I just returned from riding around in a car watching live TV on my Blackberry.

Research in Motion hasn’t added a TV tuner to any of its popular Blackberry devices but Sling Media just introduced software that enables Slingbox owners to watch content from their home TV on a Blackberry connected to the AT&T or T-Mobile networks. The company is working on a version for other Blackberries and it’s likely to announce an iPhone version at next week’s Macworld Expo in San Francisco.

The Slingbox, which was first introduced in 2005, already offers software that works with Windows Mobile and Palm smart phones. The Slingbox also allows you to watch TV on an Internet-connected Windows or Macintosh laptop or desktop PC.

To use the service you must first connect a Slingbox to whatever source you use for TV. It can be a cable or satellite box or a Tivo or other personal video recorder (PVR). The $300 Slingbox Pro HD has a high-definition tuner and four video inputs so it also allows you to connect it to an antenna for over-the-air signals as well as to a DVD player. The $180 Slingbox Solo connects to a single standard or high definition input source.

The Pro allows you to watch programming in HD on a remote device while the Solo down-samples the signal to standard definition which, frankly, still looks pretty good on a tiny smart phone or even a small laptop screen.

There are no monthly fees to use a Slingbox but Sling Media typically charges $30 for software to use it on a mobile device. For a limited period, the Blackberry software can be downloaded for free.

I borrowed a Slingbox Pro HD and connected it to the Dish Network PVR in my living room. After downloading and configuring the software for both the Blackberry and my laptop PC, I was able to watch live TV and recorded shows. I was also able to use both the Blackberry and the laptop to reprogram the PVR away from home, selecting new shows to record. Of course, if someone is watching a show remotely via the Slingbox, anyone sitting in front of your home TV will be watching the same show unless you’re using an alternative input source such as the dual tuner that you get with some personal video recorders.

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Podcast: Larry Magid reviews a new program allowing Slingbox owners to watch TV on their Blackberrys.

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One might ask why someone would want to be able to watch their home TV programs from a smart phone or laptop. As it turns out, there are plenty of reasons.

For one thing, it’s a relatively easy and cost-effective way to distribute TV around the home. My indoor exercise bicycle is in a room that doesn’t have a TV or satellite box but I can now prop by laptop on the bike’s handlebars and watch my favorite TV shows while I burn up calories. If the device you’re using to watch the program is on the same home wired or WiFi network as the Slingbox, the picture quality is quite good because you’re streaming the video at the full speed of your home network. Sling also sells the Slingcatcher ($300) that lets you watch programs on a remote TV anywhere on your home network. The Slingcatcher also lets you watch internet video from a PC or video files from an external USB hard drive.

Another use for the Slingbox is to be able to enjoy your home local programming — including local sports programs — from the road. Most hotels now have WiFi so instead of turning on the hotel TV; you can watch your own TV shows on your laptop. It does require a broadband Internet connection so forget watching shows from a plane unless you happen to be on a flight with Internet connectivity. College students living away from home could access watch their home TV programs from a dorm room.

I can also think of a few reasons to watch the Slingbox from a smart phone such as a Blackberry. When I go to the YMCA, I usually have to wait in line to get access to a treadmill or elliptical machine with a TV but if I have my Blackberry with me, I can watch my own TV. I have a friend who uses his Windows Mobile device to access his Slingbox on busses and commuter trains or when waiting for a plane to take off. I’m not a big fan of letting kids watch TV from the car (I’d rather they look out the window and talk with other occupants) but it certainly is now possible to hand them your smart phone and let them watch shows while you drive.

Of course, you do need a good 3G connection to the Internet which may or may not be available depending on where you are but as I rode (yes, someone else was driving) around Silicon Valley, I had an excellent signal and an excellent view of my home TV, albeit on a very small Blackberry screen.

by Larry Magid

No earth-shattering new technologies emerged in 2008, but it was an eventful year.

It was a year of definition for high-def TV, because Toshiba in February dropped its support for its HD DVD standard, allowing the industry to unite behind Blu-ray.

Standard wars such as the two-year battle between HD DVD and Blu-ray stall technology adoption. Even though it’s now safe to buy Blu-ray, sales are still tepid and will probably remain so until the economy picks up and Blu-ray player prices fall to below $150. I can safely predict a drop in Blu-ray drive prices in 2009 but have no idea when the economy will pick up.

It was an interesting year for smart-phones. Apple, which introduced the iPhone in 2007, hit a home run with its 2008 model, the iPhone 3G. At the same time, Apple opened its iPhone application store with thousands of free and modestly priced programs for the new and old iPhone and Apple’s iPod Touch. These applications are proving popular with iPhone users and signal the transformation of smart-phones into third-party-application-friendly computing platforms.

Apple said it sold 6.9 million iPhones from June to September. During that quarter, according to Chief Executive Steve Jobs, Apple outsold Research In Motion’s popular BlackBerry phone. But RIM isn’t conceding. In addition to maintaining its strategy to dominate the corporate and government market, RIM took major strides into consumer territory in 2008 with the release of the Curve, Bold and Storm models, all of which have cameras, digital media players and — my favorite — a jack that lets you use any standard off-the-shelf headphones.

Google also entered the smart-phone market in 2008 with the release of the T-Mobile G1, the first phone powered by Google’s open-source Android operating system. The G1 met with mixed reviews, but Google is working with other carriers and phone manufacturers and will be releasing several new models next year. The key to Android is the open application development platform which — if the hardware sells well — should spawn a vibrant software market for the device.

PCs don’t generate all that much excitement these days, but 2008 saw the growth of a new trend that’s picking up steam. Hewlett-Packard, Acer, Lenovo, Asus, Dell and others have introduced what are being called netbooks, which are basically small and inexpensive laptop computers that typically start at under $400. Some run Windows XP or even Windows Vista but others come with a version of the Linux operating system. Using Linux lowers the cost because the manufacturer doesn’t have to pay Microsoft a royalty and it improves performance because it’s typically faster and less resource-hungry than Windows.

Probably because of netbooks, the third quarter of 2008 was the first time that notebook PCs outsold desktops on a quarterly basis, according to research firm iSuppli. The report singles out Acer, whose unit market share grew by 45 percent, largely because of its leadership in the netbook category.

Apple made a little bit of laptop news in 2008 with the introduction of its ultrathin MacBook Air in January. The MacBook Air isn’t the first PC with a solid state hard drive but it is the thinnest PC currently on the market.

On the Web side of the equation, 2008 was a bad year for Yahoo, which saw its share price fall by about 50 percent from December 2007 to December 2008. In February, the company turned down a $31-a-share buyout offer from Microsoft. Yahoo shares closed at $12.32 Wednesday.

Facebook seems to have had a pretty good 2008. Earlier this month, the privately held company announced that it had more than 140 million active users with more than half its users “outside of college” where Facebook got its start. In June, ComScore reported that Facebook pulled ahead of MySpace in terms of worldwide users.

And, of course, one can’t comment on 2008 and tech without noting that the first tech-savvy president was elected this year. Technology played a major role in President-elect Barack Obama’s campaign and promises to play an even bigger role in his administration, which means there will be lots of fodder for those of us who cover tech and care about politics.

I was not surprised when iSuppli announced that notebook sales exceeded desktop sales for the first time in the third quarter of this year in what the research company called a “watershed event.” The report singled out Acer which “grew its unit shipment market share by 45 percent, and by 79 percent on a year-over-year basis.”

The Taiwanese company, according to the computer analysis group, shipped nearly 3 million more notebooks in the third quarter than in the preceding quarter, “with the majority of those 3 million being the company’s netbook products.”

“Netbook” is a relatively new category of notebook computer noted for being smaller, less expensive and generally more energy efficient than typical notebook or laptop PCs.

In many ways, netbook is simply another name for subnotebook PCs, which have been on the market for a long time or “ultra-mobile” PCs, a category championed by Microsoft, Intel and other manufacturers in 2006. Ultra-mobile PCs were typically tablet PCs, sometimes without keyboards, while most netbooks are basically just smaller versions of traditional laptop PCs.

I’m writing this column on an Acer Aspire One, a 2.2 pound netbook PC that can be purchased stand alone for as little as $350 or for $99 at Radio Shack along with a two year commitment to an AT&T $60 a month Wireless broadband service. I’m not sure that Radio Shack’s marketing idea makes much sense. People are price sensitive enough to buy $99 PC over one for $350 or so are probably not going to spend $60 a month for wireless broadband. I have Verizon wireless broadband in my laptop and love it but I’m a frequent business traveler. For personal use at home and at my usual local haunts, I’m content to use Wi-Fi.

With a 1.6 GHz Intel Atom processor and 1 gigabyte of memory, the Aspire — running Windows XP — is a bit more sluggish than many full sized laptops but it’s powerful enough to run Microsoft Office, Internet Explorer and most of the other standard applications that people typically use. The 160-gigabyte hard drive provides ample room for applications.

In order to keep its size down to 9.8 by 6.7 by 1.4 inches, Acer shrunk the size of the keyboard by about 10 percent, which is slowing down my typing and slightly increasing my typos.

The 8.9-inch screen is considerably smaller than than other laptops, but it’s not a bother. I find the size adequate for things I would do on a small computer. My only design complaint is the narrow buttons on the left and right side of the track pad.

To its credit, the Aspire One has three USB ports which make it easy to plug in an external keyboard and mouse. There is also a VGA port for an external monitor. The Aspire also has an Ethernet port, a slot for an SD memory card and jacks for a headphone and external microphone.

Acer is not alone in this product category. Hewlett-Packard, Dell and Lenovo also have their netbook or mini-notebooks.

Although the unit that Acer sent me is equipped with Windows XP, Acer, Dell, and HP also offer versions equipped with Linux. I didn’t try any the Linux versions but based on my experience with that leaner and faster operating system, I doubt if it is will be nearly as sluggish as with Windows XP.

What excites me most about this category is that it makes notebook PCs affordable to a wider audience, including high-school students who — in many cases — could use this as their primary home PC as well as a classroom tool.

by Anne Collier
NetFamilyNews.org

If your family celebrates Christmas, you can track Santa’s global progress on Christmas Eve, thanks to Web 2.0!

You can get minute-by-minute reports on Twitter’s noradsanta feed.  As I write, Santa was just spotted in Kango, Gabon.  Earlier, I watched as he, his reindeer and sleigh visited Southeast Asia, and threaded their way through the Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur.  (Rudolph’s apparently quite a hotdog.)

You can also follow Santa on SantaCam video thanks to a partnership between NORAD (the North American Aerospace Defense Command) and Google.  NORAD has been tracking Santa every Christmas Eve since 1955.  You can see his global progress and flight path here.

I learned about Santa’s Twitter feed and the SantaCam from the Toronto Globe and Mail in an article that describes how NORAD began tracking Santa and provides more details about the new Web 2.0 tracking tools.  I love that  “kids can follow along in seven languages through the website or on a smart phone by using Google Maps.”I just checked the Twitter feed and since I began writing, Santa has reached Berlin, Germany!

Happy whatever holidays to every last one of you!

News that Microsoft had to issue an emergency patch to fix a flaw in all versions of Internet Explorer reminds me how important it is for parents to make sure that all the computers in your household have up-to-date anti-malware software and the latest updates to the operating system.

While Windows PCs seems to attract a lot more attacks than Macs, the Apple Macintosh is not invulnerable to malicious software.  That’s why Apple regularly updates its operating system as does Microsoft — and why some leading security software companies including Symantec and TrendMicro offer Macintosh security software.

The latest threat is a flaw in all versions of Internet Explorer that makes it possible for an attacker to take remote control of your PC, capture user names and passwords and log keystrokes.  All you have to  do to be exposed is to visit an infected ‘Web site, whether it is a site set up by a hacker or even a legitimate site that been injected with the malicious code.  The Associated Press reports that “thousands of Web sites already have been compromised by criminals looking to exploit the flaw.” That’s because the flaw was disclosed about a week before Microsoft issued a fix.

Microsoft was expected to release a fix on Wednesday, December 16, which would be automatically applied to any machine that has automated updates turned on.  To be sure, you can manually scan your computer to see if its security fixes are up-to-date by visiting WindowsUpdate.microsoft.com.  For this particular site, you must use Internet Explorer (other browsers such as Google’s Chrome and Mozilla Firefox works with the vast majority of sites but not this one).Speaking of other browsers, only Internet Explorer is affected by this particular flaw but that doesn’t mean that Firefox and Chrome are exempt from other vulnerabilities.

PC security is a cat-and-mouse game. The good guys are always trying to catch up, but, with billions of dollars of ill-gotten gain at stake, the bad guys are always thinking up something new.

And parents, be sure your kids know not to download anything without your permission  — and don’t you download anything unless you know it’s from a reputable site. Even then, make sure you have a good Internet security suite installed and that it’s up-to-date.

I’m on a Virgin America flight about an hour west of Washington DC as I chat with a friend via instant messaging, update my Facebook page, send little notes on Twitter, watch streaming web video and update my blog. I’m even filing this column from the air.

This is the first time I’ve surfed the web from the air which, I guess, makes me a Virgin in-flight WiFi user.

The cost is $9.95 for the entire flight and the service is great. Considering that this is a six hour flight, I could stream 3 movies before reaching San Francisco.

The service is offered by GoGo which is also on American flights between NY and San Francisco, Los Angeles and Miami as well as some Delta flights. Unlike live TV programming on Virgin, JetBlue and a few other airlines, the internet service uses ground stations across the continental United States. According to the company’s website, “with nothing but air between these towers and your plane, you’re always getting the best connection” and so-far that seems to be true.

I’m getting 1.5 mbps download speed which is better than many DSL services. The bandwidth is good enough for me to have sampled some news videos on CBSNews.com, a movie on NetFlix.com and the Colbert Report on Hulu.com. It’s fast enough for Skype but, according to GoGo’s website, voice calls are not allowed. I tried Skype (before reading about the prohibition) and the person I called could hear me but his voice was garbled. I did this as an experiment but even if it worked, I’d avoid it for all but very short and urgent calls because it would distract fellow passengers.

Speaking of distracting, there are some etiquette “rules” that GoGo suggests passengers follow. They ask you to mute the sound or use headphones, avoid voice calls and “be an angel” and not to visit sites that might shock your neighbor. In other words, don’t risk exposing others to porn. Bloomberg has reported that American Airlines flight attendants have asked their employee to filter porn from the service. As far as I can tell, the service is not currently blocking any content on Virgin America but – via a live chat from the air – a Gogo representative .on the ground told me they are now filtering content on American Ailrines.

So far, this has been a first-class experience even though I’m stuffed into an economy seat. Mostly, it’s a way to make time fly on what would otherwise be a pretty boring trek across the continental United States.

Reposted from San Jose Mercury News
December 8, 2008

by Larry Magid

What Lori Drew allegedly did to Megan Meier was despicable, but it doesn’t justify her conviction late last month for violating federal laws designed to keep hackers from invading computer networks.
Two years ago, Megan, a 13-year-old Missouri girl, hanged herself after her online friend “Josh Evans,” who had befriended her on MySpace, reportedly told her that he didn’t want to be friends with her and that the world would be better off without her. But Josh was in fact Drew, a 49-year-old mother of one of Megan’s former friends.

According to published reports, Megan had been mean to Drew’s daughter and Josh’s fake online relationship with Megan was a way for Drew to retaliate.

During the trial in Los Angeles, it was revealed that some entries made by Josh were typed by Ashley Grills, a then-18-year-old employee of Drew who was a witness for the prosecution and was not prosecuted.

The case has widely been characterized as a legal assault on cyberbullying, though it is extremely unusual for an adult to bully a teen. There is no reason to believe that Drew intended for Megan to kill herself, but the case against Drew is frequently cited as a warning to would-be bullies that their actions could bring severe consequences to both their victims and themselves.

From what I can gather, this is a case of a squabble between two 13-year-old girls and a mother who intervened in a terribly immature and inappropriate way. Adults are supposed to help young people peacefully resolve problems, not exacerbate them. This is not so much a case of cyberbullying as a case of bad parental intervention that had tragic consequences.

We need to fight against rude, deceitful and cruel behavior on and off the Internet. But that doesn’t justify a reinterpretation of anti-hacking laws to jail people who misuse Internet services.
The legal theory behind the prosecutor’s case is that Drew violated MySpace’s terms of service that prohibit misrepresenting your identity and harassing others. MySpace rules, which Drew says she hadn’t read, require that “all information you submit is truthful and accurate.” Clearly Drew lied. But so have a lot of other people.

She was prosecuted under Section 1030 of the U.S. Code, which was crafted to protect against unauthorized access to computer networks to cause damage, steal information or money or jeopardize national security. As far as I can tell, the law was not designed to prevent people from lying about their identity or otherwise violating rules on a publicly available online service. But that didn’t stop the jury from convicting Drew of misdemeanor violations. The jury refused to go along with the prosecution’s felony charges.

Based on this case, I’m one of millions of people who might also be guilty of a federal crime. I didn’t harass anyone, but I did violate MySpace’s terms of service by creating several fake identities with a variety of ages to test privacy features for teenagers while I was researching a book about MySpace in 2006.

And what about police officers who pose as teenagers to lure would-be predators? Should they have to request immunity from federal prosecution each time they engage in such a sting operation? I’ve even heard cases of law enforcement people advising kids to lie on their profiles to protect their privacy. Should they be indicted for conspiracy?

There are plenty of adults who lie online about their age. I have a friend who set up a profile on an online dating service using a false age, an old photograph and the exaggerated claim that he was “athletic.” A date might have cause to be disappointed or angry at him, but should she have the right to demand a federal prosecution?

Even Megan, with her mom’s knowledge, lied about her age. She was 13 and, at the time, MySpace required users to be at least 14. MySpace recently started allowing 13-year-olds to sign up.
The usual penalty for violating terms of service is to be kicked off the service. Had MySpace decided to go after Drew in court, it could have done so as a civil matter. But it’s not up to federal prosecutors to take it upon themselves to enforce a company’s online agreement with its members, especially if that company never asked for federal intervention.

I can understand why a jury wanted to punish Drew for what happened to Megan. But it’s not clear to me that putting Drew in prison on a hacking charge will help prevent cyberbullying or future tragedies.

What is needed is an educational campaign that makes bullying or harassing just as unacceptable as racial epithets or subjecting others to secondhand smoke. Cyberbullying is a real problem but it requires serious long-term solutions, not quick fixes and prosecutorial hijinks.

I’ve recently been playing with two new Blackberries from Research in Motion (RIM) and have concluded that, when it comes to changing Blackberry’s winning formula, less is more. The BlackBerry Bold, whose user interface is a lot like many other Blackberries, is a great addition to the line. But BlackBerry Storm, which sort-of mimics the iPhone’s touch screen, is awkward to use. The Bold is available from AT&T for $299 while the Storm can be purchased from Verizon Wireless for $199 both with a two year contract.

Unlike all previous Blackberries, the Storm doesn’t have a QWERTY keyboard. Instead it has a touch-screen reminiscent of the iPhone with icons for launching applications and letters and numbers for typing or dialing the phone. But there’s an interesting twist. When you touch an onscreen icon, letter or number it simply highlights it. To make anything happen you have to firmly press down on the screen. When I first heard about this technology, I assumed that RIM had found some clever way to imbed lots of little switches to enable users to type on the screen but the screen is actually one big switch. All you’re really doing when you press it is confirming that you really wanted to click on the highlighted key. It does have one advantage over the iPhone’s touch screen in that you’re less likely to accidentally issue the wrong command simply because you touched an icon. That physical feedback is fine when it comes to launching programs but when trying to type an email, I found it tedious and tiring. I’m not a big iPhone touch-key fan, but I do find it easier to use than the Storm.

To its credit, the Storm copies the iPhone’s ability to automatically know if you’re holding it in portrait (vertical) or landscape (horizontal) mode but it’s very slow to respond when you turn it on its side. And it’s not the only sluggish part of this phone. There is a brief but noticeable delay when you launch applications though it is fast when you type phone numbers and messages. What’s more, if you to type an email while holding the Storm in landscape mode you get an onscreen QWERTY keyboard but if you hold it in portrait mode you get this wacky “SureType” keyboard with two letters on each key. If you’re typing words, the software is reasonably good at figuring out your intentions but if you’re typing a web or email address its guesses are often wrong.

One thing missing in the Storm is WiFi. It does use Verizon’s relatively high-speed 3G phone network but that’s not as fast as a good WiFi network. The iPhone and the Blackberry Bold both support WiFi.

The Storm comes with a relatively generous 8 gigabytes of memory which should be adequate if you use it for music but not too much video but it does work with larger optional memory cards. Unlike the iPhone it has a removable battery, which is a good thing and it has a better than average web browser. It lacks the iPhone’s ability to resize images by pinching with two fingers but it does let you use one finger to move around the screen or tap twice to zoom in.

One thing I like about the Storm is Verizon’s excellent cellular network. Even though most Verizon phones don’t work overseas, the Storm will because it has an GSM SIM card that can be used in most other countries, albeit at a very high roaming rate.

What I don’t like is its user interface. Aside from the touch screen, I just find it confusing to use.

I have mostly good things to say about the Blackberry Bold. If you liked earlier Blackberries, you’ll probably love the Bold. It has all the familiar Blackberry features including a decent-size keyboard and a trackball. It also has a terrific (480 x 320) screen, WiFi connectivity and, like the Storm, a still and video camera, a media player and GPS. Other nice touches include a very sharp screen and both the Storm and the Bold also have a standard (3.5 mm) headphone jack so you can use any headphone. But, for a portable device, the Bold also has a surprisingly good built-in speaker.

With only 1 gigabyte, the Bold doesn’t have nearly as much memory as the Storm but it does allow you to install an optional microSD card for up to 16 gigabytes of memory — comparable to the $299 iPhone.

The phone doesn’t have an award winning design but it does have fake leather back which actually looks and feels kind of nice. The phone — and its keyboard — are a bit bigger than the Blackberry Curve but it still fits nicely in a pocket.

Because it uses the AT&T network GSM network it can be used overseas.

Most of all, the Bold is a tried and true Blackberry. It’s what happens when a company sticks to its knitting, making subtle improvements on what it does well rather than trying to imitate what others have done. It’s innovative but Blackberry users will find it familiar. But one thing they could do to improve it would be to add a touch screen without taking away the keyboard.