Underground Media: Reloaded

I just bought a bluetooth speaker with a built-in FM transmitter . Now, I can take mobile phone calls in my car and hear the other person through my car speakers. But more importantly, I can stream LIVE internet radio through my car speakers from my mobile phone. And there's NOT A SINGLE WIRE to get in the way! WhooHaaa!!! (GI Joe-style - see below)

I was going to review netbooks for my next Urban Thought Collective blog, but screw that! I just installed Boxee on my HTPC, and although it's got a few bugs, I am FEELIN IT! Boxee is an internet startup that continues to get millions in venture capital, even *with* the current economic downturn. (That should tell you something.) The software is a quick download that, once installed, turns your PC into a TV that streams programming (youtube, hulu, Apple movie trailers, etc.) from the internet, your harddrive, your home network, or whatever. Sound like Apple TV ? Well it is, except you BYOH (bring your own hardware). There are a few other competitors in this space, but even as alpha-level software, Boxee STILL outclasses them all! At least it does for me, in the 15 minutes that I've played with it. We'll see how I feel in 24 hours...

Or so you'd think after watching the movie industry attack anyone who shows even the grainiest of bootlegs. Their latest target is the online video sites. It's all a game of Whack-a-Mole to them as the MPAA smacks one , and another pops up. Such is the ferocity of their assaults, you'd think they were starving in the streets. Somehow, I don't think so. In fact, I think they've had a record summer . To the tune of $4.1 Billion. I can't freaking believe it! They raise ticket prices, produce a record number of crappy movies with astronomical budgets, have a banner year in revenue and profit, and try to tear anyone who touches their content to shreds. The slimy bastards are having a non-stop drunken orgy and we're footing the bill. Reminds me a scene from Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas . It's hilarious that Youtube has it. I post it because it's appropriate, and to thumb my nose in their general direction. "I was in the middle of a f*c...

That's the rumor. And I hope it will put the iPhone in it's belly . Here's the Wired article , and a link to a blog entry with some details : "Other tidbits that I'm trying to recall based on questions I've recieved from readers: It's a modified Linux kernel There is integrated GPS and GoogleMaps (there were other things, I'll probably update this list once my memory is jogged by conversation during the show)" And the GPhone is a cool-ass name... UPDATE: Laptop Logic has a brief article which brings all of the rumors together and pieces together what may (or may not) be in store for the cell phone market in the next few months. The key words here are open, cheap, and Google. I'll be first in line!

Many out there think that Youtube is the pinnacle of streaming video content. Without a doubt it is the most popular, but Youtube along with it's Google parent are rapidly being left in the dust with regard to content. Youtube suffers from it's own popularity in many ways. They're under pressure for keeping out copyrighted content, their maximum ratings are PG-13, and they really haven't updated their UI in a while as their resources have been focused on taking down those pesky NBC clips. While Google/Youtube takes the heat, other streaming video sites have risen and developed under the radar. My current favorite, Dailymotion , is based in France and they honestly seem like they could give a sh*t about American copyrights. Nor do they seem to care about content ratings (excluding hardcore stuff). Even better is that guys like Youtvpc are using Dailymotion as a content server, and putting up a website to pipeline that content to viewers on-demand. TV shows, boo...