Intel is planning to replace your current cable TV service with their IPTV service and set-top box, according to Forbes. Intel’s set-top box will be able to deliver live cable channels through your existing Internet connection provider.
The “top-secret” IPTV service will let consumers subscribe to content per-channel and perhaps also per-show as well. If the rumor is true, consumers can finally ditch their bundled cable TV subscription for good. (more…)
The Daily has obtained an exclusive look at Microsoft Office for iPad, which will bring the productivity suite of Word, Excel, and PowerPoint to the tablet under one app. According to the report, Microsoft plans to submit the app to the App Store for approval in the coming weeks.
[via TechCrunch]
It seems that Microsoft is trying hard lately to get their name out on Apple’s mobile OS. Just yesterday, the company released OneNote for iPad, and last week they released My Xbox Live and Halo Waypoint — a companion to the Xbox’s popular first person shooter.
Today, they have released SkyDrive for iPhone. If you don’t already know, SkyDrive is Microsoft’s cloud storage system that offers 25 GB of free online storage — far more than the average competitor, such as Dropbox, could. The system can be used for anything from documents, to photos to EXE files. Surprisingly, it works extremely well, but until today there was no mobile app to truly expand its variety of users. Dropbox had better watch out, though, because something that offers nearly thirteen times the amount of storage that Dropbox does is bound to conquer the competitor’s territory in a swift manner.
If you’re an avid user of Windows Live SkyDrive and also own an iPhone, then head over here to download the app that will unify things a bit. In addition to today’s iPhone release, Microsoft has brought SkyDrive to Windows Phone. Check it out in the Marketplace.
Today Microsoft is expanding their boundaries a bit with today’s release of “My Xbox Live” for iOS. The app allows for you to manage your Xbox Live profile on your Apple smartphone or tablet. Sadly, there’s no gaming included, so if you came seeking this then you’ll have to continue to wait.
Major Nelson, the Director of Programming for Microsoft’s Xbox Live division, has outlined the current features within their new iOS app:
- Read and send messages to friends
- Manage your friends list, invite new friends
- Read and Edit your full LIVE profile (name, bio, motto)
- Change your avatar features/items with the avatar closet
- View and compare your achievement progress with friends
If the app appeals to you, then go grab it for free in the App Store here. It weighs in at 17.4 MB and is fully universal, meaning you can use it on all your iOS devices.
[Major Nelson via 9to5Mac]
In an interesting breakdown, analysts at Trefis have estimated that if the iPhone were a company in-itself, it would be worth more than all but 10 other companies in the world.
Assume Apple (AAPL) today is worth $391 billion (nearly 40% more than its current market cap), as the analysts at Trefis estimate it to be.
Assume as well, as they do, that the iPhone represents 53.5% of that value.
Then it follows, according to them, that the iPhone, were Steve Jobs to spin it off as a separate company, would be worth $209 billion.
Incredible. The only companies that would be larger are (from smallest to largest): AT&T, Petro China, China Construction Bank, IBM, BHP, Procter & Gamble, Microsoft, ICBC, Exxon Mobil, and Apple. We always knew that the iPhone was a wildly successful product, but to just $53 billion shy of Microsoft on its own is simply mind-blowing.
[Fortune]
Hulu Plus, the not-very-popular premium video service from Hulu, has just reduced the monthly subscription price from $9.99 to $7.99 as a part of its official public launch. This price change may allow it to keep up with alternatives such as Netflix, which recently announced a streaming-only plan for the same $7.99 price.. If you are already a paying member, the price change will be reflected in your next bill, and if you are a new user who would like to test out the service, there is a one-week free trial period available.
There is a Hulu Plus client application available in the App Store for newer devices running 4.0 and higher. (And please note that the iPad version does work over 3g.)
[Engadget]
Read on for the full press release.
This week the Consumer Electronics Association announced its CES 2011 Design and Engineering Innovations Honorees.
The awards program recognizes innovations in over 30 consumer electronics categories. In the realm of portable multimedia accessories, 15 products received honors and will be showcased along with the other recognized products at a special display at the 2011 International CES show to be held in Las Vegas January 6th-9th. Five of these items are iPad stands and/or docks. Read on to see the full list of iDevice accessory honorees.
Engadget.com has received a handful of photos depicting a device clearly marked, in both physical design and software, as the fabled PlayStation phone.
The device features hardware gaming controls (something often requested for on the iPhone), a front-facing camera, a separate store for high-quality games that is controlled by Sony (which will presumably be a tie-in to the PlayStation Store). The phone will be running Android, likely to be 3.0 or ‘Gingerbread,’ on a Qualcomm MSM8655, clocking in at 1GHz. This chip is very similar to the one released in the HTC G2 on T-Mobile USA, with the only notable difference being the clockspeed (this one is clocked 200MHz faster than the G2). The phone will include the standard 512MB of RAM and 1GB of ROM.
Read on for specs, pictures, and why this matters
Woah. Apple’s stock opened today at an all-time high of $300.03, pushing up their market cap to $275 billion, just $54 billion short of the worlds largest company, ExxonMobil. Not bad, considering they started in a garage, fired their creator, and had to be saved by Microsoft.
Microsoft has updated the website for Windows Phone 7 to highlight some of the best applications available on the platform… regardless of whether or not they actually exist. The site showcased the icons of a few popular applications, including the current #2 game in the App Store, Angry Birds. Well, the developers behind this wonderful game did not take kindly to being falsely advertised, and let users know that they are not releasing a Windows Phone version anytime soon. (Although that doesn’t mean that they never will.)
@RovioMobile
We have NOT committed to doing a Windows Phone 7 version. Microsoft put the Angry Birds icon on their site without our permission.
@techadventures nothing to do with if we do or don’t, it’s just that we decide that ourselves.
Windows Phone 7 is being officially released tomorrow, and Microsoft is putting everything into the platform to make it appealing to both developers and users in attempt to topple Apple and iOS. The mistake was probably made by an eager webdev, but they should really be more careful - especially with games as popular as Angry Birds (since the availability of high-caliber apps is a definite game changer for many potential customers).
