Linked List: August 26, 2010

Thursday, 26 August 2010

Scott Rosenberg on Google News and Content-Farm ‘News’ ★

Trending keyword spam seems to be working its way into Google News. This seems like something they should be able to fix, thanks to the curated nature of Google News’s sources.

Whither the iPod Classic? ★

Dan Frommer wonders whether Apple is set to eliminate the hard-drive based iPod Classic next week. I wouldn’t be shocked if they did, but I bet they won’t. The iPod Classic is like the Mac Pro — not something that sells in huge numbers compared to Apple’s mass market products, but it fills a lucrative and important niche. Some people really do want 160 GB of music in their pocket.

How Long Until These Pictures Show Up on Gizmodo? ★

Joshua Topolsky:

Just got an email from someone trying to sell a photo of Steve Jobs while he was in Memphis for medical treatment. Stay classy internet!

So Much for the H.264 ‘Bait and Switch’ Licensing Theory ★

MPEG LA:

MPEG LA announced today that its AVC Patent Portfolio License will continue not to charge royalties for Internet Video that is free to end users (known as “Internet Broadcast AVC Video”) during the entire life of this License. MPEG LA previously announced it would not charge royalties for such video through December 31, 2015, and today’s announcement makes clear that royalties will continue not to be charged for such video beyond that time.

Technologizer: New Kindle ‘Selling Like an Unspecified Number of Hotcakes’ ★

Harry McCracken:

There’s no doubt that the Kindle is an important product and a hit for Amazon, but unless the company discloses actual figures someday, you’ve got to wonder: Does it choose not to get specific because it worries that hard numbers would provoke a spate of “E-readers are still a tiny market compared to the iPod and other landmark gizmos” stories?

Steve Jobs, in an interview with David Pogue last year:

He said that Apple doesn’t see e-books as a big market at this point, and pointed out that Amazon.com, for example, doesn’t ever say how many Kindles it sells. “Usually, if they sell a lot of something, you want to tell everybody.”

Note, for example, that Apple never talks about Apple TV unit sales.

Details ★

On the pace of Mac sleeping indicators:

In July 2002, Appled filed a patent for a “Breathing Status LED Indicator” (No. US 6,658,577 B2). They described it as a “blinking effect of the sleep-mode indicator in accordance with the present invention mimics the rhythm of breathing which is psychologically appealing.”

The average respiratory rate for adults is 12-20 breaths per minute, which is the rate that the sleep-indicator light fades in and out on most Apple laptops.

Netflix App Now Available for iPhone and iPod Touch ★

Now imagine a version for Apple TV.

What You Get With Hulu Plus ★

Nice comparison chart between standard Hulu and Hulu Plus, but it only regards TV shows. Do Hulu Plus subscribers get more movie options, too?

Laptop Mag Runs Android Battery Test ★

The Motorola phones have significantly better battery life. The Droid X and Droid 2 finished at the top; handsets with AMOLED screens finished at the bottom. So, AMOLED: colors look weird, you can’t see them in sunlight, the components are in short supply, and battery life is worse.

(They turned Flash Player off for the tests; would be interesting to see if turning it on makes a difference.)