YouTube Turns To Movie Rental Business

By Maggie Shiels - Technology Reporter, BBC News, Silicon Valley

Video-sharing site YouTube is taking its first steps into the online movie rental business.

The fledgling service will go live on 22 January. Initially only five films will be available to rent.

The movies will come from the 2009 and 2010 Sundance Film Festival and will only be available in the US.

The move for the Google owned company represents a major development for the site which has been looking for ways to boost its bottom line.

"This is a huge move for YouTube in the sense of them trying to monetise the site," Mike McGuire, principal analyst at Gartner Research told BBC News.

"This certainly opens the door for them with bigger movie studios."

Content providers will be able to set their own prices, with YouTube taking a cut of the revenue. All but one of the Sundance films is being offered for $3.99 (£2.50) each for users to watch over a 48-hour viewing period.

The site which is best known for its user-generated content, including dogs on skateboards and performing cats, said 20 hours of video is uploaded every minute.

Last August, Comscore reported that over 10 billion videos were streamed on YouTube.

Hollywood signs

Industry insiders say this first step into online rental is a curtain-raiser for more ambitious pay-per-view plans.

It is expected that in the near future the site will expand its rental catalogue with television shows and feature films from major studios.

"Content is king in this kind of business and Sundance is a good first step," said Mr McGuire.

"Negotiating with the major studios over distribution rights however is not for the faint hearted. Google has to perfect its delivery model and its billing system."

YouTube already offers full-length films from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's archives. It is expected similar deals like this will emerge in the coming weeks and months and extend to newer movies.

In its blog, YouTube hinted at that possibility.

"In the coming weeks we'll also invite a small group of partners across other industries, in addition to independent film, to participate in this new option."

Some industry watchers say YouTube has had a tough time in the past persuading the studios to part with their crown jewels such as newly released movies and Hollywood blockbusters.

"YouTube has had little luck over the last several years wooing major studios and networks to stream premium content on the site, which would make it easier to draw advertising," said Ben Fritz of the Los Angeles Times.

"Most studios have instead opted to put their content on Hulu, a joint venture of NBC Universal, News Corp and Walt Disney that has had more success luring marketers."

Analysts point out that the pay-per-view movie offering will put YouTube in direct competition with other services including Apple's iTunes store, Amazon.com and Microsoft's XBox Live.

The first five films for rent are "The Cove," "Bass Ackwards," "One Too Many Mornings," "Homewrecker" and "Children of Invention."

The Sundance film festival runs until 31 January.


SOURCE: BBC

Green Tech at the CES (Consumer Electronics Show)

During the most recent Consumer Electronics Show, several new "green" technologies made their debut. It is nice to know that companies are taking the big step towards being "green". CNET TV's Green Show made a rundown of some of these products and they are:

1. Tenrehte PicoWatt Smart Plug - You can plug virtually all of your consumer electronics into this stuff to power them (watch video by clicking link below)

2. Chevy Volt Mobile App - This is an app for smart phones that allows you to basically check the charge status of your electronic car.

3. Regen Renew Solar Panel - This is a very sexy solar charger that is good for charging your gadgets with... very "green" and it looks good, too.

4. Horizon Fuel Cell Mini Pack - another charger and source of portable power... just watch the video.

Video Link to CNET TV's Green Show - Green Tech at the CES.

3 Reasons Why You Should Buy A Netbook

Since they have been introduced in the market, netbooks have had an unprecedented rise in the tech world. A lot of people welcomed them as new tools, toys, or whatever sort of use they bought them for. Currently, new models of netbooks are being released and more are projected to be released this year - each model sporting a slightly new feature differentiating it from the rest.

However, there are some sectors in our society that do not welcome this great gadget. They remain cynical about netbooks and their capabilities. Well, netbooks may not be for everyone but here are 3 reasons why you should buy a netbook:

1. It is affordable. You can buy a netbook at half the price of regular laptops today, or even less. Buying a netbook will not scrape out a big chunk of your budget while still allowing you to do some basic tasks that you can do on a regular laptop. If you do not intend to use power-and-processor-hungry programs on a computer, why spend more on a notebook when you can spend less for a netbook that is capable of giving you the same functionality?

2. It is portable. Carrying laptops can be a trouble to some. Yes, laptops are supposed to be portable but some of them are just too cumbersome to carry around, especially with all those accessories attached. Netbooks are obviously way lighter than a regular laptop. In fact, you can easily slip a netbook inside your bag. This ease of carrying a netbook around is one big reason why you should buy a netbook.

3. It is perfect for going online and doing your office tasks with. Netbooks, as the name suggests, are originally intended to be used for browsing the web. But, of course, it can do more than that. Most netbooks today can do a lot of things that a regular laptop can. You can do your office tasks on your netbook. You can also do simple movie and image editing, among other things. If you need a computer for these purposes, a netbook should be a perfect choice.

Netbooks may have their drawbacks like the smaller size of the screen and of the keyboard. But its practicality and functionality almost always, if not always, offset the drawbacks.

3D Desktop: T3Desk 2010 10.01 (free download)

Working on a 3D desktop can make tasks a little easier. Why don't you see it for yourself? Here is a free software called T3Desk 2010, which can allow you to create a 3D environment on your desktop where you can easily switch through different windows.

Here is the description provided by the publisher:

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T3Desk lets you manage your applications more easily in a 3D desktop adding the third dimension to your Windows screen. "3Dmized" windows will appear in three dimensions and transparent on your screen and have the ability to be flipped, zoomed, moved, swiveled in almost anyway you want. T3Desk is lightweight on your resources, unlike most applications of its kind.

With T3Desk you can set the options regarding display, zooming, hot keys and sounds. You can configure your 3D window animation, transparency effect, the 3D initial angle and distance, the transition effects and more. T3Desk is a FREE product.

T3Desk require DirectX for dialog effects and also GDI+ andVisual C++ 2008 runtime components to be installed.

What's New in version 10.01:

• Customizable Hotkeys
• Start minimized into the system tray
• Copy 3D Window image to Clipboard
• Multiple monitor support
• One more "3Dmize" option
• Few bugs fixed

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DOWNLOAD IT HERE (Free)

Samsung W9600: More than just a Phone

We have seen phones with excellent cameras. We have also seen phones that are great multimedia players - you can listen to music from their very good speakers, watch movies from and browse through photos on their bright screens, and go online using their Wi-fi connection. But if you think you have seen it all, think again.

Here is Samsung W9600. Guess what it has that we don't normally see in phones today. A projector. Yes, a PROJECTOR!

Now, you can share your photos and movies by projecting the images on the wall, well, preferably a white wall, without actually wasting time sending your friends the files.

Here is a video I found on YouTube featuring Samsung W9600 (that's not me on the video, I just embedded the video here):

Aside from that, the phone has 5 MP camera, AMOLED touchscreen (high-resolution screen), and stylish design, among other features.

Support the Haiti Disaster Relief Effort

Last January 12, Haiti was rocked by a magnitude 7 earthquake. This earthquake brought about a lot of damage not only to property but also to lives. It is estimated that more than 100,000 people died in the earthquake. In addition to this figure, millions more have lost so much that it would take a lot of courage, hope, and assistance to get them back on their feet.

The Internet has not only been a great source of information but, more importantly, it has become a great way for us to reach out to others. Let us put this into good use. Support the Haiti disaster relief effort.

Donate to the American Red Cross. Click here or on the American Red Cross banner in the sidebar. Tell your friends about it. E-mail them.

Thank you.

Let us all pray that the Haitians recover from this tragedy as soon as possible before other problems crop up (like lawlessness and violence.)

Device Stage in Windows 7

By Jose Perez

Windows 7 offers a new way to communicate with your printer, camera, phone, or portable video/audio player directly from the desktop. It is a new graphical user interface that makes it easier to do everything with your devices in a Windows 7 environment. You could consider Device Stage as a multi-function version of Autoplay, where you can get all the information, services, and functionality. They also works for devices connected to Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, other than USB. Mostly, software installation isn't needed while the latest drivers that could be needed are automatically downloaded from Windows Update. Since Device Stage is intended to extend the Windows 7 it also integrates support for Jump Lists.

If a device is supported, it is shown as a small icon on the notification area. To immediately access all that is available you need to right-click on the small icon to show all the options. You will notice that the Jump List shows everything by simply moving the mouse over your device on the notification area also gives you quick information on storage capacity and battery life. Windows 7 comes with high-resolution pictures of a number of popular gadgets, and if allowed connect to the web to download pictures of hardware it does not recognize.

If you have a mobile phone, Windows 7 device stage can offer options for bidirectional synchronization, configuring ringtones, copying videos and pictures, managing the media files in your mobile phone with Windows Media Player 12, and easily navigate through your device using Windows Explorer. These device functionalities are defined through XML files that are immediately downloaded when your device is first plugged in to the computer, or are supplied by the device manufacturer on an installation CD.

If you want to find out all new features of Windows 7 Please Visit Our Site at Windows Device Stages and for tips and tricks visit Windows 7 Features Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jose_Perez