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Posts Tagged ‘xbox live’

Xbox LIVE was previously known to censor or even ban gamers who indicate or even hint they were of an untraditional sexually orientation. This could either be from listing it in user profile or using a slang term in a tag

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Xbox LIVE Terms of Use reverses policy on sexual orientation/identification

A new movie came out on DVD this week called The Invention Of Lying. It’s co-written, co-directed, and co-starring Golden Globe host Ricky Gervais and looks mildly entertaining enough that I want to rent it. So I load up Netflix to add it to my queue — but wait, according to Netflix, it’s not available until February 16. Why? Because it’s a Warner movie and as such is subject to Netflix’s idiotic new 28-day rule (they can’t rent Warner new releases on Netflix until after they’ve been available for purchase in retail store for 28 days). Well that’s just great. So all hope is lost, right? Nope. iTunes has it available for rent today.

Because Apple did not agree to enter into a deal with Hollywood that restricts them from renting movies during this 28-day window, it was available not only to buy but also to rent this past Tuesday on iTunes, the same day it was released on DVD. While iTunes has its own series of somewhat convoluted rules with regard to rentals (for example, some movies are restricted from being rented when airing on premium cable channels like HBO), in this instance, they hands down beat Netflix at their own game: rentals. And thanks to this new 28-day window, which the other major studios will undoubtedly have interest in getting from Netflix as well, this is something we could see a lot more of: iTunes, Amazon, Xbox Live, and yes, even Blockbuster Online being the go-to sources to rent new releases.

And that’s great news for those services which haven’t yet seen the rush of popularity that Netflix has enjoyed over the past several years. But Apple COO Tim Cook noted in an earnings call last year that iTunes movie rentals were a surprisingly strong part of the store and were helping drive Apple TV sales. People seem to like the idea of renting movies over iTunes, they just needed an incentive to do it more. This is it.

Sure, for a lot of people, a 28 day wait after waiting months for a movie to be released isn’t the end of the world. But a solid 30% of Netflix’s business is still people who rabidly want new releases when they come out. With Netflix no longer offering that option, they will turn elsewhere — and I don’t mean buying these movies. If they’re opposed to piracy (which will go up as a result of this window if all the studios get on board), they’ll turn to one of Netflix’s rivals in rentals. And with these companies’ living room hardware getting upgrades this year (Xbox in talks to get ESPN content, Apple TV likely to see a major upgrade, etc), there could be very enticing options. Not to mention a certain new Apple device likely getting unveiled next week that will probably support movie rental playback as well.

I understand why Netflix felt the need to cut this deal: on one hand, Hollywood was strong-arming them in a futile attempt stop their own DVD sales bleed. On the other, they want to secure what they believe is their future: streaming. But they’ve given their rivals a real opportunity with this 28-day window. Hopefully, one of them will take advantage of it.

[photo: flickr/snowkei]

By the time Palm announced the Pixi Plus and Pre Plus at CES earlier this month, there wasn’t a whole lot left to reveal. From the names, to the specs, all the way down to the carrier the handsets would launch on — just about everything had made it into the realm of public knowledge by way of the rumor mill.

However, there was at least one feature that Palm managed to keep hidden up their sleeve: Mobile HotSpot. With the flick of a switch, the Mobile Hotspot application turns the Pre Plus or Pixi Plus into a WiFi router for up to 5 users simultaneously, fueled by Verizon’s 3G network. We’ve spent the last few hours tinkering with a pre-release copy of Mobile HotSpot – read on for our impressions.

Read the rest at MobileCrunch >>

Up until now, talk around HTML5 has largely focused on its promise, without many major sites actually implementing HTML5-specific features as anything more than tech demos. Today, YouTube is taking steps to let users work it into their everyday browsing experience: you’ll now be able to watch some of the site’s videos without a plugin, using the video and audio playback support included with HTML5. No, you certainly won’t need HTML5 to watch any videos, but if you’d like to try viewing the site’s videos without Flash, you now have the option. You can activate the feature in the YouTube TestTube. To get the new player to work, you’ll have to be using Chrome, Safari, or ChromeFrame on IE. Note that YouTube is currently pushing the feature out, so it may be an hour or two before you can turn it on.

Unfortunately, this isn’t being rolled out to all videos. You can only watch videos that aren’t being monetized and that haven’t been annotated (obviously YouTube hasn’t implemented overlays in its HTML5 player). Still, this is a big deal — YouTube is probably the most popular Flash-reliant site on the web. The switch isn’t surprising at all given Google’s support for open standards, but it’s clear they’re moving at a fast pace.

Of course, HTML5 doesn’t really make much of a difference once you’re actually watching the video. In fact, you might not even be able to tell that the video you’re watching is being rendered without Flash (you can right-click and look for the telltale “About Flash Player…” menu item if you want to check). I’m running the dev build of Chrome on a Mac and the player is mostly working, though the Fullscreen button and volume slider are quirky.

Image via Justinsomnia

Fair warning to those of you who play your modded Xbox 360 on Xbox Live: Microsoft is breaking out the ban hammer. Again

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Microsoft bans ‘small percentage’ of modded Xbox 360s from Xbox Live

Good evening, readers- If you’re an Xbox Live subscriber in the US then Major Nelson has some news for you. Microsoft has rolled out Paypal as a method of payment for MS points, Xbox Live accounts and such, but it’s not what you think.

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Pay for your Xbox Live addiction with Paypal

EnglishRussia has a fantastic photo set showing the inards of a Russian sub.

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Take a virtual trip on a Russian sub

I’ll seriously try to withhold any jokes about us becoming lazy or references to Asimov’s Three Law of Robotics in this post. Also, I’ll try not to talk about how people like you and me will never ever have a system like this installed in our homes. With all that out of the way, I present to you Anvil Motion computerized kitchen cabinets and the decline of the human race.

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Anvil Motion cabinets: crazy cool and crazy expensive

Is it to early to proclaim—loudly, as you do—the practice of buying video games at retail dead? Yes, it probably is too early; yet we continue. Microsoft’s announcement today that it will make available, sometime this year, full retail games available for download via Xbox Live, may well be more important than Project Natal , or “Project Christmas” as I like to call it

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Should we wave goodbye to buying video games at retail?

Forget Twitter , Metal Gear Solid: Rising and Project Natal , this is huge. Xbox Live is getting full, downloadable games this Fall. The games can be purchased with just a credit card meaning you don’t have to mess around with Xbox points.

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Xbox Live to get full downloadable games