Good news, kind of. TiVo has just announced that their networked Series 3 and TiVo HD subscribers will be getting YouTube access through their boxes sometime “later this year.” While new media features are always a plus, TiVo’s more recent advanced service offerings (like Rhapsody integration) have been a bit buggy. Here’s hoping YouTube rolls out smoothly.

Here’s the full announcement:

ALVISO, Calif., March 12 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — TiVo Inc. (Nasdaq: TIVO), the creator of and a leader in television services for digital video recorders (DVRs), today announced an agreement with YouTube(TM) that will offer access to YouTube videos directly from the TV via a TiVo DVR. The service will be available later this year to broadband-connected subscribers with TiVo Series3(TM) DVRs, including the new TiVo HD.

Every day hundreds of millions of videos are viewed on YouTube and hundreds of thousands of videos are uploaded. Upon launch of the TiVo-YouTube service, TiVo users will be able to search, browse and watch these videos directly on their television sets through their broadband connected TiVo DVRs. The combination of having the YouTube experience with the convenience and familiarity of TiVo’s intuitive user interface will provide TiVo subscribers with the ability to discover and enjoy the most shared and most discussed web videos in the world on their televisions. Importantly, users will be able to log into their YouTube accounts directly from their TiVo boxes and access their favorite YouTube channels and
playlists.

“We’re delighted to be working with the world’s leading online video community so that TiVo subscribers can access YouTube’s popular content on the TV via the TiVo DVR,” said Tara Maitra, Vice President and GM of Content Services at TiVo Inc. “Being able to make available YouTube videos
to the TiVo subscriber base using one device, one remote and one user interface is another major step in our commitment to combine all of your television and web video viewing options in one easy to use service.”

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The image associated with this post is best viewed using a browser.This is what you get when you capture 69,550 full resolution frames from the six Star Wars movies and combine them with a version of DaVinci’s Last Supper on a PC with mosaic-making software and a custom matlab-based algorithm. The 262-megapixel mosaic (24,168 x 10,864 pixels) took two weeks to complete, including 30 hours of computing power and manual retouching for the final version. Avinash Arora, the guy who did it, tells us about the process.

Jesús Díaz: What materials did you use for creating this huge thing?
Avinash Arora: The 69,550-image collection I made is from all the movies. Originally I extracted EVERY image using vlc’s image output plug-in from Episode IV, and used a photoshop programmed command to delete every 19 frames, and save the 20th. Only after that did I discover AndreaMosaic could do that for me, which saved me a ton of time in the other five movies.

JD: What kind of computer did you use to do this?
AA: An Asus M2N SLI motherboard with AMD 5400+ X2, eVGA nVidia Geforce 8800GTS 640MB, and 2GB DDR2 Corsair XMS memory.

JD: What about the software?
AA: The original software I used is AndreaMosaic, but I found that the algorithm wasn’t really producing the results I wanted. I ended up tinkering with the settings and producing dozens of sample mosaics to view, and I did some research and found out how it worked.

JD: Did you get what wanted at the end? What did you do to improve the quality?
AA: I created my own slightly modified algorithm to include pathlines of the strongest “importance” (or rather color distinction, so I could find pictures that followed the image’s contours for every detail) I got more satisfying results. I kept tinkering with this one and made six full-size mosaics, until I finally settled on the last one…

JD: And that was that?
AA: No, I went to work on it by hand after that. I replaced at least a thousand images by hand that looked like they were out of place (my programming isn’t perfect), and did some color corrections on others. The entire thing was done when I took sections and pieces from the mosaics I made with AndreaMosaic, my own matlab-based algorithm, and the original image I drew inspiration from, and put it all together in Photoshop (I also discovered that .psd files have a maximum size of 2GB, but luckily .raw files do not.)

JD: How long did it take you, then?
AA: Each movie’s image extraction process took about an hour, that was the easy part. Each sample mosaic I made for testing took about 90 minutes. Each full mosaic I made took about 6-8 hours. Once I had the final mosaic and went to work, I’d say I put about 25-30 hours of work into touching up by hand.

The process (not including extracting the images from the movies) took me about two weeks from the time I made the first full mosaic, about a dozen samples, second full mosaic, dozen samples, etc.
During the two weeks I missed all but about two classes, and the day I finished I took an exam for a class I forgot I had…

JD: Geezuss…
AA: Don’t worry, I still did well.

JD: How big is the thing?
AA: Each image was about 640×272, but when placed into the mosaic they were shrunken down to 120 pixel wide. Each image is a full-quality jpeg, and they’re cut up into folders (because my computer doesn’t take too kindly to one folder with 69,550 files in it).

The final resolution of the image 24,168 x 10,864 pixels… 262 megapixels. Unfortunately I couldn’t print it at the epic level I wanted to, which would have been a 5×11′ composite, not a 3×6′, and that would have been a 712-megapixel image. The guy who prints them says his computer is incapable of opening an image that large (which flattened would have been about 3GB… and uncompressed almost 40GB.) [Avinator]

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Apple says that over 100,000 iPhone software development kits have been downloaded since its celebrated unveiling on March 6, not a week ago. The announcement below is atypical of Apple: following the standard chest-puffing from execs such as worldwide marketing SVP Phil Schiller, you’ll find exec quotes from Namco, NetSuite, PopCap, Rocket Mobile, Six Apart and THQ—I suppose in alphabetical order by company. It’s more wind, to be sure, but from the feel of this announcement, it’s almost as if Apple had planned to support third-party development all along. Whatever the case, we’re looking forward to the resulting apps, both legit and, well, under the table.

iPhone SDK Downloads Top 100,000

CUPERTINO, California–March 12, 2008–Apple® today announced that more than 100,000 iPhone™ developers have downloaded the beta iPhone Software Development Kit (SDK) in the first four days since its launch on March 6. The iPhone SDK provides developers with the same rich set of Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) and tools that Apple uses to create its native applications for iPhone and iPod® touch.

“Developer reaction to the iPhone SDK has been incredible with more than 100,000 downloads in the first four days,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. “Also, over one million people have watched the launch video on Apple.com, further demonstrating the incredible interest developers have in creating applications for the iPhone.”

Apple also previewed the new App Store, a breakthrough way for developers to wirelessly deliver their applications to every iPhone and iPod touch user. Developers set the price for their applications–including free–and retain 70 percent of all sales revenues.

Leading developers such as AOL, Electronic Arts, Epocrates, salesforce.com and Sega have already demonstrated amazing applications using the SDK, and developer response continues to be phenomenal with more developers embracing the platform.

“The iPhone SDK gives us the tools we need to create powerful iPhone applications and is an important part of our overall mobile strategy,” said Rick Jensen, senior vice president, Small Business Group at Intuit. “We’re excited that the iPhone expands the ways our customers can solve key financial tasks wherever they might be.”

“We’re very excited about Apple’s new SDK and reaching every iPhone user through the new App Store,” said Scott Rubin, vice president, Sales and Marketing, Namco Networks. “We can’t wait to show off great new versions of arcade classics like PAC-MAN and Galaga that use the revolutionary features of the iPhone and iPod touch.”

“Apple’s tools have provided our development team the flexibility to make the SuitePhone application richer and deeper,” said Luke Braud, vice president, Software Development, NetSuite. “NetSuite is excited at the opportunity to give every iPhone customer access to their critical business data anytime, anywhere.”

“Apple’s become an important mobile game platform with the iPhone SDK,” said Jason Kapalka, co-founder and Chief Creative Officer, PopCap. “The new SDK gives us the tools to innovate and reinvent games like Bejeweled, Zuma and Peggle. With the new App Store we can reach every iPhone and iPod touch user on the planet.”

“Seventy percent of the retail price is hands-down the best deal out there in mobile. It’s simple and motivating for developers,” said Wayne B. Yurtin, president and CEO, Rocket Mobile, Inc. “We can’t wait to get our first iPhone applications on the revolutionary App Store.”

“Six Apart pioneered the mobile blogging experience with an iPhone-optimized blog service,” said Chris Alden, CEO, Six Apart. “We’re taking it to the next level with our native iPhone application for TypePad that’s already in development.”

“The iPhone is the mobile platform game developers have been dreaming of,” said Scott Zerby, vice president, THQ Wireless. “We’re looking at how we can use the iPhone’s innovative user interface to create new game experiences for our big brand entertainment partners that consumers love.”

Pricing & Availability
The free beta iPhone SDK is available immediately worldwide and can be downloaded at developer.apple.com/iphone/program. The iPhone Developer Program will initially be available in the US and will expand to other countries in the coming months. A QuickTime® video of the iPhone roadmap event is available to view at www.apple.com/quicktime/qtv/iphoneroadmap.

Apple ignited the personal computer revolution in the 1970s with the Apple II and reinvented the personal computer in the 1980s with the Macintosh. Today, Apple continues to lead the industry in innovation with its award-winning computers, OS X operating system and iLife and professional applications. Apple is also spearheading the digital media revolution with its iPod portable music and video players and iTunes online store, and has entered the mobile phone market with its revolutionary iPhone.

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According to our estimations, between various bowel problems and a nasty affliction of general apathy, the average person has accidents around 2-3 times per week. We know what you’re thinking, “So what?” Well sometimes crapping one’s pants can actually be inconvenient. For those rare circumstances, Pants in a Pinch are 100% cotton bottoms that can fit in the palm of your hand. For $20 apiece, the pants are only sized for children for the moment. But with a skinny enough waistline, one kid’s pants can be your shorts. [product via productdose]

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In case you were wondering when the final treaty would be signed in the megapixel war, I think today is as good as any day to call it. There’s a 12-megapixel GE—that is to say, brand-licensing no-name Chinese manufacturer—camera selling on HSN for “under” $200. It even lists a 2.7″ LCD, an SD/SDHC card slot (though up to 4GB only, so not sure the deal there), and shooting up to ISO 3200. Despite all this, our suspicion is that its pictures won’t be exactly Canon-grade to say the least. At any rate, a test of this baby will answer once and for all whether megapixels matter. [HSN]

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The TAD gadget is designed to help fat-fingered folks (or just plain clumsy typists, like me) who have trouble with touchscreens or tiny buttons on cellphones. It’s simply a plastic ring with a customizable “nubbin” for better contact than your fingertip offers— you can choose rounded for buttons and pointy for touchscreens. The makers claim better accuracy, reduced wear on keypads and even that it protects long nails. My wife’s found that long nails are perfect for a Chumby touchscreen, but what the heck. Available in six colors and sizes up to 0.7-inches for $6. [Reghardware]

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Audioengine has released a software independent, wireless music streaming solution, called the AW1. The AW1 set contains a receiver module and transmitter; the receiver connects via USB, RCA or line-out and the transmitter connects to your PC via USB. The audio sent is then picked up by the connected audio source, with a reported 100-foot range.

Interestingly, the transmission method is unique to Audioengine, which uses their own AvenraAudio technology. We’re not too sure how that sounds, but it supposed to churn out CD-quality output with no dropouts or static. At $149, it may be worth the investment if the sound reproduction is as good as they claim. [Audio Junkies]

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The beta 2.0 firmware that comes with the iPhone SDK has been modified to not only jailbreak but unlock the iPhone, even before the firmware’s public release. Part of the Pwned Project, the hacked firmware will allow you to do anything you want, including the installation of both official and unofficial apps, and even patches. We got the exclusive details directly from the DevTeam, including the fact that it is going to be extremely hard for Cupertino to close this new hole:

pwned firmware means it’s custom [firmware], you can have it install anything you would ever want Pwned works with some magic, it will be hard to close but nothing is impossible (from Apple) with a mindtwist. But first, we will enjoy

They told us that this is all part of their previous Pwned project, which instead of trying to hack into the iPhone, directly patches the firmware itself to both unlock it, so you can use the iPhone with any carrier you want, and allow you to install any applications you want.

According to the Dev Team, the custom 2.0 firmware (technically, 1.2.0,) is now up and running without problems in many of their iPhones, running unsigned applications without a single problem. However, current Installer.app applications need to be changed: “they changed lots of the API, a lot. We will see how much has to be changed to the Toolchain [the previous development tool for iPhone independent developers] to still work after 2.0.”

The best news, however, is this: “the hacked 1.2 firmware works with anything. AT&T and others, it’s pwned. And Apple will not really be able to patch it this time… somehow :-)”

I’m flabbergasted. As Han Solo would say, “that’s one in a million, kid!” Once again.

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Gear4’s BassStation iPod dock will have a 35W pumping subwoofer, RCA connectivity and a fully featured remote control. The white on black styling looks retro enough for us to give the 2.1 stereo speaker the time of day, and the 10m range of the control gives us enough space to shield our eyes when it all gets too much. Whether it will be the worth the £99.99 ($201), is another matter entirely. Alternatively, you could opt for the undisputed, iPod Dock King. [Techdigest]

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Out first in Korea (where else?) Digix’s Picto DigiArt i90 is one of those crazy-sounding convergence gadgets. Combine a seven megapixel camera and PMP in one case, and you save people from carrying several gizmos, or so the idea goes.

Mind you, the camera sounds okay for holiday snaps, with 3x optical zoom, some sort of “Image Stabilizing Helper” and video at 30 fps maximum resolution 740 x 480 pixels. It’s also able to shoot up to ISO1000, and has a nine megapixel interpolated mode. With a 3-inch LCD screen, MP3 player, video playback (unknown formats), voice recording and SD memory slot, the whole thing squeezes into a pretty slim 0.7-inch deep package. Costs around $185, but we’ve no idea if it’ll be available here.

Now: choose between a strange combo gadget or bulging pockets with dedicated, but good, gadgets? Personally, I’d go for the latter. [Aving]

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