Get Out of Your Cell Contract – For Free
Posted by Mark Levy | Posted in Cool Products, Mobile, What's New | Posted on 11-01-2007
0
Capitalizing on the loophole that lets most mobile users out of unwanted contracts by transferring it to someone else, Cellswapper is a new online service allowing those who want to abandon their current plan by posting it for someone who wants a short-term plan. To facilitate the win-win exchange whereby neither party has to pay a fee for starting or canceling service, Cellswapper uses a Transfer Tracking system to keep users informed about the exchange and helps facilitate the legal transfer. Swappers are encouraged to offer a handset or a small cash incentive, which is one of many searchable criteria, including plan cost and features. For early adopters looking to ditch non-Cingular contracts in the wake of the recently announced iPhone and its multi-year exclusive deal with Cingular, Cellswapper is an expeditious solution.
User Generated Digital Comic Books
Posted by Mark Levy | Posted in Cool Products, Digital Publishing, In Beta, What's New | Posted on 11-01-2007
0
Out in beta – Hyper Comics has taken their Comic Book Creater software online and created a cool new place for aspiring and experienced comic book writers and illustrators to meet and showcase their work. HyperComics, from Planetwide Media is the interactive social network and industry resource where next-generation amateur and professional comic book creators can showcase their original comic books, discuss them with their peers and find an audience.
Ringback tones rising
Posted by Mark Levy | Posted in Cool Products, IP Telephony, Mobile, What's New | Posted on 10-01-2007
0
Answer Tones, Caller Tunes, Ringback Tones – all names for the same mobile content product which allows a consumer to customize the ‘ringing’ sound heard by someone calling them appears to be making strides. Brought to the US a couple of years ago after successful trials by Koran telecom heavyweight SKTelecom, US carriers had high hopes for the product. Requiring a massive in network integration, the systems cost millions of dollars to deploy. Content sales including music and celebrity voices and subscription service fees drive the revenue for the carrier. I expect consumer land-line Ringback deployments to make their way to market in 2007. Most likely ATT and/or Verizon given their consumer land-line and mobile offerings.
Slingbox is at it again!
Posted by Mark Levy | Posted in Cool Products, DMET Disruptors, Web | Posted on 08-01-2007
0
New device will send Web videos to TV. Makers of Slingbox will release sub-$200 Sling Catcher mid-year. Sling Media Inc. will unveil its upcoming SlingCatcher product at the International Consumer Electronics Show, joining a growing group of companies that aim to bring Web content into the living room.
Ford, Microsoft Offer New In-Dash Gizmos
Posted by Mark Levy | Posted in Cool Products, iPod, Mobile, What's New | Posted on 06-01-2007
0
DEARBORN, Mich. (AP) – CD players in automobiles could go the way of eight-track tapes with in-dash systems like one Ford Motor Co. (FPA) and Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) are jointly producing to link cars with cell phones and personal music players.The “Sync” system being unveiled Sunday at the North American International Auto Show connects popular iPods and all other digital music players – including Microsoft’s nascent Zune – to in-dash software through a USB port. Drivers will be able to pick songs, artists or genres using voice activation or controls on the steering wheel.
The system also links Bluetooth-capable smart phones and personal digital assistants to the car’s electronics, allowing the car system to pick up Internet broadcasts. An electronic voice even will read inbound text messages through the sound system, complete with a vocabulary of slang abbreviations such as “LOL” for “laughing for loud.”Sync ratchets up the car electronics war as the struggling Ford tries to compete with General Motors Corp. (XGM)’s OnStar system, DaimlerChrysler AG’ (DCX)s MyGIG in-dash hard drive storage system and similar devices offered by other manufacturers. MORE FROM MYWAY
Mogopop Wants You To Share iPod Content
Posted by Mark Levy | Posted in Cool Products, iPod, What's New | Posted on 04-01-2007
0
The makers of Mogopop say the service is for sharing user generated content: “Until today, it’s required a lot of technical savvy for a person to share media with other iPod owners—a video he’s created, a song her band recorded, or a photo he took. Mogopop removes that barrier,” said Jordan Allen-Dutton, Mogopop CEO and co-founder. “With Mogopop, people can now enjoy a world of personal media like fan sites, blogs, and videos on iPods as they have for years on the Web.” DIGITALTRENDS.COM
New Music Discovery Site
Posted by Mark Levy | Posted in Cool Products, Music, Web | Posted on 03-01-2007
1
Musicovery is a very cool site now in beta -Like a customized online radio, Musicovery is a free flash-based site streaming a playlist of music dictated by an easily navigable set of criteria that the user chooses. Animated star-like graphics, in colors that correspond to genre, map the current lineup and an intuitive sidebar enables quick selection of different criteria. Organized into 18 genres, you can eliminate types you don’t like, choose between hits, non-hits and “discovery,” pinpoint mood and dance factors on a matrix, and define by era. Though the sound quality isn’t much better than FM, for €2 monthly you can get CD quality.
via Thrillist and Josh Spear and Cool Hunting.com
What will they think of next?
Posted by Mark Levy | Posted in Advertising, Cool Products, File Sharing, IP Telephony, IP Video, Music, Virtual Worlds, VOD | Posted on 29-12-2006
0
Some digital media heavyweights and pundits chime in on their visions for 2007
Napster in 1999. MySpace in 2004. YouTube in 2006. Experts from the tech community look ahead to the innovations that will change how we work, play and communicate in 2007.
December 28, 2006 LATIMES.COM
Cellphones for the Music Fan
Posted by Mark Levy | Posted in Cool Products, Mobile, Music | Posted on 28-12-2006
0
A few mobile phones nearly equal the iPod in sound and simplicity. NYTIMES.COM
From left to right, The V3i is a modified Motorola RAZR. The Sony-Ericsson Walkman W810i, available through Cingular, produces pleasing sound through three speakers and is easy to navigate. Verizon’s LG VX8500 Chocolate has a touch-sensitive control pad. Apple may announce plans for a combination cellphone and iPod next month.
Glasses give iPod big-screen effect
Posted by Mark Levy | Posted in Cool Products, iPod | Posted on 28-12-2006
0
MicroOptical Corp.’s Myvu makes watching videos on your iPod more TV-like. The futuristic-looking glasses with connected earpieces simulates watching a 27-inch TV from a six-foot distance, the company says. The Wall Street Journal reviewers said they liked the product’s features, but the design is a bit geeky for everyday, public use.
