Microsoft buys Toutonghi’s Seattle startup (Brier Dudley/Brier Dudley’s blog)
Microsoft buys Toutonghi's Seattle startup — Microsoft's apparently still enthusiastic about the work of Mike Toutonghi, a former distinguished engineer who initiated the Media Center version of Windows before leaving for startup world. — With support from some early Microsoft executives …
Source: Brier Dudley's blog
Author: Brier Dudley
Link: http://blog.seattletimes.nwsource.com/brierdudley…
Microsoft buys Toutonghi’s Seattle startup (Brier Dudley/Brier Dudley’s blog)
Microsoft buys Toutonghi's Seattle startup — Microsoft's apparently still enthusiastic about the work of Mike Toutonghi, a former distinguished engineer who initiated the Media Center version of Windows before leaving for startup world. — With support from some early Microsoft executives …
Source: Brier Dudley's blog
Author: Brier Dudley
Link: http://blog.seattletimes.nwsource.com/brierdudley…
Microsoft Acquires Mobile Focused Social Networking Site WebFives
Microsoft has acquired Seattle based social networking site WebFives.
WebFives was initially founded in 2004 by former Microsoft engineer Mike Toutonghi as Vizrea and offers social networking with a focus of mobile media, including video, music and photos. Users are provided with standard social networking profile pages complete with blogging, and have the option of accessing their sites via computer or via a WAP specific page.
According to The Seattle Times, Toutonghi told WebFives users that the service will stop at the end of the year because of the Microsoft acquisition, making the acquisition a technology buy as opposed to a community buy. Toutonghi went on to encourage users to sign up to MSN Spaces and/or Windows Live for their social networking experience.
Price of the acquisition was not disclosed.
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Honda’s 1981 Electro Gyrocator: vintage navigation at its finest
Filed under: GPS, Transportation
[Via Autoblog]
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Honda’s 1981 Electro Gyrocator: vintage navigation at its finest
Filed under: GPS, Transportation
[Via Autoblog]
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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!
Apple patents 8cm to 12cm disk adapters
Filed under: Storage
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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!
The First Year of IE7 - It’s been a little over a year since … (IEBlog)
The First Year of IE7 — It's been a little over a year since we released IE7 on Windows XP and for Windows Vista, so I thought it would be worthwhile to talk about where we are after the year. — According to internal Microsoft research based on data from Visual Sciences Corporation …
Source: IEBlog
Author: Ieblog
Link: http://blogs.msdn.com/ie/archive/2007/11/30/the-first…
Act II will follow a brief intermission - As of an hour ago … (Jakob Lodwick)
Act II will follow a brief intermission — As of an hour ago, I am no longer affiliated with IAC/InterActiveCorp/Connected Ventures/Vimeo. No hard feelings! — Goodbye to everyone at CV; you are wonderful and I will miss you. — And now, I will turn off my cell phone for the evening and catch up with everyone later!
Source: Jakob Lodwick
Link: http://jakoblodwick.com/post/20567228
Vimeo Founder Jakob Lodwick Leaves; What’s Next for Vimeo and Lodwick? I Know!
It appears that Jakob Lodwick has left Vimeo. Valleywag believes he was fired, some say he quit. Who cares why. It's not like his next startup is going to do a background check. Liz says that Jakob remains an investor in the company.
The real question is what happens to Vimeo and Jakob now. Let's take Jakob first. My bet is that he appears on the payroll of Tumblr within ten days. A secondary option is some new startup based on video combined with love lessons with his girlfriend Julia Allison.
Vimeo is another story. In my opinion, Jakob was the "icon" of that site and depending on whether he still participates in the community will determine where the site goes. I compared Viddler and Vimeo recently and believe both sites have great potential in front of them. Both rely on their communities for growth and virality and with Jakob gone, those characteristics take a hit. Will people still lip dub now that he is gone? Sure, but he seemed to lead that charge on the site. Will the community fall apart without him? Not sure, but it might be the right time for another player to make an offer to the Vimeo community.
When I think about joining a startup, Vimeo would be one I would seriously consider as the community is strong and their technology is moving forward past the current leaders.
Vimeo Founder Jakob Lodwick Leaves; What’s Next for Vimeo and Lodwick? I Know!
It appears that Jakob Lodwick has left Vimeo. Valleywag believes he was fired, some say he quit. Who cares why. It's not like his next startup is going to do a background check. Liz says that Jakob remains an investor in the company.
The real question is what happens to Vimeo and Jakob now. Let's take Jakob first. My bet is that he appears on the payroll of Tumblr within ten days. A secondary option is some new startup based on video combined with love lessons with his girlfriend Julia Allison.
Vimeo is another story. In my opinion, Jakob was the "icon" of that site and depending on whether he still participates in the community will determine where the site goes. I compared Viddler and Vimeo recently and believe both sites have great potential in front of them. Both rely on their communities for growth and virality and with Jakob gone, those characteristics take a hit. Will people still lip dub now that he is gone? Sure, but he seemed to lead that charge on the site. Will the community fall apart without him? Not sure, but it might be the right time for another player to make an offer to the Vimeo community.
When I think about joining a startup, Vimeo would be one I would seriously consider as the community is strong and their technology is moving forward past the current leaders.
Comcast CEO sees 160Mbps internet in 2008
Filed under: Networking
Remember that blisteringly fast channel bonding modem Comcast showed off earlier this year? Turns out that the firm's CEO is apparently aiming to roll out internet services that can reach up to 160Mbps down / 120Mbps up sometime in 2008. As in, next year. In a recent interview with Fortune, Brian Roberts stated that service based on DOCSIS 3.0 technology would start "rolling out" sometime in 2008, and casually noted that it should provide "more than enough bandwidth to do multiplayer online gaming." Additionally, Cable Digital News explains that the firm has plans to cover some 20-percent of its footprint with the uber-quick service before 2009, and while we're left to guess what areas will be covered, we'd bet locales fetching FiOS could entertain some competition. Granted, we've still got aways to go before we can go toe-to-toe with a certain Swede, but we'll take any progress we can get.[Via ArsTechnica, image courtesy of AFP / BBC]
Read - Fortune interviews Comcast CEO Brian Roberts
Read - Comcast closes in on 100Mbit/s
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Google working to make Street View anonymous (InfoWorld)
Google working to make Street View anonymous — In the face of ethical concerns, Google is considering changes to its Street View Google Maps feature that would protect the privacy of those it photographs. — When Street View is rolled out in Europe, Google will alter Street View photos …
Source: InfoWorld
Link: http://www.infoworld.com/article/07/11/30/Google…
Google Streetview Airbrushing Their European Edition
Google’s Streetview was celebrated at launch, but caught some flack when they were captured the public in some embarrassing situations.
Google’s hoping to avoid similar issues when they complete their launch overseas. According to Google’s senior privacy council, Google will begin altering photos to make sure that faces and license plate numbers aren’t recognizable. The move’s more aggressive than how unflattering photos or personal information are being handled in the U.S., where users have to write in for image take downs. But if it’s embarrassing enough, chances are it’s already been plastered all over the internet.
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Evergreen’s card-styled DAP: it’s business time
Filed under: Portable Audio
[Via AkihabaraNews]
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EA Chief Says Black Friday Completed Next-Gen Console Transition [Full Circle]
Two years after the Xbox 360 kick-started the next-gen console race on a Black Friday week, EA chief John Riccitello says this year's Black Friday completed the transition to the (now) current-gen consoles:
"It's been the longest, hardest transition in the history of the industry...Last Friday marked one of those points where you can say something's changed...Around the world, based on the data I've got, it was pretty clear that the transition is now over.
Really though, part of the reason the transition yawned into a two-year stretch is because Microsoft decided to jump the gun on everyone by about a year. It gave them an edge, true, but it also made the shift seem longer and more difficult than it really was because its own launch window was problem-ridden.
If you take last year's launch of the Wii and PS3 as the actual starting point, with all three on the market, the player with the most consistent difficulty since then has been Sony, but things are looking up for them post-$399 PS3 launch. (Nintendo and Microsoft have had their own share of problems, for sure.) Riccitello thinks it's all good now, anyway:
It looked like it might have been a two-horse race, but it's clearly a three-horse race...I think from this point, pleasantly for me, it's sort of fat city in the game industry.Anyone left out there that hasn't made the "transition" to what's now modern, civilized gaming? [Reuters via Games Radar via Kotaku, Flickr]
EA Chief Says Black Friday Completed Next-Gen Console Transition [Full Circle]
Two years after the Xbox 360 kick-started the next-gen console race on a Black Friday week, EA chief John Riccitello says this year's Black Friday completed the transition to the (now) current-gen consoles:
"It's been the longest, hardest transition in the history of the industry...Last Friday marked one of those points where you can say something's changed...Around the world, based on the data I've got, it was pretty clear that the transition is now over.
Really though, part of the reason the transition yawned into a two-year stretch is because Microsoft decided to jump the gun on everyone by about a year. It gave them an edge, true, but it also made the shift seem longer and more difficult than it really was because its own launch window was problem-ridden.
If you take last year's launch of the Wii and PS3 as the actual starting point, with all three on the market, the player with the most consistent difficulty since then has been Sony, but things are looking up for them post-$399 PS3 launch. (Nintendo and Microsoft have had their own share of problems, for sure.) Riccitello thinks it's all good now, anyway:
It looked like it might have been a two-horse race, but it's clearly a three-horse race...I think from this point, pleasantly for me, it's sort of fat city in the game industry.Anyone left out there that hasn't made the "transition" to what's now modern, civilized gaming? [Reuters via Games Radar via Kotaku, Flickr]
Vimeo Founder Fired, Does A Bong Hit
Jakob Lodwick, the co-founder of IAC owned video site Vimeo, left the company today. The reason? Apparently Lodwick didn’t see eye to eye with the IAC brass on creative issues, and specifically had a run in with IAC chief Barry Diller three weeks ago.
That’s not surprising, given the picture Lodwick chose to include with his goodbye post. A source close to Lodwick says “he was let go.”
Lodwick’s girlfriend, Julia Allison (who made a scandal at our August Capital party last summer - see video here), wrote a blog post saying “Dear Jakob, I wish I hadn’t found out you left the company you’ve been with for the last seven years from your blog. Love, Julia.”
Lots of drama out in NYC this evening.
cb_widget_report_widget("cb_widget_1196473862"); cb_widget_report_element("cb_widget_0_1196473862","vimeo");
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YouTube Leads, But No Sign Of Vimeo
New figures released by comScore show that YouTube remains the outright leader in online video.
Based on videos viewed, Google owned sites (YouTube + Google Video, but mostly YouTube) commanded a 28.3% market share in the United States in September with Fox Interactive Media (FIM) sites (MySpace and others) on 4.2%. The figures (see chart) demonstrate that YouTube doesn’t dominate video viewing as much as would be expected, suggesting that the long tail is alive and well in the sector given the top ten video sites only hold 45.2% of all videos viewed online.
The unique viewer numbers for video destinations also show Google leading, but by a smaller margin of 39.4% vs 22.6% for FIM sites. These figures are for people visiting the actual video sites themselves suggesting that much of YouTube’s dominance comes not from YouTube.com itself, but from people embedding YouTube videos (28.3% of all videos viewed vs 4.2% for FIM).
Notable in its absence from both top ten charts is the IAC owned Vimeo, who according to this post fired founder Jakob Lodwick today. Clearly Vimeo isn’t performing although it has positioned itself well with support for HD video. IAC usually takes long term positions in companies it owns (Ask.com for example) so it’s not on Deadpool watch yet but you’d expect IAC will be looking at ways of improving its performance going forward.
cb_widget_report_widget("cb_widget_1196472244"); cb_widget_report_element("cb_widget_0_1196472244","youtube"); cb_widget_report_element("cb_widget_1_1196472244","myspace"); cb_widget_report_element("cb_widget_2_1196472244","vimeo");
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Is It a Soccer Ball or a Remote? Actually, It’s Both [’home]
Soccer may not be the most popular sport in the US--but don't tell that to millions of minivan-driving suburban mothers. Chances are, the kids they are constantly hauling back and forth to practice would love this soccer ball remote. Not only will it handle your TV, DVD and satellite controls, it is also a full-size, functional ball. So you can kick it around, do headers and let the TV channels fall where they may. I just hope you are a fan of English soccer. Available for around $41. [Product Page]
Is It a Soccer Ball or a Remote? Actually, It’s Both [’home]
Soccer may not be the most popular sport in the US--but don't tell that to millions of minivan-driving suburban mothers. Chances are, the kids they are constantly hauling back and forth to practice would love this soccer ball remote. Not only will it handle your TV, DVD and satellite controls, it is also a full-size, functional ball. So you can kick it around, do headers and let the TV channels fall where they may. I just hope you are a fan of English soccer. Available for around $41. [Product Page]
Bluetooth Wristband: Better Than the BlueQ? [Bluetooth]
This is not the first time we have come across a wristband that alerts you to incoming calls. Some of you may recall the BlueQ from earlier this year. It worked--but not all that well. Could this device, dubbed the LM957, be a better alternative? According to the product site, the LM957 will not only discreetly alert you to an incoming call, it will also let you know when you have wandered more than 15 feet away from your phone.
We are not sure how it compares to the BlueQ in terms of functionality, but it sure as hell looks better. Even if it does work, I wouldn't be all that interested unless there was a watch involved. Available for £23.50 or $48. [Product Page]
Bluetooth Wristband: Better Than the BlueQ? [Bluetooth]
This is not the first time we have come across a wristband that alerts you to incoming calls. Some of you may recall the BlueQ from earlier this year. It worked--but not all that well. Could this device, dubbed the LM957, be a better alternative? According to the product site, the LM957 will not only discreetly alert you to an incoming call, it will also let you know when you have wandered more than 15 feet away from your phone.
We are not sure how it compares to the BlueQ in terms of functionality, but it sure as hell looks better. Even if it does work, I wouldn't be all that interested unless there was a watch involved. Available for £23.50 or $48. [Product Page]
This Week’s Best Posts [Tgif]
So many Lifehacker posts, so little time. Subscribe to only the cream of the crop with our daily, trimmed-down top stories feed or once-weekly highlights feed. This week's best posts include:
- Ensure a Fast Internet Connection When You Need It
"Your internet connection is an indispensable part of your life, but between BitTorrent, Xbox Live, web browsing, and VoIP, sometimes there's not enough bandwidth to go around." - Hot Image Your PC's Hard Drive with DriveImage XML
"You don't need a complicated boot CD or expensive software to create a restorable system disk image for your PC: free utility DriveImage XML can save a full, working snapshot of your Windows hard drive while you work on it." - Top 10 Food and Drink Hacks
"You may not be able to power an iPod with an onion, but there are plenty of neat tricks and techniques that actually do work with everyday foods." - Use Your iPhone's Internet Connection On Your Laptop
"It's great that your iPhone has a data plan and a killer mobile browser, but when you're sitting at the airport waiting to catch a plane with your laptop right next to you, wouldn't it be nice to use your full-on desktop browser?" - Get to Sleep Faster by Tensing Up and Repeating "The"
"It's not news that many of us aren't getting enough sleep, but BBC News offers several tips from a director of Clinical Sleep Research for getting to sleep when your head hits the pillow that you may not have heard before." - Start Meaningful Conversations
"Learning how to initiate that first conversation can be tough, but it doesn't have to be." - Find Critically-Acclaimed Torrents at PickyPirate
"BitTorrent search sites like The Pirate Bay can help you find recently-released tunes, flicks and video games, but deciding which are worth the hefty downloads usually involves digging in more mainstream channels."
Talks between Apple and China Mobile squelched… or are they?
Filed under: Cellphones
Barely a fortnight after Apple began talking with China Mobile about getting the iPhone into the ginormous Chinese market, it seems that negotiations are off -- or still on, or something. Yesterday, Nanfang Daily reported that China Mobile's CEO felt that the "iPhone model was not suitable for China," but unnamed reporters suggested that the real reason behind the call-off was the inability for both entities to agree on -- surprise, surprise -- a revenue sharing model. Today, however, a report over at Bloomberg notes that Apple has in fact not ended discussions with China Mobile, and moreover, it was said to have "denied newspaper reports" claiming otherwise. 'Course, we've got two sides of the story here, and while Apple may feel that there's still room to negotiate, China Mobile may see things quite differently. Time will tell, we guess.[Via Macworld]
Read - Nanfang Daily report
Read - Bloomberg report
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The FCC Cuts Comcast Off at the Knees [No More Flintstones Vitamins]
Comcast is pissed. Per the FCC's latest vote, it can't provide cable to more than 30 percent of the country. It has a 27 percent market share right now with 26.2 million subscribers. With the FCC's 30 percent market cap, it can add fewer than 3 million new subscribers before it hits the wall, pretty much ruling out acquisitions of other cable companies or any major growth.
FCC Chairman Kevin Martin's proposal to limit the growth of cable providers had been floating around for a bit and was sort of expected not to fly, but two of the four other commissioners have thrown in with him on the vote. It's possible--if not probable--that the courts could get involved and throw out the decision, which Reuters points out they did six years ago.
The final vote's expected to go down sometime before Dec. 18--so the two commissioners have time to change their mind--but Comcast will probably start rabble-rousing long before then. They're probably already in the vicinity anyway, going on about the FCC's decision a few weeks ago killing apartment-exclusive contracts. All in all, quite a beating for cable from the FCC this month. [WSJ, Reuters, Flickr]
Upside-Down XBox 360, Sofas Kill Fat Children [Gaming]
According to the Health Care System Foundation, a lack of diet and exercise combined with a sedentary lifestyle (that includes playing an upside-down Xbox 360) leads to childhood obesity and an untimely death. Yeah, the kid is definitely fat --but if I were his parents I would be more worried about the fact that he is playing games with a controller that isn't plugged in. Could it be that an abundance of fat and Xbox 360 playing leads to insanity? [Kotaku]
PS3 HD Video on Demand Service Crashes Into Japan Next Year [The Slow Lane]
The PS3's still got a long ways to go to catch up to the Xbox 360 in the online space, and their next step toward it with an HD VOD service seems kind of lackluster. It's launching next year in Japan only. And the launch content seems pretty anemic unless you're into cars and racing: "motor-racing vids" and a BBC car documentary. Sony's hoping it'll get people's motors running for Gran Turismo 5. Uh, vroom vroom? [Variety via Game|Life]
Ask Engadget: Best 3G smartphone?
Filed under: Ask Engadget, Cellphones, Features
You might've noticed the recent uptick in mobile industry news, which comes courtesy of the annual Mobius conference currently taking place in Amsterdam. It's pretty clear that the future is bright, what with 700MHz, 4G, a new Windows Mobile, Android, and a 3G iPhone all on the way, but what about the here and now? What we're wondering is:"What's the best 3G smartphone currently available in the States?"
And yes, we mean 3G. You know, that hip cool thing that Apple isn't terribly fond of, which brings high speed internets, effective tethering, streaming video and music downloads on the run -- while supposedly beating battery life to a pulp. We're also talking about what's available in the here and now, but it could very well just be time to wait for the next great thing to come along, so be sure to let us know if that's the case for you. If you'd your own question answered, you can to hit us up at ask at engadget dawt com.
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Hack a Neuros to Play Nice With TiVo: $3500 and Simultaneous Mobile Recording Will Be Your Reward [Home Entertainment]
This isn't the first time someone has offered a bounty to hack the Linux-based Neuros OSD, but if successful, this hack could have some very interesting implications. The goal is to get the Neuros to piggyback on the TiVo's recording schedule and make MPEG-4 recordings that can be simultaneously transferred onto a portable device like a laptop or an iPhone. There are two segments to the bounty, with a cash reward that totals $3500. It sounds pretty cool, but whether it can be done is up to you. [DVRupgrade]
Hack a Neuros to Play Nice With TiVo: $3500 and Simultaneous Mobile Recording Will Be Your Reward [Home Entertainment]
This isn't the first time someone has offered a bounty to hack the Linux-based Neuros OSD, but if successful, this hack could have some very interesting implications. The goal is to get the Neuros to piggyback on the TiVo's recording schedule and make MPEG-4 recordings that can be simultaneously transferred onto a portable device like a laptop or an iPhone. There are two segments to the bounty, with a cash reward that totals $3500. It sounds pretty cool, but whether it can be done is up to you. [DVRupgrade]
