are electric cars a failure?

Last month, the electric-car industry passed a small but important milestone. There are now more than 100,000 electric cars on America's roads, including those that operate as plug-in hybrids. That's happened in just two and a half years, as electric-vehicle sales have only been tallied independently since the last month of 2010, when a mere 345 were first parked in customer garages.

Despite this milestone, there's plenty of pessimism to go around regarding the adoption rate of the plug-in EV, which have thus far made up only half of 1% of all cars sold in the U.S. this year. My fellow Fool -- and resident Foolish auto expert -- John Rosevear offered a succinct overview of that pessimism a couple of months ago, which I'll sum up as this: There's no charging infrastructure, and the batteries make EVs cost more than is justifiable.

Does that mean EVs are a failure?

The American auto industry effectively began in 1896 with a 13-vehicle production run at the Duryea Motor Wagon plant (or garage, as the case might well be). Three years later, just before the start of the 20th century, there were roughly 8,000 cars on what passed for American roads -- virtually nothing was paved for vehicle travel. There were 8,000 EVs on the road after eight months of tracking. That's not really fair, though, because there are more than three times as many people in the U.S. as there were at the turn of the 20th century. Adjusted for population growth, there should have been 33,000 EVs on the roads after three years. That happened after 19 months, and we're now approaching three times that number midway through the third year of tracking.

Why compare EVs with the earliest cars? The "motor wagons" of the late 1800s faced similar challenges to those often attributed to EVs: minimal supporting infrastructure and a high price tag relative to the dominant (horse-drawn) transportation of the day.

The first gas stations wouldn't even be built until almost a decade after the Duryeas built the first 13 cars in America, and they had no drive-up pumps -- that innovation didn't arrive until 1913. There are already more than 6,000 publicly accessible EV charging stations in the country. This doesn't count interesting infrastructure developments such as Tesla's (NASDAQ: TSLA) battery-swap stations or its growing network of "superchargers" scattered across the United States. It's also worth noting that EVs, unlike early internal-combustion vehicles, can get recharged in most owners' garages.

EVs have to overcome an entrenched culture, just as early motor wagons did -- but today's car culture is far more deeply embedded in the national psyche than horses ever were. There's one automobile on American roads for every 2.3 Americans today, compared with one horse for every 3.5 Americans in 1900. The average person traveled about 340 miles per year in 1900, compared with 16,000 miles per year in cars and airplanes today. Despite facing one of the most entrenched opponents in the history of capitalism, EVs are already outperforming the puttering internal-combustion pioneers in terms of market penetration, price, and infrastructure deployment at a similar point after introduction.

Will EVs continue to outperform the original auto pioneers in the face of stiffer competition? I can't say. However, early results are indeed more promising than many pessimistic commentators would you like to believe. Just as autos replaced horses en masse once their technological superiority was undeniable, EVs will have to be objectively better than internal-combustion vehicles to justify widespread adoption. There are bound to be some bumps and bankruptcies along the way. After all, more than 1,000 automakers of all sizes were founded between 1896 and the mid-1920s. How many of them are still around?

*** [8/28/13]

Why aren't there more electric cars? (the conspiracy)

Google game console?

Google Inc. is developing a videogame console and wristwatch powered by its Android operating system, according to people familiar with the matter, as the Internet company seeks to spread the software beyond smartphones and tablets.

With the game machine and digital watch, Google is hoping to combat similar devices that Apple Inc. may release in the future, according to the people.

Google is also preparing to release a second version of an Android-powered media-streaming device, called Nexus Q, that was unveiled last year but not sold to the public, these people said.

The Internet giant hopes to design and market the devices itself and release at least one of them this fall, they added.

A Google spokeswoman declined to comment.

The hardware plans are the latest sign of Google's determination to build on the success of Android, the software it launched in 2008 that powered 75% of all smartphones and 57% of tablets shipped globally in the first quarter, according to the research firm IDC.

Games that run on Android software have proved particularly popular, and they are growing more quickly than games made for the big-name consoles supplied by Microsoft Corp., Sony Corp. and Nintendo Co. The appeal of such games has prompted the development of new devices aimed specifically for Android by other hardware companies.

Sony and Microsoft have recently unveiled new versions of their PlayStation and Xbox game consoles, which are expected to go on sale later this year. Together with Nintendo, sales of the games for these devices accounted for most of the $24.9 billion spent world-wide last year on console games, according to market researcher PwC.

The people briefed on the matter said Google is reacting in part to expectations that rival Apple will launch a videogame console as part of its next Apple TV product release.

An Apple spokeswoman declined to comment.

Google has also been watching the efforts of Ouya Inc., a startup that this week began selling a $99 Android-based console and game controller, one of these people said.

Ouya

Last year, Ouya raised almost $8.6 million on Kickstarter to develop a gaming console powered by Google's (GOOG +0.86%) open-source Android operating system. Now the product is flying off retailers' shelves.

According to Mashable, Ouya was sold out Tuesday on Amazon.com (AMZN) just hours after it went on sale in the U.S., Canada and U.K. The consoles were temporarily unavailable Wednesday, too. Consumers were also out of luck if they tried Best Buy (BBY +2.02%) or Target (TGT -0.01%), according to their respective websites.

What's the fuss about? 

First is the price. The Ouya console sells for a rock-bottom $99. In contrast, Best Buy is taking preorders for Sony's (SNE +2.16%) PlayStation 4, which isn't going to be released officially until November, for $399.99. Microsoft (MSFT) is taking preorders for the Xbox One Day One Edition for $499.99 ahead of its planned on-sale date later this year. (Microsoft owns and publishes moneyNOW, an MSN Money site.)

Although Ouya games aren't as complex as those offered for the PlayStation and Xbox, they may be good enough for many gamers, particularly casual ones, according to some reviews. Games, which can cost as much as $70 on other systems, are all free to try. Thousands of people who donated to the company's Kickstarter campaign got a free console as well.

Early reviews have been mixed, though a few have been scathing. Tech Radar's Alex Roth said Ouya won't become the "third superpower" alongside PlayStation and XBox, but it "has a good shot at carving out its own niche market amongst atypical systems like the Wii U and Nvidia's (NVDA) Project Shield."

The CBC's Peter Nowak complained about the system's poor responsiveness. "In just about every game I tried, there was a noticeable lag between pressing the button and seeing the corresponding action on screen," he wrote. At PC Magazine, Will Greenwald wrote "unless you're dedicated and technically savvy, it's just not worth it."

Of course, Ouya is still in its infancy and may get better over time. Then again, its rivals probably will as well.

Dumb Ways to Die

Saw this was the app of the week on Apple Byte on CNET.

It's kind of fun even though I'm not very good at it and haven't even figured out how to tie the string to the balloon.

The youtube video has had over 50 million views.  So I suppose it's popular.

Oh, that's how you do it!

dwarf planets

In 2006 the organization responsible for classifying celestial bodies, the International Astronomical Union, decided that a new class of objects was needed. The solar system's erratic ninth planet, Pluto, was assigned to the new “dwarf planet” category along with four other bodies, all tinier than Earth’s moon. Some astronomers expect there may be as many as 50 dwarf planets in the solar system.

-- via BrianK

The Five Most Important Tech Breakthroughs of the last five years

The following list will take you through five of the top new technological breakthroughs that have become the biggest hits with consumers. You'll probably be familiar with them all, but the sheer speed at which they've captured the public's imagination (and its spending money) might surprise you.

5.  Electric cars
4.  Motion sensing
3.  Tablets
2.  Android
1.  Apps

antennas for free TV

In my quest to simplify, one day I want to get rid of cable TV and put up an antenna to catch free TV over the air.

[If it's supposed to free, why don't they just broadcast it over the internet?  Free TV was supported by advertising, so I would think you would want to widen your exposure to attract advertisers.  That's why I don't understand why they cut out the commercials on the few live signals you can see over the internet.  Like Bloomberg TV or Hawaii News Now for example.  Must be some legal thing.  I would think the advertisers wouldn't complain.  So who's doing the complaining?]

Anyway I remember seeing a full page advertisement in the staradvertiser last week (I think) for a Clear Channel antenna.  Googling, I see the ClearStream2 Antenna gets good ratings from lifehacker and amazon.com.  Don't think this was the same antenna that was advertisers.

There's also this pieplate antenna I saw on youtube.

Not sure if I can get a signal in my location, because I remember I tried to help Mr. Fong across the street with his antenna from Radio Shack (or was it Best Buy?) and it didn't get very good results.

The FCC has a pretty neat site and the TV stations in your area.  Other sites are TV Fool and AntennaWeb.

Maybe I should just downgrade to the basic cable which is pretty cheap and I'll get the over the air channels plus a bunch of others in standard def.  The major drawback of cutting the cable is no ESPN and in my case no OCSports (for UH Sports).  Or TNT or NBA-TV (for NBA in HD).  Or NatGeoWild.  Now if KFVE or somebody gets back the rights for UH Sports, then I might start thinking twice.

Then again, it's not like I can't afford the $3 or so per day for cable TV (for now anyway).

TWIT

stands for This Week in Tech and is a cool tech talk/news show on the internet.  It was started by Leo LaPorte (who started with the Atari 400).

The site also has a bunch of other interesting shows too.  It's also available on the Roku with its own channel as well as on Nowhere TV.  There's a few differences between the Roku channels with Nowhere TV still carrying some of the older shows but not some of the newer ones.  The Roku channels only carry about 10 of the most recent episodes of each show.  The web site has them all.

The (vast majority of the) shows are also available on youtube.  The shows used to all be on the twit channel, but now they all have their own youtube channel.

Here's a list of the shows (and whether they're on NowhereTV and/or the dedicated Roku channel)

Active Shows
All About Android                N  R
Before You Buy                   N  R
Floss Weekly                     N  R
Frame Rate                       N  R
Ham Nation                       N  R
Home Theater Geeks               N  R
iFive for iPhone                    R
iPad Today                       N  R
Know How                            R
MacBreak Weekly                  N  R
NSFW                             N  R
OMGCraft                            R
Radio Leo
Security Now                     N  R
Tech News Today                  N  R
The Giz Wiz                      N  R
The Social Hour                  N  R
The Tech Guy                     N  R
This Week in Computer Hardware   N  R
This Week in Enterprise Tech        R
This Week in Google              N  R
This Week in Law                 N  R
This Week In Tech                N  R
This Week in Youtube                R
Triangulation                    N  R
Twit Live Specials               N  R
Windows Weekly                   N  R

Retired Shows
Abby's Road
Current Geek Weekly
Dr. Kiki's Science Hour          N
FourCast                         N
Futures in Biotech               N
Game On!                         N
Green Tech Today
Jumping Monkeys
MacBreak
MaxWell's House
Munchcast
net@night
Roz Rows the Pacific
Science News Weekly              N
Tech History Today
The Laporte Report
this WEEK in FUN
This Week in Radio Tech          N
Trey's Variety Hour              N
TWIT Photo                       N

So as you can see, the standalone channel has all of the active shows (except for Radio Leo which sort of shouldn't count since it's just the audio portion of his video shows).  In comparison, the Nowhere channel is missing of few of the recent shows while retaining a number of the retired shows.

transferring photos from RZR to computer

I still use a Motorola RZR V3 phone.  Works fine for me.

But now t-mobile is shutting down their album service at the end of this month.  So I figured I better transfer my photos from my phone to the album and then download them to my computer before the time was up.

However, when I go to the album, I get a blank screen.

I figured maybe it's blank because they removed my photos from there and if I send the photos again from my phone it would appear.

But when I tried to send the photos, I got a failure message.

So how to get the photos off the phone?

Well, this site says I could use a usb cable or bluetooth.

Well, I don't have any usb cable that fits my phone.  The one for my camera doesn't fit.  And neither does the one for my printer.

Then I tried using bluetooth, which I have never tried before.  Turned on bluetooth on my ipad mini and then fiddled around and turned on bluetooth for the phone.  The iPad actually saw the phone for a little while but then said the connection was not compatible or something.

So I was about to give up.

But then while looking at the photos, I noticed a send option.  This is normally to send to another phone.  There's was an option to create new email address.  So evidently you could send it to an email address.  Well selecting new email address did nothing.  So what I did was create a phone entry for me with just my email address.  And then I sent the picture to that entry.  And it worked!

I could even get the picture on my ipad that way.  Sending it to the camera roll actually send five images which are headings and junk, so you need to delete the extraneous images.  But it works!

Well, one picture worked.  I'll do the rest later as my battery was low and I had to recharge it.

blogger errors

For a while, I kept getting error messages when accessing or creating posts on blogger.  But the error codes kept changing.

After a while, I noticed that it happened on only some of my blogs.

It appears that the problem occurred with the blogs that used the old template.  So what I've done is update to a new design (which loses the hand-coded customizations) then revert to the old template (which restores the customizations).

So it still looks the same (as far as I can tell), but without the error messages.

Stanley and Harriet's HDMI

They keep getting problems with their HDMI hookup.  It works for a while, then they have trouble.  And wind up swapping their cable box.  They have a Oceanic HD DVR hooked up to a big screen Sony LCD TV.

This time, it was working until a few days ago.  The HDMI wouldn't work though it would work via the coax out going to channel 3.

I confirmed that it wasn't working.  Even after resetting the box, switching HDMI ports, switching the HDMI cable.

However in the process, I did get an HDCP not-compliant message.  Not sure if that's coming from the TV or the cable box.

Called Oceanic.  Told me to turn off the cable box and turn off the TV.

But I pulled out the power to the cable box instead.

Took a while to boot up and get the time back.

Still didn't work and noticed the response was rather slow.

The tech guy asked why I had both the coax and the HDMI plugged in.  Told him in case one don't work.  But I pulled out the coax anyway.  Nope, still don't work.

Then he asked if I had another HDMI cable.  So I swapped it.  Nope, still don't work.

So he said it's probably the cable box and to swap it.

But then suddenly it started working.  The configuration was the original (not the Oceanic) HDMI cable plugged into the HDMI4 input.  And the cable box was more responsive.

Don't know what happened, but I'm not going to touch it if it's working.

We'll see how long it lasts this time.

I got a feeling that their Sony TV is marginal with HDCP outputs (despite this statement).

[9/7/15 update] after having sporadic problems with their cable box hooked up to their Sony TV over the last couple of years, the Oceanic tech hooked them up via component some months ago.  Problem solved.  The picture might not be quite as good as HDMI in theory, but it's hard to tell the difference.

Windows 8.1

Microsoft  (NASDAQ: MSFT) launched Windows 8 last October with radical ambitions in mind. The Start menu was gone, and in its place was a tile-based interface that was a dramatic departure from what Windows users had grown accustomed to over the past 17 years, dating to the introduction of Windows 95.

Anytime you overhaul the user interface of something as long-lived and pervasive as Windows, there will be loud user complaints. Some level of users will always be resistant to change.

However, the steep learning curve on Windows 8 has made it a difficult transition, especially for larger companies whose users are accustomed to older versions of Windows. With the company looking to release a major update named Windows 8.1 that should be released later this year, let's take a look back at Windows 8 to date and what should be expected from Microsoft's major overhaul of the operating system.

Microsoft's reasoning for the dramatic changes to Windows was simple: Past versions of Windows didn't translate well to the touch-based devices such as tablets that are exploding in popularity. By creating a tile-based interface, the company could make Windows relevant for both PCs and tablets, rather than create a separate version for tablets.

To date, results have been middling. At the start of May, Microsoft announced that it had sold more than 100 million Windows 8 licenses, but little traction has been gained in tablets. More painfully, the slide in consumer interest around PCs continues. In the first quarter, PC shipments declined more than 11% according to industry tracker Gartner.

As CNET notes, Microsoft's Windows 8.1 update will come with a "Start Tip," which sits in the lower left corner and allows users to return to a Start screen. This won't return you to the Start menu you're familiar with, but the Start screen will be customizable in a way that allows users to create a listing of applications that's similar to the Start menus of past Windows versions. 

For the most ardent critics of change in Windows 8, the 8.1 update is delivering something long-clamored for: an option to boot directly to the desktop. The fact that current versions of Windows 8 forced users to boot up in the tile-based interface has been the subject of much of the Windows 8 controversy.

Will Windows 8.1's changes be enough to satisfy most dissatisfied users? Probably not. The tile user interface remains at the center of the experience, even if booting to the desktop is now an option. Moreover, many of the changes to make Windows 8.1 feel more similar to Windows versions rely on customization. With many users complaining about a "steep learning curve," making users customize the experience doesn't exactly scream of simplification.

However, the changes could go a way in getting more adoption of Windows 8 in a key market: corporate users. While consumer interest in PCs has been cratering, corporate PC buying has been a far more steady force. Enabling options like booting to the desktop could lessen headaches for IT departments and persuade them to begin using Windows 8.

*** [9/7/13]

Windows 8 was released just more than a year ago, evoking a collective groan from IT professionals and users alike. While much of the rumbling was due to the restyling of the interface, there were several outright bugs.

Microsoft has announced a new version of Windows 8, cleverly dubbed Windows 8.1, due next month. While many organizations have resisted taking the leap to Windows 8, it is apparent that Windows 8.1 will be a viable platform, ready for adoption by all.

The biggest complaint about Windows 8 was that the most basic components of the interface changed. In fact, most complaints were about old features that were eliminated (or masked) as opposed to the new features that were added.

Of course, we are talking about the elimination of the "start menu" and replacement of it with the "start screen." This is somewhat humorous, given the old joke that "only Microsoft would have you go the ‘start' menu to shut down your computer."

This probably would have been a reasonable change if Microsoft had provided a way to still use the old start menu. After all, many of the functions of the old start menu are still accessible by using the "windows-X" or "windows-W" key combinations. Bowing to pressure, Microsoft has announced that the start menu will reappear in Windows 8.1, dashing the get-rich-quick hopes of many software developers who came up with alternatives.

In fact, whether in classic Windows 8 or Windows 8.1, there are many ways to customize the interface to look similar to Windows 7 or even Windows XP. While this is fine for the individual user, it can be a pain in the okole for larger organizations to propagate these changes to hundreds or even thousands of computers. As such, many businesses and government agencies have stayed away from Windows 8.

Regardless, Microsoft and its hardware partners have been force-feeding us Windows 8, making it difficult to buy the latest hardware with Windows 7 loaded. Windows 8.1, however, is a free upgrade, akin to a major service pack. If history repeats itself, it should be a relatively simple upgrade. If, however, you are doing more than a handful of upgrades, you might want to hold off any purchases until 8.1 is actually shipping, pre-loaded.

With all the hubbub regarding Windows 8, one thing has been overlooked. Most software applications developed for Windows 7 run on Windows 8 with no issues! Coupled with "compatibility mode," a feature that allows applications specifically designed for older versions of Windows to run under Windows 8, this eliminates one of the major concerns when upgrading operating systems.

———

John Agsalud is an IT expert with more than 20 years of information technology experience. Reach him at john­agsalud@yahoo.com.

1 TB on flickr

In a bid to revive interest in Flickr, Yahoo has redesigned its photo community website and increased the amount of free storage available to Flickr users to 1 terabyte.

That amounts to more than 500,000 photos taken at 6.5 megapixels, which is about the size generated by current smartphone cameras.

It's enough space to attract the interest of developers who see Flickr as a resource for storing any file, not just image files. The reason is simple: A free terabyte of storage is a pretty good deal, particularly when you consider that Flickr is charging $499 a year for 2 terabytes.


The problem with using Flickr for general storage is that it's only designed for images. To get around that, developer Ryan LeFevre has posted Ruby code to Github called flickr-store that lets users encode data as a .PNG image file, so it can be stored using Flickr.

LeFevre, in an email, said that another developer, Ricardo Tomasi, implemented a similar project at about the same time he published flickr-store.

LeFevre said he would not advise anyone to use his code to store critical files. "The ability to store files on Flickr by encoding them as PNGs was more of an academic exercise than anything," he said. "That said, there have been some similar successful projects in the past, such as GmailFS, so it's possible that the project could mature into a somewhat useful tool. Encoding/decoding data from PNG files is also, unfortunately, a bit slow. There is a lot of room for improvement."

XBox One

Eight years after releasing the Xbox 360, Microsoft has unveiled the next generation of its gaming console, and the company seems to be making up for lost time.

The new gaming system, which it plans to release before the end of the year, is chock full of new features that go way beyond new hardware, including Skype connectivity, television integration and new ways of controlling the system with your voice and body.

"We have an ambitious vision to become the all-in-one system for every living room," Microsoft president of Interactive Entertainment Business Don Mattrick said at the Xbox event in Redmond, Wash., this afternoon. Highlighting that the Xbox is not just a gaming system anymore, Mattrick added: "We're thrilled to unveil the ultimate all-in-one entertainment system: the Xbox One."

One of the standout hardware features might be the microphone on the box. Yes, a microphone. Microsoft has included new advanced voice control and commands. Say "Xbox, Go Home" aloud and it will return to the homescreen of the system. You can also say "Snap Internet Explorer" and you can bring up the browser and place it next to a game, similar to how you can snap windows next to each other in Windows 8.

Beyond using a tablet to navigate, the Xbox One is an extension of the tablet. In addition to bringing over some Windows 8-like functionality, it has integrated Skype right into Xbox, complete with video calling. There is also new app functionality. For instance, an ESPN app will alert you to your fantasy player stats while playing a game.

 But beyond all that, the Xbox is very much trying to be the new TV platform.

"Until now, the TV viewing experience has been a one-way viewing experience for the viewer," Nancy Tellem, Microsoft's president of Entertainment & Digital Media, said on stage. "Now that is about to change."

The One will connect to your cable box, bring in your TV listings, and provide personalized suggestions. Microsoft says it will also overlay a social experience with that TV content as well, allowing the Xbox to become the "next watercooler."

*** [6/19/13]

Microsoft has sensationally abandoned its controversial plans to restrict the sharing of Xbox One games, and has also removed daily online authentication requirements for its forthcoming console.

In a statement released on the Xbox website on Wednesday, Don Mattrick, the president of Microsoft's interactive entertainment business, wrote that the company had listened to "candid feedback" from gamers. Before listing the changes, his explanation reads, "You told us how much you loved the flexibility you have today with games delivered on disc. The ability to lend, share, and resell these games at your discretion is of incredible importance to you. Also important to you is the freedom to play offline, for any length of time, anywhere in the world."

When the new console is released this November, there will be no need to authenticate the system online every 24 hours – a requirement thought to have been introduced as a digital rights management measure. According to the statement, "After a one-time system set-up with a new Xbox One, you can play any disc based game without ever connecting online again."

Furthermore, plans to restrict the sales of pre-owned titles, as well as the sharing of games among friends, have also been cancelled. There will now be no limits on gifting, re-selling, sharing or renting Xbox One game titles. In addition to these reversals, Microsoft is also removing regional locks on Xbox One games, which means titles bought in one global territory will work in all others.

The announcement follows a huge backlash against Microsoft which began when the company first revealed the Xbox One console at a press conference in May. Company representatives explained to journalists that all Xbox One games would need to be fully installed onto systems before play and that each copy would then be watermarked to its owner. Attempts to then sell on or give away the boxed copy of the game would be controlled by Microsoft; although the details have always been ambiguous,

black screen on freecell, etc.

I started up Spider Solitaire and got a black screen.  The sound was still working.  The menu was still working.  But the main game display was black.

No big deal, I can live without playing Spider Solitaire.

But then I tried FreeCell.  Same thing.

The problems seems to be limited to the native Vista games.  I played the freecell that I had imported from Windows XP and that worked.  Yep, Hearts don't work either.  Chess Titans.  Mahjong Titans.  Minesweeper.  Regular Solitaire.  Purble Place (whatever that is).

Inkball is the only one that works.

Hadn't played the XP version for a while.  I notice the difference that in the Vista version you can drag the cards.  While in the XP version, you click them.  The other difference is that the Vista version you have unlimited undo.  And if you restart again and lose, it counts as another loss (whereas the XP version just counts one loss no matter how many times you restart the game).

I think I had this problem before, but I don't remember what I did to fix it.  I'm thinking now that I just rebooted and the problem cleared up.

reboot.

yay, it worked.  I changed the background of freecell, so now I have to change it back.

[I was going to write this reply on my ipad mini, but got a blank screen when I tried.  Another ipad incompatiblity.]

playing with the iPad mini

Well finally got the iPad Mini at WalMart on Saturday and opened it up last night.

[First I watched some iPad Mini videos on youtube.]

Went through some of the built-in apps.  Like Safari, mail, photos.  Figured out how to get some pictures into the photos camera roll (simply save the photo from email).

Looked through

Still want to try messaging and Facetime.  Just to see if it works.  And take some photos.

Next step is to install some apps.  But first I have to sign up for iTunes (and I suppose install iTunes on my computer so I can transfer files/photos).

Some of the apps I'm eyeing off the top of my head.

A browser so I can view hulu.  Maybe Puffin.

ESPN3

CNBC

StarAdvertiser, MidWeek, KHON, etc.

And of course games (Paper Toss looks interesting).  And I guess Angry Birds.

***

[later that night] OK, got iTunes installed and installed a few apps.  Like CNBC, WatchESPN, Angry Birds.  It took a little while to figure out, but finally was able to xfer some photos from my computer to the iPad. A bit unintuitive though.

One thing odd though, before I installed iTunes I plugged the iPad into the computer as the battery hit 5%.  It said it was charging.  But then after I installed iTunes, I noticed the iPad said "not charging".  Don't know if it was coincidence or what happened.

who's piggybacking you?

I got the idea for today’s tip while troubleshooting my parent’s slow internet connection this weekend (they hadn’t given their Wi-Fi a password, and the neighbors were using it). The first thing you need to do is login to your router's administrative console by typing its IP address directly into the browser address bar -- typically 192.168.0.1 or 192.168.1.1 depending on which router you have. If you don't know your router's default address go to the command prompt (Start > Run/Search for cmd) and enter ipconfig. The address you need should be next to Default Gateway under your Local Area Connection.


Once inside your router's administrative console look for a section related to connected devices or wireless status. It will be different for everyone, sometimes it’s available under Status > Wireless but can also find it as "Attached Devices", under or "Device List".

This should provide a table with the IP, MAC address and other details of every device currently connected to the router. Check that list against your gear to find any intruders. You can find out the MAC/IP address of your computers by going to the Command Prompt again and entering 'ipconfig /all'. The MAC address will be shown as the physical address.

***

Too bad. I don't know the router password to my hawaiiantel.net modem/router combo.  On the other hand, since it has a password, I doubt anybody is piggybacking it.

Right now, only my Roku is connected to my wireless.  But soon to be added is my new iPad mini.  Other than that, i'll just be my relative's iPad or iPhone.  Plus any laptops I'm troubleshooting.

iWatch

[4/30/13] The latest rumor of an iWatch claims Intel and Apple are collaborating on a smartwatch that could materialize this year. We believe a smartwatch could make a lot of sense not only for Apple but for Google and the Android camp.

Eight Reasons Why the Time is Right for an Apple iWatch

*** 9/5/13

BERLIN –  Nearly 70 years after Dick Tracy began wearing a two-way wrist radio in the funny pages, the technology that once seemed impossibly futuristic will be widely available by Christmas.

Samsung on Wednesday introduced a digital watch for the holiday season that will let users check messages with a glance at their wrists and have conversations secret agent-style.

So-called smartwatches have been around for several years. But so far, they have failed to attract much consumer interest. That may change with the Samsung Galaxy Gear, which offers the company a chance to pull off the same as feat Apple did with the iPad — popularize a type of device that has lingered mostly unnoticed on store shelves.

The Gear must be linked wirelessly with a smartphone to perform its full range of functions. It acts as an extension to the phone by discreetly alerting users to incoming messages and calls on its screen, which measures 1.63 inches diagonally.

"With Gear, you're able to make calls and receive calls without ever taking your phone out of your pocket," Pranav Mistry, a member of Samsung's design team, told reporters at the launch in Berlin ahead of the annual IFA consumer electronics show here.


Sony and Qualcomm also introduced smartwatches Wednesday. Apple Inc. is expected to release its own smartwatch, though it's not clear yet when. The release of separate products from so many manufacturers could stir interest in smartwatches in general.

operating room of the future

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=IfJemqkby_0

InSightec - Dr. Kobi Vortman, Technion Alumnus

turn Windows 8 into Windows 7 (and Twit.TV) (and 8ctave)

hey a cool new channel for my Roku, called 8ctave.  It's a channel pulling a bunch of content made public by the various vendors.

The meat (as far as I've explored) is in the On Demand section which is further divided into sections: TV, News, Sports, Education, Food, Spirituality, Technology, Life & Style, Music, Kids & Animation, Weather, Audio.

In the technology section is a show called Know How (made public by twitps) starrring liaz akhtar and leo leporte.  And the show (they have 10 of them) Know How 32 is Make Windows 8 act like Windows 7 where they feature some applications which make Windows 8 act like Windows 7.

Since the channel only has the latest 10 shows, hopefully I can find this show on the internet.  And here it is!

Wow, there's a lot of shows on Twit.TV.  Cool.  Don't see see this on cable!

[5/28/13] Twit also has their own Roku Channel.  But the best way to watch it on Roku might be via youtube (via VideoBuzz or Plex) which has the majority of the episodes archived.  There's a few that I don't see.  Recently youtube has been banning the This Week in Youtube episodes.

[5/28/13] A couple more channels from this youtube video on using PlayOn.  FirstRow Sports and SuperusvoxTV.  They get a lot of popups first though that you have to close.  I'm currently looking at a pretty high quality ESPN stream on SuperusvoxTV, apparently via something called iLive.

***

Now looking more at 8ctave.  They also have the top 50 Channels which are (pseudo)live.  Mostly local news stations it appears, but also (4) reuters news network (6) los angeles times (7) natgeo (14) comedy shaq network (18) NBA D-League (22) All Pro Wrestling (24) Professional Bowlers Association (33) USC TV (35) Legends Football League (37) Smithsonian Channel (40) Vatican City (43) Ultimate Rap League (47) UC TV (University of California I assume) (50) Ski Channel

And it don't stop at 50.  There's more categorized as National US Channels, US East, US Central, US Mountain, US Pacific.  Don't see any Hawaii channels though.

Amazon TV

Amazon (AMZN) is making e-readers and tablets and will likely soon introduce a smartphone. As it works to build all types of connected devices, that leaves a natural next step: a television set-top box. The e-commerce giant is planning to introduce a device this fall dedicated to streaming video over the Internet and into its customers’ living rooms, according to three people familiar with the project who aren’t authorized to discuss it.

They say the box will plug into TVs and give users access to Amazon’s expanding video offerings. Those include its à la carte Video on Demand store, which features newer films and TV shows, and its Instant Video service, which is free for subscribers to the Amazon Prime two-day shipping package. The Amazon set-top box will compete with similar products, such as the Roku, Apple TV, and the Boxee Cloud DVR, along with more versatile devices such as the Playstation 3 and the Xbox. An Amazon spokesperson declined to comment.

***

OK, so Apple has Apple TV for iTunes.  Netflix has Roku.  Amazon will have Amazon TV (or whatever it'll be called).  How about a Google TV box for youtube?  Well there's already Google TV (like the Netgear NeoTV) which hasn't really taken off yet (as far as I can tell).

BlueStacks

I thought this sounded kind of neat (but I hope it won't mess up your computer).

BlueStacks App Player is an Android emulation tool which can let you run your favourite Android applications on your Windows desktop, laptop or tablet .

You can run BlueStacks on your desktop as a small gadget. With this free download you can install, run and test Android applications before you install them on your smartphone.

This Android application player brings Android to your PC.

the end of free TV?

With all this talk about the cord-cutting masses no longer wanting to subsidize TV channels they don't watch, it's a little surprising that one of the oldest, most widely available forms of TV is waning: over-the-air broadcast TV. Despite its attractive price of $0 per month and billions of advertising revenue, nobody — including the broadcast networks, the tech companies that are out to disrupt them, and the cord-cutters and cord-nevers who hate cable — is very enthusiastic about antennas. Rather, this is the "zero tv" generation, according to a recent Nielsen study, which found that 5 million households have no television at all and would rather pay for Internet distribution than put a set of bunny ears on a TV set.

Aereo, the Barry Diller-backed tech startup, is betting people would rather pay $80 per year (i.e. about what it costs to get a HD tuner for your PC) to deliver this gratis content over the Internet rather than over the air. So enraged at Aereo's elaborate plans of thousands of tiny antennas sucking their signals onto web servers,  Reuters reported on Sunday that the Big Four broadcast networks are considering ending over-the-air transmission to foil the service. On Monday, News Corp. chief operating office Chase Carey said the company would turn Fox into a cable channel if the courts allow Aereo to sell their service: “This is not an ideal path we look to pursue, but we can’t sit idly by and let an entity steal our signal. We will move to a subscription model if that’s our only recourse.”

RELATED: HBO Is Finally OK with Cord Cutting (In Scandinavia)

The networks haven't really been excited about free television anymore for a while and for obvious reasons: they don't want to give their product away for free. (Duh.) The big broadcasters engaged in regular wars with cable companies to get them to pay transmission fees just like they do for their cable-only channels like ESPN and Comedy Central. And really, over-the-air TV is a sliver of the market. Though there have been nervousness about the future of TV, pay TV penetration is still around 90 percent.

RELATED: Cable Companies Rejoice: Longtime Cord Cutter Gets Cable

That's the reason that all the big networks got together to sue Aereo in the first place: They don't want to lose the fees they've come accustomed to being paid. While News Corp.'s threat to stop broadcasting is more likely big talk than an actual game plan, Wall Street likes that idea. News Corp.'s announcement sent its stock soaring, even though it would have to wait until after its current NFL deals, which run for another seven years, expire. 

RELATED: Barry Diller-Backed Aereo Just Got Sued By Fox, PBS, and Others

But look around and content owners have already started pulling their best, most valuable stuff from the public waves. Sports, for example, have started moving to pay TV. Most regular season baseball, basketball, and hockey games now run on regional sports cable stations. While the really big sport events are still broadcast, that's showing signs of slipping, too. Starting in 2014 h the Final Four of the NCAA Tournament will be on TBS. That would follow Monday Night Football, the staple of ABC for decades, that moved moved to ESPN, and even the Olympics, which, aside from the primetime packages, was shown live (whether on cable stations or streamed online) only to people who pay for their TV. Again, these are all things we used to be able to get for free through other means. As sports rights come up for bid, more and more it's flush cable companies who can  outbid the broadcasters. After all, live sports is one of the main reasons people cite for not cutting the cord. Of course, the hefty bill for sports, as I have calculated before, is one of the main reasons non-sports fans most want to buy a la carte.

RELATED: How Many Cord Nevers Are There? An Office Survey

This movement of must-see programming from broadcast to cable might help explain why the people haven't flocked to free television: The best stuff isn't really on there anymore. Either by design, as explained above, or because of our expensive cable packages—The Atlantic's Derek Thomspon theorizes that high cable prices have resulted in better shows—cable and premium channels offer better stuff. NBC, once an incubator of  Must See TV is going through an existential crisis, as The Atlantic Wire's Richard Lawson has explained. "The glory days are past," he definitively wrote. This is partly because broadcast networks are in the business of quantity versus quality. Besides for transmission fees, they make money off of advertising. Much like the Internet business, its a dollars for eyeballs proposition, which has led to an overall decline in quality. Plus, cable companies (because of our exorbitant cable packages!) have a lot of money to pay channels to make great stuff. 

RELATED: Why the Television Will Be Not Revolutionized

All of this is alarming. People should be alarmed. A public good is slowly eroding right before our eyes. And yet, consumers don't seem to care. Maybe it's because there is not much to be done? Cable companies have created such a stranglehold over the market, if we want certain shows, we have to pay for a lot of nothing in our cable bills. If not, we can pay for content through Netflix or Hulu. This is the beginning of the end of free TV.

Zero TV

There are 5 million "zero-TV" households in the U.S., more than double from 2 million in 2007. It's a small but growing trend that has the media establishment plenty worried.

These people, who make up fewer than 5% of U.S. households, haven't stopped watching television shows. They just do it on their own terms over laptops, tablets and cellphones.

As Nielsen notes, about 75% of these homes still have TVs, but people use them mostly to play video games and watch DVDs.

This creates a huge problem for the industry, one that will likely be a key topic at this week's National Association of Broadcasters' annual trade show. Content creators and broadcast networks make money from these viewers through arrangements with streaming sites such as Netflix (NFLX) and Hulu and through advertising on their websites and apps, according to The Associated Press. Television stations, however, get shut out.

"Unless broadcasters can adapt to modern platforms, their revenue from zero-TV viewers will be zero," the AP says.

A handful of video-streaming sites have become hot properties. Hulu, for example, has reportedly received a $500 million bid from former News Corp. (NWS +2.27%) president Peter Chernin. The site is jointly controlled by News Corp. and Walt Disney (DIS +1.94%).

Luckily for broadcasters, most people are still transfixed by the boob tube. According to Nielsen, Americans spend an average of nearly 41 hours a week, or about 5.5 hours a day, watching content across all screens. People spend more than 34 of those hours in front of a TV.

Even so, given the technological changes in the works, the television industry 10 years from now may not look much like it does today.

tablets catching up to PCs

Worldwide shipments of PCs, tablets, and mobile phones are expected to total 2.4 billion units in 2013, a 9 percent increase from last year, according to new data from Gartner.

Shipments of these devices are forecast to grow even further by 2017 to reach more than 2.9 billion units. But over the next few years, the mix of these devices will "significantly change," as consumers increasingly choose tablets over PCs, the research firm said.

The traditional PC market of desktops and laptops is expected to decline 7.6 percent to 315 million units in 2013, and continue dropping over the next four years as the tablet market grows. Worldwide tablet shipments are predicted to total 197 million units this year, a 69.8 percent increase from 2012 shipments of 116 million units.

"While there will be some individuals who retain both a personal PC and a tablet, especially those who use either or both for work and play, most will be satisfied with the experience they get from a tablet as their main computing device," Carolina Milanesi, research vice president at Gartner, said in a statement. "As consumers shift their time away from their PC to tablets and smartphones, they will no longer see their PC as a device that they need to replace on a regular basis."

By 2017, tablet shipments are expected to reach 468 million units, outpacing PC sales of 272 million, Gartner said. This transition from PCs to tablets is being driven by a recent explosion of low-cost tablets with impressive capabilities, according to Gartner.

***

Microsoft faces a slide into irrelevance in the next four years unless it can make progress in the smartphone and tablet markets, because the PC market will continue shrinking, warns the research group Gartner.

It says a huge and disruptive shift is underway, in which more and more people will use a tablet as their main computing device, researchers say.

That will also see shipments of Android devices dwarf those of Windows PCs and phones by 2017. Microsoft-powered device shipments will almost be at parity with those of Apple iPhones and iPads - the latter a situation not seen since the 1980s.

In a new forecast published on Thursday morning, Gartner says that by 2015 shipments of tablets will outstrip those of conventional PCs such as desktops and notebooks, as Android and Apple's iOS become increasingly dominant in the overall operating system picture. Android in particular will be installed on more than a billion devices shipped in 2014, says Carolina Milanesi, the analyst who led the research.

The reality of climate change

10 myths busted

-- according to LiveScience anyway

When critics point out that normal fluctuations occur that create climate change -- regardless of human interference -- they are right. But that doesn't change the fact that what we're seeing today is unprecedented, and there's likely more at play than normal global cyclicality.

-- according to Brian Stoffe, but Schneidku40 comments

You may want to revise your #2, at least to say the levels of CO2 are unprecedented during the Holocene/modern history/recorded history/ice history. This level of CO2 is certainly not unprecedented in earth's history. The dinosaurs were walking around in CO2 levels that were likely somewhere around 5 times what it is now. 500 million years ago the CO2 levels 10-20 times what they are now. The average global temperature has also been much higher for most of earth's history.

OmniBox

Saw the Omniverse Omni Box in the Radio Shack weekly ad.

It boasts "over 800 channels of  live TV, video on Demand, local programming and more."

Best that I can figure is that it's kind of like a Roku with a more internet capability.  There's a $24.95 monthly free which apparently pays for a hulu plus subscription (or it is PlayOn).  Which is why they can boast of featuring channels from the major networks.

Funny, I couldn't find any reviews from the usual suspects like cnet, etc.  And little on amazon.com.  Only this blurb from Radio Shack.

I did a search for Omniverse and came up with this link with this description "Watch and Record over 500 LIVE TV Channels for free! Local TV too! Bigger than Netflix and Hulu and TV Catchup and Zattoo combined!"

It looks to be pretty much the same as the filmon channel.  Here's the wikipedia article.

feeling warm?

Global temperatures are warmer than at any time in at least 4,000 years, scientists reported Thursday, and over the coming decades are likely to surpass levels not seen on the planet since before the last ice age.

Previous research had extended back roughly 1,500 years, and suggested that the rapid temperature spike of the past century, believed to be a consequence of human activity, exceeded any warming episode during those years. The new work confirms that result while suggesting the modern warming is unique over a longer period.

In the new research, scheduled for publication on Friday in the journal Science, Shaun Marcott, an earth scientist at Oregon State University, and his colleagues compiled the most meticulous reconstruction yet of global temperatures over the past 11,300 years, virtually the entire Holocene. They used indicators like the distribution of microscopic, temperature-sensitive ocean creatures to determine past climate.

Scientists say that if natural factors were still governing the climate, the Northern Hemisphere would probably be destined to freeze over again in several thousand years. “We were on this downward slope, presumably going back toward another ice age,” Dr. Marcott said.

Instead, scientists believe the enormous increase in greenhouse gases caused by industrialization will almost certainly prevent that.

***

What?  No comments?

Ah, here you go.  L.A. Times to the rescue.

tablets gaining on smartphones

As the smartphone market slows, tablets are becoming an increasingly popular way of consuming media, playing games and accessing data, according to a new report by mobile advertising network Jumptap.

Jumptap, which helps companies understand mobile audiences and cater to them, said tablets last year accounted for 18% of mobile traffic on its advertising network, which covers 134 million mobile customers in the United States and a total of 206 million worldwide. 

That represents a sharp jump from the 7% of mobile traffic on the network in 2011, the company said. Smartphones represented 78% of the network’s traffic, but their share is rapidly shrinking: Jumptap projects that tablets will make up close to one-third of its network traffic by the end of 2013.

docx files

docx is the new file format for Microsoft Word (well new to old-time users of Word).

Since I only have own Word 97 (!), I need to convert the file.

I believe I used zamzar before, but there's a number of other websites that will convert the file for you.

The one I just used was docspal.

Open Office also supports docx.

cursor jumping on laptops

I notice that when typing on a laptop, the cursor occasionally jumps to another line up the screen.  I notice it happens when I am typing in google docs.

I thought it was just me, but I see that others have this problem too.

Apparently this is a problem with Windows.

So one solutions is to not use Windows.

Another solution is to use an external keyboard.

And the author's solution was to use a program called touchfreeze.

I think I'll try it.

***

Wait, here's another solution: disable the touchpad.

It's Fn F10 on a SamSung laptop.  What is it on a Dell laptop?

Here's the Dell information.  Unfortunately none of the hotkeys worked on this Inspiron 1440.

And can't find it in control panel.

Go to Dell.com, look for Inspiron 1440 and download Alps touchpad driver

hey there it is in the control panel now

and I see there's an option to disable touchpad / pointing stick when external USB mouse is present.

OK, try that and see if the problem re-occurs.

meteor explodes over Russia

(Reuters) - A meteor streaked across the sky and exploded over central Russia on Friday, sending fireballs crashing to earth which shattered windows and damaged buildings, injuring more than 500 people.

People heading to work in Chelyabinsk heard what sounded like an explosion, saw a bright light and then felt a shockwave, according to a Reuters correspondent in the industrial city 950 miles east of Moscow.

The fireball, travelling at a speed of 19 miles per second according to Russia's space agency Roscosmos, had blazed across the horizon, leaving a long white trail in its wake which could be seen as far as 125 miles away.

Car alarms went off, windows broke and mobile phone networks were interrupted. The Interior Ministry said the meteor explosion had caused a sonic boom.

"There have never been any cases of meteorites breaking up at such a low level over Russia before," said Yuri Burenko, head of the Chelyabinsk branch of the Emergencies Ministry.

Russia's Emergencies Ministry said 514 people had sought medical help, mainly for light injuries caused by flying glass, and that 112 of them were kept in hospital.

Microsoft Surface

[2/13/13] a user review of the Surface RT

[2/9/13] Surface Pro sells out on Launch Day

[2/9/13] The Surface Pro is a hotshot

[10/27/12] The Surface is a PC, not a tablet

[10/22/12] Five reasons the Microsoft Surface will fail.

medicine via smartphone

video featuring Eric Topol

another video

one more

and one more

(not sure of the order)

I won $2 million from the Publishers Clearing House!

says a guy with an accent who cold-called me from phone number 876-863-7762

I think it was $2.5 million and a car or something like that.

The guy then asked me if I wanted to claim it or donate it to charity.  I said donate it to charity and he hang up.

Sounds like the same guy people complained about on these links.  It was the same area code anyway (Jamaica).

ios to Android?

Three weeks ago, I made the decision to stop using my iPhone 4s with the possible outcome of leaving the iPhone for an Android or Windows phone for an extended period of time.  I don’t want to use the term “never”, because that’s limiting.  As promised, I wanted to share with you my experiences with Android so that you may get a deeper insight into how other users may feel and respond to their next phone purchase and experience.

the convertibles are coming

(Reuters) - Personal computer makers, trying to beat back a tablet mania that's eating into their sales, are making what may be a last-ditch attempt to sway customers by mimicking the competition.

Many of the laptops to be unveiled around the world in coming months will be hybrids or "convertibles" - morphing easily between portable tablets and full-powered laptops with a keyboard, industry analysts say.

The wave of hybrids comes as Intel Corp and Microsoft Corp, long the twin leaders of the PC industry, prepare to report results this week and next. Wall Street is predicting flat to sluggish quarterly revenue growth for both, underscoring the plight of an industry that has struggled to innovate.

In 2013, some are hoping that will change.

With the release of Microsoft's touch-centric, re-imagined Windows 8 platform in October and more power-efficient chips from Intel, PC makers are trying to spark growth by focusing on creating slim laptops with touchscreens that convert to tablets and vice versa.

Microsoft, expanding beyond its traditional business of selling software, is expected this month to roll out a "Surface Pro" tablet compatible with legacy PC software developed over decades.

That's a major selling point for corporate customers like German business software maker SAP, which plans to buy Surface Pros for employees that want it, said SAP Chief Information Officer Oliver Bussmann.
"The hybrid model is very compelling for a lot of users," Bussmann told Reuters last week. "The iPad is not replacing the laptop. It's hard to create content. That's the niche that Microsoft is going after. The Surface can fill that gap."

Apple's iPad began chipping away at demand for laptops in 2010, an assault that accelerated with the launch of Amazon.com Inc's Kindle Fire and other Google Android devices like Samsung Electronics' Note.

With sales of PCs falling last year for the first time since 2001, this year may usher in a renaissance in design and innovation from manufacturers who previously focused on reducing costs instead of adding new features to entice consumers.

Facebook search tool

After years of collecting photos and personal data from its billion-plus members, Facebook Inc. Tuesday unveiled a search tool that sifts through people's profiles—and pushes the social network deeper into Google Inc.'s home turf.

The two companies are vying to become the primary gateway to the Internet. Google has long served as a destination to find websites and information; Facebook, to share gossip and photos with friends. But those distinctions are increasingly blurring, and billions in advertising dollars are at stake.

The social network said Tuesday it will enable members to conduct complex queries related to their friends' profiles, such as "tourist attractions in France visited by my friends."

In doing so, Facebook is attacking Google's core strength and its most lucrative product—search—in a bid to convince people they might not need to use Google to find information

Google generates the majority of its $40 billion in annual revenue world-wide from selling ads on its search engine. In the U.S., Google was projected to make more than $13 billion in search-ad revenue, or 75% of the entire market, in 2012, according to research firm eMarketer Inc.

Google's repository of information remains unmatched. It said it has indexed 30 trillion unique Web pages across 230 million sites. Last year, Google changed its search engine to make it easier for people to quickly get detailed information about people, places and real-world things by displaying photos, facts and other "direct answers" to search queries at the top of the search-results page, rather than just links.

Having witnessed Facebook's rise and anticipating its move into search, Google built its own social-networking service, Google+, in 2011 to obtain data about specific individuals by name, their personal interests and the identities of their friends. It then integrated Google+ with its Web-search service, so that people searching for a particular website, local restaurant or real-world product will be alerted if any of their Google+ contacts previously rated it positively or negatively.

A Google spokesman declined to comment.

But Facebook has a far larger social network and a sizable head-start after spending years encouraging its members to add photos and all sorts of personal information to their profiles, from basic data like location, employer name and interests to more sensitive details such as age, religion and romantic status.

Much of that data is now searchable using Facebook's new "Graph Search" feature after more than a year in development. Facebook began rolling it out Tuesday as a test to a limited number of users. For Web searches that Facebook can't deliver, the queries are served by Bing, the search engine from Facebook partner Microsoft Corp.

government wants more noise

DETROIT (AP) - A government safety agency wants electric and hybrid vehicles to make more noise when traveling at low speeds so pedestrians can hear them coming.

The cars and trucks, which are far quieter than conventional gasoline or diesel-powered vehicles, don't make enough noise at low speeds to warn walkers, bicyclists and the visually impaired, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said Monday in a statement.

The proposed rule would require the cars to make additional noise at speeds under 18 miles per hour. NHTSA says the cars make enough noise to be heard at higher speeds.

Intel TV

The world’s largest manufacturer of semiconductor products, Intel Corp. (INTC), is preparing to launch its cloud-based TV service and set-top box, as per a report from TechCrunch.

Reportedly, the company has been facing difficulty in securing licensing deals with content providers. In order to avoid licensing issues with content providers, the company plans to roll the product city-by-city rather than nationwide. Intel will likely reveal the set-top box at industry trade show CES on January 7.

Intel’s TV service is expected to include content from cable TV packages as well as Internet-based content like Netflix Inc.’s (NFLX) streaming service.

The company’s intention to manufacture the set-top box (STB) was revealed in March 2012 through a Wall Street Journal report. Intel already makes chips for STBs but its decision to manufacture the entire box is the first of its kind. The company has not yet signed any deal with program providers.

The chipmaker’s foray into this segment may be considered a milestone. According to research firms IDC and Gartner, the PC industry was weak in 2012 and is expected to remain weak in 2013 due to the softness in the memory market, specifically in DRAM; the ongoing Eurozone debt crisis and weak PC demand. In order to expand the company’s bottom line, Intel has increased efforts to move beyond the computer industry.

The success of the launch of a virtual cable operator remains unclear due to the many hurdles associated with it. The high cost of TV programming channels remains the primary problem. Incumbent cable, satellite and telecommunications companies already pay nearly $38 billion per year to license TV channels. Intel may also have to bear the brunt of higher costs.

Internet bandwidth could be another hurdle. The inability to guarantee enough bandwidth for high-quality video at all times of the day could divert the interest of the subscriber.

Further, the competition expected in the field will also be fierce, with most of the large technology companies vying for a share of the pie. These companies include Google Inc. (GOOG), Apple Inc. (AAPL) and Microsoft Corp. (MSFT).

*** [2/13/13]


(AP) - Intel Corp. said Tuesday that it will sell a set-top box that brings Internet-delivered movies and shows to a TV set this year.

Erik Huggers, general manager of Intel Media, said the company plans to sell a box that will offer "a vastly superior experience" to today's cable boxes.

There are various boxes today that bring Internet content to TV sets, with popular ones made by Roku and Apple. But Intel wants to go further and make its box and streaming service a replacement for cable.

Rumors of an Intel set-top box and video service emerged last year. Huggers didn't say what the box and service would cost, or when this year such a device would come out. He said Intel's goal is to provide quality rather than undercutting cable pricing.

The video service would also be available on non-TV devices such as the iPad, Huggers said. Cable companies have been making some content available on smartphone and tablet computers as part of their TV Everywhere initiative, but the selection of programs and channels is limited.

Intel is the world's largest chipmaker, but has little direct contact with consumers. Its chief business, making processors for PCs, is stagnating as PC sales are declining and consumers are moving to tablets and smartphones, most of which don't run Intel chips. Huggers said the company was motivated to get into the consumer business after realizing that it needed to control every aspect of the service, from chips to software, to get it right.

Shares of the Santa Clara, Calif., company rose 16 cents, or 0.8 percent, to $21.19 in afternoon trading, as other technology stocks declined.

Apple CEO Steve Jobs told his biographer before his death in 2011 that he wanted to revolutionize the TV, but Apple so far hasn't revealed anything about those plans. A big obstacle is believed to be that movie studios and TV networks like the current cable model, under which TV customers can't choose to pay channel by channel, but have their choices limited to certain packages. It's a profitable model for them, and they've been reluctant to open up to more flexible programming models.

But Huggers said media companies were showing some flexibility.

"I think we can bring an incredible TV experience via the Internet, to consumers, and that is a great opportunity for programmers," he said at the "D: Dive Into Media" conference in Dana Point, Calif.

One of the features of the Intel box would be the ability to identify, through a camera, which family member is watching and offer him or her personalized recommendations, Huggers said.