Hulu Sets Sights on iPad, but It’ll Cost You
Hulu and the iPad would seem like a software and hardware combo born in media heaven, but we hadn't heard a peep from Hulu officially on the matter. But now Hulu's kind of confirmed its iPad plans. The trick is, you may have to pay.
The news isn't absolutely concrete, but AllThingsD has heard directly from several insiders inside Hulu's parent companies: Simply put, Hulu would love to serve up its Web video content to iPad users. The iPad is expected to be a soaring success, and it's a device that's expressly designed for high-quality media consumption in a portable package. With a mobile Hulu solution in front of millions of new iPad users, the company could make a lot of money from embedded advertising.
Those same insiders have suggested that for the iPad Hulu may abandon the free-to-view business model it's followed so far for the desktop and adopt a subscription-based system instead. The iPad-Hulu income would offset money "lost" in keeping the desktop implementation free and may even turn a profit if it proves very successful--while putting Hulu on all three screens in our modern lives: The TV, the PC and our mobile media devices.
The most obvious barrier is that the current Hulu system centers on Adobe Flash-powered video, and this is not going to be supported on the iPad. There are work-arounds like HTML5 or even the pop-out player system that the official YouTube iPhone app uses, but they'd require some serious back-end engineering at Hulu to get them to work--like re-encoding all of Hulu's video archive. Hulu also has to ask its content providers to grant it access to transmit to a mobile device--not an issue for the already Apple-friendly Disney, but it could be for others. Or they may demand a slice of the profits, which is where the payment model for the mobile Hulu app would come into play.
We did know that Hulu was likely to charge for its services at some point, and that Hulu and the iPad would get together sometime. But with all the complex rights negotiations and coding for the videos themselves needed, Hulu is not likely to be on the iPad at launch. One thing's for sure--just as we pointed out, this news is a clear sign that owning the iPad is ultimately going to cost you many extra dollars in the long run...but you'll probably enjoy spending it.
[Via AllThingsD]
Apple Secures Nifty Near-Field Wireless Patent for iPhones
A recently revealed patent suggests Apple has exciting plans for its future iPhones and laptops centering on near-field communications. Soon just popping your iPhone near a MacBook may enable wireless syncing. And that's just the start.
Near-field communications themselves aren't new, but it would be for the Apple devices in question. The technology centers on extremely short-range wireless interactivity between two devices--you may have heard of the tech in uses like wireless credit-card payment by cell phones in Japan. And Apple's patent takes the idea to some extremely elevated levels, with a future iPhone acting as a near-field key to all sorts of clever interactivity.
The simplest scenario would involve an NFC antenna embedded in an iPhone, with an interactivity range of about 2-4cm, and a MacBook with similar circuitry. Bringing the two devices close together activates the link, and the accelerometers in the iPhone will allow for actions like unlocking the MacBook, rotating an image on screen or even unlocking a combination lock with complex gestures. Once this circuitry is in the iPhone, however, it opens up all sorts of possibilities, as Apple notes, and your iPhone could even be programmed to activate proximity sensors for secure entry to office buildings--with the added benefit that you tend to carry your phone at all times. And since the iPhone is smarter than the usual dumb keycards used for this purpose, it could even enable better security, with PIN-code access and even automated alerts if the iPhone is being used improperly.
Apple also notes that an NFC connection could be used to trigger a LAN or WAN connection, which would then allow fast wireless comms between a computer and the iPhone and a greater range of connection between the two devices. Sounds like an answer to long-demanded wireless syncing between iPhones and iTunes--especially since iTunes itself is referenced in the patent.
But will we see this implemented in iPhones any time soon? As with all Apple patents, Apple could just be covering its back, and it may never intend to actually bring the idea to market. But this concept is so blatantly useful, and the technology is already largely proven and cheaply available that Apple certainly could attempt it--perhaps even as soon as the version 4 iPhone expected in the middle of this year. Could it even be the reason behind the slightly elongated case seen in recently leaked images purporting to be the iPhone 2010?
[Via Patently Apple]
Four iPhone Apps to Shut Up Climate Change-Doubters
If you've got a friend, relative, or famous radio personality who makes a point of doubting the effects or even the existence of climate change--especially if that person cites a snowstorm as evidence--we've got a few apps that'll learn 'em good, and then teach 'em how to make up for the damage they've done.
Skeptical Science: John Cook, creator of Skeptical Science, created this iPhone app as a handy go-to reference for deflecting questions (and embarrassing the questioner) on the subject of climate change. Got a friend who doubts mass climate change is the result of human impact? This app will teach you how to make him look like a complete idiot. Free. [iTunes via Treehugger]
Jungfrau Climate Guide: This guide is designed to show tourists to Switzerland's Jungfrau region how climate change has affected its scenic mountains and valleys--but should work just as well around the globe. If, for example, you walk over and stand in front of a glacier, the app will tell you how much smaller it is now than it used to be, and provide pictures of the same glacier 100 years ago to prove its point. Have you been to Jungfrau, Limbaugh? I think not. $9.99. [iTunes via CNET]
Now that you've taught your foolish, uninformed friend/relative/Fox News Host about both the scientific and practical effects of climate change, he'll be crushed. Here are a couple apps to help him right his wrongs.
Greenmeter: In case you weren't aware, you can't just give up on reducing the environmental impact of your car after you buy it. Greenmeter gathers information on your vehicle's power and fuel efficiency, and evaluates your driving before giving you tips on how to reduce fuel consumption and lessen the pain your car hands out to the air around it. It's also good for non-hippies who are just kind of cheap and want to learn how to save gas cash. $5.99. [iTunes via Greenmeter]
GreenYou: GreenYou calculates your carbon footprint, including the ways you kill the planet just by traveling, eating, and living, and then gives you tips on how to reduce that effect. Useful! $0.99. [iTunes via Treehugger]
Google Attacks Linked to Chinese Schools With Ties to Government, Search Competitors
The source of the attacks on Google and other American corporations has been traced to two schools in China, both of which are heavily implied to be covers for the Chinese government and Baidu, the dominant search engine in China and Google's main competitor in that country. If you think that's nuts, keep reading, because it just gets nuttier.
The New York Times is reporting that the attacks, which began in December but were first reported by Google on January 12, have been traced to Shanghai Jiaotong University, which boasts one of China's top computer science programs, and the Lanxiang Vocational School, which was established as essentially a training ground for computer scientists in the military. In addition, Lanxiang's computer network is run a company tied to Baidu, the aforementioned Google competitor. Sources differ on what the findings that the attacks originate at these schools might mean:
Some analysts have privately circulated a document asserting that the vocational school is being used as camouflage for government operations. But other computer industry executives and former government officials said it was possible that the schools were cover for a "false flag" intelligence operation being run by a third country. Some have also speculated that the hacking could be a giant example of criminal industrial espionage, aimed at stealing intellectual property from American technology firms.Spokesmen from the schools themselves offered differing reactions. One unnamed professor said, "I'm not surprised. Actually students hacking into foreign Web sites is quite normal." Bheyaut others claim the students don't have the required knowledge for such an operation, and several questions were simply rebuffed without comment. But American military experts say that using students would be in keeping with China's pattern of encouraging individual patriotic hackers to "support its policies."
The hackers used some pretty ingenious methods to crack the security of American corporations: instead of spamming, they used an exploit in Internet Explorer to insinuate themselves into multi-response email conversations, sending malicious software attachments that when downloaded allow full access. This strategy, called "man in the mailbox," preys on users' trusting nature: we're much more likely to download an unknown attachment when it arrives in the middle of a conversation with someone we know.
The article doesn't come out and say that the Chinese government, military, and Baidu are behind (or at least sanctioned) the attacks, but the implication is pretty strong--and nothing in these new findings is doing much to dissuade that kind of connection. The National Security Agency and various private organizations are continuing the search for more information.
[Via The New York Times]
Initiative Alert! The Jobs Are Coming from *Inside* The White House!
If you are a big believer in better late than never, you are going to love the White House's new jobs-creation bill it hopes will get through Congress lickety-split, rescue the desperate unemployment situation and save some seats come November's mid-term elections. Is that asking too much of a bill?
Probably. But one $862 billion stimulus installment later, with the unemployment rate still hovering uncomfortably close to 10, that is pretty much what the administration is looking to do with a new round of $267 billion worth of economic jump-starting. A good chunk of that--about $33 billion-- will be doled out in the form of $5,000 tax credits to employers, for every new hire they make. The White House is estimating that that program alone will lead to some 660,000 new jobs.
All of this check writing, comes on top of the Department of Transportation's announced $150 billion worth of funding for new projects under a program it is calling TIGER, or Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery. That could also spur a round of new hires. The Roaring 10s, anyone?
Image: http://www.flickr.com/photos/sdho/ / CC BY 2.0
#11 Hulu – Most Innovative Companies 2010
Hulu has channeled a seemingly endless trove of TV shows through a Web site more than worthy of broadcast-quality content. A fast, easy-to-use video player. DVR-like controls. A comprehensive search engine for finding specific actors or shows. No wonder Hulu has topped 43 million monthly viewers, streamed more than 6.7 billion videos since its 2008 launch, and become the most popular destination for premium video on the Web.
iPad Apps May Be Megabyte Monsters
We suspected as much, but Apple's just proved its iPad applications will be data monsters by upping the over-the-air 3G app download limit from 10MB to 20MB. Users and developers win, but is AT&T panicking?
Applications written for the iPad were always likely to require more storage space than typical iPhone apps, partly because of the larger screen, which demands bigger and more complex graphics. But the iPad itself, by virtue of having a significantly more powerful processor inside and a larger form factor, enables far more sophisticated software--like the iPad-tweaked multitouch versions of the iWorks suite.
The larger average size of the apps posed an immediate problem for the whole App Store ecosystem however, since many users download apps while mobile and out of the range of a Wi-fi network. Apple's size limit was set at 10MB to buffer cell-phone networks from massive traffic moving to iPhones. Clearly many iPad apps would have surpassed this limit, which would quite possibly impact on app sales (often a spontaneous purchase, given their low cost). So Apple's just raised the barrier to 20MB. It's confirmation that apps will be more complex than iPhone apps and that the utility of the iPad itself will probably be much higher.
IPad app developers (and iPhone app writers, too) can expect a small sales uptick as mobile users are now able to buy many of the larger apps during the times they're most likely interacting with their mobile devices. The only group for whom the news will sound terrible is the cell phone networks. AT&T, in particular, with its reliability and reputation already tarnished in the largest U.S. cities, may well be very worried.
[Via AppAdvice]