Format wars speculation

Although speculation gets us nowhere in the end, it's rather enjoyable. The format wars are quickly approaching, and the rumors are starting to heat up. Many believe that Sony's Blu-Ray is the cause behind their PS3 launch date getting pushed back. This comes with speculation that the Blu-Ray standard is difficult to manage. Microsoft's decision to incorporate HD-DVD was apparently partly due to this problem (although you should take that with a grain of salt). However, if HD-DVD comes out with a lower price point, and earlier, it will have a huge advantage. Between the two formats, there is not enough differentiation to justify higher prices. So although on paper Blu-Ray may hold some advantages, the consumer doesn't necessarily understand or care.

Right now I give the edge to HD-DVD.

Computer Prices

Short random thought for everyone, but isn't it amazing how inexpensive computers have gotten? You can get a fairly good desktop for around $500 now.

Simply amazing

RIAA is Run by Idiots

Now they're changing their minds again. They're currently attempting to tell people that ripping their cds onto their computers for use on their portable media players is against the copyright and is piracy. I'd like to see them try and enforce this. I'm under the impression that once I pay for a song, I have the rights to use that song in any way I please. If I want to make 18 copies so that every single room in my house and every compartment in my car has a copy that's my business.

The RIAA needs someone to give them a sanity check. Either someone there has been smoking crack, or they've completely lost their minds and should be thrown into an asylum.

Ridiculous.

Sorry, I've been distracted....

By my new Google Chat integrated into my e-mail account. Seriously, this thing is cool. Google might have out done themselves this time. However cool this product is, will it backfire? The move is clearly an attempt to enter the IM market to compete with Yahoo! and AIM. Google also hopes to enter the VoIP market through their chat interface. My question remains though, will adding chat to their email end up working against the company?

The answer isn't simple. I think they will lose a lot of their email "customers". Adding chat to their gmail application may mean more companies will be banning the gmail site from usage by employees. As an email website only it may have been allowed, but with chat integration it may be seen as too much of a time waster and thus blocked by the corporate powers. However, Google will also see a lot more people using their chat than ever before. The usage statistics will be skewed, since most people viewing their inboxes will show up online regardless of whether they are chatting or not.

All told I think it's a good move by Google.

PS3 to do everything?

Recent stories about the PS3 (BusinessWeek article) talk about the capabilities of the upcoming console that Sony hopes will revive their consumer electronics business. The linked article asks the question, "Is Sony trying to do too much?" This is in fact a difficult question, their console sounds like it's trying to do a lot, at a low cost. Microsoft's console price and resulting money loss is well documented. If Sony sells their console for $350-$400 as expected, how much money will they lose on each console? And if people use their console as a media center and not just a gaming center, will they be able to sell enough software to make up for any losses? And furthermore, is the 1 year head start by Microsoft's Xbox 360 enough to limit sales of the new console?

Sony has a lot of questions concerning the launch of this console. I'm curious to see how things will play out.

Blu Ray prices

With the recent announcement of Blu-Ray prices comes a wave of backlash. The supporters of this new technology seem to feel it's a fair premium to pay for high definition content. Those who oppose the technology take the stance that it's expensive.

My take? Clearly I'm pro-BR. It would be great if the prices weren't so high, at an expected $30/movie I won't be running out to get my entire collection in HD. I'd really like to see how these things look before I start pumping money into them. If it's amazing as it could be, I'll probably get my favorite 6 movies in HD, and then wait for prices to drop for movies that I care less about. The price doesn't bother me much, it's too high, but this shouldn't be a big surprise to anyone.

Slow Day in Technology

Slow day today in terms of technology news. Just an interesting comment is that I watch the major tech blogs (Gizmodo, TechDirt, Slashdot, Engadget) daily, and it's amazing how much they watch each other. Articles propagate through them very quickly.

Just a random thought today.

Google Chat

As many of you have already seen, Google has added its chat logs to their email service. Coming soon they apparently will allow for chatting inside the gmail window. The logging feature is a good one, but nothing groundbreaking. Chatting inside the email interface... now that is a neat idea. I think part of the reason Google Chat hasn't caught on is that many people don't want to download another application. Those who are running AIM use that, Windows Messenger users have their application, and Yahoo Messenger has theirs. There are a number of users who combine these services with Trillian or GAIM. However, with Google Chat you would lose many of their features by doing so. Nevertheless, I think this is a good first step for Google to take in order to start getting a larger share of the chat user base.

Super Bowl Monday

Hope you all enjoyed your Super Bowl Sunday and are recovering nicely on Super Bowl Monday. The game itself wasn't exactly a thriller, and the commercials were fairly disappointing as well. However, it was still the biggest television event of the year. The clear winner is FedEx, their caveman commercial was hilarious. A close second goes to the numerous Bud Light ads (the one with the bear was hilarious). Ameriquest did a good job with their don't judge too quickly gags.

Frivolous iTunes lawsuit

This really got me going yesterday. So angry I had to wait until today to write about it. Some dimwit is suing Apple because their iPod damaged their hearing. Their claim is that it's too loud and there's no warning. There is a warning, but that's besides the point.

It's not like the thing comes with the volume defaulted to max. If you're dumb enough to listen to your music too loud you deserve hearing loss. Next people will be suing Metallica for their concerts being too loud. It's Metallica, they're going to play loud music. Deal with it. People's need to pass their problems on to corporations makes me sick. You slipped on ice outside McDonalds, it's not McDonalds' fault. It's yours, you slipped. Get over it. Everything cannot possibly come with a warning label. The entire world will be covered with them.

I hope this suit gets dropped. It's an insult to the American court system and a waste of taxpayer dollars. People want taxes to go down, stop wasting our time with this crap.

Cisco to acquire Nintendo?

I saw CNET spinning this rumor, which of course made its way to the blogs (gaming and technology). This one seems a bit far out there. Cisco, a company which only touches the consumer space through their acquisition of Linksys, really has no experience in the consumer electronics market. Even Linksys is selling devices that allow internet access, not utilize it. Yes, the new Nintendo Revolution is supposed to use the internet in a completely new way, however, I don't see this happening or making much sense if it does happen.

A better move for Cisco would be to enter the consumer electronics space in an area in which their expertise would be useful, perhaps in the set top internet TV market which is still ripe for the picking. They could also be the first ones to get the whole home audio streaming through the house right. Plenty of companies have tried, but none have succeeded to my knowledge.

I'll keep an eye on this rumor, however I don't think there's much to it.

Portable Video

Although this won't come to a surprise to anyone, the next content to be made portable is video. More and more video is available online and can be downloaded. Portable players are able to have larger hard drives, bigger screens, and long battery life. It's only a matter of time before portable video is a reality. However, it most likely won't be the first product that comes to market. If you recall the way the music industry worked, the first players were large and bulky, had mediocre power life, and had unwieldy interfaces. We'll most likely see a lot of the same until one company gets it right. For music, it happened to be Apple. The iPod just hit the problem square on the head and remains the best product out there in my opinion. I'm extremely interested to see who ends up making a video product that does the same thing. Will it be Apple again, or maybe Microsoft this time. Perhaps it will be a startup company, or even a PC manufacturer. No matter who ends up getting it right, I have great anticipation for the new products.

Good Blonde Joke

This site usually isn't meant for good jokes, but this one is pretty good so I couldn't resist:
Link

Format Wars Getting Closer...

Another step has been taken bringing us closer to the format wars: Amazon has pre-orders listed on their website for HD DVD and Blu-Ray content. Still a very limited selection of movies and products, but a very promising start. It will be interesting to see how big of a difference the new formats make in picture quality. As I mentioned yesterday, the quality of the Xbox 360 is stunning, so I can only guess how amazing movies will look in true HD (assuming we get to see it in that quality).

Although I won't be lining up to pre-order any of the new technology, I highly anticipate it's arrival and hope someone I know buys it... after all, it's going to be pretty amazing.

Xbox 360 Hands On

The next-gen must-have console is truly a remarkable experience. Say what you want about shortages and hardware problems (I've experienced neither), this thing is amazing. The games look spectacular in HD, and the interface is very well done. One of the things I've really enjoyed about my system is the ability to stream media from a home PC. I have mine set up to stream both pictures and music. Last night I was playing around and set up a nice picture slideshow with some of my tunes playing in the background. Let me tell you, the 3 megapixel photos I shot look spectacular in full size on my HD TV. A lot of times I am in my apartment listening to music, now I can do so with a beautiful slideshow playing in the background.

This is just a small feature of a truly powerful console, but it's one that I am enjoying immensely.