UPDATE 1: The WallStreetJournal is reporting now that the phone will be called the Nexus One. There is no word on whether the rumored Google Voice implementation will be in effect, killing the need for a voice plan but requiring a data plan from a GSM carrier such as AT&T or T-Mobile.
Techcrunch is reporting this weekend that the oft-denied Google Phone is a reality, with Google employees confirming it all over their Twitter homepages and the Google Mobile blog announcing that they are in fact testing the phone with imminent release set for early next year.
Despite previous rumors however, the phone hardware will be manufactured by HTC but the phone will not be sold through a carrier and instead directly from Google as an unlocked handset. The phone’s looks are said to be based on the upcoming HTC Passion or the HD2, which Google had input on the design of.
The creatively dubbed “Google Phone” will be available next month, as an unlocked GSM device, and will be the first phone to run Android 2.1, which has so far only been tested by Google employees. The phone runs on a Snapdragon processor, has a “super high-resolution” OLED touchscreen, has two mics, no physical keypad, is thinner than the rival iPhone, and has a very large resolution camera. New visual enhancements include animated desktop wallpapers (such as water that ripples when you touch it), voice-to-text for every application, and other incredible features.
Adds one Tweet from member “Great White Shark”: “A friend from Google showed me the new Android 2.1 phone from HTC coming out in Jan. A sexy beast. Like an iPhone on beautifying steroids.”
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Result for: Hard
Due to its byline stipulations, beginning in December all Blu-ray titles will come with the option to make one “managed copy” (a legal backup).
However, for all current Blu-ray player owners as well as most near term future owners, your player will not have the capability to make the copies, making the feature useless.
AACS-LA chairman Michael Ayers says the Managed Copy is mandatory given the final AACS license and over 600 companies have signed on. Each new movie from December 4th on will come with a link on the disc which will send the player to an authentication server. If it passes, the disc can make a full 1080p copy of the disc. For now though, there are no players capable of making the copies so the links are useless.
Manufacturers are not required to even make such devices but Sony and other AACS-LA members say they expect the first PC drives with the capability to hit by the Q3 2010. The AACS-LA says they won’t even have authentication servers up and running until March 31st.
There are, of course, catches to the managed copy. Studios can choose to offer the managed copy instead of digital copies like most current discs have. The studios can also choose to charge for the backups, likely a nominal fee under $10 USD.
VideoBusiness adds that “Managed copies can be burned to recordable Blu-ray or DVD discs, as a download to a Windows Media DRM-compatible portable player or hard drive, on a memory stick, SD card or as a bound copy, such as a digital copy file on the disc.”
Result for: Hard
According to a new report from the IFPI (International Federation of the Phonographic Industry), about 3 million Swedes download unauthorized music, games and movies, about one third of the entire Swedish population.
Some believe the numbers are actually skewed, however, to the low side.
“I have about 250 students per year of whom hardly any have not file shared,” says Kristoffer Schollin, a scientist with a doctorate in intellectual property law. “It’s at 100 percent.”
Internet speeds in Sweden are ranked third highest in the world, on average, at about 12.8 Mbps. The US averages around 5.1 Mbps.
Despite the seemingly high number, the IFPI says the numbers are in a downtrend, following government intervention.
“Six out of 10 (users of file sharing sites) have stopped completely, or at least significantly lowered their use of illegal file sharing after the new legislation,”IFPI Sweden chairman Ludvig Werner added.
The report was based on a study of “music consumption habits” of 1,006 Swedes aged 15 to 74.
