Cnet is reporting that they had a chat with Jason Calacanis who informed them that Apple was working on their own HDTV. We have heard this rumor years ago and it sort of trickled out of existence with the Apple TV.
Now the new rumors say that Apple is creating its own fully networked HDTV with Apple TV built in features. The new TV’s would feature an iTunes movie and TV show rental service and allow full integration with you Mac or any PC running iTunes.
This comes as no surprise , but it could be just something Apple is playing with in their labs that may never come to be. There is no reason Apple could not make their own TV’s and maybe we will see them soon, but I certainly hope the price is nothing like their current displays if they do come to market.
The new service from Google will integrate a quick buying system called "Click-To-Buy" into youtube videos. The links once clicked bring you to Amazon’s MP3 store and iTunes where you can then buy the related song or media.
The new feature (ads) have gone live already in the U.S. and will expand beyond our borders once the service gets going. The service will include links to television, film, and publishing and will be on videos supplied via the owners of the content the service links to.
"Our vision is to help partners across all industries–from music, to film, to print, to TV–offer useful and relevant products to a large, yet targeted audience, and generate additional revenue from their content on YouTube beyond the advertising we serve against their videos" according to Google’s Blog.
HTC has been known to make some great phones. Their latest attempt to cash in on the touch market has developed into the HTC Touch Diamond. The HTC Touch diamond was supposed to break the news wires next week. The Wall Street Journal received a treatment to the new phone designed for Sprint.
The phone has a burgundy back to add a touch of class to an already great looking phone. The smartphone is 4 inches tall and 2 inches wide by .6 inch deep, while weighing in at 4.1 ounces. The screen is a 2.8-inch TFT touch screen and can display 262,000 colors.
The phone runs Windows Mobile 6.1, but adds to the interface with what HTC calls TouchFLO 3D. The interface is very slick and works well and much like the iPhone interface. Watch the video above for an example from HTC.
The software included with the phone is Dataviz’s Documents to Go Suite as well as the Opera browser. Other features include Wi-Fi, Bluetooth with A2DP, EV-DO, and GPS with Sprint Navigation. The phone also includes a 3.2 megapixel camera with video recording, 4Gb of internal memory, and a battery with just over 4 hours of talk time. The phone includes a youtube application to watch and save favorites as well.
The price for the HTC Touch Diamond is $249.99 with a two-year contract, after rebates and discounts. The phone does not have a set date, but is set to launch in September.
Cnet reported today that Hulu is going to begin airing shows prior to their television debut. "NBC Universal, which created Hulu in partnership with News Corp., decided to debut the season premier on the Web video"
Shows such as Knight Rider, Chuck and Life are being made available on Hulu prior to their Premiere on your normal Broadcast TV provider.
This is not the first time it has happened, but this is a trend I am sure we all want to see start to be the norm. NBC and HBO have aired premiere’s online prior to Hulu with Flight of the COncord’s last year.
