Bloomberg is reporting that “iTV” (for lack of a better name) will feature a Netflix streaming app. Man, I really hope that’s true. Now that there’s a Netflix app for the iPhone and iPad, there’s no reason to think there couldn’t be one for iTV, assuming the rumors of the iTV are true. I guess licensing restrictions are the main reason it wouldn’t happen.

I have several Netflix-capable devices, and all of them have some minor drawback (XBox 360 is too loud; TiVo is too clunky; PS3 requires a disc), so I hope this solution ends up being really solid.

Fun show; great episode. If you’re a fan of Esquire Magazine or the like, you’ll dig it.

I drive by a rather scenic area used to board and walk horses every day. I frequently see a photo-worthy scene there, but I’ve never stopped before. I’ve had several excuses, even when I’ve had my camera with me: I’m running home for dinner and don’t have time; there’s no good place to pull the car over; I’ll come back tomorrow. I finally pulled over when I saw the sun setting behind the horses and there was no traffic on the road and made this picture. I only had my relatively new 50mm f/1.4 G lens with me, so that’s what I used. I like the vignetting, so I didn’t bother to crop in. Perhaps the wider scene is more subtle than cropping in on the horses anyway.

This is the first image I’ve shot in bright light at a small aperture, and it brought several dust spots on my sensor into focus, so I had to do some spotting; I need to clean the sensor. Don was giving me crap about my carefree lens-changing technique when I saw him a couple weeks back, so here’s a shout out to him that he was right that my sensor is dirty.

Here’s a good tip on creating nearly auto-updating albums for your iPad from Lightroom 3 using LR3′s new Publish Services. I have something similar set up to sync with the AppleTV, for use as its screensaver. Good stuff.

I’ve recently become enamored of This American Life. It’s available in several forms, but I’ve been listening to the podcast version on iTunes. The shows have individual themes, and there are usually multiple segments/acts that relate to that theme. In particular, I’ve enjoyed “NUMMI”, “Inside Job” and “Social Contract”.

Some episodes seem to be free, for a limited time after they are originally made available, and others cost $0.99—a perfectly reasonably price for a high-quality piece of entertainment, in my opinion. However, you can also buy an iPhone app for $2.99, and that app provides access to the episodes you’d normally pay for individually.

The app has some nice features: it can stream audio, download it for later consumption and can let you listen live to the broadcast. However, it’s a good example of how each content producer creating their own app is a bad idea. Let’s face it: an independent content producer is unlikely to reproduce the audio player functionality built into the iPod well. For instance, the TAL app doesn’t remember where you are if you pause the audio, leave the app and return later. That’s a big deal, but it’s not the only thing that the iPod app does that the TAL app doesn’t, and you’re likely to miss those things as much.

Even if the TAL app eventually does replicate all that functionality and manages to keep up with the inevitable changes and enhancement to the iPod app, the bottom line is that I still have to go to yet another app just to see if there’s a new TAL to listen to, when I really want to have it appear in my podcast listing when it’s available and downloaded. This isn’t the same paradigm as magazines, where I can see how they want to have so much control over the flow of the reading experience that each magazine might need its own app; I want to listen to TAL the same way I listen to all the other podcasts on my iPhone and I want the same tools uniformly.

I guess I’ll keep up on the latest episodes in podcast fashion and use the TAL app to listen to back episodes as necessary, but it sure would be nice if I could pay my $2.99 and have the episodes appear in the iPod app when I want them.

The pre-Photokina releases are in full swing, and there are two Canon announcements that I think are interesting. The first is the Canon EF 8-15mm f/4L Fisheye USM lens. What a wonderful, eclectic idea! If this were for Nikon, I’d seriously consider it.

The next, the PowerShot S95 is an interation of the S90 that debuted last year. The size of this camera makes it intensely appealing, especially given that its image quality is essentially the same as the G-series cameras. Something to keep an eye on.

Then again, the Micro Four-Thirds camp got a boost with the announcement that Voitgländer is developing lenses for that platform, which is awesome. They’re leading off with a Voitgländer 25mm f/0.95. Nice! I’m not particularly interested in that lens, but I’m happy to hear that they’ll be producing others.

Exciting stuff!

The Sacramento Bee is running a good photo essay comparing New Orleans five years ago to now. Val, Ainsley and I visited the Katrina-hit areas a year-and-a-half ago and were stunned that there was still as much destruction evident so long after the storm.

I completely agree. It’s not purely looks, but the tactile feel of some of them too. If I’m paying $500 for a 50mm lens, I’d like for it to feel like a highly precise tool. That’s not to say that I’m unhappy with the pictures I make with the 50mm f/1.4 G, but it doesn’t give me the same pleasure to hold and use as, say, the Zeiss equivalent.

Real or not, this video is pretty awesome.

I’ve been on vacation for over a week (the subject of another post), but one of the better things I read while catching up was TOP’s “Voja Mitrovic, Printer to the Greats”. It’s a well-written, interesting story and worth your time. If you like that post, catch part two here.

There have been persistent rumors around a D700 replacement for awhile, but maybe the current iteration of the rumor is true. Nikon Rumors notes that the current Nikkor 24-120 f/3.5-5.6, a lens unworthy of being part of the original D700 kit, is now listed as discontinued on Nikon Japan’s site. Given the other rumor that a 24-120 f/4 VR N is coming at Photokina, one has to wonder if it’ll be the kit lens for a D700 replacement.

I like the idea of a 24-120 f/4. Since using the VR II version of the awesome 70-200, I’ve frequently wished that the 24-70 f/2.8 had it as well. I have to wonder how big that lens will be, though. When I had a brief dalliance with Canon, my favorite lens was the EF-S 17-55 f/2.8 IS USM. Having a reasonably fast f/2.8 zoom with IS/VR is really nice. I know a lot of people think it’s unnecessary, but it really helps in seriously low-light settings, like this one from a visit to India, taken at 1/6 sec. hand-held wide-open:

As for the D700 replacement, I wonder what they’ll do. I think it’s a given that it’ll do video—something I couldn’t care less about. But I can’t get enough high-ISO performance, and frequently find myself shooting at high ISOs even in light that otherwise wouldn’t require it just to get more shutter speed. Better quality across ISOs and lifting the current top would be great.

One other thing I’d love to see, even though it wouldn’t appear on a spec sheet, would be improved controls around the Auto ISO controls. Right now, you can set a minimum shutter speed, but I’d like to see a setting where it defaults to something like the 1/focal length rule. Ideally, it could be customized per-lens. Also, the “My Menu” can save the setting to turn Auto ISO on or off, but you can’t put the menu of all the options there, which I’d like to see fixed. Best of all would be a custom setting to assign Auto ISO on/off and minimum shutter speed/maximum ISO for Auto ISO to the function button (and other buttons you can customize).

Enough with the wishing. Here’s hoping that Photokina brings some fun news.

I’ve frequently thought this idea was something I’d like to have Safari be able to do with the iPhone/iPad. I don’t know if I’d like this as much as the idea behind Firefox Home—which syncs tabs automatically, albeit to its own app instead of the built-in Safari browser on the iDevices—but I like the direction they’re both heading. Hopefully Apple notices and bakes it in. Even better (but unlikely): Apple opens an API to allow 3rd parties to extend Safari.

Interesting post from Gruber on the Verizon iPhone rumors. While it’s true that they’ve been persistent for a long time, there’s something about the fact that they’re coming from all directions all of a sudden that does make them feel more likely to be true this time.

I’m going to say it’d be an event. I don’t think the lines would be as long as they were this summer for the iPhone 4 on AT&T, but I think there are going to be lines — especially in places where AT&T service is poor, like New York and San Francisco.

I’ll bet the lines would be even longer.

I think underwater photography would be a lot of fun, and I love my Panasonic GF1, but this is pretty crazy. I mean it’s way, way more than the price of the camera. Why not buy a housing for an SLR if you’re going to go this far? Still, it looks cool, so I can appreciate it on that front. It definitely makes the gadget lover in me swoon.

This Wired article wins for best title I’ve seen in awhile. The article is good too.

“We both recognize that wireless broadband is different from the traditional wireline world, in part because the mobile marketplace is more competitive and changing rapidly,” the joint statement said. “In recognition of the still-nascent nature of the wireless broadband marketplace, under this proposal we would not now apply most of the [Net Neutrality] wireline principles to wireless, except for the transparency requirement.”

That’s fancy language for: Verizon and the nation’s telecoms have yet again won; Google officially became a net neutrality surrender monkey; and you, as an American, have lost.