Brightcove is planning to use HTML5 to fix a big issue with the iPad.  Namely that it will not support Flash.  Seems to me and many others like a pretty big waste when you have all that screen and won’t support Flash.

Brightcove says that it plans on having all the videos that it powers running completely like they do in Flash within 9 months.  Right now the player will recognize the iPad and use HTML5 instead of Flash, which will open the Quicktime player and show the video.  It however, is not quite up to par with Flash and will take about 9 months to get it up to snuff.

Seems like an awful waste of money and resources to me.  Just because one company has “political and business” issues, the likes of YouTube and Ooyala are also moving in this direction.

iPhone, iPad, and even Android phones will be using this technology, which is why I think it will be accepted.  Otherwise I say let Apple take the hit for not supporting Flash.

Still It seems like it would be a whole lot cheaper for the devices to just support Flash.  But hey, what do I know, these guys are just glad they figured out a way to keep their jobs, I’m sure.

What is your take on the matter?

[Techcrunch]

I think the social-oriented Orbit phonebook is a fantastic concept.  I have covered it in the space previously, and tinkered with it quite a bit on my iPod Touch.  Unfortunately, as many cool features as this one offers, there just is not much call to use it on a regular basis on a device which does not include a telephone.  So, while I bide my time waiting for the much rumored Android version, those of you rocking an iPhone can check out version 2.0.  Read on for the full press release.

Orbit Media, an innovative developer of social networking and mobile search applications for today’s most popular smart phones and portable devices, today announced an updated version of Orbit™ Social Phone Book, which is now available in the Apple App Store.

Orbit is a communications hub that allows iPhone users to easily connect via voice, text, email and social networking – without having to switch from application to application.Orbit not only allows people to connect with their contacts, but also enables quick discovery and connection to a specific need such as a plumber or a nearby restaurant. 

Orbit delivers the classic address book features plus several new capabilities, including enhanced social networking, built-in “Orbit” categories to group like-minded contacts together for easy communications management and the ability to adjust the frequency of communications received via “Social Volume,” simply turn the volume up or down – thereby increasing or decreasing the push of information to the handset. Capping offOrbit’s improved feature set is “Places,” which allows users to search for local stores, restaurants and more.  After a search, the user can choose to call the listing, view a map, send the information to friend or add it to their contacts.  A default “My Places” Orbit is created upon download of the app, so users can easily organize favorite locales into one group.

“Orbit helps iPhone users get more out of a feature they use each day – their address book,” said Alex Panelli, CEO of Orbit Media.  “Whether using Orbits to organize conversations, Social Volume to adjust the quantity of information received from contacts or My Places to search and save details on favorite shops, restaurants and businesses – it’s all about managing the information we access via our mobile phone and providing new ways of interacting with the people and places in our lives.”

Orbit – The New and Improved Address Book

Orbit 2.0 offers a faster set-up process, along with a progress bar to track the download status.  Those with an extensive contact list can now choose how many contacts should be imported and paired with Facebook and Twitter accounts at a given time.  After pairing,Orbit immediately populates with status updates from paired friends.  Additionally, Orbitoffers an enhanced A-to-Z scrolling feature to greatly improve the navigation of contacts on the iPhone’s touch screen.
Additional features of Orbit 2.0 include:

• Built-In Orbits – New default Orbits are provided for users to populate:  InnerOrbit, Family, Friends and Co-Workers, as well as Orbits on the following popular categories:  Live Music, Bars, Chinese Food, Italian Food, Mexican Food, Movies, Night Clubs, Pizza, Sushi, Thai Food and Wine Bars.  Additional Orbits can be created at any time.
• Volume Control – Social Volume, a feature completely unique to this app, lets users manipulate the level of communications, such as status updates, received from contacts.  Turn the volume high and be alerted of updates in real-time or turn it down to receive updates at a set time or not at all.
• Local Search – Within Orbit users can now search local listings – just enter a search term in the “Search” bar.  This can also be done from the “Places” tab.
• Share Information – After a search, users can choose to Call Now, View Map, Send to a Friend or Add to Contacts.  A “My Places” Orbit lets users group favorite locations together for easy access.
• Easy Social Networking – Orbit now allows users to more easily post status updates right from the “Updates” tab, as well as the ability to post status updates to multiple networks simultaneously.
• Connected Phonebook – Orbit offers over-the-air updates for seamless content integration.  The app also auto-generates a favorites list based on the people the user communicates with most.
• Photo Control – Orbit allows each user to decide if they do or do not want their friends’ Facebook photos to become the default images.

Finally, within the Orbit address book there will also be a featured local listing with information on a nearby business, as well as mini advertisements on the “Updates” tab.  Users can turn off all sponsored listings and advertisements for a monthly payment of $0.99. 

Pricing and Availability

Orbit is free and is available now for the iPhone from Apple’s App Store or at the iTunes App Store at http://itunes.com/app/orbitsocialphonebook.

I was pretty excited when I woke up this morning to find an email in my inbox from Apple.  This email, which I am sure many of you received as well, was the perfect way to kick off what has been affectionately referred to as “iPad Week”.   Apple informed me this morning that my iPad (32 GB Wifi model) had shipped, meaning it should be here next Saturday as planned.  Sadly, though, it seems my case did not ship, which means it looks like the rumors about accessories being delayed seem to be true.  Which raises a pretty perplexing dilemma about how much use my iPad will really see without any protection.

So, where is my iPad now?  It seems it left the warehouse in Shenzen,China this afternoon.

Did any of you preorder iPads?  Receive a notice that yours shipped today?  Let us know.  What are you anticipating the most about the iPad (for me, it is the amazing eBook functionality).

Question of the Day:  What is the Best Way to Migrate from 32 bit Windows XP to 64 bit Windows 7?

Our next question comes from JAMM reader David Gray.  David currently has a 32 bit XP desktop with a 64 bit Windows 7 laptop on the way.  Essentially, he wants to know the best procedures, hints and tricks for making the move up.  See his full explanation below and be sure to hit the comments below.  Let’s help David out with all of our best advise, as many of us have been recently or are in the same boat now…

I have a new laptop on order and am trying to do my homework to be ready for it’s arrival.  I now have a 32 bit XP machine; the one coming will be 64 bit Windows 7.  I will want to keep both machines in service initially, while I decide what to keep, what to transfer over; maybe the old one will stay as the essential desktop it has become.  So what unforeseen conflicts am I about to encounter?  I will no longer need Active Sync, but may want to sync my Tilt2 with both machines for a while.  What software and files can I realistically just transfer over to the new machine without transferring old problems?  And what things are just not going to translate between 32 & 64 bit?  What things should absolutely be a clean install?  You see where I’m going . Might you do a little article on the transition when technology has made a leap?  Thank you.

While I’m kind of in the same boat, as I’m pondering a move from Vista to 7, here’s what I’d recommend.  I’m sure others can chime in to add better advice, though.

• Download the latest versions of all third party programs from various vendor websites.
• Perform fresh installs of these to the Windows 7 laptop.
• Only copy the non-system files, such as documents, music files, spreadsheets and video files.

Be sure to hit the comments below to offer your advice to David!

After labs.moto.com published a test to see which touchscreen had the best touch response, there was some controversy because of human error.  Now they have duplicated the test but this time using a robot to eliminate human error.

The iPhone still comes out on top of the devices tested, however I don’t think they tested enough of the touchscreen market.  Windows Mobile wasn’t even in their test, which kind of seems like a big hole to me.

It looks like the Droid Eris came in second to the iPhone but to me the other four test devices failed equally.  It looks like the Droid and the Storm 2 came in last of the four.

So, I am really curious as to why Windows Mobile wasn’t tested.  Was it just that none of the team carries Windows Mobile, or was it an entirely bigger conspiracy?  You decide.

Just for giggles I did a quick test on my X1 running Windows Mobile 6.5.  I used my stylus on the notepad to see what the lines would look like.  Judge for yourself.  Not bad in my book.

Does this touchscreen test affect which phone you would buy?

Check out a short video from mobile computer on how they did the retest.