snapshot 7/19/07

Walmart.com to let customers review merchandise
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070719/wr_nm/walmart_reviews_dc_1;_ylt=Alg2vMgOp2_PQkBkEPi19K9kM3wV
Shoppers will be able to review and rate the merchandise sold on Wal-Mart Stores Inc's Web site beginning on Thursday, as the retailer works to expand its online capabilities. Walmart.com Chief Marketing Officer Cathy Halligan said in an interview the retailer decided to launch the new feature quickly following a three-week testing phase in which it received more than twice the number of reviews it was expecting.

Wal-Mart estimates that roughly 130 million customers visit one of its stores or its Web site every week and it said 75 percent of those customers are active online. In the future, Halligan said Wal-Mart could interact with customers who post reviews and the reviews could be used to make decisions on which products Wal-Mart sells. She said that, when a customer submits a review, it will be posted 5 to 7 days after being screened to ensure it does not contain inappropriate language or copyrighted material.


Apple helps YouTube videos to TV, iPhone
http://news.yahoo.com/s/usatoday/20070719/tc_usatoday/applehelpsyoutubevideostotviphone;_ylt=AlJwh5AqqRO.WglITScJ7exkM3wV
The company's elegantly simple Apple TV set-top box ($299 for 50-hour video version; $399 for 200 hours) lets you stream YouTube videos to big-screen TVs wirelessly over a home network. Plus, YouTube is a featured application on the $499 and $599 iPhones. But not all videos are available - yet. Some 10,000 were made available when iPhone launched June 29. A full catalog is promised in the fall. YouTube is busily encoding its videos to the H.264 format Apple favors.


Apple Looking To Evolve iPods & iPhones Into Remote Controls
http://futuremusic.com/blog/?p=1666
According to a recent patent filing, Apple is developing wireless technology that would allow iPods and iPhones to act as remote controls. The next generation devices would act as digital music/video gatekeepers to relegate digital media from computers running iTunes libraries to home entertainment systems via a digital hub such as AppleTV. Apple’s idea is to untether the consumer from their computer whenever they want to select a new song or video.


Analyst weighs in on Apple's rev-share arrangement with AT&T
http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/07/07/19/analyst_weighs_in_on_apples_rev_share_arrangement_with_att.html
Due to the unique terms of iPhone sales and pricing, analysts for Piper Jaffray said Thursday they believe AT&T has agreed to a revenue sharing plan with Apple where the iPhone maker would receive a small portion of each subscriber's monthly service fees. While we do not know the exact details of the agreement, we conservatively estimate that AT&T gives Apple $3 per month (over the life of the 24 month contract) for every iPhone customer already with AT&T and $11 per month for every new subscriber," lead analyst Gene Munster wrote in a note to clients.


Consumers Desire Internet-Connected TV, iSuppli Survey Finds
http://www.isuppli.com/marketwatch/default.asp?id=404
Nearly two-thirds of consumers want their televisions to link to the Internet, a sentiment that will help propel rapid sales growth for network-enabled consumer electronics devices in the coming years, according to iSuppli Corp.
iSuppli also found:

• Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) and multi-room DVR demand is driving cable, satellite and telecom operators to consider a variety of new high-speed home networking technologies, ranging from coax (Moca, HPNA, Hana), to power line, to Wi-Fi (802.11n).
• Makers of televisions and other consumer electronics devices are incorporating Internet Protocol (IP)-based connectivity to enable access to both user-created content and to new Internet-based media portals.

Apple working on dynamic lyrics display for iPods and iPhones
http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/07/07/19/apple_working_on_dynamic_lyrics_display_for_ipods_and_iphones.html
iPod wielding teens and adults alike may soon find themselves singing along to their favorite tunes with pristine accuracy, thanks to synchronized music lyrics display technology under development by Apple Inc. A patent request from the Cupertino-based iPod and iPhone maker published on Thursday describes software techniques for dynamically displaying text on a display screen of a portable media device alongside digital media content.


CinemaNow updates Vista support, plays nice with Xbox 360
http://www.engadget.com/2007/07/19/cinemanow-updates-vista-support-plays-nice-with-xbox-360/
CinemaNow, fine purveyor of downloadable film and TV content, has recently updated its Media Manager support for Vista, allowing you to use its Burn-to-DVD service, and enabling your Xbox 360 to act as a bridge from your PC to your TV -- adding an interesting new option to the media center sphere.