 50 available for purchase at boutique design site colette (caution: autoplaying music).
 
Snap Interactive Says Facebook's New Mobile Channels Are Boosting Its Traffic And Revenue Top
snap_logo_thumb1Facebook launched a new set of social channels for apps to reach mobile users last month, including notifications, search, news feed stories and bookmarks in its mobile web and iPhone apps. We haven't heard too much about the results from developers But here's a little bit of interesting new data from Snap Interactive, a publicly-traded company that has a popular cross-platform app called Are You Interested. After Facebook rolled out the new features in mid-October, the company said its mobile traffic to that app got a significant boost (although it's not providing specific numbers). The number of average daily logins on its AreYouInterested iPhone app (here) increased by 70 percent between the 30 days before the October 10th Facebook integration and the 30 days after.
 
Aviary's Tools Are Powering One Million Edited Photos Per Week On Mobile Alone Top
aviary-lets-developers-add-cool-photo-editing-features-to-their-iphone-android-appsIf apps like Instagram have proven one thing, it's that photos and mobile phones are an extremely popular (and powerful) combination. And photos on the web are obviously immensely popular as well. A year ago NYC-based startup Aviary decided to capitalize on these trends by launching developer-facing APIs, which allow third-party apps to bake in image editing with a minimal amount of work required. Today, the company is announcing some stats that indicate that its strategy is working: it's now powering image editing in some 300+ websites and mobile applications, and over one million photos are being edited per week on mobile alone. For most of its history Aviary has offered a suite of web-based image editing tools — if you want to edit an image but don't have Photoshop handy, for example, it's a great free alternative. Then last year, it opened the doors to third-party developers with a new HTML5-based web API, and it followed that up with its iOS and Android SDKs this past September. Aviary says that on average, it takes a mobile developer only fifteen minutes to bake this functionality into their apps.
 
Judge Applies SOPA-Esque Solution To Hundreds Of Counterfeit Goods Sites Top
chanel_rogerThe much-maligned SOPA bill is facing a lot of heat as much of the tech industry sets its weight against it. But while the legislation is being discussed, its extreme solutions to criminal online sites are already being adopted. A judge in Nevada has ordered that 228 websites be seized, their domain names transferred, and their listings removed from search engines. There are several serious problems with this ruling, and law blogger Venkat Balasubramani sums them up well. Essentially it is unclear how and why this Nevada judge purports to exert powers over hundreds of separate defendants and order relief from parties only tangentially related to the case, such as search engines. The jurisdiction, evidence, and punitive actions all seem to be have had their scope exaggerated.
 
Market For Mobile Health Apps Projected To Quadruple To $400 Million By 2016 Top
health-techThe latest healthtech research shows that the forecast is looking good for mobile health solutions, especially for those companies buying into mobile apps. ABI Research recently released a report which predicts that the sports and health mobile app market is on pace to hit $400 million in revenues by 2016. That's up from $120 million in 2010, meaning the market could quadruple over the next four years. ABI's report projects that the majority of that $400 million will come from sports, fitness, and wellness apps, which have begun to see heavy adoption over the least year. The increase of available health data and the growing adoption of health-related apps is owed largely to the development of increasingly wearable, portable, and non-invasive devices and their sensors that can effectively measure and transmit biometric data.
 
The Kindle Fire Bests The iPad At BestBuy.com, Becomes The Retailer's Best Selling Tablet Online Top
kindle-fireBe careful, the Kindle Fire is hot. Burning up you might say. Get it? Because it's the Fire? Never mind... Amazon's first foray into the tablet world seems to be a runaway success. The Fire has occupied the top spot on Amazon's best sellers list for weeks even prior to the device shipping. Now, at Best Buy, the $199 Fire sits higher the 16GB iPad as the top selling tablet on the retailer's website. Yep, it's safe to say that Amazon is well on its way to officially winning the Android tablet wars. Amazon's first color tablet had a banner Black Friday weekend. The retail previously stated that it moved four times more Kindles this year than last (although hard numbers were not given). Consumers are seemingly eating up the Fire.
 
Carrier IQ Video Shows Alarming Capabilities Of Mobile Tracking Software Top
ciqYou may be aware of the growing controversy surrounding Carrier IQ, a piece of software found pre-installed on Sprint phones that, according to developers who have investigated, is capable of detecting, recording, and transmitting various user actions and inputs. Among the data CIQ potentially has access to are location, SMS, apps, and key presses. News of the software has been percolating for months on development forums, but when Trevor Eckhart recently summarized his findings, he found himself facing a cease and desist while Sprint vigorously denied the charges, saying "We do not and cannot look at the contents of messages, photos, videos, etc., using this tool." The C&D was quickly retracted, but Eckhart has now released a video that seems to give the lie to both Sprint and Carrier IQ's assurances.
 
(Founder Stories) Mayor Bloomberg On Success: If "Having Access To The Best & The Brightest Is The Difference, This Is The Place To Be." Top
Bloomberg Show 2.movIn episode II of Mayor Bloomberg's interview with Founder Stories host Chris Dixon, the two start off by discussing Mayor Bloomberg's desire to strengthen the economic foundation of New York City by attracting top scholars in applied sciences. While many universities can secure the funds necessary to make it work in NYC, the high cost of living poses greater challenges for founders of more modest means. Addressing the issue Mayor Bloomberg notes, if "low rent and low taxes is the difference between you being successful or not successful, you don't have a business. If the having access to the best and the brightest is the difference, this is the place to be."
 
Review: The Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9 Is Just Right Top
Screen Shot 2011-11-28 at 6.33.53 PMShort Version The Galaxy Tab 8.9 is a nearly perfect size and weight and, thanks to a few user experience updates, is an excellent vehicle for Android Honeycomb 3.1. In many cases the dreaded Android lag is gone and 8.9 screen size is, like the baby bear's porridge, just right.
 
Galaxy Nexus Gets The iFixit Teardown Treatment Top
galaxy-nexus-internalsI've spent what seems like months obsessing over every little bit of Galaxy Nexus minutiae that's crossed the wire, and what better to celebrate its (hopefully) impending launch than to watch one get torn apart? That's right folks -- iFixit is at it yet again, and this time it's the GSM Galaxy Nexus that's going under the knife.
 
Parenting Fills Facebook's Most Shared Articles of 2011 List Top
mediaArticles about natural disasters and parenting advice from CNN, Yahoo! News, the New York Times, and Huffington Post topped Facebook's new list of the most shared articles of 2011. Facebook measured which articles were Liked, Shared, or copy and pasted into the social network and found that subjects such as "Parents, don't dress your girls like tramps" and "What teachers really want to tell parents" were the most popular, along with news about the Japan tsunami and rumored changes to zodiac sign arrangements. The list provides insight into Facebook's user base, which skews more towards middle-aged parents than most expect. Unfortunately, it also illuminates our attraction to tragedy and aversion to real issues -- only one article in the top 20 dealt with the financial crisis.
 
SublimeVideo's Cloud-Based HTML5 Player Goes Freemium Top
SublimeVideo - HomeJilion, the makers of the cloud-based HTML5 video player SublimeVideo, are today making the product more accessible through the introduction of a freemium offering. When the service launched earlier this spring, commercial plans were available, starting at the relatively affordable rate of under $10 per month. But when it comes to user adoption, nothing beats "free."
 

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