For those of you who read books written by former presidents regularly, you probably know the George W. Bush has a book out at the moment and is touring the country trying to sell it. Today, he’ll be stopping at Facebook headquarters in Palo Alto to have a few words with the world. Facebook users will have the opportunity to ask Bush questions – but good luck. This is the first time a U.S. President will appear on Facebook liveCheck out the live feed below.
Be kind, don’t swear, listen to the nice man, etcetera. Also remember that the book this man is promoting is several times proven plagiarized, and that just this past October http://wikileaks.org/ released a large batch of classified US military documents detailing 109,032 deaths in Iraq over a period of six years, “comprised of 66,081 ‘civilians’; 23,984 ‘enemy’ (those labeled as insurgents); 15,196 ‘host nation’ (Iraqi government forces) and 3,771 ‘friendly’ (coalition forces).” The man who was the President of the United States during the time these deaths occurred is now chilling with Mark Zuckerberg at Facebook in Palo Alto. Take that how you will.
Billionaire David Alki has announced the launch of the first internet-based HD TV service in the US called FilmOn. The FilmOn service is an internet based streaming service that can stream 30 free to air networks and is based in LA. I would assume that means that the network shows and other content are from LA affiliates.
The service offers content from networks like CBS, ABC, NBC, KCAL, FOX, KTLA, Russia Today, BBC News, RAI Sports, Dubai Sports, TVE Spain, SCUZZ , FLAUNT and other networks. To use the FilmOn service you have to download a free HDi Player from the FilmOn website. The service can send content to the PC or to mobile devices.
Users need a broadband connection and the monthly fee for the service is $9.95. The HD video needs a connection of at least 1Mbps and HD is supported on mobile devices with Dolby 5.1 sound as well. The service has been in beta for the last year and has several million viewers according to FilmOn.
Gadgets from the past keep popping up, don’t they? This time around, we’ve got the big brother to a camera that jumped onto our radar late laster year. The Cerevo Cam was only sold in Japan, but it featured the ability to upload your pictures to your favorite social networking sites, courtesy of its built-in WiFi and 3G connectivity. This time around, though, things get a little bit more real-time, as the Cerevo Cam Live! now features Ustream capabilities.
And, lucky for Cerevo, it’s the first digital camera to do so. The Japan-based Cerevo is happy with their new camera, which they’ve lovingly called the Cerevo Cam Live!. Owners will be able to livestream video from the camera, which will then be put on Ustream’s site, without having to upload from a PC or any other piece of hardware. Video will be streamed through the CIF, 352×288 reoslution, format, and the battery at a full charge will give you about two hours of livestream energy.
The best feature, though, is the fact that the Cam Live! will shoot videos in HD (1,280×720), WVGA (800×480), VGA (640×480), and “WEB” (320×240). And just in case you’re not a fan of options when you get done shooting a movie, or taking some snapshots, you’ll be able to let the camera upload to YouTube automatically. Physical feature wise, you’re still looking at a 9MP CMOS sensor, 802.11b/g/n WiFi, 3G HSUPA, a MicroSD card slot, USB port, and a 2.4-inch LCD display. And while the original was only sold in Japan, Cerevo plans to go international with the Cam Live! starting this Summer.
We’d heard that the NFL would be bringing the RedZone channel to phones this season, and it looks like Verizon was the highest bidder: NFL Mobile will launch on Big Red next month with the draft, complete with live streaming video of the event, on-demand video analysis from NFL Network, a pick-by-pick draft tracker, and other content. Once the season starts, customers will get RedZone, live streams of Sunday night and Thursday night games, on-demand video highlights and analysis, live home and away radio broadcasts, fantasy info, and the usual nasty ringtones and graphics. That’s a ton of content, and it certainly makes Sprint’s NFL package seem a little light in comparison — we’ll have to see what pricing is like and what devices this’ll run on closer to launch, however. Bring on the draft!
Update: We just confirmed that NFL Mobile will be exclusive to Verizon for the next four years, which means Sprint customers are out of luck. Verizon paid a pretty penny for the rights: the Wall Street Journal values the deal at $720 million.
Sure, OnLive has already done live demos of its “cloud gaming” service, but it never hurts to get another comprehensive 48-minute video on the subject. In a presentation at Columbia University, CEO Steve Perlman goes over the nitty gritty of how game streaming works, the OnLive user interface (11:53), an inevitable Crysis Wars demo (16:35), Brag Clips (17:49), and of course the iPhone app (19:31). Though cellphone integration is still limited to primarily spectating and social networking functions, PCs and Macs can get gaming via a 1MB browser plugin, or you can grab the microconsole streaming box for your TV, which Steve suggests might be given away for free with OnLive subscriptions. If you have any more unanswered questions, check out the audience Q&A at 33:14, and the full vid awaits after the break.
