streaming

FStream is a free, fast-launching app for listening to and recording Internet radio. If you don't want to open iTunes or some other more full-featured application when you play Internet radio, FStream can be a good alternative--and its very small resource footprint can help you avoid networking issues sometimes caused by more bloated apps. This application has a slim, unobtrusive interface, and you can even run it directly from the menu bar. FStream can play OGG Vorbis, AAC/AAC+, MP3, and WMA, and it can handle MMS over HTTP as well as M3U, PLS, and ASX playlists. It can … Read more

When Facebook launched its latest redesign, it became evident that the company was putting a lot of emphasis on real-time information--inspired, undoubtedly, by the runaway success of Twitter. Now the company's rolled out two small but crucial new features that put instant updates even more front and center.

First, Facebook is aiming to use the "publisher" tool--formerly known as the status update box--as members' gateway to the Web at large. Starting Wednesday and rolling out gradually, according to a post on the company blog, a beta version of the new content-sharing box will allow members to select … Read more

Just days after the news broke that EMI is suing Grooveshark, another contestant popped into my in-box. Today, it's Fizy, which offers essentially the same features as Grooveshark, Meuzer, and JustHearIt: search for a song name, and Fizy will compile audio and video results from public sources around the Web. Today, Fizy relaunched with a handful of new features such as the ability to save playlists and the ability to post all played songs to your Friendfeed account. (Friendfeed? Where's the Facebook app?).

The new features are nothing special, but in a quick test, I did find that … Read more

The Logitech Squeezebox Duet was given an enthusiastic Editors' Choice award when CNET reviewed it back in March of 2008. But the audio streamer is a two-part product that's heavily reliant on Wi-Fi (both the iPod-like remote and the base station communicate to each other--and your home network--wirelessly). And many users have experienced a problem wherein the Controller (the remote) fails to reconnect to the network or recognize the Squeezebox base station after "waking up" from a period of inactivity. The issue has been widely reported online, from CNET's user reviews to Logitech's own support forums. … Read more

Solar storms that can threaten satellites, power lines, and communications are to be monitored in a large-scale study at the Swedish Institute of Space Physics and Uppsala University starting Thursday.

The organizations will use stream-computing technology to analyze data from sensors that track high-frequency radio waves, the Swedish Institute of Space Physics (IRF) said in a statement.

"Over the next year, this project is expected to perform analytics on at least 6GB per second or 21,600GB per hour--the equivalent of all the web pages on the Internet," said the IRF statement.

The organizations will use IBM InfoSphere … Read more

When we last heard from Roku, the company was pledging to add 10 more channels to its Roku Digital Video Player before the end of the year. With 2009 almost half over, however, there's still only two: Netflix and Amazon Video On Demand. But according to Playboy Magazine, one of those new channels could well be Hulu. So notes blogger Dave Zatz, who photographed the incriminating sidebar article from the June 2009 issue of the magazine. "Roku promises Hulu support is coming" says the throwaway parenthetical sentence.

But is it true? Responding to the Playboy excerpt highlighted … Read more

Yesterday was the first time that I've ever seen Jeff doing actual work at his cube, so I relent for once and let him and Wilson talk about E3 2009. Video games, video games, video games on today's show, specifically about the new XBox 360 Project Natal, Halo sequels, new Metal Gear Solid, the Beatles: Rock Band, and even Facebook and Twitter! Wake me up when it's over.

Yesterday's Microsoft press conference at E3 2009 unveiled some pretty exciting video game news, even for an antigamer such as myself. First up is the new Project Natal, the company's new motion-sensing bar for the XBox 360 that allows the gamer to control gameplay with motion, sound, and even 3D movement. As exciting as it sounds, unfortunately Microsoft didn't mention a release date, so we definitely won't see it in stores for Christmas 2009, which Jeff and Wilson think is a bit of a tease.

Aside from a few big game announcements, the big release news comes by way of everyone's favorite British gentlemen, with Beatles: Rock Band. Paul, Ringo, and even a few surprise visitors were there to kick off the game, and although Jeff is decidedly negative about the rise of plastic gaming, the game looks pretty cool. Check out the slideshow for pictures of Christopher "McLovin" Mintz-Plasse and Dhani Harrison taking a crack at the game.

Later on in the show, we announce the FINALISTS for our 404 logo competition. We received over 150 submissions and while they were all fantastic, we can only choose one for the official logo, so be sure to check out the final slideshow above and vote for your favorite in the comments section! Also, don't forget that even if your entry doesn't win the grand prize, we'll still use it for our mosaic/quilt/poster/sticker/shirt/etc...Thanks one million times over and again to everyone that submitted--you guys rule!

How many times have you whipped out your iPhone and fired up Shazam, only to have the song end too soon to get a reading?

There's a fallback app for that: ClickOnRadio Pro, which not only streams radio in real time, but also shows real-time playlists for over 2,600 stations.

In other words, if you know the name or frequency of the station, you can easily find the song you wanted to identify. For any given station, ClickOnRadio ($1.99) shows every song that played for the past 2 hours.

(Interestingly, it lists the ads as well, which … Read more

Blurring the line between computer and TV just a tad more, video-streaming site Hulu puts its content front and center with a new desktop app for Windows and Mac. Introduced via Hulu's new Labs testing bed, Hulu Desktop is one of four new apps in Labs. The other three include a Video Panel designer for customizing the look of Hulu embeds, a recommendations list, and original air date-based browsing--but Hulu Desktop is the only one available for download.

There are some stringent limitations to getting the desktop client to run properly, although if your system meets their standards, you'… Read more