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AfterDawn: News

Latest iMovie blocks studio names from trailers feature

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 22 Oct 2010 6:40

Latest iMovie blocks studio names from trailers feature TUAW is reporting this week that the latest iMovie 2011 trailers feature blocks the usage of studio names, most notably Universal and Paramount.

Although unclear, it appears that either Apple or the studios don't want users putting out trailers that could be misinterpreted as real studio-created trailers, and the easiest way to do that is to block the names from being used.

Although the Universal Studios' earth theme is available as a choice, as is the Paramount snow-capped mountains, the "studio name" field turns the words "Universal" and "Paramount" into dashes when using those respective themes.

You can view both pictures here.




AfterDawn: News

Nearly one-third of iPad owners have yet to download an app

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 22 Oct 2010 6:13

Nearly one-third of iPad owners have yet to download an app A new Nielsen study, dubbed "The Increasingly Connected Consumer: Connected Devices," has shown that nearly one-third of all iPad owners have yet to download an app for their device.

32 percent of iPad owners remain app-less despite a number of very popular apps being created specifically for the tablet.

63 percent of device owners have downloaded an app and paid for at least one while the other five percent have download apps, but only free ones.

The most popular paid apps were games at 62 percent, followed by books at 54 percent and music at 50 percent.

Nearly 100 percent of iPad owners regularly check the news, while 39 percent use it to read books. Another 33 percent use the device to watch movies or TV shows.

The survey was administered to 5000 "connected device owners" including iPad, Kindle, iPod Touch and other device owners.




AfterDawn: News

RIM falls to third in global smartphone market share

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 22 Oct 2010 5:49

RIM falls to third in global smartphone market share According to the latest figures from Strategy Analytics, RIM has fallen to third in the global smartphone market, losing out to Apple for the first time ever.

Nokia remained the clear leader, shipping 26.5 million units during the Q3 2010, good for a 34.4 percent market share.

That percentage, however, fell significantly year-over-year, down from 37.8 percent.

Apple, in second place, shipped 14.5 million units, good for 18.3 percent of the market.

RIM fell from 19.6 percent to 16.1 percent after shipping 12.3 million units for the quarter.

The research firm concluded that RIM is losing share due to a "limited presence in the high-growth touchscreen segment." RIM offers the Storm 2 and the new Torch in the multi-touch market.

Android, with incredible growth, has helped companies like Motorola and Samsung stay relevant, although their market share is significantly lower.




AfterDawn: News

Apple continues to kick Adobe

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 22 Oct 2010 3:04

Apple continues to kick Adobe According to Engadget, Apple has taken its fight with Adobe to another level, purposely not pre-installing Flash on all new Mac computers starting with the recently launched second generation MacBook Air.

Apple's reasoning behind the decision is: "The best way for users to always have the most up to date and secure version is to download it directly from Adobe."

While the decision does have a point, Apple is forcing extra work on its customers by removing the pre-install.

The easiest way Apple could have ensured Flash would stay up to date would be to add the plug-in into the auto-updater.

For now, new Mac owners will have to head over to Adobe and make sure they download the latest version of Flash. That is if they want to watch over 90 percent of videos on the Internet.




AfterDawn: News

Sex.com domain sells for $13 million

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 22 Oct 2010 1:38

Sex.com domain sells for $13 million The Sex.com domain has finally been sold this week, after being up for auction for 15 months.

Clover Holdings, a company registered in the Caribbean, has purchased the domain for $13 million, about $1 million less than what Escom LLC purchased it for in 2006.

Last June, Escom went bankrupt and the domain went up for auction.

The domain was originally purchased for under $100 in 1994, and then sold in 2006 for $14 million to Escom LLC, who could not afford the payments and then defaulted the site to DOM Partners, the lender who backed the $14 million bid.

Gary Kremen, the founder of Match.com was the original owner of sex.com, but he lost the domain to a con man named Stephen Cohen. Kremen then waged a decade long legal battle to regain ownership.

Cohen was subsequently fined $65 million for stealing the domain. Cohen was allegedly making $500,000 a month off the site during its heyday.




AfterDawn: News

Netflix streaming rules U.S. Internet traffic

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 22 Oct 2010 12:45

Netflix streaming rules U.S. Internet traffic RWW has reported today that Netflix rules Internet traffic during peak times in the United States as demands continues to increase.

Netflix currently has 16 million subscribers, most of which can access the company's "Watch Instantly" streaming catalog from their mobile devices, computers and TVs.

Given the strong demand, the site says Netflix accounts for just over 20 percent of all American downstream traffic during peak Internet hours.

Bandwidth "consumption," however, still remains low in the U.S., compared to other regions, as the average connection time is 3 hours in the States compared to 5.5 hours average for all of Asia.

Netflix CEO Reed Hastings has made it clear that the company will continue to build its streaming service, even admitting that the company may soon offer a new streaming-only subscription package that will be cheaper than current mixed plans which offer physical rentals and streaming for consumers who may not care for rentals.




AfterDawn: News

Nintendo releasing red Wii, DSi XL for U.S.

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 21 Oct 2010 11:21

Nintendo releasing red Wii, DSi XL for U.S. Nintendo has confirmed today they will be releasing red Wii and DSi XL consoles, in an effort to continue their ongoing celebration of Super Mario's 25th anniversary.

For $199, the red Wii bundle will include the console, a Wii Remote Plus (with Motion Plus), nunchuck, Wii Sports and New Super Mario Bros.

The DSi XL bundle will sell for $179 and include the red handheld, Brain Age Express: Arts & Letters, Brain Age Express: Math, Photo Clock, and Mario Kart DS.

Read more...


AfterDawn: News

Hulu Plus to drop to $5 per month?

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 21 Oct 2010 10:57

Hulu Plus to drop to $5 per month? Peter Kafka of AllThingsDigital has reported today that Hulu is actively considering dropping the price of their Hulu Plus premium service to $4.95 per month from the current $9.95 per month.

Hulu Plus was created to give subscribers a chance to access more content, including back catalogs of popular shows they would normally watch on the free, ad-supported Hulu site.

Unfortunately for the broadcasters behind the service, Plus has not really taken off, with subscriber base staying very low.

Hulu Plus subscribers can watch the back catalogs of shows on the iPhone, iPad, Xbox 360, PS3, and a few Web-connected HDTVs. Then again, so can Netflix subscribers, who get access to 15,000 TV episodes and movies for $8.99 a month while still getting physical media rentals in the mail.

That being said, Hulu Plus is still in beta, so Hulu refused to comment on the story. NBCU, News Corp. and Disney own equal share in the venture.




AfterDawn: News

Nook headed to Wal-Mart

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 21 Oct 2010 10:42

Nook headed to Wal-Mart Wal-Mart has said today that it will begin selling the B&N Nook at 2500 Super Centers and online starting on the 24th, greatly expanding the presence of the e-reader.

"The world's largest bookseller and the world's largest retailer are bringing e-reading to the masses," added William Lynch, Barnes & Noble's CEO.

B&N offers a $149 Wi-Fi-only version of the Nook and a $200 3G/Wi-Fi model. Wal-Mart will sell both.

The Nook is in direct competition with the Amazon Kindle and to a lesser extent, the Apple iPad. Wal-Mart just began selling all six models of the iPad in their stores.

"The Wal-Mart customer is a slightly different demographic than at Barnes & Noble," continues Lynch, via the WSJ. "This gives us access to a customer who we think grows the base of Nook customers."

B&N offers the Nook through their own stores and Best Buy.




AfterDawn: News

Google to test 1Gbps fiber network at Standford

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 21 Oct 2010 9:44

Google to test 1Gbps fiber network at Standford Google has said today that they will begin testing their incredibly fast 1Gbps fiber high-speed broadband project in Stanford, California, whilst still evaluating applications sent in by other cities that want to test the network.

The company will start introducing the network early in 2011 to the Residential Subdivision at Stanford University, which happens to be just a few miles from Google's headquarters in Mountain View.

Google Product Manager James Kelly says the new implementation is a "beta" for the broader Google Fiber project.

At 1Gbps, the network is at least ten times faster than even the speediest of current home connections.

In February, Google announced that it was looking for a community in the U.S. with between 50,000 and 500,000 people to deploy the network, for free. 600 communities applied and one, Topeka, Kansas, even renamed itself "Google" for one month.

Google will introduce the winner by Christmas.




AfterDawn: News

'Angry Birds' for Android breaks 3 million download mark

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 21 Oct 2010 9:09

'Angry Birds' for Android breaks 3 million download mark Late last week we announced that Rovio Mobile, the developer behind the blockbuster game Angry Birds had recently released a version of the game for Android devices.

The company is still offering a full version of the game for free in the Android Market, following its massive success in the iOS App Store.

Within 24 hours, Rovio confirmed that there were over 1 million downloads of the game, marking the fastest an Android app had ever hit the milestone.

Today, both Google and Rovio have confirmed that the game has hit over 3 million downloads in just five days.

The app is available for free as it is being supported by Google's AdMob advertising platform. Google is using the game as a way to show advertisers that using AdMob can be very beneficial to them.

Across all platforms, Rovio has sold 7 million copies of the game for $.99.




AfterDawn: News

Rumor: Nook Color coming next week

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 21 Oct 2010 6:10

Rumor: Nook Color coming next week Although unconfirmed, CNET is reporting today that Barnes & Noble is preparing to unveil a full color version of the Nook e-reader device at an event next Tuesday.

CNET says the source "has proven reliable" in the past year but this should still be treated as a rumor for now.

The new Nook Color will have a 7-inch screen, with a retail price of $250.

Just like its predecessor, the Color will run on the Android mobile OS and offer a multi-touch experience.

B&N will continue to sell its current line of Nooks, which will see a major software update in the near future.

It is still unclear what kind of full color display will be used.




AfterDawn: News

Sony reports strong Move sales in U.S., South America

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 21 Oct 2010 5:43

Sony reports strong Move sales in U.S., South America Sony has reported today that they have shipped 1 million Move motion controllers in the Americas for the PlayStation 3 in just 30 days since launch. Sony Europe reported 1.5 million sales for the EU during the same time.

President Jack Tretton said the Move system is already out of stock in most retail stores and the company expects that strong Move sales will lead to an increase in console and software sales during the holiday season.

"Sales are brisk," concluded Tretton, via the WSJ.

The Move, when teamed with the PlayStation Eye camera, gives gamers a chance to interact directly with their games using hand motions and other physical movements.

Sony sells the controller by itself for $49 or bundled with a game and the Eye for $99.

Microsoft will begin selling their rival Kinect system on November 4th.




AfterDawn: News

Windows 7 license sales hit 240 million

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 21 Oct 2010 5:12

Windows 7 license sales hit 240 million Microsoft has said today that it has already sold 240 million Windows 7 licenses, making it the fastest-selling operating system in the company's history.

Windows 7 went on sale last October.

The software giant noted that by the end of September, Windows 7 was running on 93 percent of new PCs, with the OS jumping to 17.1 percent global OS market share, surpassing Vista during the summer.

Windows XP still accounts for a majority 60 percent of the global market.

IW notes that Microsoft has seen their bottom line grow significantly thanks to the strong success of the operating system, with the company seeing a 48 percent increase in net income year-on-year for the fiscal Q4 ended June 30th.




AfterDawn: News

Starbucks, Yahoo team up for in-store digital content

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 21 Oct 2010 1:17

Starbucks, Yahoo team up for in-store digital content Starbucks has partnered with Yahoo this week to launch the Starbucks Digital Network, a Web portal with content that can be accessed only when you are using Starbuck's free Wi-Fi.

The network will launch on Wednesday and will be available in all 6800 Starbucks locations.

Starbucks Digital Network will have six channels: News, entertainment, wellness, business and careers, My Neighborhood, and Starbucks. Additional partners are the Bookish Reading Club, Foursquare, Good, LinkedIn, New Word City, and The Weather Channel.

The free Wi-Fi is accessible via smartphones, tablets and laptops and requires a quick login.

"The team at Starbucks wanted to enhance the time our customers spend in our stores, so we had a vision to create something new, localized, unexpected… and online," says Adam Brotman, vice president of Starbucks Digital Ventures. "The Starbucks Digital Network was developed to provide customers instant access to a collection of hand-picked premium news, entertainment and lifestyle content along with free downloads, local insights and events from nearly 20 different content providers including iTunes, Nick Jr. Boost, Rodale, WSJ.com and Yahoo! It's all free and only available at Starbucks."

Read more...



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