The next step in Hollywood’s effort to educate consumers about its UltraViolet digital rights locker came from Warner Bros., which is taking to Twitter with a promoted trend aimed at getting Harry Potter fans excited about streaming the title to their computers and other devices.

The #UltraViolet Promoted Trend was launched to coincide with the release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, which goes on sale on Friday. With the release of the final installment in the popular Harry Potter franchise, Warner Bros. is promoting the ability to own a digital copy for streaming to computers, tablets and smartphones.

The Twitter promotion is just one more effort by Hollywood studios to teach consumers about the benefits of UltraViolet, which in theory will allow consumers to purchase a movie once and watch it anywhere they want to. Then again, if you read the fine print, the deal isn’t as good as first promised: The UltraViolet stream is a standard-def version of the film only, and special features are not included. Finally, while the plan behind UltraViolet is to eventually enable consumers to watch movies that they’ve bought on a wide range of platforms, it also warns that the service is not available on all devices. So much for that.

Restrictions like those explain why some consumers aren’t fans of the digital copy scheme, at least in its initial rollout. UltraViolet has received scathing reviews from consumers who purchased The Green Lantern and Horrible Bosses — the first two titles to be released with the streaming copy attached.

Early reviews from the Harry Potter release aren’t much better: While the DVD has yet to go on sale, there are already a number of one-star reviews attached to the title on Amazon, most of which warn to stay away from the UltraViolet digital copy.

For now, the biggest complaint seems to be with the use of Warner Bros.’ Flixster application for accessing digital copies online and on mobile devices. When other applications and websites come online, consumers might have better user experiences to choose from, which could reduce some complaints. Until then, the studios are facing an uphill battle against consumers that aren’t satisfied with what UltraViolet has to offer.

Related research and analysis from GigaOM Pro:
Subscriber content. Sign up for a free trial.

• Connected Consumer Q3: Netflix fumbles; Kindle Fire shines
• What Amazon’s new Kindle line means for Apple, Netflix and online media
• Connected Consumer Q2: Digital music meets the cloud; e-book growth explodes

GigaOM

Following a trend set by other carriers, AT&T has begun sending SMS warning messages to the top 5 percent of data users on its network. The message alerts consumers that they are among AT&T’s top 5 percent that billing period, and suggests they use Wi-Fi to avoid reduced data speeds in the future.

Wired Top Stories

This week’s Economist cover story, “A New Tech Bubble,” has people abuzz once again about how Silicon Valley is ripe for another fall. According to the article, irrational exuberance has gripped tech industry investors, and it’s only a matter of time before the general public is left holding the check, just like they did in 2001.

But the latest bubble warnings seem to be missing the mark. Are some Internet companies over-hyped and over-funded? Absolutely. But let’s not throw the baby out with the bathwater by making generalizations about the entire industry based on a few flashy examples. I’d argue that the silent majority of businesses and investors in Silicon Valley are much more responsible than they get credit for. For every headline-grabbing Webvan 2.0, there is at least one current startup running a real business by providing a real service. Overall, a healthy amount of the companies that make up the web scene today are built to last.

To illustrate my point, I’ve put together a list of five startups that have been on my radar recently for doing business the old-fashioned way — with revenue, profits and no frothiness in sight. This is not meant to be a comprehensive list, but if you can think of any others, chime in in the comments!

Outfit7

This maker of the uber-popular Talking Friends apps is growing, profitable, and has no immediate plans to take on a dime of venture capital. “We raise a round of money from our users every month,” CEO Andrej Nabergoj told me recently. “We’re not focused on raising any other kind of funding right now.” The company does not disclose its annual revenue, but Nabergoj says Outfit7 made 0,000 in just one day this past December, as the popularity of its Talking Santa app reached a peak.

Instapaper

“My goal is to spread that message: Charge for something and make more than you spend,” Instapaper CEO Marco Arment told Ryan Kim in a recent interview. The New York-based startup, which makes the very popular Instapaper app that allows users to save articles to read later, is profitable and entirely self-funded.

Fwix

Last month this geo-location startup rolled out a scalable revenue generation model with the launch of its revenue-sharing API, but CEO Darren Shirazi told me recently that the 2.5-year-old San Francisco-based company had already banked millions of dollars through licensing agreements with big media firms. Shirazi told me he’s determined to keep at least 50 percent of the company in the hands of its founders and employees, so having that income stream allowed Fwix to fend off a number of investment offers with less-than-ideal terms. Fwix closed on its first VC round of .75 million in April 2011.

99Designs

From its February 2008 inception to the close of its first venture funding round last month, this graphic design marketplace website achieved multi-million dollar revenues and profitability entirely through bootstrapped operations. CTO Lachlan Donald told me that 99Designs’ humble beginnings “brought focus” to the company.

GitHub

This web-based code repository has been banking self-sustaining revenues from day one with its payment plans. The three-year-old company hasn’t taken on any outside funding, not even from friends and family, CEO Chris Wansrath told me in a recent interview. “Everyone says you can’t make money in developer tools. But I’ve learned to take everything everyone says with a grain of salt,” he said. Solid advice for any entrepreneur.

Related content from GigaOM Pro (subscription req’d):

• Cleantech Financing Trends: 2010 and Beyond
• California’s New Energy Data Privacy Rules: Some Answers, Many Questions
• Players and Strategies for Real-Time In-Stream Advertising

alt='The cloud-optimized networks of tomorrow run on Brocade Ethernet fabrics today. Assess Your Cloud Readiness. Download Forrester Study »'
border='0' width='300' height='250'
/>

GigaOMGigaOM · Tech News, Analysis and Trends

by jmatthew3

Gadgets – New Trend Products

Earlier technology was just a function but now a day they appear with modern features to satisfy the needs of every person. The latest cell phones are emerged from the older phones which included just the camera, but now it includes everything to the sport videos and games. When apple iPhone was introduced in year 2007 was incredible mark in the year which means the coming years are going to have much more technology and advancements in gadgets like a phone, electronics and toys.

The cell phones have no limit as they are treated as a mode of entertainment rather than telecommunication necessities. The gadgets ranging from touch screen to high definition plasma TV are most demanding and hottest gadgets in a today world. Their prices are increasing with the high in technology in the electronics. However, if you really notice the change in price you might not see the increase in their price there decrease in the price of the products. It seems like prices have increased because due to recession we no longer have enough money to blow on those gadgets some examples which would prove the above statement to be true. Like plasma TV, we use to get in 98 in 2004 but in 2009 you might get in 5, in the similar way if you look for the prices for laptops it had been average seeking price in 2004 was ,144 but now in 2009 you might get good configuration laptop only in7. So prices are not gone up but due to recession, we are not in position to buy these products.

Later the technology was made according to the customer requirements so that the gadget which they are using fits with their personality. This electronics which was customized by the customers was commonly known as fashion electronics. Today for the customer looks of the gadget play more important role than its function.

The gadget had made everyone’s life so easy and comfortable. You can be connected to the whole world with wi-fi in your mobile. You can imagine your wife cooking food and talking with her friends on blue tooth. With the help of these gadgets, you can check your blood pressure and blood sugar level sitting at home. Possibility is unlimited in the advancements in the fields of gadgets.

by maduko

Examples of Cool Gadgets

A gadget can be defined as a device or a mechanical device. This is a cool advanced world with the hi-tech technologies. People come up with different types of gadgets out of which some are very beneficial to our economy. Nowadays, the trend of using variety of cool gadgets has been reached to every house of this world. Various types of electronic devices are also referred as the gadgets.

More and more gadgets are developed everyday in which some are of the unique type; some may be immaterial for some people whereas; some other may be cool gadgets which can play an important role in our life.

One of the most favorite as well as cool gadgets is watches. There are some watches available which not only work to tell the time but also do something else. You will find the watches which can function to tell your heart rate, can calculate the distance that you cover, elevation, shows external temperature, measure barometric pressure, the number of steps that you have taken and much more cool functionality. Some of the watches have now become solar which saves money of the power cells and at the same time functions well under water.

The other kind of cool gadgets are binoculars and the devices used for night vision. The binoculars available today are much advanced than before. They are not just used to view the objects that are at a long distance. Nowadays, the binoculars have the ability to find the range, possess various focusing features and some also allows you to take a distant picture. They are very compact and waterproof.

You will find wide range of many such cool gadgets which look to be simple but have several capabilities.

by Yvonne (bijoux & crafts)

GADGETS AND GIFTS: NEVER ENDING TREND

Whenever people have to buy gifts for their family members they get confused. The situation is quite dilemmatic, as one knows what other people like but still unable to decide the gift items. If you also suffer through the same problem like any other normal person then do not worry. Few gift items are there in the market that works in almost every situation. However, deciding the kind of gift is not the only major of concern. In addition to it, one should decide from where he or she can buy the best quality gifts and of course at affordable prices.

It has been seen that in recent times the concept of gadgets and gifts is doing wonders for individuals. Gadgets are something that people use in their daily lives and thus one can always find one for his family members. For instance, if you want to buy gifts for men in your family then purchasing laptops, digital cameras, and similar stuff can be the best gifts. If you have teenagers at your place then also these gadgets can make them extremely happy. If you think that these gadgets have become quite common and you wish to gift something unique then also there are available many options. One needs to search well for the various gift items and surely in the end can manage to find the best ones.

To find the best quality gadgets and gifts one can browse through the Gadget Gifts UK stores that are one of the best choices when it comes to gadgets. These online stores offer plethora of choices to their customers without making them invest much of their money. to ensure that customers get everything they are looking for at one place they have in stock different kinds of gadgets for people belonging to different age groups and genders.

In addition to this, one can also find toys for boys and girls at these stores of different types. In all at online stores, one can find various items that can be gifted to their near and dear ones on different occasions. The best part about these stores is cheap prices along with the versatile products.

More Gadget Articles