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(via -
Mashable! )
I read it on 03/18/10 at 06:36 PM
Posted on 03/18/10 at 10:01 PM
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   Universal Music Group will drop the prices on the majority of its new CD releases to between six and 10 dollars. This plan dubbed the Velocity program will go into effect in the second quarter of this year.
UMG hopes this plan will at least slow the serious decline in CD sales that has been going on since MP3s and other digital music downloads came on the scene. While UMG has its hands in music downloads and streaming, too, the profit margins are usually better with CDs. UMG claims that its cheaper CD plan will maintain a 25% profit margin. Up until now, most new CDs have actually been more expensive than their download counterparts. If the price comes down, consumers will be more likely to purchase the goods. It's a simple economic principle. But to try to incentivize music fans even further, UMG plans to load the jewel cases with deluxe content that you won't usually get with online purchases. We're not going to complain about lower prices. We welcome anything that reduces consumers' expenses. But do you think this will actually make a difference? A couple of us in the Mashable office haven't bought a CD in years if you're the same, will UMG's plan turn you around?
Will you buy deluxe CDs for under $10?polls
[img credit: lrargarich]
Reviews: MashableTags: CD, CDs, digital downloads, music, umg, universal music group 
Tags: music   umg cds cd plan
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(via -
jkOnTheRun )
I read it on 03/18/10 at 06:42 PM
Posted on 03/18/10 at 09:00 PM
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 I admit I have been neglecting my lonely Palm Pre the past few days. I have no shortage of phones around here and until picking it up earlier today, I haven't been giving the Pre much thought. While I was using the Pre, my thoughts centered around the trouble that Palm is having due to low sales numbers. I also was struck once again with how good webOS is from a user's standpoint. The interface is great, and it would be a big loss to see Palm (and webOS) go away. Then it hit me right between the eyes wouldn't webOS be fantastic on a 7-inch slate?
While it seems that tablet-mania has us all in its grip, the more I thought of a slate running webOS the more excited I got about it. The graphical touch interface is already outstanding, but imagine it on a 7-inch display. The multitasking of webOS would enter new ground on such a screen. It would not only be a productive environment to use, it would actually be fun. If you ask me, Palm could use a little fun these days.
I am picturing a thin slate with a 7-inch screen even a tad bigger would be OK. The great PIM apps on webOS would be stellar if optimized for the larger display. Palm wouldn't have to add functionality, or even change the way they utilized touch, just optimize the display. The webOS browser is already quite good; It would only be better on a larger screen.
I believe Palm could produce this slate, given its history with device design and production. It should follow the Apple model and make sure all existing webOS apps work on the tablet, and provide incentives to developers who optimize existing apps for the bigger screen. Maybe even make a deal with Amazon to get a solid app to work with Amazon MP3. There are many ways for Palm to go with this slate, almost all of them good.
Palm could produce a Wi-Fi model of the slate, but also a Sprint 3G/4G model. This would compete with the iPad, and with the Sprint data network make a bold statement. I can see Palm making a tremendous splash with such a device, no matter what happens with its phone line. Having given this a lot of thought, I can only see an upside for beleaguered Palm with this. Given the tight integration webOS already has with Google services, this tablet would give Android tablets serious competition.
The only question I have about this tablet venture for Palm is what to call the product. There's the obvious Palm Pad, but I think they need something clever to make a splash. How about the Palm Pilot? Raise the original product name that made the company famous, and get people talking.
Related research on GigaOM Pro (sub req'd):
How To Clean Up the Mobile OS Mess
 
Tags: palm webos slate tablet gurus
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(via -
elmo - Google News )
I read it on 03/18/10 at 06:36 PM
Posted on 03/18/10 at 08:17 PM
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(via -
www.appleinsider.com )
I read it on 03/16/10 at 08:00 PM
Posted on 03/16/10 at 11:58 PM
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NPR, WSJ plan Flash-free Web sites for Apple iPad
By Katie Marsal
Published: 03:50 PM EST
In addition to new App Store software, National Public Radio and The Wall Street Journal also plan to create specific versions of their Web sites completely devoid of Adobe Flash for iPad users.
This week Peter Kafka with MediaMemo revealed that both NPR and the Journal will convert at least some portions of their Web site to load properly on the iPad. The custom-built sites will feature the same content and run concurrently with the traditional and iPhone/mobile-friendly versions of each Web site.
"Visitors to the newspaper's front page will see an iPad-specific, Flash-free page," Kafka said of the Journal's iPad Web site. "But those who click deeper into the site will eventually find pages that haven't been converted."
The news comes weeks after Virgin America revealed it dropped Flash content from its new Web site in order to allow users with iPhones to check in for flights.
But the Journal and NPR are both also creating App Store software specifically for the iPad, suggesting that content providers are taking a multi-pronged approach to Apple's forthcoming multimedia device. Kinsey Wilson, head of digital media for NPR, declined to give Kafka an advance look at the organization's forthcoming iPad application or Web site, but did provide a hint as to what the experience could be like.
"Wilson says that while iPhone apps are a 'very intentional experience' --you load the thing up and seek out specific content -- he thinks the iPad will be a 'lean back device,'" Kafka wrote. "That's traditionally the distinction multimedia types use to differentiate between a computer and a TV. Intriguing."
The exclusion of Adobe Flash from the iPad and subsequent comments attributed to Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, in which he allegedly called the Web standard a "CPU hog," have led to a considerable amount of debate over its merits and shortcomings.
Contributing to the conversation in January was Google, which added support for rival format HTML5 to the most popular video destination on the Internet, YouTube. The beta opt-in program is available only for browsers that support both HTML5 and H.264 video encoding. Apple, too, has placed its support behind HTML5.
For more on why Apple isn't likely to add support for Flash in the iPhone OS, read AppleInsider's three-part Flash Wars series.
Tags: ipad flash web apple site
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(via -
docs.google.com )
I read it on 03/07/10 at 08:58 PM
Posted on 03/08/10 at 01:56 AM
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This documentation is for TwitterOAuth library verision 0.1.x.
If you are using trunk (0.2.x) these instructions will be wrong! Try it out live: http://twitter.abrah.am Twitter OAuth is in beta and could change at any time. Feel free to contact me with bug/questions. A full TwitterOAuth lib will be released soon. Currently the code is hacked together and should not be used in production without proper testing. IndexDefinitionsConsumer: the application you are building. registered with twitter. Sometimes referred to as application
User: the user using your application. Token: there are several different sets of tokens usually in key/secret pairs. Consumer token: the token pair Twitter gives you when you register an application. Request token: the first token pair Twitter returns. used to build an authorize URL used to request the access token. Access token: unique to user. Used to access users data. Get the codePull code from http://github.com/abraham/twitteroauthgit clone git://github.com/abraham/twitteroauth.git Process overviewThis is a very simplistic overview of authenticating with Twitter's OAuth. - Build TwitterOAuth object.
- Request tokens from twitter.
- Build authorize URL.
- Send user to Twitter's authorize URL.
- Get access tokens from twitter.
- Rebuild TwitterOAuth object.
- Query Twitter API with new access tokens.
ProcessFor this example we will be using the the index.php from the example folder and it will be located in the web root. public/index.php
public/twitteroauth/
Go to https://twitter.com/oauth_clients and register a new application. Fill out what the form. For a callback URL we will be using http://example.com/index.php. Once registered you will get a consumer key and a consumer secret. Those go in index.php Now we create a TwitterOAuth object. The class constructor chooses HMAC-SHA1 as the signature method, and builds a OAuthConsumer object with the app consumer key/secret. $to = new TwitterOAuth($consumer_key, $consumer_secret); With that object we use curl to request a token from twitter. The API URL we hit is https://twitter.com/oauth/request_token. getRequestToken() pulls the tokens from twitter, parses it into an array, and creates a new OAuthConsumer object. $tok = $to->getRequestToken();
Save the tokens for when the user returns from Twitter. Set up the authorization URL. This is the URL the user will visit to tell twitter the application can access their data. https://twitter.com/oauth/authorize is used. $request_link = $to->getAuthorizeURL($token); Once the user tells twitter yes and returns we request the access tokens. The access tokens can be thought of the users passwords and will be used to authenticate as them for future API calls. https://twitter.com/oauth/access_token is used. $tok = $to->getAccessToken();
At this point you can check https://twitter.com/account/connections and the application should be listed. Build a new TwitterOAuth object using consumer key/secret and access key/secret. $to = new TwitterOAuth($consumer_key, $consumer_secret, $user_access_key, $user_access_secret);
Now to interact with the API as the user to verify their credentials. This should return their profile. You can now save the access key/secret as being associated with the returned user info. $content = $to->OAuthRequest('https://twitter.com/account/verify_credentials.xml', array(), 'GET');
To send a status update change the API URL and add a key/value array. $content = $to->OAuthRequest('https://twitter.com/statuses/update.xml', array('status' => 'Test OAuth update. #testoauth'), 'POST'); There you have it. Basic interaction with Twitter's OAuth beta. To run other commands just change the API URL and array() keys/values in the last call. LinksMy website: http://abrah.amTwitter: http://twitter.comOAuth: http://oauth.netTwitter API docs: http://apiwiki.twitter.comTwitter API discussion: http://groups.google.com/group/twitter-development-talkFire Eagle OAuth docs: http://fireeagle.yahoo.net/developer/documentation/php_walkthru
Tags: twitter access token oauth key
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(via -
Engadget )
I read it on 03/06/10 at 09:04 AM
Posted on 03/06/10 at 10:21 AM
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(via -
Chris Pirillo )
I read it on 03/06/10 at 09:08 AM
Posted on 03/06/10 at 07:33 AM
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Windows Phone 7 is a post from Chris Pirillo
Add to iTunes | Add to YouTube | Add to Google | RSS Feed
First, if you have any questions for the Windows Phone 7 Series team, I'd be more than happy to ask on your behalf (as I do live around the corner from Redmond's campus and will be meeting with the team again at some point in the future). Post a comment and/or video response. I was invited to a behind the scenes look at elements of the Windows Phone 7 Series developer platform. At Mobile World Congress (covered earlier in this channel), Microsoft provided a first look at Windows Phone 7 Series and I'm pleased to offer you the opportunity to see a live demonstration up close. Yes, I got to play with the phone, too. It works as advertised even as a prototype. Unfortunately, we could not adjust the brightness settings in this particular device. The Metro interface is a bucket of win in my book. Charlie Kindel partner group program manager, Windows Phone App Platform & Developer Experience was hosting an intimate reception this evening in San Francisco. I wasn't able to make it, but Microsoft arranged a somewhat more private meeting with Greg Sullivan from the Windows Phone team a little closer to home. I met Greg a few years ago through the Longhorn Labs project (back when Microsoft Windows team leads worked actively with their most vocal community supporters). I'm not sure if I can reveal any more device details at this point, but suffice it to say I want one.
Tags: lt gt li pirillo href
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(via -
jkOnTheRun )
I read it on 03/02/10 at 09:32 AM
Posted on 03/02/10 at 02:00 PM
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 AT&T is constantly getting bashed about its network coverage and how it gets around anticipated shortages. The network has been the iPhone network in the U.S., and perhaps its relationship with Apple played a role in AT&T waiting longer than other carriers to get into the Android game. That is set to be rectified with the carrier's introduction of the Motorola Backflip, an Android-based phone which will be the carrier's first. The first AT&T Backflips are hitting reviewer's hands, and a mind-boggling function of the Google phone has come to light. AT&T has removed Google search from this Android phone, and replaced it with Yahoo search.
Yahoo has replaced Google as the default search provider throughout the phone. It's crazy: the home screen widget, the browser, everything's been programmed to use Yahoo.
It is not unusual for carriers to work deals for specific software on its handsets. They take money wherever they can get it. But this deal is sure to confuse the customer, as Android phones are commonly called Google phones by many. Let's face it, Google makes Android, and one of its strengths is the tight integration with the company's online services. And search is certainly one of Google's big services, but not on the AT&T Backflip.
This is the equivalent of a Windows PC hitting the market that has Internet Explorer removed and Safari as the only browser. Some customers might be happy by that but most would be confused. Then to make matter worse, imagine that Internet Explorer couldn't be installed by the user to get around this major change. That seems to be the case with the AT&T Backflip, as early testers are reporting the inability to get Google search working in any of the Android programs.
There has been enough complaining about fragmentation in the Android space, so I won't rehash that topic. But there is something so fundamentally wrong when an Android phone has Google search removed. And replaced by Yahoo search? I guess this makes the Backflip the Yahoo Phone.
Related research on GigaOM Pro (sub req'd):
As Windows Mobile Stumbles, Which Smartphone OS Will Seize the Lead?
      
Tags: google android phone search yahoo
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(via -
jkOnTheRun )
I read it on 03/02/10 at 10:54 AM
Posted on 03/02/10 at 02:00 PM
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AT&T is constantly getting bashed about its network coverage and how it gets around anticipated shortages. The carrier has been the iPhone network in the U.S., and perhaps its relationship with Apple played a role in AT&T waiting longer than other carriers to get into the Android game. That is set to be rectified with the carrier's introduction of the Motorola Backflip, an Android-based phone which will be the carrier's first. The first AT&T Backflips are hitting reviewer's hands, and a mind-boggling function of the Google phone has come to light. AT&T has removed Google search from this Android phone, and replaced it with Yahoo search. As noted by engadget:
Yahoo has replaced Google as the default search provider throughout the phone. It's crazy: the home screen widget, the browser, everything's been programmed to use Yahoo.
It is not unusual for carriers to work deals for specific software on its handsets. They take money wherever they can get it. But this deal is sure to confuse the customer, as Android phones are commonly called Google phones by many. Let's face it, Google makes Android, and one of its strengths is the tight integration with the company's online services. And search is certainly one of Google's big services, but not on the AT&T Backflip.
This is the equivalent of a Windows PC hitting the market that has Internet Explorer removed and Safari as the only browser. Some customers might be happy by that but most would be confused. Then to make matter worse, imagine that Internet Explorer couldn't be installed by the user to get around this major change. That seems to be the case with the AT&T Backflip, as early testers are reporting the inability to get Google search working in any of the Android programs.
There has been enough complaining about fragmentation in the Android space, so I won't rehash that topic. But there is something so fundamentally wrong when an Android phone has Google search removed. And replaced by Yahoo search? I guess this makes the Backflip the Yahoo Phone.
Related research on GigaOM Pro (sub req'd):
As Windows Mobile Stumbles, Which Smartphone OS Will Seize the Lead?
Tags: google android phone search yahoo
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