>> The Xbox becomes the cheapest console on the market. Amazon streaming video comes to Macs. And Dell may release an iPhone competitor. It's Thursday, September 4, I'm Natali Del Conte and it's time to get Loaded.
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>> The Wii is no longer the cheapest gaming console on the market. Microsoft has slashed the price of the Xbox to just $199. This is for the Xbox Arcade, but the 60-gig and the 120-gig version of the gamer also getting cheaper at $299 and $399 respectively. Google's new browser Chrome launched to great reviews this week, but there were some privacy issues that several users just could not get over. Because of this, Google changed the licensing agreement, thankfully. Originally the agreement gave Google the right to "a perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide, royalty-free, and non-exclusive license to reproduce, adapt, modify, translate, publish, publicly perform, publicly display and distribute any Content which you submit, post or display on or through the browser." Uhm, not okay. This means that they can use anything you put in an email, Google Doc, whatever publicly. That's reason enough not to use Chrome. Thankfully, Google has said that they will remove that language from the agreement, but it's still wise to read the fine print when you're downloading any software. Dell is awaiting to the fact that they may release an iPhone competitor in the not too distant future. The company's CEO, Michael Dell was speaking at a conference here in New York this week and he said that they are planning to release "small screen devices that blend function of a mobile phone with the PC." Dell only recently decided to re-enter the MP3 market, so this could be yet another way that the company is showing that it is not backing down from Apple's success. Mac users can now enjoy Amazon's streaming movie service. Previously, Amazon Video On Demand only worked on TiVo or PCs, but Amazon has finally extended the service to Macs and Sony Bravia devices in televisions. It took them really long to do this. This service previously known as Amazon Unbox is over a year old now, but better late than never, I guess. Speaking of iPhone, one unhappy customer is not taking the poor service of the new 3G device lying down. William Gillis of San Diego claims that Apple and AT&T oversold the iPhone, crowding the network that never really have the capacity to sustain all the people that are trying to use it. Gillis is particularly critical of AT&T for pretending that the network is speedy, which is what they said about Edge last year. Gillis has filed this as a class action lawsuit, so any other iPhoners who feel the same can hop on board. It's one thing to be annoyed with the device, like I constantly am, but it's quite another to pay legal fees to show it. Why not just get another phone that actually works. TiVo and Direct TV have announced that they're collaborating on a new high-definition DVR. Direct TV has had an on again, off again relationship with TiVo, but they were able to patch things up and extend their partnership. Sadly, the new HD box won't come out until the second half of 2009. No one would argue that TiVo makes the best DVRs on the market, but their first foray into the HD world was not really a success. The first HD box cost over a thousand dollars when it was first announced. Hopefully, a joint TiVo-Direct TV box will be more affordable and raise the bar for cable boxes that come with your TV service. The cost of a text message between European States may be reduced by two-thirds. EU Telecoms Commissioner Viviane Reding proposed the price cut and now talks among other commissioners to approve the change and may show results by October. Roams texts generates about 97% pure revenue for mobile operators and the current cost of a roam text is about 29 euro cents. Reding also wants to introduce a billing by the second system where the users are charged from the 31st second of your call -- on. This will prevent being charged to full minute for a call that last just a few seconds. There's also a push to place a cap of 1 euro per megabyte on mobile data. The cost today, about 3 or 4 euros. If you have pets it's time to reconsider the Roombas, if you don't already have one. Two new models of the mechanical vacuum hit the market this week and they're aimed at cleaning up after your pooch. The Roomba 532 and 562 are priced at $349 and $399. The difference between the two is how many rooms they can clean and a few other programming extras. iRobot has also released a more industrial Roomba, the 610. This one costs $600 and is designed for high traffic areas. I love my Roomba. I might even upgrade to the pet version even though I don't have any pets. I have a lot of hair, so my poor Roomba works overtime. Nokia is working on a new mobile app called LifeviNe. It's designed for live streaming and will automatically geotag and upload pictures, videos and even music from your handsets. The media is uploaded to the web when the phone is sync in a widget for social networking sites like Facebook will display what you've streamed. We're not sure where the media will transfer to online, but we can assume a personal homepage through Nokia. The app should be available in Nokia's Beta sites in the next few weeks. I'm guessing the option to upload all of your media will be customizable since most people wouldn't just want all their personal pictures and videos uploaded blindly to the web. HP is gonna eliminate the excessive packaging on its latest laptop. The new Pavilion model will be sold exclusively at Walmart or Sam's Club and it will come inside its own laptop case. No big box or Styrofoam. Walmart had been asking its suppliers to reduce packaging on their products, so this is HP's solution. There are no specs on the actual laptop yet, but we know it will cost $798 and come with a messenger bag. I think it's a really great idea, but they'll have to think outside of the box -- pun intended, to prevent any theft. Those are all your headlines for today and that wraps up your week of getting Loaded. Next week, I'll be covering the Demo Conference in San Diego. This is a place where brand new start-up technology companies launch, so I'm hoping to see some cool things. You'll see my coverage right here on CNET TV, but I won't be doing Loaded on Monday and Tuesday due to the travel. You will once again have your tech news delivered to you by the trusty Mark Licea, but I will back on Wednesday. Meanwhile, have a great weekend everyone. Thanks for watching. I'm Natali Del Conte with CNET TV and you've just been Loaded.
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