At the event, Boxee announced that they'll finally be moving out of alpha to beta starting this September. And they've got big changes in store: For one, Windows support.

Boxee'll have some stiff competition on Windows; anybody who's used Windows Media Center knows that it's one of the best pieces of software Microsoft's ever made. But Boxee's support for streaming video, along with new social networking sites, MLB.tv, and embracing of apps (over 120 in total) makes it the media nerd's 10-foot software. Unfortunately, Hulu is still off limits, as they refuse to allow Boxee to access it.

There may be even more good stuff in the future: Boxee CEO Avner Ronen hinted that if there's enough interest, they might create an iPhone app based on Boxee. We'll keep our fingers crossed for that one. [TechCrunch]

Let's hope his leak at Apple has an alibi when his Steveness comes knocking. Here was Kevin's prognosticating:

- Revamp of entire iPod line.
- Small cosmetic changes to Touch, Nano to see significant redesign (see pic).
- iPods to see fairly large price drops to distance itself from the $199 iPhone.
- iPod touch 2.1 software, iPhone to get update very soon after.
- iTunes 8.0 ("it's a big update w/new features").

And on iTunes 8:

iTunes 8 includes Genius, which makes playlists from songs in your library that go great together. Genius also includes Genius sidebar, which recommends music from the iTunes Store that you don't already have.

With iTunes 8, browse your artists and albums visually with the new Grid view; download your favorite TV shows in HD quality from the iTunes Store; sync your media with iPod nano (4th generation), iPod classic (2nd generation), and iPod touch (2nd generation); and enjoy a stunning new music visualizer.

Even the layout mockup, which was coyly what it would look like "if I had to guess"—100% correct:

And of course, the Nano photo above. Not a rendering, an actual product shot of the silver Nano. So besides skipping the ancillary announcements like Nike+ and the new headphones, Rose nailed it.

One other side point: this also shows that Apple has smartly reconsidered the same strategy that issued a spew of take-down notices with every leak that hit the web and eventually forced blogs like Think Secret to shut down. It's all or nothing with that strategy—as only targeting the information that's correct is the deadest giveaway possible—and once something hits the web, there's very little one company can do to stop it. As we've seen a bajillion times.

So congrats Kevin—this time (we all know you've had your misses, too). Make sure you take your new buddy in Cupertino out for a nice, juicy steak (in Sacramento, with fake mustaches) while the axe hangs. [Kevin Rose]

Knewsroom works like this: Members submit story ideas, which can be as basic as "Apple Introduces 3G iPhone." Then, people find stories around the web that they like, maybe one from Giz, one from Engadget and another from, let's say, Ars Technica. Readers vote on the stories they like, but if someone doesn't like any, they are free to write their own, possibly combining those three sources for a better overall story. (As if.) The final product is a daily Knewspaper that runs only the biggest crowd pleasers, and the Knewsroom writer, if one is selected, gets paid for services rendered.

You may say, "That doesn't sound like Digg," and in truth, this once-per-day concept isn't very Digg-like. But if you belong to the community, you'll be seeing the popular stories rise and fall day in and day out, just like they do on Digg. Then, people with less time or maybe just better perspective will hit the daily site, to see what the top stories are and then get on with their actual bona fide lives.

The funny thing is, this all came from a guy who wanted to use the collaboration to create gadgets. Ben Kaufman—who at 21 is so much younger than me it's embarrassing—has already sold one company that was successful at doing just this: it was called Mophie, and now it's a part of mStation, an exotic iPod accessory product maker.

Ben wanted Kluster to be an expanded Mophie, a place where companies could go to find design inspiration for whatever they were trying to build—iPod docks, sunglasses, board games, you name it. It worked almost like a massive sim game—you bet on various ideas at various stages of development, and if your idea wins, you get a piece of the bounty offered by the client companies. That's right, you got real money.

The downsides were that the companies who most liked the service wanted it on their own terms, and a site with a broad mission to design anything and everything with a massive, nebulous volunteer workforce was hard to manage. As a result, Kluster pulled down its initial infrastructure, and is in the process of building mini Klusters for companies. It will also launch specific Kluster "labs" for specific product categories. Ben thinks a more focused studio breeds better and faster decisions.

It's all pretty crazy, and I don't blame you if it's hard to follow along. But what's important is that you go there, because shit, someone's got to start submitting those Gizmodo stories, and if it's not you, then who, baby, who? [Knewsroom]

Projector: $2700.
Projector screen: $700.
Denon receiver: $1200.
Series 3 HD TiVO: $660.
Klipsch right and left floor standing speaker: $2500 ($1249 each).
Klipsch subwoofer: $500.
Klipsch center speaker: $450.
Apple TV: $330.
Professional installation: free

Total: $9040

It's not that bad, but come on Kevin, we were expecting a full Enterprise-themed home theater. What happened to the spend-spend-spend culture of the 90s? Where's the "dot com" here? Is this part of some kind of some cultivated shabby lifestyle? What's the deal, man? Put some of that money back into the economy, damnit.

[My HDTV Choice —Thanks Alan]

Kevin also said that Apple has restricted background-running applications because they don't want competition to iChat from third-party applications made using the SDK. The fact is that, if they wanted to ban any direct competition to their own applications, they will simply not approve them for publication and get done with it, without affecting any other developer.

The truth, however, is much simpler than that: Apple hasn't hidden the fact that they are setting this limit to guarantee a flawless user experience, so the core functions of the iPhone are never affected by applications stealing CPU cycles in the background. And that's the whole story, really. Installer.app applications will still be able to run in the background, like many do right now (like Apollo.)

But regarding the video conference, yes, he's probably right. It's logical to expect this from Apple. In fact, most probably the 3G iPhone will have videoconferencing with any other 3G-based video-conferencing cellphone out there, because they use the same h.264 encoding that iChat uses.

In other news, completely drunk sources report that Drew Curtis was heard saying that the next iPhone will be "really shiny." [Diggnation]

When you search for the same keywords again, you'll continue to see those changes. If you later want to revert your changes, you can undo any modifications you've made.

The system only works within browser...for now...meaning that your opinions will not affect other users. Of course, if such a system were deployed in a widespread fashion, we're guessing Google would aggregate data trends to alter search results over time for better relevance.

And would such a system be better? What do we trust more, man or machine? Or sweatshops full of children adding "Nike.com" to every query result? [google via theregister]

Product Page [via Red Ferret]

I can definitely see the wisdom in having excised negotiation from most of our daily commerce. Imagine if every time you had to buy a roll of toilet paper from CVS, the cashier tried to highball you: "That'll be $3.99, sir...What? You don't want to pay that much? Okay, gimme two bucks...Wait, don't walk out that door—special price for you! A buck fifty!" Not only would our economy grind to a halt, but working retail would become one of the nation's most dangerous jobs—when haggling reaches an impasse, too many folks still see fit to resort to fists, guns and machetes.

On the other hand, when dealing with your (ahem) less formal retail operations, there's often some wiggle room built into their pricing. That's certainly true for many purveyors of low-end technology, of the sort that sell three-packs of tube socks alongside their cordless phones and faux Discmen. As a general rule of thumb, if a store's prices are noted only by Magic Markered signs, and they're blasting Ne-Yo onto the sidewalk through coffin-sized speakers, you can probably negotiate a slightly better deal for yourself. Just wield your geek knowledge like a club, and exploit your opponent's weaknesses. Four tips after the jump. PLUS: The keys to plus-five commenting?

Bamboozle With Wisdom Low-end salesman tend to be hilariously uninformed about specs; I'd wager that less than half can tell a bit from a byte, let alone explain the nuances of speaker wattage. Use this to your advantage—make it clear early on that you're not to be lied to. Bandy about the technical jargon, and make a point of dismissing their products as so-three-years-ago. Provided you're not dealing with a grump who'll simply toss you out of the store, your logorrheic ramblings should flummox the salesman to the point he gets his manager. And it's the manager who has the authority to cut on-the-spot deals. (Caveat: this technique works best with items in the clearance bin. It may also result in a physical altercation; not recommended with any salesman wearing a Stop Snitching T-shirt.)

Ask for the Stash Supply management isn't a strength of low-end stores. A lot of their goods have fallen off the proverbial truck, and they can have a hard time keeping up with the inflow (partly because they might track their stock in spiral-bound notebooks). As a result, there's often a backlog of superior merchandise languishing in the stockroom. So if you come across a last-gen product that's not quite up to your standards, ask if they have something better on hand; be specific about what you want, though, because there's a good chance the salesman won't know what constitutes "better." When he emerges with the superior product—say, a 256 MB MP3 player, as opposed to its 128MB predecssor—make a lowball offer. Since there's no set price for not-yet-displayed merch, there's a good chance you'll get what you want (or close to it).

Package Deals Turnover is the way low-end stores stay in business—they need to get rid of stuff fast, to make way for the next off-the-truck shipment. That opens up all sorts of opportunities for cheapskates to suggest package deals, along the lines of, "Throw in a four-pack of AAA batteries and a 900 MHz cordless phone, and I'll take this Coby radio off your hands." The more complicated you make the package, the more likely you are to save some loot; most fly-by-night stores don't spend much time calculating accurate break-even points. But this isn't easy on the customer's noggin', either—might be worth making a recon visit to the store ahead of time, then pricing out your package against an identical basket of goods on the Web. (Yes, I realize this sounds like a lot of effort to save a few bucks—please keep in mind that this column is called Low End Theory, not Time Savers.)

Take It Off the Floor Unlike big chains, which hold off on moving their floor models until they've sold through a product line, low-end retailers typically love selling demos. Odds are they were just going to end up giving them away to salesmen, anyway, or offering them to friends at ridiculously low prices. (Subhint: Befriend the manager of a low-end electronics store.) So offer to take that floor-model 13-inch Daewoo TV off their hands for half-price. They'll probably try and bargain you up a few bucks, but stick to your guns on this one. Maybe even engage in a little mendacity, by insisting that the warranty's been voided by virtue of the TV having been a demo unit. (As if you're really going to send in a $35 TV for repairs.)

More negotiation tips in comments, please. Just don't mention the one about trying to flatter the salesman—doesn't work, at least if you lack double Ds.

PLUS-FIVE COMMENTING: Let me abuse my position for a second here, and appeal to y'all for help. I'm working on an article about the keys to making much-admired comments at social-content sites. Rob "CmdrTaco" Malda, of Slashdot fame, has been kind enough to offer some feedback, as have some veteran commenters. (Boo to Digg, though—per their flack, they were too busy to send me a two-sentence e-mail reply.)

Now it's time for Gizmodo Nation to chime in: what's the secret to making a plus-five Slashdot comment, or an enthusiastically Dugg comment on Digg? Being first and being funny obviously matter, but there's gotta be something beyond that, right? Fittingly, leave any ideas in comments, happy in the knowledge that you shall be the recipient of my eternal gratitude.

Brendan I. Koerner is a contributing editor at Wired and a columnist for both The New York Times and Slate. His Low End Theory column appears every Thursday on Gizmodo.

Read more Low End Theory

Have your fun now, because in a few months you'll have to explain what those hex numbers mean to everyone you meet. But for today, you sir are the nerd pop culture king. – Jason Chen

Product Page [Nerdy Shirts]

While it might not have proven to be the best course of action in hindsight, we seriously doubt that Kevin Rose's decision to pull the story revealing the HD-DVD key was selling out or intentionally betraying the community. A number of people have pointed out that HD-DVD is a Digg sponsor, and have used that fact to level such charges at Kevin.

We have sponsors too, but that doesn't ever mean we'd sell out our readers or alter our content because of those sponsors. Kevin has equally shown nothing but commitment to the Digg's users, community, and site's integrity. People should hear out his explanation for this move before wholesale trashing Digg's founder.

That said, tonight's been a watermark in social media, even just looking at the ingenious (and often hilarious) variations users have come up with to cram the key into headlines, comments and users invites. Personal favorite so far: "Digg deleted my hard drive for posting the HD-DVD KEY! Now my hard drive refuses to write in binary. I get Error Code: 09-F9-11-02-9D-74-E3-5B-D8-41-56-C5-63-56-88-C0 . Oh, noz."

– Matt Buchanan

Update, Kevin responds: Digg This: 09-f9-11-02-9d-74-e3-5b-d8-41-56-c5-63-56-88-c0 [Digg Blog]
Digg's Explanation [Digg Blog]
Thanks, Slacker

According to Reuters, the service will be a combination of Google News and Digg, both aggregating the most popular news stories around the Web and adding "a social element to traditional news consumption by giving readers the ability to determine what becomes the top news on MySpace." In other words, in spite of there being 25 categories and 300 subcategories, it still might end up "all K-Fed, all the time." If it does, you have only the kids to blame.

Something is definitely going on. Follow the jump to see what happened when visited news.myspace.com.

By a not terribly wild guess, we determined that the URL of the new site will be news.myspace.com. This morning, the following dialog box confirmed our guess:

Keep checking that URL, because the MySpace News beta may start today. Just remember, News Corp. didn't make its name by giving people the news; it made it by selling ads. The more you participate in MySpace, the more exciting you will be to advertisers. That, according to the story, is Murdoch's main motivation. If you don't think you're being targeted, pay attention to the word "target" in the following quote:

"Many advertisers have expressed interest in the service, which allows them to target the MySpace community in a more direct way," Brian Norgard, co-founder of Newroo, a company purchased by News Corp. last year, which created MySpace News' technology, said in an interview.

Go ahead, it's okay to sell your soul. All we ask is that you vote for a Gizmodo story or three each and every time you're on MySpace News. Thanks in advance. – Wilson Rothman

MySpace to test news service to boost ad revenue [Reuters]

As for the $20 shirt, at least they could have inscribed 4521 diggs on there instead of just the loneliest number, 1. The irony is that most people will have no idea what this shirt means and the other tiny percentage who do probably won't be impressed with its low indicator of popularity. Now if that number would just go higher every time someone poked you in the chest, NerdyShirts would be onto something here. – Charlie White

Product Page [NerdyShirts]

Will this be a strong competitor to Digg, or will MySpace News provide content for a sperate demographic? After all, I'm sure the MySpace population won't go crazy over the same Apple/HDR Photo/Self-referential/Consumer advocacy stuff that Digg does. One would expect the content to be much less tech-based and more pop culture centric. It should be interesting to see how this affects the online media scene and if Digg sees a drop in users. –Adam Frucci

Mashable.com [via Digg, of course]

Coming later this month to all Helio members, Digg and Wikipedia are going to be optimized for mobile usage and a part of the WAP deck. Usually, these don't impress us much, but if the Digg interface is anything like it is on a real computer, it could actually be a really cool feature.

Numbers: 1.99 inch high-resolution QVGA display with landscape mode, 1.3 MP camera, stereo Bluetooth® support, 136MB available internal memory, MP3, MPEG-4 and VOD support. 3G-enabled. $150. Another pair shot after the jump.

– Matt Buchanan

BusinessWeek is actually a bit down on the new program, noting that the idea of "prosumption," where consumers get involved in the creative process, is not wholly innovative. Nonetheless, Dell is certainly in need of a refresh, and taking it to the people seems like a good way to go about trying to make itself relevant again, even if pulling out the "Web 2.0" trope is a bit trite.

The top suggestion right now? "Offer the 3 top free Linux versions for free pre-installation on all Dell PCs." Gotta love the Linux crew—they are persistent, if nothing else. – Matt Buchanan

Hack This Product, Please! [BW]

Topics: Bruce Lee, iPhone, and just to taunt macworlders a segment on Vista Rocking. A must watch. Maybe Rose and Alex missed their calling as late night TV hosts. When are they going to start having guests on? Well worth the registration form (only three fields, and free, so no whining allowed.)–Brian Lam

Diggnation #80 [Revision 3]

•Apple's Jobs: More iPhone apps coming before launch [Digg]
New iPhone Apps are coming before launch from approved third-party sources. The surprise? You'll have to pay for some.

•Apple may introduce Cheaper, 'Lower End' versions of the iPhone [Digg]
Analysts are assuming Apple will release a lower-end version of the iPhone in the same way there's an iPod Nano to the regular iPod. But what features can you strip out of the iPhone and still call it an iPhone?

•iPhone Locked To Cingular, But "Bad Guys" Might Unlock It [Digg]
The iPhone is Cingular-specific, but those cellphone unlockers should be able to devise a way to unlock it for T-Mobile/overseas customers. Cingular calls these people "bad guys".

•How Apple Kept The iPhone Secret For 30 Months [Digg]
They gave fake models of the iPhone to partners, including Yahoo, Google, and Cingular.

We omitted Digg links that point to Gizmodo, but if you want to check out our iPhone coverage, click here.

Wow, the Wii is not only easier to play, but hackers of all ages can tear it down, too.–Brian Lam

A look inside the Wii [Digg]