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VuClip: Mobile video search and playback for all

VuClip, a start-up presenting at Wednesday's Under the Radar Conference, has a simple concept, but a good one: start with any Internet-ready phone. Search for a video by keyword, then select the video from the list of returned results. VuClip transcodes the video on-the-fly for your specific phone--screen size, video format, bit rate, and so on.

Right now, two things set VuClip apart from competitors: the fact that it's designed to search for any video hosted on the Web, and that it focuses more on mass market Java phones than it does on high-end smartphones, unlike most of … Read more

MP3 Insider 123: Girls, girls, girls!

When the cat's away, the mice will play! Or something to that effect. Donald is taking some well-deserved vacation this week, which gives Jasmine the perfect opportunity to run amok, spouting off on anything her little heart desires (within the confines of the MP3 player/headphone topic, of course). She opts to invite fellow female tech editors Bonnie Cha and Nicole Lee on the show to tear down or shore up stereotypes about gadget-conscious ladies and just generally gab about all things portable audio.

Listen now: Download today's podcast Episode 123

SanDisk announces 8GB Sansa Clip

MP3 players with dedicated volume controls… Read more

Clipping via bookmarklet service Snipd launches

Snipd, a Web clippings service we profiled in September, has just opened up to everyone. Its claim to fame is that it lets you clip bits of the Web including text, images, and videos, all without having to download any software or register for an account. The first time you use it via its tiny bookmarklet, it simply creates an account for you, which can be claimed later on.

One of the things that separates it from something like Evernote, is that your snippings can be found in a public directory--at least by default. It fully supports keeping items private, … Read more

Griffin adds more sight, sound to iPhone 3G

At Apple Expo in Paris on Wednesday, Griffin Technology unveiled its latest iPhone accessories, including the AirCurve acoustic amplifier dock and the Clarifi protective case.

The AirCurve dock collects and amplifies the sound from the built-in iPhone 3G speaker. It does so by using a coil waveguide within its base, and therefore doesn't need batteries or another power source to work.

While the acoustically amplified sound is not as loud as that made by electronic amplifiers, it's loud enough for you to enjoy music in a quiet room or to use as an alarm clock. The compact dock … Read more

YouTube's filters help copyright owners profit from pirated videos

Instead of just pulling down pirated clips, copyright owners are choosing to use YouTube's copyright filters to generate advertising revenue, Google said Wednesday.

Late last year, Google introduced a copyright identification system called Video ID, which tracks unauthorized videos. It enables a copyright owner to either block the clip, leave it up, or enable YouTube to sell ads against the material.

Google said on its blog Wednesday that copyright owners were choosing to turn a buck from unauthorized clips 90 percent of the time.

"It's clear to our (more than 300) Video ID partners that our technology … Read more

Apple shuts OpenClip: No more copy-and-paste

Well, that didn't take long. As soon as people started to get excited about open-source OpenClip, and its ability to bring copy-and-paste functionality to the iPhone, Apple found a way to shut it down with its 2.1 firmware.

Of course, OpenClip is open source, and perhaps enterprising developers will find a way around the 2.1 firmware. Or maybe (gasp!) Apple will actually deliver the copy-and-paste functionality many have demanded.

But for now, its ClosedClip, not OpenClip. Even communities must apparently bow to Apple. Code is law, to borrow Larry Lessig's phrase, and Apple controls the iPhone … Read more

Protect your iPhone without changing its look

I finally got my iPhone 3G. Love it, hate it, this is all getting old. However, one of the things I do really notice is that although the phone seems very sturdy and scratch-resistant, it attracts fingerprints and shows sweat stains easily. I have the black model and it looks dirty all the time.

For this reason, the Power Support Air Jacket for iPhone3G caught my attention Thursday. It's one of hundreds of jackets you can buy for the new iPhone, but with one unique attribute: it's very thin (merely 1mm thick), and see-through. This means your iPhone … Read more

Copy-and-paste comes to the iPhone...and it's open source

I was very excited to see on OStatic that OpenClip, an open-source copy-and-paste application for the iPhone, is out.

In case you needed proof in a divine being....

Could Apple shut it down, as it has with other applications that it doesn't like? Well, as OStatic points out, OpenClip "uses shared space, outside the common resource space that Apple's SDK protects, to facilitate copy and paste." So maybe it's on firm legal territory.

I wouldn't want to put myself up against Apple's legal team, however, which is why making the application open source … Read more

Developer creates copy-paste tech for iPhone

One of the common complaints about Apple's iPhone--and one that did not get solved with the launch of the iPhone 3G--is the lack of a copy-paste function. An independent developer, Zac White, recently unveiled his open-source solution: OpenClip, a standard for other iPhone application developers.

He's not the first one to have that idea: another developer, Preston Monroe, has created a hack called iCopy that lets iPhone owners copy and paste between the e-mail and Web browser applications.

OpenClip is not a standalone app but rather a technology that developers can incorporate into their iPhone applications, should they … Read more