Chinese pirates crack Blu-ray DRM, sell pirated HD discs

By Jacqui Cheng

Forget boring old standard-def DVDs—movie pirates have moved on to selling high-definition discs in an effort to make money on the HD craze. The HD discs are not genuine Blu-ray discs and don't boast as high resolution as Blu-ray does, but they're apparently good enough to fool many consumers, and the movie industry is worried.

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• China butts heads with Hollywood in wake of piracy complaint

Law enforcement in Shenzhen, China, raided a warehouse last month that contained HD copies of a number of popular movies. There were over 800 discs (so, what is that, like eight spindles?) that were packaged in faux Blu-ray boxes, complete with holograms to make them appear legitimate. According to the Motion Picture Association International, this is the "first ever" seizure of these types of discs in China.

The pirates are apparently ripping high-def movies (cracking Blu-ray's AACS and BD+ encryption in the process) and re-encoding them using AVCHD, which offers a 720p picture. Because of the reduction in resolution, file sizes are smaller and can be burned to regular DVDs instead of the more costly Blu-ray discs, netting a tidy profit. Needless to say, the film industry isn't thrilled by the news. "We are concerned and are assigning priority to this issue," the MPA's Asia-Pacific managing director Mike Ellis told the Wall Street Journal.

Fake Blu-ray discs from China
Image from the Wall Street Journal

Movie piracy in China is by no means a new trend, but the proliferation of Blu-ray fakes out of Asia is being viewed as a serious threat that could make its way to other countries quickly. Ellis pointed out that pirates in China can be very enterprising and have exported their wares all over the globe in the past, so there's nothing stopping them from doing so with this new format. "These syndicates are very quick to spot market opportunities," he said.

The news comes at a tough time for Blu-ray. The format's growth is stalling thanks to the high price of discs and players combined with the struggling economy, and in September, Blu-ray's market share actually fell in favor of the cheaper and ubiquitous standard-definition DVDs, as well as HD downloads. With the Chinese Blu-ray clones going for as little as $7 apiece (compared to the typical Blu-ray disc at $30+), it comes as no surprise that they're being viewed as a threat—especially if they're dressed up as Blu-ray discs and consumers aren't clear on what they're getting.

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Internet Explorer 8 Beta 2: Preview and Screenshot Tour

Oddly enough, Microsoft is promoting the beta 2 version of IE8 on various websites on the net. After seeing the ad three times I couldn’t resist clicking for ‘a faster, better, more secure experience’ and ‘a web browser designed for the enterprise’. Let’s see what the hype is all about.

Installation

When I clicked the download button, I was really expecting a 80 MB download followed by half and hour of installation and a Windows reboot cycle; I had sort of a kamikaze feeling, not knowing if my machine will boot again normally.

But instead I was amazed to be looking at a 15.9MB self-extracting archive that installed in under 2 minutes and clicking Next only three times! This is a big improvement in my opinion, although it’s still twice as large as Firefox 3 at 7.1 MB.

Another noteworthy aspect is speed: both start-up and page load time have been, in my case, noticeably faster.

Features

If you’ve been keeping up with the development you’ll know most of the improvements listed here:

• Web Slices: parts of webpages that can be stored for quick access right in the toolbar; for example the upcoming stories for Digg.

• Suggested Sites: recommend you websites based on previously visited pages.
• Accelerator: apparently this manages to integrate different sources of information into one page – making searching things faster; I’m going to look further into this.

• InPrivate Browsing Mode: Similar to Safari’s ‘Private Browsing’ feature it prevents IE from storing history, cookies or other ‘tracks’.
• Google Gears and Windows Live Writer integration.
• Opera style overview of currently open tabs.

• Highlights the domain name in the address bar and prominently featured security certificates.

Conclusion

It’s not bad at all, and so far it hasn’t crashed or caused any problems. Worth the time for any Internet Explorer users. For the rest of us, who can’t get enough of the Firefox plugins – put your mouse down and continue browsing.

And a little fun fact, 3,26% of visitors to the Tux Geek use IE8, 8% Safari and 75% Firefox. Get IE8 here.

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iPhone applications for the Linux user

By Razvan T. Coloja

The iPhone and iPod Touch haven taken the mobile market by storm. Apple's AppStore is full of interesting applications that take advantage of the two devices's capabilities. But what's in there for Linux users? Sadly, GTKPod and Amarok cannot yet transfer files on an iPhone with the 2.x firmware upgrade, but there are other interesting ways your iPhone can interact with your Linux desktop and even servers.

Multimedia

The MPoD client lets you control your music collection located on an MPD server. Click to enlarge.

MPoD, for example, can be of great use when you're running a Music Player Daemon (MPD) server to make your music collection available on the network. You can use the iPhone as a remote control for the playlist and comfortably switch songs from your sofa while the daemon runs on a computer in another room. Once you tap on a song, the device connects through Wi-Fi to your MPD server and starts to play it. All you need to do is install the application and enter the connection data in the settings window: the IP address and port for the MPD server and a password to access it.

MPoD offers some interesting choices when it comes to filtering music. You can display only full albums, excluding artists that appear on compilation albums, or use the folder structure as a display to keep music organized by filename instead of ID3 tags. The main interface displays music by artist, album, song name, or by customized playlists.

But not only music servers can be controlled through an iPhone. If you have the MythTV personal video recorder installed, take a look at Remote Remote GH. It's a MythTV remote control application that can connect through Wi-Fi and display your recordings. In features an intuitive user interface that lets you control the MythTV server via a graphical remote displayed on the screen. An open source application that does the same thing is MyMote. In the same way as Remote Remote GH, MyMote can connect to a MythTV back end and display control buttons, helping you retrieve the program guide and set schedules. iPhone users can also try the MythTV for iPhone project, a Web application that can be installed on a MythTV server to allow iPhone and iPod Touch devices to connect to a more graphically compatible front end. You can access a demo from your iPhone for a look at the front end.

ZapperPro can connect to any Linux VDR hardware. Click to enlarge.

You can also control the XBMC media center application through an iPhone. XBMC Remote does for it what MyMote does for MythTV. Just specify the host IP address, a password, and a path to the data, and you'll have access to all your movies, audio files, and podcasts. This iPhone application can also display cover images.

If you happen to own a Linux-based video disk recorder, the ZapperPro universal remote control application can connect to any such device. After you install it, go to the global iPhone settings screen and scroll down until you reach the ZapperPro settings. Enter the hostname or IP address of the VDR device, then start the application. It will allow you to control the hardware by sending SVDRP commands through Telnet to the host running the VDR software and let you browse channels, recordings, and schedules, manage volume control, and access basically any function with the remote recorder.

File sharing

Since Linux applications cannot yet connect to the newest Apple device firmware, the best way to transfer files between Linux and the iPhone is by using the built-in WiFi, EDGE, or 3G connectivity. Both Konqueror and Nautilus support accessing WebDAV shares, and there are a few applications for iPhone that can transform the device into a small filesharing server. Files does just that: it allows you to transfer various types of files between your iPhone and your Linux PC by means of Wi-Fi. It can also read PDF, XLS, and DOC files, so saving your work at the office and transporting it home should be easy. You can even view them on the device's screen while in traffic. The lite version of the application is free but has a 200MB file limit.

Another such application is Air Sharing. It works on the same filesharing principle, is compatible with GNOME and KDE applications that support WebDAV, and can also view numerous filetypes, including high-resolution images. It even displays source code files with color-coded formatting. You can access the files stored on the iPhone using a Web browser or a file manager. In Firefox just type the device's IP address and add the 8080 port. In Nautilus or Konqueror you have read/write access to the public shared folder via a WebDAV URL -- for example dav://192.168.1.33:8080/. Air Sharing allows you to set a password to the shared directories. It can display hidden files, and it constantly shows you the remaining free disk space at the bottom of the screen.

Remote control

With pTerm you can connect to a host running SSH or Telnet for quick maintenance. Click to enlarge.

Since the iPhone offers connectivity either by Wi-Fi or 3G, it's no wonder it can be used to check on your servers while on the road. pTerm is a small iPhone application that offers a simple but useful terminal for remote connections. You can predefine a connection and choose one of the three available connection types: SSH, Telnet, or Raw TCP. Enter a nickname for the saved connection, a hostname and a port, then launch the saved entry to access your SSH or Telnet server. You can input commands by using the standard iPhone software keyboard.

A similar application is TN5250 Lite, a terminal emulator for the IBM iSeries midrange server. It supports SSL, zoom and scroll by using your fingers, autologin, different iSeries configurations, and customizable colors. TouchTerm is also free and includes support for Ctrl, Esc, Tab, and arrow keys. If you want to go SSH-specific, try iSSH. It's only a client application and does not support SCP file transfers, but it compensates with a transparent keyboard. Mocha Telnet focuses on establishing Telnet-only connections with machines that run the service.

Jaadu VNC lets you control your Linux desktop running a VNC server. Click to enlarge.

If you'd rather use VNC to administer a desktop, try the free Mocha VNC Lite. It has virtual keyboard and mouse support, 8- and 32-bit color modes, features a landscape mode, and works with RealVNC, TightVNC, UltraVNC, and x11vnc configurations running as hosts. Jaadu VNC is a commercial application that features the same options, but it's more eye-pleasing, and supports an inverted mouse and various key combinations that can be sent to the remote desktop.

The Linux-oriented iPhone application market is not a blooming one, but after all, the AppStore itself is rather young. Until you'll be able to sync your iPhone and iPod Touch music with Linux, some of these applications might help you make the most of the two platforms.

Razvan T. Coloja has published more than 150 Linux and IT-related articles in print and online magazines. He is an editor for a Romanian magazine and one of the maintainers and editors of www.mylro.org, a Romanian

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Ad watchdog slaps cellphone, popcorn vid maker on the wrist

False advertising! (From a YouTube video by mrvmtz that appears to debunk the claim.)

Remember those videos from a while back that showed groups of friends pointing ringing cellphones at popcorn kernels, which then popped, implying phones emit enough radiation to heat kernels to 300 degrees Fahrenheit (the temperature at which popcorn pops)? And then remember how those videos turned out to be a viral marketing hoax? That was fun, wasn't it?

Well, the fun is over. Today, a short five months after the videos were revealed as a phony, the National Advertising Division (NAD) of the Council of Better Business Bureaus released a statement (PDF) that whips a ruler across the knuckles of Cardo Systems, the company that released the videos.

"In non-traditional media, to the extent that advertising claims are communicated, advertisers are required to substantiate those claims with competent and reliable scientific evidence," said the statement. Which means you can't just totally make stuff up to scare people into buying your products.

The original videos are no longer publicly accessible, suggesting that Cardo may have been sufficiently chastened.

And they say industry self-policing doesn't work!

Still, these NAD guys may be tough, but I'd take them any day over the riotous crowd of mommy bloggers that set angry fire to this Motrin ad. The ad dared to poke fun at the idea of wearing your baby in a sling, and then compounded its sin by suggesting that baby-wearing may lead to back pain. Motrin, seriously, next time you want to claim that funny-looking things look funny, or that carrying a heavy weight on your back for hours could hurt it -- make sure you substantiate.

— David Sarno

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Escape Clock Lets You Escape Your Wake-Up Call

By Charlie Sorrel

This is the Escape Clock, from Argentine designer Santiago Cantera. Details about this concept alarm clock are so sparse that some other writers have simply started making up features. We're fully aware of the irony of inventing extras for a non-real product, but mistaking the bottom view of the clock (top left in picture) for a set of wireless speakers (and "dock") is, well, escapism.

What we can infer from the picture, though, is that a quick whack on the top will put this clock into snooze mode, and that the LED display is big. Also, the clock looks like a giant escape key.

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TiVo Delivers Domino’s

Late last night, broadband-connected TiVo Series2/3/HD owners may have stumbled upon the new Domino’s widget. While we first caught wind of this in regards to the Austrailian TiVo service, US TiVo subscribers are first to tap into Domino’s online ordering system - requesting pizza from the comfort of their couch. However, I imagine online ordering via a web browser will still be more efficient. And my laptop is usually with me on the couch. (Not to mention, we haven’t ordered Domino’s in years. Though their new subs got my attention.) In a vacuum, this functionality isn’t so compelling. However, as part of the larger picture these sorts of practical (?) interactive experiences expand TiVo’s value prop and competitive differentiation. When giving the app a spin this morning, I discovered one of the first areas in need of improvement… Where’s the scheduled delivery option?

New MacBooks Have HDCP, Gives iTunes Purchases Less Freedom

By Elaine Chow

High Definition Content Protection—the annoying DRM-y thing that's supposed to stop people from copying hi-def stuff as it travels over a card-display connector— has apparently, and unfortunately, come to Apple's MacBooks. HDCP is now included on new MacBooks to protect iTunes Store media, though it seems that only some of the content is actually HDCP-aware. A high school teacher was unable to play Hellboy 2 on his classroom's projector with his new aluminum MacBook, but other purchased media (such as Stargate: Continuum and Heroes episodes) worked just fine. Perfect. Because copyright protection is all about inconveniencing those who actually bought their stuff legally? [Ars Technica]

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Developer strikes it rich with iPhone game

By Brandon Griggs
CNN

(CNN) -- With its glassy touch screen, powerful graphics, crisp sound and tilt feature, the iPhone is more than a smart phone for some users -- it's a portable entertainment system.

"Trism" developer Steve Demeter demonstrates his game via webcast to CNN.com's Nicole Lapin.

It's also become a potential gold mine for entrepreneurs who create games for the device. Just ask Steve Demeter, developer of the popular puzzle game "Trism."

A former ATM software designer for a large bank, Demeter created "Trism" in his spare time and pitched it to Apple last spring. The company made the game available for download with the July launch of its App Store, an online provider of applications for its iPods and iPhones.

Priced at $5, "Trism" earned Demeter $250,000 in profits the first two months.

"It's done phenomenal business," said Demeter, 29, who lives in the California's San Francisco Bay area. "I'm very honored that so many people would enjoy my game. I get e-mails from 50-year-old ladies who say, "I don't play games, but I love Trism.' That's the coolest thing."

It can take dozens of professional developers and millions of dollars to create a video game for a traditional console such as a PlayStation or an Xbox. But the iPhone and the App Store have helped democratize game development by opening the field to any software coder with talent and a clever idea, industry observers say.

"A single one of these titles can be turned around for pennies by comparison in just weeks by a single hobbyist working in their off-hours," said Scott Steinberg, publisher of DigitalTrends.com and author of "Get Rich Playing Games." "The overhead and barriers to entry are so low that virtually anyone can afford to take a crack, if not several, at hitting a home run."

Demeter took his crack after attending an iPhone conference in the summer of 2007. He spent months afterward brainstorming, by himself and with friends, about how to create an original game for the device. Once he got the idea for "Trism" in February he spent another four months coding the game on nights and weekends.

The result is a puzzle game, like "Bejeweled," in which players manipulate a colorful grid of triangles. Players score points by lining up three or more like-colored triangles in a row, with an iPhone twist: The triangles rearrange themselves depending on which way the player rotates the phone.

"I did the game myself, basically. I had a buddy of mine who actually came up with the name 'Trism.' I paid him a couple of grand. But other than that it [was] just me," Demeter told CNN. "It's a very simple-to-learn, hard-to-master puzzle game. It wasn't as hard [to develop] as a 3-D, gun-and-battle kind of game. But for the one-man team that I was, it was definitely a challenge."

Demeter quit his bank job two months ago and has launched a company, Demiforce, to develop more electronic games. Now he has a salaried staff, five games in development and two coming out by Christmas, including a spinoff to "Trism" called "Trismology."

"Apple has made it so easy to put [game publishing] in the palms of developers," he said. "You just make it and then you submit it to Apple. If you have a relevant, fun game or application, I don't see any reason why it shouldn't be approved."

Developers earn 70 percent of App Store proceeds from the sale of their games, with Apple taking 30 percent.

The field is getting crowded, though. There now are more than 1,500 iPhone games available from the App Store, up from about 900 two months ago.

"It's a rich and promising vein that several independent game publishers have been able to successfully tap," said DigitalTrends' Steinberg in an e-mail interview. "However, success stories remain the exception, not the norm -- as with any gold rush, what we're presently seeing is a massive number of prospectors looking to stake their claim.

"Many of the overnight successes we've witnessed enjoyed the benefits of timing and visibility, advantages quickly being eroded due to market oversaturation," Steinberg added. "Let's put it this way: I wouldn't tell anyone to quit their day job just yet. As with any Cinderella story, chances of recreating this kind of success are few and far between."

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