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  • Control your Benz with an iPhone or BlackBerry app

    mbraceHughes Telematics has created an app, mbrace, that will give lucky owners of certain Mercedes-Benz models the ability to control numerous functions of their car. Say your Benz is lost in a parking lot full of BMWs and Jags, the app can help you find your way.

    You can even unlock the car right from your phone, although you should probably wait until you’re within eyesight to do so. The app can also contract roadside assistance or emergency services if you run out of gas or get into an accident. But there’s a catch; it’s not included in the price of the car.

    Well, the first six months are free, but after that it costs $280 per year. The service is currently only available on certain new Benz models, but older models can be retrofitted for the service.

    It seems that the service can even be ported to different vehicles with a bit of work. Hopefully Mercedes-Benz is just the first manufacturer to offer this service.


  • Spectrum crisis is just a part of the problem for universal broadband, says FCC

    By Tim Conneally, Betanews

    Early in October, Federal Communications Commission chairman Julius Genachowski said there is a wireless spectrum crisis approaching, and that our wireless broadband consumption is growing so explosively that it would take more than 50 years to deliver the necessary spectrum at our current pace.

    But an FCC task force has concluded that this is only a single part of the problem if we want to provide America with robust and affordable broadband. Over the last few weeks, the task force has identified critical gaps in policymaking, government programs, and trade practices in all corners of the broadband ecosystem.

    Today, the Commission has put forth a list of these gaps, which narrows the main problems down to seven major points.

    1.) USF Gap: The Federal Universal Service Fund (USF) does not support broadband deployment and adoption, despite consuming more than $7 billion in annual telecommunications subsidies.

    2.) Broadband Adoption Gap: as broadband access increases, those without access (based on geography or income) are at an ever greater disadvantage.

    3.) Consumer Information Gap: Users don’t know their actual broadband performance, and providers aren’t supplying them with that information.

    4.) Spectrum Gap: The spectrum crisis Genachowski warned of in October, where wireless demand far outstrips supply.

    5.) Deployment Gap: There is an extremely high cost for rural broadband and “middle mile” solutions.

    6.) TV Set-top Box Innovation Gap: Most set-top boxes still haven’t integrated with IP-based technology even though they present a prime opportunity to deliver broadband to the masses.

    7.) Personal Data Gap: Users need to have more control over their own information and greater privacy/security.

    Before the Commission can submit its National Broadband Plan to Congress in February, it will work on devising solutions for these gaps.

    Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2009



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  • TELUS launches the BlackBerry Storm2

    TELUS_blackberry_storm2

    The new BlackBerry Storm 2 is now available at TELUS on their 3G (CDMA) network for $199.99 on a 3-year contract. You can also buy the device sans contract for $599.99, but it’s rare that anyone commits that much cash up front these days. In any case, we’re hoping this device does well for TELUS.

    See the TELUS site for more details of the upcoming BlackBerry Storm2.


    © BlackBerry Cool for BlackBerry Cool, 2009


  • Recapping the Latest Sarah Palin Newsweek Cover Controversy

    palin-newsweek-runners-world1. Newsweek runs the cover you see to your right. The text reads "How Do You Solve a Problem Like Sarah? She's Bad News for the GOP — And For Everybody Else, Too." They illustrate this statement with a portrait from Palin's recent Runner's World photoshoot. In the picture, Sarah Palin is wearing running clothes, grinning, clutching two Blackberries and leaning casually on an American flag.

    2. Sarah Palin, the person who posed for this picture in the first place, is angered. The photo was meant to be "all about health and fitness," she Facebooked, and Newsweek's "sexist and oh-so-expected" re-use of the image "shows why you shouldn't judge a book by its cover, gender, or color of skin." She cannot name any books that have genders or skin (but then, who can?). Nor does she explain what the Blackberries have to do with "health and fitness."

    3. Various people around the internet agree with Palin that the cover is sexist. Other people disagree. Some of us remember the last time Newsweek caused a controversy with its cover image of Sarah Palin.

    4. An Indecision blogger and her editor spend almost an hour instant messaging about the Sarah Palin Newsweek cover. At one point your blogger's editor asks her to 'role play' a hypothetical meeting in the Newsweek editorial department.

    5. We all know that Sarah Palin leaps at any chance to play the victim (it's cardio), even when she's invited the scrutiny, prompted the inquiry or posed for the photo. Also, any time a major political figure agrees to be photographed in an unusual setting, wearing anything less than a power suit, and those pictures are made public, they will be seen and published and republished. In public.

    6. Yet here we have a political-type lady wearing shorts, on the cover of a national news magazine. That seems sexist.

    6a. Or not.

    7. All this discussion, and still no definitive answer to the big question: Did this photograph of Sarah Palin violate flag protocol?

  • Wavelink Communicator: PTT for all

    image

    Yesterday whilst at a university open day, there was a brief mention of where mobile phones could be headed with a much more “peer to peer” approach, with devices retransmitting the data to get to a base station. Those of you with certain devices (quite often AT&T branded HTC devices like the Touch Pro) will probably have Push To Talk or similar enabling you to communicate with devices without going through a network (much like walkie-talkies) and this is what Wavelink Communicator does, but using WiFi.

    Wavelink Communicator is a 100% client-side push-to-talk solution aimed at enhancing on-the-floor communication for any organization

    Pretty cool stuff if you ask me, and could well be useful in organisations with large numbers of staff in fairly close proximity (warehouses etc).

    It’s available for free here, and should run on any Windows based platform (Mobile, CE and even Desktops).

    Via Windows For Devices.

  • Survey shocker: 75 percent of respondents’ Xbox 360s died within 18 months of purchase

    redring

    Look at CNET, breaking news left and right. The site ran a little survey asking its UK readers how many times their video game consoles crashed. No surprise: the Xbox 360 leads the pack with a full 60 percent of heaving died (due to the red ring of death). The PS3 comes in at 16 percent (yellow light of death?), and the Wii is only 6 percent.

    Let’s focus on the Xbox 360 numbers. The most amazing thing to come from the survey is how quickly people’s Xboxen broken. It turns out that only 25 percent of those broken Xboxen lasted more than 18 months. So, 75 percent of those Xboxen didn’t even make it to month 18. That’s ridiculous.

    One thing to keep in mind about this survey: it wasn’t a random sample. So we’re not saying that 75 percent of all Xbox 360s will, or have, broken within the first 18 months, but that 75 percent of respondents’ Xbox 360s broke within the first 18 months. It might well be that put-off Xbox 360 owners filled out the survey to “stick it” to Microsoft. Owners of broken Xboxes, unite! That kind of thing.

    But the overall story—the Xbox 360 is not reliable—is nothing we didn’t know before. I’ve had two Xbox 360s die on me since August, 2006.


  • Resident Evil 5 Alternative Edition to add another episode and more costumes

    If you thought that the Alternative Edition DLC for Resident Evil 5 was simply going to be a single scenario and motion control support, think again…

  • Mahindra Truck Still Scheduled For North American Introduction

    Mahindra_Pickup_Truck_3

    Some reports have suggested the new pickup truck from relatively obscure (at least to those outside of the farming industry) Indian company Mahindra & Mahindra will be delayed until 2010, but official Mahindra spokespeople stepped forward today to confirm otherwise. Although the global recession forced the company to push their North American launch back by a few months, they still adamantly maintain that their ingaural line of trucks will touch down in U.S. dealerships sometime in 2009. To begin, only two body styles will be available including a 2-door regular cab and 4-door crew cab dubbed TR20 and TR40, respectively. The lone engine option will purportedly be a 4-cylinder common rail diesel.

    Why you should care: According to speculation, Mahindra’s primary target will be the legitimate Land Rover crowd (ie: hardcore off-road enthusiasts) and both the TR20 and the TR40 will be geared towards only the most utilitarian functions. Interior amenities are expected to be relatively spartan and all preliminary indicators suggest Mahindra will be providing the modern day equivalent of a W460 (read: all the capability, plus a warranty) – priced at thousands less.




  • PlayStation 3 3.10 firmware brings Facebook to PS3 today

    Did you think the would be the only console to integrate Facebook functionality? If so, Sony has another thing coming for you, as they are launching firmware 3.10 for the PlayStation 3 today, and, you guessed it, Facebook integration is included. Check out the video above to check out how it works, but in a nutshell, you’ll be able to have the PS3 post different events to your Facebook feed, like purchases, trophies, and in-game happenings. Other changes in PS3 firmware 3.10:

    • You can choose a color for your PSN ID badge
    • Photos are now displayed in a grid rather than a single column
    • The friends list has been modified, based on feedback from the community

    The update will be out today.


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    PlayStation 3 3.10 firmware brings Facebook to PS3 today originally appeared on Playfeed on Wed, November 18, 2009 – 10:18:26


  • LTE Advances Across Asia

    The Asia-Pacific region is getting ever-closer to faster mobile broadband, with network operators in Japan, Singapore, Australia and Indonesia readying their Long Term Evolution networks. Today NTT DoCoMo, Japan’s largest mobile operator, affirmed its plans to deploy LTE in 2010; it also said it would shut off its 2G network in March 2011 since most subscribers now have 3G phones. NTT DoCoMo had previously said it would keep the 2G network running until December 2012. Speaking at the GSM Association’s Mobile Asia Congress 2009, Ryuji Yamada, president and CEO of NTT DoCoMo, said LTE data cards will be ready in 2010 and handsets will be ready in 2011.

    Singapore Telecommunications, the largest carrier in Singapore with operations in Australia, Indonesia and the Philippines, also disclosed plans for LTE trials. SingTel has chosen Alcatel-Lucent as its equipment vendor for the trials, which will begin in the first half of 2010 and take anywhere from six to nine months. The network operator hopes the trial will help it and its regional associates and joint ventures better understand LTE and determine the best approach and strategy for its adoption in their respective local markets. Meanwhile, here in the U.S., we await Verizon’s and MetroPCS’ 2010 deployments, with netbooks and smartphones in hand.


  • Faith In Yourself

    Do you believe in yourself and that you can accomplish your goals?

    Isn’t that a great question?

    Well, do you?

    Do you have faith in yourself?

    A stressful habit we may have, at times, is lack of faith in ourselves. This is a stressful habit because we worry about if we will accomplish what we set out to achieve. This worry causes stress.

    Believe that you can obtain any goal that you set your heart and mind on.

    I know the power within you. You can achieve all that you want. How do I know this? I know this because you are successful. If you have made it this far in life, you are successful. Look at all the things you have accomplished thus far. Look at the relationships you have made, look at the jobs/careers you have or had, and look at all your successes so far.

    You are capable of doing anything you set your heart and mind to.

    If you are having a hard time with having faith in yourself, then do this exercise.

    List all of your accomplishments and mile stones in your life. Include elementary school, Jr. high, high school, sports, arts, music, relationships, vacations, careers, and purchases. I guarantee if you make this list it will remind you how great you are and how great you continue to be.

    Sometimes, as we get older, we stop setting goals, and then we become stagnant. This may be happening to you and that may increase the doubt in yourself.

    Remember all the goals you have set and accomplished so far in your life. This will increase faith in yourself.

    Destress yourself by having faith in yourself and that you can accomplish your goals. When you do this you will discover what you can create in your life.

    When you destress yourself you change your thoughts, feelings, actions, and attitude. You change your thoughts, feelings, actions, and attitude from stressful to successful.

    IF YOU ARE UNHAPPY SOMETHING MUST BE DONE!!!

    If you are not living with happiness, energy, joy, and vitality, something must be done. You can learn to be happy by destressing yourself and I can show you how, for free.

    First, subscribe to this blog in a reader or via email, right there in the right side column.

    Second, go to destressyourself.com, and sign up for our free weekly newsletter. This newsletter will give you solutions to your stress.

    Third, download all of our free audios in our store.

    If you would like to live the life you dream of, let me help you. Learn to destress yourself, by me, for free, and learn what permanent stress relief truly is.

    Thank you for visiting my blog.

    I hope this has been helpful.

    Until next time… Don’t forget to have fun and be playful.

    Elizabeth

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  • It Is Better to Have Teabagged and Lost, Than Never to Have Teabagged at All

    Last week, I reported that teabagging candidate Doug Hoffman still had a chance of winning the NY-23 congressional seat away from Democrat Whatever His Name Is and thus averting the tragedy of surrendering that seat to a Democrat for the first time since it was legal in the country to own human beings.

    Well, he's still got a chance, but it's not looking quite as chancerific as it was last week. Say la vee. (La vee.)

    This leads us to wonder if Republicans — despite growing dissatisfaction with congressional Democrats — the the GOP could still be getting ready to Scozzafava away all of its moderate (reasonable) candidates for 2010 and still end up losing ground.

    According to this poll from CNN, that seems to be a possibility

    The poll indicates that a slight majority, 51 percent, of Republicans would prefer to see the GOP in their area nominate candidates who agree with them on all the major the issues even if they have a poor chance of beating the Democratic candidate. Forty-three percent of Republicans say they would rather have candidates with whom they don't agree on all the important issues but who can beat the Democrats.

    Democrats polled seemed to place a slightly higher priority on electoral victory: 58 percent say that they would like their party to nominate candidates who can beat Republicans, even if they don't agree with those candidates on all the issues. Fewer than 4 in 10 Democrats say they would rather see their party nominate candidates who agree with them on all major issues, but have a poor chance of beating the Republican candidate.

    Translation: Republicans are obstinate and unrealistic, while Democrats are cowardly and accepting of mediocrity.

    So, this poll gives us no new information.

  • AMD releases dual GPU beast, Radeon HD 5970

    AMD Radeon HD 5970

    As the prophet Tim “The Tool Man” Taylor used to ask his audience, “what do we want?” More. Power. AMD has just released its dual-GPU ATI Radeon HD 5970 graphics card, and the specs are pretty ridiculous. Aside from having two GPUs capable of 4.64 teraflops of number-smashing goodness, the 5970 also comes standard with a 725 MHz engine processor (which can be overclocked), a 1 GHz memory clock, and 2 GB of GDDR5 RAM. Now, for those of you with 90-inches of screen real estate to fill, the 5970 can output in resolutions all the way up to 7,680 x 1,600. Direct X11, Open GL 3.2, and Open CL 1.0 compliance also made their way onto the stat sheet. Makes you want to fire up Mindsweeper and really put this puppy through its paces, doesn’t it? $599 is the number for this monster, if you haven’t fallen off your chair yet.

    P.S. In addition to two DVI ports, the Radeon HD 5970 also includes a Mini DisplayPort

    Read

  • Microsoft gives free laptops to PDC 2009 attendees

    By Joe Wilcox, Betanews

    Windows 7 took the Professional Developer Conference stage this morning in the guise of Steven Sinofsky, president of Microsoft’s Windows & Windows Live division. Sinofsky stood before the crowd of Microsoft developers as a victor. Last month, his team released Windows 7 nearly flawlessly and to generally positive reviews (PDC Day 2 live blog).

    Sinofsky did not pitch a three-screen strategy — PC, TV and mobile device — as I expected based on statements Ray Ozzie, Microsoft’s chief software architect, made during the Day 1 keynote. For PDC, Microsoft is missing one screen. The company doesn’t plan to announce its next-generation Windows Phone — or Windows Live, for that matter — until next year’s MIX conference.

    Sinofsky started by talking about Windows 7 development. “It’s an incredibly humbling experience,” he said. Sinofsky described developing Windows as building a movie theater. The movies are the applications developers create.

    Sinofsky’s keynote was exceptionally targeted to a developer audience and superbly delivered. He spoke practically about how Microsoft used different feedback mechanisms to improve Windows 7 development.

    In a stunning announcement, Sinofsky told the audience that paid PDC attendees would receive a free thin-and-light laptop that Microsoft designed with Acer. Microsoft designed the laptop with features and baseline hardware for which developers should create their applications. Touchscreen is among the capabilities.

    Sinfosky Windows 7 Demo

    Microsoft has given Sinofsky a difficult role: Pitchmen for revitalizing an aging platform, even as developers flock to the cloud and to mobile devices, where Apple’s App Store/iPhone/iPod platform is highly visible. About two weeks ago, Apple announced that the number of mobile applications available from App Store topped 100,000.

    The Netbook Problem

    Microsoft’s mobile problem is really twofold: Netbooks and smartphones, and the company appears ill-prepared to deal with either. Netbook sales are surging. For example, netbooks accounted for about 20 percent of all portable PC sales to EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Asia) in third quarter, according to Gartner. The netbook problem reduces Microsoft’s operating system margins; the company makes less money on Windows XP Home or Windows 7 Starter Edition than “premium” versions. Netbooks also tend to be underpowered compared to notebooks or desktops, making them better suited to running some cloud applications and services. I say some, because many cloud apps or services are resource intensive, too.

    Microsoft’s PDC attendee laptop giveaway is a brilliant response to the netbook problem. The company has talked about thin-and-light laptops as better alternative to netbooks — and for good reasons. Thin-and-light laptops offer many of the size-and-weight advantages of netbooks but with potentially hardier hardware performance, better customer experience and greater operating system margins for Microsoft.

    Smartphone OS Q3 2009

    Sinofsky asked developers to use Windows 7’s Device Stage to get applications “out of the boot path.” The feature lets users call up software services or applications when they are needed rather than having them run in the background. Applications or services in the boot path can slow down system startup or resume from sleep and degrade overall Windows performance. While Sinfosky didn’t specifically mention netbooks, the request would have huge potential performance and customer experience impact on the underpowered portables.

    Windows Mobile Declines

    Smartphones and other super small devices pose different problems for Microsoft. Smartphones like iPhone, Motorola DROID or Nokia N900 are as much pocket computers as cell phones. Like netbooks, they are designed to connect via 3G networks or WiFi to cloud services. Gartner predicts that smartphone sales will exceed notebooks this year, and that in response major PC manufacturers will develop their own devices, starting in 2010. Dell already is doing so.

    Smartphones are tracking to be the next major computing platform. A year ago next month, PEW Internet predicted that “the mobile device will be the primary connection tool to the Internet for most people in the world in 2020.” A year more of smartphones later and 2015 is looking to be a more realistic date.

    Windows 7 Development

    According to Gartner, manufacturers sold 41 million smartphones during third quarter, for a 12.8 percent year-over-year increase. Smartphones accounted for about 13 percent of worldwide handset sales. Nokia (39.3 percent), Research in Motion (20.8 percent) and Apple (17.1 percent) are the smartphone market share leaders. None of these leading smartphone manufacturer leaders ships Windows Mobile.

    Microsoft’s mobile operating system is in decline. During third quarter, Windows Mobile worldwide market share fell to 7.9 percent from 11.1 percent a year earlier, according to Gartner (see chart). Meanwhile, Android, BlackBerry and iPhone operating systems all gained share. Android went from zero shipments in third quarter 2009 to 1.4 million units a year later, for 3.5 percent market share. Android gains are expected to increase. HTC and Sony Ericsson are among the handset manufacturers swapping out Windows Mobile for Android.

    Microsoft’s inability to articulate a clear mobile OS strategy undermines the overall messaging around Windows 7 development, or three screens. Should developers look to the past platform or to the future one? Perhaps for some of them, a free laptop will answer the question.

    Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2009



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  • iCarte Turns the iPhone Into an RFID Reader

    Earlier we reported that the next generation of iPhone might have an RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) reader built in, if rumors prove true. Well, there’s no need to wait that long, if near-field communications (NFC) is what you’ve got a hankerin’ for. Wireless Dynamics has announced a device called the iCarte that will add both RFID and NFC capabilities to the iPhone.

    The device adds functionality to the iPhone via the dock connector, to which it connects without adding too much bulk or without being too much of an eyesore. In fact, it looks like the iCarte’s designers went out of their way to make sure the add-on looks like it’s a natural extension of the iPhone itself, rather than an apparent third-party accessory.

    A chip embedded in the iCarte turns your iPhone into a portable electronic wallet, able to process contactless payments. It can also transmit any information it receives directly to enterprise databases using Wi-Fi or 3G network connections, so that orders and purchases can be automatically input into your company’s home server. Of course, in order to use the iCarte, you’ll need to be using iPhone OS 3.0, since only the latest major software update supports dock accessory connectivity.

    The iCarte also has a mini-USB port to allow for pass-through charging and syncing, so you won’t have to constantly remove and replace the device, and it comes in both black and white, in case fashion is a concern of yours. To be clear, while Wireless Dynamics does talk about business applications, it looks like the iCarte’s functionality is aimed primarily at people on the consumer end of the retail equation:

    iCarte has an embedded smart-chip that can be configured as debit, credit, pre-paid and loyalty cards, for secure contactless transactions. iCarte can also read NFC Smart Posters, download or upload electronic coupons, tickets or receipts. iCarte is ideal for iPhone users who want to use their iPhones for fast and secure contactless payments, transit payments, loyalty rewards, checking balances, top-up, discovering new services from smart posters or kiosks and exchanging information with other NFC phones.

    iCarte’s web site is devoid of information regarding an official release date or pricing for the receiver, although it does offer contact info if you’re interested in finding out more about the tech. Presumably a companion iPhone application would be required for programming in payment card information, checking balances, etc., but as of yet no such app is available via the iTunes Store.


  • The fourth day of Peek-Mas


    We’re giving away five Peek Protos this week, one a day, and we want you to ask us nicely for one so we can give you one. What I’m basically trying to say is that you should respond to this post with a comment (using your real e-mail address) and also follow CG on Twitter and watch the Gift Guide for more special things.

    Also check the Twitter stream today and tomorrow.


  • Walmart Black Friday ad

    walmart

    Walmart’s Black Friday ad is here, packed full of holiday goodies. Stores open at 5AM Friday morning and doorbusters will be available until 11AM.

    Here’s a list of gadget-related items. Doorbusters are marked with an asterisk.

    Computers

    Acer 17.3″ Blue Laptop w/4GB Memory, 320GB Hard Drive and Windows 7 Premium (Online Only) – $498.00

    eMachines 15.6″ Notebook w/AMD Processor, 2GB Memory, 160GB Hard Drive (Model # EME627) – $198.00 *

    HP 15.6″ Notebook w/Intel Processor, 3GB Memory, 250GB Hard Drive (Model # G60-519WM) – $298.00 *

    HP 17″ Notebook w/4GB Memory, 320GB Hard Drive (Model # G71-329WM) – $398.00

    HP Pavilion All-In-One 19″ Desktop w/4GB Memory, 500GB Hard Drive, MS213 AMD – $598.00

    HP Pavilion Desktop w/AMD Processor, 3GB Memory, 320GB Hard Drive, w/20″ Monitor (Model # P6243w-b) – $398.00 *

    Digital Cameras

    Kodak C82 12.0 Megapixel Digital Camera – $69.00

    Nikon CoolPix S230 10MP Digital Camera – $139.00

    Sony Cyber-Shot DSCS930 10.0 Megapixel Digital Camera – $79.00

    Digital Media Cards

    Sandisk 4GB SDHC Card – $8.00

    Sony 4GB Memory Stick – $20.00

    DVD Players

    Magnavox NB500 Blu-ray Disc Player – $78.00 *

    Samsung BD-P1590 Blu Ray Player (Saturday) – $148.00

    Sony BDP-S369 Blu Ray Player – $148.00

    Electronics

    8″ LCD Digital Photo Frame – $29.00

    Philips 6′ Gold HDMI Cable – $19.00

    Philips 7″ Portable DVD Player – $49.00

    Philips Earbuds – $10.00

    Samsung MX20 Red Camcorder – $149.00

    GPS Systems

    TomTom One 125-SE GPS – $59.00

    TomTom XL325-SE GPS – $89.00

    Hard Drives

    Western Digital 1TB 3.5″ External Hard Drive – $78.00

    Western Digital My Passport Essential 320GB Hard Drive – $49.00

    Miscellaneous

    Duracell UltraAdvanced AA/AAA 6-Pack – 2 For $5

    Energizer Ultimate Lithium AA 2-Pack – 2 For $5

    Rayovac AA/AAA 12-Pack – 2 For $5

    MP3 Players

    Apple 8GB iPod Touch w/$50 iTunes GC – $195.00

    Phillips 4GB MP3/Video Player – $29.00

    Sony iPod Speaker – $69.00

    Networking

    Belkin N 150 Router – $29.00

    Portable USB Storage

    Sandisk Cruzer 4GB USB Flash Drive – $8.00

    Printers

    HP Deskjet F2430 All-In-One Printer – $25.00

    Kodak ESP5250LE Wireless Printer – $99.00

    Televisions

    Emerson 32″ LC320EMFX LCD 720P HDTV – $248.00 *

    Emerson 42″ PL-P42W-10A Plasma 720P HDTV – $448.00 *

    Flat-Panel TV Stand – $89.00

    Philips Large Fixed TV Mount – $69.00

    RCA 46″ LCD 1080p HDTV (Online Only) – $688.00

    Samsung 32″ LN328360 LCD 720P HDTV (Saturday) – $398.00

    Samsung 42″ LN40B500 LCD 1080P HDTV (Saturday) – $598.00

    Samsung 42″ PN42B400 Plasma 720P HDTV (Saturday) – $548.00

    Samsung 46″ LN46B500 LCD 1080P HDTV (Saturday) – $848.00

    Samsung 50″ PN50B400 Plasma 720P HDTV (Saturday) – $698.00

    Sansui 19″ HDLCD1909 LCD HDTV – $128.00

    Sayno 50″ DP50719 Plasma HDTV – $598.00

    Sony Bravia 32″ KDL32L504 LCD 720P HDTV – $378.00

    Sony Bravia 40″ KDL40S504 LCD 1080P HDTV – $598.00

    Sony Bravia 46″ KDL465504 LCD 1080P HDTV – $798.00 *

    Video Games

    2K Sports NBA 2K10 For Xbox 360 – $25.00

    Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader For PS2 – $7.00

    Bakugan For Nintendo Wii – $25.00

    Big Beach Sports For Nintendo Wii – $10.00

    Call Of Duty 4 Modern Warfare For PS3 – $25.00

    Carnival Games For Nintendo Wii – $10.00

    Celebrity Sports Showdown For Nintendo Wii – $7.00

    Comand And Conquer Red Alert 3 For Xbox 360 – $7.00

    EA Sports Madden 10 For PS2 – $25.00

    Grand Theft Auto IV For Xbox 360 – $10.00

    Lock’s Quest (Nintendo DS) – $7.00

    Midnight Club Los Angeles (Xbox 360) – $10.00

    MX Vs ATV Untaimed (Nintendo DS) – $10.00

    Need For Speed Undercover (PS3) – $10.00

    NeoPets Puzzle Adventure (Nintendo DS) – $7.00

    Nintendo DS Lite – $98.00 *

    Nintendo DS Lite Starter Kit – $10.00 *

    Nintendo Wii Value Bundle With Console, Remote, Nunchuck, 2 Games And An Extra Set Of Nyko Controllers (Online Only) – $249.00

    Over 30 Games For $25 – $25.00

    Over 40 Games For $10.00 – $10.00

    Over 50 Video Games For $7.00 – $7.00

    Playstation 3 Console w/Infamous & Batman Arkham Asylum Games + Dark Knight Blu-ray – $299.00

    Rock Band Special Edition (PS3) – $50.00

    Rock Band Special Edition (XBox 360) – $50.00

    Suzuki TT Super Bikes (PS2) – $7.00

    Tak And The Guardians Of Gross (Nintendo Wii) – $7.00

    The Godfather II (PS3) – $10.00

    The Sims 3 For PC/Mac – $25.00

    Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10 (Nintendo Wii) – $25.00

    UFC 2009 Undisputed (Xbox 360) – $25.00

    WWE Smackdown Vs Raw 2009 For PS3 – $25.00

    Xbox 360 Arcade w/Madagascar 2 Game & w/Madagascar & w/Madagascar 2 Movie DVDs – $199.00

    X Rocker Turbo Sound Gaming Chair – $35.00

    Walmart Black Friday Ad [BlackFriday.info]

    More Black Friday posts here…


  • Cable Industry Joins MPAA In Asking FCC To Allow Them To Stop Your DVR From Recording Movies

    Ars Technica has allowed the cable industry lobbyists’ top lawyer to explain why the cable industry supports breaking your DVR in a misguided effort to add more windows to movie releases. Not surprisingly, he simply repeats the MPAA’s flat out lies and misrepresentations on this particular issue. For example, he claims that the movie studios need this or they won’t get content out to the industry early enough. But that’s wrong. There is nothing stopping the movie studios from releasing content whenever they would like. In fact, we’ve already seen that some of the major studios are releasing movies in exactly this manner (prior to DVD release), despite claiming that it’s impossible to do so without enabling this form of DRM.

    If the movie industry wants to add a new window where they release movies for pay-per-view offerings before they come out on DVD, there is nothing stopping them from doing so today. Nothing.

    The claim that this is about preventing “piracy” is flat out bogus. Even the movie studios themselves claim that nearly every movie is already “pirated” by the time the movies hit the theaters. And these pay-per-view offerings (they like to call them video on demand, but it’s really pay per view) are for a window later than the theater release. So the movies will already be available via unauthorized channels. That won’t change at all.

    So, what are we left with? The two main arguments simply don’t make sense at all. There’s nothing stopping the studios from adding this window now. And enabling selectable output control (SOC) to stop your DVR from recording these movies won’t do a damn thing to reduce unauthorized file sharing of the same content. The only thing it will serve to do is make legitimate customers pissed off, because they’ll be confused and annoyed when the DVR they purchased to record what comes out of their TV sets refuses to record this movie that they legally are accessing, but want to time shift (which, again, is perfectly legal).

    Contrary to the MPAA and the NCTA’s bogus claims, this has nothing to do with enabling some “awesome” new service. This has everything to do with trying to lock down your TV and DVR in an age when consumers are finally getting back some control. What’s amusing, of course, is that this comes just as the TV industry is finally realizing that letting consumers do what they wanted with DVRs didn’t harm the TV industry, but helped it. One of these days, maybe the MPAA and the NCTA will come to that realization as well. In the meantime, though, they want to get a foot in the door to let them stop your DVR from working as advertised, in the misguided belief that they need to push back on what legitimate consumers want to do with the content they watch.

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