hikari-sac.org

Sony and Samsung tend to set the pace on price reductions, and Gagnon of DisplaySearch says the other brands will all react in order to maintain their brand position in the market. If Samsung drops its 42-inch LCD $100 in the coming weeks, expect Panasonic to do the same on its 42-inch plasma.

And LCD prices have still been dropping more quickly than plasma. With major shopping opportunities like Labor Day, the beginning of football season, and Black Friday fast approaching, plasma’s recovery could be brief.

Vizio’s 32-inch plasma sells in club stores for about $550, while Samsung and Sony’s 32-inch LCDs each retail for $699, the lowest price each has ever offered for that size TV.

“Sony and Samsung launched what we termed ‘fighter models,OMEGA Watches,’ because they were designed to reach new pricing lows,” said Paul Gagnon, who monitors the TV industry for DisplaySearch. Vizio’s smaller plasma was specifically launched “to blunt the impact” of Samsung’s and Sony’s moves into smaller-and-cheaper sets, he added.

Plasma shipments are on the rise everywhere, but they are particularly healthy in China,wholesale jewelry, where they rose 285 percent in the last year.

(Credit:
LG Electronics)

But it doesn’t appear there are going to be bold moves on the part of plasma to steal some more share and get ahead. For all the brands, said Gagnon, “it’s all about maintaining price differential.”

The result has been a resurgent plasma TV business. DisplaySearch is reporting that shipments of plasma worldwide increased 52 percent from the same quarter a year ago, or 3.4 million units. That’s way behind LCD TV shipments, but it’s encouraging for a technology that many of the biggest vendors had basically left for dead.

Vizio made a splash with its 32-inch plasma, a size that hasn’t been available in that technology in the U.S. for a while. Even the big guys like Panasonic, LG, and Sony and Samsung were going small: 32, 40,Gucci Watches, 46 inches.

Despite LCD’s established presence in many North American living rooms, it appears that the introduction of smaller sizes and lower prices are helping retailers to move plenty of product. Last year, LCD shipments to the region were dropping. But second-quarter shipments increased almost 30 percent from a year ago.

The second-quarter check-up is in, and the industry is in far better health than a year ago. DisplaySearch’s Quarterly Global TV Shipment and Forecast Report was released Thursday, and worldwide TV shipments increased 11 percent from the same period in 2007, but just 3 percent from first quarter of 2008.

Still, the news is encouraging to an industry that was wringing its hands back in March over running out of places to sell its rapidly maturing, but still-pricey sets.

Around that same time, some of the bigger tier-one manufacturers began pushing smaller screens in an attempt to attract buyers who might be tightening their budgets as gas and food prices rose.

To be sure, LCD TVs are still the new television of choice for most. LCD shipments jumped 47 percent in the last year to reach 23.7 million units (compared to plasma’s 3.4 million units) in the second quarter worldwide, DisplaySearch says.

It appears the TV industry’s self-prescribed medicine of pushing smaller flat-panel sets is working.

On Sale Now: $169.95 - $169.99
View the latest prices for Nintendo DSi (black)

The possibilities are potentially endless. Think about it: a Facebook app? Maybe a Flickr app that will let you upload photos? This certainly erases any doubt about Nintendo following the same Apple App Store model found on the iPhone and iPod Touch. Now that everyone is familiar with the new media features on the DSi, what kind of app would you like to see on it?

While Nintendo has focused its WiiWare platform around games, it seems the DSi might be a viable platform for applications outside of gaming. While we know games will be available–there are already plenty circulating in Japan–the unique photo, microphone, and touch-screen capabilities embedded in the system could make for some very interesting third-party applications.

The following products are available:

On Sale Now: $169.99
View the latest prices for Nintendo DSi (blue)

Word from the Nintendo Developer Conference in London suggests the company is encouraging third-party developers to think outside of the box when it comes to DSi downloadable content on the DSi Shop.

The DSi launches in North America on April 5 for $170. Stay tuned for more developments on DSi downloadables. For now, check out our hands-on First Look video of the handheld itself.

(Source: develop)

(Credit:
TigraSports)

The main iBike unit draws power from the Nano, so no extra battery is required, and a memory chip stores data from the computer after the music player is disconnected. Also provided are optional speakers, which let riders skip the earbuds that can block out such crucial external sounds as “On your left!”

TigraSport’s new iBikeConsole makes it easier to juggle those actions by letting bikers change iPod Nano selections and adjust volume without removing their hands from the handlebars. We’re not sure why this product is exclusive to the Nano, but we still like its emphasis on safer riding.

Two activities that don’t generally mesh well: ripping down a bumpy bike trail and toggling between songs on an
iPod.

The device sells for a suggested retail price of $86 and is designed to work with all generations of iPod Nano–at least until Tuesday.

The main functions of the iPod Nano and the computer are controlled
wirelessly through a pair of silicon-covered keypads that can be mounted
on the bike’s grips and operated with the thumbs. The keypads have large control buttons that TigraSport says can be activated even through thick gloves.

Basically, the device acts as a docking station for the iPod while providing a weatherproof and shock-proof case. It also combines a remote control system with a cycle computer so riders can monitor their distance and speed while listening to their tunes.

Your perception of Apple’s
iPhone probably has a lot to do with your personal philosophy of computing.

Do you want unfettered freedom to run anything, whenever and however you want it? Or do you only need a few vital applications to make you happy, and really just want the damn thing to work reliably?

In these, the early days of the iPhone, it’s very clear that Apple has taken a very cautious approach to independent iPhone developers and software development. Contrast that approach with Microsoft, which built a PC empire catering to developers’ needs, and would like to expand that into the mobile realm.

Some developers are peeved that Apple isn't giving them as much access to the iPhone as they'd like.

(Credit:
Corinne Schulze/CNET Networks)

However, developing software for mobile devices has been, and seems like it will be, very different from the development process for PCs and Macs. How this give-and-take between operating system developers and application developers evolves–not just at Apple, but for smartphone development in general–could dictate the evolution of truly mobile computing.

If limiting the role of independent developers helps create secure and reliable computers, doesn’t that seem worth it to everyone? (Except, of course, to the developers.) That seems to be Apple’s position, although the company declined an interview request in search of a clearer picture. The vast majority of developers are professionals or hobbyists who wouldn’t dream of writing inferior or malicious code, but viruses, malware, and poorly written applications still proliferate.

On the other hand, imagine how you’d feel if another company controlled everything you can or can’t do with its product after you brought it home. I don’t think people would be too thrilled if Honda decided that the after-market installation of a third-party stereo voided the warranty, based on the rationale that the
car is now much more likely to be stolen.

Such is the hubbub over the iPhone software development kit, which is still a work in progress. Some developers, captivated by the promise of the iPhone’s unique combination of touch screen, accelerometer, and
Mac OS X goodies, have been chastened to learn that they won’t be able to create applications the way they want because of restrictions imposed by Apple on development tactics.

There are several bones of contention, but the primary concern seems to be the decision to prohibit third-party applications from running in the background. Apple warned developers of this restriction in the iPhone SDK documentation, and urged them to develop applications that are capable of quickly saving information, and then closing, when the user decides to switch to another application.

This policy makes it extremely difficult to create Web-aware native applications, wrote Hank Williams, a blogger working on mobile-software development. “The issue of background processing is *the* issue for a mobile device because it is key to two things: telling the world about your status in some ongoing way, (and) receiving notification of important events.”

That makes sense; remember that friend or relative who got a mobile phone but never turned it on? That practice greatly diminishes (although some might say it enhances) the value of a mobile communications device, and one-way communication is not what has made the Web so interesting in its second decade.

The thing is, you can’t expect everything from the PC Web world to work the same way on a battery-operated device. Craig Hockenberry, another developer, agrees that background processing is nice to have, but impractical right now on anything with a battery. (Thanks to John Gruber at Daring Fireball for the links.)

Hockenberry built an unofficial iPhone version of Twitteriffic, a Mac application he wrote that gathers “tweets” from people you’re following on Twitter. An early version for the iPhone had a component that ran in the background to automatically gather tweets every five minutes.

The result? “Both the EDGE and Wi-Fi transceivers have significant power requirements. Whenever that hardware is on, your battery life is going to suck. My five-minute refresh kept the hardware on and used up a lot of precious power,” Hockenberry wrote.

Other mobile operating systems such as Symbian, however, don’t restrict processes from running in the background. And Nokia’s N95, which runs Symbian, can browse the Web for longer periods of time than the iPhone, according to one test.

So what is this really about? Maybe it’s about avoiding the mistakes of the past.

Software developers were the lifeline for PC users before broadband Internet became pervasive. If you wanted to do anything interesting with a PC, you needed application software, and so developers of both consumer and corporate applications were endlessly courted by Microsoft.

People want more applications than Apple can deliver. But how open should the process be?

(Credit:
Corinne Schulze/CNET Networks)

That brought the world tons of great applications. But it also brought security nightmares, blue screens of death, and sluggish computers that hog resources. The mobile world can’t afford to let that all happen again; people have gotten used to a bit of “funk” from their PCs. They don’t tolerate that from their phones.

So, don’t expect to see Apple CEO Steve Jobs pacing the stage at the Worldwide Developers Conference in June while screaming “Developers! Developers! Developers!” At times, Apple seems to treat software developers like a necessary evil, acknowledging that they have a role to play but wary of letting them damage the product. Much of Apple’s pitch for the Mac is that everything works, and it’s easier to make that pitch when you retain so much control over what runs on the platform.

That stance naturally doesn’t sit well with the developers, who are used to different treatment from the likes of Microsoft, Symbian, Palm, and others. But what if that’s what it takes to produce a reliable product? After all, the fewer things you install on a PC or Mac, the more reliable it tends to be.

That’s the tradeoff Apple is trying to make with the iPhone as it evolves. There’s no doubt that the iPhone needs third-party applications. But do smartphone owners need the flexibility and breadth of applications that are available for the PC and Mac?

Apple is arguing through its SDK restrictions that, at the moment, they don’t, and I’m inclined to believe them: for now. If smartphones really do turn into mobile computers, Apple will have to acquiesce–at least somewhat–to the need for broader third-party development that can truly exploit the iPhone. After all, that unofficial parallel iPhone development path doesn’t show any signs of slowing down, meaning that people really do want more than just Apple’s stock applications, and they’ll want some things Apple’s not inclined to provide.

So for now, if you want to run anything and everything on an iPhone, buy one and jailbreak it. If you want a more stable controlled experience, only install what Apple and the App Store provides.

However, what we really need is both. And that’s something Apple will have to tackle during the second year of the iPhone. There’s no shame in taking baby steps while building a business from scratch, but you’ve got to take the training wheels off at some point.

Rapper Flo Rida

(Credit:
Chad Griffith )

You won’t hear up-and-coming rap star Flo Rida griping about fans pilfering his songs on P2P sites, or complain that technology is hurting the music industry. Don’t talk to him about so-called digital divides either.

As one of rap music’s fastest rising stars, Rida, 28, is new enough to music success that fans are still precious to him. This is a guy who used to shout out his cell number during performances.

This “personal touch” has helped, he says. His song “Low,” recently spent 13 weeks as the top-selling ringtone in the country, a new record for consecutive weeks, according to Nielsen RingScan chart. According to his music label, Poe Boy/Atlantic Records, Rida (a name he chose to honor his home state and his rap style) is also the first ever debut artist to have two Top 10 digital singles prior to an album release. His debut album, Mail On Sunday goes on sale March 18.

Rida is one of a growing number of young performers who are trying to break into a music business dominated by technology.

In an interview Tuesday with CNET News.com, Rida revealed himself to be a bit of a gadget geek (he’s got two MacBook Pros and four flat screens) and said he sees more computers and high-tech gadgetry in inner cities than ever. He also sent a message to Apple CEO Steve Jobs. He once accidentally dropped his
iPod in the toilet and “if they can make them waterproof, that’d be great.”

Q: Are you one of the people that despises file sharing?

Rida: If you’re really in touch with your fans on a personal level then you don’t have to worry about things like that. A lot of times I make sure I go onto MySpace and holler at my fans, looking at them on YouTube, showing love, making sure that I’m in tune more so on a personal level than just having a hot song…cause these are people who just might want to go to the store to get the album as well as download. These are people who might want to put your poster on the wall or see your (album) art.

Q: Tell me about ringtones. How do those royalty checks look?

Rida: Oh man, oh man. It’s a blessing. I can do a whole lot of things that I couldn’t do before right now you know? I just put down on another house, got a couple of
cars from all my fans and the ringtones. I definitely bought like four flat screens. I got two MacPros…

Q: Have you had the chance to hear some stranger’s phone go off and heard your music?

Rida: Oh yeah, sometimes I might go to Wal-Mart and hear it and say to myself: “That’s my song right there and it’s his ringtone playing.” In October last year, I heard it for the first time. I just told the guy “Thank you.” I never knew the song was going to be this big.

Q: The technology sector has heard much about the digital divide, and how urban areas lack enough computers and other technologies. Is that your experience?

Rida: In the schools around my (South Florida) neighborhood, they definitely got tons more computers. Before now, they didn’t have anything. The students now, a lot of them have laptops at home…

Q: What kind of technology do you see a need for? What does someone need to come up with to make your life easier?

Rida: I remember one time, I accidentally dropped my first iPod into the toilet. If they can make them waterproof, that’d be great.

commentary

I just realized that a little over a year and 2,064 posts ago, this blog was born. I’ve had a lot of fun with the blog. While I’m not always right (a nice way of saying “often wrong”), I appreciate the patience and insight that many readers share in the comments section, and in other blogs that reference The Open Road.

Because of such references, the traffic for this blog has increased significantly. How significantly? Put it this way: Traffic has gone up 1000 percent since July 2007. We’ve had millions of visitors and page views in The Open Road’s inaugural year.

Traffic on the Open Road blog

Over the year, it has also become increasingly clear from which sources most people learn about posts here. While an increasing number are repeat offenders who subscribe to the blog (including a significant number of people who hate the blog but can’t seem to leave :-), 76 percent are net new visitors. The big traffic generators? In order of traffic:

CNET, Google (Search and the Google Reader application), News.com (CNET), Digg, LinuxToday, News.Google.com, Slashdot, Reddit, Stumble Upon, and My.Yahoo.com (RSS reader).

I can’t really track RSS readers since CNET has chosen not to use Feedburner or other technology to track it. I really, really wish that I could.

My commitment for the coming year is to focus on improved fairness and accuracy if ever I’m going to write something negative about a company. I also hope to avoid ever writing something negative about a person. I’m a highly imperfect person, so help me keep my word.

In the meantime, thank you for reading and be sure to let me know areas in which you think the blog can be improved.

The MacBook Air focused global attention–for the first time with prolonged intensity–on a small, thin notebook. Until now, this kind of design simply wasn’t on many users’ shopping lists. (Particularly Americans who choose performance over portability.) Here’s a brief look at this notebook category, both past and present.

Sharp Actius MM20P in dock

(Credit:
Sharp)

A few prefatory notes: Because I use a MacBook Air, the topic of ultraportables has taken on more importance for me. But the impact of this category of notebooks goes much further than personal interest. Ultraportables now contain fast Core 2 Duo processors, snappy solid state drives (SSDs), and better screens, which makes them more usable and mainstream than ever before. Price is still the limiting factor. This will change, however, as SSD prices fall and more ultraportable competition creeps in at the low end from the likes of Asus and Everex.

NOTE: This is not an official CNET review. Official CNET product reviews are here.

At the top of the blast-from-the-past utrathin notebook list is the Sharp Actius MM20P. This model is listed with a height of 0.62-inch. That’s thin–though it doesn’t taper to 0.16-inch like the Air. It comes with the Transmeta Efficeon TM8600 (Intel-compatible) 1GHz processor, a 10.4-inch screen, a 20GB hard disk drive (no solid state drive option), and 512MB of memory.

The problem–as the specifications indicate–is that it’s dated (and discontinued). Sharp did show, however, that thin notebook designs were viable long before the Air. A progenitor of the Actius is the Sharp Muramasa. This measured 0.54 inches thick. Here’s the CNET review of the Actius MM20P.

Mitsubishi Pedion

(Credit:
Mitsubishi)

The Mitsubishi Pedion, announced in 1997 (reincarnated as the Hewlett-Packard OmniBook Sojourn), is even more dated–and a milestone design too. It was 0.7 inches thick, 3.1 pounds (about the same as the Air) had a 12.1-inch screen, and came with a 233-MHz Pentium MMX processor. It retailed for a whopping $6,000. But the notebook never seemed to be a finished product and was plagued by user complaints. One of the biggest problems–with the initial version–was the Chiclet keyboard.

Digital Equipment HiNote Ultra CS475, announced 1994

(Credit:
ume-y)

Next up: the HP 2510p. Unbeknownst to many, Compaq (which HP purchased in 2001) has a long history of delivering excellent ultraportables. These designs emerged after Compaq bought Digital Equipment Corp. (DEC) in 1998. At that time, DEC was shipping the HiNote Ultra line, which was a sensation when hit the market in 1994. The HiNote didn’t hit with the impact of the MacBook Air, but it was close. Only one-inch thick (again, this is 1994) and weighing four pounds, it seemed absolutely razor thin at that time. The CS475 model also came with a cutting-edge floppy-drive slice–that snapped on the bottom–and a multimedia docking station. Back in my early days at CNET, I wrote about the HiNote.

HP 2510p

(Credit:
Hewlett-Packard)

The current HP 2510p comes from this bloodline. It’s slightly thicker (at 0.97 inches) than some of the others but there’s a reason for the extra plastic: an integrated optical drive. It also packs an Intel “Santa Rosa” GM965 chipset with X3100 graphics. (The Toshiba R500–see below–uses an older 945GMS chipset and 950 graphics.) The 2510p weighs 2.8 pounds, more than the R500 but less than the Air. Otherwise, it outclasses the Air in almost exactly the same areas as the R500. More ports, an integrated 10/100/1000 gigabit network adapter, and built-in DVD rewritable drive. The 2510p starts at $1,499. CNET review here.

Toshiba R500

(Credit:
Toshiba)

Another contemporary thin subnotebook is the Toshiba Portege R500, which boasts dimensions (WxDxH Front/H Rear) of 11.1″ x 8.5″ x .77″(front)/1.0″(rear) and comes with a 12.1-inch screen, an Intel Core 2 Duo 1.20GHz U7600 processor, a 64GB SSD, 2GB of memory, and a fixed DVD rewritable drive. The weight is 2.4 pounds, beating the Air (though with a smaller screen). It also trumps the Air with extra ports, including 3 USB, one 1394, and an Ethernet jack. It starts at $1,999. The CNET review (July 2007) is here.

Asus U1E

(Credit:
Asus)

The Lenovo X300 has received so much press already that it is almost redundant to mention it here. Suffice to say, it has a large 13.3-inch screen like the Air, is slightly thicker at 0.73 inches, packs Intel X3100 graphics, and uses a 64GB SSD. CNET review here.

Other notable entries in this category include the Asus (maker of the Eee PC) U1E which has an 11-inch screen and gets as slim as 0.7 inches and the LG X series with a 10.6-inch display.

“We will continue to comply fully with the consent decree,” Smith said, going on to find comfort in some of the judge’s words. “We are gratified that the court recognized our extensive efforts to work cooperatively with the large number of government agencies involved. We built
Windows Vista in compliance with these rules, and we will continue to adhere to the decree’s requirements.”

“The court’s decision in this matter is based upon the extreme and unforeseen delay in the availability of complete, accurate, and useable technical documentation relating to the communications protocols,” Kollar-Kotelly said. “The court concludes that the moving states have met their burden of establishing that this delay constitutes changed circumstances, which have prevented the final judgments from achieving their principal objectives.”

“The court’s extension should not be viewed as a sanction against Microsoft, but rather as a means to allow the respective provisions of the final judgments the opportunity to operate together towards maximizing (their) procompetitive potential,” she said in the ruling.

Kollar-Kotelly also said that the decision to extend the ruling for only two years does not mean the decree could not be again extended.

Microsoft will have to put up with another two years of court antitrust oversight, a federal judge ruled on Tuesday.

“Ultimately, the court’s decision not to extend the final judgments beyond November 12, 2009 now does not foreclose the possibility of doing so in the future,” she said, adding that mechanisms are in place to allow the consent decree to be extended if the protocol licensing program does not achieve its stated aims.

In a statement, Microsoft general counsel Brad Smith said the company would accept the ruling.

In her ruling, Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly cited the length of time it has taken Microsoft to get its protocol licensing program up and running as the primary reason she is extending the consent decree, which was due to expire at the end of last year.

She did say that she did not intend her ruling as a rebuke of the software maker.

Sinnott contacted Air Force officials, who told him not to be concerned about it and assured him they would tell their staff to use the correct address. But what started off as some personal e-mails and jokes later devolved into some pretty classified information, including military procedures.

Gary Sinnott had created a Web site, Mildenhall.com, in the 1990s to promote his hometown. But not long after that, he reportedly began to be bombarded with e-mails from Air Force members who were trying to contact people on the base, according to the BBC.

Sinnot has since closed down the Web site to avoid receiving any more of the e-mails.

At one point, Sinnott received information about a presidential flight, so he contacted the Air Force again and an official, as expected, “went nuts,” he told the BBC.

The U.S. Air Force accidentally sent e-mails that were meant to go to its base in Mildenhall, England, to a tourism Web site with a similar address.

Monday’s announcement that Starbucks will end its Wi-Fi partnership with T-Mobile had some HotSpot subscribers worried. After all, Starbucks locations are a significant source of T-Mobile HotSpots. One of the key attractions of T-Mobile’s HotSpot @Home service is the ubiquity of such HotSpots (HotSpot @Home is a service that lets T-Mobile subscribers make unlimited phone calls via Wi-Fi).

However, according to a T-Mobile news release, existing HotSpot customers will not be impacted by the switch for at least another five years. AT&T Wi-Fi operations have yet to begin, and even after the transition, customers can take advantage of a roaming agreement between T-Mobile USA and AT&T. HotSpot and HotSpot @Home customers who want to use the Starbucks Wi-Fi can do so without additional charge. That said, it’s still a blow to T-Mobile, as customers may attempt to crawl out of their existing HotSpot subscriptions.

In a blog on Wednesday, Office program manager Brian Jones said that the documentation for the binary document formats will be available for download under the terms of its Open Specification Promise (OSP), which is designed to let third parties write software using Microsoft’s technology without fear of patent infringement claims.

Microsoft has made changes designed to make it easier to access the technical documentation for its older Office binary document formats and will sponsor an open-source project to map those binary formats to Open XML.

“The thought here was that the most effective way to help people with this was to create an open source translation project to allow binary documents (.doc; .xls; .ppt) to be translated into Open XML,” Jones wrote.

Meanwhile, the conflict between supporters of Open XML and ODF continues.

There are already translators between Office binary formats and ODF, the defaults file formats, and the open-source product OpenOffice.

The moves are in response to requests from other participants in the standardization process that Microsoft is leading to make Office Open XML an ISO (International Organization for Standardization) standard.

The ODF Alliance issued its rebuttal (click for PDF) to a recent Burton Group study that argued that Open XML will get plenty of market adoption and that large companies should only use ODF to make an “anti Microsoft statement.”

Jones also said Microsoft will be sponsoring an open-source project with software vendors–which he didn’t name–to create a bridge between the binary formats and Open XML.