[UPDATE: The original video, with Dylan soundtrack, is still playing for me here at home in Daly City, California. But Network World's Paul McNamara, commenters, and others are saying that it's blocked for them. Sounds like the geolocation technology that YouTube uses has decided that Daly City isn't in the U.S. Or something like that.]

Back in October, shortly after Steve Jobs passed away, I uploaded a wonderful video to YouTube. It was called “To Steven Jobs on his thirtieth birthday,” and was a film created by Jobs’ Apple coworkers in 1985 to show at his birthday party. (Craig Elliott, who worked at Apple when it was made and shown, was the generous soul who shared it with me.)

I’d never seen the video or many of the Jobs images it included, and thought they deserved to be more widely known. Now they are: The YouTube version has been viewed almost 240.000 times.

But Paul McNamara of Network World noticed something about the video which I didn’t know: It was missing. As he explains, when he tried to play it, he got a message saying it violated Sony Music Entertainment’s copyright and was therefore blocked. After reading his post, I checked, and got the same alert that he did.

And…I guess the video did violate Sony’s copyright. The (perfect) soundtrack was Bob Dylan’s “My Back Pages.” SI didn’t regret uploading it–YouTube is bursting at the seams with copyrighted music. But if Sony took action against it, I’m not outraged. Just sad.

Here’s the thing, though: I just checked the video again, and it’s working again. For me, at least. As of right now. Here it is:

I see that it has a link letting you buy “My Back Pages” from iTunes, the Android Marketplace, or Amazon; maybe Sony is just as happy leaving the video up in hopes of monetizing it. If so, good!

But just in case: Here’s another version of “To Steven Jobs on His Thirtieth Birthday.” Without any audio at all. It’s nowhere near as good as the Dylan one, but far better than nothing…

There you have it, Microsoft’s new logo for Windows 8. It’s a dramatic departure from the logos of the past, where color and flashiness took an increasing role, and it looked less like a window and more like a flag. But why so minimalist? It accurately portrays Windows’ future.

Recognize the color? You should, as it’s one of the primary colors of the tiles in the Metro interface. The flag is now back to being a true window, and its size and shape are reminiscent of the tiled interface that will play such a big part in the platform from here on out. It says simplicity.

I have heard criticism already that the logo is an Apple copy, which I could not disagree more with. Microsoft’s Metro interface is built on simplicity, and really does not have an equivalent in OS X. I am the first person to criticize Microsoft for its blockheadedness in not adapting to trends in technology or in how it runs its business.

If anything, Microsoft is following a pattern that’s apparent across the entire technology industry, that less is more. Technology consumers no longer need flashy doo-dads to attract them; they have matured enough to want things to work more than just look good. Yes maybe Apple started this all, but Microsoft is hardly copying — it’s finally adapting, and we should congratulate them on it.

Windows 8 is a big departure from the “Microsoft Way,” thus it requires an completely different way of looking at the brand and a big shift from the past. This certainly captures it, and I am very impressed that the company seems to be thinking out of the box. For a company that was stagnant for so long, this is a breath of fresh air.

Good job Microsoft, you impressed me.

Consumers who may have otherwise snatched up the iPad during the quarter instead opted for the iPhone 4S, causing shipments to fall short of the company’s estimates. “The rollout of the iPhone 4S in October generated intense competition for Apple purchasers’ disposable income, doing more to limit iPad shipment growth than competition from the Kindle Fire and other media tablets”, tablet analyst Rhoda Alexander says.

While Amazon does not break out Kindle sales, IHS believes the device sold about 3.9 million units in its first quarter of availability. This pales in comparison to the 15.4 million iPads shipped in the same quarter, but the iPad ecosystem is much more mature. Instead compare it to the iPad’s initial quarter back in April through June of 2010. Apple sold 3.2 million units in its first quarter. Impressed now?

I would not call the Kindle Fire an iPad killer. At the same time, I think fellow Android tablet manufacturers now have some very strong competition: Amazon’s desire to link its entertainment services with a device at low cost is proving attractive to consumers.

The Kindle Fire isn’t for everybody. It’s basically a glorified e-book reader, with some tablet like characteristics. Either way, consumers are responding to it, and Amazon clearly has a success on its hands.

Visit Atari Oddities slideshow.

iOS is the future, and that future is now if you believe statistics released by advertising analytics company Chitika Insights on Friday. Its data shows that for the first time, Web market share for iOS surpassed that of Mac OS. This shouldn’t be surprising considering the 133 million-plus iOS devices sold during the year.

Since September of last year, Mac share has fallen about 25 percent to 7.96 percent of Web traffic, while iOS has exploded 50 percent in the same period to 8.15 percent of the market. Where did that growth come from?

It came in the months following the release of the iPhone 4S on AT&T, Verizon, and Sprint. That much wider distribution accelerated sales, and is likely the reason why iOS is now a larger share of Web traffic than Macs. This will only grow as Apple continues to build on its strengths in mobile devices, and reflects a broader shift among consumers where accessing the Internet via m0bile is commonplace.

“Apple’s habit of launching cutting edge gadgets year after year is driving consumers to newer products. Combining this aspect with the similar functionality of iOS devices and a lower price point, it may be that consumers are choosing to go mobile, instead of purchasing more expensive Apple computers”, Chitika writes.

This shift is not hurting Apple’s bottom line because profit margins for its iOS devices are about the same as it is for its Mac line, and on top of that, sales of those iOS devices are accelerating. Mac sales are still growing, although at a much slower pace, so Apple loses nothing.

I’m part of the problem: I never owned a Kodak digital camera. In fact, I’m not sure if I ever owned a Kodak camera–not counting disposable ones–period.

Still, my instinct upon hearing that Kodak is going to stop making digital cameras (along with video cameras and digital picture frames) was to take the loss personally. Kodak says it wants to license its legendary name to other manufacturers–as Polaroid, Sylvania, and other companies do–but it’s not going to be the same.

Kodak’s decision obviously relates to its recent bankruptcy. It would presumably prefer to be one of the top camera companies and raking in vast profits from the category. But even if the exit stems from financial woes, I’m not so sure that it isn’t, in its own way, a forward-looking move–a sign that Kodak is agile rather than a sign that it’s a failure.

After all, there’s plenty of evidence that camera phones are cutting into the sales and usage of basic, consumer-oriented digital cameras–the very kind that Kodak has focused on for many years. The point-and-shoot business probably isn’t going to grow; it’s going to shrink over time, and the products in it will get more commoditized and less profitable. Maybe it’s better to get out of the market than to continue to be part of the furious race to the bottom.

You can argue that Kodak should have been smart enough to invent the camera phone. You can point out that digital SLRs and other fancier stand-alone cameras–the sort that Kodak chose not to make–are still selling well. Given the situation as it exists, though, I think that Kodak is making the right decision, sad though it may be. And it’s quite possible that other companies that make point-and-shoots may follow its lead over the next few years.

[Art at top of post: Detail from 1965 Kodak ad.]

We believe you should have control when it comes to sharing your personal information. We also believe that actions speak louder than words. So, as a clear signal of our commitment to your privacy, we’ve deleted the entire collection of user uploaded contact information from our servers. Your trust matters to us and we want you to feel completely in control of your information on Path.

In Path 2.0.6, released to the App Store today, you are prompted to opt in or out of sharing your phone’s contacts with our servers in order to find your friends and family on Path. If you accept and later decide you would like to revoke this access, please send an email to service@path.com and we will promptly see to it that your contact information are removed.

[snip]

In the interest of complete transparency we want to clarify that the use of this information is limited to improving the quality of friend suggestions when you use the ‘Add Friends’ feature and to notify you when one of your contacts joins Path––nothing else. We always transmit this and any other information you share on Path to our servers over an encrypted connection. It is also stored securely on our servers using industry standard firewall technology.

We believe you should have control when it comes to sharing your personal information. We also believe that actions speak louder than words. So, as a clear signal of our commitment to your privacy, we’ve deleted the entire collection of user uploaded contact information from our servers. Your trust matters to us and we want you to feel completely in control of your information on Path.

We hope this update clears up any confusion. You can find Path 2.0.6 in the App Store here:http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/path/id403639508?mt=8

Good. (Seems to me, though, that most of the “confusion” here was on the part of Path, not the people who were displeased…)

Good news for Amazon Prime members: Amazon.com has signed a deal with Viacom that gives its Amazon Prime Instant Video service access to a lot more stuff–from Jersey Shore to Dora the Explorer. It now offers more than 15,000 streaming videos to Prime members at no additional charge.

Netflix seems to be shy about disclosing the number of streaming videos it has–its FAQ just says “thousands”–but Roku’s site says it’s “over 20,000″ and I’ve also seen a figure of 25,000 quoted. In either case, Amazon Prime, which started out a year ago with just 5,000 titles, appears to be closing in.

But Amazon still isn’t quite marketing it as a Netflix archival. The video streaming is a freebie for those of us who pay $79 for discounted shipping of physical products, not a standalone service with a standalone price tag. That lets it float under the radar and makes it sound like a bountiful bonus rather than a skimpy selection.

My guess is that at some point, Amazon will start treating Prime Instant Video like it wants to take on Netflix in a seriously manner. That’ll presumably involve offering it at a similar (or lower?) monthly price.

The logical time to do so is when the catalogs have roughly the same quantity of movies and TV shows. I wonder if it’ll happen by the end of this year?

We’re just a few weeks out from Sony’s U.S. PlayStation Vita launch, so now’s a great time to review what it is, how it works, what it’ll cost, what’s under the hood and what you’ll probably need to buy a la carte. Ready, set…

What’s a ‘PS Vita’?

A device formerly known as NGP, or “Next Generation Portable.” Sony announced this successor to its PlayStation Portable dedicated gaming handheld on January 27, 2011 (it had been rumored for months) with that unsightly codename. Six months later at E3 2011, the company revealed the device’s much smoother name would be “PlayStation Vita” (the Latin word vita means “life”).

What’s So Special About It, Design-Wise?

The Vita retains the PlayStation Portable’s hockey-rink-style shape, but it’s slightly wider and taller. That’s to accommodate the super-sized 5-inch, 960 x 544 pixel, OLED capacitive multi-touch screen capable of displaying up to 16.7 million colors. By comparison, the Nintendo 3DS’s top screen is 3.53 inches, the PSP’s screen is 3.8 inches and the Galaxy Nexus smartphone’s screen is 4.65 inches (the only smartphone I’m aware of with a full 5-inch screen today is Samsung’s unreleased Galaxy Note). The spec to pay attention to here is OLED (organic light-emitting diode), which means the Vita doesn’t need a backlight, thus improving contrast ratios and allowing for the display to be housed in a thinner, lighter design (the Vita weighs just 260g — that’s 20g less than the original PSP).

While Sony’s eschewing 3DS-style features like stereoscopic 3D (I say wisely) or dual screens, their contribution to the “look, innovation!” pool is the Vita’s rear capacitive multi-touch pad, a back panel wallpapered in Sony’s trademark face button symbols that your fingers can “tap” while wrapped around the handheld. You can use the rear pad to “shoot” the ball in a Vita game like FIFA Soccer, for instance, or to “zoom” the sniper rifle in a game like Uncharted: Golden Abyss. Oh, and the unit includes Sony’s six-axis motion-sensing system (a three-axis gyroscope plus a three-axis accelerometer).

In the “standard features” department, the Vita includes both front and rear facing VGA (640 x 480) cameras, stereo speakers, a microphone, a d-pad and four PS-style face buttons, Sony’s classic PlayStation button, “start,” “select” and volume buttons, a rechargeable (non-removable) Lithium-ion battery and built-in Wi-Fi (3G + GPS optional). Slot-wise, you’ve got a place to stick in PS Vita game cards, one for memory cards (the Vita lacks inbuilt storage memory), a SIM card slot (3G, GPS), a headset jack, a multi-use port (mini-USB) and an accessory port.

The Vita also includes dual analog sticks, and by “sticks,” I mean actual raised control columns with convex-shaped grips (contrast with the flush nubs on the PSP and 3DS). While Nintendo plans to sell a cradle-style peripheral for the 3DS that adds a right-hand joystick, the Vita’s the only gaming handheld on the block with dual analog sticks built-in.

What’s Under the Hood?

The Vita employs an ARM Cortex-A9 MPCore processor and a PowerVR SGX543MP4+ GPU. To put that in context, Apple’s A5 processor (used in the iPad 2 and iPhone 4S) is based on ARM’s Cortex-A9 core architecture, and you’ll also find the dual core version of PowerVR’s SGX543MP technology in those devices (the ’4′ in the Vita’s GPU indicates the quad-core version, and the ‘+’ refers to features designed specifically for Sony).

How powerful is it really? Sony’s made several comparisons to the PlayStation 3. They don’t mean spec-for-spec, of course, just that the Vita’s games are expected to look much like PS3 games, detail-wise.

What Colors Does It Come In?

Sony’s offering the Vita in one color only at launch: “Crystal Black.”

Will My PSP Games Work?

The PS Vita will play PSP games, but won’t take the PSP’s UMD game discs, so if you want to play PSP games, you’ll have to buy and download them from the PlayStation Store. That said, you’ll have the option use the Vita’s second analog stick in select PSP games (to pan the view around in a first-person shooter, say) by simply remapping the controls.

Will It Support My Favorite Social Network?

Probably. While these are all “coming in early 2012,” Sony says the Vita will eventually have access to Facebook, Twitter, Skype, Flickr and Foursquare via freebie app downloads from the PlayStation Store.

What’ll It Cost?

The basic Wi-Fi model runs $249.99, while the version with integrated 3G will set you back $299.99.

How About Games?

While you’ll no doubt be able to buy games for less once developers have bite-sized Vita content up on the PlayStation Store, the average going price for a Vita game is currently $39.99 (a handful are $10 more, others are $10 less).

What Are the Launch-Day Titles?

From Sony Computer Entertainment America: Hot Shots Golf: World Invitational, Super Stardust Delta, Little Deviants, ModNation Racers: Roadtrip, Wipeout 2048, Uncharted: Golden Abyss, Escape Plan and Hustle Kings.

From third-party publishers: Army Corps of Hell (Square Enix), Asphalt Injection (Ubisoft), BEN10 GALACTIC RACING (D3), Blazblue: Continuum Shift EXTEND (Aksys Games Localization), Dungeon Hunter Alliance (Gameloft), Dynasty Warriors Next (Tecmo Koei), F1 2011 (Codemasters), FIFA Soccer (Electronic Arts), Lumines Electronic Symphony (Ubisoft), Michael Jackson The Experience (Ubisoft), Rayman Origins (Ubisoft), Shinobido 2: Revenge of Zen (Namco Bandai), Tales of Space: Mutant Blobs (Drinkbox Studios), Touch My Katamari (Namco Bandai), Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 (Capcom), Virtua Tennis 4: World Tour Edition (Sega) and just announced — Ninja Gaiden Sigma Plus.

What Else Do I (Probably) Have to Buy?

The Vita ships without built-in storage (like the PSP before it), which means you’ll have to buy proprietary memory sticks (from Sony) if you want to save games or download content from the PlayStation Store (some games may let you save to the game card itself, but not all). Sony’s price lineup Vita-brand memory cards is as follows: $20 for 4GB, $30 for 8GB, $60 for 16GB, and $100 for 32GB. Note that it’s possible to backup or transfer data between memory cards, but you’ll need a PC or PS3 (as intermediary) to do so.

If you opt for the pricier $299.99 3G model, you’ll have to pay AT&T for the privilege (AT&T’s the exclusive wireless carrier for the system). An “AT&T Data Connect” plan for the Vita runs $14.99 per month for 250MB and $30 per month for 3GB. Both plans have 30-day recurring opt out options and include complimentary access to about 29,000 AT&T Wi-Fi hotspots in the U.S. Note that the 3G feature is currently touted as a way to socialize with friends, sync news feeds, and play turn-based games — just like using your 3G phone tethered to your PC for Internet access, the connection won’t be fast enough to handle head-to-head racing sessions or first-person shooter square-offs.

You might want to budget $10 to $20 for a carrying case, too — remember that we’re talking a full five inches of OLED screen real estate you’ll want to protect.

Does It Support the PlayStation Network?

Of course, but what’s more (and unlike the PSP), PS Vita games now support PlayStation Trophies — Sony’s version of game achievements — too.

How Much Space Do Saved Games Take Up?

This varies by game, of course, but to give you an idea based on back-of-the-box specs, a game like Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 requires 4,096 KB, Uncharted: Golden Abyss needs 64 MB and FIFA Soccer will use a whopping 160 MB.

When Can I Actually Get One?

Both models go on sale in the U.S. on Wednesday, Feb. 22 (the system originally launched in Japan on Dec. 17, 2011).

[This post republished from TIME's Techland.]

It turns out that Path has already made the uploads opt-in for the Android app, and has submitted an iOS update that does the same to Apple’s App Store. Little by little, Morin is addressing the company’s actions–it uses the address-book info to find your friends on Path–and expressing regret for grabbing personal information off phone without permission. But he hasn’t explained himself to the satisfaction of all of Thampi’s commenters, and the Path Blog doesn’t yet cover the kerfuffle. It’s not clear that Path thinks this a particularly big deal.

I don’t doubt Morin’s word that Path was using address-book information for an innocuous, useful purpose. But that doesn’t get it off the hook: That information could be intercepted, or stolen off Path’s servers. Or maybe some Path users would simply prefer that their stuff not leave their phone without explicit permission. Path is, after all, a service that plays up the notion that plays up privacy. As its own site says:

Path should be private by default. Forever. You should always be in control of your information and experience.

I like Path and hope that it thrives–so I’ll be happy if this mini-controversy dies down quickly. A “We screwed up badly and here’s how we’re ensuring it won’t happen again” statement from the company would help.

And if we’re lucky, other developers are watching and making mental notes about the steps they should take to avoid making the news in the way that Path did today. It’s not all that complicated. In cases like this, asking permission is always smarter than asking forgiveness.