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In 2005 the MPAA estimated that roughly $3 billion a year is lost to Internet movie piracy. Since 2005, there have been five films that have broken a previous opening weekend box office record. Most recently, of course, is this past weekend's $200.3 million blockbuster, "The Avengers." Not only did the film shatter the previous weekend opening record, but it do so with a pirated copy of the film in circulation an entire week before it hit theaters. What's even more impressive? The new record is also the biggest jump in revenue, dethroning 2011's "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2" by more than $30 million.

All this has us wondering what exactly the MPAA is talking about when they say Internet piracy is destroying the film industry. It's tough to feel remorse with box office turnouts like this past weekend, and also when we read reports that claim there is no relationship between piracy and U.S. box office returns. So when the movie industry does complain about shoddy theater attendance perhaps they should be pointing the finger elsewhere.… Read more

Now people in far away or rural places and even those on low-bandwidth networks can use the newest version of Twitter for mobile Web.

The microblogging site announced today that "in an effort to give every person on the planet a consistent Twitter experience," it is standardizing Twitter for all devices, networks, and browsers.

This means that people in places where smartphones are inaccessible and Web access is slow can now use the same version of Twitter on their mobile device as anyone else.

The latest version of Twitter was introduced in December and included new features such … Read more

We here at Low Latency are all for convenience, which is why we love Hulu. But requiring a cable or satellite TV subscription for the service seems like a step backward in practicality. Despite making nearly half a billion dollars in ad revenue last year, Hulu is now flirting with an authentication protocol. If we need to pay for cable TV to watch TV on the Internet, then what's the point? … Read more

This DIY cell phone created at MIT manages to have something for just about every major contemporary subculture or hipster subset I can think of.

Nerds and tinkerers? Check. Wooden case for the steampunk set? Check. Huge antenna for the retro, skinny-jeans-wearing set? Check. Big buttons for the fat-thumbed and Luddite crowd? Check. Rugged design for outdoorsy types? Check.

The folks at the MIT Media Lab created this prototype with an SM5100B GSM Module that takes a standard SIM card and a custom circuit board. The screen will take you back to the last century at 160x128 pixels and the laser cut wood and veneer enclosure is just one of many possible exteriors, given the availability of 3D printing. While far from a smartphone, voice, texting, and other slightly old-school functionality is possible. All told, the parts cost between $100 and $150.… Read more

We here at Low Latency can barely walk and chew gum at the same time, so it should be no shock that we were a bit fearful for our immediate safety when Google's Project Glass video hit a few weeks ago.

The plan for Project Glass is to create a real-life head-up display for your face, allowing people to interact with the real world through the pervasive Google ecosystem. But it also got us thinking -- if we're so preoccupied with our texting, mapping, and other augmented reality antics, who's gonna make sure we're watching where we're going?

If you have an idea for another Project Glass test trial disaster, make sure to let us know in the comments section below.… Read more

Concertgoers who attended last week's Coachella music festival apparently had their minds blown by a "hologram" performance by the late rapper Tupac Shakur. The centuries-old illusion made it seem that Snoop Dogg and Tupac were sharing the same stage.

That got us thinking about what the future of concerts will look like. We've already seen some jokes about the next "all hologram Coachella lineup," but will the concert experience 50 years from now allow us to watch the show from the comfort of our homes? We can only hope to still be rocking out when we're that age -- minus the skull head-tattoo. … Read more

Do you like to go to sporting events and shows? Most people like to get out to the ballpark or a concert every once in a while, but often rising ticket prices, service fees, and extra hassle keep people from buying tickets.

ScoreBig Daily (Free) is an app for iPhone that works with the ScoreBig.com Web site to get you good seats for events for much less than the original ticket price. As of today's launch of the app, ScoreBig only works with events in L.A. or San Francisco, but it will soon be available for most … Read more

The Flashback Trojan that found its way onto more than 600,000 Macs isn't the first bit of malicious code that has hit an Apple computer, but it sure has the casual Mac user thinking twice. It's the most significant malware in recent memory that dents the otherwise unrealistic reputation that Macs are somehow invulnerable to viruses.

The truth is, there are more PC/Windows viruses because there are more Windows machines. The more popular Macs get, the more OS X-based viruses will surface.… Read more

A world without used video games means the days of letting a friend borrow a game are numbered.

While the end of physical media is a certainty, we're not sure how the pursuit of its elimination right now will go over. With anti-used-games technology, unique user IDs, and the requirement of a constant Internet connection, showing a friend a new game might be more of a hassle than it's worth. Of course, we'd imagine there would be ways to sign in on other consoles, but is the reality pictured above that much of a stretch? … Read more