The 404 676: Where Mark Zuckerberg sees dead people (podcast)
Big thanks to Sony for sending us to last night's prescreening of "The Social Network". Of course, all three of us loved the film, and without giving away any spoilers, we spend some time at the beginning of today's episode of The 404 Podcast to discuss everything we loved (Sorkin's screenplay, Reznor/Ross's score, actor performances, etc...) as well as our suspicions about the truthfulness of the story, but with a 100 percent freshness rating on Rotten Tomatoes, you should definitely see for yourself!It seems that at least one story on The 404 per week is dedicated to the movie "Hackers," and this week we're celebrating the 15th anniversary of the movie's 1995 release by running through Alexander Sotirov's Cyberpunk Style Guide. The photoblog showcases some of the movie's best wardrobe choices, which includes a lot of multipocketed vests, latex leggings, rollerblades, and at least one cat shirt. Of course, Jeff's favorite scene featuring Angelina Jolie in a NJ Devil's jersey is always represented on the site as well.It's hard to believe, but George Lucas and his visual effects teams at LucasFilms and ILM are actually re-re-releasing the six "Star Wars" films in 3D, starting with "The Phantom Menace" in 2012. After that, Lucas will release one "Star Wars" film per year in 3D, and Lucas says by 2012, enough theaters around the country will have the 3D technology to support a wide release. Sounds like a plot to squeeze a billion or so more dollars out of the series, and while many fans were irate about the changes and additions to the beloved classics, apparently the 3D releases will also include even more never-before-seen footage. For die-hard fans who can't wait, the Star Wars films will also be available in high definition on 2D Blu-ray next year.Episode 676PodcastYour browser does not support the audio element. Subscribe in iTunes audio | Suscribe to iTunes (video) |Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS Video  Follow us on Twitter!The 404Jeff BakalarJustin YuWilson TangAdd us on Facebook!The 404 Fan PageThe 404 GroupJustin YuJeff BakalarWilson Tang
No big announcement at Spotify's SXSWi talk
No big announcement at Spotify's SXSWi talk
Spotify currently has about 7 million users, around 320,000 of whom pay for a subscription to opt out of audio and display ads, despite being technically restricted to six European countries. But eager to try out the service, many in the U.S. and elsewhere have capitalized on sneaky workarounds and Internet proxies to get Spotify for themselves. Ek presented a live demo of Spotify's desktop software and Android app to the audience, ostensibly novelties because the service isn't available in the U.S. Interviewer Eliot von Buskirk, a music journalist for Wired magazine, had polled the audience to see who had tried Spotify, and when a surprising number of hands went up, von Buskirk joked, "So everybody's from Europe?"Crowds had turned out for the keynote because Spotify is one of those rare music services that actually might have potential--its attractive design, focus on playlist creation and sharing via URLs, and simple interface have won it many fans. Some might say that Ek, a 26-year-old from Sweden, is naive because he still believes that there's money to be made in digital music--a model that's time and again proven to be a cash drain and an investor disappointment for just about anyone not affiliated with Apple. He said over and over that the music industry needs to embrace multiple revenue streams, truly believing that it's the only way that the money will come in."There isn't one business model that will save the music industry, but it's about figuring out how to use downloads, how to use subscriptions, how to use merchandising, ticketing, and all these things," he said.Ek did hint that one of Spotify's big plans right now is to get its product on other platforms. "Most of the other (non-iPhone) handset manufacturers lack a really good media player, and we've seen that people tend to use Spotify as a media player on Nokia handsets, on Android handsets, and so on," he said. "It's been very cumbersome to get your music on a BlackBerry phone or a Nokia phone from your iTunes library, and that's something we want to sort out."It's beyond mobile, too."We want to enable your library on all these devices, whether it's a set-top box, an Xbox, a mobile phone," he said. "We want to make music like water."
Spotify currently has about 7 million users, around 320,000 of whom pay for a subscription to opt out of audio and display ads, despite being technically restricted to six European countries. But eager to try out the service, many in the U.S. and elsewhere have capitalized on sneaky workarounds and Internet proxies to get Spotify for themselves. Ek presented a live demo of Spotify's desktop software and Android app to the audience, ostensibly novelties because the service isn't available in the U.S. Interviewer Eliot von Buskirk, a music journalist for Wired magazine, had polled the audience to see who had tried Spotify, and when a surprising number of hands went up, von Buskirk joked, "So everybody's from Europe?"Crowds had turned out for the keynote because Spotify is one of those rare music services that actually might have potential--its attractive design, focus on playlist creation and sharing via URLs, and simple interface have won it many fans. Some might say that Ek, a 26-year-old from Sweden, is naive because he still believes that there's money to be made in digital music--a model that's time and again proven to be a cash drain and an investor disappointment for just about anyone not affiliated with Apple. He said over and over that the music industry needs to embrace multiple revenue streams, truly believing that it's the only way that the money will come in."There isn't one business model that will save the music industry, but it's about figuring out how to use downloads, how to use subscriptions, how to use merchandising, ticketing, and all these things," he said.Ek did hint that one of Spotify's big plans right now is to get its product on other platforms. "Most of the other (non-iPhone) handset manufacturers lack a really good media player, and we've seen that people tend to use Spotify as a media player on Nokia handsets, on Android handsets, and so on," he said. "It's been very cumbersome to get your music on a BlackBerry phone or a Nokia phone from your iTunes library, and that's something we want to sort out."It's beyond mobile, too."We want to enable your library on all these devices, whether it's a set-top box, an Xbox, a mobile phone," he said. "We want to make music like water."
Droid lacks Apple's secret weapon- iTunes
Droid lacks Apple's secret weapon: iTunes
Announced this weekend by Verizon in a cheeky TV commercial, the Droid is a Motorola phone running Google's Android 2.0 operating system. The advertisement notes that the Droid will do things that the iPhone won't, like take pictures in the dark and run simultaneous apps (apparently playing music in the background, as the iPhone can do, doesn't count), and touts its open development process (a head-scratcher for non-techies, but it could mean more apps than the iPhone, someday). The first preview I've seen, from Boy Genius Report, was also positive. People are excited, and for good reason--competition drives innovation, which is good for consumers. But here's the thing: one reason for the runaway success of the iPhone--and one of the reasons why Apple still continues to sell more than 10 million iPods per quarter--is iTunes. Not so much the store, although that's an important component, but the software. Of course there are plenty of other applications out there that help you rip CDs and organize your digital music collection. And there are plenty of other sources for online music. But the real strength of iTunes is in the sync process--you plug your iPhone in, iTunes opens up automatically and recognizes it. Hit the large "Sync" button and it automatically loads your music (and video, and apps, and anything else you choose) onto it. (With some devices, depending on your settings, you don't even need to hit "Sync.") That's the simple, consumer-friendly, end-to-end experience that Apple figured out first.Contrast that with the multi-step process required to transfer music from a Windows PC to the first Android phone that was available in the U.S., last year's G1. Amazon provided over-the-air MP3 downloads for that phone, giving it a rough equivalent to the over-the-air version of the iTunes store, but let's face it: most digital music is not purchased, but is ripped from a CD or comes from some other source (legal or not). Verizon, Motorola, and Google haven't said much about music for the Droid. Maybe they still have a musical trick or two up their collective sleeves. But without some sort of equivalent to the iTunes desktop application, the Droid may be a great phone, but it won't be a great music phone.
Announced this weekend by Verizon in a cheeky TV commercial, the Droid is a Motorola phone running Google's Android 2.0 operating system. The advertisement notes that the Droid will do things that the iPhone won't, like take pictures in the dark and run simultaneous apps (apparently playing music in the background, as the iPhone can do, doesn't count), and touts its open development process (a head-scratcher for non-techies, but it could mean more apps than the iPhone, someday). The first preview I've seen, from Boy Genius Report, was also positive. People are excited, and for good reason--competition drives innovation, which is good for consumers. But here's the thing: one reason for the runaway success of the iPhone--and one of the reasons why Apple still continues to sell more than 10 million iPods per quarter--is iTunes. Not so much the store, although that's an important component, but the software. Of course there are plenty of other applications out there that help you rip CDs and organize your digital music collection. And there are plenty of other sources for online music. But the real strength of iTunes is in the sync process--you plug your iPhone in, iTunes opens up automatically and recognizes it. Hit the large "Sync" button and it automatically loads your music (and video, and apps, and anything else you choose) onto it. (With some devices, depending on your settings, you don't even need to hit "Sync.") That's the simple, consumer-friendly, end-to-end experience that Apple figured out first.Contrast that with the multi-step process required to transfer music from a Windows PC to the first Android phone that was available in the U.S., last year's G1. Amazon provided over-the-air MP3 downloads for that phone, giving it a rough equivalent to the over-the-air version of the iTunes store, but let's face it: most digital music is not purchased, but is ripped from a CD or comes from some other source (legal or not). Verizon, Motorola, and Google haven't said much about music for the Droid. Maybe they still have a musical trick or two up their collective sleeves. But without some sort of equivalent to the iTunes desktop application, the Droid may be a great phone, but it won't be a great music phone.
DoubleTwist for Android- Keep your songs in sync
DoubleTwist for Android: Keep your songs in sync
The DoubleTwist Player for Android that debuted in the Android Market this week is a good-looking alternative to Android's default media player. The Android app is the mobile arm of the DoubleTwist media library for Windows and Mac, itself an iTunes alternative focused on managing media for a variety of smartphone platforms. As such, the mobile player is tasked with syncing your music, videos, and podcasts to and from your desktop and your Android phone.The app lets you find songs by artist, album, title, or playlist. There are also shortcuts for synced videos and podcasts. The player then spins your picks, giving you basic controls to pause, skip, and shuffle.We tested DoubleTwist's PC-to-phone syncing on two Android phones. One transfer worked quickly and as advertised, but the other became a source of intense and mounting frustration with incomplete and failed syncs and even an attempt that led to a memory card error. DoubleTwist's engineers are still poring through our error log to pinpoint the problem.If your music library is fit to burst, expect a lengthy first sync that could take 10 minutes or so, though subsequent syncing should be speedier, especially if you're dealing with smaller media loads. DoubleTwist for Android automatically mounts the USB drive to facilitate media syncing.Screenshot by Jessica Dolcourt/CNETWhen it came to performance, we found the Android player itself to be reliable, but underfeatured. We'd like to see a search bar, a genre category, the ability to build an ad-hoc playlist by adding a song to the queue, and subscribe to podcasts, to name a few points on our wish list. The app could also benefit from controls on the lock screen. Plans are in the works for a home screen widget that will control the player outside the app.DoubleTwist is advertising version 1.0 of its player as free for a limited time, but there's no indication at this point how much the company intends to charge. Until the feature set gets a boost, we remain skeptical that charging for the app is justified or will increase its usage.
The DoubleTwist Player for Android that debuted in the Android Market this week is a good-looking alternative to Android's default media player. The Android app is the mobile arm of the DoubleTwist media library for Windows and Mac, itself an iTunes alternative focused on managing media for a variety of smartphone platforms. As such, the mobile player is tasked with syncing your music, videos, and podcasts to and from your desktop and your Android phone.The app lets you find songs by artist, album, title, or playlist. There are also shortcuts for synced videos and podcasts. The player then spins your picks, giving you basic controls to pause, skip, and shuffle.We tested DoubleTwist's PC-to-phone syncing on two Android phones. One transfer worked quickly and as advertised, but the other became a source of intense and mounting frustration with incomplete and failed syncs and even an attempt that led to a memory card error. DoubleTwist's engineers are still poring through our error log to pinpoint the problem.If your music library is fit to burst, expect a lengthy first sync that could take 10 minutes or so, though subsequent syncing should be speedier, especially if you're dealing with smaller media loads. DoubleTwist for Android automatically mounts the USB drive to facilitate media syncing.Screenshot by Jessica Dolcourt/CNETWhen it came to performance, we found the Android player itself to be reliable, but underfeatured. We'd like to see a search bar, a genre category, the ability to build an ad-hoc playlist by adding a song to the queue, and subscribe to podcasts, to name a few points on our wish list. The app could also benefit from controls on the lock screen. Plans are in the works for a home screen widget that will control the player outside the app.DoubleTwist is advertising version 1.0 of its player as free for a limited time, but there's no indication at this point how much the company intends to charge. Until the feature set gets a boost, we remain skeptical that charging for the app is justified or will increase its usage.
Report- Retina Display iPad 3 to hit in 'early' 2012
Report: Retina Display iPad 3 to hit in 'early' 2012
Pouring cold water on reports that Apple intends to launch the next version of the iPad this year, a new report says the company has yet to hit the trial production phase of the device.The Wall Street Journal reported today that Apple is still in the process of pulling together parts from various vendors for a trial production of the device, which the Journal says is expected to begin sometime in October. A release is said to follow sometime early next year.Previous reports hinted that Apple might surprise with a new model in time for this year's holiday-shopping season.One point of note from the Journal's report is that Apple is, in fact, planning to offer a so-called Retina Display. That's a panel with a pixel density high enough that the human eye can't make out pixels on items like text and rounded corners. For the iPad, that means the screen size remains the same as it's been in the first two models, except with double the resolution, or 2,048x1,536 pixels. Apple first introduced Retina Displays to its own products with the iPhone 4, and it has since filtered down to the latest generation iPod Touch as well. The news follows a report last month by The Korea Times saying both Samsung and LG were vying to producehigher-resolution display panels for Apple's iPad follow-up. A report from DigiTimes earlier this week claimed neither company was reaching good enough yields of the display, which it said was keeping Apple from delivering a new version of the device this year. A release early next year would coincide with the launch schedules of the previous two devices. The original iPad was launched on April 3, 2010, with its successor arriving less than a year later on March 2, 2011.
Pouring cold water on reports that Apple intends to launch the next version of the iPad this year, a new report says the company has yet to hit the trial production phase of the device.The Wall Street Journal reported today that Apple is still in the process of pulling together parts from various vendors for a trial production of the device, which the Journal says is expected to begin sometime in October. A release is said to follow sometime early next year.Previous reports hinted that Apple might surprise with a new model in time for this year's holiday-shopping season.One point of note from the Journal's report is that Apple is, in fact, planning to offer a so-called Retina Display. That's a panel with a pixel density high enough that the human eye can't make out pixels on items like text and rounded corners. For the iPad, that means the screen size remains the same as it's been in the first two models, except with double the resolution, or 2,048x1,536 pixels. Apple first introduced Retina Displays to its own products with the iPhone 4, and it has since filtered down to the latest generation iPod Touch as well. The news follows a report last month by The Korea Times saying both Samsung and LG were vying to producehigher-resolution display panels for Apple's iPad follow-up. A report from DigiTimes earlier this week claimed neither company was reaching good enough yields of the display, which it said was keeping Apple from delivering a new version of the device this year. A release early next year would coincide with the launch schedules of the previous two devices. The original iPad was launched on April 3, 2010, with its successor arriving less than a year later on March 2, 2011.
Report- Placards say white iPhone due in spring
Report: Placards say white iPhone due in spring
Apple's long-overdue white iPhone will finally hit the market in the spring, at least according to new placards apparently popping up in Apple stores.Nestled amid the fine print on the signs is a brief line noting that the white iPhone will be available in spring 2011, according to Apple-enthusiast site 9to5 Mac.The placards may be confirmation of Apple's late-October promise that the white device will go on sale in the spring following a series of delays. At the time, Apple issued a statement saying, "We're sorry to disappoint customers waiting for the white iPhone yet again, but we've decided to delay its release until this spring."The spring forecast dashed the hopes of many prospective iPhone buyers looking forward to a white Christmas. It also followed a couple of broken promises in which Apple first said in June that the white iPhone would be delayed until July and then in July said it would ship later this year.Apple has been mum about the specific reasons behind the delay, simply saying that the white iPhone has been more challenging to manufacture than originally expected. But a late October story from Cult of Mac cited a source with connections to Apple who pinned the blame specifically on the camera. If the source is correct, testing of the phone had revealed a problem with light leaking into the back of its semi-translucent case, interfering with its ability to snap accurate pictures.
Apple's long-overdue white iPhone will finally hit the market in the spring, at least according to new placards apparently popping up in Apple stores.Nestled amid the fine print on the signs is a brief line noting that the white iPhone will be available in spring 2011, according to Apple-enthusiast site 9to5 Mac.The placards may be confirmation of Apple's late-October promise that the white device will go on sale in the spring following a series of delays. At the time, Apple issued a statement saying, "We're sorry to disappoint customers waiting for the white iPhone yet again, but we've decided to delay its release until this spring."The spring forecast dashed the hopes of many prospective iPhone buyers looking forward to a white Christmas. It also followed a couple of broken promises in which Apple first said in June that the white iPhone would be delayed until July and then in July said it would ship later this year.Apple has been mum about the specific reasons behind the delay, simply saying that the white iPhone has been more challenging to manufacture than originally expected. But a late October story from Cult of Mac cited a source with connections to Apple who pinned the blame specifically on the camera. If the source is correct, testing of the phone had revealed a problem with light leaking into the back of its semi-translucent case, interfering with its ability to snap accurate pictures.
Report- Next iPhone not coming until October-
Report: Next iPhone not coming until October?
Those who were expecting Apple to ship a follow-up to the iPhone 4 this summer may be in for a longer wait than usual. A new report from Japanese Mac blog Macotakra says Apple is behind its usual schedule of ordering parts that go into the manufacturing process for the device. That change in pace could result in Apple shipping out a phone a few months later than the June time frame for the previous two models, and July for the iPhone 3G. AppleInsider, which picked up on the report this morning, notes that the later timing would result in the next iPhone missing Apple's fiscal 2011, which concludes on September 24 this year. Along with the timing news, Macotakra's report, which is based on its sources in China, notes that Apple has still not committed to changing the materials used on the back of the iPhone from glass to metal. Rumors of such a change had first cropped up in March, with a follow-up report a few weeks later by 9to5Mac that said Apple was indeed testing out prototypes of future iPhone designs with metal backs.That move had originally been said to help set the device apart from the iPhone 4 since there were many other design similarities, as well as cut down on shattering incidents for dropped phones.If the rumor proves to be true, it would likely be unwelcome news to those who had been banking on upgrading their phones this summer. But with expectations that Apple now has to juggle both GSM and CDMA versions of the device, possibly implement a near-field communications chip (and the infrastructure that goes with it), as well as cook up the next major release of iOS, there are plenty of moving parts that can push back that time frame.
Those who were expecting Apple to ship a follow-up to the iPhone 4 this summer may be in for a longer wait than usual. A new report from Japanese Mac blog Macotakra says Apple is behind its usual schedule of ordering parts that go into the manufacturing process for the device. That change in pace could result in Apple shipping out a phone a few months later than the June time frame for the previous two models, and July for the iPhone 3G. AppleInsider, which picked up on the report this morning, notes that the later timing would result in the next iPhone missing Apple's fiscal 2011, which concludes on September 24 this year. Along with the timing news, Macotakra's report, which is based on its sources in China, notes that Apple has still not committed to changing the materials used on the back of the iPhone from glass to metal. Rumors of such a change had first cropped up in March, with a follow-up report a few weeks later by 9to5Mac that said Apple was indeed testing out prototypes of future iPhone designs with metal backs.That move had originally been said to help set the device apart from the iPhone 4 since there were many other design similarities, as well as cut down on shattering incidents for dropped phones.If the rumor proves to be true, it would likely be unwelcome news to those who had been banking on upgrading their phones this summer. But with expectations that Apple now has to juggle both GSM and CDMA versions of the device, possibly implement a near-field communications chip (and the infrastructure that goes with it), as well as cook up the next major release of iOS, there are plenty of moving parts that can push back that time frame.
Report- Next iPhone might be cheaper, but not smaller
Report: Next iPhone might be cheaper, but not smaller
Is the next iPhone going to be smaller? Bigger? Or maybe cheaper?"Cheaper" is the latest in a series of confusing and seemingly contradictory rumors about the nature of the next iPhone Apple has in store. Today the New York Times chimed in to say that contrary toa previous report in The Wall Street Journal, the next iPhone is not going to be smaller, but Apple is working on ways to make it cheaper and more accessible for buyers.Apple is focused on making the iPhone attractive to a larger audience, according to the report. That includes offering a phone more easily controlled by voice commands for those who have no interest in or can't use a virtual keyboard.As for how the company is considering bringing down the cost of the phone, it wouldn't be by downsizing the screen. Rather, using cheaper internal components, less memory, or a lower-quality camera are options Apple is considering, according to the Times source who has apparently worked on several iPhone prototypes.Another source says it wouldn't make sense to make a smaller iPhone (we agree) because of how it would affect developers who make their apps formatted to a particular screen size. A "senior Apple executive" also tells the Times that Apple isn't interested in having a lineup of multiple models of iPhones.It doesn't sound like a cheaper iPhone is a sure thing yet, just something Apple is thinking about. One thing's for sure: the next iPhone isn't expected until this summer. So anticipate many more months of rumors to come.
Is the next iPhone going to be smaller? Bigger? Or maybe cheaper?"Cheaper" is the latest in a series of confusing and seemingly contradictory rumors about the nature of the next iPhone Apple has in store. Today the New York Times chimed in to say that contrary toa previous report in The Wall Street Journal, the next iPhone is not going to be smaller, but Apple is working on ways to make it cheaper and more accessible for buyers.Apple is focused on making the iPhone attractive to a larger audience, according to the report. That includes offering a phone more easily controlled by voice commands for those who have no interest in or can't use a virtual keyboard.As for how the company is considering bringing down the cost of the phone, it wouldn't be by downsizing the screen. Rather, using cheaper internal components, less memory, or a lower-quality camera are options Apple is considering, according to the Times source who has apparently worked on several iPhone prototypes.Another source says it wouldn't make sense to make a smaller iPhone (we agree) because of how it would affect developers who make their apps formatted to a particular screen size. A "senior Apple executive" also tells the Times that Apple isn't interested in having a lineup of multiple models of iPhones.It doesn't sound like a cheaper iPhone is a sure thing yet, just something Apple is thinking about. One thing's for sure: the next iPhone isn't expected until this summer. So anticipate many more months of rumors to come.
Report- Next iPad likely to include camera
Report: Next iPad likely to include camera
A document of Apple's iPad management policies, which let IT departments govern the features that corporate users can access, makes mention of the ability to disable the use of the camera. AppleInsider believes this offers some evidence that the company is planning to add a camera to upcoming models.As a further breadcrumb, AppleInsider also cited a job listing from Apple for a "Performance QA Engineer, iPad Media" in which the company is "looking for a software quality engineer with a strong technical background to test still, video and audio capture and playback frameworks." Applicants are invited to "build on your QA experience and knowledge of digital camera technology (still and video) to develop and maintain testing frameworks for both capture and playback pipelines."If the next generation of the iPad does offer a camera, it will likely be a front-facing model that will support FaceTime, said AppleInsider. Though FaceTime's new video chatting is only available on the iPhone 4, ZDNet and other sources have reported that the feature may soon find itself on upcoming versions of the iPod Touch as well as the iPad.This isn't the first sign that Apple may be ramping up to include a camera on the iPad. A beta of the software developers kit (SDK) for the iPad released in January pointed to support for a camera, though that support was removed from the March release of the SDK.Photos released by PowerbookMedic in March found Webcam holes in the final revision of the tablet's midframe, leading to speculation that the iPad would support a front-facing camera.
A document of Apple's iPad management policies, which let IT departments govern the features that corporate users can access, makes mention of the ability to disable the use of the camera. AppleInsider believes this offers some evidence that the company is planning to add a camera to upcoming models.As a further breadcrumb, AppleInsider also cited a job listing from Apple for a "Performance QA Engineer, iPad Media" in which the company is "looking for a software quality engineer with a strong technical background to test still, video and audio capture and playback frameworks." Applicants are invited to "build on your QA experience and knowledge of digital camera technology (still and video) to develop and maintain testing frameworks for both capture and playback pipelines."If the next generation of the iPad does offer a camera, it will likely be a front-facing model that will support FaceTime, said AppleInsider. Though FaceTime's new video chatting is only available on the iPhone 4, ZDNet and other sources have reported that the feature may soon find itself on upcoming versions of the iPod Touch as well as the iPad.This isn't the first sign that Apple may be ramping up to include a camera on the iPad. A beta of the software developers kit (SDK) for the iPad released in January pointed to support for a camera, though that support was removed from the March release of the SDK.Photos released by PowerbookMedic in March found Webcam holes in the final revision of the tablet's midframe, leading to speculation that the iPad would support a front-facing camera.
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