Everheart's Blog World: August 2011

Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Sony's new A, E, and S series Walkmans to get Music Unlimited freebie

For those that haven't yet gone down the iFaithful portable media player route, there's always the Walkman. Sony officially unveiled updates to its A, S and E series line of players just last month, and now plans to dole out a free trial of Music Unlimited to owners of the NWZ-A860, S760BT and E460 when they go on sale this September. The streaming service, formerly known as Qriocity, brings with it a catalog of over 10 million songs and will be available gratis for 180 days, after which it'll run you $3.99/mo for basic service and $9.99/mo for the premium offering. It might be too late in the game for the company to wrestle back the portable audio crown but, hey, you can't fault it for trying to sweeten the MP3-playing pot. Official PR awaits you after the break.

Continue reading Sony's new A, E, and S series Walkmans to get Music Unlimited freebie

Sony's new A, E, and S series Walkmans to get Music Unlimited freebie originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 31 Aug 2011 17:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/nPHwanUNbVo/

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Index To Lead ?10 Million-Plus Round In European Square Competitor iZettle

Index Ventures is on a roll. The company is leading Dropbox's $4 billion valuation round, and today, we've heard that the fund is making a major investment in Europe's Square competitor iZettle. We've confirmed the funding with a source close to the company. We've also heard from a source the round is 10 million Euros ($14 million) plus. iZettle, which is based in Sweden, launched earlier this year as a card reader that allows users to take credit card payments from chip-enabled credit or debit cards. The free device plugs into the iPhone's port, and you download companion app from App Store and sign up for an iZettle account.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/1BJ2iLdDD5I/

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US government files to block proposed AT&T / T-Mobile merger (update: companies respond)

You heard right. Bloomberg is reporting that the United States government (!) just filed court papers in Washington, D.C. to block the much ballyhooed tie-up between AT&T and T-Mobile USA. Oddly enough, T-Mobile and AT&T promised this morning that a total of 5,000 jobs would be hand delivered to the US if the two telcos were allowed to become one, but it'll take a heck of a lot more convincing now. For what it's worth, this doesn't mean that the deal is or isn't happening -- it's just another step in the process -- but it most certainly doesn't bode well for proponents. Nor for AT&T's share price.

According to the report, the Justice Department feels that the deal would "substantially lessen competition" in the wireless space. In fact, it boldly stated the following: "AT&T's elimination of T-Mobile as an independent, low-priced rival would remove a significant competitive force from the market." If things end up falling apart, it's important to remember that AT&T would be forced to pay Deutsche Telekom $3 billion as a break-up fee, which ought to make Tiger Woods' misfortunes look like an outright bargain.

Update: Full press release is now embedded after the break, and meanwhile, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski has issued the following public statement: "Although our process is not complete, the record before this agency also raises serious concerns about the impact of the proposed transaction on competition."

Update 2: Wayne Watts, AT&T Senior Executive Vice President and General Counsel, issued the following statement (seen after the break)...

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Continue reading US government files to block proposed AT&T / T-Mobile merger (update: companies respond)

US government files to block proposed AT&T / T-Mobile merger (update: companies respond) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 31 Aug 2011 10:36:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/08/31/us-government-files-to-block-propsed-atandt-t-mobile-merger/

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Add playback hotkeys to Amazon Cloud Player with a Chrome extension

Sure, Amazon's Cloud Player works -- as long as you're in the U.S. or willing to do some tinkering -- but it's fairly simplistic at the moment. There are plenty of features missing which we'd like to see added -- but since Cloud Player is a Web app we don't have to wait for Amazon!

Google Chrome users, for example, can add playback hotkeys with an extension called keyMazony. Once installed, you'll have keyboard control of your Amazon Cloud Player queue. keyMazony commands will work as long as you're in the same Chrome window as Cloud Player, even if its tab doesn't have focus. The key combinations are customizable as well -- just make sure you don't set up a combo that conflicts with another extension or Chrome's built-in keyboard shortcuts.

Add playback hotkeys to Amazon Cloud Player with a Chrome extension originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 31 Mar 2011 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/03/31/add-playback-hotkeys-to-amazon-cloud-player-with-a-chrome-extens/

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Kanex's MHL HDMI adapter brings your smartphone content to an HDTV near you

Want to get content from your Samsung Galaxy S II to your HDTV, but don't want to shell out for the fancy new Toshiba Regza? Shortly after yesterday's announcement of the Australia-only WL800A, Kanex unveiled its $29 adapter, letting users connect their MHL-capable handsets to HDTVs via the HDMI port. The adapter is available now -- full PR after the break.

Continue reading Kanex's MHL HDMI adapter brings your smartphone content to an HDTV near you

Kanex's MHL HDMI adapter brings your smartphone content to an HDTV near you originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 31 Aug 2011 14:34:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/G87J2a7QEUo/

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Apple has once again lost an iPhone prototype in a bar?!

According to CNET, Apple has once again lost an iPhone prototype in a bar, this time Cava2 in San Francisco’s Mission district. Apple electronically traced the phone to a two-floor, single-family home in San Francisco’s Bernal Heights neighborhood, according to the source. When San Francisco police and Apple’s investigators...

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/siNUmqxcBYg/

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Sony HMZ-T1 headset hits IFA, we go hands-on (video)

Easily the most unusual highlight of today's Sony IFA press conference, the HMZ-T1 goes where many other companies have tried and failed. The head-mounted display, first introduced as a prototype back in January at CES, has finally graduated into a real product. The device is aimed at gamers and TV watchers, generating a 3D image with use of a pair of 0.7-inch OLED panels, which each display separate images, doing away with the ghost imagery that often comes along with 3D displays. The device is a solid piece of hardware, just what one would expect from Sony -- especially for a piece of hardware that'll run you around $600 when it hits the US around the November / December time frame. Check out a hands-on video of the device after the break.

Gallery: Sony HMZ-T1 hands-on

Continue reading Sony HMZ-T1 headset hits IFA, we go hands-on (video)

Sony HMZ-T1 headset hits IFA, we go hands-on (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 31 Aug 2011 13:34:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/hd5Ym3EKFR0/

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Sony Ericsson Reboots Xperia with Arc S, a Phone That Miiiiiiight Actually Matter [Android]

Click here to read Sony Ericsson Reboots Xperia with Arc S, a Phone That Miiiiiiight Actually Matter

Sony is going full-tilt today, dropping more toys than a drunken toddler covered in Crisco. They're giving the Xpreria Arc—their hallmark smartphone—an S as the end of its name, and beefing it up. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/6Fpfs7BWZeE/sony-ericsson-gives-the-arc-a-reboot-with-the-xperia-arc-s

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Gladinet maps Amazon Cloud Drive to your Windows desktop

Amazon's recently-introduced Cloud Drive is a great place to store your files online. It offers 5 gigs of totally free space, and U.S. users also get access to the handy Cloud Player app (for Web and Android!) which streams music you upload to your Cloud Drive.

The service could be a little easier to use, however. Until Amazon releases a desktop client, Windows users might want to take another look at Gladinet. The multi-service cloud connector has now added Amazon Cloud Drive support and will let you map a network drive letter to your account with minimal fuss.

Once you've added your credentials to Gladinet, just pick the letter you want to assign to the drive and you're good to go. You can then copy files to and from your Cloud Drive, rename items, and manage folders like you would any local hard drive in your system.

The only downside is that the free version of Gladinet gives you a limited number of cloud interactions. Once you use those up, you'll need to upgrade to the paid version, which costs $49.99. If you work with a number of cloud-based storage providers, however, it could be well worth the price tag.

Gladinet maps Amazon Cloud Drive to your Windows desktop originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 04 Apr 2011 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/04/04/map-amazon-cloud-drive-to-windows-local/

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Sony officially renames the S2 the Tablet P, opens up about the software (video)

Compared to the S1 tablet -- make that the Tablet S -- Sony's dual-screen tab remains something of an enigma. AT&T hasn't said how much it'll cost on contract, nor do we know when it'll finally go on sale. Still, the tablet just get one step closer to becoming a real, shipping product, with Sony renaming it the Tablet P, as rumored, and clarifying the full range of specs -- namely, that it weighs in at 0.82 pounds and runs a dual-core 1GHz Tegra 2 SoC with twin 5.5-inch (1024 x 800) displays, dual 5MP and VGA cameras, an HSPA+ radio, a 3,080mAh battery, a full-sized SD card slot, 4GB of internal memory, a micro-USB socket and a 3.5mm headphone jack. Those displays use the same TruBlack technology found in Sony's Bravia TVs, promising blacker blacks and whiter whites. What's more, Sony is opening up about the software, a topic it pointedly ignored when we first handled the hardware, then codenamed the S2. For starters, by the time it ships, it'll join the ranks of a growing number of tablets (most of them 7-inchers) running Android 3.2. And guess what? We recently sat down with the Tablet P a second time for a preview of how the outfit's optimized Honeycomb for those dual displays. Here's what to expect.

Gallery: Sony Tablet P hands-on