TechLifeWeb

What I’m reading and finding for November 28th 2011 through November 30th 2011:

• Facebook’s Settlement With FTC Confirmed: Privacy Changes Must Be Opt In – UPDATED | TechCrunch-
  techcrunch.com
  

  Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg just issued a statement on the Facebook Blog confirming that his company has settled with the FTC over charges that it has violated user privacy over the years. Facebook is now “required to obtain consumers’ affirmative express consent before enacting changes that override their privacy preferences”, effectively making opt in all future privacy control changes to the audience of previously shared data or content. Facebook must also submit to privacy audits every 2 y…
• Watch a VC use my name to sell a con. | jwz-
  jwz.org
  - jwz
  

  Normally I just ignore navel-gazing tech-industry articles like this, but people keep sending it to me, so I guess this guy is famous or something. Michael Arrington posted this article, “Startups Are Hard. So Work More, Cry Less, And Quit All The Whining” which quotes extensively from my 1994 diary.
  He’s trying to make the point that the only path to success in the software industry is to work insane hours, sleep under your desk, and give up your one and only youth, and if you don’t do that, y…  show all text
• From Twitter – Windows phone demo on your current phone RT @ChrisPirilloTry this on your Android or iPhone http://t.co/CYXviGiu
• Facebook Targeting IPO For Between April and June 2012 – WSJ.com-
  online.wsj.com
  

  Facebook is targeting dates between April and June 2012 for an initial public offering of its stock. The company is exploring raising $10 billion in an IPO that could value Facebook at more than $100 billion.
• From Twitter – http://t.co/5TpJJcNC Microsoft Buys VideoSurf to Improve Video Search on Xbox Live
• From Twitter – http://t.co/GAPvOHJL Introducing the World’s First USB 3.0 to HDMI Device

What I’m reading and finding for June 13th 2011 through June 14th 2011:

• Turntable – invite only beta -
  turntable.fm
   
• From Twitter – RT @hifisamurai Make Facebook Comments Box Indexable by Search Engines http://bit.ly/lurukC
• Microsoft: Xbox Live Will Reach PCs, Other Devices – Microsoft Wants Xbox Live to Be Pervasive Media Service Across Devices. Curious where this puts Media Center in the Windows 8 world?
• Instagram by the Numbers: 5 Million Users & 100 Million Photos -
  mashable.com
  - Jennifer Van Grove
  

  Instagram, the poster child of the mobile photo-sharing craze, now has more than 5 million users.
  The eight month-old iPhone app added 100,000 new users this past weekend and is now seeing nearly 860,000 photos posted to its service each day, according to information co-founder and CEO Kevin Systrom shared with TechCrunch.
  Collectively, Instagram users have already posted more than 95 million photos, which means the startup should cross the 100 million photo mark before the end of the week.
  Part� show all text

   
• Moving Into Social Web, Menlo Ventures Adds Shervin Pishevar – NYTimes.com -
  dealbook.nytimes.com
  - By EVELYN M. RUSLI
  Shervin Pishevar, a serial entrepreneur and angel investor, is joining the venture capital firm to start an incubator, a sign that Menlo is pushing into the social Internet space.� show all text

   
• At 5 Million Users, It’s Hard Not To View Instagram Through A Rose-Colored Filter -
  techcrunch.com
  - MG Siegler
  

  When we first previewed Instagram nine months ago, most of the�initial�comments predicted it would be dead on arrival. To say those people were wrong is a vast understatement. And Instagram now has five million ways to prove it.
  Yes, Instagram now has five million users. That’s 625,000 users for every month they’ve been in existence — with the growth accelerating. Just this past weekend they added 100,000 new users, for example.�Even more amazing, there are now 1.25 million users for every one …� show all text

   
• From Twitter – http://tinyurl.com/5ssgkys Microsoft has bootable system recovery tool available in beta.
• From Twitter – http://tinyurl.com/6bz8usp Flood Fears Ferocious Alien Fish Will Spread Into New Areas

If you haven’t been following the news from the Windows Media Center community over the last month, HP and Linksys, leading manufacturers of extenders for Windows Media Center have discontinued their products.

I have an HP extender so I found this news quite unsettling. I could build or buy a PC to connect directly to the TV but I like the model of having a dedicated, quiet box connected to the TV. One that takes a simple reset when needed and doesn’t have all the hassles of having to maintain another PC in the house.

So where does that leave us? There are a couple other minor players in the extender game but is looks like currently the XBox 360 is the only other option. The main drawback with XBox is the noise and power draw. It is a good option if you are a gamer but not for the rest of us. Plus it isn’t really a good sale to non-gamers in my opinion. I just don’t think non-gamers ‘get’ that the 360 can be used beyond games.

Still, this week brings us new news on the extension of the XBox functionality including: Zune Marketplace for XBox Live and a whole slew of other new features the bring new content to the living room including Facebook, Twitter and streaming 1080P video.

And did you hear about the Zune HD? It is a beautiful device with a capacitive touch, OLED screen. Now as beautiful as it is going to be, take a look at the fine print:

*Zune HD & AV Dock, and an HDTV (all sold separately) are required to view video at HD resolution. Supported 720p HD video files play on the player, downscaled to fit the screen at 480 x 272 – not HD resolution.

Well, ok, that makes sense. I mean it is a portable device so it would be a waste to try and make it HD on the internal screen.

Now for my theory about all this. The 360 is still going to be a great extender and Zune stuff is really starting to become part of the mix. But wait, go back to the fine print on the Zune HD…an AV Dock? A dock isn’t usually something you carry around. It is something you leave connected to your TV. Similar to the Xbox. Similar to, yes, extenders. Are you with me? The AV dock is going to be an extender!

Ok, this is just my thoughts and so far no one I’ve talked to has seen the dock. But look at all the cool Zune stuff being added to the echo system. And when is the Zune HD slated for release? About the same time we’ll see Windows 7 later this year.

So what does my theoretical world look like? A dock connected to the TV via HDMI with a media center interface. A connected Zune appears as just one other item of content to play along with Recorded TV, Music etc. It can get content from your Windows 7 media center. You can also stream content to it via other Windows 7 devices and the Play To feature. Drop in your new Zune HD and it will sync up your songs and, since the AV Dock is networked, grab stuff from the Zune store. If the Zune is in the Dock you could have the option of adding content from the 10-foot interface. Great for taking that TV show you are currently watching along with you.

I know, I’m crazy.

Have another look at the fine print. Notice the other important thing? ‘All sold separately.’ Yeah, most of the time that is stupid up-selling but guess what this means to me? This is key… The dock will work without the Zune HD! So I might go buy a new dock and forgo buying a Zune HD because I have an iPod or something. After a while I’ll see all the features on my TV that I can’t have because I don’t have a Zune HD and I’ll go buy one.

All of this, to me, is very possible. Maybe I have completely lost it but if I were Microsoft I’d be doing something like this.  It would be a serious value add to the Zune/Xbox/Media Center ecosystem and seriously put a dent in the iPod market share.

Stay tuned.