Chicago Apple Store Has Express, Gift-Wrapped Line

The Apple Store in downtown Chicago, like every Apple Store, has a few ways to check out. You can flag down an employee, head to the checkout counter, or, in what seems new, you can head to the express line, which lets you buy non-customized Apple products quickly. Even better, that express line's products are pre-gift-wrapped. Pretty sweet! I bought my MacBook Pro from that exact store this summer, and I wish it had come gift-wrapped, even though it was all mine—there's just something about tearing open a gift-wrapped box, you know? [Business Insider]

YouTube Offers Shortened URL, Sort of

In these heady days of Twarter-domination, it's important to have a shortened URL to save precious characters. Seems like everyone's got one, and YouTube just joined in the fun—except, um, their shortened URL, Youtu.be, really isn't that much shorter. Example: youtubedotcom/watch?v=FdeioVndUhs would become http://youtu.be/FdeioVndUhs. You'll only have space for a few LOLOLOLs after that. [YouTube Blog]

BART Expands Wireless Access Under the San Francisco Bay (!!!)

This ends up gift-wrapped under the Remainders Tree of Sadness because it's local, but to SFBay residents like myself, it's great news. BART, the Bay Area's fantastic (compared to my native SEPTA, that is) regional rail system is now getting access to wireless signal while zooming under the San Francisco Bay over to Oakland, Berkeley and sites beyond. That means I'll never have to stop using data while on BART, which also means I've lost one last excuse for being out of touch with the Gizmodo monarchs, King Brian and King Jason. [BART]

Seriously You Guys, Just Buy a Kindle

Amazon really wants you to buy one. Remember that Dealzmodo from a few days back, when Amazon offered free two-day shipping on the Kindle? Now they're upping that to free overnight shipping if you buy it on December 23rd. It's in Remainders because honestly, updating this post feels like I'm advertising for Amazon, but the Kindle is still the reigning champ of ebook readers and you guys have a right to know. Now buy one. NOW. [Amazon]

iPod Touch Users Neglect OS 3.0 (Comparatively)

iPod Touch users, for whom the OS 3.0 upgrade costs $10, are upgrading in much lower numbers than iPhone users, for whom the upgrade was free. 95% of iPhone users have opted for 3.0, compared to only 55% of iPod Touch users. Frankly, I'm damned impressed that Apple managed to wrangle 10 bucks out of more than half of the huge numbers of iPod Touch users for a firmware upgrade. This could be painted as a failure, but I think it's exactly the opposite; I can't remember a single other PMP (or whatever the iPod Touch is) firmware upgrade that cost money (besides maybe those Archos add-ons, but that's not really firmware). Way to go for the Hamiltons, Apple. [iLounge]

That (understatement)very lucrative(/understatement) contract is with Sam Raimi's studio. That's right, a $300 video on youtube and a boatload of talent can score you a job in Spidey's house. So next time anyone tells you that uploading your filmed-off-the-mirror practice videos for the next American Idol audition isn't worth the time or embarrassment, show them this story.

And congrats to Fede. Work this great deserves it. [Yahoo! Movies, Thanks jesuswhammy]

OPPO Android Concept Is All Tronned Out

So this is a pretty interesting-looking Android phone concept, what with the neon teal backlighting and spacious keyboard and all. It's supposedly due for a 2010 release, although we'll believe that when it happens, and hopefully it'll actually be running Android by then—it looks like somebody accidentally Photoshopped the WebOS dialer onto this thing. It's in Remainders because nobody really got all that excited about it; it's weird enough to be catch your eye, but not enough to make you want one. [Ubergizmo]

Top YouTube Videos of the Year Are Pretty Upsetting, Really

I'm proud to say I've seen exactly one of the top five YouTube music videos of the year and none of the top general videos. On the other hand, this is a pretty depressing-looking list—not once does the World's Best YouTube Personality of All Time appear. Plus, um, who the hell is Pitbull? [YouTube Blog]

Why Can't These People Take a Decent Video of the Nexus One?

So TheNexusOne has been posting videos of their namesake Android phone, and while that would normally deserve a bigger post, these are really just teaser videos—when we get a real, comprehensive video tour of the Nexus One, we'll be sure to let you know. But for now, we've got a video of the incoming call screen, which looks exactly like it does on Android 2.0.1, we've got the bootup sequence we've seen before, and a 15-second clip of the Tron-like (there's a Tron theme in Remainders tonight, it seems) animated wallpaper. [TheNexusOne via Android Central]

iFixit Publishes Apple Repair Manuals Under Creative Commons License

iFixit, known round these parts for their teardowns, just published five years of DIY Apple repair manuals for free under the Creative Commons license, which permits free, non-commercial use. That's over 125 manuals for Macs, iPods and iPhones, and should be a big help for anyone who's got an out-of-warranty Apple product and needs help fixing it, or for anyone who just likes to tinker. [iFixit via 9to5Mac]

Massa-Bidal sells some of his designs on his online store, but these terrific book covers aren't available just yet. Perhaps if we all pester him enough he'll put them up? The Tumblr, Twitter and Flickr ones would look great on my wall. [Retrofuturs via Flickr via SuperPunch via Gearfuse]

Mashable is reporting on the launch event and this is what they've learned so far:

• On stage, Google CEO Eric Schmidt stated that Bono suggested the meeting started VEVO.
• 85% of all music videos will go through VEVO, with the rest going on YouTube.
• VEVO will manage all ad sales
• The music video site is focusing on getting rid of duplicate videos. If you have ever browsed YouTube, you'll find that many music videos do, in fact, have duplicates.
• VEVO will not launch with HD. That will come out next year.
• Now this is awesome: VEVO includes synchronized and integrated lyrics
• The YouTube and Universal joint venture will be premiering new videos from 50 Cent, Mary J Blige, and Mariah Carey tonight. They are all exclusives.
• You won't have to watch a preroll every time you watch a VEVO video. It will serve ads based on aggregate usage.
• VEVO will come up any time you search for artists on YouTube
• VEVO's launch sponsors includes AT&T, McDonald's, Nikon, Mastercard, Dove, Colgate, Axe, and Infinit.
• Aol and CBS are joining the VEVO music network. This means that users coming through their websites will get VEVO.

Word is that the site is actually already live but bogged down by traffic. Is anyone able to access it? [Vevo via Mashable]

Feather is the name of YouTube's new lightweight version of the video streaming site. You can try it out now via Google's TestTube collection of beta trials.

What you lose with the lightweight option is the ability to view videos in High Quality, and most of the commenting and sharing options have been stripped out. But hell, that's a small price to play for being able to watch the above gem on your $249 netbook, right? [YouTube Feather via All Things D]

First, enjoy the video by playing it full screen. Switch between 1080p and 720p while you do it.

Better yet: Use Firefox's Download Helper to get the 720p and 1080p MP4 files into your hard drive, then play them side by side or at full screen. You will see that the 1080p version is clearly sharper than the 720p, helped by the extra pixels. In the 1080p version you see can a lot more of the delicate textures of the Muppets' fabrics, as well as fewer artifacts, and more details in all the objects in the screen. Don't believe me? Check this comparison gallery then.

Remember when YouTube used to be a tiny little window with pixels the size of my fist? [Thanks, GitEmSteveDave!]

The news comes from the COO of Syabas, the company that makes the Popcorn Hour set-top box. Up until now they'd had a "loose agreement" with the 'Tube: They could stream video from YouTube for free, but YouTube could change the terms of the deal whenever they want. Which they did!:

YouTube has always retained the right to change its terms of service in the future should it ever wish to do so. As a result of Google's decision, Syabas is no longer allowed to access YouTube through its APIs. To be clear, Syabas is not being singled out. With the exception of a few strategic partners Google has chosen to work with, the company has informed Syabas they are asking all over-the-top device makers that are currently connecting to YouTube content through its APIs to take down the service.

To quote every set-top box manufacturer in the world, probably: "shit." YouTube access had become the kind of thing you take for granted in a connected box or Blu-ray player, and it was nice to have. Now, it'll be limited to sanctioned devices like the PS3, Wii, TiVo, officially supported Blu-ray players, etc—backed by the kinds of companies who have the clout to pressure Google, or the money to pay them—leaving everyone else to search for some kind of hacky workaround, the last of which got them in this bind in the first place.

I understand that Google wants to squeeze some ad revenue out of YouTube, and that letting anyone and everyone access raw, ad-free through the backend probably isn't the best business plan, but this isn't Hulu—it's not like they have many powerful content providers to appease, just a bunch of teenagers with webcams. Unauthorized set-top box folks, whoever you are: watch your free video cornucopia dissolve on December 2nd.

UPDATE: YouTube's statement:

Since July of 2008, YouTube's Terms of Service has restricted implementations for televisions based on our APIs. YouTube has been in active discussions with various developers on how best to implement YouTube on set top boxes and TVs. There are several companies, however, that have deployed solutions, like video scraping technology, to circumvent the rules and violate YouTube's Terms of Service. Companies that have negotiated agreements to use our APIs, like TiVo, Sony, Panasonic and Sony's PS3 are not impacted.

So, companies like Syabas have been in violation of YouTube's terms of service for some time now, and knew this was going to happen. The question remains, though: Why haven't they just "complied", and gotten a deal like TiVo or Sony? Does it cost anything? Is YouTube selective? Does it just take a while? [Syabas via Engadget via Lifehacker]

Because the speech-recognition technology is still a work in progress, Google is launching the automatic captioning service on the YouTube channels of just a handful of partners, including PBS, National Geographic and a few big universities. But the company promises that the technology will improve over time - and it hopes for a much broader rollout.

In the meantime, Google is adding a new "auto-timing" feature to its existing manual captioning service to make it easier to use. Video creators will now simply have to create a text file with all the words spoken in a video and Google's speech recognition technology will take it from there - matching the text to the words as they are spoken. Google hopes this will encourage more users to add captions to their videos.

[AP]

YouTube's Going 1080p So That You Can Watch Silly Videos In High-Def

Unsatisfied with simple 720p, YouTube is going to a full HD experience with 1080p. They're about halfway through the process of re-encoding the current content, so it shouldn't be long before you can watch Rupe Murdoch rant in high-def. [CNET]

Yet Another "Virus" Attacks Unsecured Jailbroken Phones

The number of ridiculous iPhone viruses, worms and hacks is gradually growing as the number of idiots who refuse to change the default root passwords when running SSH on their jailbroken iPhones remains the same. Secure your iPhones already. Please.[BGR]

USB AM/FM Tuner Made By Company Who Hasn't Heard Of Internet Radio

This USB AM/FM tuner is useless without a computer, but if you've got a computer in front of you odds are good that you also have an Internet connection through which you can access most radio stations. And while it's lovely that it allows you to record broadcast content, it would be a bit more handy if the gadget also had some flash memory on board. [OhGizmo!]

Pirates Decorate Their MacBooks With Crossbones

MacBook decals appear to be turning into a trend as even pirates are getting into the game. Arrr, yo-ho-ho matey, or something like that. [Crunchgear]

Lion's Gate, Sony and Warner Bros are all reportedly discussing such a service with Google (who owns YouTube), although details are thin. Negotiations are still ongoing, so a lot of major issues (will downloads be available? Which films would be ad-supported versus a flat fee? What about TV shows?) are still unresolved. But if YouTube could get a solid, competitive system going, they'd have a fair chance at competing with Hulu, iTunes and Crackle and maybe even turn a profit one of these days. [WSJ]

We've seen comparisons like this before and as we move into terabytes of digital storage they're less and less useful (and interesting). But the move to the cloud is pretty intriguing: Facebook photos, Hulu videos, YouTube, all that stuff is pretty much unlimited and will continue to grow. And as a Netflix devotee, I'm glad to see a chart of exactly how thoroughly it's kicking Blockbuster's ass. [Mozy]

Earlier today several competing social networks banded together to fight the DDOS attacks on their respective properties. Google and Facebook were able to keep the effects minimal while Twitter and others suffered periodic outages and severe slowness through out the day.

Max Kelly, chief security officer at Facebook, explained that the attack specifically targeted Cyxym, and was directed toward websites which he frequented or on which he held accounts, including his LiveJournal, where we find the first suggestion that there was a big target painted on his virtual back:

Cyxymu's LiveJournal page wasn't accessible, but a cached version showed that it was updated on Thursday with a message about the denial of service (DOS) attacks on his accounts on the US-based sites. "Now it's obvious it's a special attack against me and Georgians," the message in Russian said.

There is no word on exactly who was behind this attack and Kelly declined to speculate. But we wonder: Did Cyxym have a Gizmodo commenter account too or was the DDOS attack on Gawker Media an entirely unrelated coincidence? [CNET]

It's a little rough right now, but it's already plenty of fun to play with, at least until your inevitable migraine sets in. The interface lets you switch between a fairly long list of viewing options, be it a particular type of glasses—red/cyan or amber/blue—or a simple cross-eyed option, all rendered from a single source file. It's incredibly obvious, simply mashing two-panel source video together in a variety of ways, but it's a surprisingly elegant way to deal with fragmenting 3D technologies. Details about how to activate and upload for the feature, as well as some samples, are available here. [SERoundTable]

RealPlayer SP is the evolution of the long-running RealPlayer software, which has become a multi-limbed beast of a program: It's a media manager and player, along with a packaged web browser, a subscription and a la carte music store (Rhapsody), a gaming store (Real Arcade), an audio recorder, and now a streaming video ripper/converter with ties-in to social networking sites. It is at the moment Windows only, though we're assured a Mac version is forthcoming. The beta comes in two versions: One is free, and the other costs $40 and includes H.264 conversion, DVD playback and DVD burning.

The SP stands for Social/Portable, so you can get a hint of where they're going with all this. In addition to RealPlayer itself, the software integrates a button to rip video into your browser (Firefox, Chrome, and IE are supported, Opera is not, no word yet on Safari). This new addition includes a converter to pretty much every portable video format you could imagine, from BlackBerry to Symbian to iPod to Zune.

Where RealPlayer SP is convenient is in this video conversion, especially if you've got a more niche phone or PMP (and I certainly do). Normally, conversion to Zune-supported video is kind of a pain in the ass, but RealPlayer SP handles it easily and well. For newer devices like the Palm Pre and BlackBerry Bold, RealPlayer SP can pass the converted video right through to the player, while it's able to go through iTunes to get video onto an iPhone or iPod touch. Older or less common devices, like my BlackBerry Curve 83xx and my Zune, are still supported, but you'll have to copy the new video files over manually.

The problem with this new iteration of RealPlayer isn't the new features, it's the underlying RealPlayer media software. iTunes, Zune, MediaMonkey and WinAmp are all better and more full-featured media jukeboxes, and unfortunately, Real's new focus on streaming video is new to that category of software but certainly not new to any of us. Hell, Firefox has had extensions that can do the exact same thing for years, with admittedly weaker codec support.

I also wasn't thrilled with the conversion speed or efficiency. Real claims a 1x conversion time, meaning 1 minute of video will take 1 minute to convert, which is actually quite pokey. A 3.2MB music video took 3.5 minutes to convert, and I ended up with a 6.6MB file. Sure, it's not a big deal for such a tiny video, but it feels like it should have been far snappier.

RealPlayer SP is also tied in to various social networking sites, but it's pretty half-assed: For Twitter, it just provides a link to the page of the video you downloaded, along with some prime advertisement for Real that kind of makes you sound like a jackass. The default tweet is "just downloaded so-and-so video with RealPlayer!" followed by a link to the RealPlayer download site. So get ready to follow every single one of those Twitter posts with "Clarification: I do not work for Real."

Really, the new features in RealPlayer SP aren't bad at all. It's a good idea to integrate streaming video ripping into a media jukebox, and RealPlayer SP does about as good job at it as we could ask. But the overall package needs some work: RealPlayer SP is way too bloated to work as just a video ripper/converter, and as a media jukebox it's outdated and cumbersome. Real has a good idea here, but RealPlayer needs more than some flashy add-ons. We'd love it if Real would put out the SP features in a simple applet, and leave off the browsers and media managers that we don't give a damn about.

So who should actually use RealPlayer SP? If you're a BlackBerry or Zune owner who uses Windows, loves YouTube and is confused by the multitude of third-party video converters, RealPlayer SP would be an excellent choice for getting video clips on your phone. [Real]

The interface isn't quite the full experiential revamp that a dedicated app like Hulu Desktop is, but it's definitely a different approach than the normal site (and an improvement on their last attempt at TV optimization). Text is kept to a minimum (no comments, even), navigation is carried out through fat, bold buttons, and video controls are simplified and enlarged. The end result is intuitive, if not terribly attractive. Scratch that—this thing is ugly.

Google says the app supports remote controls, and claims that app is meant for larger screens and web-connected TVs, as well as the PS3 and Wii. But the interface has another equally obvious use: as a touchscreen portal for tablet PCs, MIDs or touchscreen AIO hardware like HP's Touchsmart or Dell's new Studio.

You can try YouTube XL by navigating to Youtube.com/XL in any browser. [Lifehacker]

As you can see in the gallery, the effect they achieved looks almost exactly like the real thing on your computer. screen. I have to admit that I'm going to try doing a few of these, with really weird settings. [Dialy Nifty—Thanks Kumiko!]

p.s. I've modified the original into various versions, so you can resend them appropriately in Twitter, Digg, Fark, Facebook, and YouTube.

[Shoeboxblog—Thanks David]

The site is a grid of various YouTube videos, each a couple of minutes in length, each showing a musician playing a simple Bb major texture. You can play them in any order using as many as you like, starting some as others stop or having them all go at once. It's remarkable. Seriously, don't take my word for it, go check it out now. You won't be disappointed.

Want to participate? Just make a video of your own going by the guidelines on the site and send it in to be included. This can only get more interesting as more videos are added. [In Bb 2.0 via Anthony King]

If you want to ask a question, just tape yourself asking it in 30 seconds or less, upload to YouTube, and then post the link on Polansky's Twitter. He'll be answering a few questions per week, so if you've got a question our fantastic guest blogger Leroy Chiao didn't get around to covering, this'll be a great way to get an answer. [Press Release via Gadget Venue]

The guys at winandmac say they've noticed a change in the YouTube app's stream handling. Now, instead of defaulting to the low-res OTA version of a YouTube video when connected via 3G, the app plays the high-res version previously reserved for Wi-Fi.

Meanwhile, in our comments and over at the iPhone Blog, AT&T-bound Beta 5 users are reporting that the simple MMS stopgap hack is no longer possible.

It's only been few hours since Beta 5 burst forth into this world, naked and screaming, so more changes are bound to bubble up to the surface—there are already rumblings that new anti-tethering measures have been implemented, but this hasn't been confirmed (and may have more to do with new security features in iTunes 8.2 than iPhone OS). [winandmac and the iPhone Blog]

Reports the BBC:

Marc Stephens watched the videos as a precaution when his wife Jo started to feel some discomfort.

Four hours later, his wife went into labour and started giving birth before an ambulance could arrive at their home in Redruth. "I Googled how to deliver a baby, watched a few videos and basically swotted up," Mr Stephens told the BBC.

That said, don't let Stephens fool you. He's a natural. "This is our fourth child now and while for our first I spent most of the time at my wife's head, now I'm not afraid to go down to the business end."

Truly, a heart-warming story in an age that sees despicable baby-related smartphone apps being approved for the general populace without missing a beat. [BBC News via Google Blogoscoped]

Vivendi CEO said this, about the old model of giving away music videos to MTV and YouTube just as promotional material. "We used to do lots of great artistic videos that we gave away to MTV and other people for free. We didn't get paid. Now it's becoming a profit center."

By this they mean that they're going to split advertising revenue between YouTube and Universal, and not that they're going to charge you 5 cents per video.

Our question is though, when YouTube already has the same videos, why would you ever move over to Vevo? What's the benefit? YouTube just got to the point where you can fetch just about any video whenever you want, but copyright claims like this one seem to have forced people to go elsewhere. I guess that's the point? Kill off YouTube as a music video destination so that music video producers, the studios, can get a cut? [Bloomberg]

Listening Test: It's music tech week at Gizmodo.

The song, which was played over 150 million times in 2008 alone, seems like it should have been a cash cow for the 62-year-old British producer and songwriter. Unfortunately, it was no such thing.

"There was I sitting at Christmas thinking, 'I must have made a few bob this year with the old Rickrolling'," he said.

"I rang my publisher and they said 'You'll be all right', until I saw the royalty statement. £11.

"If 154 million plays means £11, I get more from Radio Stoke playing Never Gonna Give You Up than I do from YouTube."

Waterman distressingly compares his plight to that of the unpaid workers in Dubai, which is insane (especially considering his net worth is somewhere around $100 million), but he brings up a very valid point. YouTube is awfully profitable popular: Shouldn't the creators of their content be equitably paid?

YouTube insists they are working with PRS for Music, an organization dedicated to seeking fair compensation for artists, but that's of no use to Waterman.

Oh, I almost forgot: click this link it's so great! [The Telegraph]

A very cool re-purposing of something we 21st century net people consume every day.

[Josh Poehlein via Kottke]

Bloomberg says that Sony would be the first studio to support a wide launch of full length films on a video service such as YouTube. They currently offer 60 movies on Crackle, while MGM offers a small number of films on YouTube along with Hulu's selection of ad-supported flicks. And logically, Electronista thinks that most the initial films will be older ones, which would make total sense. [Bloomberg via Electronista]

First, the AP decided that fair use wasn't real and said it would start going after people for even using their headlines with links to their content. Now? The Associated Press has gone after one of its own affiliates for posting an AP video. An AP video embedded from the official AP YouTube page. Are you fucking serious, AP?

The executive who called the station accused them of "stealing our licensed content." Here's a quote from an interview from the obviously frustrated station manager:

And we're an A.P. affiliate for crying out loud! I stumped him on that one... What is really shocking is that they were shocked that they've got a YouTube channel that people are embedding on their Websites. He seemed shocked by that. "Oh, I am going to have to look into that" is what he told me.

Wow. Just, wow. [TechCrunch]

Besides adding Rhapsody music, an enhanced Flickr with "mosaic" photo viewing, and DLNA connectivity for streaming video, music and photos from computers and servers around the house—three pretty obvious moves—Moxi now gets distributed with the PlayOn client for Windows, which actively takes Netflix, Hulu, CBS and other high-quality on-demand web video streams, and steers them right to the set-top box.

For the time being, Moxi is condemned to be the "other" CableCard-savvy set-top box. Yeah, it's lightyears better than the boxes most cable operators willingly hand over to you, but TiVo has worked hard at both interface and expansion, mixing Netflix, Amazon VOD, Rhapsody and other services into its menu to make it that much more valuable. Moxi has taken the cue, and is piling on services too.

Rhapsody was an obvious addition, and just like everywhere else Rhapsody turns up, there's a free 30-day no-strings-attached no-credit-card trial, which is nice.

It's also nice that Digeo added DLNA. It's not quite the DLNA 1.5 that we talked about in reference to Windows 7 (remember Play To?), but it is good enough to serve up video and other files via a simple browser.

What surprised me was that Moxi didn't add any VOD service directly to the box. I thought Netflix was getting in bed with everybody, but it sounds like they're tied up with the big CE companies now, and Digeo doesn't make the cut. So, instead, Digeo starts sharing PlayOn, this Windows app (which usually costs $40) that's sort of in the XBMC/Boxee/Twonky family of software. Moxi owners get it free, and use it to browse Hulu, YouTube, CBS.com and plenty of other VOD services, even grabbing their own Netflix video choices too. Any video you select is carried over your home network to the Moxi box and your TV.

The good news is, we have a box now, and I intend to test all of this once the firmware update happens. But even now I am heartened that the newcomer to the BYO-set-top-box category is pushing ahead. Remember, it's $800 for the Moxi HD, and now only sold on Amazon or Moxi.com, but that includes service for as long as you run it. I'm not saying buy one, at least, not yet, but I do think they're finally putting out a product worthy of review.

Digeo® Releases Major Enhancements to Flagship Moxi® HD DVR

Moxi® Entertainment Experience Gets Even Better with PlayOn™ Internet Video; Rhapsody®
Music; Home Theater Controls; and Enhanced Photos, Internet Services and DLNA-Certified™
Home Networking

KIRKLAND, WA – April 09, 2009 – Digeo, Inc. today announced new features and enhancements to the
Moxi® High Definition Digital Video Recorder (HD DVR), further advancing the world's best DVR. The
Moxi HD DVR has new services available directly from the on-screen menu including Internet video from
YouTube, Netflix, Hulu™ and more streaming directly to the TV through MediaMall Technologies'
PlayOn™ media server software as well as the streaming digital music service from Rhapsody®. The
Moxi HD DVR also now includes eControls, a home automation feature that allows users to customize the
home theater experience by adjusting lighting and other Z-Wave supported products. The Flickr® online
photo service and MoxiNet Internet browser were also enhanced, and Moxi is now certified to support the
DLNA® standard for improved home networking.

These new services will be available automatically to customers with a Moxi HD DVR via a software
upgrade at no additional charge from Digeo.

Additionally, as part of this new functionality, the company is offering existing and new Moxi customers a
PlayOn® license key (value $39.99) free for a limited time, as well as a free 30-day Rhapsody trial (value:
$12.99).

"In the current economic climate, people are more focused on at-home entertainment options and on
getting the most out of their HD investments," said Greg Gudorf, CEO, Digeo. "The world's best HD DVR
now delivers even more valuable entertainment services for the best home entertainment experience."

The Moxi HD DVR is designed to appeal to the most demanding digital cable entertainment enthusiasts.
With its native HD interface and Emmy® award-winning Moxi Menu, dual tuners, and up to 75-hours of HD
recording space (up to 300 hours at standard definition, and expandable well beyond with an external
eSATA drive), the Moxi HD DVR makes it effortless for consumers to discover, experience and share high
definition media from their digital cable provider, PCs on the home network and the Internet.

Adding to an extensive list of advanced features and services, the enhancements announced today as
part of the Moxi HD DVR Spring 2009 software release include:

• PlayOn – This media server software currently provides access to Internet videos from YouTube,
Hulu, CBS, Netflix, CNN, ESPN and more through the Moxi HD DVR from a PC on the home
network. Video formats are automatically converted so Moxi users can watch Internet video
directly on their widescreen HDTV.

• Rhapsody® – The leading on-demand digital music service is now available through the Moxi HD
DVR, allowing users to easily listen to any one of more than 7 million songs from all the major
record labels and hundreds of smaller independent labels. Rhapsody delivers complete control
over the music experience, helping users to easily find and play full length tracks, build playlists of
favorites or listen to Rhapsody's professionally programmed genre & artist channels. Starting
today, Rhapsody and Digeo are bringing music without limits to every user of the Moxi HD DVR.

• Media Link – Certified to support the DLNA home networking standard, Media Link connects the
TV or home entertainment system to PCs on a home network. Moxi users can easily stream
digital movies, videos, music and photos from their PCs for viewing or listening from the comfort
of their home entertainment environment.

• eControls – Moxi users can now manage their home entertainment environment through the Moxi
menu to set the mood. Users can adjust most Z-Wave-certified products such as lighting (e.g.,
turning sets of lights on, off or dimming), control volume and power on AV devices, as well as
monitor IP baby-cams or outside cameras, all from the remote control.

• Mosaic – A new browsing feature for the Flickr® online photo service available through the Moxi
menu, Mosaic allows users to rapidly scroll up, down and across their photos as they are
displayed as mosaic tiles on the display.

• MoxiNet –Moxi registered users can now bookmark their favorite websites at Moxi.com and
browse them on their home entertainment display using the Moxi remote as a virtual mouse. This
expands upon MoxiNet's quick access to news, sports scores, movie times, weather and other
information from the Internet.

For more details, including details of the PlayOn license key offer, technical specifications and screen
images of the Moxi HD DVR expanded feature set, please visit: www.moxi.com. You can also follow Moxi
on Twitter at www.twitter.com/moxi_hd or on Facebook at http://tinyurl.com/c9vuxf

About Digeo
Digeo, Inc., a Paul Allen-backed company, provides premium home entertainment products including
digital video recorders (DVR). The company's mission is to enable the best consumer experience in high-
definition entertainment for the connected home. The company's flagship product – the Moxi® HD DVR
with Emmy® award-winning menu and features – serves as the hub for whole-home distribution of digital
entertainment. The Moxi platform empowers consumers to discover, experience and share high definition
media, including TV, movies, music, games, photographs and video. The Moxi HD DVR is available
directly to consumers at moxi.com or via Amazon at www.amazon.com/electronics. Moxi products are
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Holy Crap, There's a Monitor in My Keyboard
The 320x240 LCD display that hovers over the keyboard is really the G19's raison d'tre. After incarnations of its G15 keyboard with a monochrome display for game stats and system info, it was really the only place left to go, and for the most part, it's a comfy place with silk sheets and free Coke in the minibar. I mean, you can watch YouTube or movies while you frag.

The screen's size and resolution are good, but not exceptional—it's okay for watching short video or YouTube clips with the built-in client, checking the time, scoping your CPU load and anything else you'd be peeping at a glance. The bezel around it is gigantic, so there'd definitely be some space to make it larger.

What makes it impressive is the fact that it's its own mini-computer, so matter how intensive the game you're running is—Left 4 Dead, for instance—you can pop up a YouTube video or your rip of Dawn of the Dead with no slowdown at all, and every applet runs quickly and smoothly. They're all pretty to use and configure as well.

There are a few annoyances with the video software. The YouTube client, for instance, doesn't let you hunt for a specific video, you're stuck browsing through a list of feeds, like top rated and most popular. That said, it's really fast and easy to use. With the video client for your local files (which monitors a single folder), in my experience it played anything ending in .mpg, but when I tried to play .avi videos it said more codecs were needed.

What's frustrating is that so much of the display's potential is still untapped. Logitech so far only provides a handful of applets and "can't comment on unannounced projects/products." It doesn't even do cool things with other Logitech products, like their G35 headset. It is open source, so anyone can develop for it, but we are talking about trying to build a development community around a $200 keyboard. The list of PC games that take advantage of it isn't mindblowing, so you might wanna check if your favorite is on board (mine weren't). So the currently anemic selection of software you can run on it might be a dealbreaker, at least for now.

Hardware
If you've used a higher end Logitech keyboard before—especially the G11 or G15, you roughly know what you're getting. Logitech's keys are a perfect balance of punchy and squishy and just really feel fantastic—it's why they haven't messed with the formula in a long time. Overall the G19 a solid piece of hardware, though you might expect something less plastic-y and more tank-like for $200, if only so it felt more likely to survive the onslaught of sweaty hands pummeling keys and Cool Ranch Doritos. The wrist rest is unacceptably cheap and crappy, though.

But Logitech adds a lot of value with little (and big) touches. There are a total of 36 possible macros (you can instantly switch between three sets of 12, which are color-coded. There are media controls galore, as you'd expect from Logitech. I really love the heavy spin wheel for volume, which matches up with the one on their G35 headset (more on that soon). You can make your backlight any color of the rainbow you want (or turn it off). And there's a toggle to deactive the Windows key, so you don't accidentally crash your game by popping up the Start menu.

It's got two high-powered USB ports on the back—standard for gaming keyboards. It works pretty well if you're just plugging in a mouse and a USB headset, but what I'd like is some audio jacks, so when I plug in my gaming headphones, I don't have to reach around to the backside of my desktop.

One of the tradeoffs for having dual high-powered USB ports and a mini-computer inside is that you're going to have to free up a space on your power strip for its power brick.

Game On?
Even with its handful of flaws, it's a fantastic keyboard that builds on what Logitech's been doing well for a long time, and it'll get better as more software is developed for it. But it's also $200, and its headlining feature isn't fully fleshed out yet. I love it, but practically speaking, I'd wait a couple of months for the price to come down and more software to make it more excellent.

This 90% figure means much faster starting up, searching and video loading. The video quality is also automatically optimized for your 3G or Wi-Fi network. If you are using a Nokia/Symbian 60 device, YouTube has provided the following compatibility list:

5320 XpressMusic, 5630 XpressMusic, 5700 XpressMusic, 5730 XpressMusic, 6110 Navigator, 6120 classic, 6121 classic, 6124 classic, 6290, 6650, 6710 Navigator, 6720 classic, E51, E55, E63, E66, E71, E75, E90, N76, N79, N81, N81 8GB, N82, N85, N86 8MP, N95, N95 8GB

For those that are interested, the app can be downloaded directly from http://m.youtube.com. [YouTube via PicturePhoning via TG Daily]

Undo send, sadly, only has a five-second window to take it back (you can boost it to 10), so you better have excellent reflexes. Previews work a lot like the image preview you're used to. Here's the YouTube preview in action: [Gmail Blog, Cnet]

But apparently it is. I don't know how many days it took to be cut, looped, edited. I don't even know days (or months) did it took to search and find the pieces that compose this funky tune. It doesn't matter: Whoever did it, he or she Kutiman is a genius. [Thru-You—Thanks Tomás]

Also of note, according to some promotional materials from Roku, YouTube could be the next service to be supported. (You can see the logo in this story's lead image.)

I know, it's tough to top Netflix streaming with pay movies and clips of people's cats. But it's good to see so many different platforms (hardware and digital) intermingling at last. [Roku Forums via Zatz Not Funny]

The specs listed in the photo are as follows:

Social Networking Suite of Apps
- Facebook
- MySpace w/ video upload
- Twitter
- YouTube Mobile Access via browser

GPS Location Based Search
- Turn by Turn Navigation
- Microsoft Live Local Search and Maps

Content Creation
- Blog publishing, editing, and management client
- Photobucket Upload and Management
- Video recorder and upload to MySpace/Photobucket

Communications
- Signature Sidekick IM/SMS/E-mail Experience
- Microsoft Outlook/Exchange synchronization

Hardware
- Large (3.2 inch WVGA) screen with sharp 854×480 resolution
- Thin design
- 3.2 megapixel camera with autofocus, flash and video recording
- Large QWERTY keyboard
- Expandable memory up to 8GB via MicroSD

It could be a real product, it could be simple market research or it could be nothing at all, but if it's true the 3G , GPS and YouTube mobile access upgrades will be welcomed by Sidekick fans with open arms. [Hiptop3]

For 3 years you YouTubers have been ripping us off, taking tens of thousands of our videos and putting them on YouTube. Now the tables are turned. It's time for us to take matters into our own hands.

We know who you are, we know where you live and we could come after you in ways too horrible to tell. But being the extraordinarily nice chaps we are, we've figured a better way to get our own back: We've launched our own Monty Python channel on YouTube.

No more of those crap quality videos you've been posting. We're giving you the real thing - HQ videos delivered straight from our vault.

What's more, we're taking our most viewed clips and uploading brand new HQ versions. And what's even more, we're letting you see absolutely everything for free. So there!

But we want something in return.

None of your driveling, mindless comments. Instead, we want you to click on the links, buy our movies & TV shows and soften our pain and disgust at being ripped off all these years.

Are you paying attention, MPAA and RIAA? A controlled release of free material keeps people from resorting to piracy and keeps them in your controlled ecosphere, which can include, yes, ways for fans to give you money. But when you're a bunch of pricks, people go to The Pirate Bay and think of you as the enemy, and then you don't get any money. Take notes, you idiots. [Mashable via BoingBoing]