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More details on Nike's Marty McFly-inspired shoes

Last night we reported on a exclusive Nike press conference taking place in West Covina, Calif., and the company just confirmed the future is now: Marty McFly's signature shoe from the "Back to the Future" series, code-named the Nike Air Mag, will become a reality starting tonight at 8:30 p.m. PT.

The Air Mag shoes are a near identical replica to the original models worn by Michael J. Fox in the sequel to "Back to the Future," and represent the first pair of rechargeable sneakers from Nike.

Consistency with the original design exists … Read more

Fifteen worthy Blu-ray movies for less than $15

We've been producing a "cheap" Blu-ray movie list for several months and it's time for another update, especially since a number of our earlier picks on the list crept over the $15 mark.

As we like to note, cheap is popular these days and, not surprisingly, a lot of these bargain-price titles end up on the best sellers list on Amazon.com. But when it comes to owning discs, most people have become fairly discerning, and don't just buy anything because it's cheap. With that in mind, we've culled down the list of … Read more

Verizon 4G LTE now reaches more than half the U.S.

Launching in 15 new cities and expanding in 10 other cities today, Verizon Wireless' 4G LTE network will now reach 160 million Americans, more than half the nation's total, the company said. In just under eight months, the 4G rollout has ramped up to provide coverage to 117 cities.

The cities getting 4G today include Tucson, Ariz.; Fayetteville/Springdale/Rogers, Ark.; Bakersfield and Salinas/Monterey/Seaside, Calif.; Fort Collins, Colo.; Frederick, Md.; Worcester, Mass.; Omaha/Council Bluffs, Neb.; Albany, Ithaca, and Syracuse, N.Y.; Altoona and Johnstown, Pa.; Memphis, Tenn.; and Provo, Utah.

Verizon is also expanding its LTE … Read more

Ballmer-bashing fund manager ups Microsoft stake

David Einhorn, the hedge-fund manager who called for Steve Ballmer's head three months ago, just increased his stake in Microsoft.

Einhorn's Greenlight Capital reported holding 14.8 million shares of Microsoft as of June 30, according to a regulatory filing dated yesterday. That's up from 9.1 million shares Greenlight held at the end of the previous reporting period, March 31. The Wall Street Journal first reported Greenlight's increased stake.

In May, Einhorn suggested that Ballmer step aside as chief executive of Microsoft, in part, for allowing competitors to jump ahead of the software giant in … Read more

U.K. prime minister talks social media crackdown

The U.K. government is considering whether social media services should be shut off at times of disorder, the British prime minister, David Cameron, has told Parliament.

Cameron's comments were made in a speech to the House of Commons today. Parliament has been recalled from its summer recess to respond to the violent disorder that has affected London, Manchester, Birmingham and other U.K. cities.

"Mr Speaker, everyone watching these horrific actions will be stuck by how they were organized via social media," Cameron said. "Free flow of information can be used for good. But it can also be used for ill."

"When people are using social media for violence, we need to stop them," he added in a statement.

Read more of "Cameron hints at social media crackdown" at ZDNet UK.

They should stop making CDs

Thanks to streaming services and file sharing, there's little incentive to purchase music anymore. Everybody knows CD sales have been falling for years, but as soon as the record labels stop making CDs, their value will skyrocket.

Sure, there's still a sizable market for CDs, but if sales continue to decline I think the labels should offer a very limited run of each CD title on its original release, say a few thousand discs, with beautifully printed booklets and packaging, and auction them on eBay. When they're gone, they're gone. Prices would go through the roof, … Read more

Kindle Cloud Reader Web app rebuffs Apple

They say revenge is a dish best served cold. But when it comes to circumventing Apple's new in-app subscription rules, it may be best served as an HTML5 Web app.

This morning Amazon launched its Kindle Cloud Reader, a Web-based app that allows you to read your Kindle e-books from the Safari or Chrome browser on your PC or tablet, including the iPad (Amazon says more browsers will be supported in the future).

The Kindle Cloud Reader has a link to the Kindle Store, something that's now missing from the Kindle apps for iPad and iPhone after Apple … Read more

Is Apple stonewalling Sony on Reader app?

Call it the case of the missing app.

As Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, and Google have updated their e-reader apps to adhere to Apple's new in-app subscription rules that require app developers to strip out any links to external mechanisms for purchasing digital books or subscriptions, one iOS app from a major e-reader player remains mysteriously unavailable: the Sony Reader app.

You may not remember but Apple rejected Sony's Reader iPhone app back in January for allegedly linking off to Sony's online e-bookstore. I should also note that Sony Reader users have been patiently awaiting Reader … Read more

Should apps get one-star reviews for crashing?

Ask app developers and most will tell you that good user reviews and high ratings are the keys to selling apps. I'm not going to get into which reviews are real or written by friends. Nor am I going to talk about those nefarious instances where one app maker puts a negative review on a competing app (yes, it happens). But suffice to say the more positive reviews the better, and negative reviews that bring an overall rating down hurt. Bad.

Which brings me to people who post one-star ratings on apps because they simply don't work or … Read more

The 404 863: Where we're broadcasting live from outer space (podcast)

Anthony David Adams joins us on today's episode in hopes that one of our listeners has the next object that will allow him to trade his way into space. He started with a toy spaceship and five trades later, he already has a ticket for a One Zero G Space Flight, so hit him up if you want to make him an offer.

While he's trading his way up, Anthony's also looking to build space exploration kits replete with Space HD Video Exploration Modules for at least 100 school districts, so sign up your local school at the Students in Space Project Web site. If you'd like to donate to the SpaceKits Project, PayPal donations are accepted at donate@onetoyspaceship.com.

On top of all that, Anthony brings our listeners a chance to win a free Nook and a watch from Nooka, the company designing the packaging for the Students in Space kits! The contest is simple:

Like OneToySpaceship.com Leave a comment on this blog post that answers this question: I want to go to outer space because________ and I am willing to trade ____________. Send out a tweet linking to the contest, and that's it!

Thanks again to Anthony for coming in today, and be sure to listen to the full episode to hear how he got started with the space project, why it's necessary to make redundant backups of our intergalactic hard drive, and how he plans to be the first member of the Parsec High Club.

Episode 863 Subscribe in iTunes (audio) | Subscribe in iTunes (video) | Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS Video… Read more