Acer replaces Dell as the 2nd biggest PC manufacturer

According to iSuppli's report for PC sales, Acer surpassed Dell as the second biggest PC manufacturer in the world for Q3 2009. Taiwan-based Acer grew by 17% year-over-year, while Dell's sales slipped almost 6%. HP continues to maintain it's lead for the 13th straight quarter. Acer's gain is attributed to increased Notebook and Netbook sales. Dell's loss is due to the downturn in corporate IT spending.

This year, there were 79.9 million PCs sold, up 1.1% from the 79.1 million sold last year.

Firefox browser's market share crosses 25%

Firefox and other browsers have been gaining market share at the expense of Microsoft's IE. For the first time, Firefox's browser market share crossed 25% in the week of Nov 10.

According to statistics from Net Applications for November, Internet Explorer's market share is 63.62%, while Firefox is at number two with 24.72%.  As you can see from the chart below, Firefox gained 10% market share within a span of two years, while Internet Explorer lost more than 15% during the same period.  Safari and Chrome browsers continue to increase their market share as iPhone and Android based phones become more popular.

Warner Home Video to offer Blu-ray combo packs

Warner Home Video announced that they will be offering Blu-ray combo packs for all theatrical new release movies starting first quarter of 2010. Combo pack includes Blu-ray disc, DVD and a digital copy. This combo pack offering trend was started by Disney sometime back. It is evident that these offerings will help accelerate Blu-ray adoption and at the sametime give more viewing choices for customers with no additional cost.

Warner Home Video is also launching Blu-ray double features pack starting at $24.98 that will include a pair of well-matched catalog hits from Warner studios.

BART expands wireless access

BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) has started providing      wireless connections to all passengers on it's trains  underground. This is a good news for thousands of bay area commuters who take underground tube daily to work. Wireless service underground especially comes handy in situations like technical glitches or natural disasters.  Five of the Bay Area's six wireless providers have agreed to use the system. But, from initial reports, cellular signal seems to be spotty. Hopefully the coverage would improve in coming days. Service availability schedule below:

San Francisco Stations (Service Available now)
Embarcadero
Montgomery
Powell Street
Civic Center

East Bay Stations (Service Available 1st Quarter 2010)
Oakland 12th Street
Oakland 19th Street
Lake Merritt

East Bay Stations (Service Available 2nd Quarter 2010)
Ashby
Berkeley
North Berkeley

East Bay Stations (Service Available 3rd Quarter 2010)
Berkeley hills tunnel

San Francisco Stations (Service Available in 2011)
16th Street Mission
24th Street Mission
Glen Park
Balboa Park

Ustream broadcast application for iPhone

Ustream is a web streaming service that lets people broadcast and watch live events online. Although it is not the most popular web streaming service, educational and entertainment community heavily uses the website to broadcast course work and concerts. Educational community seem to especially embrace Ustream for distant learning as it gives faculty free, easy-to-use options to conduct coursework that allow student interact through chat.

Ustream iPhone application lets users record videos to the smart phone or go-live on Ustream's website. Local and live recording can be set to 320x240 or 176x144 resolution. You can play the uploaded videos on your computer, iPhone or share the video on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

                          

Sample video broadcast using Ustream:

Google to acquire Yelp?

TechCrunch is reporting that Google is in advanced negotiations to acquire Yelp. Few months ago, Google started it's own service called Place Pages which provides information about restaurants, neighborhoods, points of interests etc. Place Pages is intended to provide same functionality as Yelp. If the deal goes through, we can expect Yelp to compliment Google's Place pages service or even replace it.

With the recent missed opportunity on lala, Google appears to be acting fast on yelp deal. Below is the list of acquisitions made by Google so far.

Date	Company	Resulting Service
2009-12-04	AppJet	Google Wave
2009-12-23	Teracent	Google AdSense
2009-09-09	Gizmo5	Google Voice
2009-09-09	AdMob	Mobile Advertisement
2009-09-16	reCAPTCHA	Security
2009-08-05	On2	YouTube

Date	Company	Resulting Service
2008-09-12	TNC	Textcube
2008-07-30	Omnisio	YouTube

Date	Company	Resulting Service
2007-10-09	Jaiku	Google Mobile
2007-09-27	Zingku	Google Mobile
2007-07-20	Image America	Google Maps (Aerial photography)
2007-07-09	Postini	Gmail
2007-07-02	GrandCentral	Google Voice
2007-06-19	Zenter	Google Documents
2007-06-05	PeakStream Inc	Server Computing
2007-06-01	FeedBurner	FeedBurner
2007-05-30	Panoramio	Panoramio
2007-05-11	Green Border	Google Chrome
2007-04-19	Marratech	Google talk
2007-04-17	Tonic Systems	Google Documents
2007-04-13	DoubleClick	Google AdSense
2007-03-16	Trendalyzer	Google Analytics
2007-03-16	Adscape Media	Google AdSense
2007-01-04	Xunlei	Google Sites

Date	Company	Resulting Service
2006-12-18	Endoxon	Google Maps
2006-11-13	YouTube	YouTube
2006-10-31	Jotspot Inc	Google Sites
2006-08-15	Neven Vision	Picasa
2006-04-09	Orion	Google Search
2006-03-14	@Last Software	Google Sketchup
2006-03-09	Upstartle (Writely)	Google Documents
2006-02-14	Measure Map	Google Analytics
2006-01-17	dMarc Broadcasting	Google AdSense

Date	Company	Resulting Service
2005-12-20	AOL (5% stake)	Search
2005-11	Skia	Android platform, Chrome browser
2005-11-17	Akwan Information Technologies	Internet Backbone (Latin America)
2005-09-15	Transformic Inc	Search
2005-08-17	Android	Android platform
2005-07	Reqwireless	Google Mobile
2005-07-07	Current Communications Group	Internet backbone
2005-05-12	Dodgeball	Google Latitude
2005-03-28	Urchin Software	Google Analytics
2005-01	2Web Technologies	Google Spreadsheets

Date	Company	Resulting Service
2004-10	Where2	Google Maps
2004-10-27	Keyhole	Google Maps, Google Earth
2004-09	ZipDash	Google Maps for Mobile
2004-07-13	Picasa	Picasa, Blogger
2004-06-23	Baidu	Baidu Search Engine
2004-05-10	Ignite Logic	Blogger

Date	Company	Resulting Service
2003-10	Sprinks	Google AdSense, AdWords
2003-10-07	Genius Labs	Blogger
2003-09-30	Kaltix Corp	iGoogle
2003-04	Applied Semantics	Google AdSense, AdWords
2003-04	Neotonic Software	Google Groups, Gmail
2003-02	Pyra Labs	Blogger

Date	Company	Resulting Service
2001-09-20	Outride	iGoogle
2001-02-12	Deja.com	Google Groups

Most watched YouTube videos of 2009

On an average, 25 hours worth of video is uploaded to YouTube every minute. As people spend more time consuming the content from YouTube, they are creating new internet sensations and making products popular overnight. YouTube today announced most popular videos and music videos for 2009.

Below are the five most watched YouTube videos of 2009.

1. Susan Boyle - Singer - Britains Got Talent 2009   [Embedding is disabled. So, watch it directly on YouTube]

2. David After Dentist

3. JK Wedding Entrance Dance

4. New Moon Movie Trailer

5. Evian Roller Babies

Google phone 'Nexus One' rumored to be available in Jan 2010

Ever since Google employees are presented with the phone, new details about the Nexus One phone are surfacing daily. The phone is manufactured by HTC and resembles HTC passion. Nexus One features include Android 2.1, GSM/EDGE support, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi support, microSD card, high resolution OLED touch screen, Voice-to-text feature, Two Mics and scroll ball. Google's Nexus One is rumored to be available through T-Mobile for $199 with contract starting January 2010.

It would be interesting to see how Nexus One is is going to fare against iPhone and other Android based phones from Motorola, Samsung, HTC etc.

Disney Blu-ray upgrade program

Similar to Warner Bros. DVD2BLU program, Disney Studios Home Entertainment has introduced Upgrade2Blu. As part of the program, Disney is offering $8 coupon towards the purchase of Blu-ray disc if you already own DVD of the movie. After selecting the DVD titles you own, you would need to send the printed rebate form along with the proof-of-purchase tab for DVDs. $8 savings coupon will be emailed to you. Unlike Warner Bros. DVD2BLU program, you can keep your Disney DVDs with you. Below is the list of titles available for this program:

Movie	Movie
A Bug's Life	Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
Bedtime Stories	Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
Beverly Hills Chihuahua	Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse Of The Black Pearl
Bolt	Pixar Short Films Collection Vol. 1
Bridge To Terabithia	Race To Witch Mountain
Camp Rock	Ratatouille
Cars	Remember The Titans
Chicken Little	Roving Mars
College Road Trip	Santa Buddies
Dinosaur	Sky High
Disneynature Earth	Sleeping Beauty
Eight Below	Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
Enchanted	Space Buddies
G-Force	The Cheetah Girls: One World
Glory Road	The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian
Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus Best Of Both Worlds Concert	The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe
Hannah Montana The Movie	The Game Plan
High School Musical	The Greatest Game Ever Played
High School Musical 2	The Haunted Mansion
High School Musical 3: Senior Year	The Rookie
Invincible	The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause
Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience	The Wild
Meet The Robinsons	Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas
Miracle	Tinker Bell
Monsters, Inc.	Tinker Bell and the Lost Treasure
Morning Light	Underdog
National Treasure	Up
National Treasure 2: Book of Secrets	Wall-E
Pinocchio

Blu-ray Managed copy

Technology makes life easy. It also makes the consumer in you feel bad with it's advancements. Case in point - Blu-ray Managed copy. In an effort to discourage people from obtaining illegal copies of movies, AACS LA's managed copy for Blu-ray discs lets the Blu-ray disc owners make a copy of the movie. Once this feature is fully implemented by Studios, Hardware manufacturers and Technology companies, you would be able to make a full resolution backup copy of Blu-ray movie to various storage devices. This requires Blu-ray players to be connected to the internet so that your Blu-ray disc can be authenticated by servers managed by Studios or AACS before making a copy.

Even though all Blu-ray discs sold after Dec 4, 2009 are required to have Managed copy feature, none of the current generation blu-ray players and other BD devices do not support this feature. This means the expensive Blu-ray player you bought this holiday season would become obsolete when Hardware manufacturers start selling Managed copy compatible players early 2010. Additionally, Studios can charge you for this managed copy, which makes this feature not so popular with consumers.

A demonstration of managed copy feature:

Sony movies on Internet connected TVs & Blu-ray players

Declining DVD sales and lackluster box-office performances are driving Hollywood studios and Consumer Electronics manufacturers to come up with new ways to increase their revenue streams. As this BusinessWeek's article and NY Times article report, Sony is experimenting with making some movies available through it's Internet ready Bravia TVs and Blu-ray players just before their DVD release. This new window, called as Home theatrical window is spaced between movie's theatrical release and it's DVD release so that,  interests of theatre owners and DVD retailers are equally served . Sony, with it's unique position as Hardware manufacturer and Movie studio owner, is trying to convince other Hollywood studios and content providers to join this experiment.

Even though HDTV and Blu-ray technology adoption is slow, there seems to be a section of viewers who are willing to pay a premium for watching movies on their big TV screens well before it's DVD release schedule. The quality of a typical internet streaming movie may be comparable to DVD quality but it doesn't match with Blu-ray quality. As Blu-ray technology becomes more mainstream, the popularity of this offering from Sony  is going to depend on the quality of the online stream and how it is priced compared to DVDs.

Augmented Reality - iPhone, Android apps and beyond

Imagine this. You are on a business trip to Paris. You are new to the city and are taking Metro to your client's office. Thanks to the Jet lag, you are running late and just missed the train. You seem to be in the vicinity of Metro station but do not know the schedule of the next train. You take your iPhone and start punching to get Google Maps show schedule information while navigating the human maze on sidewalk.

Now Imagine this. You take your iPhone, point your iPhone camera at Metro station and give a voice command "Metro Schedule... English". A french sounding female voice gives you the Metro schedule. Knowing that your next train is after 15 minutes, you see a Starbucks logo on the building adjacent to Metro station on your iPhone screen. You head towards Starbucks while the female voice gives walking directions to Metro station from your current location.

Welcome to Augmented Reality. Services like this are becoming popular in smartphones like iPhone and Android. Even though the applications are in early stages, this is going to be a sought-after feature in smartphones. These applications make use of built-in GPS receiver, built-in compass and camera in smartphones to locate your position and orientation to overlay the available information on top of smartphone's camera view. Additionally these applications can provide access to user generated data in real time. Below is a list of iPhone Augmented Reality applications:

• Layar Reality Browser
• Wikitude world browser
• Presselite's Bionic Eye
• Acrossair Nearest Subway App

Pranav Mistry's SixthSense technology, which is a wearable gestural interface that augments the physical world around us with digital information promises to take augmented reality to next level.

Vevo - The Hulu for Music Videos?

The hype surrounding Vevo is increasing day-by-day as it's launch date is approaching. The music video website is going to be launched on Dec 08. Dubbed as "Hulu for Music Videos",  the joint venture by Universal Music Group and Sony Music Entertainment will be powered by Google's YouTube technology on a revenue sharing basis. The site will feature music videos, concert footage, backstage footage and interviews. 

Considering the list of investment/partnership deals UMG believed to have inked for Vevo - Abu Dhabi Media Company, EMI Group, Warner Music Group, AT&T, A2IM (an international consortium of 225 independent record labels), this website is going to be a top destination for music videos bypassing TV and radio. As YouTube's top money makers are record labels Universal Music Group and Sony Music Entertainment whose music videos generate more advertising revenues than any other channel in YouTube, this new website possibly could be a substitute for their YouTube channel.

While details about the site are kept under the wraps, it appears from their Facebook, Twitter updates that Vevo is going to use Microsoft's Sliverlight technology for video playback. Vevo's popularity is going to depend on it's ability to let users comment on videos and vote for videos. It remains to be seen whether Vevo is going to complement Google's YouTube services or compete with it for viewership (and revenues).

Blu-ray disc deals from Warner Home Video

Looking for deals on Blu-ray discs this holiday season? This might interest you. Warner Home Video, a division of Warner Bros. Studios is offering a trade-in program called DVD2BLU wherein you can send in your DVD titles (from the list of 55 or so available titles) and get Blu-ray version of the same titles for around $8 - $10 each. They are offering free shipping on orders over $25. But, after throwing in factors like parting with your beloved DVDs, paying shipping cost of $4.95 and waiting 4 -5 weeks to get your Blu-ray discs, the effective price you pay here may not be as competitive as buying Blu-ray discs from Amazon or Bestbuy. List of titles available from Warner Bros.'s website DVD2BLU:

Movie	Price	Movie	Price
10,000 BC	$9.95	Journey to the Center of Earth	$7.95
2001: A Space Odyssey	$7.95	Last Samurai	$7.95
Alexander Revisited: (Unrated)	$7.95	Lost Boys, The	$7.95
American History	$7.95	Michael Clayton	$7.95
An American in Paris	$7.95	National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation	$7.95
Any Given Sunday	$7.95	Ocean's Thirteen	$9.95
Aviator	$7.95	Orphanage, The	$9.95
Beetlejuice	$7.95	Pan's Labyrinth	$9.95
Blazing Saddles	$7.95	Perfect Storm, The	$7.95
Body of Lies	$9.95	Pride and Glory	$7.95
Bucket List, The	$7.95	Rio Bravo	$7.95
Christmas Story, A	$9.95	Risky Business	$7.95
Clockwork Orange, A	$7.95	Rumor Has It	$7.95
Collateral Damage	$7.95	Rush Hour 3	$9.95
Constantine	$7.95	Scanner Darkly, A	$7.95
Dark City: Director's Cut	$7.95	Searchers, The	$7.95
Deliverance	$7.95	Shining, The	$7.95
Dirty Dozen, The	$7.95	Speed Racer	$9.95
Dumb and Dumber	$7.95	Superman II: Richard Donner Cut	$7.95
Elf	$9.95	Superman Returns	$9.95
Eraser	$7.95	Swordfish	$7.95
Final Destination	$7.95	Taking Lives	$7.95
Fugitive, The	$7.95	Training Day	$7.95
Full Metal Jacket	$9.95	We Are Marshall	$9.95
Gods and Generals	$7.95	Wedding Crashers	$7.95
Golden Compass, The	$9.95	Wedding Singer, The	$7.95
Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle	$7.95	Wyatt Earp	$7.95
History of Violence, A	$7.95

Google showcases Chrome OS

Google showcased their Chromium Operating System (Chrome OS) today which is entirely web based. It is an open source application based on Linux and the Chrome web browser. Browser is the central place where you do all your work in Chrome OS - be it browsing, checking emails, editing documents, listening to music watching videos or playing games. All these features are available through App Menus, Panels in the browser. Since all applications are stored on the internet, the OS is not going to support standard hard drives, just SSDs. Even though it is free software, it is going to run only on compatible hardware. We need to see how it is going to fit in to the open source concept. Videos below -

Blu-ray players to be more affordable (Sub-$100) this Holiday season

Of late, retailers have been offering discounts on Blu-ray players by bundling them with High Definition TVs and Home Theater Systems. This holiday season, you are going to find entry level Blu-ray players for as low as $100. This break in entry level price barrier is partly due to higher Blu-ray adoption rate and partly due to the imminent competition the Chinese Blu-ray disc manufacturers are bringing in.

Unlike high-end models, entry level Blu-ray players lack support for BD-Live (profile 2.0) and high definition audio standards like Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio. But, most of them will do the job of playing Blu-ray discs and upconverting DVDs without any issues. If you are planning to get onto Blu-ray bandwagon without burning a hole in your wallet, look out for these players:

• Magnavox NB530MGX (Profile 1.1. No BD-Live support. Has SD slot instead of USB drive)
• Bestbuy Insignia NS-BRDVD3 (Ethernet enabled, supports Profile 2.0
• Curtis Mathes CMMBX130
• Sylvania NB530SLX

A leaked Walmart Black friday Ad lists Magnavox NB500MG1F for $78.

Netflix Mobile applications for queue management

If you are a Netflix customer, this one may make your life little bit easier. Next time you want to manage your Netflix queue or search for titles while watching TV, you don't have to reach for your laptop or desktop to do so. You can just do that from your mobile. There are few applications available for iPhone, Blackberry and Nokia phones. Using these apps, you can manage your DVD rental queue, search for movies, get recommendations. The Netflix app on Nokia phones can even stream movie trailers via 3G or Wi-Fi. Even though the application is available only on select Nokia models, this is definitely a right move from Netflix to reach out for more customers. This means we can expect Netflix streaming to mobile phones in the future!

Netflix Nokia mobile app

iPhlix mobile app for iPhone

 

PhoneFlicks mobile app for iPhone (free)

 

EPIX platform - Can it survive?

Three Hollywood studios - Paramount, Lionsgate and MGM - have joined hands to offer their movie and programming content through cable TV channel, Video On Demand (VOD) and online. The platform is called EPIX. Launched with Verizon FiOS as the only distribution provider in October 2009, this service is going to compete with premium channels like HBO, Starz as well as online services like Netflix, Amazon.

The next question is system requirements for watching the content online. According to their website, video is streamed at 500Kbps to 3Mbps and can be  played on Windows and Mac. Video resolution for online streaming is going to be 720p which is not high-definition but is comparable to similar service offered by Netflix etc. Also, you need to be a Verizon FiOS subscriber to access their online content. By limiting online content access to existing Verizon subscribers, they are losing a chance to attract potential new cable customers. So far, no other cable provider has announced any deal to carry the channel which means, all those regions without Verizon service don't have a chance to get the channel anytime soon.

One cool thing about EPIX channel is that you can watch new movies which are not yet available on DVD and Blu-ray. But, all those movies are in 720p, while many other channels offer their HD content in 1080i resolution. So, you are not going to get the best movie watching experience here.

With services like Hulu and Netflix streaming becoming increasingly popular, this move by Hollywood studios to offer their own service rather than partnering with existing providers means they want to be in control of the distribution and make more money. If more cable providers agree to carry the channel, we can expect the service to survive and be competing with services like Netflix, iTunes.

Hollywood studios want you to buy more DVDs

In an attempt to increase profits from the already declining DVD sales, Hollywood studios are planning to keep new DVD releases away from movie rental services like Netflix, Redbox and Blockbuster as many as 30 days. By doing so, studios are expecting that people would buy more DVDs instead of renting them (at least in that 30 day period). While Blockbuster and Netflix seem to be agreeing to this new mandate from Hollywood studios, Redbox is fighting the proposal as it would negatively impact their business model. Redbox has a reason to oppose this proposal more than Netflix or Blockbuster as majority of it's revenues come from new DVD releases. Netflix and Blockbuster seem to agree to this proposal as most of their revenues come from old DVD rentals and Hollywood studios are willing to offer them huge discounts on new DVD releases.

While this apparent decision by Netflix and Blockbuster may boost their profits in short-term it would affect their business model in long-term as people would try to avoid this moratorium by waiting 30 more days for the DVDs to be available for rental or Looking for ways to download/watch illegal copies of movies.With an average period of 3-5 months between theatrical release and DVD release, people may decide to wait 30 more days to rent the DVDs instead of shelling out $20 or so to buy them when they are available. Also, penalizing movie rental customers to wait while making DVDs available for sale will make more people to look for options like illegal downloading.

As digital download/online rental  is becoming more popular, studios and movie rental services should find ways to make them more mainstream and affordable instead of forcing customers to pay more for their movie watching experience at home.

My Apple Experience!!

I wasn't a fan of Apple products for a long time. My first introduction to Apple products was in early 2005 when my employer gave me a Powerbook and I bought an iPod shuffle. They were both nice looking products and worked just fine, but I wasn't terribly impressed.

Those days I used work on my powerbook with Mac OS X Tiger at home and had a light weight 12" dell for work. As fas as the OS goes, I didn't find Mac OS X to be any more powerful or stable or easy to use than my XP. I found myself more at home with XP than with OS X. Lack of the range of software was a big negative and even for the apps that were available, the Mac versions are limited in feature set compared to my PC. Yahoo messenger didn't have video chat, websites with telugu scripts didn't work with firefox or safari neither does Yahoo music and telugu radio, iphoto couldn't handle a gigabyte of photos without freezing. Many little problems add up and made the experience less than ideal. I liked the hardware very much, a lot of thought is put into the placement of the keys on the keyboard and some special keys that makes life easier. The look of the machine was pretty cool and the coolness factor is pretty much evident. I carried it around to coffee shops, libraries, friends places etc...

And iPod shuffle, I just wanted to check out what the fuss about an iPod was all about and I bought the cheapest one I could get. Not the magic I was expecting. No display, no FM, its just a dumb device. The sleekness will only make u happy when u buy, after all its the utility. For the price $129, it was a rip off. May be if I went with regular iPod, I might have had a different experience. But Hey... the shuffles were selling as many as the regulars. Also, I never had a music player before shuffle and I never understood how can some one spend so much money on a device that does only one thing, play music.

With my experience with powerbook and shuffle, I couldn't understand what is so great about Apple products that people around me love so much and are willing to pay a hefty premium, I was certain that it is just bought by young and hip people to feel cool and so a great but mere marketing win by Apple.

When a phone from Apple is rumored a couple of years before it was released, I vehemently argued with my friend that the mobile phone market is not that easy to crack. Some of the most innovative companies like Nokia, Motorola, Sony, Microsoft have been in the market for years. I said it is impossible for Apple to beat them at their own game. I told him this time it would be different and apple is going to get smacked. My friend said he don't know how, but Apple will come up with something new that can compete with other phones on the market.

When MS was coming in with Zune and its marketing muscle, I said MS will neutralize iPods halo as well. My friend was sure that Apple would continue to innovate on iPod, and MS will be left chasing iPods tail.

I suspected he joined the cult of Apple and cannot see the truth. Not really. His prophecy came true.

Apple announced iPhone. I was on road for a conference and checked out Jobs key note after work. I called my friend and said I would buy it today if they sell it for $500 unlocked and if it is available on Verizon, since my employer pays for the service. I was so impressed with the device I was willing to shell out 500 bucks with out seeing it. But I was disappointed to learn that it is going to be available only on ATT and only 6 months later. Months followed with discussions on lack of keyboard, lack of features, blah blah... When the crazy rush subsided after it was released, I went to an Apple store and was disappointed with the phone as it took me less than two minutes to run out of things to check. I wrote about how expensive it is for the limited stuff to do and declared Apple just sells cool overpriced stuff for stupid kids.

Then things changed. I became a Product Manager. I had to shop for phones as I moved to my new job. I checked out Blackberrys, WinMos, Nokias and what not. I suddenly realized how inelegant and antiquated the rest of the phones and their interfaces are compared to iPhone. I could not believe how stuck the biggies are. There is nothing in those phones that says 'User Experience'. But was sure that Nokia will slam a dozen phones at Apple and drown it. Then, Apple announced App Store. Applications treated like MP3 songs? How did they even come up with that? That made me relate to the MP3 world before iPod and iTunes and why they were such a hit with music lovers. As I continued working on my product as a Product Manager trying to decide what to build and how to build, I started to truly understand the magic of Apple. The fact that after all these years, all these big wigs are still chasing iPod's and iPhone's tails.

I was not around to understand the impact when the first Mac was released or when the first iMac, the first iPod or iTunes were released. But I bet the excitement and WOW factor would have been as much as I have felt when I first saw and read about iPhone and about App store in iTunes. It is truly incredible how Jobs remade so many industries over and over.

Google Android Phones

After missing the opportunity to team up with Apple on iPhone more than 2 years ago, Verizon is betting big this time with the introduction of a slew of phones running on Google's Android platform.

Motorola's Droid (available on Nov 06) is the first touch-screen smartphone to use Google's Android version 2.0. Droid's features include sync to Exchange right out of the box so that you can check your work emails and download contacts and calendar. It also syncs your contacts with Facebook. Droid has a 5-megapixel camera with built in flash. Like other Android based phones, it can run multiple programs at once. The Google maps application in Droid can turn the smartphone into a GPS device providing turn-by-turn directions.

However, compared to iPhone, Droid's OS and look-and-feel is not refined. It does not support true multi-touch and it's application foot print is not as big as that of iPhone. Android's inability to use more than 256MB of apps is another drawback. But, better wireless coverage from Verizon and positive reviews by technology critics would make this smartphone a top shopping item for people looking for a mobile this holiday season.

According to Google, 18 mobile phones will be using Android platform by the end of 2009. Below is a partial list of phones available in North America:

Phone	Android Version
HTC Dream (T-Mobile G1)	1.0
HTC Magic (T-Mobile myTouch 3G)	1.5
HTC Hero (T-Mobile G2 Touch)	1.5
HTC Click	1.6
Samsung Galaxy	1.5
Samsung Moment	1.5
Motorola CLIQ	1.6
Motorola Heron	2.0
Motorola Droid	2.0
Sony Ericsson Xperia	1.6

Movies on USB drives

Kingston today announced that it has teamed up with Paramount Pictures to deliver full-length movies on it's flash memory products. The company announced that the movie offerings on USB and SD cards will help reach wider audience as more and more movies are viewed on computers and other portable devices.

Owning movies on a USB or SD drive falls somewhere between owning a physical disc and owning/renting/streaming digital content in terms of consumer's perception about owning something that they buy. Nowadays almost every computer comes with a DVD drive and not all portable devices support SD cards. This is going to narrow down the prospective audience for this new offering. Also, as people are moving towards Blu-ray high definition content, it would be difficult to get people buy this DVD quality movie offering in USB/SD cards.

 As more and more content is made available in digital format, it remains to be seen whether this kind of offering is going to help Hollywood studios that are already affected by dwindling DVD/CD sales.

Calibrating your HDTV picture

If you decide to play with your HDTV factory default settings and calibrate them to better suit your viewing environment, there are couple of options available out there. Depending on how much perfection you are seeking in picture quality and how much money and time you want to spend, these options range from using freely available calibration software, to buying a calibration disc, to using the services of a professional calibration technician. While individual viewing preferences may vary, the free/low cost calibration software would definitely help improve the picture quality. For even better results, you can go for a professional calibration.

In either case, knowing a bit about the picture related terminology helps you make a better decision. Picture quality can be improved by adjusting TV's Brightness, Contrast, Sharpness, Color, Backlight and Tint. Advanced options like Color Tone, Dynamic Contrast, Gamma, White Balance, Edge Enhancement and Flesh Tone can be used to further improve the quality. Note that different TV manufacturers may use different terminology to refer to these advanced options. Table below lists color settings for a typical HDTV:

Parameter	Value
Backlight	7
Contrast	95
Brightness	45
Sharpness	6
Color	50
Tint (G/R)	G50/R50

Below is a list of popular disc based calibration software tools:
* THX optimizer (available free on every THX certified DVD, Blu-ray disc)
* Digital Video Essentials
* Sound & Vision Home Theater Tune-up
* Imaging Science Foundation calibration wizard
* Avia Guide to Home Theater

Blu-ray Vs Broadcast HD

Like everybody else, I am starting to enjoy the amazing and crisp video quality of Blu-ray movies compared to Broadcast HD or DVD movies. But, while watching Broadcast HD shows or movies, there are occasions that make my eyes believe that Broadcast HD video quality is as good as Blu-ray, if not superior (especially with animated movies). It is not easy to compare these two video qualities without taking into consideration factors like Transmission mode, Compression, Bitrate, Load on Broadcast provider's network and type of the content and your TV settings.

Compression: Blu-ray discs use 1080p maximum and MPEG-4 compression which results in higher possible bandwidth. Broadcast HD transmissions are 1080i maximum and use MPEG-2 compression which results in lower possible bandwidth.

Bitrate: Blu-ray technology transmits the content at 40 Mbps (total 48 Mbps for video and audio). Broadcast HD transmits at around 20 Mbps. Lower bitrate for broadcast HD means squeezing the content resulting in loss of details.

Network Load: Broadcast HD quality is affected by network load which depends on number of subscribers availing the service at a particular time and other infrastructure related factors.

Content Type: CGI rich animated movies lose less details in broadcast transmission compared to a normal movie. This, sometimes, results in a Blu-ray quality comparable movie experience from broadcast HD.

TV Settings: TV Settings play a big role in viewing experience. Factory defaults are not always the ideal settings for a typical home viewing environment. By optimizing your HDTV settings, you can enjoy better picture quality for both Blu-ray movies and broadcast HD content.

All things considered, Blu-ray content has superior quality over broadcast HD content.

Netflix one step closer to conquer your living room

Over the weekend, Netflix announced that PS3 owners soon will be able to watch Netflix's streaming content. This is an interesting announcement from Netflix, considering the fact that their streaming service is already available on XBox and they are using Silverlight technology from Microsoft in their players. PS3 now joins the long list of devices that support Netflix's streaming: Roku player, Tivo player, XBox 360, LG/Samsung/Insignia Blu-ray players, LG/Sony/Vizio HDTVs, LG/Samsung Blu-ray Home Theatre Systems, Windows and Mac computers. This will help Netflix get more gaming customers subscribe to their service with the possibility of starting their own game rental service to PS3/XBox community (Beware, Gamefly!).

Next step for Netflix would be to provide the streaming service to Mobile users. An iPhone app that can start playing the show that is paused before. Also, the ability to edit 'instant queue' from the Mobile app or TV remote. I see three hurdles associated with this Netflix iPhone/Mobile app. i) iPhone compatible player technology [either Microsoft should make Silverlight iPhone/Mobile ready or Netflix should abandon her bedfellow for a while and go with different player technology for Mobiles ii) Bandwidth - While you may enjoy the streaming content on a 3G mobile, content streaming to 2.5G mobiles will not yield desired results. iii) Apple's reluctance to host such an app, as it would cut into it's iTunes service.

As the ever increasing customer base demands more quality, Netflix would have to improve it's streaming service by providing more 'new' movies to the "watch now" list and improving the stream quality. Improving stream quality is costly and time consuming. The quality of a typical streaming content falls between that of DVD and broadcast HD content (depending on your internet speed). Also, at present, streaming does not support multi-channel audio (just stereo) or closed captioning. The devices that come pre-installed with Netflix streaming service are capable of 1080p. So, Netflix's should aim at providing atleast broadcast HD quality content through the streaming service in order to keep the new customers coming to them.

Democracy in Andhra... Really?

The flood crisis has hardly subsided and YS Jagan shifted to Hyderabad and is openly disappointed about being denied the Chief Minister-ship. Some elected MLAs and MPs, openly state that they are incompetent and cannot govern with out Jagan as their leader. Other elites claim that since YSR has apparently done so much to the state, it is the duty of the people to do justice to his family and make Jagan the next CM. Following the news media, it sounds like there is sizable population in the state about the legitimacy of his claims for his father's throne.

Claiming the throne after his fathers death like in good old days of old world is the least of the problems. There are other reasons that makes this worse. For  one, YS Jagan is the head of one of the leading media empire with a news paper and 24/7 news network. And he is using both the platforms to forward his cause with out an inch of shame. Media, news media in particular is called the fourth estate that works as a watchdog to keep the government and other institutions from going out of control and preserve the democracy. Unfortunately, this doesn't apply to Andhra. And not a single soul seems to worry or care about this state of the affairs. 

Don't think for a minute that it is just Jagan that is ruining this supposedly great democracy. The alternative options in Media and politics are equally fraud.  

Current CM, Rosaiah, how ever experienced and qualified he might be, is not an elected MLA. He is nominated to the Legislative council. He is not even elected by the legislative body of the majority party, but is nominated to the post by the godly 'High Command' which is an anti thesis to 'Democracy'.  All democratically elected Congress leaders state their allegiance to Soniaji and not to their constituents. And it has become so ridiculously acceptable to every one in the media and the rest of the state do not raise or discuss it as an issue and actually doesn't even seem to notice this anti democratic modern version of royalty worship. 

And Jagan's competition in Media, Ramoji's Eenadu group, equally blatant in promoting its own interest and cannot claim to be neutral anymore. They promoted the unethical alliance of TDP and TRS as the savior of the people and given unparalleled coverage to an young movie star's melodramatic campaign for this alliance. The fact that this guy has zero political experience or work to show for and is just a campaigner is ignored and he was portrayed as a statesman whose words carry an unprecedented weight. An organization which claims to be the torch bearer for ethics in media, this is an absolute disgrace. 

The common man cannot be more stupid. He passionately takes sides supporting the partisan media that promote the political party they sympathize with. They cheer every strike and punch that their team delivers to the other side, not realizing that it is them taking the blows. They just seem to think they are watching a cricket match cheering for their home team.

We can just stop call ourselves a Democracy and get over with it.

The Teachable Moment - Obama's Olympic Lesson

It is admirable that Obama went all in to bring in 2016 Olympics to his home town. Not sure if he knew the risks and still went for the pitch OR if he thought US has the games in the kitty. It is honorable either way, the former scenario would bring in more points for his love for Chicago. The time and money would have been more than worth if he had come back with a win. It would bring in a few billions into the country and a lot more cheer to the nation now and in 2016. It would have provided the country a great opportunity for America to engage with world culturally. It is a no loss scenario, as opposed to what some Republicans say to score some political points. 

But, it is indeed a teachable moment for the Obama when dealing with international community. His team was highly confident about their pitch, their strategies and goodwill of US in a new changed world led by Obama.

“There won’t be a dry eye in the room,” said Valerie Jarrett, “I’m sure that it will touch the hearts of each of the IOC members,” before heading out to Copenhagen about the dramatic speech that Michelle Obama is going to give to the IOC. Michelle Obama her self was all in for the pitch. "It's a battle. We're going to win," she apparently boasted, with good humor. "Take no prisoners." Though Obama's speech was decent and professional compared to Mrs. Obama's self referencing political campaign style 'personal story' speech, (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/02/president-obama-michelle_n_307637.html) it doesn't matter. 

In fact, majority of the votes would have been decided much earlier. It is not enough to put a nice effort pitching a plan and putting a nice face. There are a number of geo political and economic factors that would decide the votes in an international body. If US managed to come last contesting for a sports event with not much at stake, even after taking a number of steps to please international community as a part of an image make over and even after the most powerful man on Earth making the pitch himself. Imagine what lies ahead when you need to win over the UN body in more serious and consequential situations. 

Obama's team seems to have similar confidence in their strategies and the goodwill Obama has created in the world when it comes to foreign policy. It is fine that Obama is trying a new inclusive politics to bring every country in the world together as equals (?). But the IOC has given him enough indications that the world doesn't work his way.