On top of the sale, this week’s Blu-ray special is on the first four (of five) volumes of the top-notch anime series, Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood. Volume one, volume two, volume three, and volume four are all $19.99 each, 64% off the $54.98 MSRP. Volume five, the final volume, releases on August 2nd and is up for pre-order for $27.99, 49% off MSRP. I’d be all over this deal… if I hadn’t already (pre-)ordered all five volumes.
I’ve mainly moved on to Blu-ray instead of DVD these days, but some deals are just too good to pass up. The original series of Pink Panther films are some of the best comedies ever made, IMHO, and the original cartoon series is great too. And Amazon is currently offering The Pink Panther Ultimate Collection for just $34.99, that’s 83% off the $199.98 MSRP. I snapped one up for collection.
Disc 1: The Pink Panther Collector’s Edition ’64 Feature Film Disc 2: A Shot in The Dark Feature Film Disc 3: Inspector Clouseau Disc 4: The Pink Panther Stikes Again Feature Film Disc 5: Revenge of The Pink Panther Feature Film Disc 6: Trail of The Pink Panther Feature Film Disc 7: Curse of The Pink Panther Feature Film Disc 8: Son of The Pink Panther Feature Film Disc 9: Pink Panther 2006 (SONY) Disc 10: The Pink Panther Cartoon Collection Volume 1 Disc 11: The Pink Panther Cartoon Collection Volume 2 Disc 12: The Pink Panther Cartoon Collection Volume 3 Disc 13: The Pink Panther Cartoon Collection Volume 4 Disc 14: The Pink Panther Cartoon Collection Volume 9 Disc 15: The Pink Panther Cartoon Collection Volume 5 (Ant and the Aardvark) Disc 16: The Pink Panther Cartoon Collection Volume 6 (The Inspector) Disc 17: The Pink Panther Cartoon Collection Volume 7 (The Inspector Volume 2) Disc 18: The Pink Panther Cartoon Collection Volume 8 (Roland and Ratfink)
If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then Windows Phone 7 must be feeling pretty flattered in light of the new Android Market. As you can see, it seems to borrow from WP7′s ’tile’ motif quite liberally. Of course, the similarity is really only skin deep, but I have to admit on first glance I thought I was looking at a WP7 screenshot.
There are a slew of changes in this new Android Market, actually it seems not much didn’t change – the Android Developers blog has the details. It looks, and sounds, like a huge improvement over the legacy Android Market. Aside from being much more visually appealing, it provides new ways for exposing top apps, and highlights Google’s books and movies services.
Developers should like this new Market as it makes it easier to cross-promote applications, as well as streamlining the purchase process for users. So it makes it easier to promote your work, and reduces the friction in the sales process – which should hopefully increase sell through.
The new Android Market is in a phased roll out now to devices running Android 2.2 or later. Over the next few weeks, all Android 2.2+ devices should be offered the new market for download. In the meantime, check out the video below:
At this past week’s MobileBeat 2011 Conference in San Francisco, PayPal demonstrated an Android widget that allows users to transfer funds phone-to-phone using NFC (Near Field Communication). NFC is a very-low power, very-short range radio frequency communications technology, most commonly associated with ‘touchless’ credit card payment systems like Visa’s PayWave, MasterCard’s PayPass, some transit pass systems, etc.
NFC is also the basis for the expected next wave in payment systems – paying with your mobile device. The major credit card companies and technology vendors like Google are all lining up behind NFC. In the next few years you’ll probably find yourself paying for purchases by waiving your NFC-enabled phone at the NFC reader next to the register. Google Wallet is one such application coming to enable mobile payments. Our phones are slowly eating every other gadget (GPS, still camera, video camera, etc.), why not our wallets too?
The widget demo’d by PayPal allows you to send or request funds from another user, simply by holding your phones in close proximity. You simply enter the amount to send or request, then hold your phone up to the other user’s phone and wait for the buzz. Then both user’s enter their PIN to complete the transaction. (So you don’t have to worry about someone draining your account if you lose your phone, they need your PIN too.)
The widget currently works only on the Nexus S, as this is the only NFC-enabled Android phone currently on the market. But more NFC-enabled phones are coming, and PayPal expects the widget to be available later this summer. Here’s a short video of the widget in use:
Back in 2008, before the site’s hiatus, I covered TiVo’s launch in Australia. Since then they’ve had a lot of ups and downs, and lately mostly downs. The main investor, Seven Network, pulled back, and Hybrid Television Services, the TiVo licensee for Australia and New Zealand, laid off a majority of their staff. But there has been some good news, TiVo took the largest share of the DVR market in Australia in 2010. I just think the total sales were less than they were hoping for.
Despite the struggles, Hybrid TV Services claims that TiVo is in it for the long haul in ANZ. Hybrid is looking to the Australian government’s plans to disable analog broadcasts over the next few years as an opportunity. The switch to digital means that consumers will need digital-capable tuners, a roll TiVo is more than happy to fill.
In the meantime, hopefully Hybrid can sustain enough subscriber growth to keep the business viable and maintain the service for their existing subscribers, who are understandably tense after past events.
It’s no secret that I’m a long time anime fan, and it seems Amazon is out for my money. They’re currently running a sale on 233 anime Blu-ray and DVD titles – 49 Blu-ray titles and 184 DVD titles.
