Hulu Debuts 'Coming Soon' Feature, Obama and Bill Gates Back Caring Site
Posted Nov 3rd 2009 11:23AM by Warren Riddle
Highlights from this morning's other big tech headlines....
- Yesterday, Hulu debuted its new Coming Soon feature, which lists upcoming episodes and sends e-mail alerts when new shows are released. Real cool, Hulu. Get us hooked with awesome new features right before you make us pay for them. [From: CNET]
- Nielsen numbers indicate that while Blu-ray sales continue to steadily and significantly climb, the overall numbers still pale in comparison to those of regular DVDs. Some major players, including Best Buy, LG, and Samsung, will be providing an alluring and competitive new feature with their devices, though, by enabling live video streaming from online rental services. [From: The Wall Street Journal]
- Politics Online is seeking a few heavyweights, including President Obama and Bill Gates, to back a proposed new Web site called Hope Plus that would be a "global eBay for caring" by offering super deals on sunbeams, rainbows, and unicorns. Seriously, though, the networking site would attempt to bring people together in order to perform needed social services, like building homes and cleaning the environment. [From: BBC]
- The Department of Justice recently disagreed with the American Booksellers Association's contention that online price wars involving major retailers are "anticompetitive," but Simon & Schuster is offering some new competitive deals of its own. The publisher has decided to release individual chapters of the Dr. Oz (of Oprah fame) 'You' series starting at $2. [From: Fast Company]
- Last week, after being oblivious to the true nature of the show, Microsoft bailed on its obligation to sponsor an upcoming 'Family Guy' special because of the episode's typically raunchy material. Proving that Warner Bros. is infinitely cooler than Microsoft, the special will now be sponsored by the studio's upcoming film, 'Sherlock Holmes,' starring Robert Downey Jr. [From: Seattle PI]
- Twitter rolled out its new Lists for (almost) everyone last week making it much easer for folks to follow different genres and groups of people. The site is also reportedly set to make the feature even better by creating Twitter list widgets, which you can embed anywhere for quick and east access to your favorite posters. [From: Download Squad]
- Jailbreaking an iPhone lets a user customize features and add capabilities, but it also makes the device vulnerable to hackers. One Dutch hacker recently targeted jailbroken iPhones, commandeered them, and then charged the owners ransom. The hacker charged almost $10 per gadget, which given the fanatical devotion of Apple owners, seems a little amateurish. [From: Ars Tecnica]