Gadgetell | Tech News, Reviews, and Interesting Things

EchoStar is set to launch its SlingModem – a product that combines a standard Data Over Cable Service Interface Specification (DOCSIS) cable modem and a Slingbox at a Cable Show trade event in New Orleans next week. The device incorporates the place-shifting capabilities of Sling’s popular Slingbox, which allows television content to be transmitted from a consumer’s TV set to any location with an Internet connection. 

The SlingModem observes the DOCSIS 2.0 specification and can be used like a typical high-speed-data modem that connects to the Internet. Moreover, it also includes Sling Media’s proprietary video-encoding technology, which enhances traditional TV programming and makes it suitable for streaming to PCs and Internet-capable mobile devices – in one efficient housing. 

EchoStar is said to be working on other products and services for cable operators and would probably launch them this year.

Via [Crave]

We recently saw the MPAA go after the now shut-down, but once popular torrent site, TorrentSpy. Now, the MPAA has gone after The Pirate Bay as well. The MPAA seems to be starting to crack down heavily on torrenting websites, so other such websites should be take note and be very careful as they move forward.

Basically, in the case, the MPAA stated that “The Pink Panther” had been downloaded nearly 50,000 times. Personally, I wonder why they decided to use that torrent file as an example, I’m sure there are other files that have been downloaded many more times. Anyway, 50,000 downloads of a torrent file doesn’t tell the whole story, there could be many more people who got the full movie. Now, the MPAA wants between $37 and $44 per download, and per film. They are also asking for nearly $70 per every downloaded episode of the hit TV show Prison Break. 

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Torrenting is used by many, and I’m sure everyone who torrents has used or at least heard of, TorrentSpy. The website has been closed down since March 24, 2008, and after the latest news its safe to say that it will remain down. Basically, their reason for shutting down is that they had lost too much money from court cases, and according to the statement on their site the “legal climate in the USA for copyright, privacy of search requests, and links to torrent files in search results is simply too hostile.” Now in the latest blow, the MPAA has come out victorious after going at TorrentSpy and not only did they win the court case, but also $110 million. Looks like this will keep them down.

Via [CrunchGear]

Well, it was a long time coming, but YouTube has finally made its localized Indian version go live. Now, YouTube users from India are given access to a highly personalized version of the site, featuring content that’s filtered through a so-called “Indian lens.” The live video charts show what videos are being watched by users in India, and the featured videos are now targeted towards an Indian audience. Literally dozens of local partners have also been signed-up by YouTube to provide home-grown content to the users. And they even launched an official Indian YouTube Blog. So if you’re looking for some original South Asian video goodness, head on over to http://in.youtube.com.

Read [YouTube India Blog]

Universal Music Group is joining the ranks of music companies who are giving away their music for free and in a legal way. The company has announced that it has reached an agreement with file-sharing site Qtrax to offer free, legal downloads of all its digital music. If you would recall, Qtrax announced sometime in January that it has the support of “all major music labels” in its revenue generating ads music download service. But some of this music companies denied Qtrax’s claim, including UMG. Prior to these events, Qtrax was forced to shut down its service a few months after it was launched in 2002 to avoid some legal troubles.

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Although we have already seen the migration of YouTube video content into our living room TV. HP wants to up the notch a step higher by bringing you a better video watching experience with its HP MediaSmart Products that include the MediaSmart Connect digital media receiver and the high-definition MediaSmart TV.

Yes dear readers, with this tie-up between HP and YouTube, you will be able to watch and share full-screen videos on your HDTVs. You can also create multiple playlists from anywhere you watch TV. Even sweeter is the fact that just like the old habit of slacking on your couches and watching your favorite TV shows from morning till dawn, you can do all these things using your HDTVs remote control,. Only this time, you have a full YouTube video database to watch, which if you would calculate, could probably last you a lifetime to finish watching.

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While we can all read the specs and look at the images and dream about how much we would like to get our hands on the Touch Diamond, but with the phone not yet available, and only having been announced in London, hands on time is at a minimum. It seems that HTC has taken that into consideration and provided quite a bit of material to check it out in action, courtesy of their YouTube channel.

First up we have the introduction:

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A recent purchase from a Best Buy of a PureDigital Flip camera offered a little more than you would expect from a standard retail version. This camera in particular was an open box item, and true to the word, you never know what to expect when you buy something that has already been used and returned.

In this case it was two stupid kids, who forgot (and when you read on its easy to understand why) to delete their footage before returning the camera. They left three videos which ran a total of about 40 minutes worth of footage on the camera of themselves smoking up. Hence the, making it easy to forget to delete the footage comment.

In what could possibly make the perfect anti-drug ad, or if at the very least should make you think twice about filming yourself doing something illegal, acts as nothing more than entertainment for the rest of us. While I was not able to sit through the nearly 13 minutes of footage uploaded by the new owner of the Flip, the first few minutes were quite entertaining, especially the parts when the camera was shaking due to the bass, not to mention their goofy attitudes. When will people learn not to film themselves doing illegal activities, I am sure this will make their parents more than proud. If you feel so inclined you can check out the videos over on Viddler.

Read [Skippy.net] Via [CrunchGear]

Just as quickly as we learn that any new Radiohead tracks will soon require your wallet, Nine Inch Nails opens up with two free singles and then a complete album, all for free.

Following up on the success of Ghosts, Trent Reznor and his crew offered up both Discipline and Echoplex as singles, both of which are available as free downloads. While its nice to get the odd track for free we could not really expect to get a complete album, but that is exactly where they have gone.

The most recent release is the 10-track album called The Slip, and it is 100% free, both in terms of DRM and money. Its available for download in a variety of formats ranging from MP3 up to lossless and even if you wanted you cannot pay. Although Trent Reznor has been very public in the past about his dislike for the record industry, he has really been standing behind those words lately.

Read [NIN]

For the majority of you who paid nothing for Radiohead’s most recent album, In Rainbows, you may be sad to learn that the UK based band has no future plans to offer any similar promotion in the future.

Lead singer, Thom Yorke, called the revolutionary experiment a “one-off” thing.

“It was one of those things where we were in the position of everyone asking us what we were going to do,” Yorke told the Hollywood Reporter.” I don’t think it would have the same significance now anyway, if we chose to give something away again. It was a moment in time.”

While Radiohead is calling this just a “moment in time” it seems some other artists, most recently Nine Inch Nails, have adopted and fully understand the free music theory. Hopefully, artists will continue to be as gratuitous as Radiohead has been in the past, as they move into the future.

Read [Reuters]