The Slingbox app for iPhone which has been in beta testing for while is said to be waiting on approval from Apple. Perhaps AT&T isn’t quite ready to stream that much data across its networks?  Here’s a video of it in action. 

Slingplayer for Mac version 1.0.7 is out – go get it.  New features include:

• Improved video quality
• Online Slingbox registration added; plus users can store their Slingbox ID online for easy access
• Improved Slingbox Setup Assistant: New setup and configuration screens are streamlined and easier to use
• Users can rapidly cycle between Fullscreen (4:3), Widescreen (16:9), Letterbox, Windowbox, Pillarbox modes
• Show / Hide player controls with one-click toggle

The question on everyone’s minds is: When is the iPhone/iPod touch version coming out?

Yes, you read right.  The Pull My Finger app has made it to the Apple Store according to Giz.

Sam, the developer, says that Apple didn’t want to reject it initially, but they were still trying to figure out how to organize these types of apps—the slightly lewd but not really full-on porn apps—into the marketplace. The Apple rep claimed they’d be lifting the restriction on more of these types of apps soon; the ones that were previously rejected for decency-type issues.

What are you waiting for?  Download it from the App store, stat!

Us?  We’ve been "rockin" iPootz from the Jailbroken Cydia store for months!

OK, here’s the deal of the week (year?) from 9to5mac.com/toys…Polk Audio’s Sound bar is $600 off at Amazon for like the next 20 minutes or something.  We’ve had our eye on this for awhile and were considering paying the $1000 normal price.  Nope, $399  Merry Christmas!  (only in Titanium, black is still $1000 for some reason – take that Black Macbook!) (Thanks Marty!!)

 

SurroundBar® Series

Five Channels. One Speaker. Zero Clutter.

Select a model below:

• 360° DVD Theater
• 50"
• 42"

The SurroundBar 360º DVD Theater is the best performing single-speaker surround sound theater system on the market.

Based on our highly acclaimed original SurroundBar, the SurroundBar 360° DVD Theater adds all the electronics needed along with patented* SDA® Surround Digital Technology, to deliver sensational surround sound.

SurroundBar 50 is the best performing passive all-in-one surround speaker requiring no rear speakers.

The new SurroundBar 50 is the larger version of SurroundBar featuring Polk’s exclusive SDA Surround Technology. SurroundBar 50 adds SDA Surround Technology to the front channels, plus cabinet porting and neodymium motor assemblies resulting in an even bigger, even more dynamic sound.

The original SurroundBar (42" Model) from Polk Audio is designed to complete your High Definition TV experience.

The SurroundBar the perfect match for flat-panel and shallow screen TVs, and fits seamlessly with 42" widescreen TVs. It works with virtually any surround sound receiver in any room to bring you the thrills of 5 channel surround sound from a single speaker.

Polk’s SDA® Surround Sound Technology

Here’s what sets SurroundBar speakers apart from the crowd: They do not depend on room acoustics or perfect placement to achieve the desired effect thanks to patented SDA Surround Technology.

SDA stands for Stereo Dimensional Array, a patented Polk Audio exclusive*. Matthew Polk describes SDA Surround Technology as "a mixture of acoustical engineering, psychoacoustic principles and a little magic." Read Matt Polk’s SDA Whitepaper for an even more in depth explanation on SDA Surround Technology.

Three models, thousands of uses.

There are three SurroundBar models to fit almost every application. Regardless of which SurroundBar you choose, be prepared to experience full-fledged 5-channel surround sound from one speaker. If you already have a receiver and DVD player, or have your heart set on one, there are two passive SurroundBar models to meet your needs. Both are available in either black or titanium. Just add a Digital Surround Receiver, a Subwoofer, your TV and you’re ready to go!

If you want an easy all-in-one integrated system, and don’t plan on using or don’t have an existing amplifier, SurroundBar 360º DVD Theater is an all-inclusive Home Theater system that includes a DVD player, AM/FM tuner with integrated amplifier, and universal remote control.

The SurroundBar 360° DVD Theater includes an amplifier and built-in DVD player with HDMI output for 1080p resolution to your high-definition TV.

Stunning Simplicity

Installation versatility is designed in. You can wall mount the SurroundBar right below your flat-panel TV. Or use the included cradle on a TV stand, a shelf or for set-top placement. You will experience all the thrills of surround sound…with none of the hassles of running rear speakers.

Look Ma, no rear wires!

Don’t hassle with running rear speaker wire all over the place, with the SurroundBar you don’t need rear speakers so there are no ugly wires lining your floors and walls.

 

 

 

 

 

Complete Your Home Theater with One Speaker

The Polk Audio SurroundBar is designed to complete your High Definition TV experience. It’s the perfect match for flat-panel and shallow screen TVs. And it works with any surround sound receiver in any room to bring you the thrills of 5 channel surround sound from a single speaker. The SurroundBar’s unobtrusive design and color-coded hookup configuration make it a welcome addition for anyone who wants the thrilling benefits of 5.1 surround sound and none of the hassles.

---

Patented SDA Surround Technology Delivers a Full Room of Sound

Get professional surround-sound from a single speaker bar, regardless of your room’s layout

Our patented SDA Surround technology means there’s no need to install rear speakers. SDA Surround creates a completely immersive 5 channel surround experience, as if there were dozens of speakers all around you, all from a single, 43-inch long cabinet. No rear speakers are required. This technology is based on fundamental research into the way our ears process sound and perceive the direction of sounds.

The SurroundBar works in any room; SDA Surround is not dependent on your room’s walls to produce the surround effect. It uses a patented combination of signal processing and acoustical geometry that complements the spacing between your ears to produce surround sound without the need for rear mounted speakers or special room characteristics.

Some other single speaker surround solutions bounce sound off of walls and require symmetrical rooms and un-cluttered side and rear walls to create a surround effect. Since the SurroundBar works directly with the hearing mechanism and requires no special room characteristics, it can deliver a room-filling 5 channel surround experience in nearly any location.

SDA Surround technology relies on a mixture of acoustical engineering, psychoacoustic principles and a little magic. The original SDA technology, developed in the early 1980’s, was a two-channel technology intended to overcome a fundamental problem of stereo reproduction. SDA Surround utilizes the same basic principles but expands the technology to allow for reproduction of surround sound without the need for rear speakers. This technology requires no reflecting surfaces or special speaker placement and can be connected to any surround sound receiver. It will work well in almost any room of any size or shape and will deliver a surround sound experience for almost all listener locations. Because of the psychoacoustic principles on which the technology is based, SDA Surround achieves exceptional continuity side-to-side and front-to-back so that sounds closely follow the action suggested on screen. It also delivers consistent soundstage depth, even directly to the sides, a quality only achieved by the best conventional hard wired systems. This quality makes SDA Surround seem more like having dozens of speakers around you providing smoother and more immersive surround sound.

Innovative Design with Simple Installation

Seven 3 ½" Dynamic Balance Drivers and three ¾" Dynamic Balance Dome Tweeters deliver clear, natural midrange, high frequencies and lifelike imaging. An aluminum-extruded enclosure eliminates cabinet resonance. The anti-diffraction grille and bezel help create open, spacious imaging. And it’s magnetically shielded, of course, for safe placement on or near TVs.

Installation versatility is designed in. You can wall mount the SurroundBar right below your flat-panel TV. Or use the included cradle on a TV stand, a shelf or for set-top placement. The Polk Audio SurroundBar is a welcome addition for anyone who wants all the thrills of surround sound…but none of the hassles or clutter.

---

Technical Specifications

• Driver Complement: 9 x 3.5" composite cones
• Magnet Structure: Neodymium drivers
• Tweeters: 3 x 3/4" silk dome
• Nominal Impedance: 8 ohms
• Recommended Amplification: 150 watts/channel
• Frequency Response: 80 Hz – 23 KHz
• Efficiency: 90 dB
• Bass Technology: Dual front ports
• Dimensions (W x H x D): 51" x 4.5" x 5.1"
• Weight: 15 lbs

  Product Description
  The Polk Audio SurroundBar 50 is 51" wide to offer an enveloping surround sound experience to anyone who wants better sound from their TV but does not want to install rear-mounted speakers. It delivers surround sound from a single, multi-driver loudspeaker located under or over the TV screen using SDA Surround technology. SDA Surround technology uses a patented combination of signal processing and acoustical geometry that complements the spacing between your ears to produce surround sound without the need for rear mounted speakers. It can deliver a room-filling surround experience in nearly any location in almost any type of room with no special room characteristics required. The SurroundBar 50 is sized to match the width of 50" Plasma and LCD TVs. In addition to using SDA Surround technology on the surround channels, the SurroundBar 50 adds SDA Surround image enhancing technology on the front Left & Right channels to further enhance the surround experience as well as produce a huge stereo sound field from a two-channel source. New drivers and crossover design along with a larger enclosure produce far better bass performance than the original SurroundBar. The aluminum enclosure houses nine mid/bass drivers with Neodymium magnets, three dome tweeters and a four-PC board crossover with over 60 components.

http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=thepartim-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&asins=B000XT3LDG&md=10FE9736YVPPT7A0FBG2&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr

Here’s a great new ad campaign that "breaks" Yahoo’s page a la Wii ads from a few weeks ago. Via Adage.

http://services.brightcove.com/services/viewer/federated_f8/1543292789

Update….looks like we were all wrong…soon tho.

We just got word that there was going to be a big software update tomorrow at Apple.  Specifics weren’t given but it is likely that it will be 10.5.6.  AI had the news earlier today that it was coming soon.  How does our source know?  We’ll tell you if he’s right tomorrow.  He might be on to something…

Oh and that Netgear thing?  We got blueballed.  All of their stuff is crap anyway.

Engadget points us to a great little tool that just came out of the gate.  Addonics NAS (network attached storage) adapter is a little block with Gigabit Ethernet in and USB out. This basically allows any and all of your USB HDD’s and USB Sticks a free (or $55 retail) ride on your network.  It has SMB and FTP so it works on Mac but AFP would be a bit better.   Maybe in a firmware update?

We’ll put it in the 9to5mac.com/toys as soon as it hits stores.

Great idea!

We’d love to see a wireless version too!

AT&T now does home activation again. It feels like 2007 again doesn’t it? Good news is that you could theoretically pretty much pick up an iPhone anywhere (*cough Walmart*) and activate that thing.  As of now AT&T only, not even the Apple Store.

Gadgetell via BGR

According to CNet,the iTunes store is having a hard time today.  Perhaps it is because the labels are uploading all of those delicious DRM free music?

Apple has submitted a number of patents for a 3D desktop metaphor interface according to Macrumors.  While many vendors have had their own designs (Microsoft, Sun – Project Looking Glass, etc), this is the first design patent for Apple that we can remember. 

Snow Leopard, expected in early to mid 2009, isn’t supposed to have major design changes.

Well, this is a hack in the most literal of senses but it could be useful in a handful of circumstances…

Unlike other approaches, it works with the two apps that matter most, Mail and Safari, and gets around Apple’s onerous App Store terms through a clever combination of javascript bookmarks and web services.

In fact, it doesn’t require anything to be installed, so it avoids the App Store altogether. As you can see in the video, Pastebud–as the service is called–works using two bookmarks in Safari. One prepares and loads the page you are viewing, ready to select text at the touch of a finger. From there, you can copy any text you want and create a new mail message with that text in it. In addition to that, you will be able to copy and paste in the text field of a different web page.

While this is not full copy and paste capabilities, I, for one, welcome the ability do exactly this, which is basically what I want to do 95% of the time. According to Jed Schmidt, creator of Pastebud, they have been testing it for about a week and they are now "putting the finishing touches on the web site before launch".

via Gizmodo.AU

If you are a Unibody MacBook user: run, don’t walk to Software Update to update your firmware.  No we don’t notice anything…but it has got to be good.  Wait!  There is another SMC Firmware update!  Still nothing…

(sorry about the title)

The mystery of the missing iTunes Movies has been solved by Greg Sandoval at C|Net.  "Release Windows"

"Release windows" is the term used to describe periods of time a certain type of media is allowed to show a movie. Typically, a feature film is first released in theaters, then on DVD, followed by pay-per-view channels and finally on broadcast TV.

Normally, release windows don’t affect retailers or video-rental services after they’ve begun selling or renting films. Warner Bros. doesn’t go into Best Buy and pull DVDs off the shelf when Comcast airs Casablanca. The corner Mom and Pop video store doesn’t surrender copies of Gladiator to Universal Studios when the film appears on ABC. But Internet stores are being treated differently. What this means for iTunes and Netflix customers is that movies will pop in and out of the services.
Spokesmen for Netflix and Apple confirmed that they pulled titles due to these licensing requirements.

Even when you think the media companies are starting to "get it", they don’t.  Obviously.  People who would have paid for the movie will now be more likely to download it illegally.  The TV channel’s revenues (and therefore influence) are likely so strong that bowing to their whims is all that the movie studios and iTunes/Netflix can do.

At some point, the money from iTunes, etc. will be enough to fight for their movie distribution rights.

Sprint’s Instinct unleashed a big Internet ad campaign against the iPhone (and AT&T prices mostly) today. Long on drama and short on details, it, most likely, won’t help sell any Instincts. Here’s some unsolicited advice to Sprint: Take every extra penny you have left and put it into WiMAX. Now.

On the other hand, these types of ads put AT&T’s prices and practices in a bad light – which isn’t such a bad thing.

Videos below

http://instinctthephone.com/share/player.swf?dl=side_by_side

Computerworld’s Ryan Faas offers a great 10 step program for eliminating waste on and optimizing your Mac. You don’t have to hit them all, but even a few will do you a world of good.  Especially on lower powered, older Macs with less storage…  Slim down, speed up Mac OS X

• 1. Get rid of extra languages
• 2. Cut out non-native code
• 3. Trim down media libraries
• 4. Clean out logs
• 5. Delete unused apps
• 6. Reduce login items
• 7. Do without 3D effects
• 8. Remove unused fonts
• 9. Find large files and folders
• 10. Increase RAM

Psystar’s latest filing indicates that they are taking a different tack in their battle with Apple to install their OS on Psystar’s machines

In new allegations, Psystar claims Apple uses so-called stealthware to protect what Psystar claims is an illegal monopoly in the Mac computing market. Specifically, Psystar contends that OS X runs a startup routine that checks whether the host computer is running on Intel  dual core processors, which are included in genuine Macs.

Psystar claims that if the OS discovers unapproved hardware, it shuts down. "The check stops the execution of the Mac OS on any computer that is not an Apple-Labeled Computer Hardware System," Psystar states in court papers filed Monday in U.S. District Court in San Francisco.

If that is the case, how come I can run Leopard on my sweet $359 HP Mini 1000?  How does the Hackintosh movement even exist?

Psystar maintains that less-expensive chips and hardware are fully capable of running Leopard. The allegations echo charges that Apple has used embedded code to brick iPhones running nonapproved applications.

 They should know, they make the less expensive devices.  But they work?  So have the Hackintosh crowd figured out a way around the embedded code?  Is it that hard?  Will Apple keep making it more difficult?

This is all very strange.  We still don’t get what Psystar hopes to gain with all of this.  Even if they win, Dell and HP will destroy them.  Or who is behind it and what is their motives?

I’ve become over-fascinated about ARM’s roadmap since investigating a post I did for Computerworld over the weekend.  To me, it makes just a little too much sense that these chips will rise up the ranks of Apple’s products over the next few years.  For instance, take a look at TI’s 600MHz OMAP3440 ARM processor.  (see full size here) 

This isn’t a "roadmap" processor.  It currently sits in Archos PMPs and Open Pandora and does some amazing things at 600MHz. 

What’s coming out in 2009 will blow this away.  Expect 1.6 GHz ARM Cortex Processors that are full motherboards on the chip.  Power in, ports out, no mobo necessary.   Pretty insane graphics too.  We aren’t talking PS3 type graphics but they will give a Wii a run for its money.

See all of those functions up there?  HDMI out?  Built-in audio and video decoders?  PATA (and soon SATA)?  This wouldn’t be hard to turn into the next Apple TV.  Or, better yet, a set top gaming device (with AppleTV functionality) and access to the App Store.  Games, Web (gasp) TV, email, and all of those really cool iPhone apps ported to the TV. 

How big would this device have to be? 

Well, most of the functionality of the device could rely on the ARM SoC.  32Gb of Flash storage is about $50 on the street (Apple gets it cheapest).  You are looking at something the size of an Airport Express to give it more functionality than the current AppleTV.  Apple could go big an include a full sized 1.5Tb HDD.  Then it would obviously grow to the size of a Time Capsule. Both Airport Express and Time Capsule already use ARMs as their processor.

But it can do so much more than what current game consoles can do.  Besides the Apps Store, the device could be a video conferencing machine with just small camera attachment.  It could be a slideshow presentation device.  Or a media server.  It could be the home router and backup device.  The list goes on and on.

How much would this cost?  Next to nothing in hardware.  ARM chips go for a fraction of Intel chips.  They are also incredibly energy efficient.  You’d have some storage and build costs but the rest is just software which Apple has already done most of the development on.  

Oh, and there is the matter of PA Semi?  What have they been up to since being acquired by Apple?  ARM chips.  ARM chips.  ARM chips.

I’ll leave you with a video of an iPhone with *slow* ARM processor doing TV out.  Is it that hard to imagine an ARM AppleTV?

We’re seeing a strong growth in our 9to5mac.com/Toys section which means we are saving our readers some money on some exciting products from a number of vendors.  Here’s a collection of fun Apple related items from Amazon that you might have missed over the past few days.  These offers are still good:

Remember you can add/comments to Toys posts and steer your fellow reader in a better direction if need be.  If you have any good or bad experiences with these products, also, please feel free to comment.

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http://9to5mac.com/toys/feed

Computerworld covers the bad 3rd party memory, the iNquirer does the science on the bad bumps.

According to some posters on the Apple forums, Apple is going to release an update shortly that fixes issues with third party memory.  Apple, hasn’t made a statement on the matter…

…the engineer said that Apple is “very aware” of the problem and that it was not the result of using non-Apple memory, but because users were bumping up the machines to 4GB.

“They are about to release a software update to address it. He said that officially it might take up to a week or two for this to come out but unofficially we could expect it within a matter of days,” Brocklebank wrote on Dec. 4. “In the meantime he said that a solution could be found by removing one of the 2GB sticks and replacing it with the original 1GB.”

Meanwhile, the Inquirer went to extraodinary lengths (yes MacBooks were harmed) to refute NVIDIA’s claims that its chips weren’t flawed.

WHEN THE NEW Macbooks came out a few weeks ago, Nvidia stated that the chips they provided to Apple did not contain the proverbial ‘bad bumps’. Unfortunately for them, an investigation lead by the Inquirer proves that not to be the case.

Background
If you recall, Nvidia has been in the spotlight all summer for failing chips due to bad materials and thermal stress. The end result is that bumps, the tiny balls of solder that hold a chip to the green printed circuit board it sits on, crack, and the computer it is in dies. If you want the full technical analysis, read this article (and parts 2 and 3).

Nvidia took a $200 million charge over the problem in July, but the firm refuses to support its customers by saying which parts are defective, and what computers they were sold in. You can get some clue from message boards, with Dell, HP, and Apple being prominent victims.

http://newyork.craigslist.org/mnh/cpg/951120425.html

Guess the N97 isn’t what they meant by iPhone killer, but next time they are serious.  More screen/area=hotness?

From BGR:

This past Friday, a slide from Nokia’s Capital Markets Day appeared on the internet depicting a touchscreen-only Nokia handset with a striking UI. Sure the slide looked a bit iffy and the wording of the accompanying notes isn’t your grandfather’s English, but anyone who has sat through a presentation given by a handset manufacturer knows that’s nothing out of the ordinary. Whiners immediately attacked the slide and shouted it was fake – even we were skeptical as to its authenticity. As it turns out, it’s as real as they come. The slide, pictured again above, is part of a large presentation from Capital Markets Day that is now publicly available. Sure the handset pictured is a mockup but it was indeed created by Nokia. While it does not necessarily depict an actual handset currently in the company’s pipeline, it does give us a glimpse of one of the directions Nokia is headed. Most substantially no doubt, is the fact that the mockup shows a UI that remarkably does not look like something out of War Games as does S60.

Could this be the first official hint that Nokia is looking to finally build a UI as visually pleasing as its OS is capable? Only time will tell. As to the concept of a touchscreen-only handset in the works from Nokia, the full presentation is peppered with mockups of touchscreen-only handsets. In fact, Nokia even used a closed N810 as a mobile phone in several images. While this could lead many to believe that Nokia does intend to release a similarly-styled device in the near future, it could also simply mean said mockups were deemed the best way to have the audience focus on the screen shots being presented without being distracted by the handsets. Hit the read link for a PDF download of the full 20 MB presentation and enjoy.

[Via NokiaUsers]

Read (PDF warning)