Move over Netflix! Here comes Walmart

     For those of you that don't know, Netflix has hiked there prices. It is now $15.98 a month to instantly stream movies and receive them at home. It was an almost $6 price hike for new and old users alike. The price hike obviously has customers up in arms and for good reason. Netflix doesn't offer an exhaustive (It's quite small actually) list of streaming movies and you'd be lucky to find less then popular videos available for delivery. Essentially, they are charging you an absurd amount of money for a less then adequate selection of movies.

Fear not my friends! A few other companies have come along to even things out and rival netflix also causing potential price reductions. For so long, Netflix has reigned as king of the movie / t.v. streaming service. This week, consumer goods store Walmart announced a new feature to stream movies powered by Vudu. The feature allows customers to rent the movie for a 24 hr period and also buy them for unlimited viewing. You can also upgrade the quality of the video for an extra fee. See screen capture below.

Also keeping competition strong is Amazon, which announced a licensing agreement with NBCUniversal to compliment its agreement with CBS to stream Movies and shows to Amazon Prime users. They've had streaming services since February of this year but the deal will only increase the amount of content available, making it that much more tempting. Prime memberships are about $7 a month and includes unlimited streaming capabilities of their library as well as other site related perks. Amazon also offers 48-hour rentals that does not require a prime membership.

As more and more companies start integrating streaming movies and building their libraries, you will see big companies such as Netflix being forced to drop prices to stay afloat. Which can only mean bright futures for stream-loving consumers. Simple economics states that more competition generally means more stable prices. Why it has taking so long for companies to jump on board is beyond me. With the closing of so many video stores, and the popularity of online media (especially with the push for Cloud based media) this would seem long over-due. So dry your eyes you sad Netflix users, help is on the way.

Peace!

Building a Brand with Google, Apple, and Fakes in China

Hey Blog,

It's been a while since I've stopped by. I've just been busy finding a new place to live and caught a real nasty bug. Anyways, lets jump right in.


Cosmic Panda Pander

Youtube has put out it's new Beta platform called Cosmic Panda (www.Youtube.com/CosmicPanda) and I have to say, I like it! Not every Beta is a hit but this seems to really be an improvement from the platform we are used to. You can definitely tell it has been "Googleized" and I say this in the best way possible. Panda seems to be heavily focused on playlists. So, when you are watching your favorite "Youtuber" (My two faves have to be KassemG, or FreddieW) it will automatically play their videos in reverse chronological order, thus making it easier for you to find your favorite videos. Also, when you click on a profile the first thing you will see is a bigger "in-your-face" video ready to play with the click of your mouse.

I am absolutely thrilled about what Google is doing both with Youtube and with Google+. They are really making it easier for the average Joe (or Josephina) to build his/her own "Brand." From Google+ to Youtube to Blogging, Google has found a way to connect all of your information so that your information and your input can be available to that much more people. Users can visit your G+ page and immediately be connected to your Youtube page, blog, posts, News, etc, etc. Google is trying to take over the world apparently (lol).

Apple's Incredible Growth

Speaking of taking over the world, Apple has posted incredible numbers over the last year:

Apple posted an 80% growth rate over the last quarter. THAT IS SIMPLY AMAZING! More power to them. I, however, see their revenue peaking for a little longer before it drops dramatically. Why you ask? Macs, iPods, iPhones, iPads - The Apple community has grown exponentially in the last few years. Apple, however, continues to come out with new updates to their products (it seems) every year. Sooner or later, consumers are going to wise up and realize that they are buying new products that are set to be outdated by years end. For instance, Apple is coming out with the new iPhone 5 this year but rumor has it that they company already has a completely revamped and NEW iPhone 6 set to come out in 2012. Not to mention that the technology that we see as "new" in the iPhones are not necessarily new in the phone market. In fact, most android phones already have the features that iPhones are introducing. I predict Apple's bubble to burst within the next few years.

FakePad and FakeStore

A Chinese man has apparently pieced together this fake iPad from scratch. He used a touchscreen, case, and similar parts to make a thicker than normal FakePad (as I like to call it). Instead of running on an Apple OS, he installed a Windows 7 OS to give it a different feel. This guy is amazing and won't agree to make anymore claiming that he did it "just for fun." It cost him about $300 to make. I really want one.

This is the picture of the inside of a fake Apple store in China. Yes they copy Apple stores right down to the blue shirts and Genius bar. Sources say that the employees actually believe they work for Apple and the owners of these stores won't allow pictures to be taken (Think they're hiding anything?). From what I hear these are just resale stores that try to ride the coat tails of the extremely-popular-in-China Apple. For more pictures (and you're going to want to see these) click HERE.

Thar be some posers in China.

Feel the Energy!

Now this is the kind of stuff that gets me excited about technology:

We have all heard of solar panels. Plenty of home owners and companies are taking advantage of a more green source of energy. Well now researchers at MIT have developed a new type of flexible solar panel that is printable on paper. They even say that it can be printed on newspapers and therefore give a new meaning to recyclable energy. The product is still in its puppy stage and is not close to being ready for consumer use (about 1% efficient as of the report), but this is a huge step forward towards "Greener" pastures.

Now I know what most critics are saying: Even when it is ready for general population use, the price of the setup far outweighs the returns. While I somewhat agree with this statement, I also believe that this is the nature of technology. It is ever evolving and we're heading in the right direction. Imagine having wallpaper that not only looks good but harness' the power to energize your house. Did I mention that it still works even if there is print on top of it? This isn't just a step but a LEAP for finding new sources of renewable energy. It may not be able to power a whole city block just yet but it is this type of creative research that makes MIT a leader in technology. Hooray for green Energy!

Here is a video of this ground breaking product at work:

JUST AWESOME!


   

Current Even Friday #1: Casey Anthony and such

So I've decided to take every Friday and make it a day to talk about certain current events that have caught my eye over the week.

TO THE STAKE WITH HER!!!!

The first and probably biggest story this week is the Casey Anthony trial verdict.

For those of you who live under a rock, she was acquitted of the first degree murder of her young daughter Caylee, while being convicted only of giving false information on four accounts to authorities. Each count carried a minimum of one year totaling to a minimum of 4 years. She has already served 3 year in prison. After the attorneys decided how much time she should be awarded for time served and good behavior they set a release date of July 13 that was later moved to July 17.

Here is my take on this:

Alot of people have been blaming the justice system and more importantly, the jurors for a seemingly "stupid" decision that the media and most Americans believed made. They of course would rather believe that C.A. was guilty because for some reason, we like to see those kind of things in America. While I agree that our justice systems doesn't have a correct conviction/innocent rate of 100%, this case was fair and I believe the verdict and sentence she received is in sync with the law. While the media (Nancy Grace especially) and the general consensus may "feel" like she is guilty (most of those feelings are based on heavy circumstantial evidence) the accused cannot be convicted on "feelings." If any one is to blame for the acquittal, it certainly isn't the judge, the jurors or the justice system. Rather, the blame falls squarely on the prosecutors. The fact is, they just didn't do a well enough job in proving how Caylee died and under what circumstances. While we may "KNOW" she committed the crime, to convict her of first degree murder and subsequently sentence her to death would have been a complete misuse of the justice system. There was quite a bit of circumstantial evidence, but none that really pointed to exactly the way Caylee died. If they don't know how the murder went down, how can they convict a woman to death? What they had was pieces of evidence that pointed to SOME murder of Caylee but the prosecutors couldn't lead the juries finger to exactly what happened.

ONE DAY YOU WILL RULE ALL THAT THE LIGHT TOUCHES

Staying with the tech theme of my blog, it came out that Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg will take walks through the forest of Palo Alto with potential high-level employees while pitching the idea of working for Facebook. He apparently shows them the apple and HP headquarters and promises that Facebook will one day be bigger then all the companies in the land (Mufasa and Simba anyone?). A lot of the comments I read were hating on Mark Z calling him arrogant, bastard, full of himself, etc. While I don't know him personally, I feel like this is an awesome move by a CEO of one of the biggest companys in America. What CEO takes time out of his day to take you on a walk, give you his pitch, tell you the paperwork is already done and waiting on the desk, and then tell you that money isn't an option? I think it just boasts his leadership and people skills (Maybe that's why he's so good at Social Networking...Wink,Wink...). I do, however, feel his statement of Facebook being bigger then apple and HP to be quite a bit of a stretch. Let's be realistic, Facebook is sitting pretty atop a big 'ole bubble right now (one that's currently growing steadily) but time will eventually pop that bubble (See: Myspace) and Facebook will come crashing down. Enjoy it while you can Marky.

IRON FRENCHMAN

In cool celebrity news, Tony Parker reportedly paid over $5000 to ride this Jet pack over the Mediterranean for the day:

It apparently runs off of the ocean water to propel itself. Too cool Tony. Rich people can do the coolest things. Like taking walks through forests to woo a potential employee...

Late!

iPhone 6? What about iPhone 5 first!

There are tons of rumors about the new iPhone 5 (or whatever they will name it) set to come out this fall, floating around in cyberspace. I am surprised however to find tons of rumors ALREADY about the iPhone 6.

HUH?

That's right. Apparently the rumor is that Apple plans to completely "revamp" the iPhone 6. So if you are planning on jumping on the iPhone 5, consider that a completely new model will be coming out next year. One of the biggest possible leaks is that the 6 will involve a type of inductive charging like sticking your phone onto some sort of base. Sort of like one of those expensive toothbrushes. This is not "really" new technology but look for apple to spin it in their own way, repackage it, and give it a brand new name.

As for the iPhone 5, we will see an 8 megapixel camera, a rumored A5 processor, and a slimmer, smaller body style with edge to edge screen. What this mean is that you will have to say goodbye to the Bezel (little square/circular button below the screen). This makes me sad. I have always hated COMPLETELY touch screen phones. The Bezel, while only one button, helped me get over my touchscreen phobia. The upside to this is that you will get a bigger screen which a lot of people seem to like. I think I can get over not having any buttons. The A5 processor, if the 5 does come equipped with it will be an excellent addition as it is the processor used on the iPad 2. This means SPEED.

All in all, I think I will just wait for the iPhone 6. Why settle for the 2011 model when the 2012 model promises to be groundbreaking and exciting?

In other tech news, Tom Anderson (Myspace "Tom") has come out to remind everyone that Myspace has had Skype integrated calls since 2004 and video calling since 2007. More evidence that no one cares about Myspace anymore. We have to keep looking forward in social networking and if Myspace doesn't completely revamp their platform, it will end up in the gutter for good.

Late!

Google+ vs Facebook - How can Google+ survive?

So, one week ago, Google announced the Google+ platform. I can't tell you how excited I am for this. I have not had the opportunity to fool around with G+ but from what I hear, it was set to give facebook a run for it's money. It seems to be heavily based on things called "Circles." These circles are places to categorize your friends with a drag and drop of your mouse. If you wanted to share info with just your closest friends, create a circle for them and share your info with just that circle. The other awesome feature of G+ is the video conferencing. G+ uses a concept called "hangout" which lets you invite to people to "hangout" with you on the web. The site will post something along the lines of "Nick Bast is hanging out." This will allow friends to click the link which will automatically connect your video chats to each other. But it won't be just one person it can be multiple people hanging out at the same time and thus enhancing the "real life" feel of the site. G+ was on track to take down the king of social networking...that was until...

Facebook revealed today that a"Skype" function will be integrated into the Facebook platform. This will let users "one-click" video chat their friends. Not much info is available on all the features the Facebook Skype will come with but it seems like it will be pretty much like the original. It really seems like this is Facebook's hurried response to Google+.  They are adding video chat and downplaying the importance of "circles" stating that they have had "group" options for quite some time now and people are still...well...not really using them.

So the question is:

How does Google+ gain and maintain a foothold in the social networking community?

For starters, it needs to speed up it's production. When facebook debuts it's video chat, networkers will see it as the new "standard" in social networking and everyone else is just playing catch-up. If Google waits too long to debut it's platform, G+ will seem like a cheap knockoff of Facebook.

G+ is obviously geared towards a younger generation who are getting accustomed to being plugged in 24/7. Google is attempting to make G+ incredibly life like with hangouts, video conferencing, etc. which may not go over well for the moms and dads and even grandparents who are casual Facebookers. G+ needs to find a way to catch that same audience or it may end up like other recently sold social networking sites.

Facebook has downplayed the use of circles claiming that cirles are really not that important. They state that less then 50% of users use their "groups" application. To be honest, groups have never been one of Facebook's main focus'. G+ however, is built around a concept that all "real life" friends do not share equality on our chain of importance. They use the circles as the central driving force of the site.

If G+ sticks to it's guns and can come out quickly with a sound product while finding a way to captivate the 30+ age range, I think G+ will have an excellent chance of surviving. I for one am excited for it.

For a more in-depth look at Google+, Click HERE.