The original Nintendo Entertainment System is a pretty strange choice for a gadget to redesign, what with it being a couple decades old and everything, but you can’t argue with how slick the reNESED concept design is.
No, it’s not free, but for Netflix fans, the new Roku set-top box should be a big hit. Netflix announced that it will begin selling a $99, hardcover-book-sized device from the California startup Roku that allows people to watch more than 10,000 titles on-demand, without waiting for those mail-order DVDs. That’s about ten percent of the total Netflix library - way more than you’ll get from Verizon or Comcast.
The selection isn’t fantastic, but there are plenty of good older movies on the list. The quasi-catch is that you must have an active Netflix account to maintain access to that library. But that’s obvious.
Under this program, users ranging from hardware enthusiasts to mainstream gamers can partake in configuring and building their own gaming-grade mobile solution. The OCZ DIY program enables users to purchase an unconfigured notebook and ultimately customize the system to their needs with the help of guides and direct support.
Actor and dancer Patrick Swayze, star of such hit films as “Dirty Dancing” and “Ghost,” has been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer but is responding well to treatment, his publicist said on Wednesday.The 55-year-old performer was working during his treatments, publicist Annett Wolf said, dismissing reports in the tabloid media that portrayed him in grave condition with only weeks to live.
Wolf issued a written statement from his physician, Dr. George Fisher that said: “Patrick has a very limited amount of disease and he appears to be responding well to treatment.”
“All of the reports stating the timeframe of his prognosis and his physical side effects are absolutely untrue,” Fisher said in the statement. “We are considerably more optimistic.”
Some of the largest book publishers in the world are stripping away the anticopying software on digital downloads of audio books.The trend will allow consumers who download audio books to freely transfer these digital files between devices like their computers, iPods and cellphones — and conceivably share them with others. Dropping copying restrictions could also allow a variety of online retailers to start to sell audio book downloads.
The publishers hope this openness could spark renewed growth in the audio book business, which generated $923 million in sales last year, according to the Audio Publishers Association.
Random House was the first to announce it was backing away from D.R.M., or digital rights management software, the protective wrapping placed around digital files to make them difficult to copy. In a letter sent to its industry partners last month, Random House, the world’s largest publisher, announced it would offer all of its audio books as unprotected MP3 files beginning this month, unless retail partners or authors specified otherwise.
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