(C) 2010 Juan Luis Guerra under exclusive license to EMI Music Netherlands BV

Author: EMI_Music
Tags: EMI La Calle Capitol Latin music video Juan Luis Guerra
Posted: 24 August 2010
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Juan Luis Guerra – La Calle
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The interface looks more or less the same as when it was introduced: nested menu items starting on the left, search bar able to be evoked at any time. There are a few minor visual differences, for instance the bookmarks layout and thumbnails have been tweaked. Interestingly, “Applications” is listed twice.

The “What’s On TV” category looks handy; apparently it works as long as your cable or satellite provider has some category metadata, which is most if not all of them. I also note an Amazon menu item, which means you’ll be able to get those 99c TV downloads we heard about almost immediately after the Apple TV announcement. I pictured a world without two data pipes coming into your house, but I’m not sure that’s going to happen just yet. This is too effective a way to watch regular TV.

Navigation is effected with the keyboard pictured above, which has a built-in trackpad and d-pad, or via any Harmony controller, including the Harmony Connect app.

The Logitech hardware looks solid; I like the two USB ports plus HDMI in. That means sharing what you’ve got around the house, be it on your camcorder or a five-year-old USB drive.

Unfortunately our narrator did not demonstrate anything as far as searching or navigating recorded shows, or talk about the experience of having shows backed up to the cloud. Let’s hope for a sequel. I have to say, it’s looking pretty nice. I doubt it will cost as little as the Apple TV, but I wouldn’t put it beyond Google to work something out by which it is very competitive. After all, it stands to make a lot of money off owning your TV as well as your browser, your email, your phone, and… you know, your everything.

[via Engadget]

Video Impressions Of Google TV On Logitech Revue Hardware
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I’m not going to get in the habit of analyzing in detail every patent that comes our way, but in light of recent lawsuits and all the noise being made about software patents specifically, it seems worthwhile to take a closer peek now and then.

7,788,248 (filed March 8, 2005): This patent claims a method for automatically displaying search results when a user is typing into a search box if the user pauses or hits space. There are also claims for UI elements for setting parameters like search delay manually. The claims list is quite long, but much of it is boilerplate pertaining to including the keyboard, computer, and code in the patent. Obviously Google and others have been using this for some time (Apple in fact uses Google as their example in the illustrations); I wouldn’t be surprised if live search results have appeared in other, earlier patents. Apple’s appears to be limited to “an internet search engine,” but does that refer to any search engine accessed through a browser, or what? If this is a piggyback service offered through Safari, it would make more sense (i.e. automatically submitting search queries multiple times client-side instead of server-side displaying results for partial input).

7,788,656 (filed December 15, 2005): A technical patent for reducing GPU or CPU load when performing transformations on an image. Essentially combines two filters or other operations, eliminating redundant calculations and storage. It appears to combine to produce a third program program procedurally. This would accelerate color corrections in video and photo editing. Pretty cut and dry.

7,786,975 (filed December 23, 2005): The patent for the iPhone’s inertial scrolling system. The claim is essentially for simulating accelerative and decelerative friction on an object based on input from a touch-sensitive display, plus some parameters for allowing it to handle this or that type of non-ideal gesture. Obviously inertial scrolling is in use in many other applications now. I think it may be easy to get around Apple’s implementation: acceleration of scrolling through lists or windows has been in place for quite a long time, and passing user input from a touch-sensitive device to this other inertial scrolling method seems to me a distinct method based on what is claimed (again, not a lawyer).

7,788,605 (filed May 22, 2003): Claims a method relating to iMovie’s clip-based display, where the playhead determines what is displayed in the thumbnail and also indicates where in the clip that thumbnail image is taken from — or something like that, anyway. Pretty straightforward.

7,788,585: More editing-related claims, this time for a user-friendly way to do split editing — i.e. separately editing video and audio from adjacent or overlapping clips. Nothing too interesting here.

7,788,594: This is actually a great idea, which I haven’t seen implemented anywhere. The idea is a search box which, depending on where you click within the box, it searches different things. It basically just skips using a pulldown menu to search something specific; imagine if you clicked on the right side of the Google search box to make your search be an image search, and on the left side to make a regular search. I’m actually surprised not to have seen this around at all.

7,788,599 (filed July 28, 2006): This one is ridiculous. They appear to have been granted a patent for an unbelievably simple and fundamental way of displaying data. Cell-based menus for navigating a hierarchy. Isn’t this essentially a patent for a menu bar? They’re claiming something that’s been in constant use since the early 80s.

7,788,604 (filed November 3, 2004): Not quite as dodgy as the last one, but still questionable, if you ask me (though why would you?). This is a patent on an icon changing to a new state on mouseover, and not being clickable until it has fully changed to that second state — and upon being clicked, it goes to a third state. This kind of thing has also been a staple of graphical menus for a long, long time. In fact, I believe I programmed something like this into a Hypercard stack when I was 10 or 11. If I find that stack — prior art!

Again, I am not a lawyer, and these are just my impressions on looking at the claims and illustrations provided. I didn’t look into the referenced patents and whatnot, but I felt my summary of the claims might actually be more informative than the baked-in descriptions.

A Closer Look At Apple’s Latest Patents
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Currently, says Huberty, Apple is producing about two million iPads a month, and that’s brought shipping times on the website down, and helped availability across the board. But the manufacturing process needs to be refined even further, and of course if, as expected earlier next year, the device sees a revision, that may delay things even further. There seems to be one thing most analysts agree on, however: Apple is going to sell a whole lot of iPads in 2011.

TUAWAnalyst: Apple producing more iPads originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 03 Sep 2010 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Analyst: Apple producing more iPads
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Jordy Mendoza: Tosh.0 fan and women's sports enthusiast!

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What You’re Saying About Tosh.0
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How do you win? Simply leave a comment on this post telling us what clever nickname you’ll now use for your colored device. That green iPad is clearly a lilly pad, right? Be creative, gang. Be sure to use your real email address when you comment, so that we can send you an email to let you know you’ve won. The winner gets to pick the color of their choice, for the product of their choice (iPhone or iPad). We’ll pick three random winners on Monday afternoon.

Here’s the full press release:

Why Should New Colorful iPod Nano Have All the Fun?

Brighten up your iPod Touch, iPhone 4, iPad or other Apple product with new protective StealthArmor COLOR Series from Fusion of Ideas

09.03.2010 – Word on the street is that StealthArmor by Fusion of Ideas is stylish and sleek, rugged and unobtrusive. Yet, as a company based in Orange County, Calif., home to some of the most exciting beach cities in America (Newport, Laguna, Huntington, to name a few), Fusion of Ideas decided it was about time to incorporate a bit more flavor into its product line-up. Today, Fusion of Ideas introduces its most brilliant line of StealthArmor yet, the COLOR Series.

COLOR Series comes on the heels of Apple’s revamped iPod line-up announcement, which includes the latest versions of iPod Nano and iPod Touch. Both devices are beautifully designed with smooth, clean surface areas. To keep these products scratch and ding free, StealthArmor offers full-body protection in a wide variety of finishes which now include seven COLOR Series additions: red, pink, blue, yellow, orange, purple and green.

“The COLOR Series is our way of infusing fun into the customization process,” says Russ Taylor, Founder and President of Fusion of Ideas. “Our customers are very savvy when it comes to fashion, and they want their Apple devices to stand out from the crowd and make a statement. Our new array of colorful StealthArmor kits allow people to mix and match how they accessorize their device to fit their tastes and style.”

In addition, for a limited time StealthArmor will be available in three beachy shades of scratch-resistant canvas, part of a new Island-style finish under the CLASSIC Series developed by a Fusion of Ideas retail employee. Cory Stanford, 18, was inspired by the hemp fabric on his flip flops and thought it would make a “cool” StealthArmor cover. He impressed Taylor with the idea, and a new StealthArmor product was born.

“These beach-inspired covers are indeed cool and a great example of how we’re always being innovative, with ideas coming together organically to bring the best of customization to our customers,” says Taylor.

All StealthArmor finishes come with a lifetime warranty. Built to protect, StealthArmor was initially designed for the automotive racing industry to keep car exteriors safe from flying asphalt and rocks.

StealthArmor is quick and easy to install and may require the use of a heat source (such as from a hairdryer) to activate its adhesive technology which, when applied properly, will result in a perfectly smooth finish, even around curves and corners. The end result is a completely natural fit, never bulky. Tips and tricks to install StealthArmor can be found here. StealthArmor can also be easily removed leaving behind zero residue for those who enjoy customizing their device frequently.

StealthArmor is available for purchase online at www.fusionofideas.com/stealtharmor. When ordering online, affordable flat-rate shipping of $6 per order is available to all U.S. residents. Customers in Southern California are welcome to visit the Fusion of Ideas retail store located at Orange County’s premier shopping destination, The Irvine Spectrum Center.

About Fusion of Ideas
Fusion of Ideas is an innovative technology company with an online and retail presence that caters to consumers and businesses to customize and protect their digital world. With DigitalTechToo, a laser engraving service that customizes any device with any design, and StealthArmor, the industry’s premium choice for protective films, Fusion of Ideas takes device customization and the user experience to the next level. Visit Fusion of Ideas at www.fusionofideas.com and follow us on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/fusionofideastw.

Not-so-Stealthy StealthArmor: COLOR Series giveaway
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Fortunately, the problem turns out not to be that complicated; Automator‘s version checking thinks that iTunes 10.0 is a lower version than 9.0, because the versions are sorting alphabetically instead of numerically (oof!). Macfixit points to a workaround: opening up the Info.plist files inside the packages for the dysfunctional workflows and manually changing the version threshold. It’s not ideal, but if you have critical Automator functionality that would otherwise keep you on iTunes 9, it’s worth a try.

TUAWFixing broken iTunes Automator workflows in iTunes 10 originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 03 Sep 2010 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Fixing broken iTunes Automator workflows in iTunes 10
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