Category: Business
November 22nd, 2009
Roku becomes cloud-enabled with new Roku Channel Store and Developer SDK
The new Roku Channel Store, which is being rolled out to all Roku devices, will greatly expand the capabilities of the $99 set-top on-demand streaming device.
Late Sunday night, Roku announced that its players would now have a “Channel Store”, much like the “App Store” on other popular Internet-enabled devices such as the iPhone and Android-based phones.
Roku, Inc., maker of the popular and award-winning family of Roku players, announced today the Roku Channel Store and the first 10 free channels for Roku customers to enjoy on their TVs. From internet radio to video podcasts, professional web content to photo sharing and personal videos, the Roku Channel Store provides an open platform for delivering quality content to the TV. New channels now available for customers to add today to their Roku experience via the Roku Channel Store include: Pandora, Facebook Photos, Revision3, Mediafly, TWiT, blip.tv, Flickr, FrameChannel, Motionbox and MobileTribe. For the complete list of channels, specific channel descriptions and features please go to http://www.roku.com/roku-channel-store
These first 10 channels are just the beginning for Roku. Many other developers are working on Roku Channels now, and Roku expects additional developers to adopt the Roku platform over time. New channels will appear in the Roku Channel Store automatically as they become available.
The Roku Channel Store represents an opportunity for content owners and publishers to reach an already large and growing audience of Roku customers. By creating an open platform for delivery to the television over the Internet, Roku has leveled the playing field for content owners.
Roku had previously remote updated its players for Netflix HDTV 720p on-demand video as well as the ability to rent movies on demand from Amazon.com. With the introduction of its new “Channel Store” the Roku moves towards becoming more of a cloud-enabled content viewing device. Having the ability to stream music from Pandora or being able to view my Flickr stream on my HD set is pretty neat.
Also Read: At $99, Roku Rulez with Incredible Future Potential
All current Roku players, including the Roku SD, the Roku HD and Roku-HR are compatible with the Channel Store, which will be automatically available on all registered devices over the coming weeks. To create a channel for the Roku Channel Store, a developer creates an application using Roku’s free software developer kit. This SDK is available free upon request by emailing partners@roku.com
What applications would you like to see for Roku’s “Channel Store”? Twitter? Hulu? Full FaceBook stream updates? YouTube? Vimeo? Video Podcast feeds? Talk Back and Let Me Know.
November 21st, 2009
Frugal Friday: Joblessness, DROID, Chrome OS, Richard Stallman, V.i. labs
Frugal Networker Ken Hess and I discuss the dwindling IT employment landscape, my experiences with the Motorola/Verizon DROID, the Google Chrome OS developer code release, Ken’s recent interview with Richard Stallman, and we interview Victor DeMarines of V.i. labs, the anti-piracy and software protection company.
Click Here to Listen to the November 20, 2009 Frugal Friday Podcast.
November 19th, 2009
Chrome OS: Some Early Preview Videos
Today Google released a number of early introduction/preview videos regarding their upcoming Chrome OS. (UPDATED: Demo from November 18 at Google Headquarters added)
While the software does not currently appear to be in an easily installable state, requiring developers to build their own Chrome OS environments for the time being, the OS does look quite promising and Google’s “Stateless” objective where all user data resides in the cloud reflects an extremely modern concept in OS design.
What is Chrome OS?:
Chrome OS Fast Boot:
Chrome OS Security:
User Interface Concept Video for Chrome OS:
Chromium OS and Open Source:
Live Chrome OS Demo from Google Headquarters
Do these videos provide encouragement or interest in Google’s stateless, cloud-based OS offering? Talk Back and Let Me know.
November 15th, 2009
My First Week With DROID
The Verizon/Motorola DROID is by far the most powerful and versatile smartphone I have yet encountered. My first week with the device was one of geeky joy, adapting to the learning curve of the Android OS as a former BlackBerry user, and understanding the device’s limitations and quirks that come with being an early adopter.
Updated 11/16/09: As many of you know, I became a Verizon Wireless customer on November 6, on the launch day of the Motorola DROID. I had extremely high expectations of the new Android 2.0-based smartphone given the many reviews/previews that had appeared on the Internet, and from extremely positive feedback from my colleagues that this indeed was the device that would fit my needs. I had gone without a smartphone device for just over a month, having terminated my BlackBerry AT&T contract and now was ready to try something new.
Click on the “Read the rest of this entry” link below for more.
November 8th, 2009
In Smartphone Wars, Darwinism Triumphs Over Intelligent Design
With the release of the Verizon Droid, the smartphone market now has two apex predators with advanced, feature rich mobile embedded operating systems. There’s no room for smaller or less evolved players, and survival of the fittest in the war of the handsets may very well mean industry and carrier consolidation.
At around 8PM Friday evening, I walked into the Route 4 Paramus, New Jersey Verizon corporate store and walked up to the counter and said two words: “DROID Me.”
The store was busy, but there were plenty of demo units and lots of staff around — a far cry from the iFAIL experience I had when I first attempted and failed to purchase my wife an iPhone 3G at AT&T’s Fort Lee, New Jersey store during its launch in early July of 2008.
Click on the “Read the rest of this entry” link below for more.
November 5th, 2009
Frugal Friday: Verizon DROID, Intel Antitrust, V-Block, Oracle/EU, ICCA
Frugal Networker Ken Hess and I discuss the new Verizon DROID smartphone, the recent antitrust charges filed against Intel by the New York Attorney General, the new V-Block data center solution joint offering between VMWare, CISCO and EMC, the Oracle/Sun merger delays by the European Union, and have an entertaining and nostalgic conversation with Independent Computer Consultants Association founder Steve Epner about the early days of computing and learn about the ICCA’s upcoming annual conference in San Francisco on November 13-15th, 2009.
Click Here to listen to the November 6, 2009 Frugal Friday Podcast.
November 2nd, 2009
Psystar: From Hell's Heart, I Stab at Thee!
Much like Khan detonated the unstable doomsday “Genesis Device” in Star Trek II before his defeat at the hands of Captain Kirk and crew, Miami-based Psystar’s last deed may very well be to inflict as many casualties on Apple Computer as possible before it dies. (Photo: Paramount Pictures)
In two weeks, last April’s blockbuster re-imagining of the classic Star Trek series and characters will be available on Blu-Ray, on November 17th. Since buying my Blu-Ray player I’ve only bought a few HD discs, saving my purchases for those films I really am a big fan of and am likely to watch multiple times. Star Trek will be one of those films, and I can’t wait to see it again on my home theater system.
Click on the “Read the next entry” link below for more.
October 29th, 2009
My Top Scary Technology Trends
Yes, it’s that spooky time of year again, and our “fearless” editors have asked upon the ZDNet contributors to come up with “Scary Tech”, the technologies that are so frightening, they’ll make you evacuate from multiple “interfaces”.
Halloween. All Hallows Eve. Dia de los Muertos. Whatever you call it in your culture, Halloween is a day that for many people evokes images of ghouls, the undead, vampires, witches, werewolves, ghosts and goblins — creatures of fantasy that are meant to scare young children. Although I’ve often been emotionally compared to a child, none of these things frighten me.
However, there are some things, at least in the world of technology, that really do scare the living crap out of me. While there isn’t one particular item that makes me turn completely ice cold with fear this Halloween, there are a number of trends that definitely have been keeping me up at night lately.
Click on the “Read the rest of this entry” link below for more.
October 27th, 2009
Congratulations B&N, you've built my Kindroid. So now what?
The Barnes and Noble “Nook”, which was launched earlier this month, is the real-life version of the “Kindroid” I envisioned one year ago. So now that it has been built for real, what do we do with it?
A year ago, I posited that Amazon might do better with the Kindle platform if they abandoned their proprietary, locked down software platform on the device and embraced an Open Source platform, Google’s Android.
It never occurred to me that the Kindroid might actually become reality in the near future, and that the theoretical device would be introduced by Barnes & Noble, Amazon’s prime competition in the brick and mortar space. Still, I am impressed and somewhat vindicated that the Kindroid or a similar device that resembled my proposed configuration came into existence as the Nook.
Click on the “Read the rest of this entry” link below for more.
October 24th, 2009
Ding Dong, The Vista's DEAD!
This Halloween, let’s all celebrate what we’re really feeling: The Wicked Vista is DEAD!
In the United States, we’ve got a bunch of frivolous holidays.
I’ve always regarded Halloween as a particularly frivolous holiday, one in which we encourage our children to engage in mischief and vandalism, of which the original purpose has been co-opted by business, like Easter and Valentine’s day, all of which seem to be of a single mindset which is to support the mass-market confectionery and High Fructose Corn Syrup industry.
Click on the “Read the rest of this entry” link below for more.
Jason Perlow is a technologist with over two decades of experience integrating large heterogeneous multi-vendor computing environments in Fortune 500 companies. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.
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