Events

Amazon’s LOVEFiLM Expands UK Content with Sony Pictures Television Deal

Andrew Edney

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Dec 21, 2011

Amazon announced today that LOVEFilm had struck a deal with Sony to delivery UK TV content to it’s subscribers.

Here is what the press release said:

SEATTLE, Dec 21, 2011 (BUSINESS WIRE) –Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN): LOVEFiLM, an Amazon company, and Sony Pictures Television have signed a major multi-year content deal giving LOVEFiLM members exclusive streaming access to new and forthcoming Sony Pictures titles during the second subscription pay TV window, as well as catalog titles and TV series, from June 2012.

The milestone agreement with Sony Pictures Television is the latest in a line of exclusive content deals announced by Amazon’s LOVEFiLM in the UK in recent months, including deals with Warner Bros., Entertainment One, STUDIOCANAL, Disney, Momentum and Lionsgate.

LOVEFiLM members will be able to exclusively stream Sony Pictures titles, including the Academy Award-winning The Social Network, action-thriller Salt, starring Angelina Jolie, and sci-fi action blockbuster 2012 via LOVEFiLM Instant at no extra cost and as part of their existing subscription.

The deal will also further bolster LOVEFiLM’s extensive range of kids TV titles with modern cult, animation favorites like Transformers, Spectacular Spider-Man and The Karate Kid – adding a raft of series to existing LOVEFiLM catalog titles like Pingu, Wallace & Gromit and Fireman Sam.

In addition, LOVEFiLM members will have exclusive streaming access during this pay window to a host of future releases from Sony Pictures, including the No. 1 box office hit Arthur Christmas.

The deal will see Sony Pictures’ recent and forthcoming releases, catalog titles and TV series added to the LOVEFiLM Instant service – available on the PC or via Sony PlayStation(R)3, Microsoft Xbox 360, Apple iPad(R), and a growing number of Internet-connected TV sets and Blu-ray players.

Amazon’s LOVEFiLM will continue to rent Sony Pictures titles on DVD and Blu-ray via its LOVEFiLM By Post service.

Simon Calver, Chief Executive of Amazon’s LOVEFiLM, said:

“Our latest major content agreement means we’ll be able to exclusively offer our members world-class content from Sony Pictures. The number of recent high-profile deals we have secured means we are able to keep expanding the service, offering our members high-quality films and TV and the ability to watch as much as they want for one low monthly price.”

Amazon Kindle App for iOS Updated to version 2.9

Apple
News

Andrew Edney

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Dec 21, 2011

0

Amazon Kindle App for iOS Updated to version 2.9

I use the Amazon Kindle app on my iPad all the time, and it has just been updated to version 2.9.

Description

The Kindle app is optimized for the iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch, giving users the ability to read Kindle books, newspapers, magazines and PDFs on a beautiful, easy-to-use interface. You’ll have access to over 900,000* books in the Kindle Store. Amazon Whispersync automatically syncs your last page read, bookmarks, notes, and highlights across devices (including Kindle), so you can pick up your book where you left off on another device.
Get the best reading experience available on your iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch:
• Shop the Kindle Store by visiting Amazon for the largest selection of books people want to read: over a 900,000* books.
• *New*: Email PDFs & other documents to your new Send-to-Kindle e-mail address and we deliver them to your device. The documents are automatically archived in the Amazon Cloud and available for re-download on your iOS or supported Kindle devices. You can also read PDFs from Mail, Safari, or by transferring them from iTunes.
• Get free book samples – read the first chapter free before you decide to buy.
• Customize your reading experience by choosing the background color, font size, and either portrait or landscape format.
• Instant dictionary word lookup. Tap and hold a word to view the definition. Use the Google and Wikipedia links to get more information.
• Search inside the book to find a character, topic, or section you want to revisit.
• Simply tap on either side of the screen or flick to turn pages.
• You can also read your Kindle books on your Kindle, Kindle Fire, Kindle Touch, PC, Mac, Android-based device, and Windows Phone 7-based device. Our Whispersync technology syncs your last page read, notes, bookmarks, and highlights across devices, so you can pick up where you left off.

What’s New In Version 2.9

• Email documents to your new Send-to-Kindle e-mail address and we deliver them to your device. The documents are automatically archived in the Amazon Cloud and available for re-download on your iOS or supported Kindle devices.
• Open PDFs from Mail or Safari, by transferring them from iTunes, or by sending them to your Send-to-Kindle email address. The Kindle PDF reader supports PDF table of contents and thumbnail navigation for quickly jumping through the document.
• New library organization allows you to view your Kindle Books, Newsstand, and Docs.

How To: On the Spot Cleanup of Unwanted PC Client Databases

John Keller

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Dec 21, 2011

11

How To: On the Spot Cleanup of Unwanted PC Client Databases

Introduction

As we know once a week Windows Home Server schedules a job to go through and delete its unnecessary or no longer desired PC Client backups that it accumulates over time. However, there are times when the Hard drive that the databases are being backup to are running low on room and may need to delete these backups sooner than one week. Problem is that there is no way of running the databases cleanup job manually within the WHS Dashboard. Now thanks to one of our Forum Members there is now a way of doing so from within Task Scheduler (In previous versions of Windows it was called ether “Task Manager” or “Scheduled Tasks”).

Who this Article is For?

This article is to be used with either Windows Home Server 2011, Windows Storage Server 2008 R2 Essentials, or Small Business Server 2011 Essentials for anyone who wants to delete unwanted PC Client Backups manually and not have to wait the customary once a week.

Requirements

N/A

Disclaimer

The How to information is intended as a guide or a helping resource to those who are trying to delete PC client Backup databases manually rather than letting it run its scheduled task once a week. There is no 100% guarantee that this will work as described in this article. I assume no responsibility for any consequences of running the PC client database task manually and the user will assume the full risk of any adverse effects of doing so.

Instructions

1. From the Client PC or Remoting into the WHS 2011 Server click on the Dashboard.

2. Select the “Computers and Backups” Tab from the Dashboard Menu.

3. Select the Client PC that you would like to choose to Delete previous backups of and right click on it with your mouse then Select “View properties of previous backups”..

4. Select (Just Highlight) the backup you want to delete.

5. Under the Edit backup details at the top of the properties radio box select the option – “Delete this backup when Cleanup runs”. then click “apply”.

Plex for Android v2.0.2.1 Available Now

Andrew Edney

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Dec 21, 2011

0

Plex for Android, version 2.0.2.1 has bee released brining both Ice Cream Sandwich support and a whole host of other fixes.

Here is what they posted on their blog last night:

The Android team has worked off the Thanksgiving turkey and has gotten a nice head start on our annual holiday “cookie belly” since we last talked. [Editors Note: picture of cookie-belly removed to protect the innocent.] Still we’ve not been sitting on our laurels. In fact we’ve been just itching to get this release out to you – but it always seemed there was one more thing we needed to fix before releasing. Without further ado – here’s what’s in Plex for Android 2.0.2.1:

Ice Cream Sandwich (Android 4.0) Support

A number of folks out there got ICS working but it needed some special tweaking and had some strange UI artifacts on screen when playing video. Plex now recognizes the ICS and will configure the video system properly for playback so no more need to touch advanced settings. Additionally, we’ve gotten rid of those pesky soft navigational buttons and weird gray boxes during video playback so you can watch your movies in the darkness again… as it should be.

Video Related Fixes

There were a number of different annoying video issues that occurred on some devices. We’ve painstakingly tracked down and squashed these – hopefully without introducing something new. These include fixes for issues and general improvements around handling network connectivity issues during playback, resuming playback, seek, video sizing, dealing with video not being displayed on some devices and probably some other stuff thrown in for good measure.

As a special holiday gift – we’ve introduced a zoom button and a new video zoom mode. Tapping the button on the video playback HUD causes the video to cycle between the two modes. The video modes are:

‘fit to screen’ – is what you’ve always had – expands/shrinks the video to fit entirely within the screen without cropping.

‘full screen’ – expands the video to fill the screen – may crop by height or width depending upon the screen and video dimensions – try it out!

Here’s the full list of video changes:

FIXED: issue with stuttering video on Honeycomb MR2 and ICS devices (e.g. Xoom, Nexus S, Galaxy Nexus)

FIXED: an issue where video was improperly resized after seek/scrub on some devices.

FIXED: for some devices where we experienced audio but no video upon start of play.

FIXED: to enhance UX and robustness of video player resume

NEW: video zoom – tap zoom button to cycle through: scale to fit and full screen.

UI Tweaks for small tablets

Our UI for small tablets has been a bit of an ugly-stepchild. While I have an affinity for ugly-step children (as I am one) we’ve fixed this so that we better utilize the screen real-estate for this middle sized device. Here are some before and after shots:

Other Fixes

There have been many fixes since the last release. Here are a number that you may notice but the fixes aren’t limited to these:

NEW: Plex now recognizes and configures itself for the Kindle Fire, more Samsung Galaxy S2 variants and a number of other devices so that these devices will play video without the need to tweak the Advanced Settings for the device.

FIXED: Connection issues fixes for a number of cases where Plex client had trouble connecting to Plex Media Servers.

FIXED: Direct Play from secure remote server.

FIXED: Progress recorded during remote playback.

FIXED: The seek thumb is now easier to grab (finally).

FIXED: Artist appears again in Notifications as music plays.

FIXED: Miscellaneous field reported fixes.

FIXED: Several fixes we found on HTC devices.

FIXED: Styling updates around progress dialogs.

FIXED: Android as a remote once again asks where to play.

FIXED: If no channels are installed there is now a button to add them from home page.

FIXED: Minor change to help some video players ID audio format using file extension – should help some audio files to play properly.

More Entertainment Apps Added to Xbox Live

Gaming
News

Andrew Edney

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Dec 21, 2011

0

More Entertainment Apps Added to Xbox Live

Following the Xbox 360 Dashboard update a few weeks ago, there are some new entertainment apps available.

Here is what Major Nelson posted:

Xbox 360 is building on its expansive catalog of movies, sports, television and music and we’re happy to offer the following new entertainment experiences starting today in various regions on Xbox LIVE:

· 4 on Demand (C4). United Kingdom
· ABC iView (Australian Broadcasting Corp.). Australia
· Dailymotion. Available in 34 countries globally
· Demand 5 (Five). United Kingdom
· M6. France
· MSN Video. France
· UFC on Xbox LIVE (UFC). Canada, United States
· VUDU (Wal-Mart). United States

In addition, on December 15^th Microsoft and Orange announced that Orange TV is coming to Xbox LIVE in France, starting in Spring 2012. Thirty Orange TV channels will initially be available, including the major channels available in the French market. Later in the year, “catch-up” TV and Orange’s video on demand catalog will also be available.

Microsoft Research Face Swap App for Windows Phone

Andrew Edney

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Dec 20, 2011

0

Microsoft Research Face Swap App for Windows Phone

With the holiday season upon us, and parties in full swing, why not have some fun with the new Face Swap app for the Windows Phone from Microsoft Research?

Have you ever think of swapping your face with other people?

What will your face on your friend’s body look like?

Want to make fun of your friends?

Face Swap provides a simple, quick and fun way to swap people’s face using a photo taken with others. All you need to do is take a photo/select the one you want, and then shake your device once. Let Face Swap show you the magic! Shake to create and unbelievable, people’s face swapped on the photo! Use Face Swap and you will find out how cool it is!

Photos can then be saved to your photo library or shared directly on Facebook, Twitter or Sina Weibo.

Main Features

· Multiple faces detection enabled

· Shake to create a new photo with people’s face swapped!

· Save or share your creation though Facebook, Twitter or Sina Weibo

Download from Windows Marketplace

Facebook for BlackBerry PlayBook Update Available in BlackBerry App World

Andrew Edney

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Dec 20, 2011

0

Facebook for BlackBerry PlayBook Update Available in BlackBerry App World

Today, RIM announced that Facebook for BlackBerry PlayBook v2.1 is now available in BlackBerry App World.

The latest update to Facebook for BlackBerry PlayBook includes the following:

Facebook Groups – Share and interact with groups on the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet. View groups you are members of; post updates, photos and videos; view profiles of group members and send messages; get notified of new group posts and interactions.

Improved Media Access – Easily view friends’ photos and videos from users’ Profiles with the added new photo and video buttons. The photo and video uploading capabilities are also now more apparent on the Photo tab. Simply click the Photos or Videos button to upload the corresponding media type.

ARCHOS Announces ARCHOS 70b Android Honeycomb Tablet Under £180

Andrew Edney

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Dec 20, 2011

0

ARCHOS Announces ARCHOS 70b Android Honeycomb Tablet Under £180

ARCHOS, an award-winning innovator in consumer electronics, today announced the upcoming availability of the first android 3.2 ‘’Honeycomb’’ tablet at £179.99, the ARCHOS 70b internet tablet.

The new ARCHOS 70b IT is an enhanced version of the ARCHOS 70 IT Gen 8 that features an upgraded capacitive touch screen and a powerful processor at 1.2 GHz.

The ARCHOS 70b internet tablet runs Android 3.2 Honeycomb, Google’s full suite of mobile applications with Android Market^TM, giving users access to over 300,000 applications such as games, books, social media and news. With Honeycomb, users will benefit faster and smoother transitions between different applications, more intuitive navigation to and from home screens.

Very slim and light, the newest version of the ARCHOS 70 internet tablet Gen 8, offers the best performances in terms of portability, immediate internet access, multimedia, apps and affordability. This new version has a higher resolution capacitive screen (1024 x 600) for vibrant colours and crisp clarity and has doubled the RAM to 512 MB for a smoother web experience and more efficient multi-tasking.

This connected mobile device with a sublime user interface, 3D Graphics accelerator and Wi-Fi connectivity, comes also with a full pack of connected apps such as a web browser and email application, HDMI output and Micro SD connectivity.

With this enhanced Android tablet, users will benefit from:

· Smoother multi-tasking and faster web experience thanks to upgraded RAM

· Brighter colours with high resolution capacitive screen

· Android 3.2 Honeycomb, the Android version designed for a tablet

· Access to a full array of apps with the Android Market and its 250,000 apps such as news, eMagazines, eBooks, social media, games…

· A full multimedia experience with upgraded multimedia ARCHOS apps for video and music

· HDMI output, giving users full access to their Android experience on their TV including all the apps, not only video playback but also 3D games, photos and all the apps from the Android Market

About ARCHOS

ARCHOS, pioneer in the portable audio and video player market, and now specializing in Android Tablets, has repeatedly revolutionized the market for consumer electronics since 1988. Today, ARCHOS offers Android Internet Tablets, Tablet PCs and MP3/MP4 players. In 2000, ARCHOS launched the Jukebox 6000, the first MP3 player combined with a hard disk. Then in 2003 ARCHOS introduced the first portable multimedia players with TV recording. In 2006 Wi-Fi is implemented and then touch screens in 2007. In 2008, ARCHOS launched the first generation Internet Tablets, and then the first ever Android powered tablets in 2009. ARCHOS has offices in the United States, Europe and Asia. ARCHOS is quoted on Compartment C of Eurolist, Euronext Paris, ISIN CodeFR0000182479. Website: www.archos.com.

WD Adds New Services for WD TV Owners

Andrew Edney

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Dec 20, 2011

0

Today Western Digital announced some new services for it’s WD TV customers, along with a new remote app.

Here is the press release:

Western Digital (NYSE: WDC), the world’s leader in external storage solutions and maker of the acclaimed WD TV^® media player family, has added a new WD^® TV Remote™ app improving the navigation experience for the WD TV Live and WD TV Live Hub users by turning their iPhone^®, iPod touch^®, iPad^®, or Android™ compatible mobile devices into an advanced feature remote control for their WD TV. The WD TV Remote advanced features allow users to more easily navigate the wide variety of digital media WD TV users enjoy on their television, from leading entertainment services to personal video, photos or music.

WD has also announced the streaming movie service VUDU, as well as several other new sports and entertainment services to the WD TV Live™ and WD TV Live Hub™ media players. These new services complement the current content offerings from Netflix^®, Hulu Plus™, Blockbuster^®, CinemaNow^®, Spotify^™, Pandora^®, YouTube^®, Facebook^® and many others. In addition to VUDU, the new services include SnagFilms, XOS College Sports, SEC Digital Network, Comedy Time and Watch Mojo.

Improved Navigation with WD TV Remote

The new WD TV Remote app improves the navigation experience for WD TV Live and WD TV Live Hub users, providing all the features of the standard WD TV remote control along with several advanced features, including a gesture pad to help navigate menu screens and services with intuitive touch gestures, as well as QWERTY keyboard support for text entry and search functionality. A favourites screen provides quick access to entertainment services on the WD TV. WD TV Remote connects over the home wireless network and can work with multiple WD TV media players in the home. Additionally, WD TV Remote is available in multiple languages, including English, German, Spanish, Italian, French, Japanese, Korean, Chinese Simplified, Chinese Traditional, Russian, and Portuguese.

“WD TV personalises the entertainment experience for consumers better than any other digital media player,” said Chris Bull, director of marketing for WD’s Connected Home Solutions group. “Whether it is photos or movies on your PC, Mac^®, tablet, smartphone, personal cloud drive such as the My Book^® Live, or one of our exciting entertainment services such as VUDU, WD TV media players enable anyone in the family to easily enjoy a custom entertainment experience with their favourite movies, TV shows, music and photos.”

New Services

· VUDU – WD TV (USA only) customers now have access to VUDU’s large HD library of movies and TV titles instantly on their home entertainment systems. WD supports the HDX™ video format that features 1080p Full HD video and rich Dolby Digital Plus 7.1 audio, allowing users to enjoy a cinema-like experience at home with the hottest new releases available on-demand without any subscription fees or late fees. Upon VUDU registration on their device WD TV media player users will receive a $4.99 USD credit towards VUDU movie rentals, which are available to rent starting at just $2 USD for two nights.

· SnagFilms – Available world-wide, customers now have on-demand access to SnagFilms’ broad collection of full-length independent films, free of charge, in genres such as documentary, comedy, drama, family friendly and pop culture.

· XOS College Sports – Available world-wide, this free service offers the largest digital library of college sports video, including more than 75 years of current and classic college sports action.

· SEC Digital Network – Available world-wide, on demand access is available for current season and classic Southeastern Conference games, videos, interviews and more. This service includes more than 1,000 hours of original and exclusive video.

· Comedy Time – Available in the world-wide, this free service includes a broad library of short-form comedy video programming.

· Watch Mojo – Available world-wide, customers now have free access to Watch Mojo’s professionally-produced premium videos in categories such as Comedy, Education, Fashion, Food, Health & Fitness, Music, Politics, Technology and Video Games.

Price and Availability

The VUDU, SnagFilms, XOS College Sports, SEC Digital Network, Comedy Time and Watch Mojo services are now available on WD TV Live and WD TV Live Hub media players, which are available at select UK retailers and online at www.wdstore.co.uk starting at £99.99 MSRP.

WD TV Remote is currently available as a free download from the iTunes^® Store and we anticipate will be available on the Android Market soon.

Netflix and BBC Worldwide Announce Streaming Agreement for the United Kingdom and Ireland

Andrew Edney

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Dec 20, 2011

0

Netflix and BBC Worldwide Announce Streaming Agreement for the United Kingdom and Ireland

Starting Early 2012, Netflix Members In The UK And Ireland Will Be Able To Instantly Watch Many Previous Series of “Doctor Who,” “Top Gear,” “Little Britain” and more.

Here is the press release:

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif., Dec. 20, 2011 — Netflix, Inc. (Nasdaq: NFLX) and BBC Worldwide, the commercial arm of the BBC, today announced a new digital licensing agreement that will bring a broad range of great BBC series to Netflix members in the UK and Ireland.

Beginning early 2012, previous series of BBC shows such as “Torchwood” and “Spooks” will be available for Netflix members to watch instantly in the UK and Ireland streamed over the Internet to connected TVs, tablets, game consoles, computers and mobile phones.

Financial terms of the deal are not being disclosed. Netflix announced in October that it would launch its service in the UK and Ireland early in 2012.

“BBC shows are a big favourite of our over 20 million streaming members in the U.S., Canada and Latin America,” said Ted Sarandos, Netflix chief content officer. “Members love watching back-to-back episodes of BBC series where and when they want, at the click of a button. We are incredibly proud to make these high quality programmes available to Netflix members in the UK and Ireland.”

Commented Steve Macallister, president and managing director, Sales & Distribution, BBC Worldwide: “With our content already available on Netflix in North and Latin America, we’re delighted to be a launch partner for Netflix in the UK and Eire, offering viewers the chance to watch some of our best loved shows on the platform from day one. UK audiences have really grasped the experience that online viewing can bring, and our programming has proven to be particularly popular with this digital audience.”

Additional BBC titles available to members of Netflix in the UK and Ireland will include comedies like “Little Britain” and “Fawlty Towers,” and dramas like “Miss Marple” and “Inspector Lynley.”

About Netflix:
With more than 20 million streaming members in the United States, Canada and Latin America, Netflix, Inc. [Nasdaq: NFLX] is the world’s leading Internet subscription service for enjoying movies and TV shows. For about US $7.99 a month, Netflix members can instantly watch unlimited movies and TV episodes streaming over the Internet to PCs, Macs and TVs. Among the large and expanding base of devices streaming from Netflix are the Microsoft Xbox 360, Nintendo Wii and Sony PS3 consoles; an array of Blu-ray disc players, Internet-connected TVs, home theater systems, digital video recorders and Internet video players; Apple iPhone, iPad and iPod touch, as well as Apple TV and Google TV. In all, more than 700 devices that stream from Netflix are available. For additional information, visit www.netflix.com. Follow Netflix on Facebook and Twitter.

About BBC Worldwide
BBC Worldwide Limited is the main commercial arm and a wholly owned subsidiary of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). The company exists to maximise the value of the BBC’s assets for the benefit of the licence fee payer and invest in public service programming in return for rights. The company has five core businesses: Channels, Content & Production, Sales & Distribution, Consumer Products and Brands, Consumers & New Ventures, with digital ventures incorporated into each business area. In 2010/11, BBC Worldwide generated profits of pounds Sterling 160 million on sales of 1158 million pounds and returned 182m pounds to the BBC. For more detailed performance information please see our Annual Review website:www.bbcworldwide.com/annualreview. More information visit www.bbcworldwide.com or twitter.com/bbcwpress.