November 22nd, 2009

Roku becomes cloud-enabled with new Roku Channel Store and Developer SDK

Posted by Jason Perlow @ 6:37 pm

Categories: Business, Networking, Personal Technology, Software Infrastructure, Web Technology

Tags: Roku Inc., Managed Hosting, Cloud Computing, Corporate Communications, Marketing, Jason Perlow

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

Posted by Jason Perlow @ 12:18 pm

Categories: Business, Linux, Open Source, Personal Technology, Podcast, Security, Software Infrastructure

Tags: Lab, Richard Stallman, Piracy, Business Operations, Corporate Law, Jason Perlow

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

Posted by Jason Perlow @ 10:29 am

Categories: Business, Desktop, General, Google, Linux, Open Source, Personal Technology, Software Infrastructure, Web Technology

Tags: Jason Perlow, Video, Corporate Communications, Open Source, Marketing

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 2nd, 2009

Psystar: From Hell's Heart, I Stab at Thee!

Posted by Jason Perlow @ 9:09 am

Categories: Apple, Business, Desktop, Software Infrastructure

Tags: Apple Macintosh, Apple Inc., Psystar, Star Trek, Desktops, Apple Mac OS, Hardware, Operating Systems, Software, Jason Perlow

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.

Read the rest of this entry »

October 29th, 2009

My Top Scary Technology Trends

Posted by Jason Perlow @ 7:44 pm

Categories: Business, General, Hardware Infrastructure, Networking, Personal Technology, Security, Server, Software Infrastructure, Web Technology

Tags: Digital Media, Phone, Mobile, Information Technology, Smart Phone, E-books, E-mail, Smart Phones, Cellular Phones, Handhelds

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.

Read the rest of this entry »

October 27th, 2009

Congratulations B&N, you've built my Kindroid. So now what?

Posted by Jason Perlow @ 11:35 am

Categories: Business, Google, Linux, Open Source, Personal Technology, Software Infrastructure, Web Technology

Tags: E-reader, Software, Google Inc., Google Android, B&N, Kindroid, Mobile Operating Systems, Smart Phones, Consumer Electronics, Personal Technology

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.

Read the rest of this entry »

October 24th, 2009

Ding Dong, The Vista's DEAD!

Posted by Jason Perlow @ 12:14 pm

Categories: Business, Desktop, Microsoft, Personal Technology, Software Infrastructure

Tags: Microsoft Windows Vista, Halloween, Microsoft Windows 7, Microsoft Windows Vista (Longhorn), Microsoft Windows, Operating Systems, Software, Jason Perlow

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.

Read the rest of this entry »

October 22nd, 2009

Windows 7's latest fan: Linus Torvalds

Posted by Jason Perlow @ 5:40 pm

Categories: Business, Desktop, Linux, Microsoft, Open Source, Software Infrastructure

Tags: Linus Torvalds, Microsoft Windows 7, Microsoft Windows, Operating Systems, Software, Jason Perlow

Linus Torvalds, pictured at an unidentified Yodobashi store in Tokyo, Japan. Source: Chris Schlaeger (click to enlarge)

I was determined to not write about Windows 7 today, because any analysis I wrote would get buried in all the other news. I was going to wait to deliver my “last word” sometime next week. But then a co-worker emailed me the photo above, clearly of Linus Torvalds at the software counter at Yodobashi, a Japanese consumer electronics store in Tokyo in front of a huge display of Windows 7 boxes, giving it the international sign of recognition: Thumbs Up. I HAD to post that.

Of course, if you happen to be Japanese, the custom is to make the “V” sign rather than a “Thumbs Up” when you are being photographed, but I won’t criticize Linus for his trivial knowledge gap.

Click on the “Read the rest of this entry” link below for more.

Read the rest of this entry »

October 20th, 2009

EvriChart: A Linux Success Story

Posted by Jason Perlow @ 6:53 pm

Categories: Business, Desktop, Enterprise Computing, Free operating systems, Hardware Infrastructure, Linux, Open Source, Podcast, Security, Server, Software Infrastructure, Web Technology

Tags: Desktop, Hospital, Imaging, Health Care, Server, Computer, Linux, Microsoft Windows, Document Management, Operating Systems

Tony Maro, CIO of EvriChart, a hospital records management and archiving business, successfully migrated his company’s Windows-based line of business document management extranet application and his employees’ 40-odd Windows-based desktops to a 100 percent Linux-based server and desktop infrastructure.

Jason Perlow interviews Tony Maro, CIO of EvriChart, Inc.

I had the pleasure of speaking to Tony Maro, who is CIO and an owning partner in EvriChart, a medical records management company based out of White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia.

EvriChart had some unique requirements which included replacing a Windows-based line-of-business application for document management that would not scale with the continuing growth of their business. By migrating to a Linux/Open Source-based Web application, it paved the way for full desktop Linux adoption at his company. I asked Tony to summarize his experience so that I could share it with you in the hopes that you might gain some valuable insight from the process he had to go through.

Next –>

October 20th, 2009

Who's a candidate for Desktop Linux? Your Kids.

Posted by Jason Perlow @ 11:03 am

Categories: Desktop, Linux, Open Source, Personal Technology, Software Infrastructure, Virtualization, Web Technology

Tags: Desktop, Children, Desktop Linux, Linux, UNIX, Operating Systems, Open Source, Software, Jason Perlow

“Hannah Montana Linux” may not be ready to give to your kids yet, but it’s an idea that has legs.

My partner in crime in the Frugal Tech Show, Ken Hess, who blogs over at Daniweb, recently published his list of Top 10 Linux Distributions for 2009. His readers gave him a lot of feedback due to the exclusion of some of their favorites, so he published a second piece, a “Reader’s Choice” list of their Top 10 based on their submissions.

One of the distributions on that list that caught my eye was “Hannah Montana Linux”. No, I’m not joking.

Click on the “Read the rest of this entry” link below for more.

Read the rest of this entry »