SONY IS EXPECTED TO STANDARDIZE BOOK FORMATS, GOOGLE'S
HOMEPAGE AND READER GET MORE SOCIAL NETWORKING FEATURES,
AND HOW TO SURVIVE A CAMPING TRIP�WITH WI-FI. ITS THURSDAY,
AUGUST 13TH. I'M NATALI DEL CONTE AND IT'S TIME TO GET LOADED.
[*]
SONY IS EXPECTED TO MAKE AN ANNOUNCEMENT ABOUT E-BOOKS
TODAY. AS OF THIS BROADCAST, THE ANNOUNCEMENT HAS NOT BEEN
MADE BUT THE EXPECTATION IS THAT IT WILL HAVE TO DO WITH A NEW
STANDARD OF E-BOOK FORMAT. THE NEW YORK TIMES SAYS THAT SONY
IS GOING TO ADOPT THE E-PUB FORMAT, AN OPEN STANDARD CREATED
BY BOOK PUBLISHERS. SONY IS ALSO EXPECTED TO SCRAP ITS
PROPRIETARY SOFTWARE IN FAVOR OF SOFTWARE BY ADOBE, WHICH IS A
GOOD THING BECAUSE THE E-READER SOFTWARE IS NOTHING TO WRITE
HOME ABOUT. THIS MAKES THE SONY READER WHAT THE IPOD SHOULD
HAVE ALWAYS BEEN: CAPABLE OF SHARING ITS FILES WITH OTHER
DEVICES. IF KINDLE GETS ON BOARD WITH THIS STANDARD, THEN WE
HAVE A REAL MARKETPLACE. I REALLY HOPE AMAZON CAN MAN UP TO
SHARING IN THIS WAY. STILL, SONY'S LACK OF WIRELESS DOWNLOADING
CAPABILITY DOES HOLD THEM BACK. ANNOUNCE A CARRIER ALREADY!
GET IN THE GAME, SONY!
[*]
GOOGLE MADE SEVERAL NEW ANNOUNCEMENTS IN THE SOCIAL SHARING
SPACE. FIRST OFF, YOUR IGOOGLE: GOOGLE ROLLED OUT 19 NEW SOCIAL
GADGETS FOR IGOOGLE, WHICH IS YOUR CUSTOMIZABLE GOOGLE HOME
PAGE. THIS LETS YOU SHARE GADGETS WITH OTHER USERS SUCH AS
GAMES OR TO-DO LISTS. FOR GOOGLE READER, THE COMPANY ADDED
THE ABILITY TO SHARE STORIES FROM READER RIGHT TO OTHER SOCIAL
NETWORKS LIKE TWITTER, BLOGGER, FACEBOOK, AND MORE. THEY'VE
ALSO ADDED FULL PROFILE INFORMATION FOR FINDING AND FOLLOWING
OTHER PEOPLE'S SHARED ITEMS WITHIN READER.
[*]
MICROSOFT AND NOKIA ARE TEAMING UP TO PUT OFFICE ONTO NOKIA
PHONES. THIS IS PART OF MICROSOFT'S EFFORT TO GET OFFICE 2010 ALL
OVER THE PLACE: WEB, MOBILE, YOU NAME IT. SO FAR, ONLY WINDOWS
MOBILE PHONES HAVE BEEN ABLE TO RUN NATIVE VERSIONS OF
MICROSOFT OFFICE. THIS WOULD BE THE FIRST HANDSET DEAL LIKE THIS
BEYOND THE WINDOWS BRAND.
[*]
REALNETWORKS MAY HAVE HIT THE FINAL BLOW FOR ITS REAL DVD
SOFTWARE. THE COMPANY HAS BEEN BATTLING HOLLYWOOD STUDIOS
WHO ALLEGE THAT IT IS ILLEGAL TO MAKE A DIGITAL COPY OF A DVD
THAT YOU OWN TO YOUR OWN COMPUTER IN ORDER TO WATCH YOUR
MOVIE DIGITALLY. U.S. DISTRICT COURT JUDGE MARILYN HALL PATEL
RULED IN FAVOR OF THE STUDIO ON TUESDAY, SAYING THAT THE
SOFTWARE VIOLATES THE DIGITAL MILLENNIUM COPYRIGHT ACT. THE
COURT SKIRTED AROUND THE ISSUE OF WHETHER OR NOT CONSUMERS
CAN COPY THEIR OWN DVD'S THOUGH. WHICH IS EXACTLY WHAT THE
PROGRAM WAS ATTEMPTING TO LET CONSUMERS DO IN A LEGAL WAY.
UNFORTUNATELY FOR ALL OF US, WE MAY NOT EVEN CARE ABOUT DVD'S
AT ALL BY THE TIME THIS GETS RESOLVED, IF EVER. THIS CASE NOW
GOES TO A JURY AND I AM EXPECTING MORE OF THE SAME FOR REAL
NETWORKS.
[*]
FACEBOOK IS LOOKING TO ROLL OUT SOMETHING CALLED FACEBOOK
LITE. IT LOOKS LIKE A STREAMLINED VERSION OF FACEBOOK: FASTER,
AND SIMPLER. THEY ARE ROLLING OUT BETA VERSIONS TO A FEW SELECT
USERS THIS WEEK. I WANT TO TRY FACEBOOK LITE BECAUSE FACEBOOK
IS GETTING FAT AND BULKY AND SLOW LATELY. IT COULD USE A DIET.
IF YOUR FAMILY LIKES TO DRAG YOU CAMPING LIKE MINE DOES, IT MAY
GET A LITTLE MORE TOLERABLE IF YOU LIVE IN THE UK. THAT IS
BECAUSE BRITISH TELECOM IS GOING TO PROVIDE WI-FI TO CAMPING
PARKS AND CARAVANNING CLUBS. I'VE NEVER BEEN CAMPING IN THE UK
BUT I HAVE A FEELING THIS IS LIKE KOA PARKS HERE IN THE U.S. THE WI-
FI WILL BE FREE FOR BT BROADBAND CUSTOMERS OR BY THE MINUTE
FOR NON-CUSTOMERS. THIS SHOULD MAKE IT MUCH LESS ROUGH TO
ROUGH IT. JUST AVOID WEBCAM CHATTING IF YOU'RE NOT SHOWERING
DURING YOUR CAMPING TRIPS.
[*]
HP IS WORKING ON A TECHNOLOGY TO GET RID OF CREASES IN YOUR
PHOTOGRAPHS. SCIENTISTS AT HP LABS DEVELOPED A TECHNIQUE TO
DETECT CREASES IN PHOTOS USING A STANDARD FLATBED SCANNER.
ONCE THE IMAGE IS SCANNED, HP SOFTWARE CAN DETERMINE WHERE
THE DEFECT IS AND AUTOMATICALLY REMOVE ANY TRACE OF A CREASE
OR A FOLD. THIS IS GOOD FOR RESTORING OLD PHOTOS THAT HAVE BEEN
BENT OR MAYBE CURRENT PHOTOS OF YOUR EX'S THAT YOU THOUGHT
YOU'D NEVER WANT TO SEE AGAIN? THIS SOFTWARE ISN'T READY FOR
MARKET YET.
[*]
RADIOHEAD IS A BAND THAT CONSTANTLY LEVERAGES THE INTERNET
AND TECHNOLOGY TO REACH FANS AND SELL ALBUMS. THE BAND
RECENTLY ANNOUNCED THAT IT WOULD NO LONGER RELEASE FULL-
LENGTH ALBUMS, OPTING FOR DOWNLOADABLE SINGLES INSTEAD. I
THINK THIS IS SO SMART. ALBUMS DON'T SELL LIKE SINGLES DO THESE
DAYS AND IT IS EASIER TO REACH FANS WITH ONE SONG RATHER THAN A
WHOLE ALBUM. RADIOHEAD HAS SET TRENDS IN THE MUSIC INDUSTRY
BEFORE BY RELEASING THEIR LAST ALBUM, IN RAINBOWS, ONLINE FOR
AS MUCH, OR AS LITTLE, AS LISTENERS WANTED TO PAY. THE ALBUM
WAS A SUCCESS SO I WOULD WAGER THEIR SINGLE-ONLY IDEA WILL BE
TOO.
[*]
AN AUSTRALIAN WEBSITE IS LETTING USERS TEXT MESSAGE INTO
OUTERSPACE. UNFORTUNATELY YOU PROBABLY DON'T KNOW ANYONE
OUT THERE TO RECEIVE THE TEXT MESSAGE AND IT WILL TAKE 20 YEARS
TO GET THERE. STILL, THE POINT IS YOU CAN. FROM NOW THROUGH
AUGUST 24 YOU CAN GO TO HELLO-FROM-EARTH.NET AND POST A 160-
CHARACTER MESSAGE TO THE GLIESE 581D, THE NEAREST EARTH-LIKE
PLANET OUTSIDE THE SOLAR SYSTEM THAT IS SAID TO BE LIKELY TO
SUPPORT LIFE. IT IS KIND OF AN "IS ANYBODY OUT THERE" KIND OF
MESSAGE. ITS ALL FUN AND GAMES UNTIL SOMEONE RESPONDS!
[*]
THOSE ARE ALL OF YOUR HEADLINES FOR TODAY. BEFORE I GO I WANT
TO WISH A HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO JONATHAN, JOSE , AND JAVIER. THANK
YOU FOR WATCHING. I'LL SEE YOU NEXT TOMORROW. I'M NATALI DEL
CONTE WITH CNET TV AND YOU'VE JUST BEEN LOADED.
