HTC RELEASES AN ANDROID PHONE CALLED THE HERO, OUTLOOK USERS
ARE CAUSING A PRETTY BIG STINK, AND BILL GATES FILES A PATENT
APPLICATION FOR A BEER COOLER. ITS THURSDAY, JUNE 25TH. I'M NATALI DEL
CONTE AND IT'S TIME TO GET LOADED.
[*]
HTC RELEASED DETAILS ABOUT ITS UP AND COMING ANDROID PHONE. IT IS
CALLED THE HERO AND WE GOT A CHANCE TO LOOK AT IT YESTERDAY. IT IS A
BIT OF A TWEAKED VERSION ON ANDROID AND EVEN INCLUDES FLASH
SUPPORT, WHICH IS JUST GREAT! SOME OTHER SPECS INCLUDE A 3.2 HVGA
SCREEN WITH SOME KIND OF ANTI-FINGERPRINT TREATMENT. IT WILL ALSO
HAVE A 5 MEGAPIXEL CAMERA WITH AUTOFOCUS, A COMPUS, A GRAVITY
SENSOR, AND DEDICATED SEARCH. BASICALLY ALL OF THE THINGS IPHONE
3G S PEOPLE HAVE BEEN SO EXCITED ABOUT. NOT A LOT OF STORAGE
THOUGH - ONLY 512 MEGS WITH AN EXPANDABLE MICRO SD SLOT. DON'T GET
TOO EXCITED ABOUT IT IF YOU DON'T LIVE IN EUROPE THOUGH. IT WILL
LAUNCH THERE IN JULY BUT NOT IN THE U.S. UNTIL "SOMETIME LATER THIS
YEAR." WHICH MEANS THAT THEY ARE STILL SHOPPING IT OUT TO CARRIERS
TO SEE WHO WILL SUBSIDIZE IT. VERIZON! GET ON THAT!
[*]
THERE IS A NEW MOVEMENT ONLINE TO GET OUTLOOK 2010 FIXED. IT ISN'T
REALLY BROKEN, IT IS JUST NOT ABLE TO RENDER HTML VERSIONS OF
EMAILS. THE NEW VERSION USES THE WORD RENDERING ENGINE FOR HTML
INSTEAD OF THE INTERNET EXPLORE ENGINE LIKE PREVIOUS VERSIONS OF
OUTLOOK. THIS MEANS THE BACKGROUND IMAGES AND LAYOUT WOULD NOT
LOOK AS NICE ON THE RECIEVING END AS IT DOES ON THE SENDING END.
MICROSOFT DEFENDED THIS DECISION SAYING "For e-mail viewing, Word also
provides security benefits that are not available in a browser: Word cannot run web
script or other active content that may threaten the security and safety of our
customers." BUT DO YOU REALLY WANT IMAGES IN YOUR EMAIL ANYWAY? I
DON'T. YOU CAN DECIDE FOR YOURSELF AND JOIN THE MOVEMENT AT
FIXOUTLOOK.ORG.
[*]
THE RUMORS OF A MOVIE ABOUT FACEBOOK HAVE SURFACED AGAIN. THE
WORD IS THAT DAVID FINCHER IS IN ADVANCED TALKS TO DIRECT THE MOVIE
FOR COLUMBIA PICTURES. IT IS BASED ON THE BOOK CALLED "THE
ACCIDENTAL BILLIONAIRES" AND COULD STAR MICHAEL CERA OR SHIA
LABEOUF AS MARK ZUCKERBERG. NEWS.COM'S CAROLINE MCCARTHY
WRITES THAT FACEBOOK IS NOT THRILLED ABOUT THIS MOVIE, AND I GOTTA
SAY, NEITHER AM I.
[*]
BOXEE IS STILL BLOCKED FROM THE APPLE TV BUT THE STREAMING VIDEO
PORTAL IS NOW AVAILABLE FOR WINDOWS USERS. IT WORKS WITH XP, VISTA,
WINDOWS 7, AND WINDOWS MEDIA CENTER, WHICH MEANS YOU CAN GET
BOXEE BACK TO YOUR HDTV. BOXEE ALSO INKED A DEAL WITH MAJOR
LEAGUE BASEBALL THAT WILL BRING MLB.TV PREMIUM TO THE SERVICE. YOU
CAN WATCH, PAUSE, AND REWIND LIVE GAMES BUT YOU'LL HAVE TO HAVE A
MEMBERSHIP TO MLB.TV PREMIUM, WHICH IS ABOUT $20 PER YEAR. BOXEE
ALSO ANNOUNCED CONTENT DEALS WITH DIGG, TUMBLR AND CURRENT TV.
[*]
BILL GATES MUST BE DRINKING A LOT OF BEER IN HIS RETIREMENT. HIS NAME
IS ON A U.S. PATENT APPLICATION FOR SOME KIND OF KEG COOLER. THE
MACHINE APPEARS TO BE SOME KIND OF "TEMPERATURE-STABILIZED
STORAGE CONTAINER" MADE TO STORE AND TRANSPORT "WATER OR
FLAVORED WATER, DAIRY PRODUCTS OR FRUIT JUICE, CARBONATED SODA,
WINE, BEER OR DISTILLED SPIRITS." DON'T KNOW WHY BILL GATES WOULD BE
IN ON A PROJECT LIKE THIS SINCE HE HAS BEEN SO FOCUSED ON CURING
DISEASE IN THIRD WORLD COUNTRIES LATELY. MAYBE THE THIRD WORLD
NEEDS POTABLE BEER?
[*]
METRO PCS LAUNCHED A $5 PLAN FOR UNLIMITED INTERNATIONAL CALLS.
THE BUDGET CARRIER WILL ALLOW FOR CALLS TO 100 COUNTRIES AS MUCH
AS YOU WANT FOR JUST $5. THIS IS THE CHEAPEST INTERNATIONAL PLAN AS
FAR AS I CAN TELL. ANALYST SPECULATE THAT THE CALLS COULD BE
IP-BASED, WHICH MAY BE HOW THEY CAN AFFORD TO CALL OVERSEAS ON
THE CHEAP. THIS COULD BE THE IMPETUS FOR THE OTHER CARRIERS TO DO
SOMETHING SIMILAR.
[*]
WE GOT A FAIR NUMBER OF RESPONSES TO THE FTC STORY FROM MONDAY'S
EPISODE. THE QUESTION AT HAND WAS WHETHER OR NOT THE FTC SHOULD
REGULATE BLOGGERS AND MAKE THEM DISCLOSE THEIR FREE GIFTS AND
PERKS IN THE SAME WAY PROPER JOURNALISTS DO. JAY IN SPOKANE
WROTE:
"Your gosh darn right that review bloggers should have to abide by the same
disclosure rules! You don't know how many times that I have purchased something
based on user reviews, only to get the product home, and learn that I just got shafted!"
SHERMAN FROM OAKLAND SAYS:
"i think, it is a way for government & IRS to get some taxes because low tax revenues
this year." WHICH MAY BE A VALID POINT. AND FINALLY THIS IS FROM KEVIN:
"My very first though after seeing your segment on the FTC vs Bloggers was "yeah
full disclosure!". Then I stopped to wonder where the FTC got all this spare time on
their hands that they can go about chasing the *millions* of bloggers out there."
[*]
THESE ARE ALL VALID AND APPRECIATED POINTS AND WE APPRECIATE
THEM. WRITE US ANYTIME: LOADED@CNET.COM.
THOSE ARE ALL OF YOUR HEADLINES FOR TODAY. BEFORE I GO, I WANT TO
WISH A VERY HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO JONATHAN, DAVID, JONATHAN, LIAM, AND
ANN. I WILL SEE YOU ON MONDAY, HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND. I'M NATALI DEL
CONTE WITH CNETTV AND YOU JUST BEEN LOADED.
