Gizmodo 
Enter your username and password.
Tip your editors:
tips@gizmodo.com
Editorial Director:
Brian Lam | Email | Twitter
Editor:
Jason Chen
Email | AIM | Twitter
Features Editor:
Wilson Rothman
Email | Twitter
Senior Contributing Editor:
Jesus Diaz
Email | AIM | Twitter
Mark Wilson, Reviews
Email | AIM | Twitter
Contributing Editors:
Matt Buchanan
Email | AIM | Twitter
Adam Frucci
Email | Twitter
Sean Fallon
Email | Twitter
Jack Loftus
Email | Twitter
John Herrman
Email | Twitter
Dan Nosowitz
Email
Chris Mascari
Email
Danny Allen
Email | Twitter
Columnist:
Brendan I. Koerner
Interns:
Don Nguyen
Email
Chris Jacob
Email
Comment Intern:
Nick Ellenoff | Email
Comment Account Questions:
Comments@gizmodo.com
Original material is licensed under a Creative Commons License permitting non-commercial sharing with attribution.
11/06/09
11/06/09
He's happy, I'm happy, WD TV gets two thumbs up. #hdmediaplayers
11/06/09
11/06/09
Yeah, I'm aware of that thanks. Thanks to a recent firmware update, the only difference between the WD HD TV and the WD TV Live (version reviewed above) is the newer model has an ethernet port. #hdmediaplayers
11/05/09
i like the idea of the Patriot, BUT I just don't see them following up with sequential firmware updates like WD will do (and has done with the previous WD TV).
I LOVE the specs of the Popcorn Hour box, but at that price and size, I would go for a PS3.
For features, support, and price, I think I am going with the WD TV Live (as soon as it actually freaking shows back up in stock somewhere). #hdmediaplayers
11/05/09
11/05/09
10/13/09
Odd.
10/13/09
Yep, that's the same resolution that HD discs allow when a Bluray PC player is connected to a non-HDCP display.
10/13/09
Also why 540p? Thats like the ginger kid of 1080i
Currently this new 'standard' is sounding unnecessary.
10/13/09
10/13/09
10/15/09
If it works or not, only time will tell. Basically think of it like MP3. That name became the easier way of knowing if something worked with MPEG1 Layer 3 Audio encoded at a constant bitrate up to a maximum of 320kbit. #iframevideo
10/13/09
10/13/09
10/13/09
10/13/09
10/13/09
09/03/09
I think there is A LOT of confusion due to the complexity of the issues.
First, there is some confusion between "open standard" and "proprietary" - the two concepts are not mutually exclusive, but are often used interchangeably carelessly. In many cases, that is ok, but in other cases, it just adds to misunderstanding.
Proprietary simply refers to who owns it - and most standards are owned by somebody - a company, an alliance, a non-profit group. For example, "Microsoft proprietary standard" simply means Microsoft owns it. It could still be an open standard.
An open standard is one that is accessible by a other entities, usually for little or no fee, but usually still requires some license agreement to acknowledge ownership, define "compliance" with the standard, and how licensees can claim support of the standard.
The structure of fees is usually hidden from consumers - the manufacturers pay - whether a flat fee or a per unit fee - so just because it's open doesn't mean that its free.
For many standards "developed" by non-profit organizations (Bluetooth, for example) - there are actually companies who participate in supporting the non-profit, both by contributing funds as well as engineering resources. (Standards don't just write themselves) Sometimes, companies license or transfer their technology (patents) to the non-profits as part of their contribution and to help speed along development. (After all, why keep reinventing the wheel?) But sometimes, committees staffed with people from competing companies have conflicts and need to work through them - sometimes resulting in compromises that no one is happy with.
Obviously, the companies that are interested in helping develop a standard have something to gain by it - by selling chips or connectors, or by being able to plan for incorporation of new standards into their products.
For companies like Apple, there are many factors to consider in whether to go proprietary or to adopt an open standard. Is the open standard a quicker way to market? (maybe, maybe not - some committees take a very long time to get consensus to ratify a new standard) Open standards may mean greater choice of suppliers - there are many USB controller chip suppliers, for example. Open standard components may cost less due to more competition among suppliers. An open standard may mean more potential partners. On the other hand, proprietary standard may mean more control, quicker to market and better fit for the company's goals, as well as competitive advantage.
There are strategic reasons to consider on top of all that. Microsoft didn't sell more Windows OS by developing IE - but it didn't want to be left behind and let potential competitors develop substantial revenue sources. Microsoft's consistent strategy has been to develop their own standards and products to compete with any market leader - witness IE, MSN, WMV, Zune, Bing. Apple, on the other hand, adopts open standards when it makes sense, and develops proprietary when available open standards don't exist or aren't a good fit with it's (Steve's) vision for new products.
Basically, my point is that, as much as we all want to distill complex situations down to the simplest terms - good/bad - the reality is almost never that simple. Life would be boring if it were, no?
09/03/09
And USB 3.0 can't beat Firewire in a few areas, notably instant networking (plug two computers together via one FireWire cable - instant network), or remote debugging (kernel debuggers often use FireWire or serial).
It won't die out - it's a better a/v spec than USB - even 3.0 won't beat it in that regard.
09/03/09
Its too bad the poop standards always win.
09/02/09
09/03/09
09/02/09
They invested so much in trying to win the browser war, and yet by the time they did, it no longer mattered. Microsoft got, at max, 2 or 3 lean years to make money teaching developers to code directly to IE and develop active-X crap before standards took over and made the whole thing irrelevant.
Then Microsoft spends a gazillion dollars on developing PlaysForSure, only to see all music DRM die before Vista could even get going. I almost feel bad for them.
On a different note, it remains my fervent wish that Vorbis, Theora, and the Ogg container would just die already. It is stupid, and dumb, and there is no need for the darkest nerds of the tech intellegencia to keep trying to force it down our throats. MPEG is ubiquitous, it's easy, and most importantly, it's better.
Go away Ogg! You suck, and no one loves you. No one cool, anyways.
09/02/09
09/02/09
09/02/09
Last but not least, most Linux users are also Apple users if they use CUPS.