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Cablevision wants to offer free Wi-Fi on LIRR and Metro North trains

Posted by Harshad

Cablevision wants to offer free Wi-Fi on LIRR and Metro North trains


Cablevision wants to offer free Wi-Fi on LIRR and Metro North trains

Posted: 03 Jun 2010 12:56 PM PDT

Cablevision wants to offer free Wi-Fi on LIRR and Metro North trainsCablevision, one of the largest ISPs in the New York City metropolitan area, has said today that they have submitted a proposal to the MTA in an effort to extend free Optimum Wi-Fi onto Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North trains within the next year.

The Wi-Fi is currently available at 200 commuter stops, but the new proposal would extend the Wi-Fi onto the actual trains, giving Internet to Cablevision subscribers whilst in transit.

"Access to the Internet on MTA trains will transform the riding experience, and we believe Cablevision is uniquely positioned to deliver this enhancement through the extension of Optimum WiFi – already the nation's largest and most advanced WiFi network – onto the rails," says John Bickham, Cablevision's president of cable and communications. "As a New York-based company already providing popular WiFi access at nearly 200 MTA commuter rail stations we propose to deploy wireless Internet access across the entire MTA system within 12 months of selection, at no cost to the Transportation Authority or taxpayers."

If you are not a Cablevision subscriber, then you can pay for access, at a "reasonable" price.

The Optimum Wi-Fi offers download speeds of up to 3 Mbps and upload of 1.5 Mbps.

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'Slacker' begins offering offline playback on iPhone

Posted: 03 Jun 2010 12:26 PM PDT

'Slacker' begins offering offline playback on iPhoneYesterday, AT&T announced new data plans for their smartphone line, including the iPhone and iPad tablet, which will be less expensive for customers, but will also limit data use. The carrier also eliminated its unlimited plans for new subscribers starting June 7th.

Slacker, the online radio service, has announced today that iPhone supported offline playback is now available, giving Slacker Radio Plus subscribers the chance to download up to "thousands" of audio tracks from custom stations then listen to it later without the need for an active Internet connection.

The music caching feature has been standard on Android and BlackBerry devices since earlier this year.

Slacker's announcement is great news for future iPhone owners, who may be fans of streaming music but will be trapped with capped 3G data thanks to the new data plans. Slacker subscribers can now download the music they want while connected to a home wireless network or a Wi-Fi hotspot, and then play it back later while saving bandwidth.

All that is needed for current Slacker subscribers is to download the updated Slacker 2.0 app.

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iPhone on Verizon not likely for 'immediate future'

Posted: 03 Jun 2010 11:58 AM PDT

iPhone on Verizon not likely for 'immediate future'According to a company spokesman, Verizon is unlikely to get the Apple iPhone in the "immediate future," despite Apple CEO Steve Jobs' recent revelation that "there might be" a iPhone on a new carrier in the U.S. soon.

Verizon spokesperson John Johnson says: "We have no plans to carry the iPhone in the immediate future."

Johnson then went on to talk about Android, and Verizon's support of the HTC Incredible and other "flagship" Android devices.

Steve Jobs, speaking a week before Apple's yearly Worldwide Developers Conference, had said "there might be" a chance of the iPhone on another carrier, before adding: "The future is long. I can't talk about that stuff."

AT&T recently announced the elimination of unlimited data plans, while adding new data plans for their smartphone line, including the iPhone and iPad tablet, which will be less expensive for customers, but will also limit data use.

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Director James Cameron calls BP bunch of "morons"

Posted: 03 Jun 2010 10:59 AM PDT

Director James Cameron calls BP bunch of "morons"Unless you have been on the island featured in "Lost" for the last month you have undoubtedly heard or read of the tragic oil spill caused by BP in the Gulf of Mexico.

Director James Cameron, the man behind the biggest grossing movies of all-time, Avatar and Titanic, is also an avid deep-sea explorer, and recently offered his help to BP in efforts to combat the spill which is leaking, depending on whom you listen to, up to 9 barrels per second.

Apparently, BP did not want his help.

"Over the last few weeks I've watched, as we all have, with growing horror and heartache, watching what's happening in the Gulf and thinking those morons don't know what they're doing," Cameron said. It is unclear who "those morons" are, but it's safe to say he likely means both the underwater team as well as the executives.

Cameron has "worked extensively with robot submarines and is considered an expert in undersea filming," says Reuters, but BP still "graciously" turned down his offer.

The spill, which has quickly become the worst in U.S. history, continues to gush oil into the ocean, from a well one mile below the surface.

Says Cameron: "I know really, really, really smart people that work typically at depths much greater than what that well is at. Most importantly, they know the engineering that it requires to get something done at that depth."

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Amazon Kindle almost at all Target locations

Posted: 03 Jun 2010 10:23 AM PDT

Amazon Kindle almost at all Target locationsIn late April, giant retailer Target announced it had begun selling the Amazon Kindle e-reader in 102 of its stores, mainly around Minneapolis and Florida, as a pilot program for a broader launch.

That test program is now done, and Target says a full nation-wide rollout has started, with the full roll-out expected to be completed by June 6th.

Adds Mark Schindele, senior vice president at Target: "Our guest's response to Kindle has been overwhelmingly positive."

The device costs $259 USD at Target, the same price if you were to get it on Amazon.

Amazon's Kindle currently dominates the e-reader market, but has been slowly losing share to new competitors such as the Barnes & Noble Nook and Apple iPad.

The Kindle e-book store has 550,000 titles, the most of any e-store.

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'Rdio' cloud music service finally launched

Posted: 03 Jun 2010 09:59 AM PDT

'Rdio' cloud music service finally launchedLast October, billionaires Janus Friis and Niklas Zennstrom, the creators of the Kazaa P2P client as well as Skype, announced that they had developed and financed a new unlimited music subscription service dubbed Rdio.

This week, the service has finally launched, working both through a Web browser and on a number of smartphones including Android devices, BlackBerrys and the iPhone.

The service offer unlimited, on-demand access to over five million tracks for a monthly fee of $4.99 USD for Web-only or $9.99 for Web and phone.

While that may sound similar to Rhapsody, which has a loyal, but small following, the founders are emphasizing that Rdio allows users to listen from anywhere in "the cloud," including through their phones, instead of needing to download DRM-laced music locally.

Rdio has content deals with EMI, Sony, UMG and Warner and hundreds of indies, so the selection won't be limited by any means.

The service also has social networking features, such as sharing with friends, which was a staple of Lala and Microsoft's Zune platforms.

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Wal-Mart, Best Buy selling HTC EVO 4G with rebate waived

Posted: 03 Jun 2010 09:33 AM PDT

Wal-Mart, Best Buy selling HTC EVO 4G with rebate waivedSprint's HTC EVO 4G, the highly reviewed Android phone, goes on sale tomorrow but that hasn't stopped Wal-Mart from offering the phone for $199 USD (same price as other retailers) while waiving the $100 rebate, making it easier for consumers to purchase the phone.

Best Buy and Radio Shack recently announced similar moves.

Sprint also announced a broad, expensive ad campaign highlighting the features of the EVO, which is the first WiMAX-enabled phone available in the U.S.

The HTC EVO 4G boasts the most impressive specs on an Android phone yet. Under the hood is a 1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, 1GB ROM, 512MB RAM, a 1500 mAh battery and an 8GB microSD card. The device has a 4.3-inch WVGA capacitive multi-touchscreen display (with pinch to zoom), Android 2.1 with Sense UI, Google Search, Google Maps, Google Talk, Gmail, Google Goggles, YouTube, Google Calendar syncing, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g and 3G/4G Mobile Hotspot capability for connecting up to eight Wi-Fi enabled devices.

Additionally, the device has GPS with Sprint Navigation, a Digital compass, Bluetooth 2.1, a 3.5mm headset jack, FM radio, Amazon MP3 store, Qik video sharing, HDMI out a kickstand for hands-free viewing, an 8MP autofocus camera with dual LED flash (and 720p HD video recording) and an additional 1.3MP front-facing camera for video conferencing.

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Nintendo confirms DS price cuts for UK

Posted: 03 Jun 2010 08:59 AM PDT

Nintendo confirms DS price cuts for UKFollowing their decision to drop the price of the DS line in Japan yesterday, Nintendo has confirmed that a similar price drop is headed to the UK within the month.

Says a Nintendo spokesperson: "In the UK Nintendo will be reducing the trade price of Nintendo DSi to retailers from 18th June 2010."

In Japan, beginning on June 19th, the DS Lite will drop from ¥16,800 to "open pricing," which allows retailers to name their own price on the device. The popular DSi will drop from ¥18,900 to ¥15,000. Dropping from ¥20,000 to ¥18,000 is the new DSi LL, which has 93 percent bigger screens than the DSi.

Nintendo would not confirm the new prices for the devices in the UK, but it is likely the DS Lite and DSi will move to "open pricing" as well, as the company said: "The ultimate price to consumers is, of course, determined by the retailers."

Following the decision, a few e-tailers have already begun cutting prices, with Amazon and GAME dropping the price of the DSi from £149.99 to £119.99.

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Ubisoft 'always on' DRM is draconian, hurts legit buyers, says analyst

Posted: 03 Jun 2010 08:15 AM PDT

Ubisoft 'always on' DRM is draconian, hurts legit buyers, says analystOver the months we have reported on Ubisoft's controversial "always on" DRM, which forces gamers to stay connected to the Internet at all times, or lose the ability to play their legitimately purchased games.

If the Internet ever cuts out, or the Ubi servers go down, gamers are returned to the main menu, unable to play, losing any additional progress they have made since the last save point.

This weekend, analyst Nicholas Lovell had some harsh words for Ubisoft, and their decision to use the DRM into the future.

"It seems crazy to me that Ubisoft didn't emulate Steam, which by some estimates has more than half the market, and instead went for their own, draconian system. There is no doubt in my mind that pirates now have a better experience than legitimate consumers," says Lovell. "Publishers spend a ton of money on promoting its games. So there are ways to see piracy as the start of a relationship with a future consumer, not theft."

On Friday, publisher Namco Bandai backed the DRM, calling it a "good strategy."

Progressively thinking, Lovell says the best alternative is to "give the whole game away entirely for free, make it small and charge for DLC. Slash the marketing budget and rely on pirated copies to spread the word about how good your game is, then charge for additional elements."

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