Filed under: Cellphones

Ah yes, the natural progression of a release. First comes the hands-on at the introduction, then comes the leaked user manual, then comes the pre-order fiasco -- now, it's time for those always titillating in the wild shots. The box and handset are nothing out of the ordinary / surprising (respectively), but at least you now know that bona fide unboxing images are just around the bend.

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Picture this: You're trying to figure out why your grandmother's computer is running so slow when she mentions that an error message told her to download a $39.95 “fixer-upper,” and you realize that some rat bastard out there tricked the poor old dame into installing spyware. Doesn't that make you angry? It's certainly pissed off Microsoft, who's filed a lawsuit with Washington state against “scareware” software makers.

The Redmond giant is able to get its lawsuit off the ground because of a recent law update called the Computer Spyware Act, which not only bans illegal spyware, but any other program that misleads people into believing that their computers need to be fixed. The fake error messages sent to Windows users, some of whom have received over 200 a day, fall under that category.

Microsoft's asking for a fine of up to $2,000 per incident, plus restitution and attorney's fees. Considering half of the customer support calls it receives are related to spyware crashes, that's a lot of money. But whether the suit will deter “scareware” purveyors is still up in the air. In 2006, Microsoft filed a similar case against the same people and won... to little effect it seems. [Dailytech]

Filed under: Displays, Home Entertainment

Now that pico projectors are actually headed to end users, we're seeing a number of companies hop in the fast lane to production. Take Microvision for instance -- these guys were taking their sweet time by introducing the PicoP beamer back at CES, and now we're looking at a freshly revamped version that has already begun shipping to OEMs for "evaluation and end-user testing." Reportedly, the device shown at CEATEC featured a "thinner, smaller and brighter PicoP engine and several image quality enhancements" over the unit displayed at CES, and it officially boasted a WVGA resolution that could be blown up to 100-inches in size. Unfortunately, we're still waiting to hear how long it'll be before this one slips into consumers' hands, but we've a feeling it'll be sooner rather than later.

[Via AboutProjectors]

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When I see images of Bruce Munro's Field of Light installation, whatever glumness I might have felt during the day disappears, and that Beatle-esque Lenny Kravitz song of a similar name starts playing in my head. If I had the chance to check out Munro's light installation, coming to Project Eden in Cornwall, England on November 1, I would totally wander through the fields—slowly, slowly through the fields, in fact—touching the acrylic globes that float at the ends of 6,000 fiberoptically united tubes.

The tubes' intensity and color are controlled by an external projector; they're in sync but don't actually contain any electricity. (Sorry, Tesla.) In the Cornwall exhibition, they will be installed on a huge 1,200-square-meter grass-covered roof using 24,000 meters of fiber. It is of course "best viewed in hours of darkness." Munro has actually set up Field of Light shows on a number of occasions in the past, each successive installation growing in some way. His next all-new project is "a massive illuminated maze synchronized with choral music" named (what else?) Water Towers. That will be on display next March in Frome, Somerset, so yes, again again with the England. You lucky Limeys had better send pictures! [Dezeen]

Filed under: Laptops, Wireless

Laptops with built-in WWAN modems aren't anything new, but there's a hodgepodge of hardware and services available -- a situation the GSM Association is trying to simplify with the new Mobile Broadband standardization initiative. Sure, it's mostly an excuse to get another sticker on your gear, but companies like Microsoft, Dell, Lenovo, ASUS, Toshiba, Qualcomm and a bunch of carriers are on board to ensure that Mobile Broadband-certified machines will be ready and able to connect in some 91 countries around the world -- and what's more, they're committed to spending a cool billion dollars in the next year promoting MB as a "compelling alternative" to WiFi and WiMAX. That should be an interesting dilemma for the carriers that also run hotspot networks, but we've got a feeling everyone's happy as long as the sub fees keep rolling in.

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Ars got their hands on Nero's freshly-announced LiquidTV/Tivo PC team up, and thought the Tivo software and Hauppauge TV Tuner hardware was a good experience for $200 ($100 for software only). They looked not only at how the UI functioned in the PC environment, but also at export options, content exchange, and hardware performance. Here's what they liked and didn't like.

The Good:
• Feels Like Tivo — Ars really liked that the whole Tivo experience exists on Tivo PC with few limitations.

• The UI is made for the PC — Ars noted that the interface works as well with a keyboard and mouse as it does with the remote. You can click with ease, or use the keys to do what you need to do.

• PC Versatility — With Tivo PC, you can swap content between other Tivos or Liquid TV setups on the same network. You can also remotely schedule programs to record.

The Bad:
• Exporting — The ability to export to PSP or iPod was a plus on paper, but the execution wasn't so great. Ars said that even with a 2.66 GHz Core 2 Duo and 8 GB of RAM on a Mac Pro, it took even longer than the minute of conversion for minute of content that Tivo PC suggested. Secondly, the lack of customizable encoding options and automated uploading to devices detracted from a good experience.

• No TivoCast Support — Downloading from Tivo content partners like The Onion is not an option on Tivo PC. I'm sure there are some legal issues for this, being on the PC and all, but still, it's nice to have content like that already waiting for you.

• No CableCard Support — if you want to record more than Over The Air content in HD, you're out of luck with Tivo PC. Nero says they plan to add CableCard support in the future, but Ars doesn't think we'll see it any time soon.

So there you have it. If you want a good, solid DVR program that records basic TV content, this might be right for you. If you want more, you may want to look elsewhere. [Ars Technica]

Netflix will introduce their API to the public tomorrow at the Experience AJAX conference, and according to ReadWriteWeb, it will allow free access to movie data and stats stored on their servers. This doesn't mean that anyone will be able to write a streaming video app for any random piece of open hardware. However, it does mean that people will be able to will be able to integrate movie info (ratings, related films, etc...) into widgets, like the ones you'd see on Typepad or Facebook. Or more importantly, create apps that allow for queue management (yes, this API is read and write capable).

So potentially, non-PC gadgets that are running the Netflix streaming service could have the ability to directly add and reorder movies to the queue — saving the trouble of having to pull out your computer when you think of something you want to add on the fly.

Data will be accessible via REST and Javascript APIs (no JSON, though), plus ATOM feeds. The API will also be usable for commercial purposes, so if you have a Netflix killer app for the iPhone planned that you think could make you some money, you'd better get to work. Netflix's API will be available starting tomorrow at the Netflix developer site, which you will be able to sign up for by clicking here tomorrow, and not a moment earlier. [Netflix Developer via ReadWriteWeb]

Okay, so you don't have a Blu-ray player and you're not getting a new Dell. That still leaves you with eight—EIGHT—different versions of Iron Man to choose from, with everyone from Walmart to Borders hawking their own exclusive kit. Best Buy's might the most exquisitely fanboy fapworthy, encasing the flick and a custom lithograth in a Mark II mini-bust made by Sideshow Collectibles. Here's a guide to the rest, which we've placed in order of awesomeness, if you need some help deciding.

Target also goes the Iron Man trophy head route, though it just has the Ultimate 2-Disc Edition, in both DVD and Blu flavors, inside.

FYE and Suncoast deliver the Ultimate 2-Disc Edition in a superclassy steelbook case that I really, really like.

Walmart waltzes in with not one, but two exclusives, though only the first one matters to you: Ultimate 2-Disc edition with an exclusive Nick Fury comic. The other packs the first ep of the Iron Man animated series in with the single disc edition of the movie.

Costco's gift set throws in a bobblehead of each Iron Man suit from the movie. Feh for bobbleheads.

Borders rolls with a collectible book loaded with sketches and the top 24 Iron Man comic covers.

Circuit City gives you access to some exclusive Marvel Digital comics, snore.

Kmart and Sears are knocking five bucks off the Ultimate Edition if you buy $25 in Craftsman tools. I'm...not really sure what's going on there either.

Which version are you going to pluck from this overloaded orgy of marketing? This "exclusive" crap—and most of it is crap—has really gotten out of hand.

On September 30th, Paramount Home Entertainment will release the critically acclaimed box office smash IRON MAN: 2-DISC ULTIMATE EDITION on DVD and Blu-ray!

With this release comes EIGHT fantastic retail exclusives! Below, you will find details and article work on these eight exciting, exclusive offers!

Here are the details for these Eight Exciting Retail Exclusives:

**Circuit City - Access to exclusive Marvel Digital Comics featuring the artwork of Adi Granov.

**Best Buy - Custom Lithograph created by Marvel artist Gerald Parel.

**Target - Target Deluxe Edition includes exclusive Mark III mask packaging. Available on both the Ultimate 2-Disc Edition and 2-Disc Blu-ray.

**Costco - Giftset includes the Ultimate 2 Disc Edition DVD and 3 Iron Man Bobbleheads, with all 3 Iron Man suits from the film. Giftset includes the "Battle Damaged Mark II", available exclusively in this giftset at Costco.

**Walmart - Two exclusive SKUs. Ultimate 2 Disc Edition packed with an exclusive comic book chronicling the Nick Fury story. The single disc giftset is packed with the 1st episode of the new Iron Man animated series.

**Kmart & Sears - Save $5 on the Ultimate 2 Disc edition with any $25 Craftsman purchase.

**Trans World - FYE and Suncoast Exclusive Steelbook Package available on the Ultimate 2- disc Edition. (pictured above, left)

**Borders - On pack collectible book featuring original sketches by Bob Layton and the top 24 comic cover of Iron Man.

[Paramount]

Filed under: HDTV, Home Entertainment

Good news, developers of the world -- the Netflix API will be open to all starting tomorrow. As of October 1st, absolutely anyone can self-signup by visiting the read link, and while details are a tad sketchy at the moment, it sounds like this could hold some serious promise. The API itself allows access to data for 100,000 movie and TV episode titles, is completely free and (most importantly) allows commercial use. In other words, it's kosher if a bright developer out there somewhere feels like "creating an iPhone app to sell for $0.99 (Netflix's words, not ours)." On the technical side, the API includes a REST API, Javascript API and ATOM feeds, and it also uses OAuth standard security "to allow the subscriber to control which applications can access the service on his or her behalf." It's time to get creative, folks.

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