Samsung Blu-ray players to connect with Netflix
Samsung has announced that it has signed a deal with Netflix that will allow the company’s Blu-ray players to stream movies and TV shows from Netflix’s “Watch Instantly” streaming service.
Many analysts believe that the deal is just the beginning and that Netflix will eventually make a similar move allowing for instant streaming playback of their service on HDTVs made by Samsung.
The deal marks the second time Netflix has had software embedded in Blu-ray players. LG Electronics currently has a Netflix streaming enabled player available for $350 USD.
“Watch Instantly” continues to add content, and now has over 12,000 movies, TV shows and concerts available to Netflix subscribers.
All future Samsung models will have the feature built-in but two current players, the BD-P2500 and BD-P2550 will work after a firmware upgrade.
6.9 Million iPhone 3Gs sold, says Apple
Apple has announced today with their fiscal Q4 financial statements that the recent economic downturn is not effecting them as badly as other mobile phone vendors and that smartphone sales continue to flourish.
The company has so far sold 6.9 million iPhone 3G units, eclipsing the 6.1 BlackBerry sales pushed by RIM in the same quarter.
“Apple outsold RIM last quarter, and this is a milestone for us. RIM is a good company that makes good products, and so it is surprising that we could outsell them in any quarter after only 15 months in the market,” said Apple CEO Steve Jobs.
iPhone revenue hit $4.6 billion for the Q3 2008 making Apple the third largest mobile phone vendor in terms of revenue behind Nokia and Samsung. Behind Apple are such big names as Sony, LG, Motorola and RIM.
With the high iPhone 3G sales, Apple has surpassed its goal of selling 10 million iPhone (1st gen and 3G) units for 2008, and there is still the holiday season to come.
“Not bad for being in the market for only 15 months,” added Jobs.
Pirate Bay hits 12 million peers
The infamous torrent tracker The Pirate Bay has hit another milestone, 12 million peers. Making the announcement more impressive, is that only 5 months ago the site was at 8.5 million peers served.
More intriguing, from a torrent standpoint, is that TPB admin brokep says that since 2004 that amount of actual seeders on the site has increased substantially compared to hit-and-run leechers. He continues on that in 2004 only 20 percent of peers were seeding but that that number has increased to almost 50 percent, a huge number for a public torrent tracker.
Brokep added, “We have more seeders than leechers now. It was like 25% seeders 75% leechers [in 2004/2005], since then it’s gradually shifted over to 50/50.″
As if 12 million peers wasn’t enough, brokep and the rest of TPB staff want a new milestone, and soon. “What we want you to do is to spread the word to your friends and make more people share files! Let’s break 15 million - and 20!”
Samsung and Sony invest in 8G LCD facility
Samsung and Sony will reportedly spend 1.8 trillion South Korean won (about $1.9 billion USD) to buy a new facility to upgrade their S-LCD Corporation joint venture.
The new upgrade will allow the companies to produce enough 8G LCD panels to meet “increasing global demand.”
The Wall Street Journal adds that the “new manufacturing line will be located in the Tangjeong complex southeast of Seoul, where production will start in 2009. Monthly output is initially expected to reach 60,000 units, versus 50,000 sheets currently.”
Samsung recently reported a robust first quarter flat-panel division profit of about 1.01 trillion South Korean won. The company also reported that margins were at a four-year high.
Both companies expect LCD TVs to be in high demand globally in preparation for the Summer Olympic Games in China.
iPhone sells out in UK
Carphone Warehouse has confirmed that following their price cut on 8GB model iPhones, the unit has completely sold out in all of the retailer’s stores.
A spokesman for Carphone Warehouse confirmed, “Our price promotion has given many more of our customers the opportunity to enjoy the iPhone experience.”
“Due to this unprecedented demand we have now sold out of the 8GB iPhone and we’re currently reviewing the stock situation.”
“In the meantime, customers can still purchase the 16GB iPhone at the standard price at The Carphone Warehouse.”
The retailer is now considering whether or not it wants to restock the item, with the cell network O2 stating the same thing. Both made the price cuts at the same time.
However, if you are still looking for the 8GB model, Apple still has alot in stock (they didn’t drop price), both online and at its retail outlets.
JVC to stop some TV assembly
JVC has announced that will be making massive changes in an effort to recover its slowly dying HDTV business.
The company reported a loss of $455 million USD for the business, compared to $75 million USD for the previous year. The new loss will force the company to move its production to less expensive factories. Japanese and Scottish factories will be sold off and labor moved to Poland and Thailand respectively, added the company.
Plans were also made to shift emphasis to the large LCD TV business, which have higher margins and better sales. The company also hopes to move away from its more traditional rear-projection and tube TV businesses which are seeing fast declining sales.
Pioneer introduces new HD projector
Showing at its booth at the High End trade show in Munich, Pioneer has unveiled its latest HD projector, the KURO KRF-9000FD home theater projector.
The “Liquid Crystal on Silicon (LCoS) KRF-9000FD is capable of displaying 1920×1080 pixel progressive video at sizes up to 14.5 by just over 8 feet.” This is comparable to a 200 inch TV with even the minimum projected image about equivalent to a 60-inch TV screen.
The unit also uses a 2x motorized zoom lens allowing large images to be displayed in smaller rooms. The unit also boasts an impressive contrast ratio, 30,000:1. Another plus is Pioneer’s focus n reproducing true blacks, which is seen in all its KURO line.
The company also claims great flexibility, “thanks to a lens that allows 80% vertical and 34% horizontal adjustments without affecting the image, leaving it square on the wall or screen. The native aspect ratio is 16:9 and movie theater-like 2.35:1 is supported. Brightness is rated at 600 ANSI lumens.”
There are two HDMI ports, and one component, composite and S-Video, as well as a PC-friendly RS-232C jack.
The projector will be available in Europe next month for about 8000 euro, and there is no word on a North American release yet.
We don’t throttle P2P users, says AT&T
AT&T has denied any rumor that it resets packets to interfere with network connections of P2P users, in effect denying any “throttling” of network traffic, like Comcast was accused of doing a few months ago.
AT&Ts statement comes as a response to a report released this week by Vuze, the HD BitTorrent-based client. The client has asked the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to make new regulations prohibiting ISPs from throttling P2P traffic. The report also posted “the median reset rates experienced by more than 1,200 “autonomous system numbers,” which are unique identifiers for individual IP networks and routers, as monitored using a plug-in Vuze began offering last month.” Using the plug-in, Comcast users had the most frequent interruptions with BellSouth (part of AT&T) coming in second.
AT&T has denied those finding however calling the measurements “misleading.” Here is a good portion of the response letter.
“In response to your specific question about AT&T’s network management practices, AT&T does not use “false reset messages” to manage its network. We agree with Vuze that the use of the Vuze Plug-In to measure network traffic has numerous limitations and deficiencies, and does not demonstrate whether any particular network providers or their customers are using TCP Reset messages for network management purposes. Given that Vuze itself has recognized these problems with the measurements generated by its Plug-In, we believe that Vuze should not have published these misleading measurements, nor filed them with the FCC. Moreover, as Vuze and others have acknowledged, TCP resets are generated for many reasons wholly unrelated to the network management practices of broadband network providers, which explains why resets may appear on networks of companies such as AT&T who do not use TCP resets for network management.
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iPhone finally coming to Canada?
If the Toronto Star is to believed, then the Apple iPhone should be available in Canada before the summer.
The article cites “industry contacts” who reveal that Canada’s only major GSM cell provider, Rogers, is hoping to introduce the iPhone “in time for it to be included in a campaign promoting touchscreen phones at the company.”
Rogers’ campaign will most likely start in late May or early June, before Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference in which it is widely expected that the company will introduce the 3G model of the iPhone.
Despite its reputation as having the highest-priced mobile data plans of any cellular provider in Canada, Rogers is also the most advanced. About two months ago, the carrier introduced an unlimited data bundle “that gives users both unfettered browsing on most of its devices as well as a set amount of MMS/SMS messages and voicemail.” Rogers’ also offers advanced 3G network features including “two-way video calling on supporting devices as well as 7.2-megabit HSDPA downloads on portions of its network. The 3G iPhone is understood to use a newer Infineon chipset that would support both normal HSDPA service as well as its faster variety on Rogers.”
More information as it becomes available.
Blockbuster expands its video game offerings
Seeing the fact that retail game sales are at all time highs and showing no signs of slowing down, Blockbuster has announced that it will be upping its game offerings in all of the corporation’s US locations.
The announcement comes just two weeks after Blockbuster made a billion dollar bid for the struggling retailer Circuit City in an effort to get a bigger foothold in the video game industry.
Blockbuster customers can now buy software, hardware, and accessories for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii, and Nintendo DS at all the company’s 4100 locations. There will also be more games available for sale and rental and there will be an expansion of genres available for each system.
There was no word on whether there would be PSP or PC offerings and it seems at this point that the two platforms have been snubbed from the company’s expansion.
In addition, the company will be offering exclusive promotions such as PS3 bundles. One such bundle is a $499 PS3 bundle “that will include a 40GB system, an HDMI cable, Spider-Man 3 on Blu-ray, Activision’s Transformers game, a Blu-ray DVD remote, and one free Blu-ray or PS3 game rental per week for 12 weeks.”
