...more recent posts
Dolby to Buy Sweden's Coding Tech -- Makes sense for Dolby, but reduces the number of supplies of audio encoder/decoder technology. Dolby has traditionally focused on proprietary technology, while Coding has focused on industry standards (e.g. MP3, aacPlus).
Looks like the Google phone is really a Google phone operating system as many people expected.
Most major handset makers, with the exception of Nokia (NOK), have devices with Google Mobile OS under development; Samsung and Motorola (MOT) are being linked to it as well. (as are HTC and LG Electronics, according to the Journal.)It's linux running an optimized version of java.
This is great. I doubt Apple is scared, but at least this should give them some healthy competition (and they might be a little bit scared.)
Qualcomm Challenges WiMAX with Gobi
AT&T Moto Q Global -- Not as cool as the other AT&T smartphone, but it supports MS Outlook. It's a Q 9h (GSM, etc., etc.) with GPS.
Interesting report of discussions with top Comcast executives about the recent traffic shaping charges (specifically that they are screwing with BitTorrent traffic.) Short version - they're going after the seeders:
"we're worried about someone using an exceptional amount of bandwidth to feed the world's information."
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Broadcom unveils 3G 'phone on a chip'
PS3 to Debut as IPTV Set-Top Box
Samsung Unveils Its iPhone Rival
Microsoft Touts New 'Media Extenders'
got this news letter today :
it’s our job to stop them breaking in
I sense a new slogan: "At Apple, stifling third party developers is job 1". Well played, Steve.
Motorola Creates WiMax Chipset for Mobile Phones. Says it is more power efficient than current 3G chipsets, and will work with Sprints forthcoming XOHM WiMax network which will start to roll out in test markets by the end of 2007, with much more coverage slated for spring 2008. In short, WiMax means fast data on your mobile phone/computer.
This seems like a much faster time frame than I was expecting for WiMax (I was thinking 2009-2010.) You have any opinions on this Mark?
TorrentSpy shuts doors to America
Digital high-definition television via PlayStation 3 (for Europe)
Sprint adds NYC to it's list of initial WiMax markets.
Paramount dumps Sony's Blu-ray format
Viacom-owned studio opts for Toshiba's "affordable" HD-DVD technology, dumping Sony's Blu-ray discs
Comcast throttles BitTorrent traffic and makes seeding (basically) impossible!
Unfortunately, these more aggressive throttling methods can’t be circumvented by simply enabling encryption in your BitTorrent client. It is reported that Comcast is using an application from Sandvine to throttle BitTorrent traffic. Sandvine breaks every (seed) connection with new peers after a few seconds if it’s not a Comcast user. This makes it virtually impossible to seed a file, especially in small swarms without any Comcast users. Some users report that they can still connect to a few peers, but most of the Comcast customers see a significant drop in their upload speed.
The throttling works like this: A few seconds after you connect to someone in the swarm the Sandvine application sends a peer reset message (RST flag) and the upload immediately stops. Most vulnerable are users in a relatively small swarm where you only have a couple of peers you can upload the file to. Only seeding seems to be prevented, most users are able to upload to others while the download is still going, but once the download is finished, the upload speed drops to 0. Some users also report a significant drop in their download speeds, but this seems to be less widespread. Worse on private trackers, likely that this is because of the smaller swarm size
DirecTV Moves to Put Net on Power Grid
Currently limited to The Metroplex(tm), also known as Dallas-Fort Worth. This gives DIRECTV a route to triple play (voice, video, data). Telephony can ride over the IP link (Voice over IP, aka VoIP). This helps counter the triple play offerings of cable and telco operators.