Iyaz Akhtar is on to talk about the new PlayStation Vue Internet TV service. Should you cancel cable?
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Show Notes
Today’s guests: Iyaz Akhtar, Senior Associate Editor at CNET
Headlines:
TechCrunch reports Microsoft’s Executive VP of Operating Systems told the audience at WinHEC in Shenzen, China that Windows 10 will launch this summer in 190 countries and 111 languages. HE also said Windows 10 will be a free upgrade fro all Windows 7 users regardless of whether the user can prove their copy is legitimate or not. Kind of an amnesty program for Windows pirates tech. AND Microsoft will give select Xiaomi Mi 4 users the chance to test Windows 10 on their phones. Yes their android-based MI phones.
CNET reports on the launch of Sony’s Play Station Vue Internet TV service in New York, Chicago and Philadelphia today, starting at $50 a month after a 7 day free trial. Subscribers can watch 60 channels from CBS, NBCm Fox, Discovery, Scripps, Turner and Viacom, with AMC coming soon. $10 extra adds regional sports channels and another $10 adds 26 various other channels. The service provides 3 day on demand access to many shows programming and allows a cloud DVR to store recordings for up to 28 days. Streams can be viewed on the PS3 and PS4. Support for iPads and other devices is coming soon.
Tim Cook talked with Fast company in a wide ranging interview that touched on Steve Jobs legacy and comparisons of Apple with Microsoft. Cook said he thinks Apple is more willing than Microsoft to walk away from legacy technology that holds it back. He also unsurprisingly said the Apple Watch will be the first smartwatch that matters. Doubtless that is true. To Tim Cook.
Engadget has a story on HTC’s new “Uh Oh Protection” program that will replace your broken “One M9” smart phone once for free. HTC will replace your phone for free within the 1st year of ownership if you break the screen, damage the phone, or move carriers. If you happen to take care of the phone for the 1st year you’ll be rewarded with a $100 discount on the purchase of a new One phone in the future.
The Verge reports Google X’s Astro Teller spoke at SXSW telling the audience that Google’s research lab is opening up about their projects more often and earlier. He mentioned that the Google Glass Explorer program was an attempt to do this but it was marketed too much and too often implied it was a finished project. He also talked about how baloons for Project Loon were built to fail fast so they wouldn’t accidentally drift into illegal airspace, stories about self-driving cars avoiding ducks, and how the team was disappointed when a drone delivery prototype didn’t crash in windy conditions.
CNET reports that a German court in Frankfurt has given a preliminary ruling that could ban UberPop. This means UberPop’s carpooling service would not be allowed to run in Germany and could face a fine of 250,000 Euros ($266,000). The case against UberPop was brought to court by Taxi Deutschland which argued that UberPop is illegal because drivers do not have to have the proper licenses to drive people around. Since the ruling is preliminary UberPop can still operate until a final verdict is rendered in 3 to 4 weeks. Uber Taxi and Uber Black services in Germany are unaffected.
News From You:
lookatthemonkeys notes The Verge reports French police visited Ubers Paris office as part of an investigation into UberPop, seizing email, documents and smartphones. And to complete the hat trick, starfuryzeta noted the Gizmodo story that Uber CEO Travis Kalanick and almost 30 others have been charged in South Korea with operating illegal taxi services. Police there seized 432 itens as evidence including handsets.
ancrod2 found the Popular Science writeup of Grant Campany, director for the $10 million Qualcomm Tricorder Xprize, speaking at SXSW about how close we are to having a real working tricorder. The prize will go to companies that can develop a home device to tracks vital signs and diagnoses up to 15 health conditions. 10 finalists were recently announced.The next round comes with 480 testing sessions in June at the University of California San Diego. The winners of the competition will be announced in January 2016, on Star Trek’s 50-year anniversary.
Guyfromtrinidad sent us this story from Engadget reporting on the fate of 43 year old Nigel Wilson in England who flew his drone over 6 football stadiums as well as Westminster and the Queen Victoria Memorial. Wilson has been charged with contravening the CAA’s Air Navigation Order 2009, which among other things forbids flying a drone near an event hosting more than 1,000 people. Wilson was summoned to appear at Westminster Magistrates Court on April 16th.
Discussion Section Links:
Pick of the day: RiffTrax
My pick is something a little different, RiffTrax!
If you are unfamiliar, rifftrax.com features some of the cast of Mystery Science Theater. The group records funny commentary tracks for major films, B-Movies and shorts.
Commentaries for major films are offered as .MP3 Downloads that you’ll then need to sync up with a copy of the film yourself. But if that sounds like too much work, they also offer a great selection of smaller films that you can download pre-synced and DRM free!
Some of my personal favorites are Viva Knievel, The Guy From Harlem, Kingdom of the Spiders (Staring William Shatner!) and Cool as Ice!
Check them out!
Rob (@blamrob on twitter)
(And no, I don’t work for Rifftrax or stand anything to gain by recommending them) :)Messages
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Warren Owen writes us with an idea.
Nintendo has dropped quarter after quarter, year after year, for half a decade. With roughly $6B in sales, yet only $29M in profit, Nintendo has a market cap of $16.8B.
Maybe now is the time. Time for what? Well What if another company just came in and bought Nintendo. Say a company with $173B in sales, $37B in profit, and $8.5B CASH ON HAND. What would happen to the “great mobile wars” if Apple bought Nintendo, and had everyones favorite characters only available on iOS? What if you could play these games, and then “AirPlay” them to your HDTV through your AppleTV (voiceover – now featuring HBO Now). What would that look like in every home across the planet? And, keep DeNA in the mix, to continue the development of new games with our old favorite heroes.
This would seem to be the perfect move for Apple.
Sorry this was long and dramatic. 
What are your thoughts?
@WOnet on all the social things
BOL REUNION!
Just announced: The Buzz Out Loud 10 Year reunion on March 29th at 12:30 pacific /3:30 p eastern and 7:30p GMT! It’s free! Tom, Molly, Veronica, Jason and many other special guests! Tickets for the event at the Hak 5 warehouse are available at http://bit.ly/BOLreunion but if you want to attend online you don’t need even need a ticket. The event will stream live on Alpha Geek Radio and on YouTube with more details forthcoming.
Buzztown’s Back!
PODCAST AWARDS
Also Podcast Awards! Remember yesterday, and the day before, when we told you how you could vote for your favorite podcast in the Podcast Awards? Well guess what, you can vote again today! For example, you could vote for DTNS in the technology category, but you can also support Night Attack in the “Mature” and “Video” categories. Also you can vote for The Instance, Film Sack and our good friends at The Morning Stream and Night Attack. I guess you could also vote for Serial. But only once. Vote once a day at http://www.podcastawards.com/ until March 24th.
Thursday’s guest: Justin Robert Young