They are two new Kesington Universal Notebook Docking Stations, both powered by the DisplayLink DL-195USB graphics processor. That means that your notebook graphic card would not be used. The DL-195USB will process all the graphics and send it to your monitor, so your build-in fancy GPU will sit idling and whistling.

The $US149.99 K33926US can connect to DVI or VGA monitors at that resolution, providing with Ethernet connectivity at the same time. The $US129.99 K33930US will do the same, sans the Ethernet. [Kensington ]

Fast and the Furious on July 28 will be the first Blu-ray movie to go all iPhoney, where you’ll be able to use it to spin cars around in a virtual garage with an app you grab in the App Store. Yes, this is their brilliant plan for engrossing you even more deeply in the movie. Movies coming out later this year will let you download actual stuff onto your iPhone—because you’ve always wanted a portable version of the making of The Mummy—and tell all your friends you’re watching Mallrats on Facebook and Twitter.

You’ll need a BD-Live player to get in on all this awesome internet shit, since it works over the internet because it harnesses the power of the WEB, oh yeah. [Home Media Magazine via AppleInsider]

The problem with the whole setup, as Gus over at Lifehacker points out, is that there’s no integration with eBay at all – you need a new account name and password, the link to purchase songs opens new tabs in your browser and the whole thing is a 5-click process. Not quite the simple purchasing option Apple provides, is it?

[eBay Music via Lifehacker]

Vivendi CEO said this, about the old model of giving away music videos to MTV and YouTube just as promotional material. “We used to do lots of great artistic videos that we gave away to MTV and other people for free. We didn’t get paid. Now it’s becoming a profit center.”

By this they mean that they’re going to split advertising revenue between YouTube and Universal, and not that they’re going to charge you 5 cents per video.

Our question is though, when YouTube already has the same videos, why would you ever move over to Vevo? What’s the benefit? YouTube just got to the point where you can fetch just about any video whenever you want, but copyright claims like this one seem to have forced people to go elsewhere. I guess that’s the point? Kill off YouTube as a music video destination so that music video producers, the studios, can get a cut? [Bloomberg]

Although the intentions aren’t yet explicit, most of the coalition members have openly opposed net neutrality legislation and are in favour of allowing ISPs to have the “freedom” to monitor their customers. But Microsoft is a little bit more squirmy on the subject. Thomas C. Rubin, Microsoft’s chief counsel for intellectual property strategy, told Hansell:

We think that this is an opportunity to work with leaders across industries to put our heads together to discuss the opportunities that exist to facilitate the promotion of the availability of legitimate content on the Internet. We are not in favour of filtering at the network level.

Hopefully that is enough of a bulwark against rampant abuse of power. As the forces align, it’s important for pirates and non-pirates alike to keep watch. Meantime, check out the full article. [NYT]

Where the hell is the Blu-ray edition? How can you ask us to buy it a fifth time—after VHS, two earlier DVDs and the beautiful-looking HD DVD—without a version on Blu-ray? Do we really have to hang onto our Xbox HD DVD module just so we can enjoy the Coen Brothers’ masterpiece, with classic sequences like The Dude’s post-roofie hallucination, dripping with oddball 70s sleaze, in high-def? Who are you, George Lucas? This will not stand. [Amazon via Crunchgear]

Right now, almost all products ship with a proprietary power adaptor. Green Plug’s technology allows every electronic device to communicate its own energy requirements to one adaptor, allowing for several goods to use the same power box. But in order for the universal adaptor to work, companies have to embed Green Plug’s firmware into their electronics.

Westinghouse, the first company to sign on with Green Plug, said the adaptor would not only help it cut costs (it wouldn’t have to sell power adapters with each product if the consumer already has a universal one at home), the environmental savings are huge as well.

434 million consumer electronics devices are “retired” in the U.S. each year. Those products, and their power cords usually end up in landfills. Meanwhile, over 3 billion power adapters will be shipped worldwide this year. Imagine how much less that figure would be if everything plugged into a single hub. [ PC World]

Purchase New Movies on iTunes Same Day as DVD Release CUPERTINO, Calif., May 1 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Apple(R) today announced that new movie releases from major film studios and premier independent studios are available for purchase on the iTunes(R) Store ( http://www.itunes.com ) on the same day as their DVD release. New releases and catalog titles will be available from 20th Century Fox, The Walt Disney Studios, Warner Bros., Paramount Pictures, Universal Studios Home Entertainment, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Lionsgate, Image Entertainment and First Look Studios. Movies purchased from iTunes can be viewed on an iPod(R) with video, iPhone(TM), Mac(R) or PC or on a widescreen TV with Apple TV(R), with new releases priced at $14.99 and most catalog titles at $9.99. “We’re thrilled to bring iTunes Store customers new films for purchase day-and-date with the DVD release,” said Eddy Cue, Apple’s vice president of iTunes. “We think movie fans will love being able to buy their favourites from major and independent studios.” New releases available for purchase on the iTunes Store this week, concurrent with their DVD release, include “American Gangster” and “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly.” Other popular titles now available for purchase include “Juno,” “Cloverfield,” “I Am Legend,” “There Will Be Blood,” “Alvin and the Chipmunks” and “Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story.” The iTunes Store is the world’s most popular online music, TV and movie store with a catalog of over six million songs, 600 TV shows and over 1,500 films including 200 in stunning high definition video. With Apple’s legendary ease of use, pioneering features such as new iTunes Movie Rentals, integrated podcasting support, iMix playlist sharing, the ability to turn previously purchased tracks into complete albums at a reduced price, and seamless integration with iPod and iPhone, the iTunes Store is the best way for Mac and PC users to legally discover, purchase and download music and video online. Pricing & Availability Movie purchases and rentals from the iTunes Store for Mac or Windows require iTunes 7.6.2, available as a free download immediately from http://www.itunes.com. iTunes movie purchases and rentals require a valid credit card with a billing address in the country of purchase. iTunes Movies are available in the US only and are $9.99 (US) for library title purchases and $14.99 (US) for new release purchases and $2.99 (US) for library title rentals and $3.99 (US) for new release rentals, and high definition rental versions are priced just one dollar more with library title rentals at $3.99 (US) and new release rentals at $4.99 (US). Short films are available to rent for 99 cents (US). Movies can be previewed, purchased and watched on iPod classic, iPod nano with video, iPod touch, iPhone and on a widescreen TV with Apple TV.