IBLOG SPACE

Amazon may have taken a cavalier attitude toward music licensing issues when it launched Cloud Player , but behind the scenes it’s believed to be scurrying desperately to secure new streaming deals with labels. According to a WSJ report, Amazon is in talks with the four major record labels “aimed at minimizing bad blood”; the retailer had only informed labels as to its intentions with Cloud Player the week before the service launched. The exact nature of those deals is unknown, amid disagreement over whether Amazon’s implementation of cloud-based storage and streaming actually requires different licensing at all. Previously Cablevision won the right to stream copies of customers’ shows from a “remote DVR” service; however, that system could only be accessed by one user at a time, whereas Amazon Cloud Player can stream one track to up to five separate people simultaneously. The Cablevision deal also insisted that the company hold a separate copy of each TV show for each customer; that

UK carrier Three has announced its first HSPA+ USB modem, which will be headed to the network on April 7 and, it’s claimed, offer 40-percent faster speeds than the existing HSDPA dongles. The Huawei E367 has a rotating USB plug rather than an easy-to-lose cap, and will be available on both pre-pay and a rolling one-month contract. On pay-as-you-go, the “1GB Ready To Go” package – which, unsurprisingly, includes 1GB of data – will be £69.99; on a rolling one month contract the modem will be £49.99 and then £15.99 per month for 5GB of service (or with no upfront charge and 5GB for £18.03 per month on a 24 month contract). Existing customers will also be able to upgrade their existing Three dongles for a one-off payment of £59.99.

Samsung has announced that it has begun mass-production of 22-inch transparent LCD displays, with two models – capable of either black & white or color images – in the first range to be offered. Rather than a traditional backlight, the 1680 x 1050 displays (which have 500:1 contrast ratios) use ambient light to illuminate them; Samsung has boosted transparency to 15-20% (over 5% in normal panels) so that sunlight is enough to make the picture visible. Inputs include HDMI and USB, and Samsung reckons that power consumption is down by 90-percent over traditional displays as well. Users can look straight through them, like glass, and while it envisages advertising and “interactive communication” uses initially, there are also some very appealing transparent notebook prototypes floating around. No word on pricing at this stage, nor when the displays – which only went into production this month – will actually go on sale.

The netbook was flying high in the darkest days of the recession over the last few years as consumers that needed or wanted a new computer flocked to the cheap machines rather than full on notebooks. As the economy improved, the market moved back to notebooks that are more powerful and with the advent of the tablet, many that would have bought a netbook opted for a tablet like the iPad instead. Hercules has already offered an eCafe netbook in the past but it was really more of a me too offering that was basically the same as hoards of other netbooks on the market at the time. We reviewed the eCafe about this time last year. Hercules has now come back to the netbook market with something a bit different in a new couple of new eCafe machines including the Slim HD and the EX HD. The Slim HD is under an inch thick and weighs in at 1.9 pounds making it very portable and the EX HD is a bit larger at 1.1-inches thick and 2.5 pounds. Both of the netbooks have 10-inch screens with 1024 x 600 r

If you are a music fan that has a PS3 and access to Sony’s Music Unlimited service you can stream all the music you ears can handle from the web. The service comes in a basic offering and a premium offering. The difference is the basic offering at £3.99 monthly gives you streaming of genre specific channels while the premium at £9.99 monthly offers you access to more channels and on demand play of any track the service offers. Sony is set to expand the places you can access that Music Unlimited service and bring it to more devices. One of the key devices that will get the music plan is the Sony Ericsson Xperia Play smartphone. The service may also come to other Android devices. Sony will also be enabling Music Unlimited on other Sony branded devices. The coming NGP portable game console will get access to the streaming service and the PSP will get access soon. Sony also notes that it is looking to expand the service beyond music to video in the future. The PSP will be the first device

Mac users that are looking for better sound quality for their music recording and other digital content might want to give the new Duet 2 a look. The gadget hooks to your computer via USB and promises to turn your computer into a professional level recording studio. The Duet 2 has a completely redesigned mic preamp and converter compared to the original it has four outputs with independent speaker and headphone outs. The outputs are also balanced. It connects to your Mac via USB 2.0 and it supports 24-bit/192kHz recording. The device has an OLED color screen and the touchpads are configurable. It comes with Maestro 2 software and has an optional breakout box and a redesigned breakout cable. The new Duet 2 will ship this month at $595.

Back in November, we first caught wind of the Hasbro MY3D iPhone and iPod touch holder. The thing uses an app to turn your iPod or iPhone into a 3D Viewmaster style device for kids to play with. Hasbro has now announced that the MY3D device is set to launch. The MY3D will hit Target stores on April 3 and will be an exclusive for Target until June when it will roll out to other retail outlets. The device has two access openings that allow the user to interact with the screen on the iPhone or touch for control. It will work with iPhones all the way back to the 3G and second, third, and fourth gen iPod touch devices. The MY3D works with apps that are on the app store with games and other things that can be used with the viewer. The apps include MY3D 360° SHARKS, MY3D SECTOR 17, MY3D TELEPORT L.A., MY3D BUBBLE BOLT, MY3D TUNNEL PILOT, and MY3D SHATTERSTORM. The MY3D viewer will come in black or white for $34.99. It’s not clear if the apps or free or paid.

Apple is reportedly looking to a new display provider, in an attempt to alleviate supply chain delays for the iPad 2 and reduce the lengthy wait times customers are experiencing. According to the Economic Daily News , Apple has roped in AU Optronics to supply the IPS 1024 x 768 displays for the iPad 2. Interestingly, the report claims that Apple has agreed to pay three to four times the current market price for each panel. As a result, AUO has turned over half the capacity of its fifth-gen plant in Taichung for the production of the panels, in the process licensing the IPS technology from Hitachi so as to meet Apple’s specification demands. Even with half the facility dedicated, that still might not mean a huge output; yields at the plant are said to reach 60- to 70-percent because Apple’s requirements are so stringent. Currently Samsung and LG Display provide Apple with iPad screens, and the decision to include AUO is also being seen as a response to growing competition in the tablet

According to BTIG Research analyst Walter Piecyk, the HTC Thunderbolt is showing up the iPhone 4 by matching and even outselling the Apple smartphone in many Verizon Wireless stores. The informal study conducted by Piecyk involved calling 150 different Verizon Wireless locations across 22 major U.S. cities and asking which smartphone was selling better. The survey found that the devices were selling about the same at 61% of the Verizon Wireless stores. However, 11% of the stores said that the iPhone 4 was selling faster while 28% of the stores said that the ThunderBolt outsold the iPhone 4. So what does this survey say about smartphone sales or Android versus iOS preferences in the market? Not very much. The survey was conducted during the two weeks following the Thunderbolt launch in mid-March, while the iPhone 4 has been available at Verizon since February. Not only that, but the iPhone 4 has also been with AT&T for some time now and just doesn’t have quite the freshness that the

HTC has been promising a Honeycomb update for the HTC Flyer from the start, but recent talk of Google limiting access to Android 3.0 had left some would-be tableteers concerned that the 7-incher might be stuck with Gingerbread. HTC assured us that would not be the case at the time, but it bears repeating, and so they’ve taken to Twitter to reiterate that “we will be offering a Honeycomb upgrade when it’s made available.” The company’s decision to launch with Gingerbread – heavily reskinned with a new version of HTC Sense, just as the eventual Honeycomb upgrade will be – was believed to be a time-saving move, to allow the company reach the market quicker. HTC is expected to announce a further two, larger slates – potentially at its press event later this month – running Honeycomb out of the box, but they are not believed to launch until around Q3. In light of recent talk of Google “playing favorites” with those OEMs who leave Android unmodified, though, HTC’s comment that the upgra

Sony CEO Sir Howard Stringer has apparently let slip the camera hardware specifications of the iPhone 5 , Apple’s fifth-generation smartphone. Speaking to Walt Mossberg this week, 9 to 5 Mac reports, Stringer discussed the impact of the Japanese earthquake on CMOS sensor production at the company’s Sendai plant. “Our best sensor technology is built in one of the affected factories” he said, “those go to Apple for their iPhones… or iPads. Isn’t that something? They buy our best sensors from us?” Back in April 2010, reports surfaced based on analyst checks that Apple was looking to Sony for an 8-megapixel camera for the fifth-gen iPhone. The same report accurately predicted the 5-megapixel upgrade for the iPhone 4. Sony does not currently supply Apple with camera sensors, with OmniVision providing the CMOS for the current iPhone. Last November, Apple was tipped to be using an 8-megapixel OmniVision sensor for the iPhone 5, though there have been persistent rumors that Apple was lookin

Apple has proven itself in the technology industry. It delivers some of the best computers in the world, it has the top smartphone, and its tablet is setting the benchmark by which all other devices are judged. All that has combined to make the company one of the most financially successful firms in the world. A key component in the success of Apple’s mobile products has been games. The company’s App Store is filled with outstanding titles, including Angry Birds and Tiny Wings, that captivate audiences across the globe. But there’s another important result of the success of those games: Apple’s iPhone and iPad are stealing mobile gaming market share from companies like Sony and Nintendo. Although some might not want to put Apple on the same level as Nintendo and Sony in the gaming market, I think it’s impossible not to do so. Apple is a provider of products that millions are playing games on. And the time has come for everyone to stop ignoring that fact. The only issue is, those critic

I head up the Consumer Devices group at Current Analysis, where we have two complementary products: data – we track product pricing, availability, and specs – and analysis – our assessment on how competitive various products and initiatives are. I recently had a client ask a question that crossed both: how many smartphones today have super-sized screens, and how big is too big? (I warned them that the answer would make a great SlashGear column.) The data answer is simple: 13% of the smartphones at the four national carriers in the U.S. have screens 4” or larger. The analytical answer is a bit more complicated. When discussing screen sizes, I don’t think you can ignore the elephant in the room – Apple – which limits its product line and does a lot of thinking and experimenting before launching anything. Apple believes that 3.5” is the perfect screen size, and they’ve sold over 100 million iPhones with that screen size, so it’s hard to argue that they’re widely off the mark. But I will s

An image of what’s purported to be Apple’s next-gen iPod nano chassis has leaked, with a space in the back panel for a camera. The picture, sent to Apple.pro , shows a nano casing in the same square style as the existing 6th-gen model, but seemingly with camera functionality restored from the 5th-gen version. Apple stripped out the camera from the nano in the last generation, when the iPod slimmed down considerably and gained a renewed focus on audio rather than attempting to cover video and content creation (rivaling the iPod touch). With this new shot, it suggests Apple is looking to restore video recording (we’re guessing, if this is all legitimate, that they’ll use the same 720p-capable CMOS as in the iPod touch). However, without FaceTime – which seems a tough prospect for inclusion given the small space on offer – the seventh-gen iPod nano would still not fit into Apple’s video conferencing range. Apple is expected to unveil its new iPod range in roughly September this year.

Nintendo has dashed hopes that it might follow in Sony’s footsteps and deliver a gaming smartphone, with Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime suggesting that the company lacks “a competitive advantage in telephony.” Despite ongoing rumors around Nintendo’s mobile plans, and the increase in convergent devices as handsets like the Sony Ericsson XPERIA Play reach the market, Nintendo “have no desire to get into telephony” Fils-Aime insists, saying that instead “we believe that we will earn our way into someone’s pocket without having to offer that (phone capability) as an additional factor.” Speaking to CNN , the outspoken gaming exec suggested phones lack the imagination and interest Nintendo buyers expect. “We don’t want to be in the phone business,” Fils-Aime said. “We don’t see that as an opportunity. Phones are utilities. Phones are not by definition entertainment devices.” The Nintendo 3DS was originally tipped to have integrated 3G , with some speculation around a bund