ATBOM

On September 22, 2010 Sony rolled out PS3 update 3.50 which brought the ability to watch Blu-ray 3D movies to the console, and in-game Facebook support.  But what they've also done is enabled disc-less Netflix streaming for their console!!!!!  Wait...not for the US consumer, just Canada.   IGN is reporting that coinciding with the launch of Netflix in Canada on Sept. 23rd, Sony has enabled Canadian users to stream Netflix to their console without the need for a disc.

Roku announced yesterday the introduction of three new players , the Roku HD, XD and XD|S.  These three new units are smaller than previous units, feature 1080p capabilities and are cheaper than previous units ranging from $59 to $99.99!!  Let's be clear, the XD and XD|S feature 1080p capabilities while the HD will play up to 720p.  But, this is a significant boost to the previous lineup.  But, the goodies don't stop there...Roku has introduced an instant replay feature that will jump back 7 seconds in the video that you are watching at the push of a button.  If you own a Tivo or a DVR this is a feature that you're probably already familiar with.  It's a great feature when someone in the house yells "Whoa, did you see that?" If you are familiar with the Roku devices, they allow you to stream web content to your TV.  A year ago, Roku only had Netflix and Amazon Video  were available as channels.  Today, there are around 50 channels...

Yesterday brought the official launch of Netflix to Canada, but the launch was marred by an incident in which actors hired by Netflix gave interviews to the media, while still in character.  Characters including stereotypes like mother, film buffs, tech geeks and couch potatoes.  The embarrassment for Netflix, of course is that the press found out that these people were discovered to be phony. But, this is where Netflix gains some points.  In a post on their blog, Netflix owned up to the fact that they "blew it."  They came clean, which is commendable.  It turns out that Netflix had to file for a "documentary" permit in order to get the streets closed off in Canada where they were hosting their launch event.  As a result, they opted to shoot a corporate video which included a mock documentary using the hired extras.  Somewhere along the way however, the extras were given improper instructions to talk to the media and gush about their love f...

Microsoft has unleashed Internet Explorer 9 Beta on all of us today.  While slick, I had to write this post in Chrome, because the Beta would not allow me to edit Blogger's text boxes. :-(  Regardless, the new sparse look of IE9 is extremely slick.  Plus the added option of allowing you to drag a website's icon from the address bar to your task bar to create Bookmark Applications is pretty sweet.  It's a Beta, though.  So, beware. Get it here .

Today, Google launched Google Instant, the first major update in 12 years to their search interface.  As many articles on the Internet will explain to you today...this feature is pretty damn cool.  Google has always wanted to create a search engine that essentially could read your mind.  So, in addition to popping results up on the screen instantly, they've added a new predictive type feature that tries to guess what you are looking for and displays it in grey (in addition to the drop down that they've always provided).  Although it remains to be seen if Google is truly customizing their results to individual users, I did a quick ABC test to see what my results would be.  I must admit, it did seem pretty customized to my own personal searches. So, below you will find my results.  These are the suggested sites that Google Instant provided me after typing just one letter.  I invite you to share your results. A - Amazon.com B - Best Buy C - Craigsli...

So, today Google hosted a doodle that was made up of several balls that moved when you hovered over them.  Nice.  Pointless?  Maybe not. For me, it allowed me to quickly test how the world would see Google, today.  Many people would be like "What are you talking about, I didn't see that?"  Those people would be using Opera as their browser.  For some reason, when I loaded Google in Opera, today.  There were no wonderful moving balls. On the other hand, Internet Explorer showed the balls moving in all their glory...Oh wait...No, they didn't.  See, in Internet Explorer the balls that made up the logo moved, but stayed the same size.  Only when browsing in Chrome (Google's own browser) or Firefox did the balls not only move, but grow in size almost appearing to come towards the viewer. Sadly, this means that many people will not witness the full wonder of today's doodle.