Boxee gets Netflix. Apple warming up lawyers

9to5 Staff

Built on the back of the XBMC/Plex.app’s GPL’d hard work, Boxee is now rattling Apple’s cage just a bit harder.  Today they announced support for Netflix download service on all platforms except AppleTV (still working on that one).  They also added some other content sources:

  • a new Hulu – looks more like hulu.com, enables you to login (so you can get your Hulu Queue), works faster, and playback should be greatly improved on Apple TV
  • a new YouTube – new look, as well as higher quality video playback. some of these YouTube clips look pretty good on your 46” LCD
  • a new CNN, Flickr, Picasa and Apple Movie Trailers – we’ve re-written all of these plug-ins to work faster and look better
  • Boston Globe’s The Big Picture – it’s a great photo-blog, which we really like, and thought could be pretty cool in a 10-foot experience. if you’ll like it we could bring much more of these type of services (let us know!)
  • integration with MTV Music – when you click on an album you’ll see a new option to let you watch music videos of the artist. check it out. MTV said they can give us higher quality videos, and we have a few more ideas for providing a great music video experience on boxee
  • theWB – on our quest to bring more TV content to boxee theWB is the latest addition. it means shows like Buffy, Babylon5, Firefly, One Tree Hill and The O.C. are now available on boxee

on the bug fixing/polish front:

  • support for skip forward, rewind in Hulu, CBS, etc. – this is a big one.. should work now. the code behind it is sooo ugly that yuvalt had to chew on anti-nausea tablets while writing it
  • improved streaming of podcast, trailers and youtube videos – we rewrote the buffering/caching mechanism. Skip and rewind within video streams is now much better
  • more boxee less crashee – it’s still alpha, and it will crash from time to time (we promise), but this version is supposed to be more stable. we are trying to weed out those nasty bugs – help us out by submitting bugs to support@boxee.tv or post in our forum
  • faster scanning of local/network media – your movies, tv shows and albums should be identified faster. if you have a huge music collection then you could still cook a 7-course dinner, wash the dishes and read a telephone book before it will be done, but it’s greatly improved..
  • new on-screen keyboard – as dave described when he reported the bug “typing a URL with our on-screen keyboard is a once in a lifetime experience. you do it once, and never want to do it again”. so we made it a bit better
  • faster loading of the movies/music screen in case you have hundreds or thousands of albums..
  • fixes and new look for to the lyrics and subtitles features – the new auto-scroll of the lyrics is arbitrary… but sometimes it works pretty well. fooled me the first time I tried it

iFund DB leaked onto the Internets. 588 developers getting viagra emails

9to5 Staff

The iFund DB has been compromised.  Data which was entered in the online application here which includes contact information, founder bios, the business plan, demos, financial information, etc. is included.  Out there on the internets for all to see.

Woops!

For those less scrupulous folks out there, you now have access to a DB of developers who might have a share of $100,000,000 to spend on Viagra and Nigerian lottery scams.  Get spamming!

 

Google Earth browser plugin now available for Safari and Firefox on Mac

9to5 Staff

You’ll want to be getting this…

What is the Google Earth API?

The Google Earth Plug-in and its JavaScript API let you embed Google Earth, a true 3D digital globe, into your web pages. Using the API you can draw markers and lines, drape images over the terrain, add 3D models, or load KML files, allowing you to build sophisticated 3D map applications. If you have an existing Maps API site, you can 3D-enable your page with as little as one line of code.

New! The Earth Browser Plug-in is now available on Mac OS X (Intel and PowerPC).

Note: The Google Earth API and Maps API Terms of Service have been recently updated.

The Google Earth API is a free beta service, available for any web site that is free to consumers. Please see the terms of use for more information.

$99 4GB iPhone for cash concious Walmart shoppers after Christmas?

9to5 Staff

BGR has the goods on a proported $99 4GB iPhone going on sale at Walmart on Dec 28th.  Sounds good initially.  You can still keep the  high ground with your 16GB monster while the unwashed masses go about with thir $99 – can barely hold the Star Wars Trilogy – handset.  More marketshare, more potential customers for apps, more websites designed for iPhone.  Woot!

But, as we’re sure many of you know, the two year plan that is required costs $80- $100 a month depending on the plan you choose.  If you can’t afford the extra $100 for an iPhone, are you going to be financially able to get on a $100/month plan?  Sounds like a poor financial decision. 

Perfect for the Walmart demographic?

Maybe, just maybe, Apple has some EDGE iPhone chipsets (sans GPS) laying around ready to go for another run.   Heck, even the old design was pretty solid.

So, maybe also at lower plan prices?  Even the old AT&T plan prices would be a gift for the holiday season.

Will a $100 giftcard to Walmart will be the "must have" gift this year?

Something some of you will never see…Windows 7 bootup screen

9to5 Staff

Not too much in the way of excitement here. But we thought it’d be interesting to see what the competition was up to in the ever-popular boot-up screen graphics category.  For those of you with a Playstation, you might see something familiar.  http://images.video.msn.com/flash/soapbox1_1.swf

Redmond appears to be pointing their copying machines toward Japan?

Adobe misses earnings forcast, Macworld '09

9to5 Staff

Adobe is hitting some rough waters lately with its latest sales figures in.  It seems that in a bad economy, companies take a pass on upgrading a $1000-2000/seat piece of software (CS4).  Most creative agencies aren’t really increasing headcounts either.  No surprise there.

  • Adobe expects Q4 sales to come in between $912 million and $915 million, below its previous estimate of $925 million to $955 million, and below Wall Street’s consensus of $930 million. (Not terrible, actually.)
  • The main reason: Weaker than expected demand for its Creative Suite 4 software, including Photoshop, etc.
  • Adobe will lay off 600 workers worldwide. That will result in a pre-tax charge of $44 million to $50 million, about 60% of which will be written down in Q4.
  • Adobe is aiming for $800 million to $850 million in Q1 revenue — below year-ago sales, and significantly below the Street’s $931 million consensus, but not far from the Street’s low estimate of $809 million.

Along with dropping those 600 workers, there has been some restructuring at the top, and apparently frivolous ventures like showing up at Macworld with a huge fancy booth have been cut out of the plan as well.  What better way to show the public you are on the ropes?

Never fear!  Adobe will be fine.  They’ve long ago bought up the competition.  Their big focus right now is on Air and Flash platforms running on everything.  Creative Suite on the Mac, for the most part, sells itself.  Or in the case of Macworld ’09, there will be Adobe training sessions which hope to sell some CS4.