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August 3rd, 2009

Judge will get proposal to rid world of physical books

Posted by: David Lawsky

Here’s an idea: Everyone, or at least whoever wants to, gives up their books. The books are taken to a warehouse and stored there. In return the the book owner gets access to scanned copies on Google.

A federal judge has given permission for The Media Exchange Company, Inc. to put that proposal forward, as part of a settlement in Google’s deal with publishers to make millions of books available online.

The Media Exchange Company, represented by the St. Louis, Missouri, law firm of Riezman Berger, says it is putting forward the idea on behalf of book owners.

The Google settlement proposal, which will be considered by the judge at an Oct. 7 hearing by U.S. District Court Judge Denny Chin in New york, cuts a deal that includes libraries and book publishers. Riezman Berger told Chin that “just as libraries have become increasingly interested in partnering with Google to digitize their collections … so, too, individual book owners are becoming increasingly interested in digitizing their collections.”

Chin gave the law firm the right to object to the Google deal or offer its suggestions in an amicus brief . A lawyer from the law firm, representing book owners, explained how things would work.

“The person would lose physical possession of the book, like when you leave your car with a parking lot attendant,” said Emmett McAuliffe. In return, the book owner would get access to the scanned version on Google, along with the ability to search the scanned book and gain access to it wherever there is a computer or some other viewing device. McAuliffe imagines that after a number of years the books would eventually be taken from the warehouses and, with the permission of their owners, mulched in a landfill somewhere.

“It’s a green solution,” he said.

In McAuliffe’s view, the solution would bring closer the day that physical books disappear, to be replaced by access to books online in the cloud, just as compact discs are giving way to MP3s, iTunes and other non-physical forms of digitized music. The books-in-the-cloud could be sold or traded and also loaned, according to the court filing.

This will all be mulled over by the judge, who is considering a proposed settlement between Google and the Authors Guild and the Association of American Publishers. Google agreed to pay $125 million to create a Book Rights Registry, where authors and publishers can register works and get compensation from institutional subscriptions or books sales.

Controversially, Google — and only Google — would be permitted to digitize so-called orphan works, which are materials or books covered by U.S. copyright law, but it is not clear who owns the rights. That has prompted a look at the situation by the Justice Department antitrust division to determine if the proposal may be anti-competitive.

(Photo by David Lawsky)

July 10th, 2008

iPhone’s first chapter - a timely update

Posted by: Eric Auchard

(Here’s an updated chronology. This first posted June 9)  

 

iPhones

2007

Jobs_iPhoneJanuary 9 - Apple Inc CEO Steve Jobs unveils iPhone in the tech industry’s most anticipated new product introduction of the decade.

June 29 - Apple and U.S. carrier partner AT&T Inc start selling iPhone as technology enthusiasts form long lines outside Apple stores.Scoble

July 25 - After big build-up, first weekend sales figures reports disappoint investors. Apple and AT&T sold 270,000 iPhones in first 30 hours; but customers only activate 146,000 of the devices due to initial AT&T service problems.

Sept 5 - Apple cuts price on iPhone with eight gigabytes of storage to $399 from $599. Discontinues sales of four-gigabyte version. Also introduces iPod Touch, an iPhone without the phone, with Wi-Fi connections.

letterSept 7 - Apple offers $100 rebate to appease customers angered over iPhone price cut.

Sept 10 - One millionth iPhone sold 74 days after launch.

Sept 24 - Apple warns users against unlocking iPhones to work with network carriers other than Apple’s exclusive U.S. partner, AT&T.

Europe_iPhoneNov 9 - Apple introduces iPhone in Europe through exclusive deals in Britain with 02, in Germany with T-Mobile, and in France with Orange.

Dec 3 - Apple sued for patent infringement related to iPhone’s visual voicemail feature by Klausner Technologies Inc.

Dec 31 - Apple sold 3.7 million iPhones in its first six months on sale.


2008

KeyboardFeb 5 - Apple introduces 16-gigabyte iPhone for $499.

March 6 - Apple says its plans to enable corporate e-mail on iPhones, pitting it against business e-mail market leader Research in Motion and its Blackberry line of devices.  Apple offers tools for independent developers to build iPhone software.

SmartphonesMarch 31 - Apple has sold 5.4 million iPhone units to date. Apple ranks as world’s third largest maker of smartphones, with 5.3 percent versus mobile phone giant Nokia’s 45.2 percent and Blackberry-maker Research in Motion’s 13.4 percent, market researcher Gartner Inc says.

April 23 - Apple CFO reaffirms the company’s original mid-2007 goal of selling 10 million iPhone units by the end of 2008. Out_of_stock

April/May - Apple stores run out of iPhones. Apple announces plans with carriers in South Asia to sell iPhones in Australia, India, the Philippines and Singapore.

June 9 - Apple unveils 3G iPhone, with faster Web links than its predecessor and the ability to support third-party applications such as games and email. The eight-gigabyte 3G iPhone is priced at $199, while the 16-gigabyte phone is priced at $299. 

July 11 - iPhone 3G goes on sale in 22 countries. Fans around Asia queue for two days before the phone’s launch. Websites are swamped with early orders. 

Reuters iPhone 3G coverage
Sources: (Reuters, Apple Inc, SeekingAlpha.com, Gartner Inc)
(Photos: Reuters, Apple Inc, Scoble: Brian Solis/Flickr.com)

June 9th, 2008

Here it comes …. the 3G iPhone

Posted by: Eric Auchard

“The big news is $399 to $199,” CEO Steve Jobs said of sharp price-cuts Apple is making on its iPhone 3G.

Summary

Eight-gigabyte 3G iPhone to be priced at $199

 199

 16-gigabyte 3G iPhone at $299

16_gig

3G iPhone features:

    • Jobs calls it iPhone 3G.
    • Offers two to four times faster speeds that existing models working on so-called 2.5G “Edge” networks, he says.
    • The phone offers GPS - Global Positioning Services for real-time location tracking on one’s iPhone.
    • Same 3.5 inch display.
    • Jobs says it is thinner at the edges and has “dramatically improved audio”
    • Promises five hours of 3G talk time. Five to six hours of Web browsing. Video viewing can run seven hours.
    • In the first year of sales, six million of first-generation iPhones have been sold, Jobs says.
    • The new phone will be available in 70 countries over the next few months — in 29 European countries, 15 Latin American countries and 8 in the Asia Pacific, not including China.
    • price: $199 for 8GB ; $299 for 16 GB
    • Available July 11, in more than 20 countries, with 70 by the end of the year, Jobs says. “We are going to be in 70 countries, this year,” he said.

A side-by-side demonstration of faster Web download speeds of iPhone 3G devives versus existing iPhone.

Faster_downloads

Promised improvements in battery life for selected functions on iPhone 3G: 

 Battery_life

Here is a side shot of the slimmer iPhone 3G

Slimmer

A shot of the back of the new iPhone in black and white versions:

MobileMe

Apple head of worldwide sales and marketing Phil Schiller introduces MobileMe, a desktop-quality e-mail, calendar and contacts Web service. It’s a companion Web service for iPhone users. It’s priced at $99 a year and will be available in early July, he says.  

MobileMe provides automatic synchronization between an iPhone and the Web for e-mail, pictures and contacts. For example, a photo shot on the iPhone can instantly be uploaded to the Web using MobileMe. 

It offers drag-and-drop capability to move messages from inbox into folders. The service replaces Apple’s existing .Mac service.

“It’s feels like a desktop application,” Schiller boasts. He calls it (Microsoft) “Exchange for the rest of us.” 

MobileMe_lesser_crop 

Software Features

Jobs is back on stage and has begun ticking off new features in the iPhone 2.0 software:

  • A new “Contact search” application instead of making users go into phone application to find their list of contact phone numbers and e-mail addresses.
  • Expands support for Microsoft PowerPoint to existing support for Microsoft Word and Excel applications.
  • Apple has added bulk delete and move features for messages.
  • The ability to save photos sent via message straight into photo application.
  • Apple has added parental controls to the iPhone.
  • The Apple iPhone Apps Store will be available in 62 countries.
  • Added language support for more than a dozen languages besides English.

 Languages

Application Demos

Major League Baseball plans to offer video highlights of games around the league, minutes after they occur, on the iPhone via its MLB.com application. 

baseball 

Doctors are warming up to the iPhone as a tool for keeping track of patient information. Here is a demonstration for viewing medical imagery

Medical_imagery 

An eBay auction demo

 ebay

“Productivity deteriorates,” an Apple exec jokes after video game maker Sega shows its Super Monkey Ball game on the iPhone. He was describing the distraction the phone becomes to Apple engineers who have played the game.

Sega

Apple CEO Steve Jobs takes the stage and describes how new iPhone 2.0 software will enable features for corporate enterprise users, including support for Microsoft Outlook e-mail users …

iPhone 2.0

You can find Reuters.com full coverage of Monday’s iPhone news here.

(Photos: Reuters/Eric Auchard/Kimberly White, Device screenshot: Apple.com)