Electronic Toy World

Do you remember a couple of years ago when Gotuit came out with “SceneMaker?” It was all new and amazing back then.  It let people take videos from platforms like YouTube, and then cut scenes from it, and tag them with metadata and stick it on a Gotuit (and eventually any other) page.  Although people could edit videos before this, it was never with quite the same precision and tagging ability that SceneMaker offered.

Back then, Gotuit also got users familiar with searching within a video and certain company names enabling this process started popping up.  One of which was Pixsy.  Pixsy started to be heard more and more.  They more than earned their stripes in the video and image search world.  They are now the number one B2B provider of private label Video and Image Search to website and apps.

First founded in 2005 by a team from Microsoft, they now power video and image search for some of the ‘Net’s top brands like Comcast, Travelocity, Lycos, and even National Lampoon. According to Nielsen ratings, the “powered by pixsy” network of websites extends it reach to over 35 million unique users every single month.

Gotuit is currently no wallflower either.  They power video for top brands such as Lifetime, Fox, Sports Illustrated, Major League Soccer, just to name a few. So what does this partnership mean?  It means that the scene-level metadata is now able to be syndicated through mRSS feeds to Pixsy, and can be included in their Video Search Playback (”VSP”) platform. 

Every scene is assigned structured and specific attributes by the publisher.  There is a thumbnail, a title, a description, URL link, embedded player code; all of this helps Pixsy identify the scene.  Pixsy then uses all of this premium metadata to drive all that more traffic back to the original site, or Pixsy can also instead offer many more video elements inside Pixsy’s VSP for publishers to reap greater rewards when their content is watched off site.

Pixsy CEO Chase Norlin said this about the partnership:

“Gotuit’s premium metadata approach is a terrific fit with Pixsy’s mission to dramatically enhance traffic and monetization for website owners. Allowing our search technology to work against each scene inside an asset, instead of just the asset itself, grows the search index for each video by an order of magnitude for the user to better search against and the website to monetize.”

For more information on either company, check them out at Gotuit or Pixsy.

Via [businesswire]

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There are some times that I curse living in the UK. And the start of the new fall TV line up is one of those times. Not only do you lucky U.S. viewers get too see my favourite series months before I do, but if you watch them online you can see them even sooner. For the third year running, NBC is making shows available via their site before you can catch them on TV. And you don’t have to watch only on NBC’s website, either: you’ll be able to see shows on iTunes, Hulu.com, Amazon Unboxed and on the Microsoft Zune, too.

Isn’t it about time CBS, Fox, ABC and the CW got with the program(s), too?

Via USA Today.

It seems AT&T is still inching their way to finally announcing the blackberry Bold availability.  While we still have not seen an official release date, we have already seen plenty of information that looks like it will be available in late October.  Further confirmation of that time frame goes along with those recently leaked Best Buy screenshots showing an availability of October 26.

These launch party dates seem to further confirm that time frame as AT&T has scheduled six events with dates ranging from October 15 through October 30.  We can only hope that the Bold gets moved to an available status soon. This release has been nothing more than a long series of rumors and delays.  Strangely, AT&T will be one of the last to actually release the Bold after being one of the first to officially announce it.  How frustrating is that?

Via [CrackBerry]

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Kanchana ’s recent article on Abunda Trade reminded me of NextWorth which actually pays you cold hard cash for your gently used ipod or iphone or lets you trade them in for an upgrade. For example, you can get a trade-in value of over $200 for a 1st Gen iPhone (16GB).

Customers simply enter the model and condition of their current iPhone or iPod online and a value is calculated based on the entered model and condition. Once the customer accepts the estimate, NextWorth sends a box, the customer sends the device and a certified check will arrive in seven to 14 days.

It certainly is safer than selling independently. If you’ve tried it, let us know.

I’m sure most have you have seen the film Cloverfield, the J.J. Abrams monster movie that was filmed in the style of a handheld movie camera. Contrary to what is depicted in the film, the camera used for shooting that film was a very fancy high-definition camera, not a Best Buy handheld.

I only bring this up because I have also had a great idea for a movie that is filmed in the style of a webcam. I don’t exactly have a plot just yet, but I noticed in my test filming of potential action that webcams produce shotty image quality.

This is why the USB Hollywood Film kit is pertinent to my future indie blockbuster. This kit comes with a webcam that looks like a real movie camera, and a separate spotlight for more lighting, which has the Hollywood-style flaps.

Both the camera and spotlight are mounted on flexible arms, and each require separate USB ports. The camera is compatible with Windows XP SP2, Vista, plus Mac OS 10.4.8 and up.

According to my source, the USB Hollywood Film kit is not available in the United States, and there is no word on price. There is also no word from J.J. Abrams on the status of my webcam movie, other than “we’ll get back to you”.

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About a week ago, there was an announcement that there would be an auction in NYC, called the T.R.A.F.F.I.C auction, auctioning off the rights to a few “.me” domains.  Right now, most domains end in .com, .org., or .edu.

I didn’t think that having .me at the end of a URL would fetch so much money at an auction.  However, there have been a lot of clever URL names incorporating .me. Take a look below to see which domains sold for the highest at the auction.

The highest-priced domain sold was “Date.Me” which sold for $70,000.  As you can imagine, this site will probably be another online dating service.  The next was “Love.Me” which sold for $32,500.  Again, this is probably another online dating service.  Next, we have “Kiss.Me” which sold for $20,000.  That’s right—another dating service.

“Buy.Me” came in at $17,500; expect an online store selling a variety of things.  The next few include “Loan.Me” for $15,000, “Marry.Me” for $12,000, “Show.Me” for $10,000, and “Watch.Me” and “Play.Me” sold for the same price - $7,500.  Last but not least, “Rent.Me” sold for $6,000.  All of these domains totaled about $218,000; people must really like their .Me.

Predrag Lesic, the registry’s executive director, was especially proud with the way the auction went:

“We are thrilled with the success of dot-ME. The buzz was tremendous during the auction. Clearly the TLD [Top Level Domain] is connecting with people in a big way.”

If you want to buy a “.Me” domain, then head here to purchase one.  If you do, let us know what domain you purchased. 

Read [Domain.Me] Via [Business Wire]

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Yesterday’s stock tumble has hit tech businesses hard. Nasdaq, which is primarily tech businesses, fell nearly 200 points, and several big tech businesses saw similar drops.  Apple fell 18%, AMD nearly 17%, and Intel over 10%. Similarly, Google saw its stock fall over $50 to $381 a share. That’s nearly a 12% drop.

“Apple’s business is driven by the consumer, and the consumer is getting hurt because of higher oil prices” that leave less money for cool gadgets, said Trip Chowdhry, an analyst at Global Equities Research in San Francisco. Large enterprises, such as airlines and shipping-dependent retailers, also have less money to invest in IT, he added.

The current crisis has consumers wary of doing any discretionary spending, something that is causing great concern among retailers and manufacturers.  They are already facing the possibility that holiday orders may be severely restricted if the bailout currently being battled over in Congress doesn’t go through.  With no bailout, credit lines will be hard to come by, and retailers rely on credit to acquire their inventory.  With the holiday shopping season right around the corner, this could be disastrous.

In a prime example of the domino effect, if consumers stop buying gadgets and tech products, manufacturers will be forced to cut back on advertising, causing a possible fallout in that industry, which could then affect newspapers, magazines and other media outlets that rely on advertising to make money.  According to a report by RBC Capital Markets, 40% of consumers plan on spending less money on electronics in the next 90 days.  With the holiday season being the prime time for tech companies to roll out new products and make big profits, this year’s season could be far from jolly.

Read[PCWorld]

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Recently at ShowStoppers in NYC, Gadgetell got a chance to talk to Schlage.  What was Schlage, a lock company, doing at an electronics trade show?  They were showing off their “Schlage LiNK” locks and deadbolts.  The locks bring something new to the table—web connectivity. 

Personally, I have been locked out of my house more times than I care to remember.  If you have this lock installed, you can use your phone to connect to the web and unlock the door through a web interface.  Don’t worry, the lock can still be unlocked by a standard key or if you use the lock’s number pad with a code.

Different codes for different folks

A web interface may seem like overkill for something like a lock.  However, the Schalge LiNK will allow you to have the lock respond to different codes at different times of the day.  You can give out these codes to service folks while keeping your door locked to the general public.  If you’re the paranoid type, you can even track when the door was locked or unlocked. 

The catch

The catch is the service is not free.  You pay $199 or $299 for the lock or a kit and then you must pay an additional $12.99 per month for the web service.  I asked the rep if Schlage had a free local web interface, like if you wanted to run a home server that you could connect to only if you hooked into your home network.  Unfortunately, the Schlage does not offer that kind of free solution.

This is an interesting marriage of old technology and new technology.  I wonder when my armchair will be connected to the Internet with a stat tracker for fantasy football. 

Product [Schlage LiNK]

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The Handheld Aquarium by Sega Toys could best be described as a Virtual Pet, which haven’t been popular since the early nineties. In fact, I think that is when Sega Toys peaked with their Sega Saturn.

The full color graphics are certainly better than anything the Tamigotchi had back in the day. In this case, the user gets to take care of a fish, or some other marine animal like a dolphin.

The underwater pet will grow, and there is an extra bonus as well, because the virtual pet’s space will somehow expand. I am assuming this is a virtual expansion, because there is a tiny screen on this handheld aquarium.

The user, or virtual pet owner, also has the option of playing three different mini games with their pet, and hopefully isn’t punished too hard if they fail in their responsibility. If you are wondering what I mean by that, just picture a little kid picking up their Handheld Aquarium only to find that their virtual aquatic friend is floating on his or her back. Yeah, that’s a pretty gruesome image, and the little tyke may never watch Finding Nemo again.

The Handheld Aquarium is available at the Japan Trend Shop for $59.

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If you’re looking for an iPod dock that is a little more feminine, you’ll love these Butterfly Speakers.  Although frankly, after staring at them for a few minutes I don’t see a single butterfly.  I thought for a second maybe it was the overall shape, but even that is just curved nicely but not necessarily modeled after a butterfly.  If anything this should be called Flower Speakers or something equally descriptive.  Alright, they’re cute so I suppose I can let it slide that the product name doesn’t quite describe the product.

The cute speakers come with three interchangeable faceplates a blue, pink and green one.  Which means if you aren’t quite in a pink mood you can switch to a slightly less obvious girl color.  The dock comes from PBTeen, but even for those that aren’t teens I’m sure quite a few female adults would appreciate the look of these.  The dock will work with either an ipod or and iphone and of course other MP3 players can be hooked up to the speakers they just can’t sit in the dock.  To pick one up it will cost you $99 and they will become available as of October 12th.

Source: Gizmodiva

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