T-Mobile has recently made their new $50 unlimited calling plan available for customers across the US. Initially, the new Unlimited Loyalty Plan was launched as a trial in San Francisco a little over a week ago, however, the good news is that its now available in all US T-Mobile markets.
The plan offers users unlimited calling per month for just $49.99. Of course, there is a catch, in order to sign up you must be a “loyal” T-Mobile customer. Basically, being loyal means you have been with them for at least 22-months and have also been in good standing during that time.
In addition to the $49.99 unlimited calling plan, those same loyal customers can also add additional lines (up to four) for $39.99 a month. Under this new promotion T-Mobile is also offering you a $135 credit if you add someone to your account who switches from a competitor.
We recently discussed the perspective that the harrowing of Wall Street was caused by over-reliance on computer models that produced a single number to characterize risk. Wired has a piece profiling David X. Li, the quant behind the formula that enabled the creation of such simple risk models. "For five years, Li's formula, known as a Gaussian copula function, looked like an unambiguously positive breakthrough, a piece of financial technology that allowed hugely complex risks to be modeled with more ease and accuracy than ever before. With his brilliant spark of mathematical legerdemain, Li made it possible for traders to sell vast quantities of new securities, expanding financial markets to unimaginable levels. His method was adopted by everybody from bond investors and Wall Street banks to ratings agencies and regulators. ... [T]he real danger was created not because any given trader adopted it but because every trader did. In financial markets, everybody doing the same thing is the classic recipe for a bubble and inevitable bust."
In yet another sign that this will be the year of the activity stream, Socialtext is adding a Twitter-like message stream to its enterprise wiki/workspace service, The new feature is called Socialtext Signals, and it appears both as a widget in the Socialtext dashboard and as a standalone desktop app built on Adobe AIR.
Socialtext Signals is essentially an enterprise version of Twitter, much like Yammer. Employees within a company can micro-message each other without competitors or the rest of the world snooping. They will see only the messages of the co-workers they are following. In addition to the 140-character messaging between co-workers (the “signals”), there is also an “activity” tab. This generates a micro-message every time a person you are following takes an action inside Socialtext, such as creating a wiki page, writing a blog post, or making a comment.
The activity stream which Socialtext makes visible is very particular to its products, and in fact is designed to keep employees engaged with those products. Any time someone changes a page that you’ve created or edited in the past, it shows up as an activity. So constant updates from Ralph in engineering about the progress of a project serves as a reminder for everyone else to do their part as well. Unlike Yammer, there is no ability to create subgroups within Signals, or upload files. But then, you can always create workgroups elsewhere in Socialtext, and upload files directly into linked wikis. Signals just ties it all together. There is no mobile support either, however, which is a more serious gap.
Socialtext is used as a collaboration tool by 5,000 companies (subscriptions are as much at $15 per employee per month). Signals and the desktop app should go far towards increasing employee interaction with the service. Each update serves as a prompt to follow up on a project or keep it moving along, while Signals can also serve as the new watercooler. Companies that don’t need Socialtext’s other apps (the workspace and the dashboard, primarily) might want to check out a simpler enterprise micro-messaging service such as Yammer or WIzeHive.
Crunch Network: MobileCrunchMobile Gadgets and Applications, Delivered Daily.
Funny how we receive tips sometimes. Yesterday we covered the latest Startup2Startup meetup, and a certain ChrisATSo33t commented on the story pointing to the latest quarterly report (PDF) of Luxembourg-based VC firm Mangrove Capital Partners in which they state that Paris-based portfolio company Jooce would be “closing its doors” during the month of February.
We’ve now entered the month of March, and the Jooce website is still alive, people can still sign up, and their blog has been silent since October 2008. No notice of shut-down anywhere to be found, and e-mails are not bouncing (we hope they’re still being replied to since we contacted the Jooce team for comment). But since Mangrove was the company’s only investor, having injected seed funding into the startup in 2007, we’re pretty sure we can deadpool the startup.
We covered Jooce, which operates (operated) a web-based OS, a couple of times before starting with its launch in August 2007. It offered a virtual online desktop that provided a Flash platform for communication services like chat and e-mail combined with a custom way to play games, listen to music, etc. so you could essentially have the same user experience when you go online on any computer anywhere in the world.
I’ve always had doubts about this kind of concept, which is similar to what startups like Goowy, Cloudo, eyeOS and others are up to, given the current evolution of the web.
See, I already have a web-based OS. I just refer to it as my browser.
Crunch Network: CrunchGeardrool over the sexiest new gadgets and hardware.
Israel-based search engine marketing (SEM) automator Kenshoo has received another capital injection from its existing backers Sequoia Capital and Arts Alliance. As with the Series A round, this second... Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 3 Mar 2009 | 12:50 pm
Israel-based search engine marketing (SEM) automator Kenshoo has received another capital injection from its existing backers Sequoia Capital and Arts Alliance.
As with the Series A round, this second round of funding remained undisclosed, although our contact person at the company ensures it that this was an “up-round” financing and that the valuation was “50% higher than the last time” it attracted outside capital.
The startup, based out of Tel Aviv but active worldwide, says it will use the funding to further fuel its expansion and explore new business opportunities in the search marketing space.
Kenshoo’s flagship product, Kenshoo Search, is billed as an end-to-end SEM platform and essentially automates most if not all of the work usually carried out by marketing consultants (who are of course much pricier than automation software). In that regard, Kenshoo also competes with bid-management software from all the online advertising giants (DoubleClick, aQuantive’s Atlas Solutions, and Omniture) but at the same time goes a step beyond that by taking a look at the quality of the campagns. Kenshoo is able to find relevant keywords across different search engines, and automatically changes campaign specifics to maximize their returns.
In the economic downturn we’re in, marketers should be focused on building or maintaining decent levels of Website traffic and drive better conversions. Search marketing is still the best customer acquisition tool in the online space, so it’s not a surprise that eMarketer predicted continued growth from 2008 to 2013 in a very recent report on the state of SEO spending in the U.S.
If Kenshoo can keep winning customers over by cutting out the middlemen and maximizing campaign ROIs, it definitely has potential to continue riding that wave and keep / make their investors happy.
Crunch Network: MobileCrunchMobile Gadgets and Applications, Delivered Daily.
AFP - A new coalition of police, Internet providers, financial groups and NGOs was launched Tuesday to tackle the growing flow of child abuse pictures distributed online, the EU commission announced.
Camera buffs are in for a treat this week — there are plenty of new models coming out of the PMA show in Las Vegas. The latest is from Sony, which has just announced a new superzoom hybrid camera, the DSC-HX1.
The “superzoom” in question is a 20x optical one, and the camera comes fully loaded with 2009 buzz-functions: smile detection, “Intelligent Auto” (the camera knows what it is taking a picture of and selects the exposure mode accordingly), and what we call the Eyes Wide Shut mode, where the camera “a takes two pictures simultaneously and saves the one in which the eyes are the least closed.” We love the weasel-term “least closed”. There is also a panorama mode which shoots a bunch of photos at high speed and stitches them in-camera.
What may set the HX1 apart, though, is its sensor, a new CMOS model called the Exmor. It’s big, at 1/2.4-inch, and promises to give some low-noise, low-light performance. Remember — Sony makes the sensors for the extraordinary, see-in-the-dark Nikon D3 and D700. This commitment to image quality is reflected in the pixel count: a relatively modest 9.1MP. In fact, the specs list the top ISO as 3200, a number usually saved for the emergency-only custom settings.
Throw in a G lens – Sony’s high-end glass – and a 1080p movie mode and this is starting to look like a nice hybrid cam. And at $500 list, it could be a big hit.
DALLAS, March 3 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Alliance Data Systems Corporation (NYSE: ADS), a leading provider of loyalty and marketing solutions derived from transaction-rich data, Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 3 Mar 2009 | 12:30 pm
- New Contract Value Totals $4.4 Million - BEIJING, March 3 /PRNewswire-Asia-FirstCall/ -- China Fire & Security Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: CFSG) (''China... Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 3 Mar 2009 | 12:30 pm
SAN JOSE, Calif., March 3 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Xilinx, Inc. (Nasdaq: XLNX) today released its business update for the March quarter of fiscal 2009. (Logo: Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 3 Mar 2009 | 12:30 pm
Faster Technology and North Pole Engineering Expand Xilinx Global Training Network SAN JOSE, Calif., March 3 /PRNewswire/ -- Xilinx (Nasdaq: XLNX) today announced... Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 3 Mar 2009 | 12:30 pm
HANOVER, Germany, March 3 (Reuters) - GM's German carmaker Opel has not supplied the government with enough information for Berlin to decide whether to rescue the troubled company, Economy Minister Karl-Theodor... Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 3 Mar 2009 | 12:16 pm
Salim sez, "In the 1920s the British military used these vast concrete parabolic 'sound-mirrors' to detect approaching aircraft. The 'Listening Ears' at Denge have recently been designated as a historical preservation site by English Heritage, the government quango in charge of protecting national landmarks. From Wikipedia:"
Acoustic mirrors did work, and could effectively be used to detect slow moving enemy aircraft before they came into sight. They worked by concentrating sound waves towards a central point, where a microphone would have been located. However, their use was limited as aircraft became faster. Operators also found it difficult to distinguish between aircraft and seagoing vessels. In any case, they quickly became obsolete due to the invention of radar in 1932. The experiment was abandoned, and the mirrors left to decay. The gravel extraction works caused some undermining of at least one of the structures.
Salim sez, "In the 1920s the British military used these vast concrete parabolic 'sound-mirrors' to detect approaching aircraft. The 'Listening Ears' at Denge have recently been designated as a historical... Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 3 Mar 2009 | 12:13 pm
Wall Street bonuses have shrunk, but they haven’t gone away. And at Google (GOOG), top executives bonuses look pretty much like they did last year. Here’s the payout for a handful of the search company’s top brass, via a document filed with the SEC this morning:
Robert A. Eustace, SVP Engineering & Research: $ 1,376,000
Omid Kordestani, SVP Global Sales & Business Development: $ 1,376,000
Patrick Pichette, CFO: $1,244,000
George Reyes, former CFO: $675,000
Jonathan Rosenberg, SVP Product Management: $1,638,000
Larry Page, Sergey Brin, Eric Schmidt: $o
All fine payouts, to be sure (Larry, Sergey and Eric never take a cash bonus). But for the record, note that these do represent a small tick down from last year, when Eustace, Kordestani, Reyes and Rosenberg each got cash bonuses of $1,683,606. Then again, a year ago, GOOG was trading at $471; this morning it’s at $327 and change.
We should get full compensation info — including how much exec received as a base salary, and how much they got via stock grants and options awards — within the month, when Google releases its annual proxy statement.
Sees 43 Percent Revenue Growth & More Than 33 Percent Traffic Growth JERSEY CITY, N.J., March 3 /PRNewswire/ -- Marketing Technology Solutions (MTS), a... Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 3 Mar 2009 | 12:08 pm
Samsung's new NX series of cameras could be awesome or awful. The cameras are something of a hybrid between the SLR and the compact -- similar, in fact, to the Micro Four Thirds System.
The most important thing to know is that these cameras will have big sensors with which to mop up photons. Not full frame, 35mm-sized sensors but healthy APS-sized sensors, the kind found in all but the highest end DSLR. The NX camera manages to be a lot smaller than an SLR though by doing away with the mirror, and therefore the space-hogging mirror box.
The sacrifice is, of course, the optical, TTL viewfinder. Samsung could plunk a compact-style viewfinder on top, but this will never see the exact same angle as the lens. Instead, the NX cameras will have an electronic viewfinder, a truly horrible compromise. Anyone who has used a camera with an electronic 'finder will know just how crappy they can be -- you get the dizzying sense that you are looking into a 1980s camcorder eyepiece.
There is at least a big screen on the back of the prototype which should help, and future models could indeed have proper optical viewfinders. The first NX will hit stores in the second half of the year, for an unannounced price. We hope it's cheap -- a good DSLR can be had for a few hundred bucks these days.
PMA, the Las Vegas photography show, is in full swing -- in fact, the news started trickling from the camera manufacturers last week. We begin with a slew of new RAW camera software, from both Apple and Adobe.
Apple's announcement is limited to a simple Camera RAW update which means the Mac will now work with the Nikon D3X and the curious Epson R-D1x, the retro rangefinder announced last week.
Adobe's offering is a little more exciting. There are new versions of both Camera RAW and Lightroom (5.3 and 2.3 respectively). Both have been around as public betas for a little while, but these are the fully baked official versions. The main changes are support for the D3X and Olympus' E-30, along with some bug fixes (mostly Windows).
The irony of these updates being released at the beginning of PMA is that there are sure to be plenty of new cameras announced, none of which will yet work with either Aperture or Lightroom.
(TrendHunter.com) As everything turns portable, it is always a joy to see bulky, fit-nowhere items embrace a more flexible form. This is the wonderful case of the C2 collapsible surfboard by Nicholas... Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 3 Mar 2009 | 11:39 am
Intel Corp and TSMC are partnering to develop and manufacture the low-cost Atom processor with the goal of expanding sales of the tiny chip into new markets beyond their use in netbooks.The alliance between Santa Clara, Calif.-based Intel and Hsinchu, Taiwan-based TSMC represents the partnership of the world's largest foundry with the world's No. Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 3 Mar 2009 | 11:33 am
Canadian Environment Minister Jim Prentice on Monday voiced his hopes for a North American fuel standard among the auto industry."At this point in the United States, it would appear as though they are headed toward a 35 mile a gallon standard by 2020 and that would start to come into effect in the 2011 model year," Prentice told the Canadian Broadcasting Corp in Washington."We've essentially been prepared to go in that same direction ... Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 3 Mar 2009 | 11:33 am
Even though digital television signals are more efficient than analog signals, many Americans who have taken the necessary steps to ensure they are ready for the switch are still finding it hard to get good reception. Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 3 Mar 2009 | 11:30 am
(TrendHunter.com) The Project Green Prom video contest held by Teens Turning Green and Whole Foods proves that an eco-friendly attitude isnt just for adults. The contest solicits teens to submit their... Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 3 Mar 2009 | 11:19 am
By Evan Ackerman Thirsty? Now you can get as much pure water as you can drink, siphoned magically out of thin air by the RainCloud water generator. Basically just a fancy dehumidifier, the RainCloud condenses... Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 3 Mar 2009 | 11:03 am
(TrendHunter.com) The unusual images you see in the gallery above arent from an art gallery, although they may as well be; these photographs are of the Emporio Mall, a store in New Delhi, India, which... Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 3 Mar 2009 | 10:59 am
(TrendHunter.com) The code geniuses over at Squidder have created what is officially the coolest e-shirt Ive ever seen--one that uses augmented reality to display a hologram of the wearers last Twitter... Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 3 Mar 2009 | 10:39 am
By Evan Ackerman From the Brando’s ‘obviously great idea’ department (which they seem to be paying attention to more and more lately) comes this brilliant (albeit slightly flowery) USB... Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 3 Mar 2009 | 10:33 am
I just finished my review copy of Tommy Kovac's collection of his Skelebunnies toon, just out from Slave Labor Graphics, and I'm here to tell you that it is juvenile, scatological, offensive, and very,... Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 3 Mar 2009 | 10:27 am
I just finished my review copy of Tommy Kovac's collection of his Skelebunnies toon, just out from Slave Labor Graphics, and I'm here to tell you that it is juvenile, scatological, offensive, and very, very funny. Here's the basic premise: one day, two cute bunnies are frolicking in a picturesque wood, when a demon appears. He is so sickened by their saccharine romping that he vomits extremely bilious bile over them, skeletonizing them in seconds. To the demon's dismay, the bunnies continue to romp, though they are now the living dead, walking skeletons with Care Bear sensibilities (they are wont to ride a horribly burned My Little Pony as they go about their duties). Satan appears, is likewise appalled, but realizes that the bunnies' vile sweetness has its uses when it comes to sowing evil. For the rest of the strips, that's just what they do: romp, frolic, and commit disgusting acts of pure, unadulterated evil.
Skelebunnies is totally unredeeming, it's pure filth, and I reveled in it. Perhaps you will, too!
An anonymous reader writes "PlayingWithWire profiles two open source tools for Web development, comparing Joomla! and WordPress through the lens of usability. The article has apparently upset a few people at the Joomla! forum, but it does bring up a good point. Many open source projects are developed by engineers for engineers — should they focus more on usability? PlayingWithWire makes a bold analogy: 'If Joomla! is Linux, then WordPress is Mac OS X. WordPress might offer only 90% of the features of Joomla!, but in most cases WordPress is both easier to use and faster to get up and running.'" The article repeatedly stresses that blogging platform WordPress and CMS harness Joomla! occupy different levels of the content hierarchy. How fair is it to twit Joomla! on usability?
(TrendHunter.com) The Motorola Nest is a concept phone by Kelly Bremer thats targeted at female baby boomers. Its sleek, refined design is inspired by womens jewelry, and the phones exterior casing is... Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 3 Mar 2009 | 10:19 am
CNN's Peter Wilkinson has been running the numbers on AIG's record-smashing $62 billion quarterly loss, the largest corporate loss in history (AIG lost about $460,000 per minute in the last quarter). In addition to being sufficient to carpet an area the size of Baghdad in $1 bills, $62 billion is enough to:
1. It could pay off the combined national debts of China, Australia, Mexico and Ukraine, according to 2008 estimates by the CIA Factbook, and still have plenty left over for a good night out.
3. Britain's Queen Elizabeth II might not be moving any time soon, but the money could buy 46 Buckingham Palaces, according to a 2008 estimate of its market value by the Daily Telegraph newspaper. And still leave some remaining to buy her weekend retreat, Windsor Castle.
9. AIG lost $460,000 per minute -- which would pay about half the annual pension of former RBS chief executive Fred Goodwin.
NEW YORK, March 3 /PRNewswire/ -- If you are one of the many baby boomers who has decided to delay your retirement for a few years, here are some suggestions that may help you achieve an enjoyable and fulfilled lifestyle, according to Joan Strewler-Carter and Stephen Carter, co-founders of the Life Options Institute, an organization dedicated to helping people plan for life after age 50. Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 3 Mar 2009 | 9:20 am
MIGDAL HA'EMEK, Israel, March 3 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Camtek Ltd.
(Nasdaq: CAMT ; TASE: CAMT) announced that it would be releasing its
financial results for the fourth quarter and full year of 2008 on Thursday,
March 5, 2009, and holding an investor conference call starting at 10:00 am
EST.
Rafi Amit, Chief Executive Officer, Roy Porat, General Manager - Israel
and Mira Rosenzweig, Chief Financial Officer, will host the call and will be
available to answer questions after presenting the results.
To participate, please call one of the following telephone numbers at
least 10 minutes before the start of the call:
US: 1 866 345 5855 at 10:00 am Eastern Time
Israel: 03 918 0650 at 5:00 pm Israel Time
International: +972 3 918 0650
For those unable to participate, the teleconference will be available for
replay on Camtek's website at http://www.camtek.co.il/ beginning 24 hours
after the call.
ABOUT CAMTEK LTD.
With headquarters in Migdal Ha'Emek Israel, Camtek Ltd., designs,
develops, manufactures, and markets automatic optical inspection systems and
related products. Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 3 Mar 2009 | 8:50 am
ESPOO, Finland, March 3 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Nokia (NYSE: NOK) today
announced the availability of version 4.5 of the Qt cross-platform
application and UI framework. Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 3 Mar 2009 | 8:33 am
AFP - Emil Pagliarulo knows that riveting stories beat at the heart of captivating videogames. The Bethesda Softworks designer backs his point with "Fallout 3," a post-apocalyptic adventure in which each player starts out as a youth searching for a scientist father and makes moral choices shaping his or her destiny.
PC World - Infortrend Technology will show prototypes of new storage products for the enterprise at the Cebit trade show in Hanover this week. Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 3 Mar 2009 | 8:20 am
On the eve of the debut of the much-anticipated “Watchmen” movie from Warner Bros., Cisco seems to be getting into the superhero game, with an unusual marketing effort that uses sophisticated comic book characters to highlight its line of security products.
More like Nerdmen! Except with more muscles and cooler outfits!
On a new Web site that is now up, for a series called “The Realm,” Cisco (CSCO) seems to have gotten some cool original work from well-known Marvel Comics illustrator Mike Mayhew.
The characters are all apparently linked to real-life Cisco engineers, as well as its products, but it is being pushed as entertainment.
The first “episode” titled “Déjà Vu” is now up, with more to come, the site promises, as freaky music plays in the background. It is done as a video version of a comic book.
The plot so far: “Botnet attacks in The Realm are on the rise, and Jux discovered they are after Synocorp employees. Trace, the defender brought to life in The Realm through solutions built by Engineer Roberts, fended off the bots in time to save the identity of the latest target. Can the defenders stop the threats from infiltrating Synocorp offices? Find out in episode 2.”
There are two places most of today’s laid-off executives are heading: to job-search sites to see what other opportunities are out there and to networking sites in hopes they can reconnect with — and milk leads from — former colleagues and business contacts. One site, LinkedIn, offers both of those things in one place.
So it should come as no surprise that the site’s traffic is up in the recession. It hit 36 million members last Monday and is adding them at a rate of about one member per second. According to ComScore, it’s gone from about 3.6 million unique monthly visitors a year ago to 7.7 million today, which would make it even with Yahoo HotJobs, the third-largest online job site.
Last week, when the hard-core gamers of the world were supposed to be firing up the Lost and Damned, a new, downloadable episode of Grand Theft Auto IV, I instead decided to spend more than $400 for the privilege of playing a $10 game. I bought a PlayStation 3—a system I had consciously avoided to date in favor of the Xbox 360 and the Wii—so that I could download Flower, a little marvel of a game that casts the player as a series of petals floating in the wind.
What’s remarkable about Flower is the sensation it creates, from start to finish: simple, almost indescribable, joy. Kellee Santiago, the president and co-founder of thatgamecompany, the game’s publisher, says in an accompanying behind-the-scenes video that Flower is “the video game version of a poem” and that its purpose is to create “an emotion” in those who play it. Flower, which at least for now is exclusively for sale on the PlayStation Network of downloadable games, is not unique in that ability—other games successfully create fear, or nervousness, or exhilaration (or controller-hurtling anger)—but it is the only game I’ve played that made me feel relaxed, peaceful, and happy. What’s the point of it? Only that. Which is plenty.
If not all lawmakers were 100 percent attentive during President Obama’s speech before Congress on Feb. 24, there’s a good reason.
D.C. has become a land of Twits — or perhaps the proper term is Twitterers.
The social networking service Twitter has been around for a while, but it seems to have taken Washington’s political and media world by storm since the inauguration.
Karl Rove and Al Gore have been Twittering for some time, but news anchors in particular have recently discovered the service as a way to engage viewers in a more personal way. After she and other anchors lunched with Obama recently, Katie Couric Twittered the menu: “lobster bisque, striped bass, fruit confetti w/pound cake.”
As TechCrunch reported back in December, Oodle is taking over Facebook classifieds. The new service launches Wednesday and will be rolled out to Facebook users over the next sixty days. I’ve been bearish overall on companies that require local network affects, and usually classifieds fits in that bucket. As good a job as Craigslist has done it only monetizes about 1% of its users, and that’s probably one reason it has spread as far and as fast as it has. But- by design- it’s not the next great billion dollar Web powerhouse.
Oodle, too, has been a long slog. As founder and CEO Craig Donato told me last week, had he known how hard of a slog classifieds would be, he might have chosen a different startup idea four years ago. I’m sure he was (partially) joking, but Oodle has long been the question mark in David Sze’s otherwise stellar Web 2.0 portfolio that includes Digg, LinkedIn and Facebook. (Now, some see Digg as the question mark, but that’s a different post.)
Oodle has done two things well to combat the local trap. One is deals with huge properties like MySpace, Facebook and AOL that really juice distribution and listings. As a result, before it even goes live with Facebook or AOL, the site has 40 million listings with 500,000 new ones added each day. Second smart move: Making classifieds social, not local.
Increasingly, the social Web has created more meaningful communities than just geographical proximity. Sure, we are more likely to know and regularly interact with people near us, so you can’t ignore geography. But think about how many times you’d rather sell something or buy something from someone you know or someone who knows someone you know, than someone whose only commonality is living in your city.
The Oodle app is coming about just at the right time for Facebook. Not only is the site huge, but it’s so focused on the Wall that distributions of listings and conversations around items for sale will be natural and organic. And unlike eBay or Craigslist, it’s just a few clicks to post something. You fill in what it is, why you’re getting rid of it, how much you want and designate whether you’re giving it away, selling it, or want the money to go to charity. Can you imagine if posting something on eBay was that easy? My dining room of boxes would be empty.
That’s not to say Oodle replaces Craigslist or eBay. You can reach a wider audience, and hence conceivably make more money on both of those. And Facebook could be too tied into your social graph for some transactions. Do you want your boss to see your old Playboys are for sale? Lastly, if you’re setting up a small ecommerce business, I doubt Facebook marketplace is the right fit. But if you’re just a regular person who has something they want to buy or sell for a fair price from a reputable dealer whose reputation they can trust– it’s going to be a stiff competitor.
And come to think of it, wasn’t that the original eBay community?
Crunch Network: MobileCrunchMobile Gadgets and Applications, Delivered Daily.
Neil Young has gone on the record in support of music publishing powerhouse Warner Bros. Reprise’s policy deleting and muting its artists’ videos on YouTube, after negotiations between Google and Warner broke down.
The legendary singer, guitarist and songwriter says consistent standards need to be hammered out to compensate artists and other copyright holders fairly when their music appears on YouTube.
A discussion that began on a journalist’s personal blog has sparked a wider debate on ethics in the age of social media as the lines between journalists’ professional work and their personal activities blur. It began when Adam Tinworth, the head of blogging development for Reed Business International, criticised the National Union of Journalists on his blog for still not “getting” social media such as Facebook and Twitter, and for responding defensively to calls to include social media in their training.
In a follow-up post, Tinworth noted that an NUJ representative had visited his blog from an email with the subject “effing blogs” (http://bit.ly/blogs2). This turned into an unseemly spat when Chris Wheal, a freelance journalist and the head of the NUJ professional training committee, who had sent the email, criticised Tinworth for not contacting the union first for a comment before publishing his post. “Please consider the implications of your actions in future and follow basic journalistic standards and ethics before pressing the ‘publish’ button. Is that too much to ask of a journalist?” Wheal asked.
CAMBRIDGE, England and SAN FRANCISCO, March 3 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ --
Autonomy Corporation plc (LSE: AU. Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 3 Mar 2009 | 8:00 am
FROM GAMERTELL - Sony’s announced piano black Assassin’s Creed bundle and lilac purple Hannah Montana PSP bundles. Few details are available concerning the Altair PSP, but the Hannah Montana one will come with episodes from the show and stickers. MORE »
jamie found a blog entry by Paul Lamere, working for audio company Echo Nest, in which he experiments with detecting which songs use a click track. Lamere gives this background: "Sometime in the last 10 or 20 years, rock drumming has changed. Many drummers will now don headphones in the studio (and sometimes even for live performances) and synchronize their playing to an electronic metronome — the click track. ...some say that songs recorded against a click track sound sterile, that the missing tempo deviations added life to a song." Lamere's experiments can't be called "scientific," but he does manage to tease out some interesting conclusions about songs and artists past and present using Echo Nest's developer API.
The UK campaigning group NO2ID have spotted an incredibly sneaky and scary codicil in the new Coroners and Justice Bill: Clause 152 allows any Minister to take any information gathered for any purpose and use it for any other purpose. In other words, all the privacy protection built into British law just pops like a soap bubble under this principle. They've got a bunch of things they need you to do to stop this:
Write to your MP - www.WriteToThem.com makes it very easy - and tell him or her that you REFUSE CONSENT to having your information shared under any 'INFORMATION SHARING ORDER', and ask him or her to vote to have CLAUSE 152 removed entirely from the CORONERS AND JUSTICE BILL.
Clause 152 of the Coroners and Justice Bill - currently being debated by the UK Parliament - would allow any Minister by order to take any information gathered for one purpose from anywhere, and use it for any other purpose.
Your information, your family's information, arbitrarily used without your consent or even knowledge. The very reverse of 'Data Protection'.
An 'Information Sharing Order', as defined in Clause 152, would permit your information to be trafficked and abused, not only all across government and the public sector - it would also reach into the private sector. And it would even allow transfer of information across international borders.
TiVo has announced today two new partnerships that will hopefully bring in new customers as the company releases a new generation of high def DVRs. Alticast and SeaChange both have technologies that can enhance viewer experience while using a TiVo DVR.
Alticast produces software that makes set top boxes that combine functions, like being able to use the features of a DVR as well as a Blu-ray disc player. Alticast technologies have the ability to offer TiVo users multiple technologies without hiking up manufacturing costs.
SeaChange is a company that provides video on demand services as well as internet protocol television capabilities. TiVo’s partnership with SeaChange indicates that the new DVRs will offer users the ability to search for video on demand titles through the TiVo menu.
Both of these features will likely bring in more consumers from the cable market that have been hesitant as of late to give up popular cable TV functions, like video on demand programming.
PC World - A fledgling software developer in Beijing has developed an embedded application that it hopes will bridge the gap between PCs and consumer electronics, allowing users to easily play computer video and audio files through their televisions and stereos. Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 3 Mar 2009 | 6:50 am
The Retr0brite Project is an open-source effort to develop the world's finest vintage computer polish, to whiten up the yellowing chassis of your old Amigas and such.
Dave from Manchester, UK, aka 'Merlin', the chemist behind the project, explains. “I came across the use of peroxide in July 2008 when Kristian95 told us about what people like AmigaGTI were doing with it over at a1k.org. I was intrigued by this, as I am a former industrial chemist. I am also a plant Safety Manager by trade and, purely by coincidence, around that time I read about a dust explosion that had occurred in the UK with a chemical called TAED, which is the booster in the ‘active oxygen’ laundry products.”
“This got me thinking, and after some really 'full-on', serious chemistry discussions with other EAB members, like Rkauer in Brazil, who is a plastics Engineer and my good friend Zetr0 from Kings Lynn, Norfolk, UK, who endured endless phone calls from me. We wrote some epic threads on English Amiga Board about the possible causes of the yellowing and eventually we arrived at the theory that it was the Bromine in the flame retardant that was the cause. We also knew that Ultra Violet light was another major factor. Having identified the culprit, the next stage was to try to develop and perfect a means of treating the plastic and reversing the yellowing without damaging the plastic. Being a former industrial chemist helped me tremendously, in understanding what was going on at the molecular level and to develop a treatment process to reverse the effect.”
“The problem was finally cracked in late July 2008 with a mixture of hydrogen peroxide, a small amount of an “Oxy” laundry booster as a catalyst and a UV lamp. Proof of this concept was demonstrated on EAB by Tonyyeb from Hull, UK, Chiark from Leeds, UK and myself.
These lovely cardboard bookcases are made from cardboard, using techniques employed in the design of sturdy cardboard seating. The link includes some notes on designing your own cardboard furnishings.
FROM APPLETELL - Amazon’s announcement of their new Kindle 2 offered some interesting concepts in the publishing market, but the iPhone also does, to some extent, what the Kindle was built around, and that is reading books. Which do you prefer? MORE »
London-based investing hotshot Index Ventures has just announced a new early-stage 350 million Euro venture fund. To hear partner Bernard Dalle tell it, raising the fund was a breeze, with all existing limited partners re-upping their investments. He further said that good startups in London are having no problems raising venture capital and deal flow was just as strong. Really? Well, I guess all those reports that this is a global downturn were just plain wrong! You heard it here, struggling Silicon Valley startups: Just move to London!
Apologies for giving Dalle a bit of a hard time, but I am subbing for Michael Arrington, and it’s a huge pet peeve of mine when venture capitalists blithely shrug off an epic downturn that, let’s face it, has to be hitting them in some way. Let’s just say, I don’t buy that it’s all still that easy.
Of course if anyone could make it look easy, I’d give it to Index. The firm has torn through its 2007 fund of the same size, raised a $400 million late stage fund last year, and has had a string of big exits including Skype and MySQL. Those two helped to rank its best-known partner Danny Rimer as number 16 on Forbes’ annual Midas List. I first knew Rimer as an open source software bull, and last I talked to him, he was bullish on a reinvention of ecommerce.
For Dalle’s part, he wouldn’t tell me much about where the firm was investing going forward. He said the firm would still focus geographically on Europe, Israel and the U.S. and was looking closely at mobile advertising, that ever-present buzzword “the cloud” and virtualization.
Regardless of the fact that I could have gotten more answers from the CIA than this briefing, I congratulate Index on the new fund and indeed hope that money and deal flow is holding up as well as they say across the pond. If you’re in Europe raising money, let us know your experiences in the comments.
Update: Given Index is London-based, there’s further analysis on TechCrunch UK.
Crunch Network: CrunchBoardbecause it’s time for you to find a new Job2.0
Doodle is a free web app which helps you find suitable dates for group events, like a conference call, by creating a poll for a suitable meeting time and lettting people fill in their availability. It’s an idea which works very well, and is easily messed up. London-based ikordo closed last year through lack of funding and a complex interface. However, Doodle, which grew from a hacker project, has well-funded competitors like Tungle, which also comes as an Outlook plugin and has $1.5m in backing, as well as TimeBridge, and Jiffle. So Zurich-based Doodle is hoping its Outlook plugin, generic calendar feeds, white-label version and - most importantly - new open API for developers will set it apart from the pack.
Crunch Network: CrunchGeardrool over the sexiest new gadgets and hardware.
Last Thursday over 140 entrepreneurs, investors, and startup rookies came together for Startup2Startup, a monthly invite-only dinner built around fostering the startup community. This month’s featured speaker was Adaptive Path founding partner and ex-Googler Jeffrey Veen, who walked the audience through some of the key aspects of website design and how to deal with associated communication issues.
Following Veen’s presentation, the attendees shared their thoughts and experiences related to design in intimate round-table discussions. The event’s co-founder Dave McClure painstakingly creates seating arrangements to ensure that each table has an array of attendees ranging from startup rookie to veteran, ensuring that discussion is both lively and informative (and strictly off-the-record).
The evening was an overwhelming success, highlighted by Veen’s engaging presentation that was both accessible and entertaining (you can see an intro video and his slides below, and we’ll post the full video of his talk shortly). As a bonus, Veen introduced the audience to one of his newest projects.
Dubbed Wikirank, the site tracks the popularity of Wikipedia articles, sifting through hundreds of gigabytes of Wikipedia’s publicly available traffic data and presenting it in an intuitive and attractive interface. With this data, the site can generate an at-a-glance view of what the world is interested in at any given moment. The site also allows users to create embeddable charts comparing the popularity of different topics over time. If you’d like to try it out, the first 30 TechCrunch readers to enter their Email addresses here will have access to the site’s private beta.
Next month’s Startup2Startup event will featureTony Hsieh, founder and CEO of Zappos, who will be offering tips on building a great company culture and customer service (for which Zappos is widely acclaimed).
Just a note to say that I am giving a lecture March 10 at 6pm at London's RSA on my new book, The Public Domain: Enclosing the Commons of the Mind. The lecture hall is gorgeous -- Cory has been a frequent speaker there -- it has a fabulous series of paintings on the theme of "Progress" by James Barry, featuring earnest waistcoated men with theodolites and many scantily clad young women whose main hope appears to be that The Progress of Human Culture is going to give them something more substantial to wear than a precariously secured bedsheet. The mural is worth the price of admission alone (free but you must register). Following that I'll be giving the first Arcadia Lecture at Cambridge on Cultural Agoraphobia and the Future of the Library March 12. Hope to see UK BB'ers at one of these events...
There are very few industries that aren’t being affected by the global recession, one of them being the netbook industry. Since netbooks are thriving in the market and are only going to become more popular, PC sales have begun to drop off and the worst has yet to come predicts Gartner analysts.
Overall, PC sales could potentially fall by 12 percent to 257 million units. In fact, the only other time PC sales were down was in 2001, when shipments only decreased by 3.2 percent. Seven years later, here we are amidst a terrible recession where PC sales have declined four times as much as the last drop-off. People have begun to take better care of their PCs, hoping that they can stretch the lifetime of their machines without having to spend a lot of money each year for a new system. In addition, Gartner predicts desktop sales will decline by nearly 32% in 2010. However, they are somewhat optimistic as they expect laptop sales to rise by 9%.
Recently, HP announced a 19% loss in terms of PC sales, Dell reported an astounding 27% decline in desktop sales and a 17% drop in laptop shipments. Other companies such as Intel, Western Digital, and Nvidia have also reported losses.
Now, the reason laptops are still doing well is due to the emergence of the netbook. People like compact systems with simplistic designs, that doesn’t sacrifice quality - something the netbook offers. As netbooks become more popular, laptops remain popular as well. Gartner goes on to say that netbook sales should double from 11.7 million shipped last year to 21 million shipped this year.
Personally, I enjoy using a desktop over a laptop, just because I don’t like how laptops/netbooks are all cramped up. That being said, if the economy was in better shape, I might consider investing in a netbook because of their portability. Only time will tell if Gartner’s predictions are correct. For the sake of companies who specializes in PCs and desktops, I hope Gartner is wrong.
1919: The United States starts international airmail delivery by flying 60 letters from Vancouver, British Columbia to Seattle. In the cockpit: Bill Boeing.
In one sense, the earliest airmail was flown on balloons. The very first balloon flight in the United States is said to have carried a letter from tech-positive President George Washington to the owner of whatever property the balloon might land on.
Italy began experimenting with heavier-than-air planes carrying airmail in 1908 and issued air mail postage officially in May 1917. In the meantime, in 1911 the British Indian Empire flew 6,500 letters and cards the underwhelming distance of 6 miles.
Regular international airmail service in Europe took off in 1918, with a regular London-Paris link connecting World War I allies Britain and France, and a Vienna-Kiev route serving Austria and Russia.
The following March 3, pilot Eddie Hubbard and airplane-builder Bill Boeing carried 60 letters over the border from Vancouver to Seattle in a Boeing Model C. Hubbard was soon piloting a Boeing B-1 flying boat for regular delivery between Seattle and Victoria, British Columbia. He eventually put in 350,000 miles flying that route for eight years.
Flying was dangerous. Assistant Postmaster General Otto Praeger wasn't a pilot, but insisted his pilots stick to the schedule. More than half the first 40 postal pilots died in air crashes, mostly because of bad weather.
When pilots Leon Smith and and Ham Lee refused direct orders from Praeger to take off during some nasty weather in July 1919, both were fired. All the other pilots went out on strike.
After three days of talks, new rules specified that postal field managers had to fly a brief inspection flight to check the weather. If they didn't know how to pilot a plane, they had to sit in the mailbox in front of the pilot. The managers learned how to be reasonable about balancing the weather and the schedule.
Postal planes started flying transcontinental relays in 1920. Pilots flew by day, using visible landmarks to guide them. They'd land at dusk and transfer their bags of mail to overnight trains. The following morning, the mail was re-transferred back to another plane for another day's worth of flight. The system cut transcontinental mail-delivery time from 4½ days by rail to 33 hours by the air-and-rail relay.
Night flights became practical in 1924, with a transcontinental airway of rotating beacon lights and well-illuminated emergency airstrips. Airmail cost 8 cents (about a buck in today's cash) to travel one of the three zones, or 24 cents for a cross-country trip.
The Kindle 2 is zippier, with pages turning 20 percent faster (yes, you can tell the difference). It has more memory (2 gigabytes, enough for storing more than 1,500 books onboard). And it flaunts a more powerful built-in battery: Amazon claims that the Kindle lasts four to five days with the wireless on (we got 4.5 days in our first test) and up to two weeks with it off. After a week of limited wireless, my meter is around 50 percent. Amazon also says that after 500 charges, it will hold 80 percent of its original juice. That means that most users won't have to replace the battery (a $60 procedure) for about a decade or so.
Looking over the horizon, it's clear that Amazon's biggest competitor in selling digital books will be Google, whose recent agreement with publishers and authors will make it the virtually exclusive seller for millions of books in copyright but not in print. But right now at least, the Google and Amazon formats aren't compatible: I was unsuccessful in getting a PDF of a public-domain book downloaded from Google to appear in readable form on my Kindle.
WIRED The best e-reading system on the market. Welcome improvements to aesthetics, more functional industrial design, better graphics and longer battery life. Sleeker than the original: One-third of an inch thick and 10 ounces.
TIRED Quite expensive. Book content shackled with DRM. Interface is improved, sure, but it could be even better.
The iWOW adapter from SRS Labs promises to coax more "immersive" sound from your iPod, and it actually delivers — provided you're listening to the right kind of music. Setup is easy: Snap on the slick little 1-inch extension, plug in some spendy headphones, press a button, and you do indeed get a fuller sound with more depth — especially if you enjoy songs like Sting's "Fragile," a track hand-picked by SRS to highlight the effect.
But when iWOW was applied to songs that were heavy on low-end thump or had multilayered sound (Exhibit A: Beck's "Cold Brains") the iWOW performed more like iMeh. At top volume, bass beats splintered, while at lower volumes tracks sounded muddled and crowded. SRS claims the device "dynamically locates and restores audio detail" and creates a more natural sound. We're not buying it — most of the audio we threw at the iWOW was punctuated with a subtle hiss and fuzzy bass.
WIRED Relatively small adapter. Snaps easily onto your iPod and lends some oomph to certain tunes.
TIRED The effect is nearly lost when using ear buds, the device won't work with older generation iPods, and music that already has a fair share of bass sounds muffled.
Leaps ahead of other cam phones, the Memoir's not limited to the 8 megapixels it captures. In shooting mode, the touchscreen has shutterbug controls — zoom, brightness, timer and flash — that float around the image. And just hitting the shutter will take you into camera mode. The Memoir includes a 1-GB microSD to augment the phone's 100 MB of storage (and it's an easy-access slot, rather than hidden under the battery).
But for all its convenience, the Memoir simply isn't a competitor for even the lowliest of dedicated cameras. First off, it's pokey: slow to focus, slow to snap and very touchy when it comes to movement. And though it touts a 16x digital zoom, it has no optical-zooming option.
WIRED Cool touchscreen and accelerometer helps you shoot or view pictures. Compact, pocket-friendly shape, even for hipsters in painted-on jeans.
TIRED Vampiric light sensitivity makes for washed-out shots. Slow to focus, shoot and recover. E-mail functions are even slower. The screen is hard to see in sunlight. Lens cover doesn't close all the time, so the lens can get dusty.
From the outside, the 1000HE doesn't look much different from other netbooks. But it's the machine's heart — the brand new 1.66-GHz Atom N280 processor — that makes it faster, stronger, smarter than its opponents.
Intel claims the silicon slab boosts computing power across the board, especially HD video playback — something that has been woefully horrid in past machines using Atom processors. It's not lying. This is the fastest netbook we've tested (by about 7 percent) in our benchmarks. And HD video playback was noticeably smoother and devoid of chop.
WIRED The first netbook to feature the new Atom N280 chip. MMC and SD media reader slots. Attractive, pearly finish. Decent 1.3-megapixel webcam.
TIRED At 3.1 pounds, it's one of the heaviest puppies in the netbook litter. Lame keyboard.
The R50 is remarkably easy to set up and use. As you program each component into the remote using the setup wizard, you test a few controls to make sure it has the right code. The remote instantly recognized all our components, and it took us about 10 minutes to get the AV rig up and running. As part of the setup, you name each component, which then appears as an icon on the screen: in my case, a Sony HDTV, Yamaha amp/receiver, Squeezebox, Oppo DVD player and Soundmatters speaker.
WIRED Cool, reddish backlight perfect for nighttime navigation. No computer or web connection needed for operation. No charging cradle required.
TIRED No user manual means gizmo novices might get lost in setup. $150 price point isn't super pricey, but then it's not the cheapest universal remote out there.
Like other watches in the 25-year-old G-Shock line, the MTG-1500 is forged with Mr. T levels of toughness: It can easily survive being banged clumsily against tabletops or whacked against a surfboard in a wipeout. And it's water-resistant to 200 meters. But unlike most other G-Shock watches, which are primarily plastic, the MTG-1500's body and band are stainless steel, with a few tasteful black plastic accents.
We half expected to find the MTG-1500 lacking in minor features. Surprisingly, it didn't. It's got a stopwatch mode, dual time-zone support, five different alarms and a countdown timer. Free abundant sunlight or bright artificial light recharges the battery as you wear the watch. Once fully charged, the battery should be able to power the watch for 6 months without additional light.
WIRED Handsome, two-toned steel-and-black styling doesn't blare "nerd," "Swatch-wearing poser" or "too lazy to take off my gym watch." Self-syncs with superaccurate official time stations. Gives you an excuse to say "solar" and "atomic" in the same sentence.
TIRED Digital display too small and can be obscured by watch hands. LED provides uneven illumination in the dark. $500 can buy a timepiece that's much fancier, albeit not atomic.
The skinny on this countertop unit is pretty straightforward: It's the touch-based kitchen computer that won't put you out of house and home. Don't go rushing out to cash in that 401(k), though — despite a recession-friendly price, the Eee Top still feels a little light in the loafers.
The glossy white, semi-opaque keyboard and mouse look stylish out of the box, but after extended handling their light, plastic-y build became annoying. The slim chassis sat solid on our countertop, while the bright, 15.6-inch screen and the integrated speaker bar make up the majority of the Top's sleek profile. Rounding out the device are six USB ports, memory card reader, 1.3-MP web cam and integrated Wi-Fi. We were pretty bummed at the lack of an optical drive, though.
WIRED An all-in-one for the Top Ramen set. Quick, responsive touch interface. Compact design has integrated storage for both keyboard and stylus. Integrated 802.11n and gigabit ethernet ensure throughput thrashings. One-touch shutoff button for hiding porn er, convenience. Runs whisper-quiet.
TIRED Underpowered for heavy web video. A wired keyboard and mouse — on an all-in-one?!? Heats up after extended poke/prod sessions. Anemic 160-GB hard drive. Even a cheapy, noisy optical drive would've been nice. No battery means no mobile computing.
This camera is about the size and shape of a pack of chewing gum, and weighs just 0.68 ounces. It records videos at 352 x 288 pixels, encoding them in the 3-GP format used by many cellphones (the videos can be played on your computer using most media-player software, including QuickTime and RealPlayer).
But the MovieStick is oozing with design flaws. The pinhole-sized lens is located on the long side of the device, rather than the short end, limiting your ability to go truly undercover. Add to that a confusing series of lights that supposedly indicate when the cam is charging, turned on or recording, and you end up with more than one inadvertent video of the floor.
WIRED The smallest video camera we've seen yet. Simple to set up and use. Makes you look like a double agent.
TIRED Location of camera lens makes it hard to go covert. No internal storage or memory card included. Recorded video is shakier and blurrier than outtakes from The Blair Witch Project.
Kodak’s Theatre HD's raison d'être is straightforward: to shuttle the contents of your PC directly to your television using ethernet or Wi-Fi. Pictures, videos, podcasts, music or any other digital content that may be living on your hard drive (as long as it's not squelched by some DRM straightjacket) can be whisked away by this tiny little box to your television with little to no fuss.
What really sets the Theatre HD Player apart from the rest of the field is how immaculately it performs its tasks. Once you've downloaded Kodak's EasyShare display software, everything is pretty much taken care of. Have a hard drive filled with extra content? No problem. Simply hook it up to one of the player's USB ports and you're ready to go.
WIRED Intuitive UI coupled with a handy RF remote makes setup and playback of multimedia a Zen-like experience. Wealth of connectivity options: component, HDMI, optical or RCA audio, dual USB ports. Transforms crappy YouTube video into semi-watchable content.
TIRED Requires Kodak EasyShare software to get the streaming party started. No Mac compatibility (for now). Pricey, especially for a device without a hard drive. Needs more internet content.
Skidding in at 53 pounds (on the lighter side for this category), Ohm's mountain bike-inspired geometry and its nine-level power-assist and regeneration system make it a smart, nimble and efficient two-wheeler.
On pavement and trail the BionX power plant, mounted on the rear hub, employs a unique sensor technology that is constantly adjusting the level of assistance it gives you based on the terrain. Encountering some mushy road? More power is delivered to the gears. Gliding down paved asphalt? The juice is dialed back. And if your thighs are flushed with lactic acid on a sheer hill, a flick of the trusty thumb throttle cracks the whip and the motor totally takes over, no pedaling required. But for all this innovation and comfort, you will, however, have to part with a spouse-enraging $3,450. Is it worth it? Well, it is a ton of fun.
WIRED Excellent Shimano parts mix with disc brakes and RockShox suspension fork. Lockable battery compartment hides space for mobile phone, wallet, media player and your other little stuff. Regeneration mode gives extra on-bike battery life. Comfortable suspension seat post. Four- to six-hour charge time.
TIRED Throttle position needs to be improved for optimal bike handling. Price steeper than any hill the bike can handle.
For about $300 more than the average netbook, the UC7807u offers a scintillating array of grownup specs. Intel 2.0-GHz Core 2 Duo CPU? Check. 250-GB hard drive? Yep. 3 GB of memory, a glossy 13.3-inch display, a slot-loading optical drive and ports galore (three USB and an HDMI)? You betcha! Best of all, with its fetching brushed aluminum chassis, no one will mistake this for a budget notebook.
Unfortunately, the UC7807u also has all the telltale signs of some obvious corner cutting. Forget about gaming. Due to Intel's torpid integrated GMA 4500MHD graphics card, even moderately intensive titles won't run properly. But our main beef with the UC7807u is the feeble 6-cell battery which clocked in at a disappointing 3 hours, 25 minutes — a full hour shorter than most other notebooks in this category.
WIRED Recession-worthy price. Built like a tank. Slick, touch-sensitive volume and multimedia controls.
TIRED Tips the scales for a notebook in this category. Battery drains faster than an ATM at a strip club. Epic fail on the tiny circular touchpad. It's cramped and serves no discernable purpose. Onboard speakers spit out tinny, distorted sound. HDMI, but no Blu-ray?
It's no wonder this watch ran away with my heart; for the competitive runner or multisport athlete seeking a personal best in 2009, the Polar RS800CX is the required training device. Because of incredibly robust desktop software, tracking of obscure performance metrics, and a wide variety of add-on sensors, the RS800CX can help you measure, analyze and improve nearly every aspect of your training program.
WIRED Offers better heart-rate monitoring than your average hospital. Incredibly customizable from in-watch display, to software interface, to training programs. GPS and barometric altimeter combined with location tracking mean you'll never wonder where you wandered. Extensible pods make watch more sport-versatile than Lance Armstrong.
TIRED Even beer goggles won't pretty up this ugly watch face. May need to hire a coach anyway — just to teach you how to use the PC-only desktop software.
The pocket rocket we've been packing in our pants recently (full name: Optoma DLP EP-PK-101 Pico Pocket Projector) is one of the first mini projectors to hit the market. It's also one of the best, even though a number of flaws spill from the tiny device.
Styled like a '40s-era Zippo, the piano-black portable feels more natural in the hand than a lot of cellphones. But it's not size that matters to us, it's the video components! The projector is comprised of a combo-rig LED lamp and a DLP chip (courtesy of Texas Instruments) that sets the resolution at 480 x 320 pixels with a range output of 9 lumens. Yes, we know this is low compared to full-bodied projectors like Benq's gargantuan MP512 ST 2500-lumen projector but for something this small, it's remarkable.
WIRED Perfect projector for parties. Rectangular lens creates wide image that keeps the image from stretching. Fine picture quality, 8-96 inches. Startup time > 4 seconds. Dead-sexy hardware.
TIRED Lithium-ion batteries die after 2 hours' use; how are we supposed to watch our Battlestar marathon? Battery recharge time 4 frakkin' hours. Suck-tastic speaker. Unless you have a video-out adapter, you can't project Office docs from your PC. Projector gets hot enough to fry bacon after running 30 minutes.
Are you the schlemiel who's always dropping his cellphone or camera at parties? Or maybe you're the schlemazel who always gets the drink spilled on him? Either way, if you're looking for a camera to fit a clumsy or accident-prone lifestyle, the shockproof, waterproof, and cold-resistant Stylus 1050 SW can take the beating from fumbles, faceplants or full-speed crashes, and still keep clicking.
About the size and shape as a pack of smokes, the 1050 is equipped with an accelerometer letting you tinker with settings by tapping on the top and the sides. This lets you do useful stuff like turn the flash on and off with a gloved mitt or preview pictures with one hand while you fend off a tiger shark with the other.
WIRED Shockproof to 5 feet and waterproof 10 means you can bang it on the edge of the pool as you fall in with no harm done. Tap feature lets you change settings without futzing with buttons, and the camera can handle alpine frigidity with aplomb. Comes with a microSD adapter for greater media versatility.
TIRED Lens cover slides more easily than Ricky Henderson. The battery is easily inserted backwards, making you think it's dead or the camera is malfunctioning. Weak zoom and poor macro ability; this camera could use a bifocal upgrade.
Touted as the thinnest and lightest BlackBerry yet, the Curve 8900 has some much-needed upgrades over its predecessor, but also some disappointments.
Wi-Fi is hot and easy to set up, the camera got a bump to 3.2 megapixels, the 16 GB MicroSD storage can hold up to 20 hours of video, and the high-res screen is fantastic in any light. On the other hand, callers were hard to hear, documents were difficult to create, and RIM's revamped proprietary browser is good for surfing the Internet but isn't as smart about automatically resizing webpages as the browsers on competing smartphones.
WIRED Slick, sexy design mashes the best of the Bold and Curve 8830. Brilliant, high-resolution screen is one of the best we've seen on a RIM device. Full HTML-rendering on websites. 3.2-megapixel camera is even better when paired with video-recording capabilities; 3.5mm headphone jack means no clumsy adapters. Near 5-hour battery life is most impressive.
TIRED 3G is MIA. Despite the powerful 512-Mhz processor, the software still lags. New website and software don't perform as well as they should. Phone quality was mixed and loud speakers fail to compensate for somewhat distorted music playback.
This handset (which arrives in some of the most gorgeous packaging I've ever seen a consumer electronic encased in) is almost laughably banal in its actual construction. A silver slider with wide-spaced keys, it posses a passing resemblance to the Nokia 5200, albeit with a larger (2.2-inch) screen. But, once you switch it on and start using it, things begin to get interesting.
The operating system orbits around Facebook synchronization. Basically you take the phone online, pair it with your Facebook account, and all of your various Facebook applications become active on the mobile. Your Facebook address book syncs up with the phone's address book. Events from your Facebook calendar become part of the phone's calendar. Take a picture with the 3.2-megapixel camera, and you can automatically upload those shots to a Facebook album.
WIRED Brightly hued, easy to use, easy-to-sync OS pairs perfectly with your Facebook account. Skype integration is thoughtful. Thoughtfully spaced keys make texting, entering URLs rather pleasant. Camera takes photos that are sharp enough to be a profile picture. Extremely cheap for an unlocked device.
TIRED Humdrum hardware punctuates novel OS. Not offered in the United States ... yet. Battery life is clinically depressing when surfing the web, using Skype.
HP has been tinkering with touch tech for a couple of years. But they have yet to nail the bull's eye with a machine that mixes mature hardware with a haptic interface that feels like more than just a half-assed effort. So, we were cautiously optimistic with the TouchSmart tx2z. The good news? As HP's first multitouch convertible tablet, it's got a lot of potential.
Converting from notebook to tablet proved painless, thanks to a solid hinge and the included pen. After swinging the 1280 x 800 screen around (and folding it back), we found two goodies. First, using the pen automatically disables the touchscreen (to prevent palm-related havoc), and second, HP included an active digitizer for handwritten input. This made reckless activities like e-mailing while strolling around the block surprisingly easy. Even jotting down quick notes using a finger (instead of the pen) gave us minimal hassle.
WIRED Fully baked as both a touch and tablet device. Travels well with its compact and stylish chassis. Includes quick keys for rotating screen orientation. Mini media remote and pen conveniently hide away in chassis. Altec Lansing speakers strike decent balance between volume and clarity. Extra goodies aplenty: biometric security, webcam, dual headphone jacks, 802.11n compatibility and 5-in-1 card reader.
TIRED Bloated OS hinders performance of otherwise decent specs. Occasionally laggy switches between notebook and tablet mode. No multitouch love for the trackpad. Terrible viewing angles and weak visibility in direct sunlight. Fan sounds like a leaf-blower at a My Bloody Valentine show.
Nero's LiquidTV TiVo PC looks like a TiVo and acts like a TiVo, but, brother, it ain't no TiVo.
Actually, the package makes your PC act like a TiVo by adding a USB TV tuner and the same TiVo software that drives the set-tops. You also get a for-reals TiVo remote and an IR receiver so you can command content from the couch.
Ironically, that's where you're gonna get pissed. The remote can't launch the software, so you'll have to physically walk over and mouse it open. The remote can be programmed to turn your TV on and off, but it can't put your PC in standby mode or wake it up again. If you do that manually, the IR receiver fails to wake up with the rest of the system.
WIRED Includes a one-year TiVo subscription, and after that it's a cheaper-than-set-top $99 per year. The software can auto-convert recordings to iPod or Sony PSP format. Integrates with any TiVo boxes you already have. Extra storage is just an external hard drive away.
TIRED The remote lacks necessary PC controls. Not measurably better than Windows Media Center — which, incidentally, is free. The tuner supports ClearQAM, but the software doesn't, so forget digital channels unless you hook up the antenna.
The Kindle 2 is zippier, with pages turning 20 percent faster (yes, you can tell the difference). It has more memory (2 gigabytes, enough for storing more than 1,500 books onboard). And it flaunts a more powerful built-in battery: Amazon claims that the Kindle lasts four to five days with the wireless on (we got 4.5 days in our first test) and up to two weeks with it off. After a week of limited wireless, my meter is around 50 percent. Amazon also says that after 500 charges, it will hold 80 percent of its original juice. That means that most users won't have to replace the battery (a $60 procedure) for about a decade or so.
Looking over the horizon, it's clear that Amazon's biggest competitor in selling digital books will be Google, whose recent agreement with publishers and authors will make it the virtually exclusive seller for millions of books in copyright but not in print. But right now at least, the Google and Amazon formats aren't compatible: I was unsuccessful in getting a PDF of a public-domain book downloaded from Google to appear in readable form on my Kindle.
WIRED The best e-reading system on the market. Welcome improvements to aesthetics, more functional industrial design, better graphics and longer battery life. Sleeker than the original: One-third of an inch thick and 10 ounces.
TIRED Quite expensive. Book content shackled with DRM. Interface is improved, sure, but it could be even better.
The iWOW adapter from SRS Labs promises to coax more "immersive" sound from your iPod, and it actually delivers — provided you're listening to the right kind of music. Setup is easy: Snap on the slick little 1-inch extension, plug in some spendy headphones, press a button, and you do indeed get a fuller sound with more depth — especially if you enjoy songs like Sting's "Fragile," a track hand-picked by SRS to highlight the effect.
But when iWOW was applied to songs that were heavy on low-end thump or had multilayered sound (Exhibit A: Beck's "Cold Brains") the iWOW performed more like iMeh. At top volume, bass beats splintered, while at lower volumes tracks sounded muddled and crowded. SRS claims the device "dynamically locates and restores audio detail" and creates a more natural sound. We're not buying it — most of the audio we threw at the iWOW was punctuated with a subtle hiss and fuzzy bass.
WIRED Relatively small adapter. Snaps easily onto your iPod and lends some oomph to certain tunes.
TIRED The effect is nearly lost when using ear buds, the device won't work with older generation iPods, and music that already has a fair share of bass sounds muffled.
Leaps ahead of other cam phones, the Memoir's not limited to the 8 megapixels it captures. In shooting mode, the touchscreen has shutterbug controls — zoom, brightness, timer and flash — that float around the image. And just hitting the shutter will take you into camera mode. The Memoir includes a 1-GB microSD to augment the phone's 100 MB of storage (and it's an easy-access slot, rather than hidden under the battery).
But for all its convenience, the Memoir simply isn't a competitor for even the lowliest of dedicated cameras. First off, it's pokey: slow to focus, slow to snap and very touchy when it comes to movement. And though it touts a 16x digital zoom, it has no optical-zooming option.
WIRED Cool touchscreen and accelerometer helps you shoot or view pictures. Compact, pocket-friendly shape, even for hipsters in painted-on jeans.
TIRED Vampiric light sensitivity makes for washed-out shots. Slow to focus, shoot and recover. E-mail functions are even slower. The screen is hard to see in sunlight. Lens cover doesn't close all the time, so the lens can get dusty.
From the outside, the 1000HE doesn't look much different from other netbooks. But it's the machine's heart — the brand new 1.66-GHz Atom N280 processor — that makes it faster, stronger, smarter than its opponents.
Intel claims the silicon slab boosts computing power across the board, especially HD video playback — something that has been woefully horrid in past machines using Atom processors. It's not lying. This is the fastest netbook we've tested (by about 7 percent) in our benchmarks. And HD video playback was noticeably smoother and devoid of chop.
WIRED The first netbook to feature the new Atom N280 chip. MMC and SD media reader slots. Attractive, pearly finish. Decent 1.3-megapixel webcam.
TIRED At 3.1 pounds, it's one of the heaviest puppies in the netbook litter. Lame keyboard.
The R50 is remarkably easy to set up and use. As you program each component into the remote using the setup wizard, you test a few controls to make sure it has the right code. The remote instantly recognized all our components, and it took us about 10 minutes to get the AV rig up and running. As part of the setup, you name each component, which then appears as an icon on the screen: in my case, a Sony HDTV, Yamaha amp/receiver, Squeezebox, Oppo DVD player and Soundmatters speaker.
WIRED Cool, reddish backlight perfect for nighttime navigation. No computer or web connection needed for operation. No charging cradle required.
TIRED No user manual means gizmo novices might get lost in setup. $150 price point isn't super pricey, but then it's not the cheapest universal remote out there.
Like other watches in the 25-year-old G-Shock line, the MTG-1500 is forged with Mr. T levels of toughness: It can easily survive being banged clumsily against tabletops or whacked against a surfboard in a wipeout. And it's water-resistant to 200 meters. But unlike most other G-Shock watches, which are primarily plastic, the MTG-1500's body and band are stainless steel, with a few tasteful black plastic accents.
We half expected to find the MTG-1500 lacking in minor features. Surprisingly, it didn't. It's got a stopwatch mode, dual time-zone support, five different alarms and a countdown timer. Free abundant sunlight or bright artificial light recharges the battery as you wear the watch. Once fully charged, the battery should be able to power the watch for 6 months without additional light.
WIRED Handsome, two-toned steel-and-black styling doesn't blare "nerd," "Swatch-wearing poser" or "too lazy to take off my gym watch." Self-syncs with superaccurate official time stations. Gives you an excuse to say "solar" and "atomic" in the same sentence.
TIRED Digital display too small and can be obscured by watch hands. LED provides uneven illumination in the dark. $500 can buy a timepiece that's much fancier, albeit not atomic.
The skinny on this countertop unit is pretty straightforward: It's the touch-based kitchen computer that won't put you out of house and home. Don't go rushing out to cash in that 401(k), though — despite a recession-friendly price, the Eee Top still feels a little light in the loafers.
The glossy white, semi-opaque keyboard and mouse look stylish out of the box, but after extended handling their light, plastic-y build became annoying. The slim chassis sat solid on our countertop, while the bright, 15.6-inch screen and the integrated speaker bar make up the majority of the Top's sleek profile. Rounding out the device are six USB ports, memory card reader, 1.3-MP web cam and integrated Wi-Fi. We were pretty bummed at the lack of an optical drive, though.
WIRED An all-in-one for the Top Ramen set. Quick, responsive touch interface. Compact design has integrated storage for both keyboard and stylus. Integrated 802.11n and gigabit ethernet ensure throughput thrashings. One-touch shutoff button for hiding porn er, convenience. Runs whisper-quiet.
TIRED Underpowered for heavy web video. A wired keyboard and mouse — on an all-in-one?!? Heats up after extended poke/prod sessions. Anemic 160-GB hard drive. Even a cheapy, noisy optical drive would've been nice. No battery means no mobile computing.
This camera is about the size and shape of a pack of chewing gum, and weighs just 0.68 ounces. It records videos at 352 x 288 pixels, encoding them in the 3-GP format used by many cellphones (the videos can be played on your computer using most media-player software, including QuickTime and RealPlayer).
But the MovieStick is oozing with design flaws. The pinhole-sized lens is located on the long side of the device, rather than the short end, limiting your ability to go truly undercover. Add to that a confusing series of lights that supposedly indicate when the cam is charging, turned on or recording, and you end up with more than one inadvertent video of the floor.
WIRED The smallest video camera we've seen yet. Simple to set up and use. Makes you look like a double agent.
TIRED Location of camera lens makes it hard to go covert. No internal storage or memory card included. Recorded video is shakier and blurrier than outtakes from The Blair Witch Project.
Kodak’s Theatre HD's raison d'être is straightforward: to shuttle the contents of your PC directly to your television using ethernet or Wi-Fi. Pictures, videos, podcasts, music or any other digital content that may be living on your hard drive (as long as it's not squelched by some DRM straightjacket) can be whisked away by this tiny little box to your television with little to no fuss.
What really sets the Theatre HD Player apart from the rest of the field is how immaculately it performs its tasks. Once you've downloaded Kodak's EasyShare display software, everything is pretty much taken care of. Have a hard drive filled with extra content? No problem. Simply hook it up to one of the player's USB ports and you're ready to go.
WIRED Intuitive UI coupled with a handy RF remote makes setup and playback of multimedia a Zen-like experience. Wealth of connectivity options: component, HDMI, optical or RCA audio, dual USB ports. Transforms crappy YouTube video into semi-watchable content.
TIRED Requires Kodak EasyShare software to get the streaming party started. No Mac compatibility (for now). Pricey, especially for a device without a hard drive. Needs more internet content.
Skidding in at 53 pounds (on the lighter side for this category), Ohm's mountain bike-inspired geometry and its nine-level power-assist and regeneration system make it a smart, nimble and efficient two-wheeler.
On pavement and trail the BionX power plant, mounted on the rear hub, employs a unique sensor technology that is constantly adjusting the level of assistance it gives you based on the terrain. Encountering some mushy road? More power is delivered to the gears. Gliding down paved asphalt? The juice is dialed back. And if your thighs are flushed with lactic acid on a sheer hill, a flick of the trusty thumb throttle cracks the whip and the motor totally takes over, no pedaling required. But for all this innovation and comfort, you will, however, have to part with a spouse-enraging $3,450. Is it worth it? Well, it is a ton of fun.
WIRED Excellent Shimano parts mix with disc brakes and RockShox suspension fork. Lockable battery compartment hides space for mobile phone, wallet, media player and your other little stuff. Regeneration mode gives extra on-bike battery life. Comfortable suspension seat post. Four- to six-hour charge time.
TIRED Throttle position needs to be improved for optimal bike handling. Price steeper than any hill the bike can handle.
For about $300 more than the average netbook, the UC7807u offers a scintillating array of grownup specs. Intel 2.0-GHz Core 2 Duo CPU? Check. 250-GB hard drive? Yep. 3 GB of memory, a glossy 13.3-inch display, a slot-loading optical drive and ports galore (three USB and an HDMI)? You betcha! Best of all, with its fetching brushed aluminum chassis, no one will mistake this for a budget notebook.
Unfortunately, the UC7807u also has all the telltale signs of some obvious corner cutting. Forget about gaming. Due to Intel's torpid integrated GMA 4500MHD graphics card, even moderately intensive titles won't run properly. But our main beef with the UC7807u is the feeble 6-cell battery which clocked in at a disappointing 3 hours, 25 minutes — a full hour shorter than most other notebooks in this category.
WIRED Recession-worthy price. Built like a tank. Slick, touch-sensitive volume and multimedia controls.
TIRED Tips the scales for a notebook in this category. Battery drains faster than an ATM at a strip club. Epic fail on the tiny circular touchpad. It's cramped and serves no discernable purpose. Onboard speakers spit out tinny, distorted sound. HDMI, but no Blu-ray?
It's no wonder this watch ran away with my heart; for the competitive runner or multisport athlete seeking a personal best in 2009, the Polar RS800CX is the required training device. Because of incredibly robust desktop software, tracking of obscure performance metrics, and a wide variety of add-on sensors, the RS800CX can help you measure, analyze and improve nearly every aspect of your training program.
WIRED Offers better heart-rate monitoring than your average hospital. Incredibly customizable from in-watch display, to software interface, to training programs. GPS and barometric altimeter combined with location tracking mean you'll never wonder where you wandered. Extensible pods make watch more sport-versatile than Lance Armstrong.
TIRED Even beer goggles won't pretty up this ugly watch face. May need to hire a coach anyway — just to teach you how to use the PC-only desktop software.
The pocket rocket we've been packing in our pants recently (full name: Optoma DLP EP-PK-101 Pico Pocket Projector) is one of the first mini projectors to hit the market. It's also one of the best, even though a number of flaws spill from the tiny device.
Styled like a '40s-era Zippo, the piano-black portable feels more natural in the hand than a lot of cellphones. But it's not size that matters to us, it's the video components! The projector is comprised of a combo-rig LED lamp and a DLP chip (courtesy of Texas Instruments) that sets the resolution at 480 x 320 pixels with a range output of 9 lumens. Yes, we know this is low compared to full-bodied projectors like Benq's gargantuan MP512 ST 2500-lumen projector but for something this small, it's remarkable.
WIRED Perfect projector for parties. Rectangular lens creates wide image that keeps the image from stretching. Fine picture quality, 8-96 inches. Startup time > 4 seconds. Dead-sexy hardware.
TIRED Lithium-ion batteries die after 2 hours' use; how are we supposed to watch our Battlestar marathon? Battery recharge time 4 frakkin' hours. Suck-tastic speaker. Unless you have a video-out adapter, you can't project Office docs from your PC. Projector gets hot enough to fry bacon after running 30 minutes.
Are you the schlemiel who's always dropping his cellphone or camera at parties? Or maybe you're the schlemazel who always gets the drink spilled on him? Either way, if you're looking for a camera to fit a clumsy or accident-prone lifestyle, the shockproof, waterproof, and cold-resistant Stylus 1050 SW can take the beating from fumbles, faceplants or full-speed crashes, and still keep clicking.
About the size and shape as a pack of smokes, the 1050 is equipped with an accelerometer letting you tinker with settings by tapping on the top and the sides. This lets you do useful stuff like turn the flash on and off with a gloved mitt or preview pictures with one hand while you fend off a tiger shark with the other.
WIRED Shockproof to 5 feet and waterproof 10 means you can bang it on the edge of the pool as you fall in with no harm done. Tap feature lets you change settings without futzing with buttons, and the camera can handle alpine frigidity with aplomb. Comes with a microSD adapter for greater media versatility.
TIRED Lens cover slides more easily than Ricky Henderson. The battery is easily inserted backwards, making you think it's dead or the camera is malfunctioning. Weak zoom and poor macro ability; this camera could use a bifocal upgrade.
Touted as the thinnest and lightest BlackBerry yet, the Curve 8900 has some much-needed upgrades over its predecessor, but also some disappointments.
Wi-Fi is hot and easy to set up, the camera got a bump to 3.2 megapixels, the 16 GB MicroSD storage can hold up to 20 hours of video, and the high-res screen is fantastic in any light. On the other hand, callers were hard to hear, documents were difficult to create, and RIM's revamped proprietary browser is good for surfing the Internet but isn't as smart about automatically resizing webpages as the browsers on competing smartphones.
WIRED Slick, sexy design mashes the best of the Bold and Curve 8830. Brilliant, high-resolution screen is one of the best we've seen on a RIM device. Full HTML-rendering on websites. 3.2-megapixel camera is even better when paired with video-recording capabilities; 3.5mm headphone jack means no clumsy adapters. Near 5-hour battery life is most impressive.
TIRED 3G is MIA. Despite the powerful 512-Mhz processor, the software still lags. New website and software don't perform as well as they should. Phone quality was mixed and loud speakers fail to compensate for somewhat distorted music playback.
This handset (which arrives in some of the most gorgeous packaging I've ever seen a consumer electronic encased in) is almost laughably banal in its actual construction. A silver slider with wide-spaced keys, it posses a passing resemblance to the Nokia 5200, albeit with a larger (2.2-inch) screen. But, once you switch it on and start using it, things begin to get interesting.
The operating system orbits around Facebook synchronization. Basically you take the phone online, pair it with your Facebook account, and all of your various Facebook applications become active on the mobile. Your Facebook address book syncs up with the phone's address book. Events from your Facebook calendar become part of the phone's calendar. Take a picture with the 3.2-megapixel camera, and you can automatically upload those shots to a Facebook album.
WIRED Brightly hued, easy to use, easy-to-sync OS pairs perfectly with your Facebook account. Skype integration is thoughtful. Thoughtfully spaced keys make texting, entering URLs rather pleasant. Camera takes photos that are sharp enough to be a profile picture. Extremely cheap for an unlocked device.
TIRED Humdrum hardware punctuates novel OS. Not offered in the United States ... yet. Battery life is clinically depressing when surfing the web, using Skype.
HP has been tinkering with touch tech for a couple of years. But they have yet to nail the bull's eye with a machine that mixes mature hardware with a haptic interface that feels like more than just a half-assed effort. So, we were cautiously optimistic with the TouchSmart tx2z. The good news? As HP's first multitouch convertible tablet, it's got a lot of potential.
Converting from notebook to tablet proved painless, thanks to a solid hinge and the included pen. After swinging the 1280 x 800 screen around (and folding it back), we found two goodies. First, using the pen automatically disables the touchscreen (to prevent palm-related havoc), and second, HP included an active digitizer for handwritten input. This made reckless activities like e-mailing while strolling around the block surprisingly easy. Even jotting down quick notes using a finger (instead of the pen) gave us minimal hassle.
WIRED Fully baked as both a touch and tablet device. Travels well with its compact and stylish chassis. Includes quick keys for rotating screen orientation. Mini media remote and pen conveniently hide away in chassis. Altec Lansing speakers strike decent balance between volume and clarity. Extra goodies aplenty: biometric security, webcam, dual headphone jacks, 802.11n compatibility and 5-in-1 card reader.
TIRED Bloated OS hinders performance of otherwise decent specs. Occasionally laggy switches between notebook and tablet mode. No multitouch love for the trackpad. Terrible viewing angles and weak visibility in direct sunlight. Fan sounds like a leaf-blower at a My Bloody Valentine show.
Nero's LiquidTV TiVo PC looks like a TiVo and acts like a TiVo, but, brother, it ain't no TiVo.
Actually, the package makes your PC act like a TiVo by adding a USB TV tuner and the same TiVo software that drives the set-tops. You also get a for-reals TiVo remote and an IR receiver so you can command content from the couch.
Ironically, that's where you're gonna get pissed. The remote can't launch the software, so you'll have to physically walk over and mouse it open. The remote can be programmed to turn your TV on and off, but it can't put your PC in standby mode or wake it up again. If you do that manually, the IR receiver fails to wake up with the rest of the system.
WIRED Includes a one-year TiVo subscription, and after that it's a cheaper-than-set-top $99 per year. The software can auto-convert recordings to iPod or Sony PSP format. Integrates with any TiVo boxes you already have. Extra storage is just an external hard drive away.
TIRED The remote lacks necessary PC controls. Not measurably better than Windows Media Center — which, incidentally, is free. The tuner supports ClearQAM, but the software doesn't, so forget digital channels unless you hook up the antenna.
Wired.com takes a look at the various spectacles of WonderCon 2009. This year's show featured famous artists, great deals on vintage comics and some of our favorite celebrities.
This is the second of two parts on the convergence of engineering and neuroscience. Part One, "Rewiring the Brain," examined attempts to control the brain using surgically implanted optical switches.
Sci-Fi author Philip K. Dick may have best anticipated neuroengineering in his most famous work, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, the basis of the movie Blade Runner. The main character and his wife get up in the morning and select their moods on what Dick called a Penfield mood organ.
We're a long way from building a Penfield mood organ, but we already have ways of prodding our brains. Sometimes we achieve miracle cures, sometimes just trim the edge off the pain, but even the little tweaks can mean the difference between the livable and unlivable life.
Next to the microscopes and viruses at Dr. Ed Boyden's MIT lab is an electronics bench littered with half-finished breadboards, bits of wire and solder. From a drawer, Boyden lifts a twisted mess of connectors and wires hooked to a copper coil the size of a golf ball. This is a transcranial magnetic stimulation, or TMS, machine. When held to the head it's capable of electrically affecting areas of the brain within a few centimeters of the surface.
Luigi Galvani, a physician and natural philosopher of the 18th century, was the first to figure out that nerves were electrical in nature. His assistant tapped a dissected frog's leg with a scalpel he'd picked up from a statically charged table. The static electricity arced to the nerve of the dead frog's leg, making it twitch like living material.
From then on it was understood that the brain and its attendant peripheral nerves ran on electricity. Inspired by the twitching dead nervous system, Mary Shelley had Frankenstein's monster raised from the dead by a lightning bolt. But her approach, while a nice literary touch, was overkill: All you need is a very weak current to activate brain cells in a given region.
In fact, TMS gets electricity into the brain peacefully, without either cutting it open or shocking it with millions of volts.
The target area of the brain is treated like the coil in a generator, subjected to rapidly changing magnetic fields until electricity begins to dance across its neurons. Unlike the optical switch developed by Boyden and Stanford's Dr. Karl Deisseroth, TMS doesn't reach the deeper regions of the brain, but there are a lot of important and interesting areas in the cortex where TMS delivers its current. It's also far less precise than the optical switch, although TMS seems positively surgical when compared to the imprecisions of the pharmaceuticals we pump into our bodies.
"The magnetic field has an effective area of stimulation that is — at the smallest — the size of a thumb," says Dr. Bret Schneider, a neurological researcher at Stanford Medical School. TMS produces an impressionistic sweep of neural activation in the brain that researchers have used to do everything from inducing savant-like skills to causing people to take greater risks. Clinicians use it to treat migraines and depression, among other things.
Schneider has agreed to give me TMS. Specifically, he will use it on a part of my brain that controls movement: the motor cortex. He ushers me into an overly large black leather chair. Except for the large, two-lobed paddle hanging from the back, which is connected to an impressive power supply, the chair resembles something a therapist might use. "There are a number of nerves that pass through the scalp, and consequently, most patients do feel the magnetic pulses," he says by way of warning.
A few inches over my ear is the part of my brain that controls my hand and arm. Schneider holds the coil there and activates it. The muscles in my scalp contract automatically, and it stings. My hand is jumping with each loud snap from the TMS machine.
"What you're feeling is nerves actually depolarizing," he says. "[It's] sending a current through them, they're releasing their neurotransmitters with each pulse."
TMS feels like a determined and annoying older sibling repeatedly flicking you in the head. It's easy to imagine the subtleties of subjective experience being lost in the snapping, cracking, and the arm-twitching, that, while involuntary, is easy to misinterpret as sheer exasperation. Ow, quit it! Ow, quit it!
At first I imagine that my arm jerking is just me responding to the annoyance of being thumped on the head. I am, in short, confabulating wildly. Then I lift my arm on my own power, and watch as it continues jump in midair. I am definitely not doing that.
Schneider hands me the coil and shows me how to hold it over my left motor cortex, which controls the right side of my body. I use it on myself, holding the unit over my left brain, making my own right hand jump involuntarily.
"TMS seems to be relatively benign, and a fairly short list of adverse effects have been identified," says Schneider.
Transcranial magnetic stimulation is quite safe for use as a neurological therapy or research tool. Its effects are temporary, and while TMS can induce a seizure, that usually won't occur without a deliberate effort or gross negligence on the part of the operator. Focused on a bipolar patient, TMS can also induce massive mania and psychosis. The effect there is also also temporary, although the damage to the person's credit rating, car or goodwill of his neighbor may not be.
In short, TMS, which has been around for barely 20 years, shows enormous potential for certain types of neural conditions.
Boyden's lab has several plans for this technology. Smaller, cheaper and more hackable versions of TMS machines are being built. They've put together an open source TMS project that might allow anyone to start an at-home DIY brain hacking lab. Boyden tells me that his own TMS machine is a working prototype for an affordable, wearable unit that could go into much wider use in regular therapy offices, or even at home.
"One nice thing about medications is that they are compact — you can use them when you're at home, when you're traveling," he says. "It would be nice to achieve that in other fields of neurotechnology."
Back in his office, he goes beyond the medical applications. "As technologies are proven safe and effective, they will become more widespread, helping more people — not always those with the most severe needs. It's the same story that any health-related technology has ever taken."
Boyden theorizes that TMS could someday be a "prosthetic for creativity," based on its ability to increase concentration and risk-taking. That is, if people can get past how strange the whole thing seems.
"We know so little about the brain that it's easy to find projects that [are] both ... philosophically important problems, and also can assist [with] new treatments of neurological and psychiatric disorders," he says.
It's a shotgun approach to trying to work out what can be done with the most complicated system we've yet found in the universe — ourselves — using the output of that system, technology.
"The field as a whole is wrestling with what to make of such technology," says Boyden.
Neuroengineering raises a number of ethical issues, not the least of which centers on the question of when and how to treat certain conditions using the new technology. As an example, Dr. Debra Matthews, a bioethicist at The Berman Institute of Bioethics, points out that many in the deaf community feel that treatment of deafness is an assault on their culture. For them it's a question of identity, not necessarily a handicap.
"Who is defining better?" says Matthews. "Who decides what is a disability? Who decides what is normal?"
But she also says that these questions are not a sufficient reason to prevent neuroengineers from pressing ahead, no matter what kind of strange wonders they might produce.
"A course of research shouldn't be stopped by the mere presence of moral disagreement," she says. "[But] it's absolutely a reason to think about it and have a public conversation about it."
The MIT Media Lab, which houses Boyden's neuroengineering lab, is a kind of utopia of clutter, a fluorescent lit cave of saliva-worthy geek toys. Everyone there is sure that innovations to change the world are just around the corner, and that Boyden's lab, like Deisseroth's out at Stanford, is on the brink of changing the way we control our brains.
Walking a few blocks away from MIT late that night I find the other side of the universe, still in Cambridge. There's a gig going strong at 1 a.m., deep in the back of a dive bar on Massachusetts Avenue. On the street outside, old black men stand around, some with instrument cases, some with cigarettes dangling from their lips. It gets me to thinking.
All of us — them, me, the cops gliding past in their cruisers — are really just brains floating around on the ends of spine sticks. Involuntarily, I see everyone with a wire fed into their cortexes, some part of themselves commanded by their choice at a given moment. A little primitive Penfield mood organ above every ear, if you will.
So I wonder: What bit of themselves would each of us wish to control? Where would we direct our own TMS, if we could?
It's a terrible responsibility to consciously shoulder. What is the mind that's choosing the shape of its own brain?
"I think if you ask most neuroscientists, they don't find that particular question puzzling," says Deisseroth. "Thoughts, feelings and drives derive from patterns of electrical activity ... [but] there are other ways to think about it.
"The mind could be that little spark of consciousness that is floating around, guiding your direction and attention and desires and thoughts. Something that recruits different parts of the brain.... What is that little floating entity that uses the brain? The part that uses the visual cortex, that uses sensory input, what is that?"
If that part isn't what puzzles neuroscientists at the moment, it's important to remember that it's the crucial part for the old men on Mass. Ave. A description of reward pathways and their functions will never really explain what it means to need a clearly unneeded cigarette, much less the define a lifetime of desire that turned a second-hand guitar into the organ of an old blues player's soul. But without a doubt, changing those pathways can change everything.
When I ask Boyden what this work means for the far-off future, he puts his hands in his pockets and scrunches back in his seat.
"I think society is going to change," he says. "People are going to understand more about themselves than they've ever understood before."
There is no shortage of point-and-shoots on the market, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t give Kodak’s latest a look. It’s called the Z915 (memorable, I know), and looks, well, like a camera. I mean, it doesn’t look like a DSLR, and it doesn’t look like a little metal lozenge — it looks for all the world like a regular consumer film camera from the 90s. It’s kind of comforting, really. It’s not breaking any records with its specs, but it looks like a solid camera from the company that makes all the other guys’ sensors.
It’s got a 10x stabilized optical zoom, which is awesome, and has a 10-megapixel sensor. Its screen is 2.5″ and it’s got a “versatile AA battery solution.” Ahem. So does my Teddy Ruxpin. Anyway, at $200 it’s a better buy than Canon’s offerings there and rather more zoomy than Nikon’s. Not nearly as svelte, though. They’ll be available in April.
Social evaluation platform Vanno launched a widget application of its real-time company reputation index called ReputationCheck. Vanno’s platform allows customers and others to share stories about their personal experiences with a particular company, submit news articles they’ve read about companies, fill out surveys and comment on companies. Vanno then quantifies this dialogue and information into an index using Bayesian algorithms (the same statistical methods used to filter spam and detect credit card fraud). The company’s index measures the reputation of more than 5,800 companies worldwide.
Vanno’s reputation index was recently brought into the public light when Vanno quantified the damage Kellogg’s brand sustained after the company pulled the plug on Michael Phelps’s sponsorship following the swimmer’s marijuana photo fiasco. Vanno’s data suggested that Kellogg’s reputation plummeted after its decision, falling even further on the index than when the company had to recall products after this year’s peanut butter salmonella scare.
ReputationCheck, the index’s embeddable widget, shows a company’s real-time reputation rank and compares the rank to the best and worst companies relative to customer and employee satisfaction, community involvement, the environment, patriotism and social responsibility. The widget can be used in a post or in the sidebar of a site. Considering all of the various inputs of the index, the ranking system cannot be deemed as 100 percent authoritative. But it certainly is a measure of the public’s perception of a company. (Contrast to Glassdoor, another reputation service from employees’ point of view). While the index widget could be useful to bloggers and writers to show one measure of a reputation of a company, its probably best not to rely upon ReputationCheck as the final arbiter of a company’s standing.
NewYorkCountryLawyer writes "Lest there be any doubt that District Judge Michael J. Davis, presiding over the Duluth, Minnesota, case, Capitol Records v. Thomas, really does 'get it' about the toxic effect the RIAA, its lead henchman Matthew Oppenheim, and their lawyers have had on the judicial process, all such doubt should be removed by the order he just entered (PDF). It removes control of the decision-making process from the RIAA, Oppenheim, and the lawyers. In the order Judge Davis spells out, in the clearest possible terms so that there can be no misunderstanding, that at the extraordinary 2-day settlement conference he has scheduled for later this month, each record company plaintiff is ordered to produce an 'officer' of the corporation, or a 'managing agent' of the corporation, who has corporate, decision-making, 'power.' The judge makes it clear that no one who has 'settlement authority' with any limits or range attached to it will be acceptable. This means that 'RIAA hitman' Matthew Oppenheim will not be able to control the settlement process as he has been permitted by the Courts to do in the past."
As a college student, I’ve seen all sorts of junk on laptop cases, from fraternity stickers and sports team logos to presidential candidates and cause-related stickers. London-based Wrappz has tapped into this market providing covers for laptops, iPods, and game consoles. They use a patented 3M vinyl for easy application and they ensure that there will be no residue remains if you choose to remove it.
They have an okay selection of Wrappz, but if none of the available pictures please you, you can upload your own picture to make your own Wrappz case. In my opinion, I just don’t see a laptop as a way to express your love for something. I can see this being more popular among iPods, so owners can apply their favorite singers/bands on their iPod. If you’re interested, go to the Wrappz website. However, they only deliver within the UK and Europe, so I apologize if I got your hopes up, fellow Americans.
Infamous “Spam King” Sanford Wallace is back in the news. Popular social networking site Facebook, has filed a federal suit against him and two of his associates in San Jose District Court, alleging that the spammer and two associates were running an email harvesting operation aimed at their users.
It worked by sending them a message telling them their profile pic had been found on another website and provided a link. When the user clicked it, they were taken to another site where a popup box asked for their name and email address, after which another popup asked them to choose a password. If they do this they are sent on a wild goose chase of popups and fake error pages before finally being presented with the alleged pic of them, which naturally isn’t a pic of them at all but a picture of a monkey or a similar gag. The site then reveals it’s all a fun prank and encourages the user to try it on all their friends.
The site’s true purpose is to harvest email addresses and passwords. While the site provides a disclaimer advising the user NOT to use their Facebook password or any other password already in use on a different site or account, they know many users use the same password everywhere, in fact they are banking on it. The phished addresses and passwords are then used to take over those accounts and send copious amounts of spam from them.
Neither Facebook or Wallace has commented on the suit, but this is nothing new for Wallace. A little less than a year ago, MySpace won a lawsuit against him, and over the years he’s also been sued by CompuServe, AOL, and the FTC.
In one of those “what if” situations, Seattle PC company Puget Systems (of Windows 7 deal fame) recently shared information with Tom’s Hardware about how they went about building the ultimate desktop machine. Puget showed them their latest, a quad-Opteron powered monster with 32 gigs of RAM and custom water cooling. I can’t even imagine how much noise this thing would make if it was just air cooled, but the boys at Puget decided to do both and put no less then nine(!) 120mm fans on the radiator. This means that the fans can run at the minimum voltage, which keeps them very, very quiet but moves lots of air.
Tom’s has a really complete gallery and write up on the system, but here are some of the basics. It’s using a standard Cooler Master case (obviously drilled for the water cooling) and Koolance waterblocks, fluid, and pump. It’s got 6TB of space in RAID 5, and actually runs nearly silent.
Sony has updated its primary line of headphones, starting with the EX-33LP and EX-35LP at the rather suspicious price of $20, and moving on up to the EX-300 and EX-500LP at $80 and $130, respectively. Note that all but the EX-300 have “LP” in their names, which seems to signify nothing at all. I must say that I’ve had my eyes opened by Klipsch as to the possibilities of in-ear headphones, so it’s certainly possible that you’re getting serious gains all the way to the top of the price spectrum there.
Just promise me you won’t get the $20 ones. I’d rather take a tomahawk to the eardrum than listen to bottom-of-the-barrel headphones at this point. I can’t speak ill of Sony’s headphone quality, though - I’ve had a couple pairs and they were good to me. You can buy with confidence as long as you spend more than a couple bucks.
The headphones sport vague and probably somewhat less than momentous changes over their predecessors (how often can the drivers be revolutionized?), and they’re available now at Sonystyle.com.
Melinda Gates craves an iPhone. That may not be quite enough to ask for a divorce for Bill Gates, but I'm guessing it's not something she'd want to mention over dinner. Too bad it's now in the pages of a national magazine.
In an interview with Vogue Magazine this month, Gates, the co-chair and trustee of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, noted that in order to keep their kids grounded, they allow as many of the same experiences as regular kids as they can. But the one thing they do not allow is the use of Apple’s iPod or iPhone players. Because that would be a nightmare PR problem and would likely make Dad mad.
She, however, admits to an occasional thought about the device: "Every now and then I look at my friends and say 'Ooh, I wouldn't mind having that iPhone'."
I think it's much more likely that there are several iPhone on the premises of the Gates household, but they're more likely being skinned in an underground lab for design research or used as chew toys for the dogs.
The full story can be read here, which mentions the couple's plans about graver topics than cell phones, including slowing down the poverty and malaria epidemics.
Pentax has just unveiled its newest camera, the X70 Megazoom. The camera has a 24x optical zoom which makes sense since it is called a “Megazoom.” The camera looks like a DSLR but is supposed to be an in-between camera—not quite a DSLR and not quite a point and shoot. It has a SLR shape and shoots pics at 12 megapixels. The camera also has a 2.7-inch display.
The X70 has some advanced controls that you may not normally use on a point and shoot like aperture/shutter priority and “high speed continuous shooting at 11 FPS.” The X70 also can shoot 720P video at 15 frames per second. That is a strange amount of frames per second for a video, so you won’t be replacing your camcorder with this device.
What’s this thing cost? The X70 will cost $399.95 and will ship in April.
As if it weren’t enough that we have useless features on our point-and-shoots, now we have to have them on our printers as well. First of all, the idea of taking my photos, editing and adjusting them, doing red-eye reduction and so on in-camera, then printing them out on the spot is so ridiculous that I can’t even convince myself that it’s done by anyone on this green Earth. A screen on the printer seems so superfluous a feature, and such an expensive one, that I can’t believe it is being touted as a positive. Enjoy slideshows on your printer! It sounds like a fake ad. Nevertheless, these crimes against nature will be available from Sony in April. Okay, I guess other printers have screens too. My scorn expands easily to encompass them as well.
The abominations only print 4×6″, which precludes them from usefulness altogether; consider how often you’ll need to print a 4×6″ photo right here and now, no matter what, and now consider how often you see a Walgreens or Bartell’s, where you can get a hundred photos printed in 15 minutes at superior quality for 15 cents each. For comparison, the white printer above will cost $150 and the black one $200. I’m sorry to come down so hard on these devices, which I’m sure are very effective at what they do, but they really seem like the most useless stay-in-a-box-forever type doodads I’ve seen in a while.
KillerBob writes with an advance on the news from a year back that stem cells can be produced from human skin — discussed here. Now Canadian researchers have found a safe way to generate stem cells without using viruses to modify the genome, a process that can have its own dangers. "The ethical debate over embryonic stem cell use may soon be moot, thanks to a Canadian team of researchers who, together with a team out of Scotland, has found a safe way to grow stem cells from a patient's own skin. The revolutionary finding, described in a paper published yesterday by the international science journal Nature, means doctors may be one step closer to treating a multitude of diseases, including Alzheimer's, diabetes and Parkinson's."
Why do online commenting start-ups keep beating their heads against the same wall? Kutano, a browser add-on that lets users read, write and search comments side-by-side with any webpage, launched at DEMO today. With over one-third of the 1.574 billion internet users worldwide participating in online commentary and forums, Kutano is joining a slew of other start-ups hoping to capitalize on this growing trend by providing a free and open stage for online discussion.
As we wrote about last fall, there have been many online discussion add-ons and services developed to allow users to share unmoderated commentary on webpages, but very little traction for most of them.
Kutano’s technology doesn’t appear to be vastly different than its predecessors. Once Internet Explorer and Firefox users (Safari and Linux versions will be rolled out in Q2 2009) download the free add-on, a Kutano, collapsable “window” will be displayed to the right of the browser, which will show the discussions and information related to the specific subject (not by URL) of the web page that is being viewed. The add-on lets users comment on the website and also allows users to search and exchange information on any related commentary on the web (much like Reframe It). This serves to broaden the discussion, but also risks showing disjointed conversations.
Kutano, which means crowd or gathering in Swahili, integrates with Facebook and Twitter, giving users the ability to broadcast commentary on social networks. While Kutano offers users the ability to create specific subject-based commentary, competitor Reframe It provides many more social-networking features, including the ability to follow comments in a RSS feed and upload Gmail and Facebook contacts into the application.
Kutano will undoubtedly confront similar roadblocks that other commentary and Web annotation applications have experienced. The chance of coming across a website with commentary from Kutano users is small, making the side-panel somewhat useless. Like Reframe It, Kutano’s comments can only be seen by users who have downloaded Kutano to their browsers. And as free and open commentary becomes a staple of blogs and media sites, users tend to look and read comments and discussion sponsored by the blogs and news sites themselves. I’m skeptical that users will be looking for yet another open forum for comments and discussion relating to, for example, articles on The New York Times website.
Crunch Network: CrunchBoardbecause it’s time for you to find a new Job2.0
Sony just pushed out a new series of TVs, the W, with 1080p resolution and Yahoo! widgets, Amazon Video On Demand, and other networked TV features. They’ll come in 52-, 46-, and 40-inch models and include 4 HDMI ports.
SONY DEBUTS MORE NETWORKED BRAVIA HDTVS
Models Extend Line-up Featuring “BRAVIA Widgets” and Other Connected Features
LAS VEGAS, March 2, 2009 – Bolstering the recently announced 2009 BRAVIA® LCD HDTV line-up, Sony Electronics today announced a series of additional networked models with full HD 1920 x 1080 progressive (1080p) resolution. This new W-series adds an economic HDTV option, while delivering the same interactive functionality as the recently announced BRAVIA Z5100 and XBR9 models.
The networked models feature an Ethernet connection so the sets can directly access Sony BRAVIA Internet Video content using an existing broadband connection. The service offers one of the largest selections of free and premium movies, TV shows, sports, music and more from an array of partners like Amazon Video On Demand, YouTube®, Yahoo!®, Sony Pictures, Sony Music and many others.
BRAVIA Internet Widgets, provided by the Yahoo! Widget Engine, expand and personalize the experience by allowing you to interact with your favorite Internet content like Yahoo News, Video, Finance, and Flickr® while watching TV shows. Track your favorite sports team, check your stocks, and share photos with friends and family as you watch television.
The 52-inch KDL-52W5100, 46-inch KDL-46W5100 and 40-inch KDL-40W5100 (diagonal) models feature Motionflow™ 120Hz technology for improved sharpness and detail in fast-moving images. They also feature Sony’s BRAVIA Engine™ 3, which delivers a crystal clear picture even if the content isn’t perfect.
The W-series models are Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA®) compliant, enabling easy access to digital photos, music and video stored on a PC or other DLNA server using the XMB® interface and the TV’s remote control. They also offer a USB input for displaying digital photos or playing digital video and audio files from compatible USB storage devices.
In addition, these models feature:
* 24p True Cinema™
* XrossMediaBar™ (XMB)with enhanced 3D favorites menu
* Internet powered TV Guide Onscreen
* BRAVIA Sync™
* BRAVIA Link Compatibility
* 4 HDMI inputs
Designed to match the W5100 series models, the HT-CT500 3.1 channel sound bar supports features an integrated AV receiver supporting full HD 1080p video and the latest advanced audio codecs. This sound bar theater system will be available this June for about $500.
The new KDL-52W5100, KDL-46W5100 and KDL-40W5100 networked televisions will be available this spring direct through www.sonystyle.com and Sony Style stores, as well as authorized retailers nationwide and military base exchanges.
Hello, Blu-ray. Sony just pulled the sheet back on four brand new Blu-ray units: two players and two home theaters in a box. All four come packing the BD-Live Profile 2.0 spec and attractive pricing. Sony means business.
The pair of Blu-ray players seem set to take the torch from the current generation with similar but slightly updated specs and a refreshed look. The players can handle DNLA, DTS-HD Master / Dolby TrueHD capable, and upscaling DVDs. The high-end model, the BDP-S560 even comes packing WiFi for easy network hookup for all the BD-Live goodies. Both that model, and the non-WiFi BDP-S360 should ship this summer for $350 and $300 respectively.
The HTIBs’ maintain all of the standalone unit’s functions but ups the ante a bit on the wireless gimmick. The $800 BDV-E500W’s speakers hook-up wireless to the base unit for a more flexible speaker arrangement. The $600 BDV-E300 ships without the wireless capability but it can be added on later with an S-AIR kit. These units also pack the goods for iPod and Sony Walkman hookup via Sony’s Digital Media Port. Expect these about these two units this coming June.
Sony’s New Blu-Ray Disc Player and Home Theater Systems Go Wireless
New Line Includes Wi-Fi Enabled Player and S-AIR Wireless Theater Systems
LAS VEGAS, March 2 /PRNewswire/ — Sony is adding four new Blu-ray Disc(TM) devices to its line-up today, including a stand-alone player with Wi-Fi(R) capability for easy BD-Live(TM) access and Blu-ray Disc home theater systems with S-AIR(TM) wireless audio.
The BDP-S360 and BDP-S560 stand-alone players and BDV-E300 and BDV-E500W BD home theater systems deliver full HD 1080/60p and 24p True Cinema(TM) output, decode the latest advanced audio codecs and are BD-Live capable with your broadband internet connection and purchase of external memory.
“The demands of today’s home theater go beyond pristine picture quality and our new Blu-ray Disc product line offers a breadth of technologies that deliver an amazing entertainment experience,” said Chris Fawcett, vice president of marketing for Sony Electronics’ Home Product Division. “Consumers don’t want a living room cluttered with wires and the new Blu-ray Disc product lineup breaks down the wired barriers of the past.”
Offering built-in Wi-Fi wireless network capabilities (802.11N/G/B/A), the BDP-S560 can easily connect to the Internet through your existing wireless home network to download and stream BD-Live content including additional scenes, short subjects, trailers, interactive games, and more. It also enables easy firmware updates to assist in keeping your player up-to-date with the latest Blu-ray Disc media and features.
While compatible with most wireless routers, the BDP-S560 also supports Wi-Fi Protected Setup(TM), for a quick and easy connection to enabled wireless routers. Additionally, the player is Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA(R)) ready, allowing it to connect to other DLNA compliant devices to share digital photos.
Since many consumers own extensive DVD movie libraries, the BDP-S360 and BDP-S560 incorporate Sony’s Precision Cinema HD Upscale technology that converts standard-definition signals (480i) to near HD quality.
Additionally, the models add Sony’s Precision Drive(TM) technology, which helps to detect and correct wobbling discs from three directions, supporting stabilization of the playback of bent or scratched Blu-ray Discs and DVDs.
The BDP-S360 and BDP-S560 models support 7.1 channel Dolby(R) TrueHD and Dolby(R) Digital Plus, DTS(R)-HD High Resolution Audio, and DTS-HD Master Audio decoding as well as bit-stream output via HDMI.
Both players support Deep Color video output and AVCHD discs encoded with x.v.Color(TM) (xvYCC) technology. They also feature compatibility with an array of video formats, including BD-R/RE (BDMV and BDAV modes), DVD+R/+RW, DVD-R/-RW, CD, CD-R/RW (CD-DA format) and JPEG on BD/DVD/CD recordable media.
The models also offer an external port for local storage so users can add their USB flash storage device. The BDP-S560 features a front USB port for viewing photos from your USB flash memory device or directly from a digital camera.
Shipping this summer, the BDP-S360 and BDP-S560 will retail for about $300 and $350, respectively.
Styled to match the BDP-S360 and BDP-S560 with a black gloss exterior design, the HT-SS360 component home theater system is an integrated A/V receiver supporting full HD 1080p video and high resolution audio. Added to either of the new players, the theater system completes the package with 5.1 surround sound for a true cinematic experience.
The model will be available this May for about $350.
BLU-RAY HOME THEATER SYSTEMS
Sony also launched two new 5.1 channel Blu-ray Disc home theater systems, the BDV-E300 and BDV-E500W. The models are BD-Live capable and support the latest advanced audio codecs including 7.1 channel Dolby(R) TrueHD and Dolby Digital Plus, DTS(R)-HD High Resolution Audio and DTS-HD Master Audio decoding as well as bit-stream.
The BDV-E500W features integrated S-AIR wireless audio capabilities. Sony’s S-AIR technology transmits audio up to 164 feet from the main system to wireless rear speakers for simple surround sound (signal and sound quality may vary) or up to 10 individual S-AIR AirStation audio devices (sold separately) throughout the home. The BDV-E300 model is S-AIR ready so users can add optional modules, also sold separately.
Both systems include Sony’s Digital Media Port, which adds control and connectivity options for music playback through various accessories, including a cradle for iPod(R) players which is packaged with each system, or an optional Network Walkman(TM) cradle, a PC client device and a Bluetooth(R) adapter (each sold separately).
The models include an easy set-up DVD, eliminating any confusion during the set up process. Also, Sony’s BRAVIA(R) Sync(TM) technology simplifies every day operation with one-button command of compatible home theater components through HDMI.
The models also feature Sony’s Xross Media Bar (XMB(TM)) graphic user interface for easy menu navigation, Precision Drive technology, Precision Cinema Upscaling technology and a USB port allowing users to add their external flash memory for BD-Live features. The units ship with an easy set-up DVD for step-by-step instruction on initial set up process.
The BDV-E300 and BDV-E500W ship in June for about $600 and $800, respectively.
All of the new models will be offered at Sony Style stores, online at www.sonystyle.com, at military base exchanges, and at authorized retailers nationwide.
Delkin just announced their VideoPro line of SDHC cards ranging from 4GB to 32GB. They’re supposedly optimized for HD recording. The 4GB, 8GB, 16GB and 32GB will drop next month for $60, $100, $150 and $240, respectively.
Flock, a social-focused browser startup that has raised nearly $30 million in venture funding, has ceased building on top of the open source Firefox browser, say multiple sources. The next version of the Flock browser will be built on Google’s open source Chrome browser platform. The last version of Flock was released in October 2008.
Flock first launched in October 2005 and has had 6 million or so downloads. But it still has less market share than even Netscape, which was discontinued over a year ago.
In the past Flock has said all it needs is a few tens of millions of users to score big dollars from the search engines (each active user generates $5 or so in search engine revenue). But after three years of trying, Flock hasn’t been able to achieve more than a fraction of that number of users.
As to why Flock is leaving Mozilla: sources say that they’ve become frustrated with Mozilla’s lack of attention to Flock’s needs. One source says Flock felt like the “red headed step child of the Mozilla development community.” Sources are also saying that Flock feels that Google Chrome is far easier to work with than Firefox.
One problem is that Chrome isn’t yet cross-platform and works only on Windows machines. But Google is actively working on Mac and Linux versions of Chrome and should release them in the next few months. Right about the time the next version of Flock is released.
Flock hasn’t yet returned a request for comment on this story.
Update: Flock CEO Shawn Hardin responds in the comments:
Mike,
I was responding to your email from only a few hours ago when I saw your article. It’s important to clarify a couple of things. We haven’t ceased development efforts on the Mozilla platform. Our upcoming release of Flock 2.1 is built on the Mozilla platform. Having said that, the browser space is heating up, and we’ve seen a variety of exciting technologies emerge over the last several months that are appealing.
We always have and will continue to make architectural decisions that balance what’s best for our users and what’s best for Flock as a business. This has resulted in a healthy, growing user base and business for Flock, and we expect this to continue in 2009. In fact, with over seven million downloads almost entirely from word of mouth, Flock enjoys a highly satisfied user base with consistently over 92% customer satisfaction, very strong net promoter scores, and an average of four hours of usage per day.
With a continuing focus on user-centered browser innovation, our team is in active research and development on a range of exciting new enhancements to Flock. It is still far too early to comment on anything specific, but we are very excited about this design phase…
Crunch Network: CrunchGeardrool over the sexiest new gadgets and hardware.
There isn't a single iPhone owner I know who doesn't have the rhythm game Tap Tap Revenge. Launching tonight is the sequel to the game, Tap Tap Revenge 2, with a revamped look and a host of new features.
The freshest additions to the Tap Tap sequelare three new gameplay modes. There's a Challenge mode, which enables you to e-mail your friends to challenge them to a duel. In Career mode you play by yourself and unlock achievements. And there's even a Kids mode for young'ins to tap anywhere on the screen to play with visual effects.
The new game has 150 free, downloadable songs. Keep an eye on the iPhone's App Store tonight, or the Tap Tap Revenge 2 product page. Like its predecessor, the game will be free.
Check out a video demoing the app at the top of this post.
The upcoming Touch Book from start-up Always Innovating will be the first netbook that detaches its screen from the keyboard in order to create a standalone touch screen tablet.
Whether that versatility will make it a top must-get gadget is up in the air. After all, many available tablet laptops (Fujitsu makes the best ones), are able to switch between tablet and laptop form with the help of a simple twisting hinge between the keyboard and the screen. And Asus displayed its own version of the 'flip-style' tablet netbooks at last January's CES show.
But the Touch Book, with its versatile design, appears to make good on previous failed promises by gadget-makers to physically transform for different feature applications. One example of this is that the netbook/tablet is magnetized and is light enough to stick on the fridge as a kitchen computer, or you can just use it to watch a movie on your lap without getting weighed down by an extra keyboard.
Almost always, we find it's the user who needs to adjust work/play habits to accommodate the physical limitations of gadgets.
The netbook tablet, previewed at this week’s DEMO 09 conference in Palm Desert, is also aiming to be the first notebook to come out with an ARM processor (from Texas Instruments), which has promised to boost the battery and processing performance of all netbooks. Always Innovating is claiming the Touch Book will have a battery life up to 15 hours due to this chip. Brian earlier talked about the further implication of ARM processors right here, including always-on booting.
The Touch Book will also have plenty of open source features, and will come with a 3-dimensional accelerometer, a 1024 x 600 8.9-inch screen, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and perhaps most surprisingly (and limiting), only 8GB of storage, provided in microSD form. This means that this could be a great portable travel device, but you'd be bothered by the endless accounting of cards for your travel gadgets.
As for the OS, it's a custom Linux that works like a regular system when using the keyboard but switches to a touch-screen interface, presumably increasing the desk icons and focusing on media features.
According to Always Innovating, the Touch Book will be available in the next few months for $300 for the tablet only, and for $400 for the rig with the keyboard. Check out a video from Always Innovating CEO Gregoire Gentil showing the tablet after the jump.
Guest blogger Paul Spinrad first wrote about meme warfare in Adbusters #11.
In politics, I think there are two competing motivations for voters to support a cause publicly. One is to influence the majority to agree, to make changes that you believe in, and the other is to distinguish your opinions as superior to most other peoples'. These two motivations generally cause people to act in similar ways, but I've found some "tells" that reveal the underlying elitist motivation:
Leaving up losing campaign stickers and signs long after the election is over. (I passed a Ron Paul window sign today...)
Dressing and behaving at political demonstrations in a non-respectful way (partying, trying to "shock people out of their complacency," etc.).
Saying that it requires superior knowledge or compassion to arrive at the views you hold.
Saying that it makes you "uncomfortable" or "scared" that a group you don't identify with actually agrees with your view.
Under a democracy, the elitist motivation is self-defeating: If your true aim is to distinguish yourself from the masses, you really don't want your side to win-- your aim is better served when more people vote the other way, and then you can be disgusted with most peoples' stupidity and wash your hands of responsibility.
With religion, I think atheists have the same dissonance going on. If they really think the world would be better off without religion, they shouldn't hate religion and call believers fools. Any successful new belief system must appreciate the beauty of what it's replacing and strive for backwards-compatibility. If Matthew 1:1-16 hadn't explained how Jesus' lineage fulfills the prophecy in Isaiah 1:1-5, it wouldn't have gotten where it is today.
So I put it to declared atheists-- the ones who fly the flag about it, not the ones who are quiet or closeted: Do you think that most of humanity is A) hopeless and doomed to kill each other because of their stupid religious beliefs, or B) capable of coming to and benefiting from your views?
I think closeted atheists who participate in other religious activities are the future of atheism. They know that prayer feels good without a needing brain scientist to tell them, and they know you don't need God to want to feed the hungry, heal the sick, and provide homes for the orphaned. What if they simply stopped reciting the words that they didn't agree with during religious services, without calling attention to it? In many places I don't think they would be kicked out or turned upon and beaten just for that.
An atheism that's well-designed for broad appeal wouldn't need miracles. What miracles do for a belief system is ensure greater investment on the part of the adherent. If something's easily believable, it's easy to take or leave, but doubtful claims require a leap and then ongoing mental maintenance. If a group subscribes to some miraculous claim, it demands shared support, repetition, declarations, indoctrination, etc.-- all of which bind the group together. For a new atheism, the miracle-we-believe function would be served by the question of whether the whole scheme could actually succeed. If the "us" people say yes and are excited at the prospect while the "them" people view it as absurd, that's the identical, effective dynamic.
Meanwhile, I'm putting The Crooked Letter on my reading list-- it sounds great!
Here below are three screenshots of Microsoft’s internal test of a new search product called Kumo.
The long-expected upgrade to the Live Search product from Microsoft (MSFT) is being tested for a public rollout later this year.
The blogosphere was a-twitter, literally, after a Twitter post by Powerset Co-Founder Barney Pell this past weekend, about a rebranding and updating of the search offering. (Microsoft acquired Powerset last year and Pell works on search strategy.)
Sources at Microsoft said the company has not yet decided whether it will keep the Kumo name, which sounds a little too much like that crazy dog from the Stephen King novel.
Maybe that’s the point, at least related to Google. (Chomp!)
Microsoft has been trying to catch up in the search game, by spending big time, after it failed to acquire Yahoo (YHOO) last year.
And it still wants to do a search deal with Yahoo, in order to make a dent in the market dominance of Google (GOOG).
Until then, of course, Microsoft must innovate. And, so far, Kumo seems to be an interesting effort with a clean and spare look.
But what do you think? Let me know in the comments.
Also, here is the memo from Microsoft search head Satya Nadella about it, urging all company employees to try it out and send feedback:
From: Satya Nadella
Sent: Monday, March 02, 2009 4:18 PM
To: Microsoft–All Employees (QBDG)
Subject: Announcement: Internal Search Test Experience
The Search team needs you. We’ve been working hard to improve our search service and want to share the progress we are making with you. We are launching a new test program called kumo.com for employees to try and provide feedback. Kumo.com exists only inside the corporate network, and in order to get enough feedback we will be redirecting internal live.com traffic over to the test site in the coming days. Kumo is the codename we have chosen for the internal test.
In spite of the progress made by search engines, 40% of queries go unanswered; half of queries are about searchers returning to previous tasks; and 46% of search sessions are longer than 20 minutes. These and many other learnings suggest that customers often don’t find what they need from search today.
We believe we can provide a better and more useful search experience that helps you not just search but accomplish tasks. During the test, features will vary by country, but you’ll see results organized in a way that saves you more time. An explorer pane on the left side of results pages will give you access to tools that help you with your tasks. Other features like single session history and hover preview help accomplish more in search sessions.
Your Next Search…
To get started, visit kumo.com or click one of the samples below to see how it’s possible to find the right results more easily:
· Audi S8
· Taylor Swift
. Bose Lifestyle 48
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Here are the three screenshots too (click on the images twice to make them larger):
Via Rudy Rucker by way of Paul Di Filippo, this cartoon, in which Donald Duck bakes a plastic airplane. The trouble starts when Donald takes his plane for a spin and it starts to melt in the rain
rar42 writes "Clause 152 of the Coroners and Justice Bill, currently being debated by the UK Parliament, would allow any Minister by order to take from anywhere any information gathered for one purpose, and use it for any other purpose. Personal information arbitrarily used without consent or even knowledge: the very opposite of 'Data Protection.' An 'Information Sharing Order', as defined in Clause 152, would permit personal information to be trafficked and abused, not only all across government and the public sector — it would also reach into the private sector. And it would even allow transfer of information across international borders. NO2ID has launched a Facebook group to challenge this threat to data protection."
A lot of people couldn’t understand why Guy Hands, the private equity guy who bought EMI Music Group in the summer of 2007, was willing to pay so much for the music company. Now he says he agrees with them. His Terra Firma buyout firm has written off half the $3.2 billion he paid for the company.
He’s probably being too conservative.
At least if you use Warner Music Group (WMG) as a comp. Edgar Bronfman Jr.’s music company is (very) roughly the size of Hands’s music company and was forever slated to buy, sell to, or merge with EMI. (In May 2006, EMI was willing to pay $26 a share in cash for Warner, but Bronfman rejected the deal; a year later, EMI rejected a Warner offer.)
Take a look: WMG, currently trading at $1.86 a share, is down 86 percent since Terra Firma bought EMI in August 2007. At what point will Hands have to fess up and take another write-down? (Click chart to enlarge).
Here’s an EMI employee with no complaints about the music business–Norah Jones, whose 2002 debut album was really EMI’s last super-huge success. Those days are gone, but she’s managed to hang on to her money–or at least enough to pay $5 million for a Brooklyn townhouse a couple months ago. Check out this excellent duet with Dolly Parton (yup, that Dolly Parton).
Microsoft is back again with its Ultimate Steal promotion for anyone attending a U.S. educational institution and actively enrolled in at least a half course credit. You have to be able to provide an .edu email address to complete the purchase as well.
It looks like the price is the same as the promotion they ran in 2007 and 2008. For $59.95, you get the Ultimate Version of Office 2007, which includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, OneNote, Groove, Publisher, Access, InfoPath 2007, and Accounting Express 2008. For price comparison, this is selling for $399.99 on Amazon.
The promo also includes the option of the add on of Visio (diagramming software) for $55, and the Office Language Pack for $9.99. You could also choose to purchase the Vista Ultimate (RED) upgrade for $65, which is an almost 75% savings of the normal list price.
Now to weigh the pros and cons of the whole offer. I’d think about this—make sure your student really needs all the stuff in the Ultimate Version before you buy it. If not, you could probably check around, maybe even at the college bookstore and find Microsoft Office for Home and Students for about half the price of even this “steal.“ Don’t pay what Amazon is gonna charge you for even the Student Version obviously. Office for Students still has Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and One Note.
Next up, if you do think you (or your student) could use all the bundled software and this is a great buy for you, decide if getting the Vista upgrade is really worth is. Besides my love (*ahem*) of all things Vista, next year when they offer the Steal, it will probably come with Windows 7. If you are going to be getting Vista, make sure if you have an older machine that it can handle it. It is a true memory hog. Take what it says it requires to run it, and double it….or you will become best friends with a little blue spinning circle.
To take advantage of the offer follow the following instructions:
Click on “Buy Now.“
Enter your eligible email address from college/university.
You will receive an email to purchase (if eligible).
Click on the link in the email you receive to access the store.
Purchase your license/product key.
If desired, add back-up media to your purchase.
Check out and download Microsoft Ultimate 2007.
And there you go! You’ve stolen from Microsoft. (Well, sorta).
Various blogs claim receiving confirmation of new iMacs and Mac Minis launching Tuesday.
Hardmac posted product numbers purporting to reference four iMac models and two Mac Mini models (from low- to high-end).
Hardmac and OneMoreThing both claim reliable sources said the new Macs are set for release tomorrow. OneMoreThing also provided an incomplete list of specifications (translated by a MacRumors forum member):
Mac Mini
Ports: USB (five), FireWire 800, Mini DVI, Display port
Graphics: Nvidia chipset
CPU: Starts at 2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
Memory: 1 or 2 GB DDR3 memory (max 4 GB)
Storage: 120 GB hard disk (max 320 GB)
iMac
Screen size: one 20-inch model; three 24-inch models
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo (not a quad core): 2.66GHz, 2.93GHz and 3.06GHz
Ports: Display port
Memory: 2GB DDR3 memory in the 20-inch model; 4GB DDR3 memory in the 24-inch model (max 8 GB)
We find this very believable: Apple traditionally launches hardware upgrades on Tuesdays. Also, upgrades for both of these Macs are long overdue, and many were anticipating a March release.
Yowza. Those are some pretty fast iMacs, huh? Keep an eye on the Apple Store online in the early hours of Tuesday.
An anonymous reader writes "You may remember Google's NativeClient project, discussed here last December. Don't be fooled into calling this ActiveX 2.0 — rather than a model of trust and authentication, NaCl is designed to make dangerous code impossible by enforcing a set of a rules at load time that guarantee hostile code simply cannot execute (PDF). NaCl is still in heavy development, but the developers want to encourage low-level security experts to take a look at their design and code. To this end Google has opened the NativeClient Security Contest, and will award prizes topping out at $2^13 to top bug submitters. If you're familiar with low level security, memory segmentation, accurate disassembly of hostile code, code alignment, and related topics, do take a look. Mac, Linux, and Windows are all supported."
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I’ve been through the desert on a horse with no name/It felt good to be out of the rain/In the desert you can remember your name/’cause there ain’t no one for to give you no pain.
Actually, for Yahoo (YHOO), which is holding its big annual meeting of the company’s advertising sales staff in Indian Wells, Calif., maybe just a little pain since BoomTown is only a scant few miles away, as the crow flies, attending the Demo09 conference in Palm Desert.
Don’t worry, Yahoo PR, I will not crash the proceedings or be bribing the bartenders to get more leaks. But you Yahoos should still be careful with the wine in the hot tub anyway–as Carol says, loose lips sink ships!
The gathering–to which Yahoos were greeted at Palm Springs Airport by purple Yahoo-capped greeters and were ferried to the Marriott’s Renaissance Esmeralda Resort & Spa via limos, according to many Demo attendees who ran right into the phalanx–is being run by Yahoo sales head Joanne Bradford.
Bradford has the unenviable task of selling into the weak ad market and driving sales, despite a very troubled economy and a company trying to claw its way back to stability. And, of course, getting Yahoo’s much buffeted sales staff jazzed up to do so.
Bradford will be helped in inspiring Yahoo’s large sales staff with what is sure to be a cussing-good appearance by CEO Carol Bartz.
“She thinks it critical she be there to get the troops excited,” said a Yahoo in the know.
Ye-haw!
How much do I wish I were there to see that performance? Much! (Except for the part in which I would be thrown out on my keester by Bartz herself, despite my plan to disguise myself by wearing all the Yahoo swag I have collected over the years.)
Instead, I am riveted to the goings on here at Demo. Right now, for example, I am watching an it’s-always-darkest-before-the-dawn session with venture investors on the dire economic situation, and about to see a new “touch book” computer.
What is the notebook of tomorrow? A dual-panel touchscreen PC, says Asus.
The Taiwanese manufacturer this week is displaying prototypes of its concept notebook at CeBIT. Rather than equipping it with a physical keyboard, one of the two screens features on-screen software for a virtual keyboard.
Of course, touchscreens would enable the device to perform a variety of other tasks as well. Think handwriting recognition, multi-touch gestures and so on.
The company designed the notebook based on feedback collected from WePC, a community-based web site hosted by Asus and Intel, where computer users are invited to submit ideas for futuristic notebooks.
Looks promising, but don't expect to be able to buy one of these anytime soon since it's a concept device.
FROM APPLETELL - BeatMaster is simple application that aims to enhance your sense of rhythm and timing. Featuring a basic interface and simple tapping method, it does what it says on the tin. MORE »
Hollywood wants the Pirate Bay defendants to get the maximum two years in jail each, while the prosecution will settle for one. Both agree that the men linked to the world's most popular BitTorrent tracker should pay substantial fines and damages.
arcticstoat writes "Intel has surprised the industry by announcing a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Taiwanese silicon chip maker TSMC to manufacture Atom CPUs. Although TSMC is already employed by AMD, Nvidia and VIA to make chips, it's not often you see Intel requiring the services of a third fabrication party. Under the MOU, Intel agrees to port its Atom CPU technology to TSMC, which includes Intel's processes, intellectual properties, libraries and design flows relating to the processor. This will effectively allow other customers of TSMC to easily build Atom-based products similarly to how they might use an ARM processor in their own designs. However, Intel says that it will still pick the specific market segments and products that TSMC will go after, which will include system-on-chip products, as well as netbooks, nettops and embedded platforms."
The latest details surrounding the upcoming launch of the Sidekick 2009 are still falling in the rumor category, however they do seem to hold a little bit of truth. As for the launch, so far we have seen some good stuff coming through, but there still are a few key items missing. To begin with, the latest rumor is calling for the Sidekick 2009 to launch on April 1, 2009, which would be during CTIA.
As far as the truth to that date, like I mentioned it is just a rumor at this point, however there is a possibility. We have seen online reports that there are users in the wild that are already testing the device, we have even recently seen that leaked image proving it. That seems to fit with the time lime for an April 1 release, however, on the flip side, we still have not seen that required FCC listing just yet. This seems to be a little bit of good and bad for an April 1 release, but as always time will tell.
Anyway, in addition to this release date, there is also a document that is reported to be coming from Telstra claiming that they will be the “first to exclusively reveal the brand new Hiptop device of 2009.“ While this document could easily have been forged, the announcement does fit with how the Sidekick Slide was released. If you remember back, the Slide also landed with Telstra before T-Mobile, so again, we will file this one as a rumor that has a ring of truth to it.
Bottom line, these leaks and images seem to be increasing in frequency lately, and that often points to an impending release.
AP - TiVo Inc. reported a narrower loss in the fourth quarter on Monday as lower costs buoyed the bottom line in the face of a 20 percent drop in revenue. Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 2 Mar 2009 | 11:06 pm
Swedish scientists have discovered that a female moth can discern a male's ancestry, age and possibly reproductive fitness from the scent of his pheromones.
The study by Jean-Marc Lassance and Christer Lofstedt of Lund University in Sweden focused on an analysis of the pheromones used by the European Corn Borer (Ostrinia nubilalis).
The researchers studied the influence of pheromones on mating preferences and carried out an analysis of the composition of the scent and genetic makeup of the animals involved. Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 2 Mar 2009 | 11:00 pm
A new report says simple search terms on several filesharing networks uncover files listing thousands of patient names, Social Security numbers, birth dates and codes that reveal specific diseases.
About two weeks ago a blurry photo purporting to capture Apple's next Mac Mini had us calling BS. But then a day later, a video appeared showing off the fabled device, and we were a little more convinced. Today another image is making its rounds on the web, this time claiming to represent the packaging of the Mac Mini.
In the image, the device appears to match the Mac Mini in the previous photo. (Note the five USB ports and Mini Display port). And above the fabled Mac Mini is the Nvidia logo, which suggests the device will ship with an Nvidia chipset. Though some might have doubts about the image because the packaging shows the back of the Mac Mini, the box of the current Mac Mini flashes its derriere, too.
At this point we're 90 percent convinced that this is the new Mac Mini. And to that we have to say — snore. We wanted a form factor upgrade, dammit.
Hydrogen sulfide — known to you as "that rotten egg smell" — is naturally produced in human penis tissue. Amping up its production could be the key to finding the next Viagra.
An anonymous reader writes to tell us that in an apparent response to privacy complaints, the White House has quietly moved off of YouTube as a method for serving the President's weekly video address. Choosing instead to use a Flash-based solution and Akamai's content delivery network, this comes just days after YouTube began to roll out their own new policies regarding privacy of visitors.
To avoid creating greenhouse gases, it makes more sense using today's technology to leave land unfarmed in conservation reserves than to plow it up for corn to make biofuel, according to a comprehensive Duke University-led study."Converting set-asides to corn-ethanol production is an inefficient and expensive greenhouse gas mitigation policy that should not be encouraged until ethanol-production technologies improve," the study's authors reported in the March edition of the research journal Ecological Applications.Nevertheless, farmers and producers are already receiving federal subsidies to grow more corn for ethanol under the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007."One of our take-home messages is that conservation programs are currently a cheaper and more efficient greenhouse gas policy for taxpayers than corn-ethanol production," said biologist Robert Jackson, the Nicholas Professor of Global Environmental Change at Duke's Nicholas School of the Environment, who led the study.Making ethanol from corn reduces atmospheric releases of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide because the CO2 emitted when the ethanol burns is "canceled out" by the carbon dioxide taken in by the next crop of growing plants, which use it in photosynthesis. Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 2 Mar 2009 | 10:12 pm
jamie pointed out an Amiga community that took a discovery of how to restore old computer plastic, super-charged it, and then opened the process to the public domain. Time to spruce up those old dusty TRS-80s in the basement. "All of the initial tests were done with a liquid and we realized that for large parts this was getting expensive, so the next stage was to make a paintable 'gel' version that could be brushed onto larger surfaces. This was tried in Arizona in the sun and the UK under a UV lamp and was found to be just as effective as the liquid. We have now released this to the public domain for anyone to use as we can't patent it and we coined the nickname 'Retr0brite' for it, as it summed up what we were actually doing with it."
South Asian monsoons may become weaker
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind., March 2 (UPI) -- A U.S.-led study warns the South Asian summer monsoon season, critical to agriculture in Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Pakistan, might become weaker.
Experts at the Purdue University Climate Change Research Center say climate change could influence monsoon dynamics and cause less summer precipitation, a delay in the start of monsoon season and longer breaks between the rainy periods.
Associate Professor Noah Diffenbaugh, whose research group led the study, said the summer monsoon affects water resources, agriculture, economics, ecosystems and human health across South Asia.
"Almost half of the world's population lives in areas affected by these monsoons, and even slight deviations from the normal monsoon pattern can have great impact," said Diffenbaugh. Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 2 Mar 2009 | 9:44 pm
Image 1: Arizona saguaro will be one of the species looked at by USA-NPN volunteers. Photo by Bob Szaro, USGSImage 2: Phenology is the study of seasonal changes in life-cycle events such as when a species lays its eggs. Clay-colored sparrow nest. Photo by L. Igl, USGS. Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 2 Mar 2009 | 8:55 pm
NewsFactor - Last week, Microsoft sued TomTom, saying it infringed on eight patents covering technologies closely linked to Linux. However, The 451 Group analyst Jay Lyman said Microsoft has been going out of its way to claim the litigation isn't aimed at the Linux operating system or open-source software. Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 2 Mar 2009 | 8:47 pm
AP - Intel Corp. is handing over the secrets of its Atom processor to an Asian manufacturer in a gambit to sell more of the tiny chips that go into smart phones, set-top boxes and other small electronics. Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 2 Mar 2009 | 8:43 pm
It’s hard to judge a game based off of 30 seconds of footage - but when just about everything in said 30 seconds of footage seems broken, it’s probably safe to assume the game isn’t going to be great.
G4Tv’s MMO Report just pushed a post on Watchmen: Justice is Coming by Last Legion Games, an online multiplayer game for the iPhone and iPod Touch. As far as we can tell, the game involves (slowly) walking around New York City, dressing up your character, and taking turns punching each other, all complete with chunktastic animations. It uses Amazon’s Cloud services (EC2, presumably) as the back end, which is kind of cool.
We’ll wait until the game launches (March 6th, same day as the movie) for the final verdict. We don’t mean to be unnecessarily harsh, but when you’re building on a license with a fairly hardcore audience of fanboys, whatever you bring to the table has to be boiling hot.
Crunch Network: TechCrunchobsessively profiling and reviewing new Internet products and companies
That $99 Aspire One deal we covered late last year – Aspire One + two-year AT&T DataConnect plan – has both RadioShack and AT&T in hot water after a lady signed up for the deal and tallied up more than $5000 in overage charges within her first month.
The launch of the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic North American model hasn’t been too smooth. First they had trouble getting the things out the door due to a broken inventory system at the flagship stores. Right as they patched that up, word got out that a whole lot of 5800’s had faulty speakers, and it wasn’t (and still isn’t) clear whether or not this problem plagued the North American model. Within hours, folks who braved the possibility of a shoddy speaker were complaining of 3G connectivity issues, completing the bad device launch trifecta. I’d imagine that Nokia’s reps are probably getting a bit tired of talking about the 5800’s problems by now, but they’ve just said a bit more about this latest one.
The Nokia Blog reached out for a bit of insight on the 3G issues. Nokia’s response:
“We have learned that some Nokia 5800 XpressMusic devices are having issues with 3G performance. This is a very isolated problem concerning only the North American market* and is not specific to any other region or country. We are currently investigating the matter further to find a quick remedy to the situation. Customer satisfaction and product quality are very important to Nokia and we take all quality and customer satisfaction-related issues seriously. Nokia is investigating the issue. Existing customers of the 5800 XpressMusic who experience 3G signal issue with the device are advised to contact Nokia Customer Care.”
*only NY and Chicago affected, in Dallas and Miami the devices are working OK. The investigation is ongoing on the device itself and the network used in these cases.
We’re not quite sure what would cause sporadic issues in a limited number of handsets based on geographical location, but there you go. The 3G connectivity issues are supposedly limited to New York and Chicago, implying that the network’s at fault here. We’re hoping that means no hardware replacements will be necessary - and that this is the last nasty bit we hear about the 5800’s North American debut.
Crunch Network: CrunchGeardrool over the sexiest new gadgets and hardware.
MIT's TechTV (no relation) has a couple of videos that use LEGO to illustrate the mechanics of RNA transcription within DNA, animating the building blocks of life with life's best building blocks. (Okay, I guess the building blocks of life are probably protein or something, while the DNA is more like the instructions.) [via Doomstalk]
If you can't beat 'em, join 'em. For years, the Defense Department has maintained an uneasy relationship with online journalists. Now, it's turning to its own blogger to produce internet reports.
Did you hear? Putting old operating systems on new, expensive gadgetry is all the rage. First up was that N95 running Windows 3.1 last week, and now they’ve gone and plopped System 7 (OS 7) onto an iPhone. It’s a beautiful pairing of new and old, like grabbing a piece of toast and applying butter that has been in your fridge for 18 years. Delicious.
Like the Windows 3.1 N95, the MacOS iPhone Project uses code from QEMU, an open source emulator built pretty much just for crazy stuff like this. They’re still tinkering away at it for now, but plan on releasing it in some form sooner or later. We’re going to go ahead and assume this one is for jailbreakers only.
South Africa's Karoo Basin Shows No Indication of "Boundary Event Rock Bed"New scientific findings by geologist Robert Gastaldo of Colby College in Waterville, Maine, and colleagues call into question popular theories about the largest mass extinction in Earth's history.A paper reporting the results by Gastaldo, South African scientist Johann Neveling, and two 2008 Colby undergraduate students, C. Kittinger "Kit" Clark and Sophie Newbury, appears in the March 2009 issue of GEOLOGY.Tens of millions of years before dinosaurs roamed Earth, their ancestors were all but eliminated in a catastrophic event called the Permian Mass Extinction. The Permian period extended from 299 to 252.6 million years ago."The Permian-Triassic boundary marks the greatest extinction event in Earth's history, with significant loss of biodiversity both on land and in the oceans," says H. Richard Lane, a paleontologist and program director in the National Science Foundation (NSF)'s Division of Earth Sciences, which funded the research."Until this study, it was believed that the event was marked by unique rocks traceable across southern hemisphere continents. This research calls into question whether the extinction event is actually constrained in the geologic record on land."Ideas about the event's impact on land animals and plants are based largely on records in the Karoo Basin in central South Africa, where the best fossil records from that time are found, and where Gastaldo and his students have worked since 2003 with funding from NSF.Earlier analysis of the rock record by other scientists working in South Africa led them to hypothesize about the nature, scope and timing of the mass die-off of prehistoric amphibians and reptiles.They claimed that one unique sedimentary layer in the Karoo Basin overlies fossils of the last reptiles of the Permian period (synapsids, including the genus Dicynodon).This layer has been dubbed "the dead zone" because of its absence of fossil remains.This dead zone was thought to be synchronous in time and space, marking the event across southern Africa and as far away as Antarctica.Now Gastaldo and co-authors report that they have found conflicting stratigraphic evidence in the Karoo Basin.They discovered that this dead zone layer, or event bed, is not found at the same physical position in the rock record at all places, even across the immediate landscape where it was first described.As such, it is not a reliable marker of the mass extinction of terrestrial animals, Gastaldo says.Within one kilometer, just across the valley from the site where it was first described, the layer occurs lower in the rock record by eight meters (more than 25 feet).Several hundred kilometers away, at Lootsberg Pass, reptile fossils occur above the layer rather than below it, further undermining the credibility of the zone as a marker of the mass extinction of animals at the end of the Permian.Gastaldo says that the research proves that "there is no evidence to support a terminal extinction event in the record of the Karoo Basin, based on the criterion of an unique event bed or dead zone."---Image 1: Scientist Sophie Newbury studies the "dead zone," a rock layer in Karoo Basin. Credit: Robert Gastaldo, Colby CollegeImage 2: The Karoo Basin in South Africa holds the world's best record of the Permian Mass Extinction. Credit: Robert Gastaldo, Colby College Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 2 Mar 2009 | 6:35 pm
Just weeks ago, word got out that a fun-sized version of the Instinct was on the way. It looks like it might have just cleared the FCC. How can we assume that its the Instinct Mini and not just any random Samsung?
The model number is SPH-M810. The original Instinct’s model is SPH-M800.
Specs are in line with what was previously leaked (CDMA, EVDO)
Some dude on HoFo says he has seen it and it is so - and people on the internet never, ever lie. Ever.
Truthfully, the model number popping up so close to the Instinct Mini’s rumored launch target window of Mid-March is what did it for us. We can probably expect Sprint to start mentioning this thing in the coming weeks.
AP - Harry Vanderpool, a beekeeper, lives on a hill nearly 1,000 feet above the Willamette River, outside Salem, Ore. It should be a good spot for TV reception, and it used to be. Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 2 Mar 2009 | 5:55 pm
Rumblings of a Dexter iPhone game emerged last March and Icarus Studios is still twirling on its thumb a year later. We just got word that it will hit the App Store this summer. This slasher game will utilize the accelerometer to control Dexter by tilting left and right and using the on-screen forward and backward buttons. Or there’s a virtual joystick in the corner. You’ve basically got to keep your cover so as not to reveal your “Dark Passenger” to others and maintaining your “Mask” meter or risk losing the game. This better be damn good.
Crunch Network: CrunchBasethe free database of technology companies, people, and investors
Yeah, so, that unlimited nationwide calling plan for $50 from T-Mobile is rolling out nationwide. The Unlimited Loyalty Plan sounds like a steal considering you don’t have to tack on any extra time with T-Mobile for opting for it.
Crunch Network: CrunchGeardrool over the sexiest new gadgets and hardware.
The RuckJack is a jacket with fast clips that allow it to be easily converted into a rucksack. I'd suggest putting a jacket in the rucksack, because you'll probably be cold.
The RuckJack is available this month across the UK or directly from the manufacturer's site. It's available in both a lightweight and an all-weather version, as well a children's sizes, all in a variety of colors.
Before you lose it, I know: this Epson R-D1xG digital rangefinder camera costs three grand. So I'm not saying you should buy it. Nor am I saying that it's going to be worth the money, especially with a relatively ancient 6-megapixel sensor (albeit a fairly large one).
But it has a manual shutter lever! As Randolph Fritz noted when he suggested we take a look at the R-D1xG, a thumb-cocked shutter saves on battery life, making this a green product.
(Rangefinders aren't everyday cameras sold to everyday point-and-shooters, but even for a model with a history like the R-D1, that's a whole lot of money.) [via The Online Photographer]
⌦ Oatmeal! – McCann's Irish steel-cut oatmeal is 30% off at Amazon. I eat this stuff nearly every morning. The snap of real oats can't be beat. [Slickdeals]
⌦ Dragon Marionette – Dragon Classic Marionette for $8.40, shipped. We will get to gadgets shortly but this looks like a cute toy for the wee knights. [Slickdeals]
⌦ Printer – Canon Pixma MX300 all-in-one printer for $65, shipped. It always baffles me how much technology you can get in a printer when they know you're on the hook for ink. [Dealhack]
⌦ Circular Saw – Rockwell Shop Series 7 1/4-inch 14-amp laser circular saw for $40, shipped. We have lasers in our saws. Lasers in our saws. [Dealoco]
⌦ HDTV – Costco, a store of which I am now a member, is selling the Sceptre 46-inch 1080p LCD HDTV for $700 when you pick up in store. [Dealnews]
⌦ Battery Charger – The well-received La Crosse Technology BC700 Alpha Power battery charger is $25, shipped. [Amazon]
⌦ Power Driver – Today's Woot is the Skil 7.2-Volt 1/4" Drive Cordless Power Wrench for $23, shipped.
Let’s say that, for some kooky reason, you’re dying to get the hook from that new Fergie track as your ringtone. No problem - there are half a dozen ways to get it done. But what about if you don’t want the hook, but some obscure bit 77 seconds in? Oh, and you don’t want to download any software, nor enter any sort of legal gray area? Your options have slimmed down a bit. Enter mSpot’s Make-UR-Tones, an ultra simple click-and-drag ringtone creation service. After starting as a mobile application available for various handsets last year, the service has now been ported to the browser.
The idea, and the ringtone editor itself, are quite simple: Pick a song from mSpot’s catalogue of over 400,000. Drag the start and end points to whatever bit you’re looking to highlight, up to 30 seconds in length. Decide if you want it to fade in and out, preview it, and then buy away at $2.99 a pop. mSpot will then cut the track accordingly, encode it to the proper format for your handset, and set it on its way for easy downloading. We made our first ringtone in all of about a minute.
The service is currently limited to Sprint and AT&T users, but will be expanding to other major carriers “soon”. Not all handsets on these carriers are compatible, however - for example, the AT&T list is missing the iPhone, which strikes us as a bit funny. It makes sense, of course; the iPhone handles ringtones in a strange way, which makes it somewhat difficult for third party services to get ringtones onto the device without befuddling the less-tech-savvy members of their audience. So why do we chuckle? Because the mSpot ringtone editor is a dead ringer for the iTunes ringtone editor, which is purposed pretty much solely for the iPhone.
Of course, there are only so many ways you can design a dead simple audio editing interface, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, yadda yadda. We’ll go ahead and leave it at that.
The per-ringtone price of $2.99 seems a bit steep, considering that the average price of a full song online (through the legal outlets) is under a buck. It seems even steeper when you consider the alternatives. For example: Myxer, which currently holds the ever important #1 Google search listing for “ringtones”, offers much of the same functionality and doesn’t cost the user a penny. However, Myxer relies on users to bring their own audio file, placing it somewhere in that aforementioned legal gray area as it involves the editing and redistribution of songs they don’t necessarily have licenses for. mSpot’s strengths are in its collection of licensed songs and unquestionable legality - but just how important are those to their audience, a mighty chunk of which likely has a nearly endless MP3 collection?
Is mSpot bringing enough to the table for the $3 pricetag? We’ll let you decide. mSpot has set MobileCrunch readers up with 1,000 ringtones, free of charge. Registration is required, but it’s a pleasantly short process. To get your free tone, head over to http://www.mspot.com/song/, pick your song, edit it to your liking, and punch in the promocode techcrunch during checkout. Let us know what you think in the comments.
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Watchismo's $1,098 Retrowerk-Steampunk watch is a little beyond my price range right now, but I mostly love it and shall commence the saving of pennies. From the Watchismo blog:
In the past, I've written about high end masterpieces like Vianney Halter's Antiqua (starting at $50,000 and up) and the artistic horology concept watches of Haruo Suekichi, but it was only a matter of time before affordable Jules Vernesque timepieces were made for those who want to actually own a high quality Steampunk wristwatch. Yes, the term has worn out its welcome but the look is timeless nevertheless -- and how can a riveted porthole watch not be cool?
The brand is Retrowerk of Germany and below, I photographed their off-the-wall collection wristwatches with elements of brass and steel pistons, portholes, rivets, compasses, revolving jump hour discs, screwcap crown covers, chains, automatic rotor mechanisms, and of course, many cogs and gears. The prices range from $429 to $1098 USD.
World of Apple reports rumors that Apple will host an event on March 24. Given the state of the lineup and recent rumors, such an event is likely to involve desktop computers: new Mac Minis, iMacs or Mac Pros in any combination.
I just finished my review copy of Tommy Kovac's collection of his Skelebunnies toon, just out from Slave Labor Graphics, and I'm here to tell you that it is juvenile, scatological, offensive, and very, very funny. Here's the basic premise: one day, two cute bunnies are frolicking in a picturesque wood, when a demon appears. He is so sickened by their saccharine romping that he vomits extremely bilious bile over them, skeletonizing them in seconds. To the demon's dismay, the bunnies continue to romp, though they are now the living dead, walking skeletons with Care Bear sensibilities (they are wont to ride a horribly burned My Little Pony as they go about their duties). Satan appears, is likewise appalled, but realizes that the bunnies' vile sweetness has its uses when it comes to sowing evil. For the rest of the strips, that's just what they do: romp, frolic, and commit disgusting acts of pure, unadulterated evil.
T-Mobile has recently made their new $50 unlimited calling plan available for customers across the US. Initially, the new Unlimited Loyalty Plan was launched as a trial in San Francisco a little over a week ago, however, the good news is that its now available in all US T-Mobile markets. 
Funny how we receive tips sometimes. Yesterday we 
Israel-based search engine marketing (SEM) automator 
1. It could pay off the combined national debts of China, Australia, Mexico and Ukraine, according to 2008 estimates by the CIA Factbook, and still have plenty left over for a good night out.
As TechCrunch 
London-based investing hotshot Index Ventures has just announced a new early-stage 350 million Euro venture fund. To hear partner Bernard Dalle tell it, raising the fund was a breeze, with all existing limited partners re-upping their investments. He further said that good startups in London are having no problems raising venture capital and deal flow was just as strong. Really? Well, I guess all those reports that this is a global downturn were just plain wrong! You heard it here, struggling Silicon Valley startups: Just move to London!
Just a note to say that I am giving a lecture March 10 at 6pm at London's RSA on my new book, 
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Infamous “Spam King” Sanford Wallace is back in the news. Popular social networking site Facebook, has filed a federal suit against him and two of his associates in San Jose District Court, alleging that the spammer and two associates were running an email harvesting operation aimed at their users. 
A lot of people couldn’t understand why Guy Hands, the private equity guy who bought EMI Music Group in the summer of 2007, was willing to pay so much for the music company. Now he says he agrees with them. His Terra Firma buyout firm 
The latest details surrounding the upcoming launch of the Sidekick 2009 are still falling in the rumor category, however they do seem to hold a little bit of truth. As for the launch, so far we have seen some good stuff coming through, but there still are a few key items missing. To begin with, the latest rumor is calling for the Sidekick 2009 to launch on April 1, 2009, which would be during CTIA.
