DigitalNick

Dealnews.com has a short article on Internet alarm clocks. They show a very limited list of what is on the market but they do mention one of my favorites, the Chumby. They also talk about the new Sony Sony Dash (coming this spring). One of the more interesting new entrants in this market will be Vizio, the TV maker. With their marketing power and warehouse club distribution model Vizio might help the Internet alarm clock grow in acceptance with lower prices and greater functionality. We’ll see. Do you own an Internet alarm clock?

The music and movie industry have gone crazy and we let them. It is actually possible to have your site shut down because you’re playing music they think you don’t own. This means if you have a blog or site playing music, even if you own the music or have the rights to play it, the record companies and issue a take-down notice and boom, your site it gone. It happened this week when Google shut down music blogs on blogger for alleged copyright infringement.

No Due Course
These sites had no warning and no recourse to address the take down. There sites are simply gone. The lesson here is, Host your own site. Of course you could still get shut down. No judge, no jury and no chance for a fair hearing or discussion of the matter.

Fight back against unfair DMCA take-downs.
As a first line of defense you should send an immediate Counter Reply to a DMCA take down notice. Then apparently you pray. That said the website www.thelaw.com has an article on writing a DMCA counter Reply put back notice. If you’ve done nothing wrong it may not make things right, but at least you can feel like you fought back against these stupid, scared and greedy people.

The good news is Internet television is growing. The bad news is still no Hulu. ;(
Back to the good news. With a number of TV’s and Blu-ray players set to hit the market with added Internet connectivity and associated movie and tv content, our choices of watching what we want when we want are increasing. The latest jump to the TV is Vudu’s Internet movie service. Vudu was previously only available on its own box for $150 plus the cost of the first run movies. The beauty of Vudu was its long list of true HiDef movies on demand from $3 to $7 depending on the quality you want.

Though I prefer the Netflix flat fee model there might be a Science Fiction movie I might want to watch in HiDef due to the extreme black levels they usually need. That said the addition of yet another choice of where to buy content is a good thing. This is sure to spawn competition. Vudu is available on TVs and Blu-ray players from other companies: LG and Mitsubishi right now; Samsung, Sanyo, Sharp, Toshiba and Vizio this summer. See this NYT article for more on Vudu. Now all we need is someone to get us our Hulu!

WS Radio has been around since 2001 when it had 5 Internet talk radio shows. It now boasts to over 120 shows available live or as podcasts on a wide variety of subjects. For those of you who prefer to listen to talk radio podcasts on your way to work this is a great place to get your fix. If you can’t find a talk show on this network you’d want to listed to I’m not sure where you’ll find one. Here is a list of their current shows. Amazing. I’d love to hear your opinion of the quality of the shows. See full list of shows after the break. Continue reading Internet Talk Radio

A bumper crop of Blu-ray players about to hit the market that will do most of what the new media players do and play Blu-ray and DVD discs.  As recently reported on consumer reports blog the following players will soon be arriving that will give you NetFlix, Pandora and who knows what else on your TV without adding an extra box to your TV (other than the blu ray player of course) Here is a run down of Blu-ray players coming with Internet features.

LG Electronics: LG announced several new Blu-ray players with access to LG’s NetCast online service, offering streaming movies from NetFlix, CinemaNow, and Vudu, plus Pandora Internet radio. Search for LG blu-ray player with netflix

Panasonic: Announced three standard Blu-ray models that will be available spring of 2010: the entry-level DMP-BD45, the DMP-BD65, a step-up model, and the top-of-the-line DMP-BD85. The BD65 and BD85 models have access to the company’s Viera Cast online service, which includes streaming movies from Amazon and Netflix and Pandora Internet radio. Search for Panasonic blu-ray players with netflix

Samsung: Samsung unveiled several new Blu-ray players that will support its Internet@TV online service, now with Samung Apps, which includes access to streaming movies from Blockbuster, Netflix and Vudu. Search for Samsung blu-ray players with netflix

Sharp: Announced Blu-ray players with access to streaming movies from Netflix: the mainstream BD-HP24U ($280) and a step-up player, the BD-HP70U ($500), a wireless-ready model that has a second USB port that accepts an optional Wi-Fi dongle. Search for Sharp blu-ray player with netflix

Sony: Sony’s Bravia Internet Video platform, with access to streaming movies from Netflix and Amazon Video on Demand, plus Pandora and Slacker Internet radio. Search for Sony blu-ray player with netflix

Toshiba: Has three new Blu-ray models. All the new models will have access to online services, including streaming movies from Netflix and Vudu, plus Pandora Internet radio. Two more mainstream models, the BDX2700 ($250) and BDX2500 ($200), will arrive this spring. The main difference is the 2700 has built-in Wi-Fi, while the 2500 is wireless-ready. Both have 7.1-channel analog audio outputs and support for AVCHD video. Toshiba Blu-ray playersVizio: Vizio’s newest Blu-ray player is the VBR200W, a full-featured, Wi-Fi-enabled model that includes the new Vizio Internet Apps (VIA) platform, with access to services including movies from Netflix and Vudu, plus Pandora Internet radio. The player will be available in March for $200. Search for Vizio Blu-ray players

You can read the full article on Consumer Reports

Getting Netflix on your TV seems to be all the rage these days, and rightly so. For as low as $8.99 a month you get 1 DVD out at a time and unlimited streaming. The entire Netflix catalog is not available for streaming but it is growing bigger every day. Vizio, the American TV company, has announced three new HDTV’s with full internet connectivity including 8.2.11n wireless access. I still prefer a wired connection to my television to maximize the bandwidth but this is a big step forward. The SV422XVT, SV472XVT and VF552XVT have manufacturer’s suggested retail prices of $1,199, $1,699, and $2,199, respectively. That’s pretty average considering all the fancy new technology found in these televisions. In an effort to provide greater access and versatility, the new Vizio control will feature a slide-out QWERTY keyboard, similar to the ones found on smart phones.

Starting Sunday Best Buy has the Logitech – Squeezebox Network Radio for only $149 and change. This is a great deal on one of the best internet Radios out there (IMHO) Check Sunday 11/15/09 circular.