Netflix Crafts Custom Channel for Roku

Netflix said Thursday that the company has just finished crafting a targeted Netflix channel specifically for the Roku set-top box.

The new channel differs from other Netflix streaming solutions already in the market in the following ways, according to a spokesman:

1.) Users can search the entire Netflix Instant Streaming Library from your TV screen
2.) They can browse and play movies and TV shows on the TV via our new immersive user interface
3.) Users can add movies and TV shows to the Instant Queue for watching later

The new channel will roll out in June.

Avatar Director, NASA Building 3-D Mars Rover Camera

James Cameron, the Oscar-winning director of Avatar and Titantic, has linked up with NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory to build a high resolution 3-D camera for Curiosity, the next-generation Mars rover, Discovery News reports.

Malin Space Science Systems, the company behind the fixed-focal-length lens cameras for the rover, will build the actual 3-D mast camera as well, with Cameron listed as "co-investigator," the report said.

Back in 1999, Cameron produced a TV mini-series and an IMAX film depicting the first humans to live on Mars. No word yet on what kind of glasses we're all going to need to see the 3-D images coming down from the rover for the first time.

New Smartphone Memory Boosts Battery Life

Samsung has announced a new kind of memory module, built from phase change material, that's three times faster than existing flash memory and could boost battery life by up to 20 percent, BBC News reports.

Phase change material for memory is an idea that dates back over four decades, but it's only now becoming a possibility for today's mobile devices. In essence, the material can record or erase data when heated, and tends to use far less power than existing equivalents.

The material can be constructed in a variety of ways, but the most common is a glass-like alloy of germanium, antimony, and titanium. Heating the material turns it into two separate forms with very different electrical resistances, meaning it can represent binary 0s and 1s, the report said.

The company plans to begin producing 40-nanometer, 512 megabit (Mbit) phase change memory (PCM) chips en masse toward the end of 2010, and will build them in the same format as existing designs. This way, vendors needing a little extra battery life can drop them right into existing production runs.

Apple Facing Government Antitrust Inquiry?

Apple may be the subject of either a Department of Justice or Federal Trade Commission inquiry focusing on its iPad/iPhone development practices, according to a report on Monday.

The New York Post reported that the two agencies are "locked in negotiations" over whether or not Apple barred competition by forcing its developers to use only Apple's programming tools, and presumably, avoid using Adobe's Flash technology.


As the Post noted, an inquiry does not mean a criminal investigation, merely questions Apple will be obligated to answer.

It's the latest chapter in the ongoing saga, which began with Apple's iPhone OS 4 launch. Accompanying language in the software development kit said that developers "must not call any private APIs," an oblique reference to Flash. Apple also noted that developers had to write their code directly in C, C++, or Objective-C. Weeks later, Adobe said it was halting Flash development for the iPhone OS platform, and an Adobe evangelist added an inflammatory memo.

Apple chief executive Steve Jobs then fired back, calling Flash a "closed system" in an open letter to Adobe and to the software industry at large. Jobs identified a number of objections to Flash including its reliability, security, and performance, and its ability to access what Jobs referred to as the "Open Web".

But the real reason, Jobs wrote, was simply that Flash represented a bottleneck to third-party apps. Apple, Jobs wrote, "cannot be at the mercy of a third party deciding if and when they will make our enhancements available to our developers." Adobe has no interest in writing the best possible iPhone, iPod, and iPad apps, Jobs argued.

"It is their goal to help developers write cross platform apps. And Adobe has been painfully slow to adopt enhancements to Apple's platforms," Jobs wrote.


The FTC had not responded to a request for comment at press time. Apple was also unavailable before West Coast business hours.

Apple iPad Hits One Million Sales

The Apple iPad hit another major milestone on Friday with the sale of the one millionth iPad, after a little less than a month of retail availability. It took 74 days for the first iPhone to hit that number. The company had celebrated the sale of the 500,000th iPad on April 14th.Apple CEO Steve Jobs said about the milestone, "Demand continues to exceed supply and we're working hard to get this magical product into the hands of even more customers."The iPad first went on sale on April 3rd. In its first 28 days, iPad users have downloaded more than 12 million apps and 1.5 million e-books. The 5,000th iPad app was recently introduced in the iTunes App Store. Including those apps designed for the iPhone, that's a total of more than 200,000 apps that can run on the device.The 3G version of the iPad was released on April 30th in the U.S.

Hercules XPS 2.0 35 Speakers Stress Portability

Your notebook's built-in speakers might be fine when you're by yourself, but can they do the job when you want to share a song with friends? And what if you're watching a streaming television show--can the sound reach you when you sit back a few feet?

The answer is to choose speakers that are just as portable as your computer. Hercules is introducing the XPS 2.0 35 USB speakers, which get all the power they need from a USB port, so there's no electrical cord. They even come with a padded carrying case for when you're on the go.

Look for them in June for a list price of $19.99. Hercules will also introduce in June the XPS 5.1 70 Slim, a set of four speakers and one sub-woofer, for $99.99 list.

Joby's New Gorillapod Offers Magnetic Attraction

It's hard not to love the original Joby Gorillapod, a tripod that lets you use your camera in new locations by adding flexible legs. The company's latest is the Gorillapod Magnetic. Its three flexible legs have powerful magnets on their feet, letting you anchor your camera on any magnetic surface. You can also wrap the legs around a pole or branch, or use them as a tripod on an uneven surface. It's like getting the original Gorillapod, but with a helpful extra.

The Gorillapod Magnetic works with cameras up to 11.5 ounces, and weighs 2.5 ounces. You can pick it up on Amazon for a list price of $24.95. Joby has also announced that the original Gorillapod is now available in four sizes, and works with cameras up to 11.5 pounds.

Sony Adds Extended Warranties for PSP, PS3

Gamers worried about accidentally dropping their PSPs or spilling Red Bull on their PlayStation 3s can rest a bit easier: Sony began offering extended warranties for each on Monday.

The Sony Protection Plan, which are priced up to $59.99 for two years, cover both the PS3 and the PSP. Gamers can also purchase a special "accidental damage" warranty from Sony to cover the PSP, which pays for repairs to a cracked screen.

Sony's new extended warranties include:

PS3: A one-year extension ($44.99) or a two-year extension ($59.99)
PSP: A one year extension ($29.99) or a two-year extensions ($39.99). The PSP with accidental damage waiver will be priced at $39.99 for a year's worth of coverage, or $49.99 for two years. Both the PSP-3000 and PSPgo are covered.

"The PlayStation brand has long been synonymous with the highest quality in engineering and design, and it's because of the reliability of the PS3 and PSP systems that we can offer the PlayStation Protection Plan," said Glenn Nash, vice president, operations, SCEA, in a statement. "We have heard from consumers that they're interested in an extended service plan that's backed directly by SCEA and leverages our technical expertise. While both the PS3 and PSP systems are designed with future-proof technology and built for long lifecycles, we're looking forward to offering this service to consumers looking for added peace of mind."

There's a catch, though.

LG Unveils Android-Powered Ally

LG has announced--sort of--the Ally, the company's first Android-powered smartphone.

Rather than taking a more traditional route to unveiling a new cell phone, which would be staging a public event or dedicating a press release, the company has alluded to the Ally's existence in a company statement about an advertising tie-in to Iron Man 2, along with a movie-themed Web site for the device.

Customers buying an LG Ally on its release May 20th, or an existing LG Chocolate Touch or LG enV Touch, will receive a special edition Iron Man 2 comic book created by Marvel.

The Ally itself? It features an Iron Man 2 "augmented reality app," plus a slide-out QWERTY keyboard and a full touch screen front panel. Still no official word on specs.

The last time LG did something like this was with the middling Incite, which the company tied to the middling remake of The Day the Earth Stood Still.

BlackBerry First Predicted in 1909

It turns out Nikola Tesla, the famed electric engineer, first predicted the existence of the BlackBerry over 100 years ago.

As the UK-based Telegraph reports, Tesla, who died in 1943, made a prediction about a portable messaging service in Popular Mechanics magazine in 1909. He wrote in the magazine that one day it would be possible to transmit wireless messages all over the world, and that wireless was the only way the use of electricity could truly thrive.

Tesla "imagined such a hand-held device would be simple to use and that, one day, everyone in the world would communicate to friends using it," and that this "would usher in a new era of technology."

The prediction was part of a magazine presentation titled "108 Years of Futurism," made by Seth Porges, the magazine's current technology editor, to industry executives in New York, the report said. (Popular Mechanics launched 108 years ago in 1902.)

Tesla's name lives on in Tesla Motors, the electric car company. Meanwhile, we're still waiting for flying cars and personal helicopters. Can someone get on that already?

Look Out: 'Zombie' Satellite Out of Control in Orbit

An intense solar storm in early April may have knocked an Intelsat communications satellite out of its orbit, and could cause possible signal interference with other nearby spacecraft, Space.com reports.

"In what industry officials called an unprecedented event, Intelsat's Galaxy 15 communications satellite has remained fully 'on,' with its C-band telecommunications payload still functioning even as it has left its assigned orbital slot of 133 degrees west longitude 36,000 kilometers over the equator."

The report said that the satellite, launched in 2005, first stopped communicating with ground controllers last month, and that it has begun moving eastward into the path of other satellites.

Everyone is apprised of the situation, including competing firms. The satellite is still pointing towards Earth, and will likely continue to do so until late July or August, assuming ground control can't recover it before then.

The satellite was built by Orbital Sciences Corp. of Virginia; the first possible satellite in its path is the AMC-11 C-band satellite, owned by SES of Luxembourg. (Image credit: Orbital Sciences/Intelsat 18 rendering)

Blizzard Rages on Saturn

And here you thought the D.C. area "snowmageddon" was big--this one is about five times its size.

NASA astronomers and amateur skywatchers are currently transfixed by a massive blizzard raging on Saturn, one that's large enough to see from Earth, Space.com reports.

The good news is that we can get much more detail about the storm, courtesy of NASA's Cassini spacecraft, which is currently orbiting Saturn. However, NASA was first tipped off by amateur astronomers here on Earth, the report said.

Part of the problem is that Cassini's imaging and spectrometer observations are locked in place months in advance, while the storm may appear and disappear in a matter of weeks. Cassini has other instruments dedicated to gathering weather-related data just like this, though, and is currently having a field day with the storm.

(The above image is from amateur astronomer Christopher Go, courtesy of NASA/JPL Caltech/GSFC).

MoGo Combines iPhone Case and Headset

With the launch of the next iPhone only a month or two away and the shape of the 4G iPhone changed from the 3GS (according to Gizmodo), isn't this a bad time to introduce a high-end iPhone case? MoGo doesn't think so. It just announced the MoGo Talk XD for the iPhone 3G and 3GS, a case and a Bluetooth headset in one. Get it and you'll always have a wireless headset close at hand.

The included headset includes a "SoundShape" design that contours to your ear, and delivers more than 15dB of passive noise cancellation. It's good for 4 hours of talk time on a charge, or 72 hours of standby time. You can pick the set up for $129 at the MoGo Store.

Gelaskins Offers a Trippy Trio

The only problem with using a Gelaskins cover that features the artwork of one of its latest three artists is that people are going to talk to you. If you're sitting in Starbucks with a cover this beautiful and trippy on your laptop or phone, the person next to you won't be able to resist asking about it. You're going to lose time when you could be working, or just checking your Facebook.

Joe Sorren, who created the three images in the middle, lives in Flagstaff, Arizona, making works that seem troubled and beautiful at the same time. Nanami Cowdroy, on the left, lives in Australia and creates edgy and intricate black-and-white works. BUA, on the right, lives in Los Angeles, but his work is full of the music of his native New York.

Zettabytes: the New Petabytes, but Much Bigger

Remember when a gigabyte seemed gargantuan? The Telegraph UK reports that the total amount of digital information we humans have created will surpass the measure of the petabyte this year and take us into the era of the zettabyte, which is equivalent to 1 million petabytes, or 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 bytes.

Zettabyte is a new term created to accomodate the exponential increase of data creation, inspired by social networking, image, and video files, and the wealth of new kinds of devices on which bytes can be stored. The Telegraph reports that IDC, which released the new figures, had first estimated the world's digital output in 2007 to be at 161,000 petabytes; in the next ten years it expects the digital universe to expand by a factor of 44.

BlackBerry First Predicted in 1909

It turns out Nikola Tesla, the famed electric engineer, first predicted the existence of the BlackBerry over 100 years ago.

As the UK-based Telegraph reports, Tesla, who died in 1943, made a prediction about a portable messaging service in Popular Mechanics magazine in 1909. He wrote in the magazine that one day it would be possible to transmit wireless messages all over the world, and that wireless was the only way the use of electricity could truly thrive.

Tesla "imagined such a hand-held device would be simple to use and that, one day, everyone in the world would communicate to friends using it," and that this "would usher in a new era of technology."

The prediction was part of a magazine presentation titled "108 Years of Futurism," made by Seth Porges, the magazine's current technology editor, to industry executives in New York, the report said. (Popular Mechanics launched 108 years ago in 1902.)

Tesla's name lives on in Tesla Motors, the electric car company. Meanwhile, we're still waiting for flying cars and personal helicopters. Can someone get on that already?

Grace Brings the Internet to your Stereo

We're seeing a lot of Internet radios lately, such as the Logitech Squeezebox line, but they all have one thing in common: They're all tabletop radios with built-in speakers. What if you already have a great stereo and you'd like to add Internet radio stations to it? Rather than pay for a tabletop unit you don't need, consider the Grace Solo.

The Solo doesn't include speakers, so it's perfect for people with stereos or powered speakers they'd prefer to use. It includes 802.11g Wi-Fi and a remote, and can connect with over 18,000 radio stations. It also works with Sirius Premium Internet radio, Live365, NPR, iheart, and NOAA weather radio. Pick it up for $124.99. It's available online now, and will be in Sears and Best Buy stores in July.

Space Shuttle Launch (and Tweetup) Set for May 14

After passing the rigorous Flight Readiness Review (FRR) that precedes every launch, the Space Shuttle Atlantis was cleared today for a scheduled liftoff at May 14 at 2:20 p.m. ET. To coincide with the launch, NASA has organized a tweetup similar to the highly successful event held last November for Atlantis's most recent launch. This time, 150 lucky participants--including PCMag.com Editor-in-Chief Lance Ulanoff as well as myself--will travel to the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) for the two-day event, meet with shuttle technicians, managers, engineers, and astronauts, and view the Shuttle launch from NASA's press site.

Today, mission managers unanimously voted to maintain the May 14 launch date, which had been tentatively set months ago. The clearance was announced moments ago at a NASA press conference.

$98 netbooks

Don’t get your hopes up on specs. The computer has a 300 MHz processor, 128 MB of RAM, 2 GB of flash storage and a 7-inch, 800-by-480 resolution screen. The two-cell battery lasts for two hours on a charge. You’re basically getting an over sized smart phone in terms of raw power, but at a killer price.

For $98, plus $15 shipping, you can get a small, weak netbook dubbed the “Smartbook 7.”

It includes three USB ports, an SD card slot, built-in 802.11 a/b/g Wi-Fi, an ethernet jack, speakers, headphone out and microphone in. Plus, it’s available in five colors: Black, white, pink, red and green. A one-year warranty is included. The Smartbook 7 is being sold by a company I’ve never heard of, called ITA Computers.  They are the same one that made the Delstar 7-inch netbook, which K-Mart sold for $120 on Black Friday last year.

The name of the website is, 98dollarnetbook.com. 98dollarnetbook’s Web is fully-functional, but you can only  pay for the computer with PayPal.

Other Cheap Laptops and Accessories

Gelaskins Offers a Trippy Trio

The only problem with using a Gelaskins cover that features the artwork of one of its latest three artists is that people are going to talk to you. If you're sitting in Starbucks with a cover this beautiful and trippy on your laptop or phone, the person next to you won't be able to resist asking about it. You're going to lose time when you could be working, or just checking your Facebook.

Joe Sorren, who created the three images in the middle, lives in Flagstaff, Arizona, making works that seem troubled and beautiful at the same time. Nanami Cowdroy, on the left, lives in Australia and creates edgy and intricate black-and-white works. BUA, on the right, lives in Los Angeles, but his work is full of the music of his native New York.

Zettabytes: the New Petabytes, but Much Bigger

Remember when a gigabyte seemed gargantuan? The Telegraph UK reports that the total amount of digital information we humans have created will surpass the measure of the petabyte this year and take us into the era of the zettabyte, which is equivalent to 1 million petabytes, or 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 bytes.

Zettabyte is a new term created to accomodate the exponential increase of data creation, inspired by social networking, image, and video files, and the wealth of new kinds of devices on which bytes can be stored. The Telegraph reports that IDC, which released the new figures, had first estimated the world's digital output in 2007 to be at 161,000 petabytes; in the next ten years it expects the digital universe to expand by a factor of 44.