Freesat to Launch YouTube TV channel for Google

In a bid to expand its online video services, Google has reached an agreement with Freesat that will add a dedicated YouTube app for its subscribers. With this app, viewers would be able to access all YouTube videos without the need for Internet or other device.

According to a report from Telegraph, customers of BBC and ITV-backed satellite television operator would very soon be able to connect to the YouTube online video site on the main programming guide.

Google, the Internet giant, believes this launch of YouTube television channel would take further the popularity graph of YouTube. Existing owners of a Freesat set-top box would be able to enjoy more content without paying any extra money.

YouTube, a video-sharing website, was founded in February 2005. Google bought YouTube in 2006 for US$1.65 billion. Billions of people use the site to watch and share videos including movie clips, TV clips, and music videos. YouTube uses Adobe Flash Video and HTML5 technology to display the video content. Amateurs also use YouTube for video blogging. Although, most of the videos on YouTube have been uploaded by common Internet users, companies like BBC, VEVO, etc., also offer their content via YouTube.

The unregistered users of YouTube can watch videos, however, in order to upload a video, one needs to register to the site. To watch YouTube videos on a computer, you need Adobe Flash Player plug-in installed on the browser. In 2010, an experimental version of YouTube site was launched that makes use of built-in multimedia capabilities of web browsers.

YouTube launched 60 broadcast-style channels last year. These channels featured programs by some of the UK’s topmost production houses.

Freesat is a UK based satellite TV service provider. Freesat was launched in May 2008 with a vision that everyone should enjoy the best of satellite digital TV. Freesat customers don’t pay any subscription fee for the service they receive. They just need a Freesat set-top box to access the service. Over three million of Freesat set top boxes are currently being used in UK.

ITV and the BBC jointly own Freesat. People who started Freesat believe that customers should be freed from monthly bills to enjoy great TV, and viewers should be able to watch what they want and when they want. Freesat offers over 150 TV & radio channels. These also include 5 HD channels.

The set top boxes give viewers ability to pause, rewind, and record their favorite shows.

In November last year, Freesat launched an online customer community to provide help and support to its viewers. Using Freesat Community, subscribers can get expert guidance from the dedicated Community Team.

Currently, YouTube can be watched only on a computer or by linking up the television set to the Internet. According to Freesat, the new YouTube app will be created using HTML 5.

Google, with this deal with Freesat, may expect to increase its viewer base in UK, where more people would now be able to access it YouTube video service.

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groupon-gun-sales

Groupon announced a suspension on all of its gun-related deals following the tragic massacre of 26 students and staff members at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. Although the move has pleased many who have called on Groupon to change their policies, one gun shop owner is furious about his deal being canceled halfway through.

Julie Mossler, the online deal provider’s representative, said that Groupon has been testing firearm-related deals such as gun safety courses and shooting ranges for the past eight months, and “based on performance and customer and merchant feedback, it’s clear they’re not a fit right now”.The changes have taken effect last Friday, January 18.

The public announcement of Groupon’s changes in policy came after Michael Cargill, owner of the Central Texas Gun Shop, complained about the cancellation of his deal to AOL’s Daily Finance. Cargill’s Groupon deal, which was a 50% discount on concealed handgun license courses for beginners, was canceled after he upped the offer for the 600-coupon worth deal to 1500 coupons through a Groupon sales representative who called him last Wednesday. Two days later, Groupon called back to say that the deal has been canceled because they are closing out all gun-related deals.

Cargill is opting to consider his legal options and is calling on all the supporters of gun rights to boycott Groupon, adding that the company has not yet paid him for the vouchers that were sold before the deal was canceled. Cargill said that he did not know if he will be receiving any funds from the online deals company. Meanwhile, Mossler said that Groupon will not be canceling all deals that were already sold. We expect each merchant to honor them, and as long as they do, they’ll be paid,” Mossler added.

“They never should have begun [gun deals] in the first place. If you’re not going to go through with it, don’t even start it,” Cargill said. He was also wondering why Groupon has put on a ban on all gun-related deals while the company is still offering “more scandalous” deals. Executives at Groupon are not concerned about selling a tour of a porn studio, but they want to shut down [deals related to] gun safety and proficiency testing,” Cargill concluded. Mossler did not comment on when Groupon plans to reinstate back its gun-related deals.

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Sergey Brin wearing Google Glasses in a NYC subway coach.

Google co-founder Sergey Brin has been spotted on the New York City subway wearing a Google Glass unit, the company’s most curious and controversial hardware endeavor that is yet to be released in the market.

Stemming from the Project Glass, Google is working on the augmented reality headset unit that would deliver the possibility of a hands-free smartphone to the mass public. Google Glass is a high-end smartphone device that a user wears on his face as a pair of glasses, and it has the capability to read voice commands and detect facial expressions, gestures, and movements to carry out certain phone commands.

Google Glass has been dubbed as the next giant leap in smartphone technology, but many have criticized and feared the device’s capabilities, as it can pose imminent dangers to the public in terms of safety and social interaction. Privacy is also one of the growing issues that need to be addressed if a device that is capable of taking photos in a blink will be released to the public.

While Project Glass is still underway, Sergey Brin has been seen wearing the device in public many times. Noah Zerkin from Brooklyn managed to snap a photo of Brin and ask the co-founder on the developments of the project while sitting on the NYC subway. “[...] I’ve already encountered a couple of people wearing Glass, and an associate is actually a member of the UX team. I also met and spoke with somebody from Google X who was attending the Invensense Motion Interface Developers Conference at which I spoke last year. [...] I see Googlers on the subway periodically, so it wasn’t that much of a surprise. But… that guy sure looks a lot like Sergey Brin,” Zerkin said in his blog.

Google has already scheduled two developers’ events for the Glass in the upcoming weeks in San Francisco and New York, and those who will be attending will be offered the Explorer’s Edition for around $1500.

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AMD Vision

The Consumer Electronics Show at the Las Vegas Convention Center recently showcased a whole lot of new developments in technology, but the AMD experience center, which showcased the wonders of positional audio, accidentally left a vision of a future home in a virtual world.

The AMD experience center was designed to look like a log cabin, with much of their upcoming showcase systems displayed inside the cabin. Large 65-inch HD displays were used as the cabin’s windows, and these were placed around the room to show a complete 360-degree view of a virtual farm. Around 52 speakers were installed around the room and were tied to the demonstration of AMD’s positional audio technology. A scenario sequence was first run in stereo, then in full positional audio.

The initial scene was that of a hostage crisis wherein the stereo sounds made the viewers watch through each of the succeeding actions using their eyes. A delivery truck was screeching around a house, and several hostages were held by gunmen and led into a building. Police cars then arrived and a battle ensued between them and the gunmen, wherein the police seem to have been losing. The building was destroyed and a huge chopper sped out into the sky, showing that the hostage takers have won the battle.

The second sequence was played back in positional audio, and as soon as the scenario started, the whole perspective of the story changed because the viewers were now able to follow the sounds through each action. It turned out that the real criminals were the police, and the armed and masked gunmen were some sort of government agents who already rescued the hostages. The fleeing helicopter shot down the fake police chopper, and it seems that with positional audio, the good guys have won.

AMD’s experience center had showcased that positional audio systems can be used to effectively represent first-person shooters or combat-based MMOs because it’s highly unlikely that the person can be surprised from any unseen attacks coming from other directions, which stereo sounds mask all the time.

AMD’s showcase at the CES has brought on an idea of a future home where high-resolution HD display televisions can be used as windows, and these can be connected to HD cameras that will provide the perfect view for the windows. Aside from being indestructible and cheaper compared to glass windows that are built to protect homes from hurricanes and other safety issues, Ultra HD televisions for windows can give you the freedom to choose the view that you would want to see on your window, whether it’s Mount Fuji from Japan or some underwater ocean scene.

Coupling these windows with positional audio systems can help make the scenery look and feel much more realistic. What’s more, it can give you the freedom to choose your very own dynamic scene experience that even billionaires around the world wouldn’t experience in real life. Want to experience a post-apocalyptic doomsday event? Simply switch on your window televisions and sound system.

Additionally, it will make the house potentially safer and more energy efficient because there wouldn’t be any air leaks or glass components in your home that will be easily to break. However, having a sealed home might pose some problems with fire, so adding some doors to the future home would help a lot. The flexibility that this can offer homes is simply amazing, and with AMD building something as closer as that during the CES, it’s only evident that such a home would be possible in the future – all it needs is for someone to put the project together.

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First Chevrolet Corvette Stingray to be auctioned today at Barrett-Jackson auction event in Scottsdale, Arizona (Image credit: Bornrich)

The latest model of the Chevrolet Corvette Stingray won’t be out yet until fall of this year, but for those who are eager to get their hands on the seventh generation supercar can buy the very first unit off the assembly line this weekend, on January 19.

The rights to the VIN #0001 car will be sold off at the Barrett-Jackson auction event in Scottsdale, Arizona on Saturday night, and the proceeds will go to the funding of the College of Creative Studies at Detroit, who had a celebrated automotive program that has been running on for years. Additionally, the highest bidder will be able to spec out their car according to his preferences.

Last 2009, the first unit of a 2010 Chevy Camaro SS was also auctioned at the Barrett-Jackson event in Las Vegas and was sold to NASCAR team owner Rick Hendrick for $350,000. He was also able to get his hands on the first convertible version of the same car on 2010 for $205,000, and during another auction event, he was able to snag the 2011 Corvette Z06 Carbon edition and the #0069 Camaro ZL1. Hendrick is expected to beat the price for this year’s auction for the Stingray.

Although Barrett-Jackson does not offer pre-sales estimates on its consignments, many are expecting that when it comes to the price on the Stingray, the sky is the limit owing to the fact that the unveiling of the Stingray in Detroit Sunday of last week has gathered a growing amount of excitement.

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Is the Robert Pattinson Kristen Stewart Relation Headed Towards Final Breakup (Image credit: Hollywood Life)

Months after Kristen Stewart’s “momentary indiscretion” with married director Rupert Sanders, rumors have abound regarding the on-and-off status of the 22-year-old actress’s relationship with boyfriend and Twilight co-star Robert Pattinson.

After reportedly being back together last autumn, with Pattinson forgiving and reconciling with Stewart, new reports have come out that the 26-year-old British actor had recently ended their four-year relationship after spending a few difficult weeks together.  ”She flew to LA and was supposed to be Rob’s date for the Golden Globes, but he told her he wants to cool it off,” a source told The Sun newspaper. The report seems to be confirmed when Pattinson and Stewart were spotted attending a super private post-Golden Globes party separately at the Soho House in West Hollywood.

“He loves her but would rather go back to being good friends so they can rebuild their trust and focus on work after ‘Twilight’. Kristen’s upset but understands. She shouldn’t have pushed him to reconcile after her infidelity. She’s hoping he’ll come round and time will be a great healer,” the source said. He added that Pattinson was receiving much pressure from his friends to dump Stewart, saying that the actor should focus more on his career and that Stewart was only “wrecking his chances”.

The source also added that Stewart will be moving to New York while Pattinson will remain in LA. “She feels people leave her alone there and she has a bit more peace.” While Pattinson rocked the red carpet at the Golden Globes while jokingly presenting Tina Fey with a red rose, Stewart completely avoided the event and only attended the after-party.

Meanwhile, Pattinson and Stewart were hailed as Hollywood’s highest-grossing romantic film couple, with their three box office hits reaching $1.17 billion over the past three years. The couple surpassed other film duos in the Forbes list, with Dorothy Pomerantz saying that there is something unique with their films in the sense that people have attached themselves to them. “The movies are unconventional, and you have the added element that the two people are a couple in real life,” she added.

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Sprint Windows Phone 8 Data Plans (Image credit: Tech Radar)

Sprint announced two Windows Phone 8 units as the latest addition to its family of data plans this coming summer during the Consumer Electronics Show at Las Vegas last January 7, 2013. The telecommunications company had recently closed a partnership deal with Microsoft to bring its customers a Samsung and an HTC WP8 smartphone.

Sprint will be including the two smartphones in its Everything Data plan, and these will be available in both 3G and 4G networks. The U.S. carrier’s 4G LTE network was introduced July of last year and is currently servicing over 49 U.S. markets, while another 100 due within the year 2013. “These smartphones combine a robust new operating platform with the benefit of Sprint’s unlimited data plans. There is no doubt these phones will quickly become an extension of your PC experience right in the palm of your hand,” said Fared Adib, the senior vice president of product development and operations for Sprint. The company is marketing its Everything Data plan as the only “truly unlimited” 4G LTE network that supports data, calls, and text messaging services for any device without the added charges, metering, or throttling. Starting at $79.99, Sprint’s data plan covers all mobile services within U.S.-based devices.

Meanwhile, Samsung and HTC mentioned a few features that will come with their Windows Phone 8 devices, such as dual cameras for video chat, dual core processors, and expandable memory support, but they did not share any details about the phones’ specifications, prices, and release dates.

It was late October of last year when Microsoft released its Windows Phone 8 mobile operating system, which came out as an upgrade to the Windows Phone 7 which was built on the same kernel as Redmond’s flagship Windows platform for computers. “We’re looking forward to bringing two new Windows Phone 8 devices by Samsung and HTC to market with Sprint this summer, adding to our strong Windows Phone 8 portfolio. These devices, coupled with Sprint’s unlimited 4G LTE data experience, will make it easy for Windows Phone 8 customers to have the most personal smartphone experience possible, wherever they are,” Terry Myerson, Microsoft’s corporate vice president for the Windows Phone division, shared in a statement.

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Eight Inch Samsung Galaxy Note Tablet: Korean major plugging all the gaps in screen sizes. (Image credit: CNet Asia)

Korean giant Samsung is preparing to expand its series of Galaxy Note devices by adding an 8.3-inch tablet, reports the blog SamMobile citing anonymous sources.
According to the blog, the new tablet will be called Galaxy Note 8.0 or GT-N5100. Screen resolution of the new gadgets is expected to be 1280 by 800 pixels. The tablet will have two GB of RAM, 16 to 32 gigabytes of internal memory and two cameras – a five and a 1.3 megapixel besides having a slot for microSD card.

Nothing is being reported about the power and type of processor to be stuffed in the Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0. We can’t rule out the company will use eight-core chip Exynos 5 Octa which it showcased during CES in the beginning of this month.

Galaxy Note 8.0 will weigh about 330 grams, and will have a thickness of 7.5 mm. The tablet will be equipped the with a battery of capacity 4600 mAH. The device will be running Android 4.2. Tablet is reported to have a stylus S Pen, as well as have all the other accesories from the series Note.

It is added that the tablet will be available in two versions: with only Wi-Fi and Wi-Fi and cellular modules. Will the owners of Galaxy Note 8.0 be able to make calls with it? Now words yet.

According to SamMobile, Samsung will release the eigth inch tablet Galaxy Note 8.0 in February. Perhaps, the presentation will take place during the event Mobile World Congress, which opens in Barcelona on February 25.

At present, the Galaxy Note series includes three devices: two smartphones (one with 5.3-inch sceen, and the other with 5.5-inch) and ten inch tablet. Together with the gadgets, the company provides stylus pen S Pen, which can be used for writing, drawing, and adding formulas.

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AMERICAN IDOL SEASON 12: Judges Mariah Carey, Keith Urban, Nicki Minaj and Randy Jackson at the New York auditions. (Image credit: Baltimore Sun)

The season premiere of Fox’s iconic talent show American Idol 12 kicked off last Wednesday with the mobile auditions set in New York. However, what was once a show that focused more on the talent that came into the audition room turned to have a sideline bickering series when Idol judges Mariah Carey and Nicki Minaj clashed head-on just after they entered the room.

It all started out when Nicki walked into the room with her usual assortment of weird accessories, which was a drum major hat for that day. Mariah passed on a snarky comment on it, saying “We can have accessories? I didn’t know that was allowed. That’s the last thing I’ll say”, causing the rapper-diva to shoot the pop legend with a barrage of stares and a long stream of ‘she’s a b*tch’ through her clenched teeth.

The hype turned back into the two diva judges after they both lashed each other with a war of British accents, and another one broke out when the two deliberated on a quote from the movie Mean Girls, which Nicki had apparently responded to incorrectly. The squabbling between Nicki and Mariah, which took up too much of the show’s airtime, has been turning the American Idol from a show that once focused on the good and the bad talent in America to a minor sideshow in their verbal wars. Instead, only a handful of full auditions were featured, with three falling into the category of hilarious but bad.

Nevertheless, New York never failed to provide a number of great star talents – a total of 41 promising Idol winners – such as Sarah Restuccio, a country girl rapper who received praises from Minaj; Gupreet Singh Sareen, who was trained in Indian classical music; and Angela Miller, who was 40 percent deaf in one ear and 20 percent in the other.

The glimpse into the Chicago audition, which will be the next episode for the talent search show, featured just what the audience is going to expect from this season’s panel of judges. Nicki left the auditions at the end of the day, saying that she wanted to strangle one of the divas on the panel “but I won’t tell you who”. She was obviously pertaining to Mariah on those matters, as she can’t be talking about Keith Urban, who was patient enough to sit through the entire judging session between the two. The question now remains whether American Idol 12 will still live up to its pride in featuring America’s talent, or will it feature much of the ongoing row between Nicki and Mariah.

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Taylor Swift and Harry Styles Have broken up their relations.. (Image credit: Pop Dust)

Looks like Swifties are going to expect another round of break up songs about Harry Styles anytime soon. The couple had recently called it quits after reportedly having a row during their vacation at the British Virgin Islands just after they shared a public kiss at the Times Square on the hype of the New Year countdown.

A source had reported that the two had an ‘almighty row’ during their holiday at Richard Branson’s private Necker Island, and that Swift flew back to the U.S alone only three days after their vacation. Styles, meanwhile, stayed for three more days before going back to London. “They are two young stars at the top of their game so who knows what will happen in the future,” the source told the Daily Mail, confirming the 23 year-old country singer’s break up with the 18 year-old One Direction member.

A few days after the break up, Swift was spotted at the Mastro’s Steakhouse with her mother Andrea, father Scott, and brother Austin, where the family dined in and stayed for two hours. The country crooner was seen being comforted by her mother, holding her hand and listening intently to her stories. Despite the sad-looking Taylor, she politely obliged people who requested for a photograph with her. Swift seen leaving the diner through the back door, in which she sported a yellow coat over a white dress, and her hair was made up in a ponytail.

Now that Taylor tweeted a “Back in the studio. Uh oh…” just two days ago, it’s been reported that she already wrote five songs about Harry. However, sources have said that Swift was worried that her new releases might be obviously linked to Harry, so she made her songs a little more cryptic. “Lyrics have been written, but Taylor hasn’t come close to deciding whether she’ll ever release them. A song about it will surface at some point but it won’t be anything like the way she had a dig at her other ex John Mayer in one of her other tracks,” the insider said.

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