Category: News

Maybe we’re oversimplifying here, but we never really got the impression that Google was intending to blow out the launch of the Nexus One. Sure, you could argue that seeding the phones to employees ahead of the announcement was an effort to build buzz — but it didn’t really make any attempt to capitalize on the move, and last week’s subdued press conference in Mountain View (sans the holy trinity of Eric, Larry, and Sergey) wasn’t the wild, crazy event it could’ve been had Google wanted it to be. That’s why we’re not particularly surprised to see that the app analytics peeps over at Flurry are estimating (based on usage of the apps that it instruments) that just 20,000 Nexus Ones were sold in the first week of retail — a far cry from its 250,000 figure for the Droid, much less the iPhone 3GS’ staggering 1.6 million. As Flurry notes, Verizon pumped (and continues to pump) millions upon millions of dollars into advertising the Droid in print, television, and the web; that alone boosted broad consumer interest, something Google earned to a far lesser extent through media coverage alone. Furthermore, the Droid instantly relieved much of the “if only the iPhone were on Verizon” pressure that had been building over the prior year, whereas the Nexus One brought nothing fundamentally new to the table for T-Mobile — and many folks on other networks either won’t or simply can’t switch to the number four carrier for business or coverage reasons. The bottom line is that we suspect Google isn’t sweating the Nexus One’s sales figures one bit, no matter how high or low they may be; whether that’s a smart strategy for Android as a platform in the long term, though, remains to be seen.

Mobile app analytics firm guesstimates Nexus One hasn’t sold like hotcakes originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 13 Jan 2010 18:08:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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This one has been flying under the radar for the past day or so, but talk is starting to heat up on some forums that Segway Inc. has effectively been bought out by one of its own dealerships. That initial word seems to have come from a Segway Inc. shareholder, who says he recently received a stockholder letter informing him that Segway Inc. would be “merging” with JWH Holdings, which is apparently a company formed by Segway UK simply for the purpose of this merger. What’s more, while the deal is apparently being called a merger, the letter itself reportedly confirms that it’s more of a complete buyout, with current CEO Jim Norrod supposedly set to be replaced by Tricia Laidler, and Segway UK’s Wayne Mitchell stepping up to be the new COO. Still nothing in the way of official statements from either party just yet, but we’ll let you know as soon as we hear anything one way or the other.

[Thanks, Ed J]

Segway Inc. bought by Segway UK? originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 13 Jan 2010 17:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Here is an ASIL Insight I did on the Seal Products dispute, previewing the legal issues.  (Keep in mind that I only had 2,000 words, so it's a fairly brief preview!)  An excerpt:

One might expect that core WTO principles, such as non-discrimination and necessity, would have clear legal standards. However, trade adjudicators have gone back and forth over the years on the issue of non-discrimination, while the “necessity” standard has evolved and has yet to be examined in the TBT Agreement context. There is a great deal of uncertainty as to how a WTO panel would address these issues in the context of the seal products ban in dispute. Thus, the outcome of a panel dispute would be far from sure.

In related news:

Canadian Inuit have filed a lawsuit in the European General Court to overturn EU legislation which would ban the import of seal products into EU countries. The lawsuit seeks annulment of Regulation (EC) No 1007/2009 of the European Parliament and Council of September 16, 2009 on trade in seal products.

 

Should you find yourself desperate to know even more about the Mass Effect universe than you could possibly learn from playing the first game, the iPhone spin-off, and the soon-to-arrive sequel, BioWare has a treat in store for you. A third Mass Effect novel, titled Mass Effect: Retribution, has been announced and will be written by Drew Karpyshyn, the scribe of the first two Mass Effect novels, Revelation and Ascension.

The book’s description:

Retribution is set in the universe fans know well from the video game and novel series?one in which humanity has explored the very farthest reaches of the universe, only to discover the ruthless Reapers, a race bent on extinguishing all organic life. One man is bent on discovering the Reapers’ secrets, the mysterious Illusive Man, the leader of a pro-human, black ops group, Cerberus. And he’s devised the perfect plan: implant a human subject with Reaper technology in order to study the enemy.

He also has the perfect test subject–Paul Grayson, an ex-Cerberus operative. Grayson betrayed Cerberus in order to save his daughter. So when Grayson is kidnapped and made the subject of Cerberus’ evil experiments, the Illusive Man will finally have his revenge…

Retribution is already available for pre-order on Amazon for $7.99 with a scheduled release date of July 27. Yes, that means you’ll have to wait upwards of six months after you’ve already played Mass Effect 2 in order to learn more of the backstory, but hey — that’ll give you reason to play through the game once again in the latter half of the summer.

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Sony’s latest update to the Bravia line is as a feature rich as it is visually appealing. Bravia’s now sport a new Monolithic design concept that is focused on being functional as well as minimalist in appearance. The most highly touted new feature is Sony’s Active Shutter glass technology which for the first time delivers a realistic 3D experience to your home. Built-in Wi-Fi connects your Bravia TV to the Internet and allows for streaming of on-demand video content. Download-able widgets are available to provide interaction with Facebook, flickr, and Twitter.

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Source: Sony

Found under: Rogers, HTC, Dream, Magic, Upgrade,

Just a few days ago we told you how Rogers was thinking to offer its Canadians subscribers a free upgrade of the HTC Dream to the Magic. Well now everything is official and it looks like the upgrade will be available free of charge for anyone that chooses to do so.Whats the catch you ask Well you still have to sign or better said re-sign the agreement. From January 12 to January 26 you have all the time in the world to decide upon the matter. Just for your information you wi

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Belgian architecture firm dmvA Architecten created this modern extension of an existing row house in Mechelen, Belgium. Due to strict local building codes, the architects were bound to height restrictions and the use of a traditional saddle roof. However, that didn’t stop them from designing an innovative addition for the inhabitants.

The front façade of the row house is a dark, screened surface that ensures privacy in an urban environment. The rear façade, on the other hand, is a rectilinear white volume with sliding glass doors and substantial windows that look out onto the narrow backyard.

To ensure natural light would be allowed into all interior spaces, a central void was cut through all three floors. In order to maximize space, the void was filled with a transparent glass floor. In addition to the transmission of light, the architect explains that “By means of the glass floors, a spatial transparency is created through which all spaces are connected.”

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Source: Trendir

Do Renato Trindade do blog Quiosque Azul, recebi vários selinhos. Alias, adorei o modo como postou todos os selos que recebeu. Conheça um pouco sobre o Renato em seu perfil  no dihitt:

Renato Trindade (Ranking: 104) Membro desde 30/08/2008 1049 notícias enviadas (163 populares) 920 comentários 5414 amigos 246 seguidores  Amante da Vida! Amo música, natureza, livros, animais, filmes, família, viajar, amigos, conversar… Deus! Conhecido na internet pelo carinhoso nick ‘HappyBlue’ sou um amigo na constante busca do Novo! Todo novo dia é tempo para concluir tarefas inacabadas. Nada acontece por acaso. Não deixe no tempo aquilo que um dia foi importante em sua Vida!

– O selo deve ser exibido, assim como a pessoa que lhe enviou;
– Você deve indicar cinco, nem mais, nem menos, apenas 5 blogs para recebê-lo;
– Avise os blogs premiados;
– Definir você, seu blog e qualquer outra pessoa ou coisa em apenas uma palavra;

Found under: Windows Mobile 7, Microsoft, MWC, ,

Windows 7 or Windows Mobile 7 cant get used to calling it just Windows was rumored to arrive this year. A totally redesigned mobile OS ready to take Android by the horns and show everyone what Microsoft thinks of the smartphone business. The OS has been much awaited and its desperately needed. Windows Mobile 6.5 will not be able to fight the iPhone or any of the hot new Android phones. Will we therefore see Windows 7 at MWC 2010 That doesnt seem like something thats going

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Video Games Live is pretty much the best video game concert event outside of the Dear Friends (Final Fantasy) concerts, and PBS is the station that brought us Yanni: Live at the Acropolis, which is easily the best live music event in recorded history, so it looks like there’s some kind of blood-tinged Faustian pact afoot. The February 5th, 2010 performance of Video Games Live at the Lakefront Arena in New Orleans will be taped and aired on PBS during June of next year. Tickets to the event are going on sale this Friday (the 18th), so snap them up if you’re interested.

If you don’t want to make it down to N’awlins for the event, firstly, I don’t blame you. Last time I went, everything was coated in a thin layer of insanity gravy. But more importantly, a Blu-ray and CD of the event will be released next year for your mushy consumer brains to slurp up and toss into your PS3. However, the last performance I saw had Steve Vai playing the Halo theme on his guitar, which until then had been the stuff of maladjusted, failed musicians on youtube, so it might just be worth the trek.

Read the press release after the jump.

Continue reading PBS To Air Video Games Live, Blu-Ray and CD To Follow

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Thank you for your energetic responses both in the comments section here on the Thrive blog and on Children’s Hospital Boston’s Facebook page to my recent post about Call of Duty and other violent video games; this is exactly the type of public dialogue that I was hoping for when I started my Ask the Mediatrician Web site last year. We all use media in different ways and have very personal opinions about the value it brings into our lives, but their use also impacts society as a whole, and my hope is for all of us to continue to question if we’re using them in a beneficial way.

Related to the some of the responses to the post that said I misrepresented some of the things that happen in the game, I acknowledge that, even though I play video games, I have neither the skills nor the practice time to be a great gamer, so Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 was demonstrated to me—I have not played it. I used the air terminal scene as an example of the game’s content, about which those of you with greater gaming experience have far more precise information and experience.

I apologize for any inaccuracies in my description of where certain events occur or how points are scored. These mistakes were not intentional and distracted from the goal of the post, which was to offer parents information about the effects that research has shown violent video games to have, and to encourage them to make their own decisions about how to parent their children using that information.

Setting aside the specifics of this particular game, it’s important to address what the research shows about violent video games in general. As individuals, we draw conclusions based on our experience, but health research is necessarily held to a higher standard—it must be based on observations of large groups of people. Therefore, physicians advise against smoking not because every individual who smokes gets cancer, but because smoking cigarettes increases your risk of getting cancer. Similarly, many research studies have shown (here, here and here) that the majority of violent video game players do not go out and start shooting people—but they do show that those who view violent movies or play violent video games experience a consistent, measurable shift in their attitudes and behaviors toward greater fear and anxiety (especially in children), desensitization to suffering, and, in some, increases in aggression.

The positive and negative effects of media on children deserve special attention because children’s brains are different than adults’ brains. For example, while children can say that an experience is “only make believe,” developmental psychology has demonstrated that until they are about 7 or 8, children’s brains have not developed to the point where they can reliably distinguish fantasy from reality. Even with older kids, the major concern is not that they will unthinkingly copy what they experience in violent media but that these media (like all media) will affect their expectations for normal human behavior. That means that experiences with violent media are more likely to contribute to everyday bullying than to the rare school shooting.

Video games, which present environments and conditions to which the player must respond in certain ways to do well, function as “behavioral scripts” which the player practices over and over. Interactive electronic media that immerse participants in a “virtual reality” are among the most effective teaching technologies we have. What children do, they will learn. Content matters. Therefore, as a pediatrician, I would steer parents and kids toward video games that are sports-, logic-, or strategy-based, instead of those that center on violence. And, as Steve said, in the end, it is parents themselves who know their kids best. They know what’s best for their family and we are offering them information with which they can make their own decisions.

It’s been great to hear from all of you. Let’s keep the conversation going!

Earlier today Valleywag reported that Slingshot Labs, the News Corp-owned incubator that launched in early 2008, was in the process of being shut down. As it turns out, reports of their demise may have been overblown. We reached out to Slingshot to see if they could confirm the report and Diego Berdakin, Slingshot EVP Strategy & Product, gave us the following statement:

Without getting into detail about the inaccuracies of the Gawker story, the source was obviously very unfamiliar with today’s changes. We have had tremendous success with our projects including SocialPlan, which today is being acquired by MySpace – which includes not only the site but also its core team. Most of the remaining team from Slingshot will be focused on a venture for which there is tremendous excitement.

In other words, some of the people affected by today’s changes aren’t being laid off — they’re being shifted over to MySpace along with the SocialPlan project. SocialPlan was built by Slingshot as a replacement to MySpace’s underperforming events feature, and first launched in March 2009. It quickly gained steam, overtaking Evite in the number of invites sent by July 2009. Since then, it’s apparently done very well — Berdakin sent along a graph showing its growth, which we’ve included below. Doing the math, it looks like SocialPlan is now used to send around 4.3 million invitations a day (Evite reports 600,000 invitations sent per day).  Given its success, it’s pretty obvious why MySpace would want to take over the project.

Berdakin wouldn’t comment on the project Slingshot is currently working on, but it seems likely that it’s the WSJ-linked “LinkedIn Killer” we first reported on last July.

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The biggest U.S. music service on the Web in December was Vevo, a new entrant which is a joint venture between Google, Universal Music Group, and Sony Music. Dubbed the “Hulu of music videos,” Vevo attracted 35.4 million unique visitors in December, 2009, putting it above the 33.1 million visitors who went to MySpace Music, according to estimates put out today by comScore. Considering that Vevo only launched on December 8, that is a pretty good showing.

A closer look at the numbers shows, that nearly all of that audience came from YouTube, which hosts a Vevo channel. Of the 35.4 million visitors which comScore counts for Vevo, 32.6 million (or 92 percent) are attributed to YouTube. In one fell blow, YouTube has helped to push MySpace Music from the No. 1 spot.

Not only does this illustrate the distribution might of YouTube, but it also shows how professional content is still hard to beat, even on YouTube. The Vevo channel is already the most viewed channel on YouTube, with nearly 13 billion views across all Vevo and all of Vevo’s sub-sites, which include the individual artist channels for Lady Gaga, Kings of Leon, Timbaland, and many others.

Here are the top ten music services as measured by comScore in unique U.S. visitors for December, 2009. The only real startup is Jango (No.7), with 9.6 million, but the comScore numbers include some lyric sites it also owns. ToneFuse Music, No. 8, is almost entirely a collection of lyric sites. Rhapsody rounds out No. 10 with 6.5 million (Last.fm would be No. 11 with 6 million).

Top U.S. Music Services On The Web (in unique visitors, December, 2009)

1. Vevo: 35.4 million
2. MySpace Music: 33.1 million
3. AOL Music: 29.7 million
4. Warner Music: 23.4 million
5. MTV Networks Music: 20.4 million
6. Yahoo! Music: 16.4 million
7. Jango Music Network: 9.6 million
8. ToneFuse Music Network: 8.3 million
9. MSN Music: 6.6 million
10. Rhapsody: 6.5 million

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Epix, the movie and entertainment streaming network that works across your TV, computer, and mobile phone, has landed a third cable provider for its service: Mediacom Communications. This week the network also landed a deal with Cox Communications. We wrote about the service here and here. Specific terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

Jointly backed by Viacom, Lionsgate, Paramount, and MGM, EPIX provides access to over 15,000 movie titles. The company originally signed a deal with Verizon FIOS, which was somewhat limiting considering only some 2 million people use Verizon’s cable service. Cox brings more clients to EPIX with its base of 6.2 million customers, which including 2.7 million digital cable subscribers. And Mediacom, the 7th largest cable provider in the U.S., will bring with it a base of 1.3 million subscribers in 22 states.

One of our main issues with EPIX was that it was tied to Verizon FIOS but it appears that the company is steadily adding more cable providers to distribute its service. Epix was also said to be close to an agreement with the Dish Network, which would bring a large list of 14 million subscribers. Unfortunately, the platform offers a sliver of available movies out there, since it only includes only the movies available through the studios that are backing the company. But EPIX is useful because it transcends over the TV and your computer and its fairly easy to use.

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by Miles Grant

Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.)At first it seemed like simply one bad idea from Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska). But now we know the real story—a tangled web of public officials, polluter lobbyists, and efforts to gut the Clean Air Act. 

And every day it seems we’re learning more—more about the revolving door between the Bush administration and polluter lobbyists; more about their influence with senators and their staffers; and more about who’s really pulling the strings on efforts to block climate action—Big Oil’s MVP, Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.).

Some of the best reporting this week has come from Juliet Eilperin at the Washington Post’s Post Carbon blog. Earlier this week, Eilperin had reported that polluter lobbyists were helping Sen. Murkowski’s staffers write legislation to strip environmental protections:

The maneuvering comes as The Washington Post has confirmed that two Washington lobbyists, Jeffrey R. Holmstead and Roger R. Martella, Jr., helped craft the original amendment Murkowski planned to offer on the floor last fall. Both Holmstead, who heads the Environmental Strategies Group and Bracewell & Guiliani, and Martella, a partner at Sidley Austin LLP, held senior posts at EPA under the Bush administration and represents multiple clients with an interest in climate legislation pending before Congress.

And today, even more about the close working relationships between polluter lobbyists and Senate staffers:

More details have emerged about the involvement by two lobbyists—who were senior Environmental Protection Agency officials during the George W. Bush administration—in crafting an amendment Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) tried to offer in the fall in an effort to bar the EPA from regulating greenhouse gases on its own.

Murkowski’s staff director on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, McKie Campbell, and her energy staffer Colin Hayes, convened a meeting on Sept. 23 with aides to a handful of centrist Democrats to brief them on the final version of the amendment, according to participants and sources familiar with the session. The two lobbyists, Bracewell & Giuliani’s Jeffrey R. Holmstead and Sidley Austin’s Roger Martella Jr., called in by phone and walked the staffers through the changes that had been made to text, to reassure the staffers that Murkowski’s amendment would not block the EPA from issuing new curbs on greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles in 2010 even as it would bar the agency from imposing those limits on power plants. […]

The meeting, which took place in Hart Senate Office Building 370 at 8:45 a.m., included two aides to James M. Inhofe (Okla.), the top Republican on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. Before leaving the room, participants were asked to turn in the documents Murkowski’s aides distributed, confirmed Inhofe spokesman Matthew Dempsey.

Holmstead and Martella dominated the opening of the meeting by describing how the revised amendment had answered the attacks lodged by some Democrats and environmental groups, a source said.

The two men are both experts in the Clean Air Act, and represent clients with a financial stake in climate legislation moving through Congress.

Why did Murkowski’s aides not want the documents to leave the room? And why, later in the article, does Holmstead issue a classic non-denial denial? “I have no memory of playing a major role in that call.” Not I did not play a role, but I don’t remember—leaving himself lots of wiggle room to revise his story later.

The stories shed new light on Sen. Murkowski’s push to strip the EPA of its Congressionally-granted, Supreme Court-approved authority to regulate global warming pollution. As Joe Mendelson, global warming policy director for the National Wildlife Federation, told Greenwire (sub. req.), the Murkowski amendment was “crafted by big polluters
for big polluters.”

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska)Why would a senator from Alaska, called the poster state for global warming, put polluters’ interests ahead of her home state’s climate concerns? In the current campaign cycle, Sen. Murkowski is Congress’ #1 recipient of electric utilities’ money and the #4 recipient of Big Oil money. And Greenpeace is now calling for an investigation of Murkowski’s lobbyist ties.

Despite this week’s revelations, Senators Inhofe & Murkowski could still try to bring to the floor their amendment to gut the Clean Air Act. Your senators need to hear from you. Email your senators right now and ask them to stop this polluter-fueled push to undercut the EPA’s efforts to protect people, wildlife, and our natural resources from the worst effects of global warming.

Cross-posted from the National Wildlife Federation’s Wildlife Promise.

Related Links:

Stopping the Murkowski Amendment

Climate success in 2009 should inspire the new year

Why the Copenhagen Accord boosts the odds for Senate passage of bipartisan climate legislation