06 Mar 07 Amazon Unbox 1.5
Amazon has released a new version of their Unbox service. It now fully integrates with Media Center (Vista and MCE) as well as lots of other new features. It is similiar to Apple’s iTunes service, but uses Windows based DRM, so it won’t work on a Mac.
What I really don’t like about the Amazon service, is that I own two of the top name portable media devices (iPod and Zune), yet neither one is supported by Amazon’s service. You need a Plays for Sure device. When will they learn that people like universal access across all platforms (portable and desktop) for their media?
Key features of Unbox 1.5 include:
- 20% faster downloads
- Improved reliability and performance
- 50% faster application load time
- Reduced PC memory usage
- Full support for Windows Vista and Vista Media Center Edition
- Improved portable device support
- Download portable video files only when you want to!
- New user controls and settings
- Video brightness control
- Contrast control
- Video library organizational and sorting
- Optional tooltips
- Multiple file delete
Download Amazon Unbox 1.5 here
02 Mar 07 Bandwagon Pricing
Remeber the company that was giving away 1 year memberships to bloggers for blogging about their unlimited iTunes backup service? Well they turned out to have a bit more of a demand then they expected, and their pricing structure just wasn’t working out.
Well they have refunded the $69 paid by non-bloggers for the service, and changed the service to a Do-It-Yourself plan. They want you to get an Amazon S3 account, FTP account, or 2nd mac for backup.
I could of sworn that backing up to another mac was as easy as copying the directory over, but I guess their method is better then that and why not $18/year for the technology of drag and drop.
Webhosts like Mosso and Dreamhost have plenty enough space in most user accounts to upload your entire music library. I am not sure how well the host are going to like you doing this though. Check your TOS before you do the FTP option.
The Amazon S3 service has been something I’ve been interrested in for quite some time. Let me check out my iTunes library and see how much it would cost to host there monthly. (Keep in mind I lost all of my non-iTunes tracks a few months back).
I currently have 19 gigs of music. That means a monthly cost of $2.85, but the initial upload would be $3.80. To restore your entire music library it would be another $3.80 charge.
What if you had an 80 gig iPods worth of music to backup? $12/month cost and initial $16 upload costs.
I think that I would use the FTP option, and bloggers do get a free 6 months of this new DIY service if you beta test. The service won’t be available till April 2007.
07 Feb 07 In “We stole Wal-Mart’s thunder” news
TiVo has announced a partnership with Amazon’s Unbox service to deliver movies direct to your TiVo set. Not all TiVo units will work (Comcast, DirecTV, or Series 1 models), but when the service switches live, all the other boxes will work. I still have a TiVo Series 1 & 2 in storage, simply because I don’t use them, but this might be a reason to pull the Series 2 out of storage.
Not all of Amazon’s Unbox movies will be available either. Sony and Disney are the holdouts. There will be limitations to how many devices you can have the movies on, as well as mac computers being incompatable, but this is a huge step for TiVo. There have been rumors that TiVo would offer this sort of service with nearly every distribution company out there, from Netflix to Apple.
This certainly takes a bite out of Apple’s new Apple TV, which allows viewing of anything in your iTunes directory, but doesn’t allow for downloading from your tv. You have to go over to your computer to purchase a movie/tv show from iTunes still.
31 Jan 07 Online shoe wars
Zappos has become the go to site for online shoe shopping. They have almost every brand, and even have an upscale site setup for the expensive shoes of the world.
They have been forced to step up recently, as that Amazon has launched a shoe site, Endless.com.
The major difference you first notice is, free next day shipping on any purchase made on Endless, until the other day when Zappos fought back.
Zappos now has free overnight shipping on all items through the end of February now.
Endless has come back with an even better offer. Overnight shipping is now NEGATIVE $5. They pay YOU $5 for overnight shipping.
Both sites offer 110% price match, and 365 day return policy.
What’s next? This ongoing battle for the online shoe sales is getting out of control. Personally, I’ve taken advantage of it (and you should too), and purchased a new pair of shoes today from Zappos. I would of gone with Endless, but they don’t have the brand of shoe that I wear.
25 Jan 07 Apple rumors make people lose their minds
OMG!!!! I am literally driven into a mad rage chatting with a friend right now about this most recent Apple rumor, that AT&T will give 18 months of free cell service with the purchase of an iPhone.
ARE YOU SERIOUS??? IT IS A 2 YEAR CONTRACT!!! How would they make any money off of you?
This rumor started from some stock spinster, Jim Cramer, and has blown up all over the internets today.
I really honestly believe that there is this Reality Distortion Field when it comes to anything Apple. YES, I am an Apple fan boy, but I don’t go and blow my load over every single rumor that hits my RSS reader. When something seems too good to be true, IT ISN’T!
