Today at CES International, Plextor announced the PlexEasy, a standalone external 8x DVD and CD burner that will burn discs from SD cards and USB-connected devices without the need for a PC. It can connect directly to a wide variety of devices including both mass storage devices and Picture Transfer Protocol (PTP) devices such cameras, smartphones, tablets, and camcorders. Photos can be burnt directly from digital cameras and smartphones, regardless of OS, without copying the pictures onto a PC first or fiddling about with a disc-burning software.

With the Plextor PlexEasy, it’s now a three-step process:
1. connect the device,
2. insert a DVD or CD and
3. press a button to burn a backup.

The PlexEasy’s compatibility with mass storage devices allows almost any storage device to be connected – MP3 players, flash drives, external hard disks and even tablets. The PlexEasy can also copy from an inserted SD-card to the mass storage device for quick backups. Of course, the device can be connected to a PC and it then offers all the features of a high-end DVD burner with support for all types of CDs and DVDs.

Pictures, pricing and availability to follow.

Supermarket Tesco and on-line movie site Blinkbox have introduced a new innovation to the UK where the purchase of a physical DVD or Bluray at Tesco also buys an online copy at Blinkbox. At today’s launch there are only about 25 movies included in the offer but more will be added to the service over time. The big blockbusters available now are Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part II and Transformers 3: Dark of the Moon.

Tesco customers tie their Clubcard account to their Blinkbox account and then qualifying purchases of DVDs in retail stores (or online) will automatically be added to Blinkbox. Once in Blinkbox, customers can watch the films through PCs, Mac, PS3 and certain smart TVs. For non-UK readers, Clubcard is Tesco’s customer loyalty programme and there are 16 million active Clubcard members.

Richard Brasher, CEO, Tesco UK said “Customers know that Tesco is a great retailer for new technology.  This innovation with blinkbox will help start a digital revolution, combining the physical with the digital for the first time.  Starting with the magic of Harry Potter, there will be many more great titles to follow for customers to enjoy online wherever and whenever they like.”

Michael Comish, CEO, blinkbox said “To be able to bring this truly ground-breaking service to consumers is very exciting for blinkbox. Our customers already know that we are the number one choice for the latest new movie titles the day they released on DVD, so working with Tesco to give them access to both a physical and a digital version allows them choice and the best of both worlds.”

For those outside of the UK, this is probably all a bit “so what?”given the offerings from Amazon and others. However, here in the UK, the law still currently prohibits format-shifting, even if no-one pays attention, even if the law isn’t enforced. By effectively purchasing both copies at the same time (or buy one, get one free), this gets round any issues with the law. If this way of thinking takes off, other companies will follow with similar products in the UK, so it’s good news all round.

iCloud

24 hours after iCloud officially releases, talks are underway to fill your cloud drive with movies. In reports today, Horrible Bosses and Green Lantern will be the first of many movies you will be able to hold on your iCloud drive.

iCloud is a service available with iOS5 and at www.icloud.com. With iOS5, you can back up your phone to the cloud (what Apple is calling the PC-less setup and sync). So it only makes sense to also turn it into your all-in-one cloud device.

Hopefully, when Apple officially rolls out this service, that they will offer similar cloud options like Amazon. Things like free storage with any item purchased through Apple (so it doesn’t affect your personal storage limit). You get 5 GB free, then pricing starts at $20 for an additional 10 GB (15 GB total).

Is Apple’s Movie Service Too Late?

The real question is: Have you already committed to Amazon cloud service for movies? Would you switch back? Or would you want to skip the service and actually just get the physical DVD or Blu-Ray discs?

With iTunes still being a walled garden, it’s tough to commit to their services. At least with Amazon, one can get content to their iPhone, computer or Android. Apple really needs to look at this stumbling block, because we live in a cross-platform world.

The day of the DVD is numbered. Being able to access content without physical media is becoming reality. It’s just a question of where you get your content.

So will it be iCloud for you?

Maybe it was the weird spelling, the fact it was too close to Qwikstar (the Amway rebrand) or the twitter is owned by the Pot Smoking Elmo. Nonetheless, Netflix announced today they will not be seperating the company into two. Netflix DVD rental will still be $8 (with an additional $8 for streaming).

How Netflix Screwed themselves in the last 3 Months.

In July, Netflix came to the realization their service was not priced efficiently for the company to make a profit. Therefore, they announced by Sept 1st, they would be changing price plans.

The service separated the streaming from the DVD rental. For $8, you could get one DVD at a time. Add another $8 and you could get Netflix streaming. It was a move that happened too fast, so people lashed back.

Last month, Netflix’ CEO Reed Hastings outlined plans to separate the DVD by mail business and give it’s own name – Qwikster. People started speculating Netflix was planning to sell the DVD mail side and focus more on streaming. Within 14 days, Netflix saw a major decline of customers (Some calling the idea “Qwikstupid”) .

Netflix stock dropped almost $100 a share from Septembers’ announcement, and over $200 a share from July. Netflix lost millions of dollars in the last 90 days with these changes. Needless to say, this is not a great business plan.

What Netflix Needs to Do to Recoup this Large Deficit.

First of all, it would be a VERY GOOD idea to offer at least 1 free month to current customers (although 3 months would be better). After all, these are the people that stuck through it all. Next – cut the service price for DVD rental and streaming. Meet in the middle – $12 a month for 1 DVD at a time and streaming.

Reed Hastings also needs to put together a very big public apology. I don’t think it’s time for him to pass the CEO reigns just yet, but maybe Netflix needs to shake up the board a bit. This was a horrible idea that was ultimately agreed upon by the directors.

Will You Go Back to Netflix?

This is the biggest question. After all these bad decisions, would you choose to go back to Netflix? They do have the most coverage in streaming options, being on most Over the top TV solutions and game consoles. Still, loosing 1/3 of their operating share makes you wonder if they can ever get back to the $300 / share peak they enjoyed back in July.

I personally use the Netflix streaming service – I abandoned DVD rentals simply because they sat on the coffee table for weeks at a time. With new additions in AMC’s Walking Dead and Discovery’s Mythbusters to streaming, I have a month’s worth of shows to watch. Tron Legacy also showed up this month, which gives me more of what I really crave – top movies that are only a year old.

While Bluray and USB3 are where it’s at, it’s easy to forget that there’s a solid market for inexpensive legacy optical drives. And it’s into this market that Buffalo have today released a stylish portable DVD recorder for those of us who have laptops or netbooks that don’t have a CD/DVD drive.

It’s pretty much run of the mill spec-wise, handling all the formats (-R,-RW,+R,+RW, -RAM) and it can also manage dual layer disks. It’s only USB2 but that’s not a problem given the expected data rates. It is bus powered, though, and has a warning light to indicate when there’s insufficient power coming through the port.The USB cable clips neatly into the drive itself, so with no additional power cable, it’s a smart unit that can slip easily into any bag.

Comes with a CyberLink software suite for movie playback and other features.

Available soon from all good retailers. Pricing not yet announced but I’d expect it to be in-line with the older model at an RRP of £60, though you can easily find the drive online for less that half the RRP.

(If you have the money, Buffalo do have a portable optical drive that supports Bluray as well – currently available from Amazon for £182. Your call).

Stories about Zediva have been kicking around the internet for the past few days.  It’s an interesting story and an even more interesting concept.  The company’s founder explained that concept to Rotten Tomatoes as this:

“We don’t rent digital copies of a movie,” he said. “Our users rent a physical DVD, along with a DVD player, from us for a fixed amount of time. They then control that DVD player remotely over the internet — and stream the movie privately to themselves.  Think of it as a really long cable and a really long remote control.”

That “actual DVD” loophole allows Zediva to bypass the streaming contracts that are the bane of such companies as Netflix.  This means they can show more recent releases than other services.  They also charge less for new releases than their competitors – $1.99 for a 14 day rental as opposed to $3.99 from places like Amazon.  They even offer a deal of 10 movies for $10.

They go so far with the physical DVD model that you may find some movies to be rented out and you’ll have to wait for the next available copy.  With that sort of limitation it may be enough for the model to succeed.  We’ll have to wait and see what the studios and the MPAA have to say.

I was listening to a podcast where the hosts were chatting back and forth about the newly offered Hulu Plus, where for $10 dollars a month, you can get Hulu on a wide variety of devices including smart phones and over-the-top Internet TV boxes. Hulu is also offering a somewhat wider, but still incomplete back catalog archive of shows. One of the hosts was saying he wouldn’t pay for content, he wanted it “for free.”

Whether we realize it or not, we are all paying for content, either directly or indirectly. Even if we have only a TV antenna and watch only the local TV channels, we are still paying for content indirectly via advertising. When we buy consumer products of virtually any kind, part of what we pay goes for advertising, which pays for content creation.

If we are paying indirectly only, someone else is deciding for us as to the quality of the programming content. We can either consume that content or not, but we still pay as consumers buying products. We have very little indirect control over what gets put on the air. On the other hand, if we pay for content directly, then we have far greater control over the quality of the media we are consuming.

If Hulu can offer value for the money, then it will succeed What they have to do is figure out what people are willing to pay for. Perhaps that value revolves around putting highly-sought-after content on as many devices as possible. Perhaps it revolves around coming up with the absolute best back catalog of old TV shows. Imagine having instant streaming access to every TV show ever produced in every country in any language, and every movie ever produced anywhere in any language. Something like that would be well worth paying for. Imagine a site such as IMDB.Com that lists every movie and TV show ever made, except as a subscriber you could instantly stream it – now you’re talking. Hulu, anyone else out there – are you listening?

I personally would be willing to pay for a service such as Hulu, except for one small glitch. There are no back catalog shows on the site at the moment that really excite me. Network drama shows can sometimes be quite good, but my tastes are somewhat different.

When I had Dish Network, I was watching a few selected shows on only 3 channels – Discovery, TLC and History. I can get most of these shows if I really want them at some point via Netflix. To my way of thinking, Netflix is a much better value. Netflix has a far wider variety of content, plus they also offer the handy rental service of DVD’s and Blu-ray discs.

The verdict is currently out whether Hulu will be able to figure out what value it needs to best serve its customers. If people are paying Hulu money directly, then Hulu had better quickly figure out exactly what those customers want and do its best to deliver it to them.

Hey Hulu, here’s an idea to try. Offer first-run streaming movies, but do it the Hulu way. I would be willing to pay for a first run movie streaming for a nominal pay-per-view fee, say $5.99. Vudu is offering streaming first run movies, but you have to have a big fat Internet connection to be able to use Vudu. The Vudu service demands way more bandwidth than my Internet service can currently deliver.

Here’s yet another idea for Hulu – offer exclusive, Hulu-only content consisting of well-produced material revolving around the “Entertainment Tonight” type of concept. Do exclusive interviews of movie and TV stars. Do exclusive interviews of directors. Give people real value for their money. Make your customers want to not only see you succeed, but motivate them to help you succeed.

So now that I’ve cut the cord with Dish Network, I’ve started digging deeper into the instant streaming material available on Netflix. It seems that most of the programs I would have watched on Discovery, TLC or History – the three channels I watched 99% of the time — are available as season DVD sets streaming via Netflix.

There are also plenty of season DVD’s of television programs available for streaming that I don’t have any interest in. Now that I’ve cut my Dish Network subscription, I realize that I was paying dearly for their presence even though I had no interest in watching them.

The bottom line is that I can only watch one show at a time. Having 200 plus channels available simultaneously seemed exciting, but the reality is that at least 97% of whatever was on at any given point didn’t appeal to me in any way. It’s crap looking to influence whoever it can reach out and grab.

With audio podcast listening, it allows me to choose my own influences. The IPTV revolution brings that powerful ability to choose my influences to television.

This revelation shouldn’t surprise me, because I’ve been here before. Back in late 2004 when I discovered podcasting, it was exactly what I’d been looking for. I was suddenly able to pick and choose audio content and consume it on my own terms. I could listen to exactly what I wanted, when I wanted to listen to it. Suddenly, instead of being at the mercy of having to listen to what was mostly crap programming on radio stations I happened to be driving by, I was able to turn that huge amount of listening time I had while driving into a tremendous benefit.

Broadcast television has been traditionally viewed as mindless entertainment. Like audio programming, television programming can easily be used in the same beneficial ways. Now that I’m forced to choose what to watch, I realize that what I choose to spend time watching will be much more personally beneficial.

Broadcast television is potentially detrimental and there’s no question in my mind that much of it is hypnotic. If a TV screen is present and turned on most people can’t help but periodically stare at it, even if the sound is turned down.

It has only been a bit over 24 hours since I cancelled my Dish Network subscription, and I’m already over the emotional separation. Who needs all of those less-than-useless channels?

There was a recent article at Arstechnica.Com describing how The Times in the U.K. ended up cutting its web traffic in half by simply requiring registration so that viewers could read their articles. Prior to this, the articles on the site were freely available. The registration requirement is in anticipation of their future paywall plans.

I have to admit that I’m one of the people who left their site more than once when I clicked on a link and was presented with the registration requirement. I’ve done the same thing on other newspaper sites as well. Will people pay for online news?

At its essence, news is often glorified gossip.

There are plenty of successful paywall sites. Here are three sites that incorporate paywalls that I personally find worthwhile enough subscribe to: Netflix.Com,  Rushlimbaugh.Com and FHU.Com.

Netflix began life as a DVD rental service and most recently added a very popular streaming service as value-added subscriber benefit behind a paywall. The Netflix streaming service helped convince me to sign up and become a customer, as well as the availability of Blu-Ray discs. If Netflix had DVD’s only, I wouldn’t be a subscriber. Streaming and Blu-Ray make me willing to open my wallet.

Rushlimbaugh.Com puts the site’s massive and growing archive behind a paywall that includes access to the Rush Limbaugh podcast version of his radio show where they perform the courtesy of cutting out all of the network ads. Being able to receive the ad-free podcast of the daily Rush Limbaugh radio program is why I subscribe. I rarely sign into the site and go behind the paywall. I want the ad-free daily podcast, so I pay, even though I could get the program for free by listening on the radio.

FHU.Com also puts a massive and growing archive of radio programs, books and video behind a paywall. I want access to this material, and since it’s a charitable organization, I am willing to donate to gain access behind the paywall and support them.

I don’t envision myself ever paying for access to a newspaper website. I have never subscribed to a printed newspaper. I used to subscribe to a number of printed computer, stereo and photography magazines, but somehow that lost its appeal a number of years ago and I let the subscriptions run out.

For a paywall site to be successful, it must have something behind that wall that people want access to. They must offer something of value that revolves around the essence of what they do best.

Some of you are gonna flip out when you here the conclusion, I came to today while visiting a local merchant. I reverse my opinion on something I have long stood against. Sorry no more clues. I get back on track today on the intro timeline. Enjoy I think this one will go down in the history books and I expect to get a torrent of email and voicemail comments. Yes I think it’s pretty dramatic.

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Show Notes:
What is wrong with Air Safety!
3D for DirecTV do you care?
Yes NYC you can order a iPod now!
eReaders coming out of our ears!
USB 3.0 Sata Adapter!
Did Apple Screw Up?
This one will make you puke!
iMac 27 Inch FAIL?
Top 10 iPhone Apps? What were Yours?
Meebo?
Murdoch will not be Happy!
Best of Master New Media!
1-2 Billion Tweets per Hour!
How much will you pay for Hulu?
Google about to get some Jet Fuel!
The Christmas Mobile Winners Are?
Is it Time to Tax?
Regional DVD Codes why?
Need Some Mac Tips for Beginners?
ISS back at 6 Roomies.
Psystar to sell Linux Boxes?
Digital movies before DVD could it be True?
Wireless Master Plan to reclaim TV Spectrum?
It’s not a Substitute for Common Sense!
Earth magnetic Pole on the Move big Time!
Botnet brought down with Offense versus Defense!
It was Free to begin with!
Be careful of Facebook Everyone!
Reuters transparency in Doubt.
Get off MySpace.

Send in your stories to geeknews@gmail.com and be sure to provide a link to your websites!

Newsletter subscribers check your emails for clues but you have to listen as well to win. I talk about the Video Gravy train for a bit tonight. Looking for input from non podcasters details on the show. As we head into the summer months you will want to remember to take the show with you as you roll outside to do yard work heck you can even have fun with it by shouting out in agreement when I hit some company with criticism.

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Show Topic Notes:
Mark is correct free ride on Video is about Over!
Sony Digital Copies on UMD Library to be Available
45mps Wireless downloads on Airlines?
Palm Pre iTunes Support Funky
Cool Clock but way to Pricey
Great 4th of July Prank
AT&T Prepaid Data Plans Good Idea!
Have you tried Bing?
Steve Jobs how bad was it?
iPhone Video? Weird ring to it!
FTC shuts down Webhost with 15k Customers
Cirque to be next ISS Tourist
Endeavor good for Launch on 6-13.
Atlantis back at Kennedy Space Center.
RIAA no Takers in 6 Months for ISP Cooperation plan???
EFF to track Terms of Service Changes
10 Hot Jobs
Warrantless Wiretapping and Surveilance Suit tossed out!
This is Hogwash how long have we been holding reg Phones?
Hulu looking to get your Money?
DOJ looking at Hiring in the Valley.
Oprah hottest Tech Ticket in Town.
Record Video Watching Last Month!
Manage files in OSX outside of the horrid Finder
YouTube coming to your Flat Screen!
Tuesday Next week will be a big Patch Tuesday
ICANN Finally taking action on DNS Security
Stem Cells Treatment cause site to be regained!
DVD Sniffing Dog makes big bust!
MSI Air PC
Go get them Cher!

LG always comes to impress. Check out their new products that will be making there way into your home theaters this year.

BD370 Full HD 1080p resolution and 1080p upscaling, this Network Blu-ray Disc player is the ultimate in picture quality. Plus stream movies, TV shows and videos, to your TV directly using Netfix, YouTube™ and CinemaNow without a computer. Simply connect it to a broadband home network through the built-in Ethernet port and grab your LG remote. Internet connection required and sold separately. Netfix subscription required. It is now able to stream HD in 720p. There are other contents that you can have access to like BDLabs a content that like an online server. The price point of the BD370 is $299. There is also a $399 version that uses a built-in WiFi card. Log on to www.lgusa.com for more information.

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Show Notes:
Wireless Security Detailed
Kuiper Belt Objects
Apple TV + Boxee = Cool
Bad Economy Pic
Tethering Concerns
How to – Any Video File to Playable DVD
AVG Antivirus Kills Good Windows FIle
Phoenix Lander is Dead!
Amazing Antarctica Pics my Fav #32
Blockbuster Set Top Box?
Internet Addiction Starts at 6 Hours Per Day?
Will you Miss Circuit City?
MGM to Post Full Length Vid on YouTube
Google Reader does Auto Translation
Indian Spacecraft in Lunar Orbit
Obama and FCC Possible Picks
Apple Outsource App Store Mgmt?
Seagate self encrypting laptop drives
Google fixes Android Bug
Nice Billboard Update

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Back in the saddle from the new location and new studio. A great show where I catch you up on the move and all of the exciting things that have been happening here.

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www.iyule.tv
Sony Fined for Price Fixing
iTunes Games
Wifi Causing Autism?
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Show Notes:
Firefox Reach
Mark Cuban way off base!
Kindle DOR
Skype stumbles in UK
OLPC 2 for 1 Extended through Dec 31st
Hydrogen from MSI
Vista spurns Linux Adoption?
Pirate Bay to have revised Music Section
DVD Rentals to have Commercials?
Ten Firefox Extensions to keep surfing safe!
Doc Searls #1
Doc Searls #2
Maglev Wind Turbine
Toyota Simulator Cool!
Guitar Hero it Shreds
Desktop Evolution Windows and Mac
FeedDemon Calculates Attention
Windows XP SP3 10% Faster
Robin Good One True Media
MPAA Spy Toolkit
Credit Card Thieves .01 cents
Zoho Writer Work Off line
ISS Spacewalk and Harmony Wrap Up
RIAA not willing to battle Harvard
Best and Worse Consumer Electronics 2007
Cable Ala Carte could be Expensive
Cell Phone Tracking
Radiation not bad for you, Yea Right!
iMac update equals iBrick
QuickTime bug and XP

Gems I Found
Wells Fargo President Statement
Cool Toy if it was bigger

I get on the soapbox over Verizon and the FCC along with getting you up to date on the latest online radio information.

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Show Notes:
iPhone Apps
Recording Skype
Prince CD Giveaway
Hydrogen at Scale
Nuclear License
Court Decline Internet Radio Appeal
RIAA Make XM Pay
Microsoft to buy Facebook
Online Radio Saved
People Copy DVDs Not
Quicktime Upgrade
Verizon Condemns FCC
Lapworks
Lawn Chair Balloonist
Shuttle Rolls to Pad
Sony Sues Rootkit Developer
TP Article
Zillow
More Sprint
Media Rights Technologies Idiots
Skype Nokia N800
Hawaii Telescope
Secret iPhone Codes
Gelato

Congats to Aaron and Cliff on the prize giveaways tonight, listen to win. Lots of cool stories, you will want make sure that you listen to the DVD Copy segment.

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Following Canadian Copyright
Mainstream Media Fights Back
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Storycorps
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Show Notes:
Shuttle Delay
Google Owns Us
Day of Silence
Open Access 700 Mhz
Credit Report Data
DVD Copying
Xcavator.net
Vista 6 Month Report
How to get bought by Google
SlapCast
Mobile 6 Slingbox
MacBook Repair
Windows Live Truck
Tatto Guy goes to Redmond
Google vs Vista
Five Google Docs Tips
Water Fight Project for Parents
BOOM!
MacBook Pro Graphics
Google Maps Changes Please
Please Call List

High-capacity DVDs (Digital Video Disks) that use blue laser technology may soon be available to information technology professionals. Blue laser DVD-RW (rewritable) disks are expected by Sony in the U.S. as early as this June. The disks will store 23GB of data and the drives will initially be connected by SCSI or USB 2.0 interfaces. The expected cost of the first models is between $2,500 and $3,000; however, fast price drops should follow.

When the drives are redesigned for general consumer use, the format of the disks should hold about 25GB, using Sony’s Blu-ray format, or 20GB, using HD-DVD format.

Currently most DVDs recorders use red laser technology, and the blue laser devices won’t be interoperable with the existing crop of drives.

Dave’s Opinion
I’d be piqued if my collection of home movies that I’ve burned to DVD aren’t compatible with the new drives; however, I judge that the major drive manufacturers won’t let this happen: too many people have invested in the current DVD technology to leave it by the wayside so soon.

Call for Comments
What do you think? Leave your comments below.