Author: Duncan Geere
YouTube trying out video downloads?
If you’ve ever enjoyed a YouTube video and then thought “I want to take this with me wherever I go”, then prepare to be mildly pleased. YouTube appears to be experimenting with offering downloads of videos. The first to gain this feature have been the videos on Obama’s ChangeDotGov YouTube channel.
The videos come in a decent format – MPEG4, using the H.264 codec. That’s the same as the same videos that you get on the iPhone portal. The capability to download video has been offered by competing sites like Vimeo for ages, but YouTube has avoided it – presumably to quieten the intellectual property issues involved, though anyone can download YouTube videos with a simple Google search.
It’s likely that content owners will soon see an option as to whether to allow downloads of their videos or not. I hope that many do, and that those who don’t begin to feel the pressure to allow it. Just don’t expect to be able to download a million music videos tomorrow.
YouTube (via Ars Technica)
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EU starts waving around the ban-hammer at Microsoft again
Way back in 1993, Novell made a complaint to the EU that Microsoft was indulging in anti-competitive practices. After much to-ing and fro-ing, the EU eventually decided (ten years later, in 2003) that Microsoft had to make a version of Windows without Windows Media Player available, and in 2006 hit the company with massive fines, totaling £1.07 billion.
Fast-forward to 2008, and the makers of the web browser Opera filed a similar complaint, claiming that bundling IE with Windows makes it tough for others to compete. I’m not convinced that’s true – Firefox has 20% market share – but clearly someone in the EU still has it in for Microsoft, because they’ve now filed a new complaint against Microsoft saying that IE must be unbundled.
Interestingly, a similar complaint was filed against Microsoft in the USA ten years ago, but it didn’t stick, and Microsoft still bundles IE with its operating systems. It’ll be fun to see whether the EU agrees, and could result in another massive payout. Poor Microsoft. In the meantime, I’m sticking with Chrome.
(via Mashable)
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FLASH GAME CHALLENGE: The Crossing
Last week’s cricketastic Flash Game Challenge was won by commenter Alan, who hit my score for six with a mighty 127 runs. A polite round of applause for him, please, ladies and gentlemen.
As for this week, well, today is supposed to be the most depressing day of the year, so I wanted to pick something to warm your cold little hearts. How about helping some deer cross a forest stream, with rays of light cascading all around? On my first go, I scored a pathetic 9750. The second time, I scored a far more respectable 4991950. Can you beat it? Entries, as ever, in the comments.
Previous FGChallenges: Topspinner | Achievement Unlocked
AMD launches 760G integrated graphics chipset
AMD, fighting a constant battle with Intel over the PC chip market, has announced that it’s releasing a new graphics chipset aimed at low-end PCs, called the 760G. It’ll be replacing the aging 740G chipset. The company is promising an energy efficient design and ‘smooth multitasking’, as well as a “compelling out-of-box visual experience for novice gamers playing some of today’s most popular games”.
It’s the word ‘novice’ that makes me laugh, because it seems to imply that anyone who’s played PC games before will fail to find a “compelling visual experience” using this chip. The 760G supports DirectX 10, and you’ll be able to upgrade easily to a full-on ATI graphics card with the Hybrid CrossFireX technology.
The 760G will begin showing up in motherboards from Asus, ECS, Gigabyte, Asrock, MSI, Foxconn and Biostar as of today, starting with the Asus M3A76-CM, and the Gigabyte GA-MA76GM-US2.
AMD 760G (via Fudzilla)
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NES controller varsity jacket will get you punched in the playground
Would you wear this? Even if it was 1987 and the console was at the height of its powers? No, nor me. You’d get a smack in the face just walking down to the corner shop. But it’d be awesome to wear to a fancy dress party. Wait… how much? $200 (£135)!? You can sod right off, even if it does have a thermal-insulated lining.
80s Tees (via Technabob)
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Nokia N97 possibly gets release date – 31st March
There’s a lot of people out there, myself included, eager for the N97, hoping it’ll be a valid rival from Nokia to the omnipresent iPhone. Well, perhaps there isn’t too long to wait after all, given that over the weekend, Play.com put up a pre-order page for Nokia’s next flagship device. In fact, it’s still up at the time of writing.
That page confidently claims that the N97 will arrive on the 31st March, and cost the princely sum of £480 sim- and contract-free, and unlocked. There’s some specs too – I’ve listed them over the jump. Now… any advice on how to scrape together £480 by the end of March? Answers in the comments please.
SHINY VIDEO REVIEW: Asus N50 laptop
Here’s the surprisingly-snazzy N50 laptop from Asus. Ignore the fact that it’s got an ‘air ionizer’, take note of the high specs and low price instead. Those are what’s really impressive about this machine. Unfortunately I’ve been unable to find out any ‘official’ (non-eBay) price yet. I’ve got an email in to Asus asking, so I’ll update this post when they reply.
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RUMOUR: Sky launching its music subscription service in April
Many have tried to make the all-you-can-eat subscription model work for music, but it’s never taken off due to incompatibilities between different portable music players and the lack of any big companies really getting behind it. Well, we’re hearing a rumour that Sky will finally launch its previously-announced subscription service in April.
Last we heard, we were promised a mix of both streaming and downloadable tracks. Over Christmas, pricing was allegedly leaked – unlimited free streams, plus a set number of MP3 downloads each month. £5.99 for 5 downloads, £7.99 for 10 and £9.99 for 15.
I’ve asked Sky for more details, and I’m waiting to hear back. I, for one, am convinced that it’s not only possible for a subscription service to work, but it’s actually the future of mass-market music consumption. There’s too many people who don’t care about anything beyond the top 40 for that not to be the case.
Related posts: NOISE GATE: Why music subscription services will eventually work | Sky and Universal Music partner to launch subscription music streaming and download service
Cursor-shaped oven gloves – what's on the menu?
If you’re like me, or Shiny fashion editor Gemma, you spend a lot of time staring at PDFs and Abobe Reader. Who knows, maybe unlike us you actually enjoy it and you want to see the scrolling hand when you get home from work, too.
What you need is the “Clicking” oven mitt, to stop your poor hands getting singed when removing pots and pans from the oven. It’s an authentic, pixellated, cursor hand, and you can bet your bottom dollar that after a week of use it won’t be so shiny white and clean. Even so, it’s bound to pump up your geek cred – and that’s what’s important in the kitchen, right? Right? Here – taste my risotto.
“Coming soon” from Bazar Design (via OhGizmo)
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Sony Ericsson Playstation phone nipped in the bud by… Sony
In the past, we’ve written a few times about the possibilities of a Playstation phone surfacing. For the moment, though, those dreams will have to be dashed on the rocks, as sources suggest that Sony refused to allow Sony Ericsson the use of its Playstation brand.
Sony Ericsson’s done quite well with its Cybershot and Walkman phones, and many assumed that a Playstation gaming phone would be next, but it’s been claimed by Sony Ericsson that Sony would only allow the use of the Playstation brand if the experience on a handset is sufficiently high enough and matches the experience of Sony’s standalone devices.
That kind of tech isn’t quite possible yet, and Sony Ericsson is in the midst of cost-cutting measures, so for the moment, I’m labeling this one “Fail”. Sorry mobile gaming enthusiasts, you’ll have to wait for the perfect gaming phone – we’re not there yet.
(via MobileToday)
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