Lala for iPhone: Soon, Hopefully!

A little over a year ago, I wrote about Lala’s extremely nifty music service and mentioned a version for the iPhone which the company said would be available soon. I couldn’t wait to use it…but “soon” never arrived.

But it sounds like “soon” may come…soon. Wired’s Eliot Van Buskirk reports that Lala expects its iPhone app to be available in the iTunes App Store by the end of the year. It’s contingent on Apple approving it, of course, and I can’t quite tell from Eliot’s story whether Lala has already submitted the app or just expects to do so shortly. But it sounds like it’s Lala for the iPhone with all the goodness I saw back in 2008: The ability to buy streaming-only songs for a dime apiece and downloadable ones at cheap prices–and to stream music that’s already in your library from Lala’s servers for free.

Lala told Wired that the app will also cache the last few hundred songs you’ve listened to on the iPhone, which would help address the one major limitation of music streaming: It doesn’t work when your device isn’t connected.

Lala’s been in the news a lot this week: On Wednesday, it announced an app that lets Facebook users give Lala music to their pals, and it has news coming next week that reportedly involves its music showing up in Google results.

I don’t think there’s such a thing as a music service that’ll make everybody happy all the time–at least not until someone comes up with one that lets you stream or download all the music you want and keep it forever for free. But between iTunes and Sirius XM and Rhapsody and Slacker and Pandora and umpteen other services, iPhone owners have access to more music via more types of services than users of any other handheld device. Now if Apple would just make it possible to listen to music delivered via non-Apple apps in the background while you’re using other apps…

Psystar Selling Software to Build Your Own Hackintosh

Psystar is about to become an even bigger thorn in Apple’s side. The company has announced software that would allow users to run Mac OS X and six other operating systems on a PC called Rebel EFI. If it sounds like virtualization software, you’re pretty much right.

The company is even going as far as to license this technology for use by other PC manufacturers. While I’m pretty sure most companies won’t touch this one with a ten foot pole until the legal issues are straightened out in court, you can buy the software for $49.99 from the company’s online store.

Not sure if you want to fork over the money? Psystar also has a downloadable demo version available, although it only allows for two hours of use. In all cases, the company warns it can not be held responsible for any data loss as a result of its use.

If anybody out there is brave enough to give this software a shot, please let us know. I’d love to hear about your experiences with it. Either way though, you have to hand it to the Psystar folks for showing absolutely no fear in continually taking on the world’s most notoriously closed tech company.

FCC Votes for Net Neutrality, McCain Wants to Stop Them

Well net neutrality fans, your enemies list just got one person bigger. John McCain is the latest to come out against the FCC’s work, and has even proposed legislation to stop the agency in its tracks.

On Thursday, the FCC approved a measure to begin the process of formalizing a set of net neutrality rules that would ban ISPs from selectively filtering or throttling content. Texas Rep. Barton tried to stop the FCC from voting on the measure in the first place by pleading with commissioners to stop the vote from occurring.

This was an exercise in futility: Chairman Julius Genachowski had already worked to seal the support of the two other Democratic commissioners, making approval all but certain before the vote occurred.

Enter McCain. The Arizona senator introduced the Internet Freedom Act, which would expressly prohibit the FCC from making rules on net neutrality in the simplest terms. Using the Republicans’ favorite phrase of late–”government takeover”–McCain said net neutrality would stifle competition and hurt the job market.

Much like Barton, McCain also took issue with the inclusion of wireless Internet in the FCC’s planned policy, saying the lack of regulation has helped the industry grow rapidly. It’s unclear if such a measure could pass: however at least 70 House Democrats have already written the FCC expressing concern over the proposal, Reuters reports.

It will be interesting to see how it plays out as net neutrality was one of Obama’s campaign priorities. You can bet there will be a lot of vote counting being done in the coming months: Republicans will have to get a super majority as I would almost expect the President to veto any legislation like this if it makes it to his desk.

Apple’s Windows 7 Bashing Begins Now

Hmmm! As I learned from All Things Digital’s Kara Swisher, even Apple ended up joining in the Windows 7 launch festivities today, in its own special way–by premiering three new “Get a Mac” ads that are specifically about the arrival of the new OS.

They’re very funny, very clever, very mean, at least somewhat effective, and–at least in the case of the first one below–unfair. (Windows 7 is a major improvement on Vista, and hey–Apple OS upgrades have been known to fix nagging problems with their predecessors, too.)

Also, while there are any number of sensible reasons for Windows users to consider switching to the Mac, avoiding the hassle of upgrading from XP to Windows 7 isn’t one of them. Unless Apple suddenly starts bundling its hardware with the OS for free.

Maybe it’s just me, but I’d be just as happy if the snarkfest that has been recent ads from both Apple and Microsoft were to fade away. (Microsoft’s latest Windows ads involve shiny happy people of all ages, but it has a enough of a tendency to careen between different advertising messages that I wouldn’t be stunned if it starts unloading on Apple again in upcoming ads.)

Chrome for Mac: Not Here Yet, But Use It Anyway

Here at the Web 2.0 Summit, a surprise guest dropped by this afternoon to be interviewed by cochair John Battelle: Google cofounder Sergey Brin. An audience member asked him a question that was on my mind, too: Exactly what’s going on with Google Chrome for the Mac, which still hasn’t shipped well over a year after the Windows version debuted?

Brin didn’t get defensive: “The timing…has been one of the disappointments of the Chrome project for me,” he said. (Then he said he was sorry the Windows and Mac versions hadn’t shipped simultaneously.) He also noted that he’s using Chrome for Mac himself in pre-release these days–even though it crashes more than he’d like. At another conference last week, I saw Google VP Bradley Horowitz using Chrome on a Mac, too; I suspect that there are legions of Chrome for Mac users at the Googleplex.

As Brin noted, Google doesn’t make it easy to find the pre-release version of Chrome for Mac–actually, it actively discourages non-developers from doing so. But he encouraged those in the audience here who were jonesing for Mac Chrome to download and use it. You can do so here.

Sergey’s right: Chrome for Mac is useful right now, but still needs work. My main problem with it is that it occasionally fails to load sites until I’ve pressed refresh a few times. I also can’t figure out why the Mac version of the browser has nine menus, vs. two in the Windows edition; it rankles me a bit, since Chrome’s outstanding quality is its simplicity. Even so, I’m spending a fair amount of time with this rough draft–when I’m on a Mac, I use it maybe a third of the time. But I’m still champing at the bit to get a version that’s truly ready for prime time. In 2009 if possible…

Can You Plagiarize a Store?

The first new Microsoft Store has opened in Scottsdale, and…it looks stunningly like an Apple Store. Same basic layout with computers lining the walls and on tables in the center with software and accessories in the back, same staff in brightly-colored T-shirts, same approach to window dressing. The one distinctive thing I see in the video below is the video wall, which–as rumored--wraps around the entire store. If someone kidnapped and blindfolded you, then took you here and removed the blindfold, you might think you were in an Apple Store for a moment until you noticed the computers weren’t Macs. (I can’t tell what brands are represented from the video, but they’re presumably washed with synthetic Unicorn tears.)

I hope the stores are a tremendous success, since it would be nice if Windows users across the nation got access to the level of hand-holding and instant tech support that’s standard at the Apple Stores. (Which, incidentally, aren’t perfect–for instance, I’d much prefer to pay at a register than have to track down a roving clerk with a handheld payment terminal–but have most Windows-centric stores beat in most respects that matter.) Judging from the lack of imagination displayed in the video, though, Microsoft should be put on some sort of extended mandatory hiatus from making snarky comments about Apple. Let’s say six months.

5Words: Microsoft goes into PC Business

Microsoft becomes a PC reseller.

Dell’s Adamo seen in public.

Microsoft Store looks awfully familiar.

Boot Camp’s Windows 7 support.

Let’s dismantle a Magic Mouse.

Nokia sues Apple over iPhone.

Best Buy getting Droid momentarily?

Why Google Social Search matters.

The tiniest terabyte ever seen.

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Blu-ray as an Xbox 360 Accessory, Says Ballmer. Wait, What?

Is Microsoft planning a standalone Blu-ray player to go with the Xbox 360? It would appear that way from a quote Gizmodo dug out from its interview with Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer.

Asked whether Microsoft will add a Blu-ray player to the Xbox 360, Ballmer said “Well I don’t know if we need to put Blu-ray in there—you’ll be able to get Blu-ray drives as accessories.”

On follow-up with Microsoft PR, Gizmodo got the same line that we’ve already heard from Microsoft, that its current plan is to support streaming video and on-demand movies from the Zune Marketplace. “As far as our future plans are concerned, we’re not ready to comment,” the handlers said.

A couple things to consider: First, if you watch the interview, Ballmer’s remarks aren’t as clear as they appear in quotes. It seems as if he’s throwing out the Blu-ray comment off-hand, not announcing a new product, and Ballmer is pretty guarded in the rest of the interview. Second, Ballmer has slipped up before. In June, he spoke of a new Xbox 360 model in 2010, leading to speculation that the Project Natal motion sensor would launch with a redesigned Xbox 360, and forcing a flurry of carefully-worded denials from Microsoft that any new console was on the way.

I would guess that Ballmer was merely talking about owning any old Blu-ray player on the side, but the wording of Microsoft PR is intriguing, because it’s not a firm denial. Maybe the company’s keeping its options open.

That said, I don’t think the Xbox 360 needs a Blu-ray player, especially an external one. Sure, it could allow you to launch movies from the console dashboard and sign into Xbox Live while watching a film, but those benefits seem negligible to me. Besides, Microsoft already bet on HD-DVD with an external player (pictured above), and it failed. If the Xbox 360 is supposed to live until 2015, as executives assert, Microsoft should stick with online video instead of saddling consumers with another technology that will ultimately be overshadowed.

Kindle Coming to PCs

Today’s Windows 7 launch mostly involved stuff we already knew about, but there was a “just one more thing”: Amazon is going to release a Kindle e-book reading application for Windows. It runs on XP, Vista, and Windows 7, and takes advantage of the new touch features in Win 7 to allow gestures for actions such as flipping pages. It uses Kindle’s WhisperSync feature to sync your book library up with any other Kindle-compatible devices you own.

It’s a welcome development, and pretty much a mandatory one for Amazon given that the books Barnes & Noble sells for its new Nook device can also be read on PCs and Macs. (No word on whether Amazon will release a Mac app; if it is, maybe it’s holding back the news a bit to avoid spoiling Microsoft’s party today.)

Few if any PCs are optimized for reading books, and I’ve never bought an e-book primarily to read it on a laptop. But at this point I’ve spent hundreds of dollars on Kindle tomes–and the more devices I can read them on, the merrier. Amazon says the free Kindle app will be available next month,

One World, One Kindle

That was fast! Two weeks ago, Amazon.com introduced a Kindle e-book reader with AT&T 3G wireless and the ability to download books in a hundred countries. It priced it at $279 and knocked the cost for the U.S.-only version down to $259. It seemed odd to keep the old version around at such a modest discount–and now it’s gone.

As Engadget’s Thomas Ricker is reporting, Amazon has now killed the old Kindle, marked the new one down to $259, and will be issuing $20 rebates to everyone who paid $279. As Thomas points out, this not only logically streamlines the Kindle lineup, but responds to the announcement of Barnes & Noble’s Nook, which will cost $259 and sounds like a more advanced device, at least in some ways.

Meanwhile, I lied in the headline of this post–there are still two Kindles. But it seems like a safe bet that the big-boy Kindle DX will get AT&T wireless (and probably a price cut) in the next few months. By the time the Plastic Logic Que ships, surely…

Windows 7 Ads With Grownups in Them

Maybe Kylie won’t be doing all the heavy lifting of marketing Windows 7 after all. With Windows 7′s official rollout, Microsoft has segued into a new twist on its “I’m a PC” tagline: “I’m a PC, and Windows 7 was my idea.”  As Microsoft ads go, I like this one–it’s less patronizing than most. On the other hand, it sure follows in the tradition of other Microsoft ad campaigns whose basic message was this: “Remember that product we told you was amazing a few years ago? It’s junk–upgrade now!”

Magic Mouse Manual Suggests OS X Update is Coming

Apple’s new Magic Mouse has a lot of people talking, but not just about its features. A tantalizing tidbit is tucked away in the hardware manual saying that the device requires OS X 10.6.2 or later to operate. Given the short time period that it takes customer orders to be processed, the folks at AppleInsider have surmised that an OS update could be released within days.

The Magic Mouse, which was announced yesterday, is a revised take on the mouse that adds multitouch gestures as input–eliminating the scroll wheel. While the device may require a Snow Leopard update to run, it is also compatible with Mac OS X 10.5.8 (Leopard) or later.

Beta versions of OS X 10.6.2 are reported to address some widely publicized bugs, including one which can cause user data to be deleted when logging in and out of a guest account. Other fixes address graphics and video display issues.

The 10.6.1 service pack was released in early September,  just weeks after Snow Leopard became available. It provided compatibility, security and stability fixes.

I’m usually very cautious about reading Apple’s tea leaves, but this one seems like a no brainer. I hope 10.6.2 will fix some of the random bugs that I have encountered.

Windows 7 Device Stage: Ready, Set, No Go!

So help me, I like Windows 7. Its emphasis on staying out of users faces whenever possible is a huge sea change that makes it the most pleasant version of the OS in eons. I’ve been running various pre-release iterations for a year now, and look forward to booting into the thing–a radical improvement over Vista, which usually had me gritting my teeth as I pressed the power button. Here’s a long and favorable review which I wrote for PC World.

But as Windows-reviewing pundits go, I’m relatively cautious. Windows 7 may be launching today, but there are things we won’t know about it until millions of people try to install it on millions of PCs, each of them unique. And there are other aspects of the OS whose success is contingent on work yet to be done by parties other than Microsoft. Like, for instance, Device Stage, the new feature which lets makers of cameras, printers, and other gadgets create customized user experiences within Windows 7.

When I wrote that PC World story a few weeks ago, I tried to review Device Stage and gave up: None of the gizmos I plugged in gave me the results that Microsoft was touting for Device Stage. The company told me that manufacturers were still readying their Device Stage support in preparation for Windows 7′s launch day. Well, that day is here–so I’ve been revisiting Device Stage on a couple of Windows 7 PCs. My experimentation is limited and unscientific. But so far, it’s left me completely disappointed with the feature.

Continue reading this story…

Twenty-Three Years of Windows Launch Oddities

Later today in New York City, Microsoft will be hosting its Windows 7 launch event. I won’t be there, but I have a good excuse: I decided to stay home in San Francisco and go to the last day of the Web 2.0 Summit to see Tim Berners-Lee speak. I hope everyone who makes the trek has a good time, but I’m also keeping my fingers crossed that nothing transpires that leaves me kicking myself for not attending. (Microsoft plans to stream the event live starting at 11am EDT, so those of us who aren’t there can check in on the festivities.)

In lieu of being at the 7 launch, I’ve been revisiting old clips relating to Windows launches past. Join me, won’t you?
Continue reading this story…

More About Google Audio

This morning’s rumor about Google launching a music service is gradually getting rounded out. Michael Arrington of TechCrunch has blogged about a LaLa and iLike press event scheduled for next Wednesday that he says involves the incorporation of those companies’ music services into Google results. Search for an artist on Google, and you’ll be able to stream music (for free, at least the first time around?) and download it (for  pay?) via relationships with the two music companies. Greg Sandoval of Cnet has a few more details, and says the news doesn’t involve Google unveiling a true music service of its own.

This doesn’t sound like a transformative moment for Google or for music. Actually, as described by Arrington and Sandoval, it sounds at least generally similar to a fun feature Yahoo has offered for a couple of years through a partnership with Rhapsody. (In Yahoo’s version, you can listen to 25 songs a month for free.)

Maybe there’s more to this than we know about just yet. But for now, the aspect of the deal I’m happiest about is the possibility of it putting some money in LaLa’s corporate pockets. It’s a wonderful service, and I hope it’s financially successful enough to stick around for a long time to come.

Lessons From Pay-What-You-Wish Gaming

Last week, two-man game studio 2D Boy made like Radiohead and let people set their own price for World of Goo, a game in which you construct gelatinous towers from cute little goo balls. The promotion, which has now been extended until October 25, is in celebration of the game’s first birthday.

2D Boy has now shared the sales figures, the range of prices paid, and the results of a buyer survey. Media buzz and word of mouth gave sales a hearty boost, reaching 57,000 downloads at an average of $2.03 per download, (over $100,000 even after Paypal’s 13 percent cut), but it’s more interesting to see what people said about 2D Boy’s pay-what-you-wish model.

Asked why they chose a particular price, survey respondents mostly said “That’s all I can afford right now” or “I like the pay-what-you-want model and wanted to support it.”

“How much the person feels they can afford seems to play a much larger role in the decision than how much the game is worth,” the developers wrote on their blog. Incidentally, most people said the game should normally cost $10, not the $20 it usually sells for.

The data is enlightening enough on its own, but there’s one point I want to bring up: Shortly after World of Goo was released last year, 2D Boy estimated that piracy rates were roughly 90 percent. Given the survey responses from the sale, I’ve got to think there’s a correlation between piracy and the feeling that a game’s price isn’t justified.

2D Boy doesn’t draw any conclusions, saying that other developers would have to try the idea under different circumstances to get a better picture of what’s happening. They’re right, because World of Goo is an exceptional game and a critical darling. But other developers should take this model for a spin to see if its legs are sturdier than goo.