News Archive for 08/03/07

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Classic TV shows coming to Disney.com

03/07, 6:40pm

Classic Disney TV shows

Disney has announced that it will begin offering classic TV shows over the internet via its website. The company already sells full-length feature films and modern hit TV shows through Apple's iTunes Store, but classic shows which still remain unnamed will debut directly on Disney.com, according to the New York Times. "In the near future, you'll see more of that product available on Disney.com, either for free or through some sort of subscription," said Roger Iger, CEO of Disney. "Providing physical goods on DVD is tougher and tougher these days because shelf space is limited."

iPhone SDK restrictions "troubling" to some

03/07, 4:00pm

iPhone SDK restrictions

Apple yesterday unveiled its forthcoming iPhone Software Development Kit (SDK) during a town-hall meeting on its campus in Cupertino, but developers who read the company's own iPhone Human Interface Guidelines say the SDK comes with several troubling restrictions. TechCrunch reports that VoIP services are "basically out of luck," and developers can only use published APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) according to Apple's rules. The most significant limitation, however, is the fact that third-party iPhone applications can never run in the background and will immediately quit when users 'leave' the application to perform another action -- such as making a call.

ShadesCases ships Shades for iPod touch

03/07, 1:30pm

Shades for iPod touch ship

ShadesCases has begun shipping its Shades cases for Apple's iPod touch. The new cases keep the same thin look as the originals, measuring just .4mm thin and weighting 0.5-ounces. The cases feature built-in clear screen protection that allow users to operate the multi-touch screen interface, and come in 10 different colors ranging from black to silver. Shades cases for iPod touch are priced from $17, and are designed to show the iPod's unique design without adding bulk or hindering usage.

[U] BBC iPlayer for iPhone launches

03/07, 9:05am

iPlayer for iPhone active

(Updated with BBC commentary) The early indications of a beta iPlayer client for the iPhone have been confirmed. Beginning today, mobile visitors to the iPlayer website can now watch a limited number of BBC TV shows, such as Whistleblower. The video has been specially converted to cope with the limitations of Apple's Safari browser, which cannot play Flash; it is most likely then that episodes are being encoded in streaming QuickTime.