Nokia N93i
(Credit: Nokia)
Nokia N93i with Vox
(Credit: Nokia)As fellow Webwarer Josh Lowensohn reported a couple of days ago, Nokia and Vox have teamed up to bring mobile blogging to a new level. The N93i comes preloaded with the blogging service, so you can use the phone's 3.2-megapixel camera to capture photos and video and instantly upload them to Vox to share with all your friends and family. It's a wonderful idea, but if you're anything like me, you're not going to bother if the process is too labor intensive or kludgey. Well, good news, folks: Nokia gave me a working demo of the two working together, and it really was a simple thing. The booth attendant shot a lovely video of me putting my hands over my face, saved it to the phone, and within a couple of clicks had the video uploaded via a Wi-Fi connection to a sample blog for all to see (yay!). For someone who doesn't even have the patience to wait for Web pages to load on her cell phone, I was pretty impressed.
Here are some more details about the smart phone (or, excuse me, the multimedia computer, as Nokia calls it) itself. It's largely similar to its predecessor, the N93, but it has a swanky new mirrored face and refined keypad. As mentioned above, it has a 3.2-megapixel camera that can record video at up to 30 frames per second and with DVD-like quality. There's photo-editing software onboard and video-out capabilities so that you can hook it up directly to your TV. The N93i also features the Symbian operating system for your work needs and a built-in music player and streaming media support. As with all the models in the Nokia N series, the catch is that no U.S. carrier has picked up the N93i, which means if you want to snag one of these puppies, you'll have to pony up a hefty $700 or so (ouch) to buy an unlocked version of the phone. The Nokia N93i is scheduled for release by the beginning of 2007.
The mobile trend of this year's CES continued today as Steve Jobs' keynote at Macworld captured the spotlight with the announcement of yet another new mobile device--the iPhone. But there was other stuff going on, from new Google announcements to more news from the TV realm.
-- Motorola Q's new Pro incarnation. The hardware's the same, but the Motorola Q Pro has some software differences: virtual private network (VPN) support, a firewall, and data encryption, to name a few. As the name would imply, it's making the Q more friendly to the business crowd. (Crave)
-- Google releases SketchUp 6 at Macworld. With SketchUp, a 3D software modeling tool, users can create 3D models and then integrate them into Google Earth. The latest release includes some new tweaks, including new display settings and the ability to trace based on a photo. (CNET News.com)
-- DirecTV's ambitious HD promise. The satellite TV provider is claiming that it will be offering 100 high-definition channels, from MTV to the Food Network. That's way more than the competition's providing. (Crave)
-- On a related note, Dish Network beefs up. Not only is it giving away a high-definition digital video recorder with the purchase of a new subscription plan, but it's also introducing a new in-car satellite service called MobileDISH. (Crave)
-- Hands on with the SlingCatcher. Crave's John Falcone deconstructs Sling's new device, which lets you bring Internet video content to your TV. (Crave)
-- Samsung bundles Google apps on its newest phone. Google Maps, Search, and Gmail are pre-loaded on several new Samsung phones. This isn't totally new, since Samsung made the Helio Drift, which uses Google Maps for its GPS functions. (Crave)
Disney CEO Robert Iger took the stage at CES 2007 today for a keynote speech. His big pitch: There's a new Disney.com Web site on the way, with a video player front and center. That's a fitting move for the big media company, since it was one of the first to sell full-length content over the Internet, via iTunes.
Also to come: The site will try to divine what you want based on your age and gender. No more Little Mermaid pitches for you, Mr. Lost fan.
Disney is also trying to build a social network and video sharing site, of a sort. Think "walled garden" of content, but with really high walls and razor wire on top: You'll only be able to post Disney-approved videos on your pages. Where's the fun in that?
For more, see stories on News.com, the New York Times (registration required), and the Los Angeles Times (registration required).
-- Skype on a cell phone. You don't need a Skype-only handset or a bulky laptop to use Skype while traveling. Nokia has a Skype client built-in on its new N800 series. The good news is you can get your hands on the handset right away; the bad news is you won't be able to use Skype on it until June (Crave).
-- Yahoo launches Go 2.0. This new tool combines several of Yahoo's brands into a single mobile app. Most important is the new search tool called OneSearch, which is optimized for mobile phones. There's also Yahoo Local, Mail and Flickr photo management. (CNET News)
-- Vonage to resell EarthLink wireless Net service. Wimax isn't here just yet, so in the meantime, Vonage is going to let you access citywide Wi-Fi networks owned by Earthlink. In a perfect world, this means your VoIP calling could go uninterrupted over long distances akin to that of cellular networks. (CNET News)
-- Google developing search engine for ubertelescope. Three billion pixels makes for pretty large pictures, which is why Google is teaming up with The Large Synoptic Survey Telescope Project to help them sort out the data for easy searching. They're also planning to make a version of this project available to the public, which means the long-awaited Google Sky is a reality. (CNET News)
-- Modeo Launches Live Mobile TV Beta Service In Nation's Largest Metro Area. New York beta testers for Modeo's mobile TV service will be able to get a group of channels on demand to their mobile devices. These aren't strange IPTV channels either, including Fox News and The Discovery Channel. Soon you'll be able to watch Meerkat Manor and Bill O'Reilly on the go. (Engadget)
CES is primarily a gadget and media show these days, but it's the Web that ties everything together, especially all the new video concepts. There's a lot happening at the show that illustrates this:
Gates: IPTV this year; and a server in every home. Microsoft CEO Bill Gates demonstrated HD television content that hits your living room's big-screen plasma via your Net-connected XBox, as well as an HP server for storing all your digital entertainment assets. Gates also showed how Vista users can join the XBox game community (but only for boring games like Uno, not franchise leaders like Halo). (News.com)
Netgear brings YouTube to your tube. Related to the above--who needs network TV at all, anyway? It won't be long before YouTube is as important a video pipeline in our living rooms as, say, Comcast. (Crave)
Bravia Internet Video Link brings online video to Sony TVs. A new gizmo that snaps onto the back of Bravia TVs can pull video from AOL, Yahoo, and Grouper. See our video demonstration. Hey Sony, ever hear of YouTube?
Sling it in reverse. The new SlingCatcher will display Internet TV on your real TV. (CNET.com)
It's official: TiVoToGo for Mac. Now Mac users can offload their Tivo shows. (Crave)
SlingPlayer coming to PalmOS. This probably doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things since even Palm's future is written with Windows, but if you have a Palm Treo and want to get your SlingBox vids, now you can. (Crave)
More on Verizon's V Cast mobile TV. Full-length TV shows are coming to your cell phone.
Upcoming: At 4:30PM Pacific time, Disney is announcing a new video site and social network. We'll post our report immediately afterward.
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