YouTube Movie Rentals, Sony 3D in 2010, Zune Dies Soon, Consumer Spending To Increas on Gadgets: Daily Wrapup

Reinventing the bookmark: not necessary, but cool

If, like me, you tend to find yourself in the middle of several books, a six-pack of these things might not be a bad idea. You could just as easily use a piece of paper, or a string with a knot in in it, but then you wouldn’t be able to say you paid money for a bizarre rubber bookmark!…CrunchGear

Giz Explains: Why Tech Standards Are Vital For Apple (And You)

Tech standards are important. They’re, well, standards. They shape the way the world works, ideally. So if you wanna influence your little world, you probably wanna shape (or maybe even create) standards. Take Apple, for example…Gizmodo

Video: Sony confirms it’s ‘bringing home 3D’ starting in 2010

As it turns out, yesterday’s report was spot-on. Sony today announced that it is bringing the experience of looking absolutely ridiculous in 3D glasses home to the living room. The initiative is “starting in 2010″ and will expand through BRAVIA LCD HDTVs, VAIO machines, PlayStation 3, and Blu-ray discs… and not in the press release, but we clearly see a CyberShot digital camera in the promotional video (look out, Fujifilm). It’s hard to say from the wording if all the listed product lines will go 3D next year, but from what we gather there’ll at least be BRAVIA sets in time for that Christmas. Curious see the zaniest video this side of the second dimension? Well, we don’t have that, but you can giggle your way through Sony’s promo after the break…Engadget

The Zune as we know it is gone; long live the Zune HD

The Zune as we know it is going the way of the dodo, and its replacement is of course the Zune HD. “As you know, the new Zune HD device—featuring a touch OLED screen, HD Radio, HD video out capabilities, Internet browser and more—is available for preorder now and will be available at retail on September 15,” a Microsoft spokesperson told Ars. “Additional flash Zune devices (Zune 4GB, 8GB and 16GB) and hard drive devices (80GB and 120GB) will continue to be available at retail until sold out, though we will not continue to manufacture those devices.”…ArsTechnica

Consumers to Spend Big on TVs, Smartphones

Even a global recession can’t come between Americans and the high-tech gadgets they love. Consumers of all ages and family situations are purchasing high-definition TVs, network gear, and smartphones at a breakneck pace, according to a study released on Sept. 2….Businessweek

YouTube To Delve Into Online Movie Rentals

Google may finally have a plan to make some money from YouTube. YouTube Execs are planning to offer a $3.95 charge to rent a movie, which is the same price Apple charges for movies and very close to video-on-demand prices. If Google can get movie studios on board, they’d be competing in a very crowded field. Apple, Netflix, and Amazon all offer movie rental services but YouTube is the most popular video site, so it may become a decent competitor. It’s just a question of whether or not users are willing to switch from their current rental services to go with YouTube….Ziggytek