Truly a blockbuster. Maybe this guy should move to some place where they have… you know, objects.
Really, though, it’s not bad. Obviously you’re getting a ton of smear and skew, as you will with any “HD” device of this size, but it’s also just as good as any $100-$150 pocket cam you’re likely to find. We’ll have our own video and image quality tests in our full review, of course. Watch on YouTube
iFixit tears apart the iPhone 4 in graphic detail
Microsoft taking a loss on Kinect?
“My Phone Is Off For You” – how to show you care in this modern age
Linux: the people’s product
Here’s the Dell Streak’s US retail packaging (maybe)
TRON controllers will be available for purchase
Mixtape watch keeps track of time, reminds you of that one road trip and that sweet mix you made that everybody totally liked and you played it like 30 times
Facebook Has Been Massively Underreporting Twitter App Users — By Over 6 Million
AppData is a goldmine of information about third-party applications on Facebook. With it, you can see stats like: FarmVille has 63.9 million monthly active users — making it nearly three times as large as the number two app on Facebook, Texas HoldEm Poker (also a Zynga game), which has 28.5 million monthly active users. But there was always something a little wonky about certain areas of AppData’s data. For example, they showed that Facebook for Android only had 67 monthly active users — yes, 67. But something happened this past week that seemed to correct the data, and it exposed one new massive Facebook app: Twitter. As Inside Facebook (another site under InsideNetwork) noted
yesterday, some change Facebook recently made appears to have corrected the stats for a number of apps. The aforementioned Facebook for Android shot up to 4.7 million MAU from its 67 — a 7 million percent increase. The other big increase in the top 10 gainers? Twitter, which went from it’s previously reported number of just over 400,000 users, to nearly 7 million — a change of over 1,300 percent. And the app still appears to be growing pretty fast. The Twitter app’s own page on Facebook now confirms this new number.Opera Hooks Up With MegaFon To Expand Its Mobile Browser Reach In Russia
has struck a deal with Russia’s federal mobile operator OJSC MegaFon under which MegaFon’s special package “Unlimited Internet with Opera Mini” will be distributed to all Russian territories. That may not sound like much at first glance, but you have to consider that MegaFon boasts over 53 million mobile subscribers, spanning all seven Federal Districts of Russia.
Furthermore, MegaFon serves some 39 percent of all mobile Web traffic in Russian territories, according to recent research (it was first in Russia to run a 3G network based on UMTS). The operator says internal statistics have shown that Opera Mini subscribers effectively generate twice the traffic than any other MegaFon user.
Twitter For iPhone Quick To Add Multitasking And Retina Display Support
In fact, while other huge apps on the iPhone, such as Facebook, lag behind in supporting the newest iPhone functionality, Twitter is one of the first to implement some of the useful new features.
Zuckerberg: Facebook Revenue Estimates Of $1.1 Billion “Not So Far Off..”
with Facebook founder/CEO Mark Zuckerberg. The conversation touched on a range of topics including the proliferation of social gaming, the argument for instituting Facebook Credits across all games, and why Zuckerberg is no longer afraid of Twitter. It also shed some light on Facebook’s revenue numbers: Zuckerberg said that estimates that Facebook would make between $1 and $1.1 billion this year “are not so far off in either direction that it’s causing us any pain…” So what did he mean by that? Zuckerberg says that revenue estimates last year were lowballing Facebook’s revenue stats to the point that it was hurting the company. Now that’s changed, at least to the point that Facebook isn’t seeing any adverse effects from analyst guesses.
Zuckerberg Admits He “Paid Too Much Attention” To Twitter
with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg about the state of the company. It’s worth reading in its entirety for thoughts about the Platform, Credits, gaming, and the company’s financials. But one thing that caught my eye in particular was his thoughts about Twitter. Over the past year and a half, Facebook has been under a lot of criticism that it is drifting away from its core service and into a more Twitter-like state, where short status updates rule and all information should be public. When Facebook failed to acquire the company in late 2008, Twitter’s influence on the look and feel of Facebook became more and more apparent. But Zuckerberg says that the time of Twitter infatuation is now over.
“As good as I think they are, I think I personally just paid too much attention to it,” Zuckerberg tells Inside Facebook’s Justin Smith. Why was he so focused on the rival? Their growth rate — it had Facebook worried.
Google Counters Apple’s HTML5 Showcase With HTML5Rocks (Yes, It’s Really Called That)
. Google and Apple are arguably the two biggest companies attempting to push HTML5 forward. Notably, both also dominate updates to the WebKit rendering engine (with both Safari and Google Chrome use). But both also seem a bit at odds with HTML5 because both have popular mobile platforms that use native applications not coded with HTML5. In recent weeks though, the two companies (which are in the middle of a war with one another) seem to be trying to show that each is fully committed to the open web.
Google Translates “Call Us For Free” To “Skype” In Italian
Google Translate is also known for its occasional snafus. For example, an English to French translation of “videos on Vimeo” previously resulted in “des videos sur YouTube.” Another example of a wonky translation took place when Kai-Fu Lee, president of the search giant’s China operations, left the company. of “call us for free.” The phrase returns in Italian as “Telefonare gratis con Skype.” The reverse translation results in ‘call us for free.’Sonos Announces iPad App
I’ve always had a soft spot in my necrotic heart for Sonos. In the face if iPods, Zunes, mobile phones, and everything else, they’ve kept pumping out great, compact products for folks with big houses. They’ve never pretended to be too high-class for the rest of us yet you basically use their products to create soundscapes, just like Disney World, Vegas, and the haunted house I made in my basement as a kid. Sonos just announced their iPad app – probably available in August – that allows you to control your Sonos system on the iPad’s bright screen. The app allows you to browse your iTunes and Sonos collection, pick radio streams, and even set different rooms with different playlists. When I tested the Sonos kit I used to like to make my bathroom, for instance, the Drum’n'Bass room to ease evacuation.
Video after the jump.
1,000 Trial Invites For Rdio
The latest streaming music service to launch is Rdio, which is backed by the founders of Skype. It lets you stream 5 million songs from all the major labels (some key indie bands are missing though), create playlists, and find music through other people. The problem is that it is rolling out slowly. You need an invite just to try it out.Well, we just got 1,000 invites for TechCrunch readers. Just click here
and use the code “RDIOTC01″The invite is only good for three days, after which you need to subscribe for at least $5 a month to keep listening. But it’s wor
The Kindle Won
I’ve been thinking this for a long while: Amazon won the ereader war. They were first to market – not officially, but in terms of mindshare, they offer a software package that is compelling on almost every mobile and desktop platform, and they have an entrenched user base already invested in their product. Nothing else comes close. No matter who you are, no matter what you think about ebooks and their future, Amazon owns the mind share – and the market share – and everyone else is doomed. Maybe I’m being a bit overly pessimistic, but I’m trying to make my point abundantly clear: everyone else in this space is playing a distant second to Amazon and its Kindle store. First, don’t take my word for it. Om made a similar point and even offers a numbered list of reasons why including, but not limited to:
and even offers a numbered list of reasons why including, but not limited to:1. The Kindle App has made the Kindle “device” a obsolete for many early adopters.
2. Kindle was first with a popular and interesting solution to ebook reading. Say what you want about Sony and their Reader line: nobody beats the Kiz.
3. It’s all about software now, and Kindle rules the roost.
App has made the Kindle “device” a obsolete for many early adopters.2. Kindle was first with a popular and interesting solution to ebook reading. Say what you want about Sony and their Reader line: nobody beats the Kiz.
3. It’s all about software now, and Kindle rules the roost.
YouTube Expands Catch-Up, Primetime TV Content Library With WWE Deal
YouTube has just announced that it will now offer full-length, current episodes of a suite of World Wrestling Entertainment-related programming. The deal includes episodes of Friday Night Smackdown, WWE NXT, WWE Superstars, and ECW. I don’t know what any of those are, but I assume they all involve tights, big hair, and burly guys fighting. You can find all of it on the WWE’s official channel. This sort of content may not pique the interest of a huge number of TechCrunch readers (I can honestly say I’ve never watched a WWE event in my life) but the deal is significant: this is the one of the first times YouTube has offered so-called “catch-up” primetime programming.
More rumors have Hulu going to new devices, premium pay model soon
These aren’t new rumors, exactly: we heard Hulu bought a ticket to Xbox-town a week ago, and of course the pay model has been a long time coming. In fact, it was supposed to launch a couple weeks ago. We heard there was a delay, and now “sources” are saying the move to pay (and to other devices, including the iPad) will happen “in the next month or two.” What! That’s as specific as they could get? Some source! Reuters would do better to read CrunchGear.Apple’s A4 ain’t that special
I really don’t understand what the big deal is about the A4. ARM designed the chip, Apple customized it, and Samsung built it. How is that any different from any other phone or device manufacturer? The A4 variant (an unfortunate name considering the A* naming convention in ARM chips) is just an A8-based chip with a setup specific to the iPhone or iPad’s PCB layout and processing needs. Apple doesn’t have fairy dust to sprinkle on it to make it anything more than that.
That said, however, there’s a lot more to a device than making the right hardware decisions. The Samsung Wave, it has been revealed, uses a very similar Samsung-made (obviously) 1GHz ARM A8 processor, putting it as near Apple’s A4 as can be. But do you think you’re going to have a similar user experience? No, silly! So much depends upon the UI designers and coders that the processor is really only a secondary consideration.
Review: Wiebetech ToughTech Mini-Q secure hard drive
Short version: A plain-looking, but robust drive for the security-conscious interface fiend in us all. Or at least those of us with cash to spare. Read MoreWWE finally has a YouTube account (and with full episodes)
I must be seeing things… is that an official WWE YouTube page, and one that already has last night’s episode of Monday Night Raw online? This is so unlike WWE, embracing technology. They must have hired someone new in recent weeks, someone who told them that, you know, the Internet isn’t merely for “geeks” anymore. Astro A30 Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker headset coming at ya
Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker comes out today in North America, and in 10 days in Europe. (It came out in Japan about two weeks ago.) Famous Japanese video game magazine Famitsu gave it a 40/40, so we can safely assume it’s not bad at all. Also not bad, probably? The Astro A30 gaming headset. Konami helped the Astro team design the headset, dontcha know? Casio’s rugged digital camera EX-G1 gets 2 limited edition colors (in Japan)
Video: Here’s that Red Dead Redemption short film
Did you miss the premiere of that John Hillcoat-directed Red Dead Redemption short film the other day? Do you not know how to use BitTorrent or Usenet? Then I have some good news for you. By clicking “Read More” you can see the entire thing! There’s no real spoilers so no worries there. How to test iOS 4.0 right now
If you’re the excitable type, you may want to try the iOS 4.0 Gold Master right now. This is probably the most dangerous thing you can do to your phone aside from run over it with a car, so don’t say we didn’t warn you. There are many sources, obviously, so do a Google search. Toyko Flash’s Changing Lanes Watch: Changing the way you view your time
Many times during the day, I look at my watch. It’s a rather easy thing to read. Its functionality and simplicity has remained for years. However, that notion wasn’t good enough for one company, namely Tokyo Flash. Video: Yes, that’s Crysis 2 running on the Xbox 360
Part of the draw of Crysis 2 is that it’ll run just as well on your Xbox 360 or PS3 as it will on my PC. That’s what CryTek, the game’s developers, told the gaming press back in April. I saw the Xbox 360 version in action that day, and yeah: it looks insane for an Xbox 360 game; hard to believe it’s running on five-year-old hardware. But now you can look at the game in action for yourself~!
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