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Netflix to add Miramax titles to Watch Instantly starting in June
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Corporate News, Home Entertainment, Movies,
Netflix on Monday announced that it has inked a multi-year agreement with Miramax that will add some of the movie studio's most popular films to Netflix's Watch Instantly platform.
This deal marks the first time that Miramax movies have been available through a digital subscription service, Netflix said.
Starting June, subscribers will be able to access movies Pulp Fiction, Shakespeare in Love, The English Patient, Good Will Hunting, Bad Santa, Scream, Spy Kids, The Piano, and Kill Bill. Netflix will add "hundreds" of Miramax titles, which will be added to Watch Instantly on a rotating basis, the company said.
"From day one, we've been very clear about the importance of digital and our desire to respond to the significant pent-up demand for our films—delivering to consumers whenever and wherever they want," Mike Lang, CEO of Miramax, said in a statement. "This agreement is an important first step in our digital strategy. Netflix has always been a trailblazer, with a tremendous track record of innovation and quality customer service. We're thrilled to now be in business with them as we build and revitalize the proud Miramax brand."
Click to continue reading Netflix to add Miramax titles to Watch Instantly starting in June
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Fortune’s “Inside Apple” article is a must-read
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Corporate News,
Fortune magazine recently published an in-depth piece on the highly secretive culture and inner workings of Apple. It's in the latest Fortune 500 issue, and isn't yet available freely online, however, you can download it from the Kindle Store for 99 cents to read it on a Kindle, PC, Mac, or any of the smartphone platforms they support (iOS, Android, etc.) For a buck, we'd consider this one a must-read. You get a lot of juicy tidbits about the company, including just how disappointed Steve Jobs was about the horribly botched launch of MobileMe:
According to a participant in the meeting, Jobs walked in, clad in his trademark black mock turtleneck and blue jeans, clasped his hands together and asked a simple question: "Can anyone tell me what MobileMe is supposed to do?" Having received a satisfactory answer, he continued, "So why the **** doesn't it do that?"
For the next half-hour Jobs berated the group. "You've tarnished Apple's reputation," he told them. "You should hate each other for having let each other down."
Harsh, but those are the actions of a man who seemingly doesn't tolerate failure, and aims to exceed expectations. In fact, he doesn't want to ever hear excuses from any of the Apple VP-level employees:
The janitor gets to explain why something went wrong. Senior people do not. "When you're the janitor," Jobs has repeatedly told incoming VPs, "reasons matter." He continues: "Somewhere between the janitor and the CEO, reasons stop mattering." That "Rubicon," he has said, "is crossed when you become a VP."
This is some good stuff, and Fortune has a lot more in the full-length article. If you're at all interested in Apple, either from a consumer standpoint, or just interest in the management style that makes them so unique, give this one a look.
Read More 
| Inside Apple
Sony Playstation Network back online in most areas
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Corporate News, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Network, Sony,
Sony Online Entertainment brought its PlayStation Network back online (after a major security breach took PSN down) in parts of Europe and the U.S. Saturday, but some 12 hours after the announcement many PSN customers were left wondering when it would be their turn.
At about 8:30 p.m. ET Saturday, Sony announced it would begin a "phased" return of PSN services to customers following a three-week outage caused by a hack of the network that forced the company to take it down. But a map of the U.S. that Sony is updating to reflect when its network goes live in individual states was left with numerous states without service in the Midwest, South and Northeast as of about 8 a.m. ET.
Several hours after the initial announcement, readers in Texas, Illinois and other states were complaining that PSN service had not been restored to their areas. Sony had warned that it would "take several hours to restore PSN throughout the entire country."
Meanwhile, PSN customers in Australia and the Caribbean wondered when their areas would go back online. Sony's Saturday announcement only referred to Europe and North America.
The company issued a further notice to PSN customers whose service had been turned on but who still weren't able to access the network:
Click to continue reading Sony Playstation Network back online in most areas
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Exoskeleton allows paralyzed Berkeley student to walk at graduation
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Science,
UC Berkeley's Austin Whitney has been paralyzed since July 2007 as the result of a car accident that hospitalized the 22-year-old for a total of 41 days. And now, thanks to the research project of a team of Berkeley engineers, the history and political science double-major was able to stand up out of his wheelchair and physically walk across the stage to accept his diploma at the university's May 14 graduation ceremony.
"Ask anybody in a wheelchair; ask what it would mean to once again stand and shake someone's hand while facing them at eye level," said Whitney in an interview with Berkeley's NewsCenter. "It will be surreal, like a dream."
The exoskeleton project, run by Berkeley professor of mechanical engineering Homayoon Kazerooni, focuses on user comfort and affordability as its two chief design points. Instead of, "over-engineering" the machine, as Kazerooni and his team of researchers note, they designed the exoskeleton to seamlessly work with as few components as possible. That means fewer motors to impact movement, which necessitates a smaller amount of sensors to track movement, which leads to a simpler device that costs less than the current market price of a typical exoskeleton: $100,000 on up.
Click to continue reading Exoskeleton allows paralyzed Berkeley student to walk at graduation
Rumor says iPhone 5 will land on T-Mobile and Sprint as well
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Cameras, Rumors,
More Apple rumors for you to chew on today! A new research note from Jefferies & Co analyst Peter Misek suggests that Apple isn't going to be performing a significant upgrade to the connection capabilities of its new, to-be-released iPhone 5—namely, no 4G LTE support.
Whenever the next version of Apple's smartphone hits the market—we're already nearing the one-year anniversary of the iPhone 4's launch with no hint of a new product in sight—Misek suggests that the device will only have incremental upgrades compared to the iPhone 4's specifications. Heck, it's practically keeping the same name.
"We believe the likelihood of the iPhone 5 launch in September including LTE is now remote," wrote Misek in a research note on May 13. "According to our industry checks, the device should be called iPhone 4S and include minor cosmetic changes, better cameras, A5 dual-core processor, and HSPA+ support."
The bigger news on Apple's side is Misek's suggestion that the company will be pursuing an expanded carrier lineup for its iPhones. His "industry checks" indicate that Apple will be launching the iPhone on both Sprint and T-Mobile in time for the holidays—remember, although the latter is in the process of being purchased by AT&T, T-Mobile currently remains a separate company from the larger carrier. In other words, no iPhone yet.
Click to continue reading Rumor says iPhone 5 will land on T-Mobile and Sprint as well
iPhone 5 case design shows edge-to-edge display, moved camera flash
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Accessories, Apple, Smartphones, Design, Rumors,
What's purported to be an "iPhone 5" case with an edge-to-edge screen has surfaced at Asian trading site AliBaba.com, Electronista reported Saturday.
The listing on Guangdong, China-based Kulcase's trading site shows the front and back of what it claims to be the "Newest design crystal case for apple iPhone 5g." The unconfirmed case mockup is colored teal—we;'re guessing that odd choice doesn't make Apple's final cut for the iPhone 5—a;nd; has the flash component moved away from the rear camera, which would be a change from earlier versions of the iPhone.
The steady drumbeat of rumors about Apple's plans for the iPhone 5 seem to have fallen off in the past few weeks. But in March and April, speculative stories about delays, a faster processor and the like were flying off the shelves.
One thing that lends some credence to the AliBaba.com sighting is that Apple has already had trouble keeping its case designs for new products under wraps, notes AppleInsider.
Click to continue reading iPhone 5 case design shows edge-to-edge display, moved camera flash
Weekend Reading: Alex Toth, Nick Fury and Doug Wildey
Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials, Marvel Comics,
Greetings and welcome to the weekend. Let's read!
Toth: Animator Michael Sporn showcases a lot of great Alex Toth art from Dell Comics. Bonus: includes side-by-side comparisons of Toth’s b&w pages with the much lower-quality printed copies. Nice.
Bunn: Chris Arrant at Collecting Comic Books has a nifty interview with Cullen Bunn, writer of the upcoming Fear Itself: The Deep.
Cap: Novelist James Reasoner reviews The Trial of Captain America: “Under Brubaker’s guidance, Captain America continues to be one of the best comics out there today.”
Cartoons: Cartoonist Dan Rosandich gets himself a shout out from the Los Angeles Times Pressmens 20 Year Club.
Plop!: Diversions of the Groovy Kind has an old classic from Steve Skeates and Sergio Aragones.
Comics: We all knew that Nick Fury was a Sergeant and an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. Did you know he was a fan of the comics? Mike Sterling reveals all.
Click to continue reading Weekend Reading: Alex Toth, Nick Fury and Doug Wildey
We’ve all heard the news now: David E. Kelley’s proposed Wonder Woman TV pilot did not get the greenlight from NBC.
But what we haven’t heard are the real reasons behind the cancellation. Here then, are the Top Ten Reasons Why The New Wonder Woman Series failed:
10. Typical David E. Kelley: Too much “Wondering Woman,” not enough actual Wonder Woman
9. Etta Candy played by Calista Flockhart
8. To be trendy, Amazon homeland changed to Amazon.com
7. William Shatner and James Spader as dueling Steve Trevors
Click to continue reading Wonder Woman Fail: TV Series DOA
Apple releases Mac OS X 10.7 Lion Developer Preview 3 11A459e
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, PC / Laptop, Software,
All you Apple devs out there (meaning, anyone who coughed up $99 for a Mac dev account,) hit Software Update when you get a chance because Apple just released Lion Developer Preview 3. The update, which is build 11A4593, weighs in at 1.07 GB, and looks to be an actual seed build this time around. We are keeping our eyes out for any new features or enhancements. Also, for those interested, Xcode 4.1 Developer Preview 5 is also available.
Deal of the Day: 20% off Panasonic Lumix DMC-FH22K touchscreen camera
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Cameras, Hot Deals,
Today eBay has our Deal of the Day with a nice deal on the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FH22K touchscreen camera. This is a 14.1 megapixel digital camera, with 3-inch touchscreen display. they usually sell for $170, but this deal offers it at 20% off, bringing the price down to $135 - and shipping is free. Head on over if you wanna check it out:
Save 20% on Panasonic Lumix DMC-FH22K
Don’t forget, if you’re looking for other deals, be sure to check out our Newegg Promo Code thread. Oh, and if you're on Twitter, be sure to follow @TechPromos for the latest deals, or you can Like TechPromos on Facebook.
Read More | Lumix FH22K camera deal
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