Loaded: Lively discussions Video

Loaded: Lively discussions Video Transcript

>> Google brings back the whole concept to Second Life. Canadians have major iPhone drama. And some big discounts on the Xbox and the Eee PC. It's Wednesday, July 9, I'm Natali Del Conte and it's time to get Loaded. ^M00:00:13 [ Music ] ^M00:00:15

>> Google launched its own version of Second Life this week called Lively. It's basically an Avatar-based virtual world that you can embed anywhere on the web. You create an Avatar, join or create a room and interact with other people online. This is a browser plug-in as opposed to a regular desk top download program like Second Life, but it requires Windows and it only works in Explorer or Firefox. I thought Second Life is over, but apparently, I was wrong. Apple is just as unhappy as other Canadians about the Rogers Communications iPhone Plan. So unhappy in fact that the company has decided not to sell the 3G iPhone in its Canadian retail stores. The phone will still go on sale on Friday in Canada, but only in Rogers Stores and not through Apple directly. That's because Rogers Plan is ridiculously expensive and prohibitive. What I don't understand is why didn't Apple know this before they sign the deal with Rogers. You would think that the company would ask about a service plan before they ever agreed to distribute the phone through any given carrier. In other Apple news, as the company prepares to launch MobileMe.mac will be out of order starting at 6 PM Pacific tonight, Wednesday, July 9 for 6 hours. MobileMe is supposed to officially launch this week with the 3G iPhones and the down time is necessary for that transition. When the site comes back up, .mac users will be able to use web-based email, calendar, address book, photo galleries, storage capabilities and push sync services. Microsoft released pricing details for their own cloud competing solution undoubtedly to compete with Apple's MobileMe. Microsoft's product is called Microsoft's Online Services and it's aimed at small businesses who want hosted software that includes ubiquitous access to Microsoft's exchange for email and calendars, as well as web meetings, collaboration tools and messaging synchronization. To get all of these services on your Windows machines and devices, it will cost $15 per user per month. To learn more about it head on over to Microsoft.com slash online. Getty images has partnered with Flickr to expand its library. Getty will pool from the Flickr community to let select users add their images to Getty images.com where they'll be used for creative, commercial and editorial purposes. This is a prestigious honor for amateur photographers, but unfortunately you cannot submit for the program. Getty and Flickr will have to find you. There will also be a compensation program, although it isn't clear yet how that will work because photographers will receive a portion of any revenue that Getty makes on the images. This is a really fun program and if your images are selected please do send them my way. We'll show them on the show. I'm an admirer of good photography. Send them to Loaded.cnet.com. The Wall Street Journal is reporting that YouTube maybe changing its mind about running pre-roll advertisements. Last year the company has said that running ads prior to videos had not really worked for them, not to mention the fact that it annoys its users. That may change now though because as the Journal points out YouTube has never really been able to prove itself as a money maker and the pressure to do so is on. If you don't buy the iPhone this weekend, run out and buy the Xbox. The Pro version of the Xbox is getting cheaper on Sunday and the new price will be $299 -- this is $50 cheaper. Usually, when prices drop it means that a new model is on their way and that does seem to be the case with the Xbox. Gizmodo reports that a new 60-gig version will come out replacing the 20-gig version that just dropped in price. This could start shipping as early as October or November. Here's another bargain alert. You can now get a seller on base Eee PC with a hundred dollar rebate, which brings the price to $449 -- that's cheaper than some cell phones. The Atom-based 900 Series is still on its way. In fact it's rumored already to be shipping, so obviously Asus wants to unload some of the older versions. The rebate should start popping up all over the web soon and will be good until the end of the month. We're getting ready for the launch of the 3G iPhone on Friday and I have some exciting news about it. We're working with the CBS Early Show to get an early preview of the phone a whole hour before it goes on sale. Tune in to the CBS Early Show on Friday at 7 AM. We'll also have a lot of live coverage from CNET TV and we'll have more details about that for you tomorrow. Meanwhile, make sure you send in all the questions you want answered about the 3G iPhone. We'll be sure to get them answered for you. Send them to loaded@cnet.com. Those are all your headlines for today, but be sure to check back tomorrow for more. Thanks for watching, I'm Natali Del Conte with CNET TV and you've just been Loaded. ^M00:04:31 [ Music ]