Category Archives: Innovation

Who Is “Multi-Format Inc”?

Posted on by Kathy E. Gill

Apple Sued for the Sale of Video Programming on iTunes (Jack Purcher / Patently Apple) http://j.mp/bMbZK7 http://techme.me/A5Fo
20 minutes ago via Techmeme

That’s the tweet from TechMeme that alerted me to the “news.”

The lawsuit appears to be concerning the sale and enabling of downloaded video content like movies and HDTV programming on iTunes to all of Apple’s hardware including the iPhone, iPad and Apple TV. Multi-Format Inc., is seeking a “reasonable royalty” from Apple and has further asked the court to consider tripling the damages accessed if the damages are not found by a jury – according to the inclusion of sub-section 284 of the U.S. legal Code found in their complaint.

I read the piece, which is straight reporting of the event: it gives details about the contents of the filing. Then I went to the three articles TechMeme listed under “discussion”: Continue reading →

The iPad: A Consumption Device

Posted on by Kathy E. Gill

My first reaction to the iPad, as I “consumed” the uStream feed, was this:

Netbook is on “production” side of equation, #ipad is on “consumption” side. It’s a content consumption device. On steroids.

It’s more than 12 hours later, I’ve taught a class where we talked a bit about the iPad in terms of technology evolution/adoption, and I remain firmly fixed in the “it’s a consumption product” camp. But I wanted to take a few minutes and look back at the naysayers in 2007, when Apple launched the iPhone.

Continue reading →

OLPC Cuts Staff

Posted on by Kathy E. Gill

I”ve been thinking about the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) lately because so many of my friends are buying netbooks. I think history will show that the OLPC project helped stimulate the netbook market.

It’s ironic to me that frivolity (JibJab) is getting $7.5 million in investment and OLPC is getting the shaft, so to speak. On Tuesday, OLPC announced a 50% staff-contractor cut both on the blog and on the wiki. 

Netflix Tests Streaming To Macs

Posted on by Kathy E. Gill

ArsTechnica reports the streaming service for Macs requires FireFox and a Microsoft Silverlight plugin (for PlayReady DRM). Currently in testing, the service should be available to all Mac Netflix customers by the end of the year. Woot!

Oh! And streaming to TiVo (Series3, HD and HD XL models) is slated to begin by December, Xbox 360 with Xbox LIVE Gold membership in “late fall.”