By Michael Santo
Editor-in-Chief, RealTechNews

In February, Robert Scoble wrote that Microsoft researchers showed him something that made him cry. At the time, he couldn’t write about it, but it turned out to be this project, the Microsoft WorldWide Telescope.

It’s a desktop application, so you do have to download and install it. Think of it as a Google Earth for space. It’s dedicated to Jim Gray, the Microsoft Researcher who sailed out of San Francisco Bay in late January of 2007 and was never seen again. The first inklings of this project appeared in a 2002 paper he wrote with Alexander S. Szalay.

Before you ask: Windows only. Yep. You can run it on a Mac with Boot Camp, but …

In a press release, Microsoft chairman Bill Gates said:

“The WorldWide Telescope is a powerful tool for science and education that makes it possible for everyone to explore the universe. By combining terabytes of incredible imagery and data with easy-to-use software for viewing and moving through all that information, the WorldWide Telescope opens the door to new ways to see and experience the wonders of space. Our hope is that it will inspire young people to explore astronomy and science, and help researchers in their quest to better understand the universe.”

Microsoft is probably also thinking that the galaxy is much cooler than silly old Earth, and they don’t have to worry about security or privacy issues - or lawsuits - a la Google Earth or Google Street View.

Playing around with it … it’s cool. You pick something from a collection, and it scrolls around, or you can scroll yourself. It does need 3D acceleration, and although it will work with 1 MB 0f RAM, they recommend 2 MB.

Some of the coolness is shown above with Jupiter. Zoom in on something, right-click on it and you get more details. Just to be clear, it’s pre-release software, and you’ll run into bugs, such as artifacts and the like.

It does seem to be somewhat of a resource hog, as it sure slowed down my system while it was running. Still, I was impressed. It didn’t make me cry, but the images sure blew me away.

By Yan Fortin
Contributing Writer, RealTechNews

You’ve been using your cell phone for years, and up until recently, doing so securely was something most people took for granted. But as time flies by, new means of using mobiles to tap directly into someone’s life are becoming easily available on the Web… and the worse thing is, most of these tools are completely free.

It connects you to the world, but your cell phone could also be giving anyone from your boss to your wife a window into your every move.  The same technology that lets you stay in touch on-the-go can now let others tap into your private world — without you ever even suspecting something is awry.

New Web services and software allow people to track your every move and listen to what you say, even if you are not actively using your phone. Kindda makes the future of mobile communications depressing doesn’t it?

Cell Phone Spying: Is Your Life Being Monitored?

By Michael Santo
Editor-in-Chief, RealTechNews

In Monday’s post-earnings analyst / media conference call, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings said that Netflix users can expect a “modest monthly premium” if they want to rent Blu-ray Discs. Formerly the rental of high-definition discs was bundled into their normal fee.

Hastings said that since Blu-ray discs cost more, and since consumers are used to paying more for high-definition content in “every other channel”, Netflix is

planning on implementing a modest monthly premium for access to Blu-ray sometime this year.

You can hear that about 5 minutes into the conference call. The fee itself and the timing were unannounced.

They also spoke more about their streaming service and about the standalone LG set-top box expected in the second half of the year. They also mentioned that besides LG they have 3 additional partners, but did not disclose the new partners. Netflix did indicate that two of the new partners are major companies, while one is a small one.

While Netflix garnered a 36% increase in profits during the first quarter, analysts’ expectations were that Netflix would raise its outlook for the remainder of the year and top analysts’ earning estimates.

But Netflix matched, rather than surpassed the average earnings estimate of $0.21 per share and slightly lowered its previous projections for its full-year profit.

Netflix shares dropped more than $9 or nearly 24% to $30.03 on Tuesday.

By Michael Santo
Editor-in-Chief, RealTechNews

This isn’t a new idea (for example, China used text messages to warn citizens about Typhoon Kaemi in 2006), nor is the wrangling around it in the U.S. new, but on Wednesday an “emergency alert via SMS” plan finally received approval by regulators.

The discussion so far was prompted by the Warning Alert and Response Network Act, a 2006 federal law which requires upgrades to the emergency alert system.

Participation by carriers will be voluntary (I would expect them all to provide the service), as will participation by consumers, who will be able to opt-out.

The types of messages provided fall into three categories:

• National Alert: from the President, probably involving a terrorist attack or natural disaster.

• Imminent Threats: natural disasters like hurricanes, tornadoes or events such as university shootings.

• Amber Alerts

According to reports, the alerts would arrive with a unique “audio signature.”

We Say: Nice to see us finally catch up with China. Or at least, we will by 2010; the plan should be implemented by then.

By Michael Santo
Editor-in-Chief, RealTechNews

When we last visited Wal-Mart’s attempt at DRM-free music, they had only managed to get EMI and Universal Music Group signed up for the DRM-free portion of their store. They’ve now decided to go all-MP3, but they’re still stuck without Warner Music Group and Sony BMG, which are unfortunately the top two record labels.

Most likely they will eventually match Amazon MP3, which has all four major record labels signed, but it’s surprising that Wal-Mart made this move without working out deals - and that they haven’t been able to work out a deal since August. When Amazon MP3 launched it was understandable that they were missing labels, as they vowed to be all MP3 from the start, but Wal-Mart?

The store redesign means that only those with IE can use the new store; others using, for example, Firefox are greeted with the following message:

We notice you’re not using Internet Explorer. Other browsers may be able to access our original Music Downloads store which has fewer user features than our latest version but offers the same music. We will be making enhancements to our updated version in the future to support the Firefox browser. If you want to take advantage of all the features in our updated design now, please get the latest version of Internet Explorer.

Of course, since Firefox is my browser of choice, I fell back on IE Tab.

No Mac or Linux support for their download app; in fact, Linux isn’t even mentioned, and for Mac their site says:

At this time, it isn’t possible to shop and download songs directly from Wal-Mart Music Downloads to a Macintosh computer. However, you can transfer the MP3 files from a Windows computer to a Macintosh using a CD or other storage device.

How convenient for end users!

We Say: I suppose Wal-Mart isn’t all that worried about the challenge presented by iTunes; if they were, they might have pushed the store out when it was fully formed, instead of rushing it out; the lack of a) two major labels, b) alternate browser support, c) Mac and Linux support is pretty behind-the-times in this day and age (all right, all right, I know lack of Mac / Linux support is pretty common).

By Michael Santo
Editor-in-Chief, RealTechNews

Remember Microsoft’s Surface, the sort of Minority Report-type interface in a tabletop format? At CTIA on Tuesday Microsoft and AT&T announced that Surface will - well, surface - first at AT&T stores, in its first use in a retail environment.

In a press release, Ralph de la Vega, president and CEO, AT&T Mobility said:

“We are thrilled to bring this groundbreaking new technology to our stores so we can introduce customers to their mobile worlds in a very personal and easy way . We look forward to working with Microsoft to continue developing new ways for our customers to learn about the ever-growing lineup of mobile devices and applications.”

It’s also a way to hopefully get people to come in, right? Just to look and play with the darn thing?

But they do have interesting plans for the use of Surface. For example, potential customers can:

• Learn. Customers can review features of a particular mobile device by simply placing it on the display. Surface will recognize the device and provide a graphical overview of its capabilities. Customers will be able to place two devices side by side on the unit and easily compare their features.

• Explore. Customers view interactive coverage maps at the national, state, local or street level, using simple touch and hand movement to scale and move the maps, determining their coverage area.

• Customize. In the future, customers will be able to drag and drop ring tones, graphics, video and more by “grabbing” content with their hands from a menu on the display and “dropping” it into the phone.

Want to be one of the first to see it? New York City, Atlanta, San Antonio and the San Francisco area will be the first places to get it, on April 17th. Then it will expand “based on the success of the first phase of deployments.” Hmmm.

By Michael Santo
Editor-in-Chief, RealTechNews

Fortunately Amazon.com launched this today (4/2) so I can be assured it’s not a prank. At first, I wondered. But I tried it, so I can report that it works.

Amazon.com has launched “Amazon TextBuyIt,” a way to shop via your cell phone. You simply text either keywords (for example, I sent “Asus Eee”), UPC or ISBN to 262966, and you get a text message back with a list of matches. They you simply reply with the appropriate number to buy the item.

For example, when I sent my Eee message, I received a reply with two different Eees I could select as 1) or 2).

The list of commands you can use are:

x - buy item x
xd - item x details
m - more results
h - help

Once you reply back with a selection, you will receive a call asking you to confirm or cancel the order. The first time you make a purchase using TextBuyIt, Amazon.com will ask for your email and default shipping address zip code so it can associate your Amazon.com account with the cell phone. If you have the “Amazon Prime” service it will incorporate that information.

Once associated, Amazon.com can grab your information including your default settings for payment method, shipping address and shipping speed. The confirmation call (automated) you receive repeat the selected item description and will ask for the last 4 digits of the credit card set as your default payment method. If you press “*” instead of entering your credit card, it will cancel the order; you’ll get another text message with a cancellation message.

It was funny to hear the robotic voice read off the full details of the Asus Eee as it was loooong.

You can also go to www.amazonpayments.com to pre-register your phone, which Amazon.com recommends (but it’s not necessary).

And before you ask, no, I didn’t complete the purchase of the Eee.

We Say: Like I said, when I first heard about this, I wondered. But after trying it out, it’s easy, though I still don’t think I’m going to be using this to buy much stuff … but I can see a great use for it: comparison shopping, and that’s likely what Amazon.com had in mind.

Want more info? Head on over to Amazon.com.