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Theft Prevention: Fuglify Your Camera
If you thought that the people who live in the favelas of Rio de Janeiro didn’t know the difference between a compact 35mm camera, a film DSLR or a digicam, then stay at home. It turns out that not only can some of the less law-abiding types recognize the difference, they can do it fast enough to choose targets for theft. Jimmie Rodgers found this out the hard way while doing voluntary work in Rio, and his shiny new digicam was nabbed within a week. “I spoke with some people about it. They said that all digital cameras are worth money, but none of the film cameras are unless it’s an SLR.” Jimmie took a look at the Canon Powershot A95 and decided that it was almost ugly enough to be an old-style film cam (he’s right. I had a similar one and they’re huge). He then “covered it in tape and sharpie marker [and] also took off anything shiny.” It worked. Jimmie managed to snap 5,000 pictures with the fuglified camera. It even survived another mugging — the thieves ignored it in favor of his $20 cellphone. Of course, heading into bad parts of town is never a good idea, camera or not, so Jimmie went at the mission Serpico-style, going undercover while he was there: “All my clothes I had bought in the communities, and I had little of anything on me when I went out. Speaking some Portuguese helped as well.” Photojojo offers some technical tips on transforming your camera for stealth use. Use tape that will not leave a residue, color it with markers and leave the LCD switched off. And if you’re really smart, you’ll make a stealth camera bag like we did. My Ugly Camera [Jimmy's Project Journal] Photo: Chris Conners/Flickr
Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 21 May 2009 | 12:08 pm The 10-year Satellite Forecastcoondoggie writes "When it comes to satellites sometimes less is more. In the next ten years the government expects to see fewer but ever larger satellites flung into space. Specifically, the folks who monitor such things, the Commercial Space Transportation Advisory Committee (COMSTAC), said in a draft report today that an average 20.8 satellites could be launched from 2009 through 2018, a decrease of one satellite when compared to the 2008 forecast of 21.8 and the 2007 forecast of 21.0 satellites per year. Actual launches per year were above 20 for the first time since 2002 and the highest total since 2000, with 23 satellites launched in 2008. As for the weight, the group said there has been steady growth in satellite mass since 1993 and the trend will continues as the expected satellite mass is expected to remain near or slightly above 100,000 kilograms (220,400 lbs) forecast for the coming years with an all-time high of nearly 116,500 kg (257,000lbs) in 2009, the COMSTAC report stated."Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot | 21 May 2009 | 11:57 am Indonesian clerics want rules for Facebook
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 World News | National Archives loses Clinton-era data United Press International WASHINGTON, May 21 (UPI) -- The National Archives lost a computer hard drive containing Clinton administration records, including personal data of staffers and visitors, officials said. A Look at the National Archives Data Blunder and Other Govt. Data ... US National Archives offers reward for missing hard drive |
Citizen in Japan announced the I VIRT M [JP], a new model in their series of Bluetooth watches that so far are available in Japan only. I am not sure if this is something many people anywhere would want, but the watches make it possible for users to interact with their cell phones.
For example, you can see incoming mails, SMS, news, and other information on the display. The watch can also be used to remotely make pictures with your cell phone, adjust its volume, set it to silent mode or check its battery level. Again, I am not really sure if all of this is necessary.
Unfortunately, the I VIRT M is only compatible to a number of cell phones offered by SoftBank in Japan. It goes on sale July 1 in black or silver with an open price model.
Section: Communications, Cellphones, Cellular Providers, Smartphones, Mobile
In perhaps what is one of the least exciting FCC appearances to date, the Palm Pre has recently had its reviewing. Not much to be said with this one, except that courtesy of the FCC we now have the label for the Pre.
Anyway, moving on to the endless supply of information that is surrounding the rebate status for the Palm Pre. As our own Natesh let is know last night, Best Buy along with Radio Shack will be offering the Pre with an instant rebate as opposed to a mail-in-rebate that you will find everywhere else.
So, assuming you have picked up the Pre at a location other than Best Buy or Radio Shack and have the mail-in-rebate to worry, make sure you do not waste any time because the offer ends very quickly. In fact, according to the fine print on the Palm Pre page with Sprint users will have until July 11 to fill out and have your rebate mailed in.
“Mail-in Rebate: Requires purchase by 07/11/09 & activation by 07/11/09.”
Bottom line, 100 bucks is a 100 bucks, make sure you pry that shiny new Pre out of your hand for a minute or two and take care of the paperwork before you miss out.
Read [FCC] [FCC] [PreThinking]
Full Story » | Written by Robert Nelson for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
Just to be clear: Google still doesn’t plan on bailing out the New York Times (NYT) or any other paper. As a buyer, at least.
CEO Eric Schmidt reiterated that position, which he’s already made a couple times this year, in an interview with the Financial Times. Though Schmidt did allow that Google had at least mulled the idea at one point, which will be old news to MediaMemo readers:
FT: Would you ever consider buying a newspaper; they’re cheap right now?
ES: We’ve actually looked at this and we’re trying to avoid crossing the line between the infrastructure and technology that Google provides and the content that our partners provide. There is a line and we’re trying to stay on our side it.
Hey, why does that sound familiar? Ah. That’s right.
I’m told that while Google execs have brought up the notion of snapping up distressed newspapers using its huge cash hoard within the past year, those talks have never gotten serious. It’s hard to see how they could: Google has emphatically stayed out of the content business so far, and it’s unclear why it would change direction now–and invest in a shrinking industry at the same time.
Schmidt and the FT also recovered other material that’s been out for a bit, including the search giant’s talks with the Washington Post (WPO) (and presumably the Times), about some kind of collaboration. In this case, Schmidt refers vaguely to “online news versions that somehow address the immediate needs of people and for which advertising works better.”
And while he was at it, he didn’t hold out hope for rekindling a Yahoo/Google search deal. Which is good, since Yahoo (YHOO) and Microsoft (MSFT) look like they’re close to getting something done: “never say never in business. Carol [Bartz, Yahoo chief executive], of course, is a very, very able and strong CEO and my sense is that she’s very focused on getting Yahoo back to its former glory, which is a great project.”
MacBook Pro owner Ken Brinkman has been having some trouble with his notebook. After the Unibody MBP managed to trash not one but two magsafe power supplies, the logic board and fan died and the Mac had to take a trip to the Apple Store. Ken, quite sensibly, decided to run an immediate backup and went to bed, leaving the machine to send over 100GB of data to his Time Capsule.
A few hours later he woke up to the smell of burning plastic:
There was smoke coming out of the keyboard, around the edges and out the ports on the left side. It wasn’t a black smoke really, it seemed like a lighter, grayer smoke. The magsafe, though, was completely engulfed. There were green flames coming off of it. I had a folder underneath the computer too and that burned as well.
Ken’s local Apple Store says that it will replace the machine free of charge. Good news, especially as it had apparently just “fixed” it. But it doesn’t make the inferno any less scary. I actually unplug my MacBook most nights, but that’s because the glowing green “charged” light annoys the Lady. Now, though, I will make sure I unplug it every night, instead of just tossing my underwear at my desk to cover the light up.
MacBook Pro - Unibody MacBook Pro Fire! [Mac Forums via TUAW]
Photos: Ken Brinkman
AP - Shareholders won damages Thursday from Takafumi Horie, founder of Internet startup Livedoor Co., in a class-action lawsuit that claimed people had been duped into making dubious investments in the Japanese company.
Brick by brick, Lego has been building its way out of the near bankruptcy it suffered around the turn of the century. It has done this by a seemingly simple strategy — releasing awesome product after awesome product. Now it is realeasing the almost ridiculously fitting Architecture series, beginning with the Frank Lloyd Wright Collection, six planned sets including the Guggenheim in New York and Fallingwater, the iconic cantilevered waterfall-house outside Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
This, we don’t need to tell you, is inspired. Real bricks turned onto Lego bricks. The sets are as yet unpriced, but are unlikely to be cheap. The Lego Taj Mahal, for instance, is $300. What’s better is that this is just the beginning of Lego’s Architecture series, as we can see from the teaser on the product page. We’ll put in a vote for Le Corbusier right now (as a bonus, his buildings should be pretty easy to construct in Lego).
Available now, if you can make it to the Frank Lloyd Wright exhibition at the Guggenheim.
Fun Lego Facts:
Product page [Lego]
Frank Lloyd Wright LEGO Sets (and press release) [Prairie Mod via The Coolist]
OnOne, maker of fine plugins for photography software everywhere, has just announced its first iPhone application and at the same time whet our whistle for the future of iPhone apps after the 3.0 update.
The software has a descriptive name perfect for cutting through App Store confusion: “DSLR Remote”. It might more accurately be called “Canon DSLR Remote”, as right now it only works with Canon cams (“Because most of us here have Canon cameras”), and it allows you to fire your camera form afar using an iPhone.
You’ll also need a computer hooked up to the camera (a netbook would be perfect) via USB cable, and both the iPhone and notebook need to be on the same Wi-Fi network. With those criteria satisfied, you can fire at will via a companion app on the computer.
So what? You can do this with an IR remote or a cable already, right? Sure, but if you already have a computer, the app is cheaper than either ($20, but $10 as an introductory price). Plus, there is one killer feature: Live View. If your Canon DSLR has it, you can view the Live View feed on your iPhone screen. That, for many, is worth $20 right there.
And the future? This application, while very cool, is still clunky. When the iPhone 3.0 software is available, it will allow software to talk to hardware via the dock connector. Would you buy a dongle for your iPhone with a companion USB stick which would plug in to your camera and give remote control and viewing. I would.
Available as soon as Apple approves it for the App Store.
Product page [Via Ron Brinkmann on the Twitter]
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Bruce Schneier, an internationally recognized security technologist, said whole-body imaging technology "works pretty well," privacy rights aside. But he thinks the financial investment was a mistake. In a post-9/11 world, he said, he knows his position isn't "politically tenable," but he believes money would be better spent on intelligence-gathering and investigations.Damned right. It's amazing how many people mistake terrorism's sworn cause as eliminating air-travel. Al Quaeda are not anti-aviation activists. They want to create terror, not ground airplanes. You fight that by arresting them, not by sticking airports in safes and throwing away the keys."It's stupid to spend money so terrorists can change plans," he said by phone from Poland, where he was speaking at a conference. If terrorists are swayed from going through airports, they'll just target other locations, such as a hotel in Mumbai, India, he said.
"We'd be much better off going after bad guys ... and back to pre-9/11 levels of airport security," he said. "There's a huge 'cover your ass' factor in politics, but unfortunately, it doesn't make us safer."
Airport security bares all, or does it?
Source: Boing Boing | 21 May 2009 | 7:10 am
After writing about how Napster renegotiated its deals with record labels to offer its music subscription service at a lower price, I called RealNetworks, which offers the Rhapsody service, to see if its executives were excited about cutting similar deals that would allow it to offer its own $5-a-month music service. For years, after all, people trying to popularize music subscriptions — which allow you to listen to anything you want for a monthly fee — have been telling me the concept is great but the price the record labels want is too high.
Read the rest of this post on the original site
The record business is in the doldrums because sales are plummeting. Digital technology has made music easier to make and copy, with the result that recorded music is about as readily available as water, and not a whole lot more exciting.
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Readers of Adventures in Babywearing, a blog for parents, got an up-close look at the Ergo, a $135 embroidered baby carrier in a shade called “organic blue” in a May 14 post on the site. Blog operator Stephanie Precourt was impressed.
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It’s amazing that, before Google came along, any of us was able to survive beyond childhood. At the company’s Zeitgeist conference in London yesterday, cofounder Larry Page warned that privacy-protecting restrictions on Google’s ability to store personal data were hindering the company from tracking the spread of diseases and hence increasing the risk of mankind’s extinction.
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BoomTown will be driving the minivan–packed with my assistant Ed, my mom, two mannequins (don’t ask), a coffee machine and lots of coffee and some very nice outfits–down to the seventh D: All Things Digital conference today, so don’t expect much in the way of blog posts from me.
Thus, I hope Twitter doesn’t sell to [fill in the blank], Yahoo (YHOO) CEO Carol Bartz and Microsoft (MSFT) CEO Steve Ballmer don’t agree to agree (until they are on the D stage next week) and Facebook’s valuation doesn’t ricochet up and down the blog-hyped scale once again.
But, in that event, the rest of the well-oiled All Things Digital machine will be in full force covering tech and media news, even as we gear up for the big event next week, which will feature pretty much all the major players in the digital space.
On my way to D, I will be stopping by the University of California at Santa Barbara to speak in its Tech Management Lecture Series, which is titled “The Tomorrow Makers: Change & Challenge for Entrepreneurs & Innovators.”
Ah, the makers of tomorrow! I shall have to mull exactly what that means on the ride south through change-loving California, which is now pretty challenged as a going concern from a government point of view.
I have done some version of this drive now for seven years, from Silicon Valley to Carlsbad, Calif., headed to all the many D conferences, which began in 2003 in the midst of some very serious shifts for the tech industry.
It’s still the same story today, of course, as new trends, start-ups and technologies have come and gone (most they go, with only the lucky few actually staying).
Which will be, of course, the same story tomorrow too and at all the D events to come in the years ahead.
Until I check back into the matrix, here’s Bob Dylan in a video from way back in the day, singing that famous song of his about that very subject:
Gawker Media impresario Nick Denton, one of the more vocal Cassandras of media collapse last fall, got a surprise this spring when things turned out to be, well, not so bad. Mr. Denton told us earlier in the year that sales were actually up double digits, and it appeared marketers’ reactions to the recession were “more strategic” than he thought.
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"Anything using RF energy -- we have the right to inspect it to make sure it is not causing interference," says FCC spokesman David Fiske. That includes devices like Wi-Fi routers that use unlicensed spectrum, Fiske says.FCC's Warrantless Household Searches Alarm ExpertsThe FCC claims it derives its warrantless search power from the Communications Act of 1934, though the constitutionality of the claim has gone untested in the courts. That's largely because the FCC had little to do with average citizens for most of the last 75 years, when home transmitters were largely reserved to ham-radio operators and CB-radio aficionados. But in 2009, nearly every household in the United States has multiple devices that use radio waves and fall under the FCC's purview, making the commission's claimed authority ripe for a court challenge.
"It is a major stretch beyond case law to assert that authority with respect to a private home, which is at the heart of the Fourth Amendment's protection against unreasonable search and seizure," says Electronic Frontier Foundation lawyer Lee Tien. "When it is a private home and when you are talking about an over-powered Wi-Fi antenna -- the idea they could just go in is honestly quite bizarre."
In the Huffington Post, Larry Lessig has written an in-depth review of the book, and the picture he paints isn't pretty. Starting from the question, "Why isn't copyright perpetual," Helprin goes on to totally fail to research this question, failing to inspect any of the arguments that have preceded his asking. Instead, he raises a bunch of tired old saws about copyright as property, and, on the way, characterizes the Internet as a colossal failure (though, as Lessig points out, it seems like it was the only tool he used to research his book), populated by "blogger-ants" (that would be me, I guess), and led by crypto-Marxist "professors in glasses" (that would be Larry, a former Young Republican).
But Helprin has spent precious little time actually researching the supposed copyright abolition movement he's so up in arms about. He apparently watched a video in which Professor James Boyle appears, because he talks about Jamie's "desire to appear almost English, an embarrassing phase some insecure colonials enter never to exit" (Jamie is Scottish). But that's about it. He thinks that Creative Commons exists to promote "freeware" software. He thinks Lessig is anti-copyright. He thinks "monopoly" can only be applied to commodities (because he looked it up in the dictionary, and it says so there). As Lessig sez, "Too bad the lawyers at AT&T didn't read the OED when Reagan's Justice Department intervened to break up its monopoly in 'telephone service.' I can hear Attorney Helprin now: 'Your honor, excuse me, but the government has no case here. AT&T is not a monopoly, because AT&T sells no 'commodity.' A commodity is a 'thing,' your honor. All we sell is telephone service."
It's amazing that 232 pages of (let's not mince words) badly researched twaddle made it off the presses at HarperCollins -- but it's nice to be sure that Helprin wasn't kidding after all.
"Maybe," you say, charitable reader that you are, "he read the books, but just didn't cite them." And true enough: Helprin has this weird thing against citation. He quotes me criticizing him (on my blog): "Helprin barely cites anyone .... [He] doesn't bother with what others have written...." (164) but then defends his practice: "It's one thing to learn from others, but another to copy them." (164). True enough. But then it is a third thing to acknowledge a point you have drawn from another -- assuming, of course, pace solipsism, you believe that there are other people in the world, and they might possibly have something to say. At another part of the book, he mocks students who "support their assertions with crushing citations." (162) A sin, perhaps, but nothing as compared to an author who supports his assertions with no citations at all.The Solipsist and the Internet (a review of Helprin's Digital Barbarism)But if he actually read any of these books, he didn't take notes. The structure of his book is sprinkles of promises to make an argument, mixed with the most self-indulgent reflections upon his own life. And when Helprin actually gets around to argument, the arguments are a series of questions. (For example: "Where do they get the idea that copyright is a drag on artistic production? Are they suggesting that Pasternak could not write because Yeats had beaten him to the punch, that Tolstoy didn't write War and Peace because Moby Dick was copyrighted?" (140); or "What magic influence comes into play to convert a condition that does not hinder publication or however many years of commercial availability into a condition that then has the opposite effect?" (77); "Is the argument that books that go into print while copyrighted and stay in print for twenty years while copyrighted go out of print because they are copyrighted?" (77)) None of these questions are profound or new. None of them would be unanswered if the author had spent two weeks researching before he wrote. But Helprin apparently didn't have time to research. And who does these days? We're living in Internet time. It's work enough simply to keep up with the blogs!
National Economic Crisis Video Screenings & Forums (Thanks, Tiffiniy!)
Thanks to readers on Boing Boing and many others, the movement for dealing with the economic crisis has grown to 40,000 people in two months! But, so many people want to actually learn about what's going on, learn about the insider groups that are preparing to fight. Now, during the week of June 8th, thousands of people will get together at economic crisis house parties across the country to watch an ANWF-exclusive video that lays out how we got into this mess and a live webcast of economic crisis town hall forums in San Francisco, New York, and Washington DC. These events allow us to talk about alternatives for getting out of the crisis and take back the conversation from the technocrats who think that regular people like us shouldn't have a say.Brought to you by Alternet and A New Way Forward, Doug Rushkoff and Professor Dal Bo will be speaking at the San Francisco town hall, and in Washington DC, Simon Johnson, and Les Leopold in NYC. We're thinking of petitioning Naomi Klein to speak at our NYC event (we need women!)
ANWF is differerent, we're all volunteer and people have made this our fight to win. People need to register their house parties and help build the movement and spirit. You can register a public or private- we have tools and a guide for hosting your party.
So, it'll be exciting, we'll get to feel like we have town halls again! Get together with your friends, watch some video, share some drinks and snacks, and chat with other people about the economy. We need to start talking to each other in order to build the foundation for a people-powered bank reform movement.
Nathan's New Amp
(Thanks, Jake!)
Source: Boing Boing | 21 May 2009 | 6:39 am
Two years later: new details on the long-dormant Katamari Damacy Online
Just when it'd almost fully receded from your memory (the last we heard of it was in January of 2007), andriasang notes a new article on the Korean-exclusive massively multiplayer Katamari Damacy Online.Unfortunately, the update only goes so far as to profile two new playable cousin characters, and a vague storyline, as translated by andriasang, that concerns "a black hole that forms after the King decides to hold a picnic," which players will seal off with their rolled up katamari.
The game is apparently, though, due for release in Korea this year by local external developer Windysoft, with no word from anyone on when or how or if it might make it out of that country.
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Source: Boing Boing | 21 May 2009 | 6:34 am
"Evidence is increasing to suggest that excessive cola consumption can also lead to hypokalaemia, in which the blood potassium levels fall, causing an adverse effect on vital muscle functions."Excessive Cola Consumption Can Lead To Super-sized Muscle Problems, Warn Doctors (via /.)A research review carried out by Dr Elisaf and his colleagues has shown that symptoms can range from mild weakness to profound paralysis. Luckily all the patients studied made a rapid and full recovery after they stopped drinking cola and took oral or intravenous potassium.
The case studies looked at patients whose consumption ranged from two to nine litres of cola a day.
USB Conquers The World
Source: Boing Boing | 21 May 2009 | 6:27 am
AFP - Canada, China, Mexico, Russia and Spain have been singled out by members of the US Congress for "alarming levels" of piracy of copyrighted movies, music, video games and other entertainment.
Pioneer Japan yesterday unveiled a new in-house audio system, the ACCO A-IW001 [JP], which comes with a set of speakers that need to be mounted on the ceiling. The device is also specifically designed to be iPod-compatible and comes with an iPod cradle.
Users can choose the music they want to listen to via the control device that also supports Internet radio. ACCO stands for Acoustic/Condition, and Pioneer is marketing the audio system as a lifestyle product.
The company hasn’t said yet if ACCO will ever become available outside Japan. Over here, the audio system went on sale already with prices starting at a whopping $1,400 (depending on the speakers you want with it).
 ABC News | Google's Schmidt nixes idea of buying newspaper CNET News by Michelle Meyers Google CEO Eric Schmidt confirmed speculation that his company had been considering the possibility of acquiring a newspaper, the Financial Times reported Wednesday. Google "won't buy newspaper" Google CEO Tells Grads: Turn Off Your Computers |
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Tonight we attended the Churchill Club’s 11th Annual Top Ten Tech Trends event. These take place every year to predict the next big trends in the industry. This year was a bit different from previous years as each of the five panelists outlined one trend and the rest were “crowd-sourced,” meaning the moderators picked them based on things like which areas are getting venture funding and the number of press mentions.
After each trend was presented, the panelists voted on it (a green paddle held up if they agreed, a red one if they disagreed). They then debated its merits, before the audience got to vote in the same way. Here’s a rundown of the 10 trends along with who came up with them.
1. The Millennials Are Here. Everything is changing. Rapidly! — Joe Schoendorf, Partner, Accel Partners
The idea here is that the age group about to graduate from college is going to take over the world. That itself is of course just about the most obvious statement in the world, but Schoendorf specifically meant that a generation is about to take over that doesn’t remember what it was like not to be online — these are the “millennials.” He feels these with further innovation farther than ever before because they were born with the web.
The audience mostly agreed on this trend.
2. Advanced batteries will be the most popular alternative energy investment in ‘09 and’10. But the medium term will provide the best returns — Crowd Idea
The group noted that while the press seems to love talking about this trend, it never seems to happen. Battery technology has been very slow to advanced over the past few decades, and there isn’t much to suggest that this will change anytime soon. That said, if there’s is one company that can nail an advanced battery, it will be huge.
The crowd was evenly mixed on this trend.
3. The unstructured data deluge creates the next great information leaders — Ann Winblad, Partner, Hummer Winblad Venture Partners
Enterprise data growth will be huge in five years, 80 percent of that will be unstructured, says Winblad. Some argued that this idea isn’t particularly new — but most agreed think the time is indeed right for this.
The crowd mostly agreed with this trend.
4. Wireless broadband that will one of the only IT sectors to see increased funding this year — Crowd Idea
Everyone agreed that this is a very old idea. Even with more investment in the field that boosts bandwidth, people will want more bandwidth.
The crowd almost entirely disagreed with this trend.
5. “Maintech” not “Cleantech” — Increasing carbon efficiency of global GDP — Vinod Khosla, Founder, Khosla Ventures
Khosla believes that we’re on the verge of a carbon-constraint economy. But he thinks that it’s not necessarily the hot “greentech” trend that will thrive in this economy, because it’s still too small a part of the market. Instead, look to newer ideas in more traditional energy technology. A lot of the smartest students in this country are getting into the energy tech field, he notes.
Pretty much everyone agreed with this trend.
6. Power and efficiency management services will see a flowering of investment and innovation — Crowd Idea
The idea here is that energy going forward isn’t necessarily going to be about building new power plants, but instead will be about figuring out how better to distribute the power we’re already creating. The smart grid will be increasingly important and a number of companies are working on this.
The crowd mostly agreed with this trend.
7. The triumph of the distributed web — Steve Jurvetson, Managing Director, Draper Fisher Jurvetson
The distributed web is “the aggregate power of all of you,” according to Jurvetson. He believes that crowds will control much of the interesting things people look for on the web. People are already spending more time in social networks than on email. He also briefly went into the idea of the new things going on in search — not just real-time crowd-sourced options, but also ideas that new versions of search could come from watching watch everyone is doing on the browser level as they surf the web.
The audience was about half and half on trend.
8. Healthcare administration will see the best growth in B2B software in ‘09 and ‘10 – Crowd Idea
Because they were running short on time, the group skipped this one, which everyone dubbed as old news.
9. Consumption of digital goods on mobile devices is THE growth story of the coming decade — Ram Shriram, Managing Partner, Sherpalo Ventures, LLC
Shriram believes an ad model cannot continue to fuel growth in the mobile space. He thinks application building may be the model that does it, noting that we’re already seeing it across a variety of platforms in both the mobile and social networking space. He also believes that there’s a trend towards paid applications — though cheap ones — and that will be enough to blossom the industry. Some of the panel thought certain barriers, like the mobile carriers.
The audience mostly agreed with this trend.
10. Electronic displays will prove the hottest investment in hardware this year and the next — Crowd Idea
Again, running short on time, the panel barely talked about this one, but suggested there’s no real money to be made here even though the trend is hot.
The audience almost completely disagreed with this trend.
The Bonus Round
Finally, the two moderators, Tony Perkins, the founder of AlwaysOn and Jason Pontin, the Editor in Chief of Technology Review (and former he former Editor of Red Herring), got to put up two trends. These were:
1) DC will prove to be a poor VC
Washington trying to get involved in funding new ventures in technology will fail. Entrepreneurs need to be allowed to do what they do best, without government meddling.
The audience all agreed with this trend.
2) The rumors of the demise of the reporter have been exaggerated
While newspapers and magazines will continue to die, there needs to be a place for real journalism in the world — even if it is online. Blogs cannot replace trained journalism — it’s a collaborative process between professionals, Pontin argued. Some of the panel took exception to the notion that bloggers can’t also do journalism, but all agreed that there needs to be reporting on things like the Iraq war.
The audience mostly agreed with this trend.
Summary
Energy, data and more energy were definitely the main themes discussed with the trends this year. There was also a lot of back and forth that many of the ideas being brought up were old ones. That rang true to me, but perhaps that’s to be expected we’re in down times, so you stick with what works (or has been predicted to work in the past).
Overall, the panelists trends seemed almost too specific while the crowd-sourced trends were too general. Likewise, the discussions on those topics went from too focused, to not nearly focused enough.
There were some interesting discussions on the energy front, as well as a bit on the mobile space — though surprisingly only Shriram really singled it out. Jurvetson’s talk briefly brought about talk of the real-time web and Twitter which everyone was very opinionated about — but then boring crowd-sourced topic out come up and kill the discussion.
Before the panel began, the moderators went over last year’s trend to see how the previous panel had done. Most didn’t do too well, and I would suspect the same from this panel. Too many of the ideas are still a long time out, or are rehashed trends that no one really seemed to want to even talk about.
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: The new Chrome Soyuz is an ambitious (if slightly crazed) reimagining of the urban commuter backpack. It's a weird hybrid of a river-rafting drybag and laptop case, all contained within a stylish wedge of black and red nylon.
It sits comfortably behind your back, letting you weave through traffic on your fixie without fear of snagging on the projecting mirrors of double-parked delivery trucks. It can ride between your knees on a crowded train. And it tucks neatly below an airplane seat, leaving just enough space on either side to squeeze in your feet so you can stretch your legs.
WIRED Wedge design keeps load balanced, trim and compact. Expandable waterproof compartment shrinks down to nothing when empty. Heavy-duty 1,000-denier cordura nylon withstands abuse. Main compartments are completely waterproof. Heavy-duty metal strap locks make adjustment easy. Glorious enameled metal "Chrome" logo.
TIRED Narrow openings + deep compartments = where the hell did my keys go? Not quite big enough to contain a six-pack (unless you put the bottles in one by one). Padding traps heat, steaming your back on long rides. No hip belt. Pricier than a metric ton of pig iron.
$180, chromebags.com
Read our full Chrome Soyuz Backpack review.
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: The pristine fidelity these headphones deliver is the result of a dual-armature layout, which bathes your tympanic membranes in accurate audio reproduction. The earpiece's dual drivers have the added benefit of propping up the typically flaccid base that seems to plague many other in-ear monitors.
The only major downside is that great sound comes at a considerable price — $230 to be precise. For most people, that's likely to be as much (or more) than you spent on your MP3 player. But as my neglected Audio Technicas can attest, in this case, you undoubtedly get what you pay for.
WIRED Exquisite sound reproduction in an insanely small package. Handy in-flight attenuator saves you from Captain Blowhard's eardrum-exploding announcements. Fuller, richer base and wider frequency response than previous UEs.
TIRED Spendiferous. Cable noise will distract joggers or anyone planning to use the headphones while exercising. Despite its redesign, the pocket case is still too small to fit all the accouterments.
$230, ultimateears.com
Read our full Ultimate Ears 700 Noise-Isolating Earphones review.
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: Digeo's Moxi HD DVR sports a slick, Emmy-winning (seriously) user interface and all the commercial-skipping accouterments of competitors like TiVo. It even ditches a monthly bill in favor of flat pricing and grants access to online video and music.
The Moxi's stunning high-def UI is full of slick transitions and responsive performance. Unfortunately, sleek visuals don't conquer all. Basics like surfing through the program guide (or accessing a previously recorded show) took a lot of hunting and pecking through a menu tree. Finding pre-recorded shows and getting them to play took searching, highlighting, selecting Play, confirming that you selected Play, and then finally watching.
WIRED No monthly bills. Sleek high-def interface has nifty animations and transitions. Hard drive expandable to 1 TB for power recorders. Dual tuners let you watch one show while recording another. Offers a whopping 1.5-hour buffer time per HD channel.
TIRED Hefty entry fee. Online video chops not quite up to snuff. No dedicated Guide button on the remote?! Unnecessarily complicated menus. Programming schedules are displayed in cramped vertical list instead of friendly grid.
$800, moxi.com
Read our full Digeo Moxi HD DVR review.
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: We're a little dismayed by the E71x. The device is almost identical to the E71: same 3.2-megapixel camera, same .04-inch profile, same vibrant 320 x 240 QVGA display, same business apps and multimedia functionality. The operating system is slightly tweaked so there are some differences in transmissions and page loading. But as a whole, the phone is relatively unchanged.
These are the key differences: a new $100 price tag (good), a black paint job (badass) and the omission of our favorite feature from the original E71 (ugly). We're talking about the two separate, customizable home screens, something we absolutely loved about the O.G. E71. One screen was designed for business, the other for personal use. It was a great function: You could literally edit spreadsheets from 9 to 5 on one screen, then toggle over to the other and watch a couple of episodes of 30 Rock on the media player.
WIRED Windows interface means you don't have to learn a new menu convention to browse your old files. Dumping the data of only one (or all) of your multiple PCs takes less than five mouse clicks. You can set up a password in the toolbar.
TIRED Dock and multi-PC backup capability only provided with 500-GB version. Full hard-drive recovery requires booting from a CD. Windows-only means it fails to bridge the gap in inter-OSial households.
$100 with 2-year contract, att.com
Read our full Nokia E71x Smartphone review.
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: The Replica comes with bare-bones software and strikes a good balance between peace of mind and individual-user control.
After the hard drive is plugged in, the Replica starts mirroring your computer's content. The startup process is short, taking only a couple of minutes, though the actual backup is a time-gobbling endeavor. (It took us about four hours to transfer 130 GB of data). A blue light on the top of the Replica's case blinks continuously while data is being transferred. It's also stealthy for a hard drive, emitting only a quiet whir when working at full speed.
WIRED Windows interface means you don't have to learn a new menu convention to browse your old files. Dumping the data of only one (or all) of your multiple PCs takes less than five mouse clicks. You can set up a password in the toolbar.
TIRED Dock and multi-PC backup capability only provided with 500-GB version. Full hard-drive recovery requires booting from a CD. Windows-only means it fails to bridge the gap in inter-OSial households.
$200, seagate.com
Read our full Seagate Replica 500GB review.
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: Panasonic's new HDC-TM300 shoots in "Full HD," marketing speak for 1080p — aka 1080 x 1920 resolution with progressive-scan video. Translation? Stunning Blu-ray-level video that should more than lives up to the most critical expectations of prosumers and video enthusiasts.
The highlight of this shooter is the high-def footage. Not only does the phenomenal zoom reel in distant objects, but thanks to the triple sensors and quality lens, it nails far-off details perfectly. The architectural features of distant buildings we shot in downtown San Francisco showed up like we were standing on the window ledge -- not in a park three blocks away.
WIREDReproduces colors like a Crayola factory. Closeups pop with sharp, clear details. Nice performance in low light. Einstein-smart automatic shooting features are like having your own DP built into the camera. 32-GB onboard memory is expandable via SDHC slot. Great zoom tackles action better than Jason Statham.
TIRED Fast pans in bright daylight turns up more artifacts than a Mayan ruin. May require second mortgage.
$1,300, Panasonic.com
Read our full Panasonic HDC-TM300 HD Camcorder review.
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: In the aftermath (heh heh) of the bass-heavy Beats by Dre Studio headphones, Monster decided to pack the Doctor's finicky sound quality specs into two tiny earbuds. Naturally, audiophiles (including myself) were skeptical. Sure the Beats suffered from shoddy construction and fell apart after a few months of ownership, but they also provided some of the best bass we've ever heard in a set of cans.
Sure enough, the bass response from these things is rich and full. The lowest frequencies rumble with a force akin to the thud of a decent subwoofer. Keep in mind these are not miniaturized 12-inch Kickers designed to blow your eardrums out. But for a device that is essentially a tiny speaker with no auxiliary power, they're superb — especially when compared to the white earcruds doled out by Apple with every iDevice.
WIRED Excellent all-around frequency definition and particularly impressive bass response. Monster’s durable, ingenious anti-tangle cable means jumbled cords are a distant unpleasant memory.
TIRED The bright red cable is slightly ostentatious. Peak bass only hits at earwax shattering volumes.
$150, beatsbydre.com
Read our full Monster Beats By Dre Tour High-Resolution In-Ear Headphones review.
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: The UE-11 Pros are packed with four, count 'em, four drivers: There's a double dose of bass, one for the midrange and one chiming the highs. If you're looking for the most precise, separated sound possible, then this is the earphone for you. Throughout the play list I heard clarity and detail in the music I'd never heard before. This rang especially true with classical tunes — it literally feels like sitting in a symphony hall and having every instrument speak directly to you. To get that kind of superior fidelity you'll certainly have to pay the piper. But you'll really love the music while Rome — or your bank account — burns.
WIRED Most clear, separated and detailed sound.
TIRED Try convincing your spouse you need a $1,150 set of headphones.
$1,150, ultimateears.com
Read our full UE-11 Pro review.
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: The slate-gray, high-impact polymer body houses three LEDs capable of blasting out a peak 270 lumens for 15 minutes, or a more useful and long-lasting 90 lumens for 60 minutes. Both settings have an emergency low-power 25-lumen mode (equivalent in brightness to most common household D-cell flashlights) for an additional 60 minutes.
WIRED High-power pro flashlight pumps out awesome illumination and recharges ridiculously fast. Flashlight will outlive you. Seriously brilliant, blinding — a boon for flashlight junkies.
TIRED Pricy front-end investment. Comes with a 12-volt car charger.
$170, 511tactical.com
Read our full 5.11 Tactical Light review.
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: In our tests, we threw all things digital at this 68-pound slab. And while it does not perform as superbly as its higher-price brethren from Sony, Samsung and Sharp, it still shows off a completely acceptable high-def image and above-average sound.
So where has Westinghouse cut corners? Oh, let's see. How about the borderline embarrassing 1000:1 contrast ratio? In a well-lit room, the screen looks more washed out than a warehouse full of Maytags. And even though the set offers the 120-Hz spec, fast motion still looks a bit blurred.
WIRED High resolution and decent sound at incredible rock-bottom price. Convenience features integrated into menu. Quality remote not found in higher-priced TVs.
TIRED Displays some pixelated speckled noise in darker and mid-hue images. Analog-station reproduction is downright blurry. No worries though — analog TV has flatlined.
$700, Westinghouse.com
Read our full Westinghouse TX-42F450S review.
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: It's not quite a netbook, not quite an ultralight PC. Whatever it is, Samsung's NC20 is a dazzling feat of engineering: an extremely usable 12-inch laptop with epic battery life, impressive specs and a downright mystifyingly affordable price tag.
But the NC20 doesn't make depressing tradeoffs to achieve those scores. Battery life is three hours, 40 minutes (22 percent longer than the S10) and weight is just 3.3 pounds, comparable to the Asus Eee PC 1000H. All that and you get a 12.1-inch LCD, too, instead of the usual 10.2-inch netbook display.
WIRED Everything a netbook should be: Offers the best performance available from a computer this portable and inexpensive. Very usable keyboard. Good quality audio. Includes three USB ports, 1.3-megapixel webcam, and SD card slot.
TIRED LCD could be a touch brighter and quality sharper. Chassis design is a bit boring.
$550, samsung.com
Read our full Samsung NC 20 review.
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: Pure Digital's Flip has proven that it's possible to build a super-small flash memory camcorder and offer it up for fewer than two hundred bucks. But there are tradeoffs with going small and cheap, like optics and battery life. Canon takes a completely different tack with its newest solid-state cam, the Vixia HF S10, which delivers some fantastically brilliant moving pictures, but at a stiff cost.
Out in the field, auto focus and auto exposure were both very impressive in a wide range of situations, from the intense brightness of the beach to shady and contrasty venues. Every camera suffers indoors, thanks to low light, and everyone complains about it, but the S10 did a credible job with low-light shots and it's clearly better than previous cams of this ilk.
WIRED Improved audio quality. Big, bright lens. Speedy processor. Lots of creative control options. More intuitive menus than previous generation Canon camcorders.
TIRED Loose lens cover noisier than cutlery caught in a garbage disposal. Still images come off looking a bit overexposed.
$1,300, canon.com
Read our full Canon Vixia HF S10 review.
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: Dry your eyes, plasma junkies. The untimely demise of Pioneer's Kuro line doesn't mean you'll have to forgo those deliciously deep blacks and theater-perfect colors for long. In fact, even as the last of the Pioneer Kuro Elites make its way into a few lucky U.S. homes, a new lineup of HDTV sets are already poised to seize the plasma king's vacant throne.
Key to this plasma's visual appeal is its integrated THX mode. In addition to blessing various audio components, the home-theater ninjas at THX began bestowing plasma and LCD certification a few years back. Each set is subjected to approximately 400 individual tests, ranging from evaluations in signal processing to luminosity. Basically, the idea behind G10's THX mode is to recreate the precise color gamut filmmakers use during the in-studio post-production process.
WIRED Mind-boggling blacks with tons of detail. THX mode is a godsend for movie buffs. Integrated SD card slots transform your plasma into a giant digital photo frame. Amazing color saturation.
TIRED THX mode is bit dim for brightly lit rooms. Ethernet connectivity is nice for VieraCast, but Wi-Fi would've been better. Three HDMI ports (two in the back, one on the side) don't cut it. More power-hungry than LCD TVs. Where's the PiP?
$1,300, panasonic.com
Read our full Panasonic TC-P42G10 Viera G10 Series Plasma review.
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: The PogoPlug is a device, which looks like a supersized AC adapter, plugs into almost any external hard drive (even a USB stick) and then pumps that content onto the web, giving you access anywhere in the world you can get an internet signal — including your iPhone.
But the PogoPlug isn't without the occasional snafu and annoyances. Only image files are available for preview. PDF, Word documents or even HTML files have to be downloaded before viewing. Worse yet, when we unhooked the device, it caused our PC to crash twice in a row. We're still not entirely sure if this was due to a glitch in the PogoPlug or in Windows.
WIRED Easy to use. Simple setup. Great utility: I must be able to access my collection of LOLcat photos from anywhere. The iPhone app is solid software.
TIRED No wireless mode ... yet. Poor security — it's a wise idea to keep those tax returns or bank documents off the PogoPlug. Computer crashes are deeply flummoxing. The iPhone is currently the only mobile device that supports remote access.
$100, pogoplug.com
Read our full Cloud Engines PogoPlug review.
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: NatureMill's Pro edition is an indoor composter we can pretty much dig. Using minimal electricity, a small motor turns a heavy-duty mixing bar, heats the mixing chamber (no sunlight needed) and powers an air pump that works with a carbon air filter to help reduce smell (each filter lasts four to five years).
Just add starter dirt, drop in some sawdust pellets to combat odors and dump your food scraps in. NatureMill recommends that you cut organic material into 4-inch bits before plopping it in. We didn't, but aside from the motor making some gnarly noises, it didn't seem to affect compost production. NatureMill's Pro version also features some automatic activation. We were able to leave ours sitting for weeks without pushing the button even once; it mixed and heated itself just fine.
WIRED Stainless steel mixing bar made short work of uncut banana peels. Relatively small and exceptionally lightweight = easy to stash and transport. Foot pedal eliminates lid touching. Mighty Morphin' Power Saver: only draws 5 kwh a month (roughly 50 cents on an average electric bill). Not as much of an eyesore as it could be and it's available in a range of colors (including, you guess it, green).
TIRED Little to no stench — until top opens (that's hard to remedy, and burger/fish/salad remnants smell worse than a dead wildebeest doused in Eau D'Bile). Polypropylene housing is light, but may not last forever. Disposable carbon filters reduce smell, but also cut down on the green factor. Regular maintenance (scraping the mix chamber walls) isn't fun.
$400, naturemill.com
Read our full Nature Mill Indoor Composter — Pro Edition review.
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: You can get away with a lot if you're beautiful. Such is the case with the new Porsche Design P'9522 phone. In some ways, it's a wonderful and capable cellphone, but in most others, it's dumber than the gorgeous block of aluminum it was machined from.
Someone forgot to include e-mail — an absence that had us trying to mar the Porsche phone's scratchproof screen with claws of rage. Unfortunately, that screen is tough, so the P'9522 will be lauded and drooled over — despite our many gripes with it.
WIRED Gorgeous. Touchscreen interface is easy to understand, if limited and frustrating. Preloaded ringtones include the roaring engines of the 911 GT3 and Turbo. Its 5-megapixel camera has autofocus and captures clean, vivid images. LED flash doubles as a flashlight. Unlocking the phone with its fingerprint scanner is very MI5.
TIRED Fingerprint scanner is also very POS: Who thought it would be a good idea to use fingerprints to access a device you're likely holding in one hand while juggling multiple other tasks? Preloaded ringtones include bad German techno. Touchscreen is deeply frustrating. Seriously — no e-mail?
$800, porschedesign.com
Read our full Porsche Design P'9522 Phone review.
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: Weighing just 140 grams, the handset offers some of the best optics we've ever found crammed into a cell phone: sharp, noiseless pics (3,264 × 2,448 pixels) and decent image stabilizer punctuate video capture that puts full-figured handicams from 2008 to shame. You can even shoot VGA at 30 fps or QVGA at a whopping 120 fps (yes, 120!), including slow motion footage in 1/4 and 1/8 speeds.
Amazing, sure, but not a picture perfect phone. The i8510 functions almost exactly like a standard point-and-shoot, except for the zoom button, which is placed inexplicably, and awkwardly at the bottom of the device.
WIRED Beaucoup codecs, including — wait for it — DivX! 2.8-inch screen excellent for playback. Intuitive photo/video editing suite. Equally intuitive navigation. Automatic lens cover. MicroSD slot good for 16 GB (enough for aspiring Scorseses to go epic). All the usual smartphone suspects: 3G, Wi-Fi, USB, Bluetooth, accelerometer, GPS. Decent earbuds with ample cord. 3.5mm audio jack. Most excellent: TV-out capability.
TIRED Side-mounted headphone jack makes phone harder to pocket. Optical control pad is a tad sensitive (between us and you — we don't want to hurt its feelings). Most bogus: Metal shell retains enough scratches to fill a DJ Shadow album. A little on the clunky side. Most bogus: Flash needs to be brighter.
$500, samsung.com
Read our full Samsung i8510 INNOV8 review.
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: As the successor to Logitech's G11 and G15, this huge hunk of plastic comes with gaming hardwired in its DNA. Like its relatives, it has a blocky aesthetic that harkens to the days of the Model M. There are, however, a handful of very modern flourishes that make this latest G-board a distinctly modern marvel.
In the end, the G19's main drawback is the same one that has plagued fancy keyboards since the days of yore: It's freaking huge. That swiveling LCD? It actually requires a tiny onboard Linux computer to run, which in turn requires its own power source. Should you choose to make use of the two self-powered USB ports, you'll potentially have more wires shooting out of this thing than your computer.
WIRED More customizable than a box of Legos. Two self-powered USB ports. Dedicated D-pad and menu keys let you control LCD directly from the keyboard. Convenient cable management lanes carved into bottom of unit lessens clutter … slightly. Choose-your-own-color adventure with adjustable backlighting. Keys are pleasantly clicky and responsive.
TIRED Limited desktop space? This is not your keyboard. Price tag to match gargantuan footprint. Requires power brick to run. After its novelty wears off, built-in LCD becomes more of a distraction than a useful tool.
$200, Logitech.com
Read our full Logitech G19 Keyboard review.
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: Want to catch the last episode of Battlestar Galactica while hanging out in the local java joint? Going to download a season of The Simpsons for viewing on the plane? Giving an impromptu screening of your vacation photos at a friend's house? The Mini 10 is your machine.
But there are infuriating shortcomings to the Mini 10. The trackpad is one of the worst we've seen. Dell's decision to integrate the buttons underneath the pad itself makes using it both unpredictable and challenging. When you click on a button, the cursor may hit the target, wiggle off a centimeter or two, or teleport off into a remote corner of your screen. While it got easier to use after a week of practice, our advice is to invest in a cheap travel mouse.
WIRED Bright, responsive screen. Integrated 1.3-megapixel webcam. Not gunked up with crapware. HDMI-out port shows charming, if unwarranted, optimism about the netbook's video capabilities. Light weight: Just 2.6 pounds.
TIRED Infuriating trackpad with integrated buttons hidden underneath. Excessively glossy screen produces distracting glare. Windows XP is starting to look pretty tired. What, no solid-state option? Despite the HDMI port, the netbook can't deliver HD video without fits and starts.
$470 (as tested), dell.com
Read our full Dell Mini 10 Netbook review.
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: The new 370Z upgrades come in the form of a sexy body with a hood, hatch and doors of lightweight aluminum and a chassis significantly stiffer to reduce performance-robbing flex. To make up for the beefier chassis, Nissan's engineers pared more than 225 pounds from the rest of the car — even the audio system lost 3.5 pounds — and the result is a car that weighs 88 pounds less than the previous 350Z.
Every model gets the same 332-horsepower V6, an engine that makes this Z the quickest yet with a zero-to-60 time of 4.6 seconds. That kind of performance, however, is contingent on your skills as a driver. If you don't posses Lewis Hamilton levels of talent don't fret. The Z's abundant power and excellent handling will let you think you do.
WIRED Insanely easy to drive, insanely quickly. You'll run out of nerve before you run out of grip. Rev-matching transmission makes heel-toe shifting more obsolete than a gramophone.
TIRED Rev-matching transmission makes heel-toe shifting more obsolete than a vinyl record. Tympani-like tire roar, piccolo-like exhaust note. Hummer-sized blind spots make lane changes a gun-it-and-go-for-it leap of faith. Fake brushed-aluminum interior bits don't fool anyone.
$33,970 (as tested), nissanusa.com
Read our full Nissan 2009 370Z review.
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: Using the BookReader is simple: Just plunk a novel on the platen, punch a button and you're relaxing to the dulcet sounds of Jill, a computerized voice with a voracious appetite for literature. All the menus read themselves off when you mouse over them, and they have keyboard shortcuts, which is useful if you have reduced vision. Jill is pretty good at recognizing words. We tried out several books, including one heavy with medical jargon, and she held her own with just a few exceptions.
Useful as it is, we could not help noticing that the BookReader seems to be slightly undercooked. A few of the buttons don't really do anything, and you can't customize the dictionary to alter Jill's interpretation of commonly used, but horribly flubbed words, acronyms or numbers. The unit seems to be terribly overpriced as well. Plustek wants $600 for the BookReader, despite the fact that the OpticBook only costs $250 — and has its own text-to-speech function.
WIRED Reads books to you at the push of a button. Platen glass goes right to the edge to accommodate books without strain. Turns text into MP3s for portability. Includes several accessibility features to help the visually impaired.
TIRED The included software lacks polish and seems rushed. Squat, ugly looks make it seem at home in a cubicle farm. The reader voice may not screw up often, but when it does, it's a doozy. High price nears gouging territory.
$600, plustek.com
Read our full Plustek BookReader V100 review.
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: Photo: Dylan Tweeny/Wired.comApple's newest Shuffle (almost 50 percent smaller than previous Shuffles) could easily be mistaken for a stick of Trident, features no buttons, and pimps voice-identification technology. But even given its apparent readily consumable stature, there are a few features on the Shuffle that are a bit tough to swallow.
The biggest gripe on the 4-GB Shuffle we tested is definitely the control set. First off, it's completely counterintuitive; Apple says you can easily use it without looking. We still don't have the hang of it after a few days of testing. What's worse, if you have a decent set of earbuds (say, a pair of Shures or Ultimate Ears) you're totally hosed — you'll have to endure the 'buds that come with the Shuffle or pick up specially made third-party headphones. Our recommendation? Pick up a new Shuffle only if you're prepared to deal with proprietary headphones and ambiguous controls.
WIRED Thumb-drive size. Can double as a tie clip. Battery life lasts for 12 freaking hours. Short USB sync cord is sexy. Yes, we'll admit, it's another beautifully designed piece of hardware from Apple. Battery bonked out after 11 constant hours of blasting Thunderstruck on loop.
TIRED Proprietary headphones required. Control set awkward to use, hard to get used to. So small, it nearly gets lost in the packaging it comes in.
$80, apple.com
Read our full Apple iPod Shuffle 3rd Gen review.
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: Rather than foam, gel or compressed-air cushioning, the soles on Newtons have a series of "actuator lugs" just below the ball of the foot. The lugs are designed to help encourage you to land on your forefoot, to protect that part of the foot, and (best yet) to propel you forward. When you land, the lugs push into hollow chambers in the midsole. This cushions your landing, and helps make it comfy to land midsole or forefoot rather than on the heel as you might be accustomed. As your foot moves forward, these lugs then essentially lever out, and as you lift your foot, they return the energy by pushing up and out in the same direction as your stride. Newton claims this makes them more efficient than traditional foam or gel soles that simply absorb energy but don't return it.
WIRED So cozy they're like a Snuggie for your feet. Actuator lugs get you off your heels better than a La-Z-Boy. Lightweight at 10.2 ounces. Designed for all stride types. Stomps cold weather like global warming, and keeps out the drizzle for shizzle.
TIRED Not waterproof. Worse on single-track trails than a skateboard. $175??? OMG, for that much money I could just pay somebody to run for me.
$175, newtonrunning.com
Read our full Newton All Weather Trainer review.
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: The Firebird features a hybrid design — using 2.5-inch hard drives (two 320-GB models) and dual graphics cards originally designed for laptops — but powers it all with a desktop CPU and desktop-sized DIMMs. As with a laptop, wireless is built in, but the power supply is not: To save on wattage, HP breaks out the (enormous) power adapter instead of integrating it into the box.
As cool as the Firebird is on the whole, it isn't without some foibles. The inclusion of an ExpressCard slot is on the baffling-to-useless side, and the external power supply (it's huge) is more annoying to deal with than it sounds. But our biggest gripe is that the Firebird's streamlined shell means it includes no front-mounted ports at all, not even a single USB slot for your thumb drive. Seriously HP, even the Mac Pro finds room for that.
WIRED Amazingly quiet and conscientious in its power consumption. Outstanding design; belongs on top of the desk, not beneath it. Solid all-around performance at a fair price.
TIRED No front USB port. Curvy design means you can't put anything on top of the case. Functionally locked down, with no real upgrade path.
$2,100 (as tested), hp.com
Read our full HP Firebird 803 review.
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: I shouldn't love this truck. I should hate it. I purposely do not own a car, and this all-black behemoth represents everything I hate about SUV culture: conspicuous consumption, insensitivity to our rapidly shrinking world and crowded cities, middle finger raised at global warming.
You could slap a cold fusion generator under Big Poppa Cadillac's hood and the first two issues would still apply, but I was kind of wrong about that last one. Have you ever seen Godzilla vs. Megalon? Where Godzilla fights on behalf of the people of Japan against a giant rhinoceros/cockroach? Sure, Tokyo's favorite monster still smashes a bunch of buildings and steps on some people, but he's trying to be good. Same goes for this Hybrid Chromedaddy.
WIRED Decent pickup for a motorized bomb shelter. Combined ABS and regenerative braking system do a terrific job of hauling the beast down from speed. Trick motorized step makes it easy for shorties to climb into your rolling condo.
TIRED Thing has a car phone. No, not Bluetooth, but an actual phone built into infotainment system. (It's actually just Onstar, but there was no other option for hands-free calling.) What is this, 1989? Cadillac — God love 'em — uses the fact that this is a hybrid as an excuse to bling up the truck even more: Hybrid badges are plastered on every hard surface, on the sides of the door, even the windshield. —Joe Brown
$74,085 (as tested), Cadillac.com
Read our full Cadillac Escalade Hybrid review.
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: 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.
$360, amazon.com
Read our full Amazon.com Kindle 2 review.
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: 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.
$70, srslabs.com
Read our full SRS Labs iWOW Adapter for iPod review.
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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.
$300 (with 2-year contract), t-mobile.com
Read our full Samsung Memoir.
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: 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.
$400 as tested, asus.com
Read our full Asus Eee PC 1000HE review.
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: 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.
$150, universalremote.com
Read our full Universal Remote Digital R50 review.
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: 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.
$500, casio.com
Read our full Casio G-Shock MTG-1500 review.
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: 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.
$600 (as tested), asus.com
Read our full Asus ET1602 Eee Top review.
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: 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.
$120, swannsecurity.com
Read our full Swann Micro-VideoCam Recorder review.
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: 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.
$300, Kodak
Read our full Kodak Theatre HD Player review.
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: 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.
$3450, Ohm Cycles
Read our full Ohm Cycles XS700 review.
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: 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?
$800 as tested, Gateway
Read our full Gateway UC7807u review.
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: 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.
$500, Polar
Read our full Polar RS800CX MULTI review.
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: 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.
$400, Optoma
Read our full Optoma EP-PK-101 Pico Pocket Projector review.
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: 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.
$300, Olympus
Read our full Olympus Stylus 1050 SW review.
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: 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.
$200 with a two year contract, RIM
Read our full RIM BlackBerry Curve 8900 review.
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: 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.
$112 (estimated), Three
Read our full INQ1 Facebook Phone review.
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: 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.
$1550 (as tested), HP
Read our full HP TouchSmart tx2z review.
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: 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.
$125, Tivo
Read our full Nero LiquidTV TiVo PC review.
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: The new Chrome Soyuz is an ambitious (if slightly crazed) reimagining of the urban commuter backpack. It's a weird hybrid of a river-rafting drybag and laptop case, all contained within a stylish wedge of black and red nylon.
It sits comfortably behind your back, letting you weave through traffic on your fixie without fear of snagging on the projecting mirrors of double-parked delivery trucks. It can ride between your knees on a crowded train. And it tucks neatly below an airplane seat, leaving just enough space on either side to squeeze in your feet so you can stretch your legs.
WIRED Wedge design keeps load balanced, trim and compact. Expandable waterproof compartment shrinks down to nothing when empty. Heavy-duty 1,000-denier cordura nylon withstands abuse. Main compartments are completely waterproof. Heavy-duty metal strap locks make adjustment easy. Glorious enameled metal "Chrome" logo.
TIRED Narrow openings + deep compartments = where the hell did my keys go? Not quite big enough to contain a six-pack (unless you put the bottles in one by one). Padding traps heat, steaming your back on long rides. No hip belt. Pricier than a metric ton of pig iron.
$180, chromebags.com
Read our full Chrome Soyuz Backpack review.
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: The pristine fidelity these headphones deliver is the result of a dual-armature layout, which bathes your tympanic membranes in accurate audio reproduction. The earpiece's dual drivers have the added benefit of propping up the typically flaccid base that seems to plague many other in-ear monitors.
The only major downside is that great sound comes at a considerable price — $230 to be precise. For most people, that's likely to be as much (or more) than you spent on your MP3 player. But as my neglected Audio Technicas can attest, in this case, you undoubtedly get what you pay for.
WIRED Exquisite sound reproduction in an insanely small package. Handy in-flight attenuator saves you from Captain Blowhard's eardrum-exploding announcements. Fuller, richer base and wider frequency response than previous UEs.
TIRED Spendiferous. Cable noise will distract joggers or anyone planning to use the headphones while exercising. Despite its redesign, the pocket case is still too small to fit all the accouterments.
$230, ultimateears.com
Read our full Ultimate Ears 700 Noise-Isolating Earphones review.
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: Digeo's Moxi HD DVR sports a slick, Emmy-winning (seriously) user interface and all the commercial-skipping accouterments of competitors like TiVo. It even ditches a monthly bill in favor of flat pricing and grants access to online video and music.
The Moxi's stunning high-def UI is full of slick transitions and responsive performance. Unfortunately, sleek visuals don't conquer all. Basics like surfing through the program guide (or accessing a previously recorded show) took a lot of hunting and pecking through a menu tree. Finding pre-recorded shows and getting them to play took searching, highlighting, selecting Play, confirming that you selected Play, and then finally watching.
WIRED No monthly bills. Sleek high-def interface has nifty animations and transitions. Hard drive expandable to 1 TB for power recorders. Dual tuners let you watch one show while recording another. Offers a whopping 1.5-hour buffer time per HD channel.
TIRED Hefty entry fee. Online video chops not quite up to snuff. No dedicated Guide button on the remote?! Unnecessarily complicated menus. Programming schedules are displayed in cramped vertical list instead of friendly grid.
$800, moxi.com
Read our full Digeo Moxi HD DVR review.
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: We're a little dismayed by the E71x. The device is almost identical to the E71: same 3.2-megapixel camera, same .04-inch profile, same vibrant 320 x 240 QVGA display, same business apps and multimedia functionality. The operating system is slightly tweaked so there are some differences in transmissions and page loading. But as a whole, the phone is relatively unchanged.
These are the key differences: a new $100 price tag (good), a black paint job (badass) and the omission of our favorite feature from the original E71 (ugly). We're talking about the two separate, customizable home screens, something we absolutely loved about the O.G. E71. One screen was designed for business, the other for personal use. It was a great function: You could literally edit spreadsheets from 9 to 5 on one screen, then toggle over to the other and watch a couple of episodes of 30 Rock on the media player.
WIRED Windows interface means you don't have to learn a new menu convention to browse your old files. Dumping the data of only one (or all) of your multiple PCs takes less than five mouse clicks. You can set up a password in the toolbar.
TIRED Dock and multi-PC backup capability only provided with 500-GB version. Full hard-drive recovery requires booting from a CD. Windows-only means it fails to bridge the gap in inter-OSial households.
$100 with 2-year contract, att.com
Read our full Nokia E71x Smartphone review.
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: The Replica comes with bare-bones software and strikes a good balance between peace of mind and individual-user control.
After the hard drive is plugged in, the Replica starts mirroring your computer's content. The startup process is short, taking only a couple of minutes, though the actual backup is a time-gobbling endeavor. (It took us about four hours to transfer 130 GB of data). A blue light on the top of the Replica's case blinks continuously while data is being transferred. It's also stealthy for a hard drive, emitting only a quiet whir when working at full speed.
WIRED Windows interface means you don't have to learn a new menu convention to browse your old files. Dumping the data of only one (or all) of your multiple PCs takes less than five mouse clicks. You can set up a password in the toolbar.
TIRED Dock and multi-PC backup capability only provided with 500-GB version. Full hard-drive recovery requires booting from a CD. Windows-only means it fails to bridge the gap in inter-OSial households.
$200, seagate.com
Read our full Seagate Replica 500GB review.
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: Panasonic's new HDC-TM300 shoots in "Full HD," marketing speak for 1080p — aka 1080 x 1920 resolution with progressive-scan video. Translation? Stunning Blu-ray-level video that should more than lives up to the most critical expectations of prosumers and video enthusiasts.
The highlight of this shooter is the high-def footage. Not only does the phenomenal zoom reel in distant objects, but thanks to the triple sensors and quality lens, it nails far-off details perfectly. The architectural features of distant buildings we shot in downtown San Francisco showed up like we were standing on the window ledge -- not in a park three blocks away.
WIREDReproduces colors like a Crayola factory. Closeups pop with sharp, clear details. Nice performance in low light. Einstein-smart automatic shooting features are like having your own DP built into the camera. 32-GB onboard memory is expandable via SDHC slot. Great zoom tackles action better than Jason Statham.
TIRED Fast pans in bright daylight turns up more artifacts than a Mayan ruin. May require second mortgage.
$1,300, Panasonic.com
Read our full Panasonic HDC-TM300 HD Camcorder review.
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: In the aftermath (heh heh) of the bass-heavy Beats by Dre Studio headphones, Monster decided to pack the Doctor's finicky sound quality specs into two tiny earbuds. Naturally, audiophiles (including myself) were skeptical. Sure the Beats suffered from shoddy construction and fell apart after a few months of ownership, but they also provided some of the best bass we've ever heard in a set of cans.
Sure enough, the bass response from these things is rich and full. The lowest frequencies rumble with a force akin to the thud of a decent subwoofer. Keep in mind these are not miniaturized 12-inch Kickers designed to blow your eardrums out. But for a device that is essentially a tiny speaker with no auxiliary power, they're superb — especially when compared to the white earcruds doled out by Apple with every iDevice.
WIRED Excellent all-around frequency definition and particularly impressive bass response. Monster’s durable, ingenious anti-tangle cable means jumbled cords are a distant unpleasant memory.
TIRED The bright red cable is slightly ostentatious. Peak bass only hits at earwax shattering volumes.
$150, beatsbydre.com
Read our full Monster Beats By Dre Tour High-Resolution In-Ear Headphones review.
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: The UE-11 Pros are packed with four, count 'em, four drivers: There's a double dose of bass, one for the midrange and one chiming the highs. If you're looking for the most precise, separated sound possible, then this is the earphone for you. Throughout the play list I heard clarity and detail in the music I'd never heard before. This rang especially true with classical tunes — it literally feels like sitting in a symphony hall and having every instrument speak directly to you. To get that kind of superior fidelity you'll certainly have to pay the piper. But you'll really love the music while Rome — or your bank account — burns.
WIRED Most clear, separated and detailed sound.
TIRED Try convincing your spouse you need a $1,150 set of headphones.
$1,150, ultimateears.com
Read our full UE-11 Pro review.
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: The slate-gray, high-impact polymer body houses three LEDs capable of blasting out a peak 270 lumens for 15 minutes, or a more useful and long-lasting 90 lumens for 60 minutes. Both settings have an emergency low-power 25-lumen mode (equivalent in brightness to most common household D-cell flashlights) for an additional 60 minutes.
WIRED High-power pro flashlight pumps out awesome illumination and recharges ridiculously fast. Flashlight will outlive you. Seriously brilliant, blinding — a boon for flashlight junkies.
TIRED Pricy front-end investment. Comes with a 12-volt car charger.
$170, 511tactical.com
Read our full 5.11 Tactical Light review.
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: In our tests, we threw all things digital at this 68-pound slab. And while it does not perform as superbly as its higher-price brethren from Sony, Samsung and Sharp, it still shows off a completely acceptable high-def image and above-average sound.
So where has Westinghouse cut corners? Oh, let's see. How about the borderline embarrassing 1000:1 contrast ratio? In a well-lit room, the screen looks more washed out than a warehouse full of Maytags. And even though the set offers the 120-Hz spec, fast motion still looks a bit blurred.
WIRED High resolution and decent sound at incredible rock-bottom price. Convenience features integrated into menu. Quality remote not found in higher-priced TVs.
TIRED Displays some pixelated speckled noise in darker and mid-hue images. Analog-station reproduction is downright blurry. No worries though — analog TV has flatlined.
$700, Westinghouse.com
Read our full Westinghouse TX-42F450S review.
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: It's not quite a netbook, not quite an ultralight PC. Whatever it is, Samsung's NC20 is a dazzling feat of engineering: an extremely usable 12-inch laptop with epic battery life, impressive specs and a downright mystifyingly affordable price tag.
But the NC20 doesn't make depressing tradeoffs to achieve those scores. Battery life is three hours, 40 minutes (22 percent longer than the S10) and weight is just 3.3 pounds, comparable to the Asus Eee PC 1000H. All that and you get a 12.1-inch LCD, too, instead of the usual 10.2-inch netbook display.
WIRED Everything a netbook should be: Offers the best performance available from a computer this portable and inexpensive. Very usable keyboard. Good quality audio. Includes three USB ports, 1.3-megapixel webcam, and SD card slot.
TIRED LCD could be a touch brighter and quality sharper. Chassis design is a bit boring.
$550, samsung.com
Read our full Samsung NC 20 review.
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: Pure Digital's Flip has proven that it's possible to build a super-small flash memory camcorder and offer it up for fewer than two hundred bucks. But there are tradeoffs with going small and cheap, like optics and battery life. Canon takes a completely different tack with its newest solid-state cam, the Vixia HF S10, which delivers some fantastically brilliant moving pictures, but at a stiff cost.
Out in the field, auto focus and auto exposure were both very impressive in a wide range of situations, from the intense brightness of the beach to shady and contrasty venues. Every camera suffers indoors, thanks to low light, and everyone complains about it, but the S10 did a credible job with low-light shots and it's clearly better than previous cams of this ilk.
WIRED Improved audio quality. Big, bright lens. Speedy processor. Lots of creative control options. More intuitive menus than previous generation Canon camcorders.
TIRED Loose lens cover noisier than cutlery caught in a garbage disposal. Still images come off looking a bit overexposed.
$1,300, canon.com
Read our full Canon Vixia HF S10 review.
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: Dry your eyes, plasma junkies. The untimely demise of Pioneer's Kuro line doesn't mean you'll have to forgo those deliciously deep blacks and theater-perfect colors for long. In fact, even as the last of the Pioneer Kuro Elites make its way into a few lucky U.S. homes, a new lineup of HDTV sets are already poised to seize the plasma king's vacant throne.
Key to this plasma's visual appeal is its integrated THX mode. In addition to blessing various audio components, the home-theater ninjas at THX began bestowing plasma and LCD certification a few years back. Each set is subjected to approximately 400 individual tests, ranging from evaluations in signal processing to luminosity. Basically, the idea behind G10's THX mode is to recreate the precise color gamut filmmakers use during the in-studio post-production process.
WIRED Mind-boggling blacks with tons of detail. THX mode is a godsend for movie buffs. Integrated SD card slots transform your plasma into a giant digital photo frame. Amazing color saturation.
TIRED THX mode is bit dim for brightly lit rooms. Ethernet connectivity is nice for VieraCast, but Wi-Fi would've been better. Three HDMI ports (two in the back, one on the side) don't cut it. More power-hungry than LCD TVs. Where's the PiP?
$1,300, panasonic.com
Read our full Panasonic TC-P42G10 Viera G10 Series Plasma review.
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: The PogoPlug is a device, which looks like a supersized AC adapter, plugs into almost any external hard drive (even a USB stick) and then pumps that content onto the web, giving you access anywhere in the world you can get an internet signal — including your iPhone.
But the PogoPlug isn't without the occasional snafu and annoyances. Only image files are available for preview. PDF, Word documents or even HTML files have to be downloaded before viewing. Worse yet, when we unhooked the device, it caused our PC to crash twice in a row. We're still not entirely sure if this was due to a glitch in the PogoPlug or in Windows.
WIRED Easy to use. Simple setup. Great utility: I must be able to access my collection of LOLcat photos from anywhere. The iPhone app is solid software.
TIRED No wireless mode ... yet. Poor security — it's a wise idea to keep those tax returns or bank documents off the PogoPlug. Computer crashes are deeply flummoxing. The iPhone is currently the only mobile device that supports remote access.
$100, pogoplug.com
Read our full Cloud Engines PogoPlug review.
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: NatureMill's Pro edition is an indoor composter we can pretty much dig. Using minimal electricity, a small motor turns a heavy-duty mixing bar, heats the mixing chamber (no sunlight needed) and powers an air pump that works with a carbon air filter to help reduce smell (each filter lasts four to five years).
Just add starter dirt, drop in some sawdust pellets to combat odors and dump your food scraps in. NatureMill recommends that you cut organic material into 4-inch bits before plopping it in. We didn't, but aside from the motor making some gnarly noises, it didn't seem to affect compost production. NatureMill's Pro version also features some automatic activation. We were able to leave ours sitting for weeks without pushing the button even once; it mixed and heated itself just fine.
WIRED Stainless steel mixing bar made short work of uncut banana peels. Relatively small and exceptionally lightweight = easy to stash and transport. Foot pedal eliminates lid touching. Mighty Morphin' Power Saver: only draws 5 kwh a month (roughly 50 cents on an average electric bill). Not as much of an eyesore as it could be and it's available in a range of colors (including, you guess it, green).
TIRED Little to no stench — until top opens (that's hard to remedy, and burger/fish/salad remnants smell worse than a dead wildebeest doused in Eau D'Bile). Polypropylene housing is light, but may not last forever. Disposable carbon filters reduce smell, but also cut down on the green factor. Regular maintenance (scraping the mix chamber walls) isn't fun.
$400, naturemill.com
Read our full Nature Mill Indoor Composter — Pro Edition review.
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: You can get away with a lot if you're beautiful. Such is the case with the new Porsche Design P'9522 phone. In some ways, it's a wonderful and capable cellphone, but in most others, it's dumber than the gorgeous block of aluminum it was machined from.
Someone forgot to include e-mail — an absence that had us trying to mar the Porsche phone's scratchproof screen with claws of rage. Unfortunately, that screen is tough, so the P'9522 will be lauded and drooled over — despite our many gripes with it.
WIRED Gorgeous. Touchscreen interface is easy to understand, if limited and frustrating. Preloaded ringtones include the roaring engines of the 911 GT3 and Turbo. Its 5-megapixel camera has autofocus and captures clean, vivid images. LED flash doubles as a flashlight. Unlocking the phone with its fingerprint scanner is very MI5.
TIRED Fingerprint scanner is also very POS: Who thought it would be a good idea to use fingerprints to access a device you're likely holding in one hand while juggling multiple other tasks? Preloaded ringtones include bad German techno. Touchscreen is deeply frustrating. Seriously — no e-mail?
$800, porschedesign.com
Read our full Porsche Design P'9522 Phone review.
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: Weighing just 140 grams, the handset offers some of the best optics we've ever found crammed into a cell phone: sharp, noiseless pics (3,264 × 2,448 pixels) and decent image stabilizer punctuate video capture that puts full-figured handicams from 2008 to shame. You can even shoot VGA at 30 fps or QVGA at a whopping 120 fps (yes, 120!), including slow motion footage in 1/4 and 1/8 speeds.
Amazing, sure, but not a picture perfect phone. The i8510 functions almost exactly like a standard point-and-shoot, except for the zoom button, which is placed inexplicably, and awkwardly at the bottom of the device.
WIRED Beaucoup codecs, including — wait for it — DivX! 2.8-inch screen excellent for playback. Intuitive photo/video editing suite. Equally intuitive navigation. Automatic lens cover. MicroSD slot good for 16 GB (enough for aspiring Scorseses to go epic). All the usual smartphone suspects: 3G, Wi-Fi, USB, Bluetooth, accelerometer, GPS. Decent earbuds with ample cord. 3.5mm audio jack. Most excellent: TV-out capability.
TIRED Side-mounted headphone jack makes phone harder to pocket. Optical control pad is a tad sensitive (between us and you — we don't want to hurt its feelings). Most bogus: Metal shell retains enough scratches to fill a DJ Shadow album. A little on the clunky side. Most bogus: Flash needs to be brighter.
$500, samsung.com
Read our full Samsung i8510 INNOV8 review.
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: As the successor to Logitech's G11 and G15, this huge hunk of plastic comes with gaming hardwired in its DNA. Like its relatives, it has a blocky aesthetic that harkens to the days of the Model M. There are, however, a handful of very modern flourishes that make this latest G-board a distinctly modern marvel.
In the end, the G19's main drawback is the same one that has plagued fancy keyboards since the days of yore: It's freaking huge. That swiveling LCD? It actually requires a tiny onboard Linux computer to run, which in turn requires its own power source. Should you choose to make use of the two self-powered USB ports, you'll potentially have more wires shooting out of this thing than your computer.
WIRED More customizable than a box of Legos. Two self-powered USB ports. Dedicated D-pad and menu keys let you control LCD directly from the keyboard. Convenient cable management lanes carved into bottom of unit lessens clutter … slightly. Choose-your-own-color adventure with adjustable backlighting. Keys are pleasantly clicky and responsive.
TIRED Limited desktop space? This is not your keyboard. Price tag to match gargantuan footprint. Requires power brick to run. After its novelty wears off, built-in LCD becomes more of a distraction than a useful tool.
$200, Logitech.com
Read our full Logitech G19 Keyboard review.
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: Want to catch the last episode of Battlestar Galactica while hanging out in the local java joint? Going to download a season of The Simpsons for viewing on the plane? Giving an impromptu screening of your vacation photos at a friend's house? The Mini 10 is your machine.
But there are infuriating shortcomings to the Mini 10. The trackpad is one of the worst we've seen. Dell's decision to integrate the buttons underneath the pad itself makes using it both unpredictable and challenging. When you click on a button, the cursor may hit the target, wiggle off a centimeter or two, or teleport off into a remote corner of your screen. While it got easier to use after a week of practice, our advice is to invest in a cheap travel mouse.
WIRED Bright, responsive screen. Integrated 1.3-megapixel webcam. Not gunked up with crapware. HDMI-out port shows charming, if unwarranted, optimism about the netbook's video capabilities. Light weight: Just 2.6 pounds.
TIRED Infuriating trackpad with integrated buttons hidden underneath. Excessively glossy screen produces distracting glare. Windows XP is starting to look pretty tired. What, no solid-state option? Despite the HDMI port, the netbook can't deliver HD video without fits and starts.
$470 (as tested), dell.com
Read our full Dell Mini 10 Netbook review.
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: The new 370Z upgrades come in the form of a sexy body with a hood, hatch and doors of lightweight aluminum and a chassis significantly stiffer to reduce performance-robbing flex. To make up for the beefier chassis, Nissan's engineers pared more than 225 pounds from the rest of the car — even the audio system lost 3.5 pounds — and the result is a car that weighs 88 pounds less than the previous 350Z.
Every model gets the same 332-horsepower V6, an engine that makes this Z the quickest yet with a zero-to-60 time of 4.6 seconds. That kind of performance, however, is contingent on your skills as a driver. If you don't posses Lewis Hamilton levels of talent don't fret. The Z's abundant power and excellent handling will let you think you do.
WIRED Insanely easy to drive, insanely quickly. You'll run out of nerve before you run out of grip. Rev-matching transmission makes heel-toe shifting more obsolete than a gramophone.
TIRED Rev-matching transmission makes heel-toe shifting more obsolete than a vinyl record. Tympani-like tire roar, piccolo-like exhaust note. Hummer-sized blind spots make lane changes a gun-it-and-go-for-it leap of faith. Fake brushed-aluminum interior bits don't fool anyone.
$33,970 (as tested), nissanusa.com
Read our full Nissan 2009 370Z review.
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: Using the BookReader is simple: Just plunk a novel on the platen, punch a button and you're relaxing to the dulcet sounds of Jill, a computerized voice with a voracious appetite for literature. All the menus read themselves off when you mouse over them, and they have keyboard shortcuts, which is useful if you have reduced vision. Jill is pretty good at recognizing words. We tried out several books, including one heavy with medical jargon, and she held her own with just a few exceptions.
Useful as it is, we could not help noticing that the BookReader seems to be slightly undercooked. A few of the buttons don't really do anything, and you can't customize the dictionary to alter Jill's interpretation of commonly used, but horribly flubbed words, acronyms or numbers. The unit seems to be terribly overpriced as well. Plustek wants $600 for the BookReader, despite the fact that the OpticBook only costs $250 — and has its own text-to-speech function.
WIRED Reads books to you at the push of a button. Platen glass goes right to the edge to accommodate books without strain. Turns text into MP3s for portability. Includes several accessibility features to help the visually impaired.
TIRED The included software lacks polish and seems rushed. Squat, ugly looks make it seem at home in a cubicle farm. The reader voice may not screw up often, but when it does, it's a doozy. High price nears gouging territory.
$600, plustek.com
Read our full Plustek BookReader V100 review.
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: Photo: Dylan Tweeny/Wired.comApple's newest Shuffle (almost 50 percent smaller than previous Shuffles) could easily be mistaken for a stick of Trident, features no buttons, and pimps voice-identification technology. But even given its apparent readily consumable stature, there are a few features on the Shuffle that are a bit tough to swallow.
The biggest gripe on the 4-GB Shuffle we tested is definitely the control set. First off, it's completely counterintuitive; Apple says you can easily use it without looking. We still don't have the hang of it after a few days of testing. What's worse, if you have a decent set of earbuds (say, a pair of Shures or Ultimate Ears) you're totally hosed — you'll have to endure the 'buds that come with the Shuffle or pick up specially made third-party headphones. Our recommendation? Pick up a new Shuffle only if you're prepared to deal with proprietary headphones and ambiguous controls.
WIRED Thumb-drive size. Can double as a tie clip. Battery life lasts for 12 freaking hours. Short USB sync cord is sexy. Yes, we'll admit, it's another beautifully designed piece of hardware from Apple. Battery bonked out after 11 constant hours of blasting Thunderstruck on loop.
TIRED Proprietary headphones required. Control set awkward to use, hard to get used to. So small, it nearly gets lost in the packaging it comes in.
$80, apple.com
Read our full Apple iPod Shuffle 3rd Gen review.
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: Rather than foam, gel or compressed-air cushioning, the soles on Newtons have a series of "actuator lugs" just below the ball of the foot. The lugs are designed to help encourage you to land on your forefoot, to protect that part of the foot, and (best yet) to propel you forward. When you land, the lugs push into hollow chambers in the midsole. This cushions your landing, and helps make it comfy to land midsole or forefoot rather than on the heel as you might be accustomed. As your foot moves forward, these lugs then essentially lever out, and as you lift your foot, they return the energy by pushing up and out in the same direction as your stride. Newton claims this makes them more efficient than traditional foam or gel soles that simply absorb energy but don't return it.
WIRED So cozy they're like a Snuggie for your feet. Actuator lugs get you off your heels better than a La-Z-Boy. Lightweight at 10.2 ounces. Designed for all stride types. Stomps cold weather like global warming, and keeps out the drizzle for shizzle.
TIRED Not waterproof. Worse on single-track trails than a skateboard. $175??? OMG, for that much money I could just pay somebody to run for me.
$175, newtonrunning.com
Read our full Newton All Weather Trainer review.
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: The Firebird features a hybrid design — using 2.5-inch hard drives (two 320-GB models) and dual graphics cards originally designed for laptops — but powers it all with a desktop CPU and desktop-sized DIMMs. As with a laptop, wireless is built in, but the power supply is not: To save on wattage, HP breaks out the (enormous) power adapter instead of integrating it into the box.
As cool as the Firebird is on the whole, it isn't without some foibles. The inclusion of an ExpressCard slot is on the baffling-to-useless side, and the external power supply (it's huge) is more annoying to deal with than it sounds. But our biggest gripe is that the Firebird's streamlined shell means it includes no front-mounted ports at all, not even a single USB slot for your thumb drive. Seriously HP, even the Mac Pro finds room for that.
WIRED Amazingly quiet and conscientious in its power consumption. Outstanding design; belongs on top of the desk, not beneath it. Solid all-around performance at a fair price.
TIRED No front USB port. Curvy design means you can't put anything on top of the case. Functionally locked down, with no real upgrade path.
$2,100 (as tested), hp.com
Read our full HP Firebird 803 review.
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: I shouldn't love this truck. I should hate it. I purposely do not own a car, and this all-black behemoth represents everything I hate about SUV culture: conspicuous consumption, insensitivity to our rapidly shrinking world and crowded cities, middle finger raised at global warming.
You could slap a cold fusion generator under Big Poppa Cadillac's hood and the first two issues would still apply, but I was kind of wrong about that last one. Have you ever seen Godzilla vs. Megalon? Where Godzilla fights on behalf of the people of Japan against a giant rhinoceros/cockroach? Sure, Tokyo's favorite monster still smashes a bunch of buildings and steps on some people, but he's trying to be good. Same goes for this Hybrid Chromedaddy.
WIRED Decent pickup for a motorized bomb shelter. Combined ABS and regenerative braking system do a terrific job of hauling the beast down from speed. Trick motorized step makes it easy for shorties to climb into your rolling condo.
TIRED Thing has a car phone. No, not Bluetooth, but an actual phone built into infotainment system. (It's actually just Onstar, but there was no other option for hands-free calling.) What is this, 1989? Cadillac — God love 'em — uses the fact that this is a hybrid as an excuse to bling up the truck even more: Hybrid badges are plastered on every hard surface, on the sides of the door, even the windshield. —Joe Brown
$74,085 (as tested), Cadillac.com
Read our full Cadillac Escalade Hybrid review.
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: 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.
$360, amazon.com
Read our full Amazon.com Kindle 2 review.
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: 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.
$70, srslabs.com
Read our full SRS Labs iWOW Adapter for iPod review.
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:
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.
$300 (with 2-year contract), t-mobile.com
Read our full Samsung Memoir.
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: 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.
$400 as tested, asus.com
Read our full Asus Eee PC 1000HE review.
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: 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.
$150, universalremote.com
Read our full Universal Remote Digital R50 review.
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: 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.
$500, casio.com
Read our full Casio G-Shock MTG-1500 review.
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: 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.
$600 (as tested), asus.com
Read our full Asus ET1602 Eee Top review.
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: 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.
$120, swannsecurity.com
Read our full Swann Micro-VideoCam Recorder review.
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: 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.
$300, Kodak
Read our full Kodak Theatre HD Player review.
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: 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.
$3450, Ohm Cycles
Read our full Ohm Cycles XS700 review.
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: 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?
$800 as tested, Gateway
Read our full Gateway UC7807u review.
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: 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.
$500, Polar
Read our full Polar RS800CX MULTI review.
Check Wired.com's latest Product Reviews, updated daily.
: 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.
$400, Optoma
Read our full Optoma EP-PK-101 Pico Pocket Projector review.
Check Wired.com's latest Product Reviews, updated daily.
: 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.
$300, Olympus
Read our full Olympus Stylus 1050 SW review.
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: 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.
$200 with a two year contract, RIM
Read our full RIM BlackBerry Curve 8900 review.
Check Wired.com's latest Product Reviews, updated daily.
: 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.
$112 (estimated), Three
Read our full INQ1 Facebook Phone review.
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: 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.
$1550 (as tested), HP
Read our full HP TouchSmart tx2z review.
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: 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.
$125, Tivo
Read our full Nero LiquidTV TiVo PC review.
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Being in Beta is cool. So cool that five years after its April 2004 launch Gmail is still held in Beta by Google. That’s despite the fact that it has 146 million users worldwide (Comscore, April 2009). Which is sort of ridiculous.
Now we’re hearing that Google is having an internal debate about removing the Beta logos from a number of products that are aimed at enterprise customers.
About half of Google’s products were still in Beta at the end of 2008. Retaining the Beta notation in the logo gives the company a sort of get-out-of-jail-free card when problems occur. Hey, it’s still in Beta, so don’t be surprised when something goes wrong.
There’s a problem though. Sure, users think Beta is geeky and fun and cutting edge. But it turns out that enterprise customers are a little more serious about stuff working. A Beta tag means what it’s supposed to mean - not fully baked. Stuff that isn’t fully baked has risks, and guys that run IT at companies aren’t fans of risk. They need things locked down. And while they’re smart enough to know that Google’s Betas aren’t really Betas, they aren’t going to take a risk. If something goes wrong it’s their fault.
That’s why Google took Chrome out of Beta just a couple of months after it was first released. OEMs need release software to install it on PCs, so they had to move it along. Marissa Mayer talked about Google Betas in general, and Chrome specifically, at the Le Web conference in Paris last December - the relevant clip is below.
Don’t look for Google to give up their love of Betas in general. But they may remove the Beta notation from a number of Google Apps services, which are aimed at enterprise customers, sometime soon. A source first tipped us off that a debate was going on at Google, and we’ve subsequently confirmed it. Some top execs feel strongly that the Google Apps products need to have the Beta notation in their logos removed to get some enterprise customers to even consider switching from Microsoft Office.
Four of the five core Google Apps services are still in Beta: Gmail, Google Docs, Google Talk and Google Calendar. Google Sites, previously Jot, is the lone exception. We may see those Beta notations coming down soon, though. Stay tuned.
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How come we don’t get stuff like this all over the states? Gigantic beetlebots, wall-climbing spider monsters, and now a full-sized Gundam? For some reason, the only thing we super-size here is fries. Shouldn’t we have thousand-foot-tall robot cowboys and stuff?
The completed Gundam statue is expected to weigh nearly 35 tons, move its head and emit light or mist from 50 points of its body.
You’ve got to be kidding me. If they built this thing in Cal Anderson park here in Seattle, I’d party and never stop. We’ve got a pretty big Hammering Man (plus the Fremont Troll), but that’s hamburger compared to this Gundam’s fine, fine steak.
The statue is being erected to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the first Gundam TV broadcast(April 7, 1979). Damn, that was a long time ago. I’m more of an Evangelion guy, but I respect the Giant Robot wherever I see it.
It appears there is a stepped rollout going on with Transformers-related doodads. Hey, they can imitate anything within their mass limits, right? So why wouldn’t they become helpful everyday gadgets instead of expensive cars and flamey semi trucks? Just yesterday we saw the USB drive that turns into a robo-cat… or is it a robo-cat that turns into a USB drive? We won’t know until we get one. Same with this mouse, although I’m more skeptical of its functionality.
The Grimlock (and Trypticon) Transformer mice are, in a word, righteous. I can’t imagine they’re particularly good mice, but they’re almost certainly the best in their class (transforming mice).
[via Likecool and Gadget Review]
 San Francisco Chronicle | 7 Accused of Using Craigslist for Prostitution New York Times By CHRISTINE HAUSER Seven people have been indicted on charges of running a prostitution business in Queens that found clients through Craigslist and falsified records to make payments for sex appear to be for clowns and balloons, the state attorney ... South Carolina Declares Victory, Runs Away Craigslist sues over threat of prosecution |
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Time Magazine recently called YouTube one of the biggest tech failures of the past decade, which was hilarious. Hilarious in that the site is by far and away the most popular site for video on the web, and has revolutionized the way we view videos, period. Today brings another amazing stat about the site: Every single minute, over 20 hours of video are now uploaded to YouTube.
Think about that for a minute. In that minute, nearly a days worth of footage will have been uploaded. And the pace is quickening. Back in 2007, shortly after Google bought the service, it was 6 hours of footage being uploaded every minute. As recently as January of this year, that number had grown to 15 hours, according to the YouTube blog. Now it’s 20 — soon it will be 24. That’s insane.
It’s true that YouTube is not making Google any money, but when a site has this much dominance over a market, one way or another, there will be a way to effectively monetize it. The big Hollywood studios are already showing an increasing interest in using the platform, as are others — like ESPN.
Meanwhile, YouTube continues to become a bigger part of Google’s larger social picture. Today, the service added a way to immediately record a video response to a video after you watch it. Sure, this is basically what Seesmic has been doing for a while now — but Seesmic doesn’t have 20 hours of video being uploaded every minute.
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Last night we reported that BillShrink, a scrappy startup that helps users lower common household bills, scored a major marketing deal: T-Mobile is promoting them in shops and via a national television commercial in a huge way.
T-Mobile urges people to have a “mobile makeover” to “find a wireless plan that has the best coverage and price for you - even if it’s not with us.” The advertising goes on: “We’ll send you to BillShrink.com, an independent, third-party website that evaluates all of your unique needs against every national wireless plan.”
Sounds awesome. Kudos to T-Mobile for promoting an independent site. And +1 to BillShrink for convincing them to put serious marketing dollars towards promoting BillShrink.com.
…just one problem. The BillShrink tool that analyzes a user’s mobile usage to find the right plan for them says that a T-Mobile plan is almost always the right choice.
In every query we ran, where minutes, text messaging, data and other variables can be changed, T-Mobile came out as the top result that saved users the most money. In some queries T-Mobile took every result on the first page.
Now it turns out the T-Mobile, which is the smallest major network in the U.S., happens to offer more minutes and other features than the others for a lower price. Other sites like MyRatePlan agree.
In other words, BillShrink didn’t tweak the results because of their marketing partner. It just so happens that T-Mobile has real incentive to push them as an independent third party. Because they always come up with T-Mobile on top. Something tells me the other networks won’t be doing similar deals.
BillShrink has not yet responded to our request for comment. Update: Peter Pham has responded in the comments.
Update: Wait, we found one search where T-Mobile came up second! 1800 minutes, unlimited texts and unlimited data shows Sprint first, T-Mobile second.
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So what are we looking at here? It’s a suspended, completely self-contained watch with nine hands that turn in wild abandon. The thing is inside a massive steel case and looks as cool as all get out.
I’m not a huge Storm fan but this one seems to speak to me as a man who likes big watches. It costs about $170 on a steel bracelet and $199 on a “slate” bracelet. You can pick it up at Watchismo, my favorite watch site.
There’s a tendency in the Twitter era for people to share copious details of their lives with online pals. One way to do that is through new mobile-phone services that let people share their physical locations using the tracking technology inside modern cellphones.
While these location-sharing services have some interesting possibilities, they also raise some disturbing implications for privacy — or maybe it just seems that way if, like me, you’re over 35 years old. Lately I’ve been testing a cellphone location-sharing service that I found simple, useful and non-creepy enough that I can imagine people thirtysomething and older using it.
The free service is called Glympse, from a company of the same name that has designed it to share your location with friends and colleagues in small increments of time — glimpses, as the name implies, of your whereabouts. Glympse just released a test version of the service as an application for the G1, a phone offered by T-Mobile that runs Google’s (GOOG) Android operating system.
The company will release versions of Glympse for BlackBerry, Windows Mobile, iPhone and Nokia (NOK) phones in the coming weeks. Users can download the Glympse software onto G1 phones through Android Market, the online clearinghouse for applications for Android phones.
I used Glympse on an iPhone and a G1 and, for comparison, tried out a couple of other location-sharing applications, Google Latitude and Loopt. When you start the Glympse application, it identifies where you are on a map using a combination of location technologies in cellphones, including GPS satellites, Wi-Fi hot spots and phone towers.
Your location isn’t shared with others until you “send a Glympse” to someone. The software allowed me to send a Glympse with my location for selected chunks of time lasting anywhere from zero minutes to four hours. Picking zero minutes shared only my location at the moment of sending, while selecting four hours meant the recipients of my Glympse could track me for that period of time, wherever I went.
The sender of a Glympse can address it by entering a recipient’s email address, or a mobile-phone number for a text message. Recipients get a message with a link to a map on a Web page. A nice thing about the service is that it doesn’t require recipients to have the Glympse software, though the experience is richer when they do.
Sending a Glympse can be helpful anytime a friend, family member or colleague is expecting you. You can send a Glympse that lets a friend know you’re stuck in heavy traffic (although it’s wise to do that before you’re on the road to stay safe and, in some states, to avoid breaking the law). Parents can insist that teens send a Glympse when they go out for the evening.
Bryan Trussel, the CEO of Glympse, sent me several Glympses with short messages like “late lunch meeting” and “headed home” to explain where he was going. On the G1, I could see an icon representing Mr. Trussel moving around a map as he drove through the streets of Redmond, Wash., including his speed. I was also able to see traffic conditions, which would have been helpful if he had been running late. Glympse gave me a similar view of his location through a Web browser running on my PC. On the iPhone, the experience was more static, forcing me to reload a Web page to get a fresh view of Mr. Trussel’s whereabouts. Glympse says it will fix this so users of the iPhone can watch someone’s location in real time.
I encountered a bug with the service when I sent a couple Glympses to my own cellphone and that of a colleague — both BlackBerrys and neither of which had Glympse software. Both Glympses linked to high-level maps suggesting I was somewhere in North America, which wasn’t very helpful, even if it was technically accurate. The company couldn’t figure out what the problem was, and it eventually stopped happening for me too.
Once a Glympse expires, the service no longer tracks the sender’s location. It will show the sender’s last known location for 48 hours after the Glympse expires. Glympse may some day use your location information to target advertising to you, but the company isn’t doing that for now.
I’m far more comfortable with this form of finite location-sharing than the approach used by other services. Google Latitude lets you share your location to only a list of friends. It gives you the option of turning location sharing off or, through a “city level” option, it reveals only your general whereabouts. Loopt similarly allows you to set options to show, or hide your location from all or some online friends. A feature called Loopt Mix lists strangers you can send messages to in your general vicinity — many of whom seemed to be looking for romantic partners in my area.
Despite these controls, I easily forgot I was sharing my location with these two services. This might be fine for someone who enjoys being tracked down by friends during a night out on the town or is diligent about changing privacy settings when they want to go stealth.
I’m too lazy to manage my privacy so closely though. I don’t mind giving friends a look at my location, but only if I know the invitation isn’t open-ended.
Yes, there is very likely a new iPhone coming very soon. Probably to be unveiled at WWDC and launched sometime in July. But it's easy to forget those are all still rumors because Apple obviously won't comment on anything and so the information is based on leaked reports, second-hand whispers, inferences and digging through software code. But it's one of those situations where there is almost too much smoke for there not to be a fire. The latest bit of smoke comes compliments of Telecom New Zealand's official Twitter account.
"We are in negotiations with Apple... we are very focused on the 3rd gen iPhone.. we will keep u updated," a tweet reads. Another Twitter user asked for clarification if that meant the iPhone 3G or a 3rd version of the iPhone, and the account responded with "Correction, we did not say we're launching iphone, all said was that we're talking to Apple & we're focused on 3rd version." So while they denied an imminent launch on their network (because the iPhone is only on Vodafone in New Zealand right now), that does seem to confirm that they did mean a 3rd version of the iPhone -- which would be the next iteration of the iPhone, following the original iPhone and the iPhone 3G.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
 BBC News | Fossil Found ABC News By NED POTTER Scientists say a 47-million-year-old fossil found in Germany may be a key link to explaining the evolution of early primates and, perhaps, telling them about developments that led to modern human beings. "MISSING LINK" FOUND: New Fossil Links Humans, Lemurs? Norwegian team reveals 'missing link' |
 Phones Review | Kindle for iPhone 1.1 released Macworld Amazon updated its free Kindle app for the iPhone, adding three features in version 1.1 that many people—including some right here at Macworld—have been waiting for. Books Are at the Vanguard Want to Send a Document to Your Kindle? 15 Cents, Please. |
 Telegraph.co.uk | Microsoft's 'Kumo' Search Engine Rebranded 'Bing'? InformationWeek Whatever the software is called, it will likely feature search result categorization and other refinements designed to make general queries more specific. Overheard: Microsoft, Yahoo Talks Continue Waiting For One (Search) Giant To Topple Another |
Suggesting queries is becoming a pretty standard practice on search engines these days. You know, those drop-down menus that are populated as you type with things you likely mean. They’re useful, but Google just made them more useful.
Previously, when you types a query into Google’s search box, the menu would drop down giving you a range of possible search terms and how many results each would return if you select that one. Clicking on any of those would take you to a results page. Starting today, when you start typing in the search box, the suggest drop down is populated with a number of interesting things including direct links to pages, personalized results and even sponsored ads.
For example, if you start typing “TechCrunch” into Google with this feature enabled, you’ll see the first result in the drop-down menu is an actual link to our site. That cuts out the results page middle-man and saves time. There won’t be hyperlinks populated for all queries, but ones where Google is pretty sure they know what you’re looking for, you should see them on, we’re told.
That’s a great feature — but it also opens the door for Google to do something potentially much more interesting. With hyperlinks now in Suggest results, Google can also start serving ads in the results drop-down. And it’s already experimenting with it for a limited number of sponsored links.
This is Google serving you ads before you’ve even done a full query — just based on what you’re typing. And it’s pretty genius because presumably, companies would bid to get placed in these drop-downs just as they do for search result pages. And the click-through on these things must be massive.
But that’s getting ahead of ourselves. Google is very much downplaying that aspect right now, only saying that its experimenting with a limited number of sponsored links and that the feature is not open to new advertisers at this time. But you can bet it will be one day, and it can do nothing but help Google’s ad click-through rates.
[Above: What Suggest previously looked like.]
Another nice feature new to the drop-downs is personalized results. If you use Google’s history feature, you can see sites or results that you’ve used in the past get populated at the top of the drop-down. And if those aren’t actually relevant to what you’re looking for, there’s a “Remove” link to kill them.
Something else useful that Google is doing with Suggest is that even when you’re on a search results page now, you can use Suggest to further tailor a search. What I mean by this is, say your first search was for “roller coaster,” when you get to the results page, if you start typing in the search box again, you’ll get results based around that original query. So if you were to type “biggest,” Suggest would give you a drop down with “biggest roller coasters” suggested. It’s a subtle feature, but nice.
A final small feature is that the “Google Search” and “I’m Feeling Lucky” buttons have been placed in the drop down as well. Previously, the drop down obscured the view of these. And as you’ll notice in the screenshots, Google removed those silly tallies telling you how many results each query had. Most people were just confused by them, and it’s not like they helped rank the results in the drop down, Google says.
Yesterday, I gave Yahoo some grief over their search product on the consumer end after a lackluster state of search event. This is the type of stuff I like to see — just small, little useful features. They don’t necessarily have to be game-changers — at least not until Google starts selling those sponsored links in the drop-downs.
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 Washington Post | Bottoms up: Space station crew samples recycled urine CNET News by William Harwood The three-man crew of the International Space Station explored a strange new world Wednesday, boldly going where no other astronauts have gone before: toasting each other with sips of recycled sweat and urine in a major milestone for ... As Atlantis Wings Home, Congress Debates NASA's Future Astronauts drink urine recycled as water |
Mozilla has unveiled a new project from its Labs division called Jetpack that gives us a taste of how Firefox might begin extending web functionality in years to come. While the project is still quite early in development, it seems to be taking the form of a streamlined extension system, allowing web developers to introduce new features to the Firefox browser using web-based tools and requiring only a minimal amount of effort on the user’s part.
Firefox extensions have long been one of the best parts of the browser, allowing users to add and remove features to suit their needs. But while the user experience of installing these has been relatively straightforward, it still requires a browser reboot, which can be frustrating when you’re in the middle of something. With Jetpack, this isn’t an issue - you click install and you’re done, with the new widget or application installed a few seconds later.
Jetpack is being described as “an exploration in using Web technologies to enhance the browser (e.g. HTML, CSS and Javascript), with the goal of allowing anyone who can build a Web site to participate in making the Web a better place to work, communicate and play.” In other words, if you know how to develop for the web, you should be able to build a Jetpack app. Developers can write code using Mozilla’s web-based Bespin environment and the popular Firebug extension. For an idea of how easy it is to build these applications, check out the video below.
At this point there aren’t many demo apps available, but you can try them out for yourself by going to the Jetpack homepage and installing the Jetpack 0.1 extension (you’ll have to reboot your browser to get it working). From there you can find demos here and here, with available applications including a weather forecaster, Delicious Notifier, and an Ad blocker (there’s also an app that will mix up the images seen in your open browser tabs, if you’re looking for something truly useless).
Mozilla Labs Jetpack - Intro & Tutorial from Aza Raskin on Vimeo.
Because Jetpack is still in very early stages it’s tough to tell just how powerful it will eventually become, and if it could ever replace the current extension model. Looking beyond traditional extensions, the new project could potentially allow trusted websites to customize the browser experience on a site-by-site basis, which could prove quite useful (or annoying, depending how it works out).
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Section: Communications, Cellphones, Cellular Providers, Smartphones
When the Palm Pre’s availability was officially announced, the price tag of $299 rained on the Pre’s parade. Not many people are going to be willing to shell out $299 for the Pre, but it does come with a $100 mail-in-rebate. Of course, the flaw to that is many people will probably forget to send in their rebate and lose out on $100 cashback. Today, Best Buy announced that they will be retailing the Pre for $299, but at the register, it will come down to $199, as they will take care of the rebate process for you.
In addition, Best Buy Mobile will be selling the Pre for $199 at over 1067 locations, and every customer has the opportunity to leave the store with a functioning Pre all set up for free. According to Gizmodo, RadioShack is also waiving the rebate form and selling the Pre for $199. This brings up an interesting dilemma, or so to speak. If other stores are not going to be waiving the rebate, then what’s stopping customers from buying the Pre at Best Buy or RadioShack? The only thing I can think of is shortage of supplies, which is already going to be a dilemma, as stated by Sprint CEO Dan Hesse.
If you want to pick up a Pre from either Best Buy or RadioShack, you better plan on staying in line for a long time because the phones in your area will probably not stay in stock for too long. I imagine many other stores will start to waive the rebate as a way to attract more business. We’ll let you if anything else changes.
Read [Best Buy]
Full Story » | Written by Natesh Sood for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
The Internet has spoken: The “American Idol” race is too close to call.
The hit reality TV show holds its 2009 season finale on Wednesday night, when either Adam Lambert or Kris Allen will be crowned as winner.
Biz360, a company that measures blog and other social media chatter for companies, has been turning its technology into an “Idol” predictor in recent weeks. Measuring both the volume and tone of coverage, it accurately predicted that Matt Girard, Allison Iraheta and Danny Gokey would be voted off the show, in that order.
But while the Biz360 folks worked through the night trying to read the tech tea leaves, they say that it is just too close to call. As of Wednesday morning, Lambert had an edge over Allen of just 1 percent, they said.
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Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Surveyor makes open source robot controllers that have quite a fan following among do-it-yourself drone enthusiasts. The company’s core product is the SRV-1, a programmable mobile robot controller that is open source,wireless and video enabled.
Peter Dove, UK-based developer, has created a nifty way to control the Surveyor SRV-1 module’s camera and the base using a Nintendo DS game console. Dove used the SRV-1 console’s built-in WiFi link to remotely control the motorized robot base and view pictures and video transmitted by the robot. And as the video shows the buttons on the DS’s console work perfectly for the purpose.
The attempt is similar to how some enthusiasts had used the Google Android G1 phone to control a robotic blimp.
For detailed binaries and source code on how Dove brings together the DS and the Surveyor moduel, check out his blog.
You know you’re too attached to technology when you risk your life for a gadget. That’s what a 16-year-old did in Tampa, Florida when she dropped her iPod in the street and ran back to retrieve it, only to be hit by a pickup truck.
The teenager suffered a broken leg. Police did not disclose the name of the victim or the condition of the iPod.
Photo: A totaled 1975 Nissan-Datsun pickup truck (not the vehicle involved in the accident in this story). scalpel/Flickr
FROM APPLETELL - PhotoForge was created to be an image editor for the iPhone, and it does that extremely well. If I were to have to sum it up in one sentence, I would probably call it the Photoshop of the iPhone. Seriously.
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Full Story » | Written by NEWS for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
How quickly they grow. Remember when Twitter was just a little pipsqueek, with less than 10 million monthly unique visitors to its site worldwide? That was back in February, 2009. Fast-forward to April, and Twitter’s U.S. visitors alone reached 17 million. Now comScore has released its worldwide numbers and it estimates Twitter’s global unique visitors in April, 2009 was a whopping 32 million, up from 19 million in March, 2009.
To put that in growth into perspective, Twitter has just passed Digg (23 million), LinkedIn (16 million), and the NYTimes.com (17.5 million) in monthly unique visitors, as counted by comScore. And comScore only measures the number of people who visit Twitter’s Website, not the millions more who send and read tweets via their phones, desktop apps, or other Websites. Twitter.com is also now bigger than Bebo and Freindster, for what it is worth. Who will it pass next?
Its getting so big that its growth rate is beginning to temper. In April, Twitter added 13 million visitors, which is more than the 9 million it added in March. Its month-over-month growth rate, however, slowed to 68 percent from 95 percent the month before. Still, if it can keep adding 10 million global visitors a month, it will easily pass 50 million this summer and 100 million by the end of the year. No wonder everyone from Facebook to Google is looking over their shoulders.
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Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Japanese developer Yudo will soon be releasing "8Bitone", an 8-bit chiptunes synthesizer for iPhone and iPod touch. No idea on the cost—most sequencers have been fairly expensive on the iPhone, in the $10-$20 range. I am fond of their title banner. [via GameSetWatch]
This bottle opener by Georg Jensen is $20 at Urban Outfitters. [via The Laughing Squider via Der Swisser Misser]Read more of this story at Slashdot.
And now for the five winners of modern Black & Decker DustBusters. I picked them all based on effort and implied need and so we have some of the best vacuuming stories ever to come out of the readership of a consumer electronics blog.
Special thanks to Black&Decker for the opportunity and happy birthday DustBuster!
DotComGuy - Wins because he totally tried so hard.
Oh the memories… The year was 1982. Unemployment was in the double digits, stagflation was going out of style and the dial on our TV had broken off so we used needle nose pliers to change the channel. Changing the channel without a dial is a lost art. With no numbers to reference, one had to count (without a slide-rule no less) the number of clicks or get stuck watching commercials until the next station ID. One day I lost count, perhaps because our new dual tape answering machine (what will they think of next) had answered a call, or maybe my fear of the war in the Falklands spreading to some place that mattered overwhelmed me… Whatever the case, I lost count of the clicks and found myself watching commercials so I could figure out what channel I was on.
And then it happened, I saw the solution to all my problems. The commercial featured a boy with the unfortunate name of “little mess” (because mishaps followed him everywhere). Name aside this kid had it all. He got to eat snacks on the couch while watching TV, he had a big sheepdog that followed him everywhere, played in sand that he tracked up the stairs with shag carpet that covered unsightly antique hardwood floors, carried a hockey stick that he used to knock over ashtrays, and he ate cupcakes while practicing piano. On top of all this, his mom was always smiling!
What was this kid’s secret? His mom had a Black & Decker Dustbuster of course!
The wheels started turning in my young imaginative mind that was not polluted by MTV (we didn’t have cable). The DustBuster was all that was holding me back from experiencing the fullness of life! First I had to get my mom a DustBuster. Next, I would ask my neighbors if their sheepdog could follow me through our house. After a game of hockey, I would carelessly knock over an ashtray (and since my parents were squares and didn’t allow smoking in the house that would be a really cool trick!). I would then trail sand up the stairs and finally enjoy a chocolate cupcake while I played piano.
After months of begging, my dad finally got my mom a DustBuster for Christmas. But my mom didn’t smile when I made a mess, we never got a dog, no one smoked in the house, I never played hockey, or learned to play the piano.
But I did learn to eat snacks on the couch and clean up without anyone knowing… for a week. The battery wasn’t the problem. The commercial taught me how to put it back in the really cool wall charger, but I really wish it had mentioned that you had to empty it every now and then. It doesn’t vacuum very well when it’s full of “munchies.”
AnneMaddox - She wins because she made a video
DoctorJay - Because he won a DustBuster by getting people drunk
I got my first Dustbuster via an incentive program for waiters at a restaurant in Tysons Corner, VA.
The goal was to “upsell” as many drinks as you could. If someone asked for a Bloody Mary, you were expected to ask “Would you like that with Absolut Peppar?” If they said yes, you could hear the “ca-ching” of an extra buck fifty added to the bill. Pretty sleezy, but I ended up winning the Dust Buster.
I used it to vacuum my entire apartment numerous times. At about 250 square feet it wasn’t too difficult crawling around on my hands and knees sucking up ramen noodle powder.
Zach H - Because he wants to pick up his daughter
When the origional DustBuster first came out we tried to pick up everything we could with it. I managed to suck up some really nasty stuff…and when fully charged leave some nasty hickies on passed out party goers. The Buster met its doom though when we tried to suck up spilt beer from my friends parents Mercedes, alas a shop vac it was not! I’d love a chance to see if the new DustBuster can stand up to my 1 year old daughter and the mess she leaves in her wake!
DON - Gets one because he totally needs one
my story is short and certainly not fond.
when i moved here to puerto vallarta, mexico, about 2 years ago, i figured it waas time to retire my trusty dustbuster. i thought i would just buy a new model after 20+ years because there had probably been a number of improvements since then. so, i arrived here in PV and made my way to wal-mart, sam’s club, soriana, tio sam’s, etc. there were none to be had. i actually started yelling and carrying on in wal-mart’s parking lot! all because all i found was some sort of a second or fourth rate brand with a 10 foot cord. it died after 2 uses.
now, here i am sitting in possibly the dustiest city in north america with no dustbuster and so, no relief from the ‘polvo’.
since all i have are memories of effortless clean-ups, my tale is one of woe rather than one of fondness. i am too distraught to think fondly….wistfully, yes; fondly, no. sorry.
Thanks for playing, guys. Those were great stories.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
“We are winning!”
- Iraqi Information Minister Muhammed Saeed al-Sahaf, declaring victory in the aftermath of the 2003 invasion, adding “We have them surrounded in their tanks.”
South Carolina Attorney General Henry McMaster pulls an “al-Sahhaf” by declaring victory in the Craigslist debacle:
Columbia, SC – “The defensive legal action craigslist has taken against the solicitors and my office is good news. It shows that craigslist is taking the matter seriously for the first time
More importantly, overnight they have removed the erotic services section from their website, as we asked them to do. And they are now taking responsibility for the content of their future advertisements. If they keep their word, this is a victory for law enforcement and for the people of South Carolina.
Unfortunately, we had to inform them of possible state criminal violations concerning their past practices to produce a serious response. We trust they will now adhere to the higher standards they have promised. This office and the law enforcement agencies of South Carolina will continue to monitor the site to make certain that our laws are respected.”
That’s nice. But here’s the truth. On May 13 Craigslist announced it would remove the erotic services category on its site. Despite that announcement and the subsequent removal of all pornographic and prostitution ads on the South Carolina Craigslist site, McMaster threatened criminal action against Craigslist management.
The reason? McMaster doesn’t care about Craigslist. But he does care about becoming the governor of South Carolina, and Craigslist is an easy target. He needs the press to see him taking a tough stance on crime, and a faraway but high profile startup is his meal ticket.
But Craigslist stood firm, and today filed a lawsuit in federal court against McMaster seeking declaratory relief and a restraining order.
McMaster’s statement declaring victory came after that lawsuit. And what he’s really doing is running away from a situation that has become a little too hard for him to handle. Craigslist bit back. He’s moving on to easier targets.
Our readers agree that, if pressed, they’d choose Craigslist over South Carolina. But what’s most interesting is that the conservative residents of South Carolina agree - McMaster is a jerk.
So pop the champagne bottles, another bad guy was disgraced today.
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Microsoft's Chief Software Architect Ray Ozzie made some interesting predictions on the future of cloud computing at J.P. Morgan's Technology, Media and Telecom Conference in Boston today (see below for the full transcript). Ozzie says that while the IT community is in the very early stages of cloud computing innovations, the future for companies' data hosting will be in the mixture of cloud computing and on-premise data centers.
"But the high level pattern, which really I think we would all agree on, is that at some point in time every major enterprise, every company, every ISV is going to have some blend of software that runs on-premises and some that runs in the cloud, and everyone wants tools that they can use to in essence deploy some apps to part of their organization that might be in the cloud, another part of their organization that might be on-premises, to do that on an application by application or region by region by region or program by program basis."
Mark Wilson: The sensation is akin to sucking a tiny bit of cocoa powder through a straw. And while not necessarily enjoyable in any way, it was admittedly a lot of chocolate flavor for only .8 calories a stick.
Section: Gadgets / Other, GPS/Navigation
A federal watchdog agency is warning Congress that the GPS system may begin to suffer failures and outages starting next year and blamed the Air Force’s mismanagement and and underinvestment for it.
“If the Air Force does not meet its schedule goals for development of GPS IIIA satellites, there will be an increased likelihood that in 2010, as old satellites begin to fail, the overall GPS constellation will fall below the number of satellites required to provide the level of GPS service that the U.S. government commits to.” said the Government Accountability Office in their report.
The GAO considers the system to be essential to national security, which only heightens concern about its stability and overall condition. GPS is also widely used by individuals and businesses. The first replacement satellite is set to launch in November. Russia, China, and India also have GPS systems and the EU is set to roll out theirs later this year. If the Air Force continues to mismanage and underinvest in our system, it gives these other nations the chance to rival the U.S. in space, something that was thought could never happen.
I have GPS built into my phone and it’s pretty handy to have. If there was a blackout or mass failure of our GPS system, would there be widespread chaos or would people simply have to learn how to use maps again? The consequences for our military and security of course would be much more severe.
Read [PCWorld]
Full Story » | Written by Sue Walsh for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
The recently announce Pentax K-7 is shaping up nicely. The 14.6-megapixel shooter has an impressive spec list that includes 720p HD video recording, an HDR mode, and a solid body, but the high price of $1,299 took some by surprise. That price is notably more than the new Nikon D5000 and Canon T1i that feature similar specs. An early review by DemsystifyingDigital though gave the camera very high marks despite taking impressions from a pre-production model.
We won’t steall all of their thunder but they found the large camera to be solid. The button placement has improved from previous models and there are more of ‘em. The shutter and autofocus is fast too. Overall, they walked away with the impression that the camera is meant more for the prosumer or photographer looking to make a step up into a more feature-filled camera.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
FROM APPLETELL - The iHome iP9 is a dual alarm clock radio and iPod speaker dock unit that does everything you’d expect ; it will play your iPod’s music, the radio and auxiliary audio, and it will do all of this for you in the wee hours of the morning we all love.
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Not too long ago, Google added voice recognition to their iPhone search application. Not one to be behind the times, Yahoo! has gone and immediately done the same.
Well, that’s what we should have been able to say. Instead, Yahoo’s voice recognition add-on comes nearly 6 months after Google’s. Of course, Yahoo’s application is a bit more complex than Google’s, being that it also handles news, aggregates various social sites, and a good amount more beyond search. But search is Yahoo’s main gig. Combined with the fact that everyone hates typing, Yahoo should have done this ages ago.
Yahoo’s implementation is quite different than Googles - for better or worse.
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Not too long ago, Google added voice recognition to their iPhone search application. Not one to be behind the times, Yahoo! has gone and done the same.
Well, that’s what we should have been able to say. Instead, Yahoo’s voice recognition add-on comes nearly 6 months after Google’s. Of course, Yahoo’s application is a bit more complex than Google’s, being that it also handles news, aggregates various social sites, and a good amount more beyond search. That being said, search is Yahoo’s main gig. Combined with the fact that everyone hates typing, Yahoo should have done this ages ago.
Yahoo’s implementation is quite different than Googles - for better or worse.
Back when Google initially launched their app with voice search functionality, it caused a bit of a stir. Google had made use of an API that was generally off limits the app developers. The API they used took input from the iPhone’s proximity sensor, allowing them to tell if the phone was placed near the user’s face. Once the proximity sensor went off, voice recording began. Had Apple let Google slide intentionally, or did the person in charge of reviewing the app just miss the memo that this was a no-go? As with anything on the internet, conspiracy theories were fairly rampant.
Whether they tried to make use of the same API and were denied or they simply chose to avoid conflict, we’re not sure - but Yahoo opted to go with a more traditional push-to-begin, push-to-stop recording method. It’s not quite as slick, but it has an upside: it doesn’t screw up. At least, it doesn’t screw up without an obvious reason (see below.) I’m not sure if the proximity sensor just hates my manly facial scruff or something, but Google’s solution tends to misfire a lot. It’ll detect my face and begin the recording, then stop a second or two later. I’ll pull my iPhone away to see what’s going on, and the sensor will fire off, starting the recording again. Every one of my voice-powered Google iPhone app searches seems to begin with “Wait, damn it, okay ..” This is a little more fool-proof.
On the downside, they placed the Record/Stop record right in the middle of the screen - smack dab where your cheek bone will sit, potentially misfiring the button. This happened to me twice in testing. Holding the iPhone at a slight angle (so that it doesn’t touch your cheek) fixes things.
This recording method could arguably be more user-friendly, but the voice recognition isn’t. Of 3 tests, 2 of which were significantly inaccurate.
Test #1:
What I said: Blah blah blah, blah blah blah.
What Yahoo! detected: Blah blah blah, blah blah blah
Test #2:
What I said:This is a story all about how, My life got flipped-turned upside down
What Yahoo! detected: This is a story of the town of west africa upside down
Test #3:
What I said:This is a test of yahoo voice recognition, test test, 1 2 1 2
What Yahoo! detected: This test of yahoo voice recognition, test, test tube 1 2 4
As you can see from test 1, Yahoo!’s voice recognition is outstanding at picking up “Blah”s. As you can see from test 2, however, it is fairly terrible at picking up the Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air theme. And for test 3? We can see where the “test tube” mistake happened (”Test One Two” kind of sounds like “test tube”) - but where the hell did that “4″ come from?
Oh well - maybe it’s just my crazy exotic Californian accent screwing things up.
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Good news, people with Dads or Dad analogs! Show Pop you care with Shapeways custom cufflinks.
Shapeways can offer two winning CrunchGear/TechCrunch readers each a pair of the custom 3D printed metal cufflinks as a Father’s Day gift. The final shipping date for this item is May 26, 2009, so be sure to let me know the winners prior to then. These items MSRP for $49, including shipping and gift packaging.
Note: these don’t have to go to your Dad. Maybe Mom likes men’s dress shirts. No judgment.
How do you win? Tell us about how your dad turned you into a geek in comments. We’ll pick two commenters at random. We’ll close the contest on Friday, May 22, at noon ET.
The big box retailers have found a way to compete with telecom carriers when it comes to the latest cellphones. Palm Pre buyers, getting a Pre at Best Buy or RadioShack, will find that it costs them less at the register than getting the device at one of Sprint’s stores.
Instead of making customers mail in the $100 rebate on the Pre’s $300 price tag, Best Buy and RadioShack will instantly deduct the rebate price at the register. Effectively, that means out of pocket, the Palm Pre will be available for $200 at Best Buy and RadioShack stores.
Palm and Sprint went official with their pricing for the much-awaited Palm Pre phone Monday but they also delivered a zinger in the form of a rebate. As most of us know, rebates are a huge pain and Sprint is counting on the fact that not all Pre buyers will take the effort to mail their coupons.
We are glad to see electronics retailers do away with the rebate scam and offer the Pre at what should have been the final price for customers.
Meanwhile, if you would like to take a look at the innards of the Pre, check out the FCC filings for the device here and here.
Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.com
AT&T is contemplating offering cheaper data plans for its smartphones, including the iPhone.
The telecom company is thinking about offering a limited data package, which would cost less than its current unlimited data plans. For example, AT&T currently offers iPhone 3G users an unlimited data plan priced at $30 per month.
“Right now we continue to study what is the best thing that is available, not just from an iPhone point of view, but what you can do to stimulate additional demand,” Ralph de la Vega, the head of AT&T Mobility, told Reuters.
Clearly, AT&T is aiming to attract frugal consumers unwilling to pay the monthly rates of a smartphone. With a voice plan and unlimited data plan combined, the least an iPhone customer can pay is about $70 per month. Thus, a reduced, limited data plan is targeting those who feel that’s too much to pay for a phone.
While this may sound like good news, we’re skeptical a reduced, limited data plan would benefit consumers. By default, the iPhone automatically connects to the internet to check your e-mail, among other activities, even when it’s asleep. Thus, you’d have to frequently turn the internet connection on and off to avoid surpassing whatever limit AT&T imposes so as not to pay additional charges. And if you’re not careful, you could easily end up shelling out well over the $30 you’d normally pay for an unlimited data plan.
A better way to reduce monthly data costs? I like TechCrunch writer MG Siegler’s suggestion: Get rid of those text-messaging (SMS) fees. Text messages are indeed data, and yet we pay additional fees (e.g., at least $5 per month for 200 texts for the iPhone 3G) just to send them — so AT&T’s unlimited data plan isn’t truly an unlimited data plan. Lump unlimited text messaging into the unlimited data plan, and there you have it — a less expensive smartphone package.
Of course, we doubt AT&T would ever do that. Text messages cost nearly nothing for telecom companies, so might as well keep making consumers pay for nothing. Cruel world, isn’t it?
See Also:
Photo: Jason-Morrison/Flickr
If you want to use your own music creation software, you can download the tracks from Pandagod.com. Just make sure that you upload your song to remix.w1k.com when you’re done. All previous entries will be uploaded too. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to write an email to remix at crunchgear dot com.
There are no genre limitations so we encourage you to unleash your creativity. We will judge every single entry and select the best mixes. The winning songs will be professionally mastered by Online-Mastering.com and featured on CrunchGear.
For updates about the contest or if you’d like to ask a question, follow me on Twitter. We have an event on Facebook, join up!
Aliph's Jawbone Prime and BlueAnt's Q1 Bluetooth headsets are alike. The Jawbone has "NoiseAssassin", while the BlueAnt has "Voice Isolation Technology" -- in either case, audio is clearer and louder as a result. Both can pair with 8 devices, and simultaneously connect to 2. Both are voice activated, and neither require earloops to fit comfortably. Both are pretty little things: as is clear at a glance, they even share a similar design. They are both $130, and both arrive in extravagant display-case boxes.The differences: Jawbone's latest has a nodule that rests against the cheekbone, to detect jaw movements and "feel your speech." Its buttons are concealed underneath its flexible casing, adding a certain sci-fi geek cachet, whereas the BlueAnt has external controls. The BlueAnt has a useful voiceover that talks you through setup, whereas Jawbone users must consult the user guide.
Where the Jawbone Prime is superior is in its fit: its unusually designed earbud, in several sizes, makes it seem to float outside the ear canal, while remaining perfectly stuck inside it. BlueAnt's Q1 is comfy enough, but only has two earbud options and is easier to shake loose. The BlueAnt's just-works voice controls are more comprehensive than the Jawbone's, however, and its exterior controls are easier to hit on the go than the Jawbone's concealed ones.
But there's only so much that can be done with a bluetooth headset: the concept in either case is to offer decent hardware that doesn't make the wearer look like a junior executive. Both are in a league of their own compared to other headsets, so what it comes down to is taste: BlueAnt comes in black brushed metal and has straightforward controls, whereas the Jawbone is offered in fantastic colors and is too clever with its interface. BlueAnt's Q1 is conservative and buttoned-down, while the Jawbone Prime has attitude and style.
I'd keep the Jawbone, myself, but hey: green's my color.
BlueAnt Q1
Aliph Jawbone Prime
Section: Gadgets / Other, GPS/Navigation
You may have heard that Navigon, a GPS maker, is pulling out of the North American market. That’s quite the shame because their products were pretty good. Plenty of Navigon units (including some low priced ones) had traffic updates for life. But what happens now that Navigon has quit this market?
No problem. You’re still covered. According to a Navigon representative, if you bought a device with lifetime traffic, then a third party vendor will still deliver service for you. Also, just because Navigon will no longer be marketing to North America doesn’t mean they won’t have a presence. They will have an office that will remain here to provide support.
So, if you’re looking for a low cost GPS with traffic updates for life—maybe grab a Navigon while they are still out there.
Full Story » | Written by Iyaz Akhtar for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
AT&T has announced plans to offer subsidized netbooks nationwide, which include access to its 3G data network.
The company in April was testing subsidized netbooks in Atlanta and Philadelphia, and soon the devices will be offered in 2,200 AT&T stores throughout the United States, as well as through att.com.
AT&T also plans to offer additional model choices, including netbooks from Acer, Dell and Lenovo. The company has not yet specified which models.
The growth suggests that the subsidized-netbook pilot program went well for AT&T, meaning consumers are actually buying these.
We’re surprised. As I pointed out months ago, buying an AT&T-subsidized netbook for $100 requires committing to a 2-year broadband plan. The plan costs $60 per month, amounting to $1,540 over two years.
On the plus side, you do gain internet access anywhere you can get a cellphone connection. But that’s $60 per month to use the internet on one computer — an extremely limited, low-powered netbook at that, which is typically a companion device.
Why not purchase a smartphone with a tethering plan? That way you’d be able to use the internet on various computers as opposed to just one. Plus, you’d be able to simply add on to your smartphone monthly plan. The idea of another data contract on top of my two-year smartphone commitment is a huge turn-off to me.
Other than that, netbooks are cheap to begin with. On average a pretty decent netbook costs no more than $350, so why pay $100 for a netbook and agree to a $60-per-month, two-year contract?
What do you think, readers? Would you commit to one of these?
Press release [AT&T]
See Also:
Boost Mobile, the refreshed and rambunctious pre-paid arm of Sprint-Nextel, has some news that may shock some people: Even with the economy teetering, Boost hasn’t folded it’s hand. Turns out, Boost mobile may be sitting with a full house. They’re doing well, well enough to be expanding on a solid scale with 50 exclusive stores nationwide. The first of the bunch opened up May 8th in Philadelphia, nine more following within the first quarter of 2009. The rest of the stores will be slated for their grand-opening parties before the 2010 year marker.
“Our stores will have a great vibe and highlight the best we have to offer,” said Jeff Auman, vice president of sales and distribution, Boost Mobile. “But they’re much more than just retail spots aimed at attracting customers, the stores are centers for community connection. Becoming an integral part of these neighborhoods is a priority for Boost Mobile, and we are actively engaging local civic officials and giving back to charities in the communities where our stores are located.”
From the looks of it, Boost Mobile is doing it’s part to really grab the customers aimed for. From decent pricing plans and dirt cheap phones, to promises of giving back to the communities that Boost stores are located in. And with it’s awkward commercials geared toward the 18-25 year-old-neanderthal, it is grabbing the interest of children with ease. I mean, cyber-stalking and armpit hair at least 2 feet in length on a teenage girl, what else sells to kids? So, now that we know how to truly captivate the youthful crowd (crude humor and obsession), it’s your move Big Tobacco.
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We love DVRs, but sweet crackers, why must they be all the same? Same look, same features, same UI. Thank jeebus someone is approaching DVR a little differently. Check out what Moxi has been cooking up. From reviewer, Terrence Russell:
Digeo’s Moxi HD DVR sports a slick, Emmy-winning (seriously) user interface and all the commercial-skipping accouterments of competitors like TiVo. It even ditches a monthly bill in favor of flat pricing. And due to a recent firmware update, the Moxi also grants access to online video and music.
But the big difference is the UI. That aforementioned Emmy? Totally deserved. Digeo outfitted the Moxi with a stunning full-HD user interface, full of slick transitions and responsive performance. Unfortunately, sleek visuals don’t conquer all. Basics like surfing through the program guide (or accessing a previously recorded show) took a lot of hunting and pecking through a menu tree. Though we never truly got lost in the Moxi’s dazzling menus, there are a few tasks that grew tiring. Finding pre-recorded shows and getting them to play took searching, highlighting, selecting Play, confirming that you selected Play, and then finally watching.
You can read the rest of the review of the Diego Moxi HD DVR right here.
So you want a BlackBerry on AT&T, but not the Bold. We get it; the Bold is a bit expensive, a bit chunky, and seriously - who really needs three Gs? You’d be perfectly fine with one or two Gs, but no one seems to offer that. If that sounds like you, you should be set come Friday. On May 22nd, AT&T will be releasing the slightly less portly, slightly less expensive, and significantly less 3G’d BlackBerry Curve 8900.
3G or not, it’s still a solid device. The Curve 8900’s individual-button style keyboard is a whole lot easier to type on the back-to-back buttonry of the Bold. Plus, the Curve 8900 would totally stomp the Bold in a beauty contest. $199 and a 2-year contract and it’s yours.
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Google seems to update at least one of its products once a month or so. Sometimes the updates can be small, other times they can fundamentally change how some people use the products. The newest update to Google Reader seems to be somewhere in between those two extremes.
The new updates, overall, seem to make the service easier to use. The most obvious ease of use update is the updated new user page. It features six items which help explain Google Reader, including a new tutorial video. To help out those users not familiar with Reader, its possible to import feeds from iGoogle, though why someone would use iGoogle for feeds and not Reader is beyond me.
The other major update is that now you can view which of your friends share stories the most. It also keeps track of whose stories you actually read when they’re shared. Both of which can be useful so you can tell who’s been spamming your inbox with shared stories that you never end up reading.
The Google Reader team admits that the new features in this update come from blog, Twitter and the Google discussion groups. Its nice to know that they monitor a variety of sources when it comes to figuring out what people want.
Read [Google Reader Blog]
Full Story » | Written by Shawn Ingram for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
Yes, there is very likely a new iPhone coming very soon. Probably to be unveiled at WWDC and launched sometime in July. But it’s easy to forget those are all still rumors because Apple obviously won’t comment on anything and so the information is based on leaked reports, second-hand whispers, inferences and digging through software code. But it’s one of those situations where there is almost too much smoke for there not to be a fire. The latest bit of smoke comes compliments of Telecom New Zealand’s official Twitter account.
“We are in negotiations with Apple… we are very focused on the 3rd gen iPhone.. we will keep u updated,” a tweet reads. Another Twitter user asked for clarification if that meant the iPhone 3G or a 3rd version of the iPhone, and the account responded with “Correction, we did not say we’re launching iphone, all said was that we’re talking to Apple & we’re focused on 3rd version.” So while they denied an imminent launch on their network (because the iPhone is only on Vodafone in New Zealand right now), that does seem to confirm that they did mean a 3rd version of the iPhone — which would be the next iteration of the iPhone, following the original iPhone and the iPhone 3G.
Of course, the telecom didn’t give any launch dates or specs or pricing, but if they’re talking with Apple about this next generation of the device, you can be pretty sure it’s coming soon. Of course, we already mostly knew that, but just a little more fuel for the fire.
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Jan Vormann is at it again. Instead of Tel Aviv, this time he's in Berlin, filling in structural damage from WWII gunfire with LEGO blocks.
[via LikeCool]
Craigslist is preparing to sue the attorney general of South Carolina for making threats of criminal charges to the website in regards to the recently removed erotic section. The lawsuit, which has been filed at a federal level, states that Craigslist wished to seek “declaratory relief and a restraining order” against the office of the South Carolina attorney general.
The attorney general has been very vocal about frustration over Craigslist and their refusal to remove erotically charged material from the classified site. Even after the removal of the erotic services section, the South Carolina attorney general felt that this was not adequate in ridding the site of “advertisements for prostitution and graphic pornographic material.” Craigslist responded in a blog post by stating that the threat of criminal charges goes against the free speech right.
Craigslist removed the erotic services section after feeling pressure from several law agencies. A newly launched adult services section is monitored and users must pay a fee to advertise there. Craigslist CEO Jim Buckmaster has stated that the only potential way to abide by the requests made by the South Carolina attorney general is to take down the site entirely.
Read: [CNET News]
Full Story » | Written by Heather Wood for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
These super-cute alarm clocks were made from scraps of wood from a 200-year old barn in Switzerland. The body is designed and made by furniture designer Furni Creations and then painted by Don Pendleton, a skateboard artist. There are two different designs currently on auction at eBay--proceeds go youth skateboarding non-profit Elemental Awareness."It always amazes me when I think about how I had to go to Iraq to meet the person I would be with back in the United States," says Jonathan Stoddard, 26, who met Lisa Wagner online while serving as a Marine lieutenant in Anbar province and married her in Fullerton, Calif., last Oct. 26. ... Their first get-acquainted chats were over a satellite phone with Jonathan huddled outside -- to get the uplink -- dressed out in helmet and body armor.
The disposable computer is here.
The "Gyy" netbook from iUnika may have less computing power than many modern cellphones, but it weighs just a pound and a half, has a chassis made from biodegradable cellulose, and wears an array of solar panels on its top that can charge up its battery. All this for a projected price of $180, available "this summer".
It won't be completely disposable, of course. Heavy metals in the electronics will still need to be reclaimed and reprocessed. But built-in solar and bioplastic casing makes this several steps in the right direction. I want one—and as soon as I learn to read Spanish I'll see if I can pre-order. [via Inhabitat]Section: Computers, Hardware, Networking, Peripherals, Storage
The Pogoplug, the tiny device connects any USB drive to the internet, is rolling out some new features this week. These features streamline things allowing you to send out links to more than one person at a time. You’ll be able to find files faster via the web or the iPhone. Plus, you’ll have support for 64-bit versions of Windows and Linux.
On Friday, there will be more features. Pogoplug will allow sorting by file size, type, and name. I think the most interesting feature that’s coming up is what they are doing with RSS feeds.
“Any RSS client that supports Media RSS (based on the Yahoo implementation) can play videos and listen to music with the information provided by Pogoplug. Since Boxee accesses media sources through Media RSS feeds, Boxee users can use their Pogoplug RSS to watch movies (or listen to music) directly from their home hard drive.” - Emily Joffrion
While the Pogoplug is built to be used by someone’s mother, the Pogoplug team seems to be putting in more and more features for geeks. I’m all for it. After all, it is just a mini computer. Why not keep adding features?
Company Site: [Pogoplug]
Full Story » | Written by Iyaz Akhtar for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
For whatever reason, I can’t stop playing the iPhone version of EA’s Need for Speed Undercover, which is why it’s taken me this long to review it. I can’t say that I’ve ever been a big fan of the console series, but EA nailed it on the head with the handheld port. Everything about this game from the graphics to the cut scenes to the handling of cars is outstanding - but the game isn’t perfect. It’s fun, sure, but it has its hang ups.
The storyline seemed straight out of The Fast and The Furious. At least, I guess it was; I typically jumped ahead during the dialogue and video cut scenes, because that’s just what I do. However, I sat through enough of them to make sure I wasn’t missing anything. In short, you’re an undercover agent looking to infiltrate and bust a car-stealing ring in LA. Like I said, The Fast and The Furious.
Each of the 20 cars handles about the same. Of course, there’s only so much you can do with an accelerometer-based platform, so don’t expect Gran Turismo-like controls. Controls are simple and that’s a testament to how well EA built this game. To steer left or right, you need only tilt your iPhone/iPod Touch accordingly. For an extra bit of speed during a race simply swipe up with one finger for a boost of nitrous oxide.
In some of the races you’ll encounter busy intersections, so swiping down with two fingers brings everything to crawl to give you a chance to get through without crashing. Getting around corners is easy when you know how to drift your whip. A fast twitch to either side engages a drift and twitch to the opposite side will bring you out of it.
Any of the 20 cars that you manage to unlock and purchase can be customized for both show and go in the garage. Cash to hop-up your ride are earned in each race, and bonus points can be accrued by pulling off fancy maneuvers mid-race. Drifting, slipstreaming, nudges, and near misses will all up your point count and, in turn, your budget. I mainly worked under the hood on my Nissan 240SX and Mitsubishi Lancer Evo. Nothing too granular here: speed, acceleration, handling and nitrous can all be upgraded to help you win races. The exterior of your vehicle can be modified with body kits, paint jobs, suspension work, graphics and rims.
Need for Speed Underground is broken down into three zones with eight missions per zone. The missions can get repetitive, as the formula remains the same throughout each zone. For example, “Hot Car” missions require you to safely transport a stolen vehicle from one end of the city to the other without wrecking it or getting caught by the police. Other missions involve taking out police cruisers or rival cars, first to a checkpoint and so on.
With all of that being said, I’ve taken a few breaks in between this review to play a few missions. NFSU is an immersive game with an in-your-face rock soundtrack that lures me back in just to break records and wreak havoc in downtown Los Angeles. Is it worth $10? Absolutely.
Need For Speed Undercover [iTunes]
Crunch Network: CrunchGear drool over the sexiest new gadgets and hardware.
Emerging from the rumor mill this morning in all of its limey goodness is the SGH-t349, Samsung’s 20-key partial QWERTY candybar phone for T-Mobile. This guy has by no means proven camera shy thus far, so it’s no real surprise - but hey, lets see you make a cell phone without anyone finding out about it.
Coming in at a few bucks shy of the price of a good meal ($14.99 on a 2-year contract), it’s not exactly jam packed full of feature flavor - but it’ll get the job done. The 1.3 megapixel camera has 4x digital zoom, it’s got AIM, Windows Live Messenger, and Yahoo IM preloaded, myFaves/Web2Go support, plus such riveting mentionables as “Text messaging” and “Alarm Clock”!
Look for it on the shelves immediately.
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Sony Ericsson will need a hot cash injection of 100 million euro ($135 million) to survive after March 2010. Sony and Ericsson will both be raising cash in order to keep this dog afloat for a while longer and the company is cutting “one in five” jobs.
The real question: Will they be missed?
Crunch Network: TechCrunch obsessively profiling and reviewing new Internet products and companies
Section: Gadgets / Other, Lifestyle, Imaging, Digital Cameras
Pentax has a new toy in their K line and it’s worth a second look. It’s the Pentax K-7. Compact, rugged, with a whole new body design, the 14.6 megapixel DSLR may be all new and improved, but it still works with every Pentax lens out there.
Pentax is designing this one with an obvious push towards serious photographers who know their way around a camera, but don’t want to necessarily pay the uber-high end ticket price of a professional DSLR system.
With the K-7, you have some of the really good stuff without that “oh dear God” price tag. But no, it’s also not going to be one you get at the local discount club either.
So, what sets it apart? Well, according to Ned Bunnell, president of Pentax Imaging Company, it is this:
“The K-7 will appeal to many current Pentax SLR photographers who have been asking for more advanced features, but in a smaller, solid, comfortable-to-hold body. We also believe the combination of the K-7’s smaller, high quality construction coupled with the growing line-up of our Limited compact prime lenses will appeal to serious shooters who currently don’t own or previously hadn’t considered adding a Pentax to their camera bag.”
There are several features that the K-7 has that have never been offered by any K-series camera, or in some cases, by any digital camera. The body itself is a winner. It is a magnesium alloy that is one of the most compact in its class. It is 7% smaller than the K20D, and up to 25% smaller than cameras in the same class. So, if size is your thing, this may be something to consider.
There is a new 77-segment metering system that helps you to figure out exposure no matter how complex the lighting. A huge problem for so many is noise in their photos. The new 14.6 megapixel CMOS sensor was totally rebuilt. It is made to minimize noise, as well as adding a 4-channel output. It combines the perfect mix of resolution and file size, so you don’t have to compromise either.
What else? HD video capture. The default standard is 1280x720 with a 16:9 aspect ratio, 1536x1024, or 640x416. All of these are shot at 30 fps. An HDMI port that lets you pick output resolution.
Have trouble making those horizons actually level? It has an Electronic Level function, to make sure your images are just right. You’ve got in-camera Lens Correction to compensate for lateral chromatic aberrations and distortion. There is a Mirror Lock-up function. This helps to get rid of image blur that is caused during long exposures by mirror movement.
One feature I especially like is the programmable embedded copyright function. This one lets you show ownership of an image via metatag data during capture.
Some areas that they improved on from their previous K Lines are with their LCD screen. The K-7 has a 3” with a 921,000 dot resolution. The image shooting itself is nice and fast with the new PRIME II Image processing engine. It offers 5.2 frames-per-second, which makes it great for catching action shots. Going along with that is the 1/8000 top shutter speed the K-7 offers.
Some other nice tweaked features are the Live View mode, which now has Face Detection, contrast AF, as well as optional histogram, grid and other goodies so you can compose your images quickly without having to have your face pressed up against the viewfinder. The viewfinder itself, however, sports 92x magnification for 100 percent field of vision.
To compensate for rotational sensor movement, they beefed up the Shake Reduction system as well. And the one area that is a bane to just about any photographer is addressed in the K-7s Dust Reduction System. It features a “piezo ceramic vibration action to the sensor’s low-pass filter.” What does this mean to you the photographer? No dust on your shots.
The loaded and ready to shoot weight of the camera is 26 and a half ounces, and the body dimensions are 5.1 x 3.8 x 2.9.
The Pentax K-7 will be available in July 2009. MSRP for the body will be $1,299.95, with the battery grip going for $229.95. The latest in the lens line will be the DA 18-55mm for $199.95, and $249.95 for the DA 50-200mm. They are also expected to ship July 2009. Each order also gets you a coupon for up to 15% off different Pentax products. You can find more information on all of their products at their site, or preorder the K-7 online at their store.
Full Story » | Written by Jodie Andrefski for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
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