Microsoft preps Soapbox to compete with YouTube

Microsoft is preparing to go live with their new user-generated video service and is ramping up to take on YouTube in the near future.

Codenamed Warhol, the service's final name is said to be "Soapbox." It will debut on MSN instead of Windows Live, as many have expected, but will nevertheless be tightly integrated with Microsoft's MySpace competitor, Windows Live Spaces. The details of the new service are rumored to be very similar to those of YouTube, with a 100 MB upload limit from "almost any format," tags and categories, RSS feeds, integration of a Windows Live Spaces account, and the ability to embed videos on a web page or blog.

Aside from item-specific and submitter-specific RSS feeds, another item to note is the lack of any sort of length limits to the uploaded videos. In March of this year, YouTube folded to heavy criticism of copyrighted content being uploaded to the site by placing a 10-minute video limit on all user-uploaded videos that were not from a Director account—a Premium Content Creator account that allows professionals to post their own professionally-created videos to YouTube. This was done in hopes of discouraging users from attempting to upload full-length TV shows to the site, which really didn't eliminate the copyrighted content from being available, but toned it down a fair amount. So far, it doesn't appear as if Soapbox has such limitations, but that could change before the service goes live or soon thereafter.

Microsoft believes that it is already positioned to be a heavy competitor against YouTube for the user-generated video market. MSN's Todd E. Herman said in an interview that the game isn't about uploading, it's about availability and MSN is already good at making content available. Mr. Herman was very confident that while YouTube definitely "got to the party early," MSN's 4 million unique visitors per month would allow them to catch up in no time. Although he was rather vague in the interview, he definitely indicated that he thought they could outpace YouTube in no time as well, as MSN already considered themselves to be "out-TiVoing TiVo" by providing relevant news clips to viewers after broadcast instead of an entire news show to pick through.

Initial screenshots of the Soapbox page (not yet live) sure do look a lot like YouTube except with that signature Microsofty twist. What remains to be seen is whether Soapbox's interface provides the ease-of-use and visibility that will compel its video-sharing demographic to make use of the service over YouTube. Although Microsoft is confident that their 4-million-heavy MSN traffic will help them close in on to YouTube without a hitch, will it really? MySpace, which boasts overall traffic numbers around 50 million unique visitors per month, launched MySpace Video in March of this year to compete with YouTube. Although MySpace Video carries some very strong numbers itself, MySpace's ridiculously large following has yet to help them catch up to YouTube's numbers in the user-generated video market. In fact, after an initial spike, usage seems to be leveling out at just over half of YouTube's marketshare. Being the first to the party does indeed have its advantages, but for how long can YouTube hold the spot?

New Ipods

NANO:

Completely Remastered

A thinner design. Five stylish colors. A brighter display. Up to 24 hours of battery life. Just about the only thing that hasn't changed is the name. In 2GB, 4GB, and 8GB models starting at $149, iPod nano puts up to 2,000 songs in your pocket.

Look like a rock star:

Your music says a lot about you. So should your iPod nano. A super-slim design says you always have room for music — up to 2,000 songs, in fact. Durable anodized aluminum says you won't let the rough and tumble of everyday life ruin your groove. And one of five colors says whatever you want. Choose your hue and make a statement.

SHUFFLE:

One Size fits all

You know what they say about good things and small packages. But when something 1.62 inches long and about half an ounce holds up to 240 songs, "good" and "small" don't quite cut it. Especially when you can listen to your music for up to 12 continuous hours. In fact, iPod shuffle just may be the biggest thing in small.

Ready to wear

Clip it to your coin pocket. Clip it to your bag. No matter where you clip your skip-free iPod shuffle, you'll have instant access to music. And iPod shuffle's anodized aluminum enclosure goes with absolutely everything. Put it on, turn it up, and turn some heads.

Pics:

Archos' Latest Bag of Toys

Archos shows off 5 new media players

Archos has always made a name for itself when it comes to portable media players (PMP) and the new generation of PMPs are no exception. The new models include the 604, 604 Wi-Fi, 504, 404 and 404 Camcorder.

The 9.5 ounce Archos 604 brings a 4.3" (480x272) screen to the table along with a 30GB hard drive. The device can playback music, video and images along with PDF documents in a pinch (although not all PDF functions are supported). Battery life is rated at 16 hours for music playback and five hours of video playback. The 604 Wi-Fi adds wireless capabilities, an Opera-based browser and the ability to control the screen with not only the stylus, but also your fingertip. The device is rated for four hours of battery life when using Wi-Fi.

The Archos 504, like the 604, features a 4.3" (430x272) screen, but is slightly thicker, can be had with a larger hard drive (up to 160GB) and has longer battery life (17 hours audio versus 16 for the 604).

Next up is the Archos 404. This smaller, 3.5" (320x240) unit features a 30GB hard drive and weighs in at just 6.75 ounces. Its dimensions are also pretty small coming in at 3.9" x 3" x 0.59". For real-world impressions of the 404, you can read CNET Asia's review of the device. The Archos 404 Camcorder adds a 1.3MP camera to the mix and can also record video at VGA videos in MPEG4 format.

Pricing is only available for the Archos 604 and 404 -- they will ring up at $350 and $300 respectively and are available for pre-order on Archos' online store. Pricing and availability for the other three models will be announced at a later date.

It's quite interesting to see that Archos decided to add Wi-Fi capabilities to its 604. Wi-Fi is finding its way into more of our portable devices as witnessed by the immense popularity of the feature on the Nintendo DS. Nintendo just recently announced that it has surpassed the 2 million unique users mark on its Wi-Fi Connection service and has hosted over 70 million game sessions. The Nintendo DS, like the 604 WiFi, is available with the Opera browser in Japan although European and US support is still AWOL. Microsoft's new Zune will have a Wi-Fi connection, but unfortunately it appears to be limited to only sharing media with other Zune devices.

FHP Develops Four 'World's First, World's Best' PDPs

Fujitsu Hitachi Plasma Display Ltd. (FHP) has announced four new models of PDP. Based on the company policy "to develop world's first or best technologies" (Yoshiyuki Imoto, President and Director of the Board), the four models boast the respective features described below - first or best in the world.

(1) 60-inch full HD (1920 x 1080) model
The "world's first" 60-inch full HD model. Scheduled for volume production in November 2006.

(2) 50-inch full HD model
The "world's first" single scan full HD model. Scheduled for volume production in March 2007.

(3) 50-inch HD model
The model with the "world's most" number of pixels (1280 x 1080) among the 50-inch HD models excluding full HD products. Scheduled for volume production in October 2006.

(4) 42-inch HD model
The model with the "world's most" number of pixels (1280 x 1080) among the 42-inch HD models and also the "world's first" 42-inch PDP compliant with the Chinese HDTV standard. Scheduled for volume production in September 2006.

FHP's new production site "Plant No. 3" will come on-stream in October 2006. The operation of the new plant will double the current monthly output of 100,000 units (in terms of 42-inch panels) produced by "Plant No. 1" and the "Plant No. 2" in total to 200,000 units. In addition, the second production line at the Plant No. 3 will start the operation in summer 2007 to reach a total production capacity of 300,000 units per month.

Among the latest products, the first model to be produced at the Plant No. 3 is the 50-inch HD PDP listed as item (3) above.

FHP will begin the production of 42-inch full HD PDPs exclusively targeting the Chinese market from September. The company also plans to start the shipment of this model to the Japanese market in June 2007.

Asked whether FHP is willing to make an investment to build more plants, Imoto answered it is not yet determined and said "We intend to make investments step by step in proportion to the size of the business. I do not agree with the current trends that investments are always necessary." For example, as for the reduction in panel cost, he comments that "We may fall behind other companies in cost reduction enabled through the expansion of production scale, but we will get a step ahead of competitors in cost reduction by innovative technologies." He cited as the exemplary measures a process technology to take out multiple panels out of a single glass, single scan technology, and in-house manufacturing of data driver IC