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CES 2009: Opera Flaunts Device 9.7 SDK, Browsing on Wii Expected to Improve

Pulkit Chandna — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 08:14:18 -0600

It took nearly the whole of last year for Opera Software to develop version 9.7 of its Device SDK. Now that the SDK is ready, Opera has decided to flaunt it blithely at CES. Among the major additions to the SDK is Opera Link, which “continuously synchronizes your bookmarks and Speed Dial between any computers, mobile phones and now devices.”

The future of the internet is in providing an experience that traverses various platforms and so Opera has made a decent start with Opera Link. Cnet expects the Opera Device 9.7 SDK to shine brightest on the Wii’ Internet Channel as it will allow Wii users to easily circumvent the console’s tedious input method.

The 9.7 SDK also brings along a much smoother hardware accelerated version of Opera Zoom. The SDK is available to all device manufactures interested in offering an enhanced internet experience on their devices.

Is Sony Preparing for a Corporate Metamorphosis, Job Cuts?

Pulkit Chandna — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 20:00:07 -0600

Beleaguered Japanese electronics giant Sony is mulling drastic changes to its corporate structure, according to the Times of London. It is on the verge of shutting down many of its Japanese factories and important divisions. The world is gradually becoming inured to hearing about job cuts – if not job cuts themselves - as the global economy sinks deeper into an apparently abysmal financial quagmire. And it is very likely that the next major news of job cuts will come from Sony; it had announced last month that it was going to hand pink slips to 16,000 employees.

Sources within Sony told the Times of London that Sony’s Japanese operations will bear the brunt of the radical changes. The changes might take effect after the upcoming Consumer Electronics Show in the profligate city of Las Vegas. But analysts, especially who have been calling for an overhaul for a long time now, fear that the changes might just be too late in the day.

They want Sony’s boss Howard Stringer to enjoy greater power, if the company is to extricate itself from its old ways. The road ahead is pocked with impediments for the company as it will also have to outmaneuver the global financial crisis.

Image Credit: Ftd.De

Consortium Wants Consumers to 'Buy Once, Play Anywhere'

Pulkit Chandna — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 01:34:16 -0500

The incongruity between disparate media formats has denied us a truly universal media experience till now. This is simply not acceptable in this epoch of technology convergence. A consortium called the Digital Entertainment Content Ecosystems (DECE) is working on improving interoperability between different media and consumer electronic devices. The group includes HP, Intel, Microsoft, Paramount, Sony and Toshiba, besides other prominent CE heavyweights and film studios.

The group will shed more light on its plan, to have greater interoperability between devices, during the Consumer Electronics Show (CES). DECE will develop an industry standard, which will allow users to enjoy digital content across various devices without having to worry about compatibility issues.

If most people find merit in the notion that digital downloads are going to replace need for optical storage formats, they will also agree that digital content will have to offer a universal media experience like the hugely successful DVD. “We see this vision of 'buy once, play anywhere,” Mark Coblitz, senior VP of strategic planning at Comcast – a member of DECE, gave the gist of the plan.

DECE President Mitch Singer even welcomed Apple, which runs a popular digital distribution service iTunes, tied to its products, to join the consortium. Do you think that services like iTunes are doomed?

Image Credit: TMCNET