The Gadget Story

intel vPro

2007-04-04T23:13:00.000-07:00

Things are shaping up nicely for prospective laptop buyers holding out for Santa Rosa systems before they make the plunge. Intel just confirmed that the platform will be making its way into laptops in the second quarter of this year, and clarified that Centrino Pro is only part of the action, not the whole dealio. Intel also has come forward with a welcome feature addition for enterprise types: vPro, which Intel unleashed on the desktop side last year, will be included in Centrino Pro, allowing for remote management and upgrades of systems by IT folks, and improved virtualization. Of course, it'll also involve signing up for a smorgasbord of Intel-only parts, such as the 802.11n MIMO WiFi, but that's just the way Intel rolls.

Kodak's cheap inkjet claims all talk?

2007-04-04T23:12:00.000-07:00

We were pretty stoked to hear Kodak was planning on running full tilt at the current status quo of "loss leader" printer tactics, that has unwitting consumers picking up inkjet printers for a dime, and spending a fortune on printing supplies. Unfortunately, it looks like Kodak hasn't come upon any magical printing techniques to pull this off yet, since its new printers didn't do so good up against the likes of Epson, HP and Canon. Kodak is marketing its printers as capable of producing 10 cent prints, which would indeed be a great deal. Tests show that an $18 pack of paper and ink results in about 165 borderless prints, about 11.5 cents per print. Unfortunately, the prints were basically "draft" quality, maybe fine for certain budget-minded consumers, but hardly comparable to "lab quality" photos. To boost the quality you'll need pricier Kodak paper, which ends up at about 35 cents per print, and renders the whole exercise pointless. The testers recommend the $150 Epson Stylus Photo RX580, for super good prints and great speed. Might want to leave that $200 Kodak EasyShare 5300 on the shelf for the time being.

HP to launch new PC brand this year

2007-04-04T23:09:00.000-07:00

We were at an HP gaming event today, presented by Rahul Sood (former CEO of Voodoo, before HP bought 'em). Rahul wanted to let the world know what HP had all their peoples working on, since not much has changed around Voodoo's business since the acquisition. The answer? HP's launching a new high-to-mid tier PC brand in 2007, which will sit beneath the Voodoo brand and above HP brand in terms of price / performance. They didn't go into much more detail than that, but it's obvious HP thinks the PC gaming space will continue to be a money-maker. Let's just hope they don't resurrect, say, Packard Bell in that slot, or some other flagging PC business. We think it's about time for some fresh blood up in here, don't you?

Install Any SATA Hard Drive Into The PS3 (Because You Can?)

2007-02-02T07:15:00.000-08:00

Japan's Kurouto Shikou insists that the 60GB hard drive found in the PS3 is too small. (It's from Japan, of course it's small.) To that end they've designed a SATA and eSATA slot for the system that lets you install third-party hard drives. You have to remove the built-in hard drive before installing the slot, but afterward your options are limited to however much you can spend on hard drives. (They're fairly cheap, by the way.)

Will the PS3 recognize all that extra storage space (unlike the Xbox 360, which can only access 20GB per hard drive, despite the latest hacks), and does it make sense to go to all that trouble to install a larger hard drive in the first place? Maybe if you're dumping Blu-ray movies left and right, otherwise, right now, this looks to be more trouble than it's worth. – Nicholas Deleon

Product Page (in Japanese) [Kurouto Shikou via Akihabara News]

How to Crack a Windows Password With a Live CD

2007-02-02T07:14:00.000-08:00

Adam over at Lifehacker has a problem. His wife locks up all his porn on a Windows machine that only she knows the password to. That's why Adam came up with a guide to easily crack a Windows password using the Ophcrack Live CD.

It's extremely simple. All you have to do is stick in the CD, pick the account you want to crack, and it'll start churning away. Useful if you have to break into a departed co-worker/wife/child/lover's machine. Or your own machine if you're an idiot and forget your password.

p.s. I made up that story about Adam. He keeps his porn on his own machine. – Jason Chen

Screenshot Tour: How to crack a Windows password with Ophcrack Live CD [Lifehacker]

Lets eat less

2007-02-02T07:13:00.001-08:00

If you grow weary of those cumbersome USB flash drives you've been lugging around (most weigh about 10g), here's one that sheds nearly all of its weight. The Transcend JetFlash T2K weighs just 2 grams, and is available in your choice of capacities from 1GB ($15.90) to 4GB ($48.30).

Judging from the size of microSD cards the size of a baby's fingernail, we knew this was coming. The T2K isn't so small you would lose it in your pocket, but it's not big, either—it's just 1.6 inches tall and a mere 3mm thick. Can they get smaller than this? Probably. – Charlie White

Product Page [Transcend, USA]

Nba Sidekick

2007-02-02T07:11:00.001-08:00

If you're a fan of NBA sensation Dwyane Wade of the Miami Heat, you might be interested in D-Wade's limited-edition Sidekick 3 that he designed himself. He's been an avid user of the Sidekick since 2004, and designed this Sidekick 3 to look like the interior of a luxo-sport automobile, further personalizing it with his own number 3 showing up on the 3G smartphone in glittering gold.

It has the innards of the stock Sidekick 3, but D-Wade has chosen a swank white, tan and gold exterior with a special basketball-textured back for easy gripping. Just don't slam-dunk it, D-Wade. No pricing information was available, but this looks like it would command a sizable premium over an ordinary Sidekick 3.

It's got back, too. Take a jump shot for a gander at its basketball-like dorsal side:

Free Wi-Fi for Vista users

2007-02-02T07:09:00.000-08:00

Looking for a reason to make the leap to Windows Vista? If you spend your days sipping lattes while surfing the Net, this deal may push you toward early adoption. T-Mobile is offering three free months of Wi-Fi access for Vista users at any of its HotSpot locations. (Hot spot operator The Cloud is running a similar promotion in the U.K.) If you are paying month to month for Wi-Fi at your local Starbucks or Borders, it amounts to a savings of $120 over the three months (the offer ends April 30). That's half the sticker price of Windows Vista Home Premium.

Disclaimer: Spending more time at Starbucks may result in spending more money given Starbucks prices.

Update: Engadget did a little searching and found a way to glom onto T-Mobile's free trial without having to pony up for Vista first. Unfortunately, Google has yet to spit out the answer for knocking back a Venti mocha latte without first paying $8.

Apple Making Future iPods Hot Unpluggable

2007-02-02T07:03:00.000-08:00

One of the small things that's bugged me about my iPod is that every time I sync it I have to use iTunes to unmount it. Well, it appears Apple is doing something about that as it's filed a patent for a hot unpluggable media storage device. The patent talks about rendering a peripheral (I'm guessing an iPod unless it's something else) from a host computer without having to prep it. Small upgrade, but this means future iPods may be plug and play and not require software

The Linux Foundation forms, issues call to arms

2007-01-22T21:42:00.000-08:00

The open source community fired its latest shot over the bow of the SUSE-loving SS Microsoft today, announcing that the two leading bodies of Linux proponents -- the Open Source Development Labs and Free Standards Group -- have been folded into a new, seemingly corporate-sponsored organization that promises to "promote, protect, and standardize Linux." Christened The Linux Foundation, the new consortium will not develop or distribute any products, but instead is tasked with three primary objectives: to enable the independence of select developers by funding their work, while at the same time providing legal support and advice for members of the community; to act as a neutral forum for collaborative projects or for members to air their grievances; and to help Linux gain market share with respect to Windows. All of the commercial interests which previously belonged to the OSLD and FSG will also play a leading role in the newly-formed body, leading some critics to argue that it was actually heavy hitters like IBM, HP, Fujitsu, and Hitachi pushing for this merger in the hopes of growing the $14.5 billion infrastructure that has reportedly developed around Linux. Still, none other than Linus Torvalds himself has thrown his weight behind the foundation -- which now pays his salary, mind you -- suggesting that the original goals of the OSDL and FSG had largely been met at this point, and that standardization is a laudible pursuit. Both groups' memberships still need to approve the proposed merger, but if all goes according to plan, you can expect to see the LinFo begin its work sometime in early February.

Read- Press release [Via TG Daily]
Read- NY Times coverage [Via ZDNet]

Apple planning to charge Tiger users for Boot Camp?

2007-01-22T21:40:00.002-08:00

It was perhaps one of the most significant events the PC industry has seen in the last decade: Apple opening up its hardware to Windows operating systems through its proprietary Boot Camp software. Not only did it allow Mac owners running Intel-powered machines to dual boot XP at will, it did so completely gratis (well, save for the cost of a Windows license). Unfortunately, the honeymoon may soon be over for Tiger users accustomed to the free boot loader: according to a report on MacScoop, Steve and friends plan to begin charging about $30 for the software once OS X Leopard is released and Boot Camp leaves beta for the greener pastures of commercial. For those Macheads planning to upgrade to Leopard, this wouldn't be an issue, of course -- the new OS will offer Boot Camp as one of its standard features. Still, if you're planning on keeping the old Tiger and your draft-N router around for awhile longer, it sounds like there's a good chance you'll need to squirrel away about $32 for the future: $30 for Boot Camp, and two bucks for the privilege of unlocking your wireless card's dormant 802.11n functionality.

[Via Slashdot]

Parallels to turn it around, help Mac OS onto generic PC boxen

2007-01-22T21:40:00.001-08:00

With the popularity of software like Apple's Boot Camp and SWsoft's Parallels, it's no secret that people want to run Windows and Mac OS on the same box, but who says that it has to be an Apple box? Well, Apple does, and the company has staunchly defended itself from the porting of OS X into the mad world of PC generics (not with total success, of course). But with mounting pressure from users and increasing software support from VMware and SWsoft, Steve Jobs might have to let go of his tight grasp on his shiny blue OS -- or at least turn the other way as OS X makes its way onto those vile, inferior, and cheaper x86 machines without his blessing. On that front, there's good news on the horizon: it turns out an upcoming version of Parallels just so happens to "make it easier to run Mac OS on a non-Apple computer," by some unknown but welcome means. VMware's own upcoming virtualization software for the Mac has been hamstrung by the trouble VMware has gone through trying to get Apple's blessing, and SWsoft's Parallels has been "crippled" in particular ways to make it more difficult to get Mac OS onto a non-Apple machine, but it seems like it's only going to get harder for Apple to have it both ways, and Intel's inclusion of virtualization in its own chips just compounds the "problem." Michael Dell has also reconfirmed his desire to pre-load Mac OS onto his own boring boxes "if customers wanted it and Apple would license it on reasonable terms," but that tantalizing offer doesn't seem to have swayed Apple yet.

Srorm Worm

2007-01-22T21:39:00.001-08:00

Many home PC users may have been infected after a large-scale sustained Trojan horse attack that took place over the weekend, security vendors believe.

The Trojan, named "Storm Worm" by antivirus vendor F-Secure, first started to spread on Friday as extreme storms engulfed Europe. The e-mail claimed to include breaking news about the weather, in an attempt to get people to download an executable file.

Over the weekend there were six subsequent waves of the attack, with each e-mail attempting to lure users into downloading an executable by promising a topical news story. There were e-mails that purported to carry news of an as-yet-unconfirmed missile test by the Chinese against one of its weather satellites, and e-mails reporting that Fidel Castro had died.

Each new wave of e-mails carried different versions of the Trojan horse, according to F-Secure. Each version also contained the capability to be updated, in an attempt to stay ahead of antivirus vendors.

"When they first came out, these files were pretty much undetectable by most antivirus programs," said Mikko Hypponen, director of antivirus research at F-Secure. "The bad guys are putting a lot of effort into it--they were putting out updates hour after hour."

As most businesses tend to strip executable files out of e-mails they receive, Hypponen said he expected that companies would not be overly affected by the attacks.

However, F-Secure said that hundreds of thousands of home computers could have been affected across the globe.

Once a user downloads the executable file, the code opens a backdoor in the machine which that it to be remotely controlled, while installing a rootkit that hides the malicious program. The compromised machine becomes a zombie in a network called a botnet. Most botnets are currently controlled through a central server, which--if found--can be taken down to destroy the botnet. However, this particular Trojan horse seeds a botnet that acts in a similar way to a peer-to-peer network, with no centralized control.

Each compromised machine connects to a list of a subset of the entire botnet--around 30 to 35 other compromised machines, which act as hosts. While each of the infected hosts share lists of other infected hosts, no one machine has a full list of the entire botnet--each has only a subset, making it difficult to gauge the true extent of the zombie network.

This is not the first botnet to use these techniques. However, Hypponen called this type of botnet "a worrying development."

Antivirus vendor Sophos called Storm Worm the "first big attack of 2007," with code being spammed out from hundreds of countries. Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant for Sophos, said the company expected more attacks over the coming days, and that the botnet would most likely be hired out for spamming, adware propagation, or be sold to extortionists to launch distributed denial-of-service attacks.

The recent trend has been toward highly targeted attacks on individual institutions. Mail services vendor MessageLabs said that this current malicious campaign was "very aggressive," and said that the gang responsible was probably a new entrant to the scene, hoping to make its mark.

None of the anti-malware companies interviewed said they knew who was responsible for the attacks, or where they had been launched from.

Tom Espiner of ZDNet UK reported from London.

Cisco fesses up to iPhone WIP300 GPL failings, is "taking steps"

2007-01-22T21:38:00.000-08:00

Apple isn't the only one having trouble messing with intellectual property as it relates to its iPhone product. Cisco was apparently reprimanded in October by a certain Armijn Hemel over unreleased code which, under the GPL-license that the phone submits to due to its Linux underpinnings, is required to be made available publicly. After the chat in October, Cisco fixed a few of its other products that Mr. Hemel pointed out were in violation, but still hasn't come clean with certain bits of WIP300 iPhone code. "For someone talking about Apple using Cisco's property," said Hemel, "actually they're infringing on copyright themselves. So it's just a double standard." In a response on Saturday, Cisco's prolific blogger John Earnhard states: "Based on our investigation, Cisco is taking steps to resolve a single issue raised regarding this product's compliance with the GNU General Public License, or GPL." No word on when this will all be patched up, or whether Cisco's fixes will be sufficient, but for the moment it sounds like the GPL kids are going to get their way. Will the curse of the iPhone live on? Tune in next week for Pirates of the iPhone: Apple and Cisco At World's End.

[Via The Inquirer]

Read - Cisco's iPhone violates GPL, expert says
Read - Cisco responds

Apple reportedly (still) readying LED-backlit MacBook Pro

2007-01-22T21:36:00.000-08:00

They may not have made an appearance at Macworld, but Apple's rumored LED-backlit MacBook Pros look to be slightly less of a rumor today, with AppleInsider reporting that "faithful industry sources" have confirmed the switch to the brighter, less power-hungry technology. Supposedly, Apple's 15-inch MacBook Pro will be the first out of the gate, getting the LED transplant sometime in second quarter of this year, with the other models in the line presumably to follow soon thereafter, although exactly soon remains to be seen. Not surprisingly, Apple appears to be timing the release of the new-and-improved MacBook Pro to coincide with the spring launch of Leopard, letting them show off the OS's snazzy new features in the best possible light.

Rogers set to carry the iPhone in Canada?

2007-01-22T21:35:00.000-08:00

The rumors are flying, but so far it's looking good for our Rogers / Apple / poutine fanboy friends up north. Will Pate, after hearing a rumor of the iPhone being headed for Rogers Wireless sometime in 2007, dug into the matter a little bit, and got this response from Rogers: "You were wondering about iPhone..Lots of speculation out there. Beyond the fact that Rogers is the only GSM carrier in Canada, we have not issued any statements as to whether or when the iPhone would be available at Rogers." And there you have it, completely vague, but near tacit assurance that Rogers will indeed be carrying the iPhone, since it happens to be the only GSM gig in town. At least that's what our iPhone-addled brains are reading into the situation, we suggest you draw your own conclusions on the matter.

Google planning on getting into ebooks in a big way

2007-01-22T21:33:00.000-08:00

We've been having life-changing ebook experiences of one form or another promised to us for what seems like forever, but it really could be just around the corner this time, honest -- though the whole life-changing thing is still debatable at this point. It turns out Google is pressing forward with its Google Book Search service, and planning to roll out full-on ebook sales "sooner rather than later," with downloadable books available to computer screens and mobile devices. Of course, with Sony already in the game, and Amazon prepping downloads of its own, it's not like Google will be doing this all by its lonesome, but some innovative features like the proposed rental and single-chapter purchase schemes could garner interest in the Google offering, not to mention the whole "Google world domination" thing. It seems like the primary obstacle at this point for Google is the publishing associations that still haven't decided they're so hot for Google throwing up the contents of books online for open searchability, but we have a feeling they'll come around soon enough, or Google will just go ahead with the licensees it already has -- which with buddies like Penguin, HarperCollins and Simon & Schuster already warm to the book searching, probably won't be insubstantial.

BlackBerry worldphone coming to Sprint

2007-01-20T20:10:00.001-08:00

It looks like the long-rumored GSM / CDMA hybrid variant of the BlackBerry 8700 series might find itself a home on Sprint later this year. We didn't see it in the alleged 1H '07 product pipeline earlier today, but a tipster noticed a document describing Sprint's marketing partnership with the Super Bowl floating all willy-nilly on the official Super Bowl XLI site -- and lo and behold, it reveals that a "global BlackBerry" is waiting in the wings featuring EV-DO, GSM, and a GPS receiver, to boot. Granted, we don't know that this will be an 8700-based product, but we can say with some certainty that there are hybrid 8700s kicking around, so it's a logical move. Don't get us wrong, we're pulling for an 8800 here, but we're trying our best to stay realistic until we see something a little more solid than an ominous silhouette on Super Bowl paraphernalia

Copper Treo 680, we hardly -- no, we never knew ye

2007-01-20T20:09:00.001-08:00

We hope all you orangey-coppery Treo fans got your phones, because it's come to our attention that the 680 in Copper (i.e. the creamy-pukey-orange Treo) is "no longer available" according to Palm's site. Bummer dude. Maybe the Moto tactic of releasing your phones in as many colors as possible just isn't working anymore (by the way, did you hear they're laying off 3,500 people?), perhaps you should try renovating your handsets, Palm? We know you've got it in you. Somewhere.

The Broken Blu-Ray

2007-01-20T20:06:00.000-08:00

It's still early on to tell whether this is actually true, but HD DVD cracker muslix64 is back, and with the help of another anti-DRM cracker, Janvitos, claims to have also broken the Blu-ray's implementation of AACS. Although their protection does not yet account for BD+ copy-protection, they claim to have been able to implement the same key-grabbing known-plaintext attack as muslix64 used to crack HD DVD in order to successfully to crack Blu-ray without even using a disc or drive (apparently they just used a raw encrypted data file and nothing more). Unfortunately they haven't yet posted code for us to test this out, so we'll have to take their word for it for the time being.

Microsoft made the Zune because partner hardware "sucks"

2007-01-20T20:05:00.000-08:00

Thanks to yet another Microsoft antitrust suit in Iowa, subpoenaed emails have revealed a moment of candidness and clarity at Microsoft in 2003 when Jim Allchin (Co-President, Platforms & Services Division, depicted left) and Amir Majidimehr (Corporate Vice President, Consumer Media Technology Group) had an email thread that basically summarized the portable media device playing field then, and for the most part, now. Some choice quites from the email back-and-forth:

Jim: title "sucking on media players"; regarding a current Creative player (probably a Nomad, perhaps a Zen Touch): "My goodness it's terrible... What I don't understand though is I was told the new Creative Labs device would be comparable to Apple. That is so not the case."
Amir: "Now you feel our pain." He suggests giving cash bonuses for partners that come up with decent devices. In the instance that doesn't work: "it is time for us to roll up our sleeves and do our own hardware."

And of course so they did, with great hype and great failure to immediately capture market share, the Zune was born many years later -- far too late by most accounts, but hey, you've gotta start somewhere. Still, it's funny to think that for these guys rolling up their sleeves and doing their own hardware means taking an off the shelve portable media OS (PMC 2), getting Toshiba to make a modified Gigabeat, and cutting some seriously anti-consumer deals with major labels.

Gates signs the Vista

2007-01-20T20:04:00.000-08:00

You have to be seriously freaking into Vista if you're even thinking about the Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate Limited Numbered Signature Edition (seriously, we didn't even think Microsoft was capable of a title like that), but at least the price is on target ($259) and they claim it's signed by the man himself, Billy G. Something tells us it's just an embossed signature print or something along those lines, but either way it's down to you and 19,999 others prepared to get their fanboy on with the latest, greatest version of Windows.

[Thanks, ZRX]

2007-01-20T20:01:00.002-08:00

It's the Wii laptop! We spent the last few weeks (including much time spent over the holidays evading relatives) slaving over this bad boy and finally it's complete. Check out the features:

16:9 widescreen LCD, 7-inch diagonal.
Stereo sound
Gamecube controller port
Built-in short range Sensor Bar
Ports for using original Sensor Bar and A/V output jacks (for use on external display)
Built-in power supply and compartment for power cord
Dimensions: 8.5 x 7.7 x 2-inches

Starting next Tuesday we'll be doing a multi-part How-To with detailed instructions for building your own Wii laptop, as well as loads of photos of the construction process. But for now check out the gallery for more detailed photos of the unit, and click on to see some video of the Wii laptop in action.

[Big ups to our man Ben Heckendorn! -Ed.]

For The Video

LG's KE850 PRADA official: iPhone says, wha?

2007-01-20T20:01:00.001-08:00

Check it Apple, LG just went official with their iPhone look-a-like LG KE850 Prada phone which they proudly tout as the world's "first completely touch screen mobile phone." Er, unless you consider the ones from Motorola, HTC, and others. Still, this is more than likely a dig at the iPhone which they can rightly make since the KE850 will hit select mobile shops and PRADA stores in the UK, France, Germany and Italy at the end of February and parts of Asia before March is through. Sadly, the KE850 is a non starter for the US market since this version is limited to tri-band GSM 900/1800/1900 with EDGE data. It's smaller than its fruity peer at just 98.8 x 54 x 12-mm resulting in a more compact, 3.0-inch display presumably with that 240 x 400 resolution we heard about earlier. In case you're keeping track (and we know you are), the iPhone goes quad-band GSM with EDGE and WiFi in a 115 x 61 x 11.6-mm shell sporting a 3.5-inch, 320 x 480 display. Also, the KE850 seems to lack any significant on-board storage opting instead for microSD to boost capacity. Like the iPhone, it packs a 2 megapixel camera (with Schneider-Kreuznach lens) and LED flash and Bluetooth 2.0. However, there's no mention of multi-touch capabilities, an on-screen keyboard, or the accelerometer and proximity sensors found on the iPhone. The KE850 PRADA's UI is Macromedia Flash-based and opts for a minimalist, white-on-black display as opposed to the more, shall we say, OS Xish GUI we've already seen floated. Feature-wise, the KE850 comes with a video player supporting MPEG-4, H.264, and oddly, H.263 normally used for video conferencing; a document viewer supporting Microsoft's PPT, DOC, XLS formats, PDF and TXT; an audio player with support for MP3/ACC/ACC+/WMA/RA formats; and a "music multitasking function for messaging," whatever that is. How much? €600/$778... that's how much. Still, a compelling choice for those who can't wait for the iPhone's Q4 European introduction or 2008 Asia launch. Click-on for more pics

Revived, Ominpresent AT&T to Customers: "I Am a Benevolent Master"

2007-01-19T21:57:00.000-08:00

Are you waking up in the middle of the night in cold sweat, worrying that your new iPhone with its $2k ultimate price tag is going to rape your checking account? Well fear not, true believers, the switch to AT&T (we might as well dispense with this Cingular business) may actually save you money!

If you've got an AT&T landline (so last year) in addition to a wireless account, you now have unlimited calls to and from any other AT&T customer, completely gratis. However, your padres who have an AT&T home line on a local network not owned by AT&T aren't part of the package, though your end of the call is free. The name of this gracious new perk to lure us into Ma Bell's loving arms? AT&T Unity.

Nike + iPod gear v2.0 leaked baby!!

2007-01-19T21:50:00.000-08:00

Nike's not doing the best of jobs keeping a lid on their expanding Nike+ CE line (get it, Jobs? Nevermind.), which is why we've got some leaked shots of upcoming gear, including the Nike Speed+ Watch Kit (which displays distance, pace, elapsted time, and calories), and three iPod controlling watch systems including the Amp+, and the so-similar-they-may-be-the-same-product Flight+ and Aero+ (which features voice feedback and a rocking bezel for music control). All are launching launching May 1st for varying prices: $130 (Speed Watch and Aero+) and $80 (Amp+)

Microsoft, Google, and others developing code of conduct

2007-01-19T21:49:00.000-08:00

It's not often you see a group of companies like this working together on something, but Microsoft, Google, Yahoo, and Vodafone look to have put aside their differences and sat down with each other in an effort to address concerns of privacy rights and freedom of expression relating to their various business dealings (most prominently those with China), joining with a group of nongovernmental organizations to develop a code of conduct that each will follow when such issues arise. While there's no indication when the code of conduct will be finalized or go into effect, the groups working to develop it certainly lead quite a bit of credibility to it, with the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard Law School, Business for Social Responsibility, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, Human Rights Watch, and Reporters Without Borders all having a hand in its drafting. What's not so clear, however, is what, if any, consequences the companies would face should they violate the code, only that they'll be held "accountable for their actions."

The first Gadget Story Podcast is up--

2007-01-19T11:49:00.000-08:00

Stream it here or even download it from here
Thats about it for now will post the show notes tomorrow hope u like it
Jayesh.B

Google Switch

2007-01-19T09:10:00.000-08:00

Color us skeptics on this one, but we've got a tipster claiming to have the scoop on Google Switch. This version of the mythical Googlephone is said to be the result of a collaboration with Samsung -- not Alpha Networks or HTC. Of course, it's a button-less touchscreen device as is the rage these days only this time with GPS built-in for pinpoint navigation around Google Maps. What's pictured in that all too familiar blur (Photoshopped?) is the phone's contact program said to be an extended version of Gtalk combining Gmail, text and instant messaging. According to our tipster, the device doesn't have any on-board storage. That's right, all your applications are served up over the network with new apps "attached" to your account via a web interface. So what is it... the real deal or engorged fanboy fantasy?

Apple + Beatles

2007-01-19T09:09:00.002-08:00

an Apple + Beatles combination seems to be a little off by about a week and a half. The Toronto Sun says Apple's planning a Superbowl commercial announcing something, which may or may not be the partnership between Apple and Apple.

Valleywag questions why a Canadian tabloid would be the one to break this news—as do we—but it sounds reasonable.

On the other hand (this is just wishful thinking), how cool would it be if Apple got their FCC clearance all done and actually announced that the iPhone was available at the Superbowl? Eh? Eh?

http://www.torontosun.com/Entertainment/Music/2007/01/17/3393906-sun.html [Toronto Sun via Valleywag]

Zune 58% Welcomes You to the Social

2007-01-19T09:09:00.001-08:00

Microsoft Zune propaganda welcomes you to the social, but that's only about a 58% welcome, because sites around the blogosphere are noticing that around 42% of the songs they're trying to share Zune-to-Zune are on the "Zune sharing prohibited" list. Even that three days/3 plays DRM slapped on every shared song is not enough for those moneygrubbing and paranoid record labels.

Out of 50 songs tested by Zunerama, Universal and Sony artists were the most represented on the prohibited list. That's particularly frustrating when you recall that sweetheart deal that Universal Music Group and Microsoft dreamed up for the Zune, making everybody pay through the nose for the right to share Universal's music on the Zune.

The list of prohibited and accepted songs in this 50-song sample:

Universal Music Group
• Prohibited Zune Sharing: Gwen Stefani, Snow Patrol, Eminem, Blue October, JoJo, Jay-Z
• Accepted Zune Sharing: Nickelback, Nelly Furtado and Maria Carey

Sony Music
• Prohibited Zune Sharing: Beyonce, Weird Al Yankovic (not sure if song is from Sony) and Ciara
• Accepted Zune Sharing: Shakira, Wyclef Jean, The Fray, Christina Aguilera, John Mayer and Brad Paisley

Don't steal music, but look the other way when record companies won't even let you share it, even with gobs of DRM slathered on it. Great plan, guys.

PSP2 "Cobalt" to feature dual analog, UMD, 8GB of flash? Don't count on it.

2007-01-19T09:07:00.000-08:00

We're pretty sure PSP2 rumors won't die out until the last PSP fanboy utters his final gasp, "UMD rulez!" on his death bead, but that doesn't mean we can't have fun poking fun at them in the in-between time. From the outset, we're kind of liking the look here, and there seems to be plenty of room for that dual analog setup everyone's been clamoring for. Plus the metal and ruggedized rubber build seems likable enough. Unfortunately, the inclusion of UMD, Memory Stick and 8GB of flash seems pretty far fetched -- either Sony loses the UMD and goes for all-downloadable games, or it sticks with its tried and true method of milking consumers on Memory Stick purchases, it's hard to imagine an all-in approach. Other dubious specs include a "200% Brighter Screen," and the more likely a/b/g WiFi, Bluetooth 2.0 and visual battery display. We're not banking on this one, and Sony's been pretty down on the topic in general, but hopefully these guys do actually pull something out before too terribly long

Gates: Sony Didn't Know What They Were Doing

2007-01-19T09:06:00.001-08:00

When Mercury news reporter Dean Takahashi spoke with Bill Gates at CES, the wide-ranging conversation turned to gaming, and Bill had a few harsh words for Sony and its cluelessness. When asked if any of Sony's next-generation PS3 games would look better than the Xbox 360's Halo 3, Gates replied:

"No. They were going to have the Cell be the video processor. But they didn't know what they were doing. They said the Cell is the video processor. But they turned to Nvidia at the last minute, but Nvidia can't do embedded DRAM. Go look at the bandwidth problems. Go ask the guys running ... now. They took their year and burned it by not having a decent CPU strategy and then turning to Nvidia at the last minute. It's a very unusual thing."

Gates also admitted that the release of the first Xbox was a year late, and didn't have the best games then, either. Overall, it's a surprisingly candid interview, with lots of good comments about IPTV on the Xbox 360, too

Sony Ericsson's SO903iTV Bravia mobile gets real

2007-01-19T09:04:00.000-08:00

Don't you love it when the rumor mill actually produces some realizable results? While just about everyone had their doubts about the so-called "Bravia phone" that was supposedly coming down the pike, it looks like Sony, er, Sony Ericsson's SO903iTV will be the first handset to get the proper Bravia treatment. Aside from sporting a stylish red shell, landscape orientation, 3-inch widescreen display, and about every Sony-owned logo you can imagine, this mobile also gets a built-in TV tuner with "time-shift video recording." You'll also find a two-megapixel CMOS camera and a microSD card for loading up your media, but unfortunately for most of the world, we'll never get to touch it. Currently, the phone is set to launch solely on Japan's NTT DoCoMo, but given enough time, Sony might warm up to other markets in the future. Click on through for another shot.

2007-01-19T09:01:00.000-08:00

Ok Apple, you hassle us with those incessant advertisements, you exude smug hipsterocity, and this iPhone hype has really gotten out of hand, but we're going to let you pass on this 802.11n thing. Sounds like you're really trying to do the right thing here, but you just didn't want to get busted on some sort of accounting snafu -- it's alright, we understand. Next time you might try not being so sneaksy with those hidden features and stuff, but we're still kind of glad to have the functionality all the same. That's why we're going to skip over that episode of "Johnny and the Sprites" we were hoping to download from that iTunes Store of yours, snap up this little download for its $2 "distribution fee" (last time we heard it was $5, but Apple is saying $2, so all the better) when you make it available, and only complain about it six or seven times to our close friends and / or mom. We care that much.

Thx
The GAdget STory And Engadget

Steve Ballmer laughs off the iPhone, deems it "most expensive" in the marketplace

2007-01-19T08:59:00.000-08:00

We'll be the first to give props to Steve Ballmer for accomplishing what he has at Microsoft, and we will agree that the iPhone is one expensive (and probably overpriced) little machine, but during a recent interview where he was questioned about the iPhone, he proceeded to not only compare Apple's forthcoming handset with the "$99 Motorola Q," but insisted that the iPhone was "by far the most expensive phone in the marketplace," which couldn't be further from the truth. Sure, most of the long, long list of mobile phones priced above (sometimes well above) the $500 price point aren't exactly mainstream handsets, but as the luxury phone market continues to bloom, Apple is looking to take advantage of those willing to shell out half a grand to have the hottest gizmo out. Additionally, Steve did mention that the iPhone was absolutely "not suitable for business purposes" due to its complete lack of a keyboard, but considering its half-hearted attempt at Push mail and lack of 3G, we doubt Mr. Jobs is out fighting for the corporate market just yet anyway. Nevertheless, it's always entertaining to see one head honcho completely mock another company's product, so click on through for the YouTube'd interview.

The Video

50-percent of your iPhone purchase to pad Apple's wallet?

2007-01-19T08:58:00.000-08:00

Sure, LG's KE850 Prada handset will set users back a cool $778, and the Google Switch just might pop in to make things a bit more interesting, but a recent research report has unveiled that Apple's sure-to-be-sold-out iPhone is a lean, mean, profit-generating machine nonetheless. While Apple's well-known for selling its iPods (and to a lesser extent, its Macs) for much, much more than it cost to manufacture, even we're a bit taken aback at how hard those corporate buyers must be workin' those suppliers on this one. According to iSuppli (no affiliation with Apple, of course), the 4GB iPhone will yield a "49.3 percent profit margin on each unit sold at the $499 retail price," while the 8GB rendition will kick back a 46.9-percent margin. You heard right, they're supposing the $499 mobile only costs Apple $245.83 to produce, while the 8GB flavor demands just $264.85. Of course, this isn't the first time a hot-selling product has been broken down by the numbers to prove just how ripped off we're all getting (if these numbers are to be trusted, that is) -- but hey, unless you've got the means to buy capacitors and LCD touchscreens by the boatload, you're probably stuck paying exactly what they ask. Plus if all this sudden competition gets a bit too heated, don't think Apple doesn't have any room to introduce a (highly desired) price drop

PCI Express goes 2.0, transfer rate doubles

2007-01-17T08:57:00.001-08:00

Folks sure busted out the champagne when PCI Express took the wand from AGP, and while this announcement isn't quite as monumental, doubling transfer speeds ain't nothing to balk at. PCI-SIG, the higher-ups involved in rolling out new PCI Express protocols, unveiled today the PCIe Base 2.0 specifications, which noted that the "interconnect bit rate" would be heading from 2.5GT/s to 5GT/s to better "support high-bandwidth applications." The primary benefits extending from the revamped standard include "faster signaling, increasing the aggregate bandwidth of a 16-lane link to approximately 16 Gbps," and of course, the backwards compatibility with current PCIe 1.1 products. Notably, Intel's "Bearlake" family of chipsets will purportedly support PCI Express 2.0, and if all goes as planned, should start shipping "next quarter."

Duo-Gard's IllumaWALL adds LED action to translucent architecture

2007-01-17T08:56:00.001-08:00

We've seen plenty of illuminated wall applications, LED-infused or otherwise, but the green-minded folks over at Duo-Gard are integrating that disco-inspired action we all know and love into its translucent paneling, which gives buildings a breath of fresh sunlight throughout the day while cutting down on energy costs and potentially boosting your morale. The company's new IllumaWALL melds the benefits of daylighting panels with the completely unnecessary, but entirely sensational night-brightening action of LEDs, as the polycarbonate structures feature built-in, fully programmable lights that can output a steady ambient glow or put on "a light show of pulsating colors" if you're throwing a party at your pad. As expected, pricing on these panels vary greatly based on your installation needs, but if you're already looking to craft a new domicile or office building, and need to garner a bit of instant notoriety, IllumaWALL could do the trick.

Team Xtender announces component to VGA adapter box

2007-01-17T08:54:00.000-08:00

Its multi-console-connecting component cable has yet to make it out of "preview mode," but the folks at Team Xtender already seem to have another component-centered video game accessory in the bag, now showing off their XCM Multi-cable V2 PC Monitor Adapter. As that mouthful of a name suggests, the little black box will take the component end of the included multi-headed component cable (or presumably any other component cable) and convert it into a VGA signal by the time it reaches the monitor plugged into the other end of the box. Team Xtender has also been thoughtful enough to include a second port and a handy switch for those that still want use their monitor for computing duties. As with their component cable, however, they haven't spilled any details on pricing or availability just yet, although they are happy to sign up anyone willing to sell 'em.

iCache emulates credit cards so that you can sleep soundly -- or can you?

2007-01-17T08:53:00.000-08:00

If you've got too many credit cards, debit cards and loyalty cards eating up your precious wallet space that could otherwise be put to better use storing gum wrappers and Bazooka Joe comics, and you don't mind adding another gadget to your accessory-toting bag of choice, then this iCache thing might be just the thing for you. The device can emulate pretty much anything with a magnetic strip, storing the info inside the device and allowing you access with a simple swipe of your finger and a menu selection. To read back the info, the device can display a barcode, communicate wirelessly with one of those contactless terminals, or print the data out onto a universal magnetic card that will store the info for 10 minutes, allowing for a quick shopping spree. While in the right hands, this sounds quite promising -- if a tad self-defeating due to the fact that the gadget is most likely larger than your stack of cards -- and the security seems commendable, we shudder to think what a hacked-up version of this thing, lacking that arbitrary thumb-based security, could pull off, so for now we'll stick with burying all our cash in the backyard and guarding it with a one-eyed dog and our trusty shotgun.

Epson's EMP-1810 and EMP-1815 3LCD business projectors

2007-01-17T08:52:00.001-08:00

Epson just kicked out a new pair of 3LCD projectors in their EMP-1810 and EMP-1815. The 1815 is the king of this hill and features Epson's EasyMP (Epson Administrative SYstem for Meetings and Presentations) which, among other things, allows you to display content off CompactFlash cards and USB drives without the need for a PC. It will even source content off your PC over WiFi or project your laptop's display over a quick and dirty USB cable. Otherwise, the projectors share many of the same specs: 1024x768 pixel resolution; 3,500 lumens; 500:1 contrast ratio; 1.6x manual zoom lens; 2x analog D-Sub 15 RGB, composite, and S-Video inputs and another D-sub 15 for output; and direct shutdown for quick getaway. Both are relatively light for 3500 lumen projectors with the 1810 weighing in at just 2.9-kg (6.39-pounds). Ok, they don't throw 1080p, but they don't cost 5 Gs either. Both hit in early March with the 1810 going for ¥498,00 (about $4,121) and the 1815 for ¥448,00 (about $3,708). Look for 'em Stateside under the PowerLite branding soon enough.

Gigabyte's 12.1 and 15.4-inch laptops invade Japan

2007-01-17T08:51:00.000-08:00

Taiwan's Gigabyte Technology just launched a pair of laptops into the highly competitive Japanese market. The 12.1-inch W251U-512 (pictured) and 15.4-inch W551N-712 both hit on January 30th and come with a Vista pre-load as you'd expect. The 12.1-incher packs a 1280x800 (WXGA) glossy panel resolution, 2GHz T7200 Core 2 Duo, up to 2GB of memory and 80GB of disk, a DVD super multi-drive, and Intel 945GM Express graphics in a 1.9-kg (4.19-pounds) 23~32-mm (0.94~1.26-inch) thick wedge. The 15.4-incher features pretty much the same specs only with better graphics (but same pixel resolution) by slapping 128MB of GeForce Go 7400 into the 2.8-kg (6.17-pound) 25.5~35.5-mm (1.0~1.4-inch) thick sled. It also features a remote control to make the most of its Windows Vista Ultimate Media Center OS. Considering the Spring refresh to Sony's domestic VAIOs, well, let's just say that Gigabyte's got their work cut out. The W551N-712 is tagged at ¥169,800 (about $1,405) while the W251U-512 is set to pop for ¥159,800 ($1,323). Click-on for a picture of the W551N-712.

PEIKER BluetouchMusic links iPod, cellphone to car stereo

2007-01-17T08:50:00.000-08:00

While it didn't bring it a massive posse or hundred foot banners, Germany's PEIKER did manage to deliver an "award-winning" in-car connection device during CES last week. The company's BluetouchMusic claims to be the "world's first" system to integrate handsfree calling and music into your car's stereo, but clearly it's missed quite a few other applications that have already graced American soil. Nevertheless, the device is meant to be "professionally installed" into your car's stereo system, and allows you to converse wirelessly on your Bluetooth-enabled phone, stream tunes from your A2DP-enabled device, listen to your iPod via an optional cable, or connect any music device via a 3.5-millimeter aux input. The diminutive device touts an intuitive-looking menu with oversized buttons to navigate from music to your address book and everywhere in between, but interestingly enough the "handsfree" aspect becomes somewhat laughable when many functions need a few button presses to get things in order. Regardless, PIEKER's first device to be sold and distributed here in America should start hitting "aftermarket channels" shortly for a currently undisclosed price.

Panasonic updates Toughbooks: W5, T5, Y5 all Vista ready

2007-01-17T08:49:00.002-08:00

In addition to launching the new R6 today, Panasonic gave their W5, T5, and Y5 Toughbooks new silicon in preparation for the new Vista OS. First off, the W5 and T5 get their first taste of Core Duo with the 1.06GHz U2400 processor. That nudges battery life from 8 to 10.5 on the 12.1-inch W5 all the way up to 14-hours -- as claimed by Panny -- on the touch-sensitive, 12.1-inch T5. Meanwhile, the 14.1-inch Y5 steps it up to the 1.83GHz L2500 Core Duo processor with battery life now upped from 6 to 8.5-hours. All other specs and prices remain relatively unchanged. All three hit January 30th in line with the consumer release of Vista yet, for whatever reason, these slabs come pre-loaded with Windows Vista Business released back in November.

A-DATA goes SSD crazy, shows off 128GB 2.5-incher

2007-01-17T08:49:00.001-08:00

Friends, the age of SSD is upon is, and there's no better evidence than the upcoming 128GB 2.5-inch drive from A-DATA, which hooks up via SATA II, totally schools PQI's offering, and makes all your wildest dreams come true. A-DATA was showing this drive off at CES behind closed doors, along with a 64GB 1.8-incher and a most impressive 32GB ExpressCard. Mass production and availability is due for late Q1 and early Q2, and while there's no word on price just yet, with the way flash drives have been trending lately, we're hoping for good news when these hit the streets.

Look at the pretty lights: Wiimote modded up purty

2007-01-17T08:48:00.001-08:00

Chalk another one up for "interesting things to do with your Wiimote that most assuredly void the warranty." Leet hax0r "sir crx" of the MaxConsole Forums just got LED happy in his Wiimote, but unlike lame-o attempts by his predecessors, crx did his one up right, with a different LED color for each controller "port." The blue, red, green and yellow colors denote players 1-4 and make for quite the show -- in a complete Wii fanboy sort of way, naturally.

Yet another Linux option for your PS3: Debian Live

2007-01-17T08:47:00.001-08:00

At this point, running Linux on your PlayStation 3 shouldn't come as any surprise, but just in case you haven't snapped up the Yellow Dog variety, and you're still intrigued after seeing that Fedora Core video, here's yet another option for testing the open source waters on your machine. Debian Live is now available as a downloadable ISO for use on Sony's latest console, and while the task may seem a bit daunting to the uninitiated, there's a fairly thorough wiki set up at the site to guide you through the snags and help you get things running smoothly. So if you've got nothing better to do than tinker with an OS on your PS3, be sure to hit the read link, get your download on, and report on back with your tales of success (or failure).

iPhone ain't widescreen!

2007-01-17T08:45:00.000-08:00

You know how Steve Jobs and Apple like to boast of the iPhone's ability to function as a "widescreen iPod?" Well, anyone who sat in Moscone Center to witness the holy unveiling surely noticed the screen cropping (letterboxing) that occurred when Steve played Pirates of the Carribean. That's because the iPhone isn't "widescreen" as the term is customarily understood outside of the reality distortion field -- it is not a 1.78:1 (16x9) aspect ratio. Rather, the display utilizes a 1.5:1 aspect ratio. That puts the iPhone somewhere in the proprietary zone between the NTSC or PAL television standard 1.33:1 (4x3) and a proper widescreen 1.78:1 (16x9) aspect ratio like that thrown off Apple's new Apple TV. As demonstrated during the Jobsnote, true widescreen videos can be zoomed to fill the iPhone's screen but only at the expense of cropping the left and right-hand side video. Will this, uh, clarification or other nits prevent the first batch from selling out? Oh hells no. But at least now you know the truth

Sony's Core 2 Quad (yes, quad) Vaio R Master: answers "who's your daddy?"

2007-01-17T08:44:00.000-08:00

Looks like Sony is first from the gate with a consumer PC wrapped around Intel's new Core 2 Quad processor. Damn straight Jack, Sony's Vaio R Master split-tower, flagship desktop now sports Intel's beefiest of consumer procs: the 2.4GHz Core 2 Quad Q6600. That, on top of a Blu-ray Disc drive, up to 3GB of DDR2-667 memory and 3TB of SATA disk, and nVidia Quadro FX 1500 graphics makes this one smokin' fast box. Only thing is, a fully spec'd -- and we mean fully -- model VGC-RM900CPS with 24-inch, 1920x1200 LCD will set you back ¥995,800 (about $8,241) when these hit Japan February 10th. Still interested?

Sharp's 1,000,000:1 Mega-Contrast Premium LCD vs regular LCD

2007-01-16T00:46:00.000-08:00

Don't get us wrong, we love our high contrast HDTVs -- especially those among us lucky enough to have a 10,000:1 Sharp set and the like -- but if you've never experienced a 1,000,000:1 picture, you've never seen truly black black-levels. At CES 2007 Sharp was showing off their reference grade 37-inch Mega-Contrast Premium LCD, which had even deeper blacks than most SED sets we've seen to date (but not Sony's OLED set). Granted, this side by side comparison was with a mere 1,200:1 set that didn't exactly put up much of a fight -- we might have liked to have seen it alongside one of their 10,000:1 or 12,000:1 sets,

Britain's CSR developing uber-sensitive Bluetooth / GPS hybrid chip

2007-01-16T00:43:00.000-08:00

Considering how governments are suddenly feeling that tracking your every move, or at least providing the means for someone else to, is such a brilliant idea, it's no surprise to see the Bluetooth masters at Cambridge-based CSR buy up NordNav and Cambridge Positioning Systems. The new mishmash of companies now has consolidation on the brain, as it's developing an all-in-one microchip that will sport both Bluetooth and GPS functionality on a single module. Additionally, the chip would reportedly "drain less power and be cheaper for handset makers than having two separate chips in their devices," as both technologies would have one processor doing the work, resulting in a more efficient process. The company's CEO claimed that its combo chips would cost manufacturers "an extra dollar per chip as opposed to around $5 to $10 for putting in a current standalone GPS chip," and moreover, these devices are designed to be ultra-sensitive, giving it connection abilities indoors and in "deep urban areas" where current units fall short. Already being hit up by a few anonymous mobile producers, CSR plans to get these things shipping "during the first half of this year," and hopes to start turning a profit on them by 2008.

Already sexy, TiVo brings fast forward ads back

2007-01-15T19:02:00.001-08:00

There's nothing that DVR owners like more than a good commercial, so TiVo subscribers will be overjoyed to learn that the company has once again begun overlaying advertisements to entertain viewers during those interminable seconds it takes to fast forward from one TV segment to another. Wait a minute, that's not right. There's nothing that DVR owners hate more than commercials, which is one of the reasons that they pay a monthly fee for the privilege of zipping through Madison Avenue's wares. Well despite the fact that reactions were pretty negative the first time TiVo decided to drop banner ads on top of the fast forward screen, apparently the still shots (and their resulting revenue) were popular enough among company execs to warrant a second go-round. Unlike the initial implementation, however, these new ads supposedly mirror the commercials being skipped; so if you're zooming past a BMW ad, for instance, you'll likely see pics of a German luxury car superimposed on the content being ignored. Also back on the scene are the little green on-screen "thumbs up" icons that allow you to use your remote to access -- you guessed it -- even more commercials. With all the menu screen, post-roll, and now fast forward pitches that TiVo owners have to deal with, we're wondering if the company should take a page from Web 2.0 and drop the subscription fee altogether in favor of a strictly ad-based model.

HD DVD Turns It Up To 51GB With Triple Layer Goodness

2007-01-15T19:00:00.000-08:00

We don't know what we were expecting the specs on the AppleTV to be—nothing extraordinary, we're sure—but what we see now is kind of deflating. The ATV has a 1.0GHz Pentium M-based chip which is down-clocked for a 350MHz bus and has 2MB of L2 cache. Not the type of powerhouse you'd want to hack and put Linux on. The peripherals aren't that impressive either. There's a 40GB, 2.5-inch PATA hard disk, an nVidia G72M with 64MB of DDR2 RAM, 256MB of 400MHz DDR2 main system RAM, and 802.11n compatibility (it works with Airport Extreme). We suppose the meager specs are why the machine costs only $299, but it makes us wonder how well it'll handle Apple's 1080 HD trailers.

AppleTV's Specs: Not That Impressive

2007-01-15T18:57:00.000-08:00

Skype founders name new video start-up Joost

2007-01-15T18:56:00.001-08:00

Janus Friis and Niklas Zennstrom, the duo that brought the world Skype and Kazaa, have chosen a name for their new online-video start-up.

The two Danes want people hungry for Internet entertainment to roost at Joost.

Company executives had referred to the new company for months by the codename "The Venice Project." They chose Joost because they like the ring of it, according to a spokeswoman. The word doesn't have any meaning in Danish.

The plan, according to Joost CEO Fredrik de Wahl, is to offer studios, cable stations and anyone else who wants to distribute high-quality video over the Internet, a fast, efficient and cheap distribution method. To do this, the company will rely on the peer-to-peer technology that helped Friis and Zennstrom build Skype and Kazaa.

Their sparkling track record of creating hit companies aside, Friis and Zennstrom face a crowded field of competitors, such as YouTube and Apple, which are already well on their way to establishing themselves as video-distribution platforms.

Most importantly, Joost has yet to strike any marquee partnerships with top film or TV producers. Without them, their challenge is a tough one: convincing studio executives and the like to turn over their content to Joost when the company has yet to attract a big audience.

BitTorrent, the San Francisco-based distributor of a competing peer-to-peer company is also vying to license technology to Internet video companies. Another threat could come from the growing number of sites that offer top cable and movie channels without permission. One such company, TVU Networks, made a splash last summer by offering soccer fans the ability to watch World Cup matches on their PC. For a while, TVU Networks was offering HBO, CNN, the Disney Channel and NBAtv before many of the companies forced it to pull their shows down.

Now on News.com:

What Joost has going for it is that the software replicates the TV-viewing experience better than many of the other companies trying to wed TV to the PC. And this is a time when Hollywood is experimenting with the Internet. During the past year, Warner Bros. cut distribution deals with Guba, a little-known video-sharing site, and BitTorrent, a company that many consider to be synonymous with digital piracy.

Joost's nifty technology may be enough to sway the entertainment industry to place a bet on proven winners in Friis and Zennstrom.

A menu allows users to switch channels with a click of a link. Users will also have TiVo-like control of the content and access to any show offered regardless of time of day. They can also move forward or backward within a show.

The Luxembourg-based company will support itself with advertising, specifically Internet ads that behave just TV commercials.

"These are the kind of ads that the TV industry and viewers understand," de Wahl said.

Woman dies trying to win a Wii

2007-01-14T23:07:00.001-08:00

With all the hysteria and violence surrounding the PlayStation 3 launch, we were almost positive that it would be the pursuit of Sony's hard-to-find console which would lead to the tragic death of a hopeful gamer. But even though there were numerous scuffles and injuries in the race to secure a PS3, the first and only casualty in the next-gen wars turned out to be a woman trying to win a Wii for her children -- and she lost her life in much more bizarre circumstances than the retail madness we witnessed in late November. 28-year-old Jennifer Strange of Rancho Cardova, CA was found dead inside her home on Friday afternoon after competing in a radio station-sponsored competition which pitted hopefuls against one another for the prize of Nintendo's latest and greatest. Instead of competing on the playing fields of Wii sports or the Japanese streets of Red Steel, however, contestants gathered inside the studios of Sacramento's KDND The End to see who could drink the most water without urinating. The ridiculously-titled "Hold Your Wee for a Wii" contest had entrants imbibe eight ounces of water every fifteen minutes for 90 minutes, after which they were given larger portions until a winner emerged. Ms. Strange -- who did not win -- left the studio in tears, and she was last heard from by her employers at Radiological Associates of Sacramento complaining of a terrible headache. Autopsy results released yesterday showed signs of water intoxication, wherein the body's electrolyte levels are dangerously unbalanced due to a rapid intake of the seemingly harmless liquid. A spokesperson from The End came out with the usual sob story following news of Strange's death, but at least one of her coworkers thinks the station should have done more to prevent this tragedy; it's probably a pretty safe bet that a lawsuit is forthcoming.

The Pirate Bay eying Sealand to escape digital persecution

2007-01-14T23:06:00.000-08:00

While Sweden (and Russia, to name a few) has long been a country of choice when it came to hosting less-than-upstanding websites, the head honchos around the globe looking out for their precious content have somehow reached The Pirate Bay, and now the popular torrent tracking site is eying the micronation of Sealand as a safe haven for its dubious hosting needs. Sealand, which is loosely claimed as a principality, features its own flag, coat of arms, currency, stamps, passports, and most importantly, a quasi-coat of armor from any nation's laws. Although the background of 5,920-square foot man-made installation off the shore of Suffolk, England is quite remarkable, TPB sees its two massive columns as a perfect place for future hosting duties. Formerly the home of HavenCo, an off-shore hosting company that housed gambling sites, money transferring liaisons, and any other operation looking for internet freedom, Sealand could be a potential sanctuary from the claws of the RIAA, MPAA, and other content "owners." Although a principality can't legally (saywha?) be "sold," the family in possession of it recently began accepting offers "upwards of eight figures" for a transfer of ownership after (quite literally) holding down the fort since 1967, and while we highly doubt a fundraiser can scrape up that kind of loot anytime soon, nor do we believe it'd stop the barrage of content guardians, we must say the loca

Will the iPhone support Exchange Direct Push?

2007-01-14T23:04:00.000-08:00

During the Jobsnote, Steve said that the iPhone would support many different email systems including Exchange -- and as we well know, the most precious Exchange feature to a mobile user is Direct Push, which allows your device to receive updates instantly for email and other data from your server. Steve did specifically mention that the iPhone would support Push-IMAP from Yahoo, but didn't mention any details about Exchange Direct Push like the Windows Mobile phones have. To many, this is the killer app for business users and it isn't too much of a stretch to believe that Apple could include it on the hot new iPhone. Exchange Direct Push is a Web Service that runs on the Outlook Web Access server; WM5 devices connect via HTTP and make calls for data and then leave port 80 open for updates from the server, keeping the device up-to-date just like a BlackBerry.

Because this is all done via HTTP, it is possible to reverse engineer the protocol -- in fact, Zimbra has already done this, and WM5 devices can sync with a Zimbra server the same way they would an Exchange 2003 sp2 server. Reverse engineering OWA WebDAV (an extension of HTTP that allows users to manage files on a Outlook Web Access server) service is also nothing new, as Ximian first did it almost 5 years ago with its app Evolution, bringing Exchange Server functionality to Linux. It is also not new for Apple, which has used it to sync OS X users' Apple Mail and Address Book with Exchange since OS X 10.3. Coincidentally, this is also how Microsoft's own Entourage connects to Exchange, versus using MAPI (Microsoft's Proprietary mail API) like Outlook. As important as up to the second email is to business users, we don't see how Apple could afford to leave this feature out.

Good One Guys...

2007-01-14T06:57:00.000-08:00

Hi,
Well we are almost at the mark aren't we at 331 visits in 73 days is pretty good before at my Live Blog i had like 3581 visits in 2 years that is in 730 days which was pretty good and I think we are doing it again thank you all you people from all over the blogosphere

Thanks once again and we still continue to want your support as without it i and my team would have not reached here,
i will however want new vistors so spread the word and Rock in urb-geeky way
Thx again,
Hacker j
Urb-Geek
(Manager,Owner,Publisher of the gadget Story)

P.s- We have added new stuff as usual on the right hand corner to help you aggregate with many rss feed readers or help you bookmark this blog at a number of places including del.ci.ous and many other!
Bye urb-geeks
Hope to see the 10-20 people traffic still reamining

Did Apple swipe "Visual Voicemail," too?

2007-01-14T06:55:00.000-08:00

We're guessing not, but El Reg has a piece up squarely accusing Apple of another swipe, this time of the term "Visual Voicemail" to describe the iPhone's voicemail UI. Visual Voicemail, which is owned by Citrix and originally developed by Net6, has been around for years and may (or may not) be what's powering Apple and Cingular's solution for the common problem of having to wait through all the voicemail you don't want just to hear the voicemail you do. And "Visual Voicemail" is, in fact, capitalized on Apple's site, meaning if legit usage of the term or licensed software isn't in the cards, Apple could soon find itself in two simultaneous pots of hot water.

ZOMG, Zune runs teh Linux!

2007-01-14T06:54:00.001-08:00

A tip like "omg its true. mys videl was really workin on teh zune linux." doesn't really inspire confidence -- in the story, or in the future of mankind -- but if this YouTube video is to be believed, it seems as if some foolio named "MysVidel," who can't even manage to get a camera to focus properly, has hacked up his Zune to run Linux. It could very well just be a video playing back on the Zune, meant to fool the casual viewer, but the button presses are well enough timed that we're willing to give this one a fair shake. Don't let us down, MysVidel. As for tipster -- our hope in you is lost already. Like always, check the video after the break.

New Xbox 360 due for late '07 to handle IPTV?

2007-01-14T06:51:00.000-08:00

According to a pre-CES briefing that Windows expert Paul Thurrott received from his Microsoft pals, the big M will be coming out with a new version of the Xbox 360 (Zephyer?) at the end of 2007, which will feature a larger HDD and some new hardware to enable that IPTV functionality Robbie Bach was talking about during the Microsoft CES keynote. It also stands to reason that such a Xbox 360 might be sporting a fancy new HDMI port and perhaps run just a wee bit cooler -- meaning HDCP and less fan noise, natural fits for home theater use. It still seems a bit unreasonable for Microsoft, which has been bragging about its 10 million strong installed base, to leave those early adopters out in the cold, but if that's the way it goes down we can't say we won't welcome the excuse to ditch the fan and disc drive hullabaloo of our current gen box.

[Via Digg; thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Sex sells but not on Blu-Ray

2007-01-14T06:49:00.000-08:00

The deciding factor in the case of HD DVD vs. Blu-ray may be this: who will work with the porn industry?

According to some bloggers, the makers of X-rated material are leaning toward HD DVD, saying Blu-ray is too expensive and doesn't have the market share.

And that may be the way top Blu-ray backer Sony wants it. A leading porn director told German news site Heise that Blu-ray manufacturers in the U.S. had told him Sony would pull their Blu-ray licenses if they made porn films.

Blog community response:

"It does not matter how you stand to porn. It is here and it is a massive business. It is also an industry that is an early adopter for new media technology. VHS might not have won with out the adult film industry adopting it."
--SGKnox.com

"Porn was a huge factor in VHS winning the VHS/Beta format wars even though many people don't like to acknowledge it. Porn, like gaming, pushes tech adoption."
--kdawson on Slashdot

"I've tried my best to avoid making cheap Betamax/Blue-ray comparisons, because I thought it pigeonholed a new technology that had promise but little real world exposure. This comparison, however, is an unavoidable direct parallel. At this point the story is still rumor...and I really can't imagine Sony making the same mistake twice."
--Gizmodo

Anshe Chung YouTube video is a 'terms of use violation'

2007-01-14T06:47:00.000-08:00

The video that depicts the griefing attack on Second Life land baroness Anshe Chung--removed by YouTube after a DMCA copyright infringement complaint--has been recategorized as a "terms of service violation."

It's not clear why. At first, Guntram Graef, husband of Anshe Chung's real-life persona Ailin Graef, attempted to convince YouTube that the video contained copyright infringement because of the unauthorized inclusion of Anshe Chung's avatar.

Users own what they create in Second Life, and that was the basis for the copyright infringement claim. But according to legal experts, the video and its images were fair use because they were taken during the griefing attack in which Anshe Chung--while She was interviewed in CNET's Second Life theater--was bombarded by 15 minutes of flying digital penises and pornographic photographs. The attack quickly became worldwide news.

But now, loading the video produces a generic YouTube message informing visitors that the video was deleted for a "terms of service violation." YouTube provides no further information.

I will keep you informed, dear readers, as I discover the reasons behind this. But it's nice to know that YouTube no longer considers this situation in the realm of DMCA, as nearly everyone involved knew that argument to be specious.

Dell finally uses its designers, sheds ugly duckling facade

2007-01-13T09:42:00.000-08:00

In between all the announcements, Dell was kind enough to bring some humor to CES with its irony -- after finally making something that doesn't look like it was designed in Soviet Russia, the company reveals that it's only a concept product. The "ultra-flat" LCD (with a resolution estimated as high as 1920 x 1200-pixels) is encased in glass and features four built-in speakers. Dell manages to keep it svelte by taking a design cue from Microsoft and outsourcing the power supply to your floor rather than keeping it inside the actual device. There is also a microphone / webcam on the top, not unlike the supposed Apple display rumors; overall a very well thought out and nicely designed device -- we're hoping to find it leaked somewhere on Dell's site soon.

You still think Dell is Dull?

Buffalo's new 20-inch LCD dons black or white

2007-01-13T09:34:00.000-08:00

In case that 19-incher was just a hair too small, Buffalo's cranking out a slightly larger panel in its FTD lineup by offering up the 20.1-inch FTD-W2025ADSR. Aside from the unnecessarily long name, this unit rocks a 16:10 aspect ratio, 1,680 × 1,050 resolution, 800:1 contrast ratio, 5-millisecond response time, and a 160-degree viewing angle. Additionally, you'll find a pair of skull-rattling one-watt speakers, DVI / VGA inputs, and an RoHS-approved logo to keep those energy costs minimized. Buffalo's apparently aiming for the trendy crowd, as it offers the panel in both black and white frames, and while we're not really feeling those feet on the stand, you can pick this one up later this month for a currently undisclosed price.

Clarion showcases Bluetooth / SD FB275BT head unit, touts "no moving parts"

2007-01-13T09:26:00.000-08:00

Clarion's already shown us its N.I.C.E. 430 navigation system here at CES, but its "semiconductor car stereo" stole the show by offering up an in-car stereo with "no moving parts," which means you won't find an optical drive or HDD in here. The single-DIN FB275BT instead receives music care of the SD slot (unfortunately, no SDHC support was mentioned) behind the front white panel or over Bluetooth, and pumps out the jams with it's 50-watt x 4 internal amplifier. Aside from also boasting handsfree connectivity with your mobile, it features an FM tuner (sorry, AM lovers), two-line LCD display, rear auxiliary input for your DAP of choice, two-channel RCA output, and a modest assortment of equalizer / bass boost presets. The faceplate boasts eight large, curved buttons as a part of Clarion's HMI (Human Machine Interface), which reportedly seeks to "minimizes the number of buttons while maximizing functionality," and plenty of indirect lighting keep it lookin' good when nightfall hits. So if you're ready to ditch the CD for good, you can pick up the FB275BT sometime this year for $249.99.

The unpacking of iPhone

2007-01-13T08:47:00.000-08:00

Small box -- would have thought it was a wireless Mighty Mouse.

iPhone arrived partially charged.

Compared to the SK3.

Short RIMM stock

Multi-touch takes a little getting used to.

First call (to David Sacks)

From http://www.iphoneunboxed.com/

Apple Phone..Lol!!!

2007-01-13T08:46:00.000-08:00

Via Boing Boing and BFF Xeni

Meizu thinks small, copies Apple again with Music Card

2007-01-13T08:37:00.000-08:00

Sure, there've been props all around for Meizu's M6 Mini Player, but that still doesn't alleviate those concerns of iPod "homage." Now that we've spotted this upcoming "Music Card" nano foe, who's design was apparently inspired by a user submitted competition, it's pretty clear where Meizu is getting its design ideas, but we're not sure we'd have it any other way. With a shiny metal back, "reminiscent" of the original nano, along with that glossy plastic metal front and familiar screen size, the Apple references are hard to skip. Meizu mixes things up with its scroll strip and that little button on the bottom left, along with what we're assuming is expansive codec support and probably even video playback. Dimensions are familiar as well, at 6.9mm thick and 39mm wide, but enough about similarities: we're looking forward to a bit more info on this player to see just what Meizu has planned for us on price, availability and features.

Now directly linking to third party sites

2007-01-12T09:52:00.000-08:00

I in my recent post have been linking to some of the sites from which I take the material from anyway these blogs are 3rd party so remember i do not take any guarantee for them.
Thanks for 305 visits in 68 days..
Jayesh
(Owner,Publisher,Manager Of The Gadget Story)

P.S- We have the Yahoo! Search added at the bottom and the cool new logo for The Gadget Story Blog extreme top right hand corner

Cingular to become AT&T on Monday

2007-01-12T09:46:00.000-08:00

Now that Cingular's co-owners have been united in holy matrimony, it looks like AT&T is wasting no time in killing off the brand to replace it with its own. Like, no time at all -- in fact, ComputerWorld is reporting that AT&T will begin using dual Cingular/AT&T branding this coming Monday. The new scheme will be used for some as-yet-undetermined period of time until everyone feels comfortable that the general populace understands what exactly has become of the nation's largest GSM carrier, at which point the AT&T name'll go it alone. So if anyone out there still has an old-skool AT&T Wireless handset kicking around, here's your opportunity to pull it back out and feel cool again.

iPhone: does Cisco miss out due to prior art?

2007-01-12T09:44:00.001-08:00

Apple's argument that Cisco's claim to the name iPhone is "silly" is about to get a whole lot more cogent. It's still debatable whether Cisco has rights to the name, but eagle-eyed reader mrsalty points out the fact that Cisco's patent filings for the "Internet telephone" (and at least two others) reference the iphone name and attribute it to the Cidco (a company now owned by Earthlink) is not encouraging; the fact that the filing reads with the following language is even less so. "Also known [to Cisco at the time of filing the patent] is a dedicated 'Web phone,' such as the iphone, manufactured by Cidco..." Yikes. It's difficult to tell whether this iphone predates Cisco's acquisition of the patent holdings originally filed by Infogear in 1997, but prior art is prior art, and they admitted as much right in their own patent filing. What's more, the The Internet Phone Company has owned and operated iphone.com since 1995, and we don't see Cisco suing them. So basically we really hope this whole thing will be quick and painless since we don't think anyone wants another RIM vs NTP saga on their hands, but things will get very interesting if it works out such that the iPhone name is released to the commons and everyone and their mother can make an iPhone. (Sony Ericsson aiPhone or Motorola IFON, anyone?) Our advice to the people Behind the Human Network: focus on that human network of yours and let the iPhone go, kid.

iPhone might have 3G switched on via upgrade? Probably not....

2007-01-12T01:25:00.001-08:00

Believe us, by this point we're all feeling a little weary of all the mega-intense iPhone news/drama/speculation that's been going around these past few days, but we couldn't help but remark on John Markoff's comment in the New York Times yesterday that Apple could possibly add 3G to the iPhone via a software update. It's not unheard of for a firmware upgrade to unlock new features or functionality in a device, but the sources we've spoken to have made it pretty clear that Apple hasn't wedged a UMTS or HSDPA radio into this thing. Not that we wouldn't mind this being true. We're pretty bummed that the iPhone doesn't have HSDPA -- once you taste 3G, it's hard to go back to anything slower -- but it's semi-understandable that they'd want to use an EDGE radio that'd cost less and be less power hungry. Or at least that seems to be the prevailing theory, Jobsy hasn't exactly come out and said why a high-end handset that's due out in mid-2007 will be a generation behind in its wireless connectivity.

AOpen and Mitsubishi unveil Windows XP-powered CAR PC

2007-01-12T01:23:00.000-08:00

While most folks (and automakers) would be completely satisfied with a svelte in-car navigation system with Bluetooth and MP3 playback, Mitsubishi is looking to shove a full-featured, Windows XP-powered computer in your dash. The company's CAR PC, which was co-developed by AOpen, looks like your average NAV option at first glance, but behind the plastic lies a 1.5GHz Intel Celeron M370, 512MB of DDR2 RAM, 40GB hard drive, DVD / CD drive, Windows XP Home, and a SiRF Star III GPS receiver. Additionally, it sports a 7-inch 800 x 480 resolution LCD, voice activation functionality, and the ability to hit up your email and hold a Skype conversation thanks to 3G connectivity. No details were mentioned concerning price or hard availability dates, but it should start hitting Taiwanese cars soon, with China and America to get the goods in the future.

Longhorn:Now a widescreen ipod from China...

2007-01-12T01:21:00.000-08:00

If Apple wasn't going to give people a fullscreen iPod, darn it, the Chinese would do it. Longhorn's M16 and M18 —which kinda makes for a weird Apple/Microsoft mishmash—are flash based video/audio players that look like the iPhone. So how good is it?

Form what we saw, video was sharp and actually quite detailed. The m18 has a 480x272 dpi display and the M16 had a 320x240 display. The video wasn't completely fluid, but it was definitely watchable.

What's cool was this thing can actually record from TV/DVD/CD/DV to MPEG-4, and output to NTSC/PAL for watching on the TV. It supports up to a 2GB SD card, and has a 2000 mAh battery. No pricing on this, we're pretty sure it'll be a cheap knockoff iPod/iPhone player when it's released.

Mac to Intel: You'll Cramp Our Style

2007-01-12T01:19:00.000-08:00

At Intel's booth, not far from the white boy dance station, they have a wall showing off their Core 2 Duo line of supported laptops. There are quite a few manufacturers here...but no Macbooks to be found.

We checked with a few reps regarding Apple's absence, giving that Apple and Intel have been hooking up pretty seriously for a while now, and gloating about it to everyone who doesn't have a date to the prom. What did the reps have to tell us?

Rep 1: He was confused as well, mentioning that he had asked a higher up who hadn't given him any explanation.

Rep 2: Apple wouldn't allow Intel to use their products. While they could show an Intel Mac at their retailer's luncheon, Apple would not allow anything in the Intel booth.

Classy.

From giZmodo

Google plans street advertising presence

2007-01-11T22:52:00.001-08:00

In a patent filing Google has revealed that it is looking into entering the physical advertising industry. The patent filing itself alludes to placing adverts on billboards, with the primary innovation being that they're interactive and connected to the internet -- what, you didn't really believe that Google would go in for static ads did you? The system apparently works by only advertising products that are available and in stock within stores in the local area. Stores will be able to buy advertising on these local electronic billboards through a similar system to how AdSense currently works: by logging into a computer and buying them. One of the key positive developments -- at least for busy consumers -- is that once stock of the product has run out, the advertised project on display automatically switches onto the next one that's in stock. This whole project relies greatly on there being adequate infrastructure for Google to make a return (which obviously isn't a problem when it comes to the internet), so this patent is far from an assurance that you'll be seeing "Ads by Goooooogle" reminding you to pick up some milk from your local 7-Eleven any time soon.

[Via SmartMobs]

UMPC v2 roundup: the dawn of Vistagami

2007-01-11T22:49:00.000-08:00

The UMPC is a relative no-show here at CES compared to its viral, CeBIT 2006 origins. Still, we managed to track down and get up close and personal with devices like the Kohjinsha SA1F00A, Samsung PH-P9000, OQO Model 02, and Medion and even checked a preview of the new Origami Experience UI for Vista. HTC's UMPC, which may or not be the Athena, is absent but there's still hope for a formal announcement in March at the CTIA wireless show. In a surreal moment, we even witnessed a visibly shaken Intel exec demonstrating "Yahoo! Go for UMPC" to Yahoo's CFO while a VIA exec (Intel's biggest competition on this platform) quietly snaked through the crowd nearby. Only at CES, friends. We also managed to extract the UMPC v2 reference designs from the recessed bowels of Intel -- displayed almost as an afterthought, not a highlight. The verdict? Vista on these new UMPCs coupled with the new Origami Experience UI is a big step in the right direction. The "Yahoo UMPC" reference design we saw at Intel's IDF felt very solid in the hand, and features a well positioned thumbpad we found easy to use while holding the device two handed -- a design which might have a chance of success if picked up by an OEM. Intel also has a few new reference designs under glass: a chubby, slim-screened slider and another perched in a fat brown media dock with integrated DVD and AV outs. The Medion? Forget it, the keyboard is plain and simply, unusable and the device felt poorly engineered. Word is that Intel will have their new, ultra-low power mobile processor for these v2 UMPCs ready before the end of Q2. That, coupled with Vistagami might finally give the platform a fighting chance this summer.

Apple says Cisco lawsuit is "silly"

2007-01-11T22:48:00.000-08:00

Oh no they didn't! By now you already know it's on, and the latest round in the iPhone v. iPhone dance-off comes from Apple spokesman Steve Dowling, who was quoted as saying the Cisco lawsuit is "silly" and that several companies are already using the term iPhone for VoIP products. He called Cisco's trademark "tenuous at best" and noted his company was the first to ever use the name for a cellphone. He goes on to boast that Cisco is gonna totally get served: "if Cisco wants to challenge us on it, we're very confident we'll prevail." Oh yeah -- Apple to Cisco: let's see you dance, sucka!

iPhone powered by Samsung, not Intel

2007-01-11T22:46:00.000-08:00

The iPhone (no, not that iPhone, or this one either) is powered by an Intel processor, right? Afterall, Steve Jobs told us all himself that one of the major reasons for making the switch to Intel was due to their sexy silicon roadmap. Well you, and pretty much everyone else would be wrong. The all seeing, all powerful iPhone -- just like the iPod -- is powered by a Samsung processor according to an Apple spokeswoman speaking to Reuters. FBR Research believes that the remaining major components are supplied by Marvell (802.11), Infineon Technologies (baseband), Broadcom Corp. (touch screen controller), and Cambridge Silicon Radio (Bluetooth). However, we won't know for sure until the iPhone undergoes the knife.

First shots, impressions of Origami Experience

2007-01-11T07:32:00.000-08:00

f you hadn't heard, Origami Experience is the sexy new program launcher that Microsoft is prepping for Vista-based UMPCs and Tablets, which along with providing a fresh new way to get at your apps lets you browse and play your media in an all-inclusive environment. We've finally gotten our first look at the software (more shots after the break), thanks to a post full of screenies over at the Origami Team Blog. The Tablet nuts over at jkOnTheRun got to view it live and found Experience to be speedy, intuitive and helpful, with convenient menus, easy customization and all-important finger-friendly operation. Looks like there isn't just one purtiful touch-based portable OS game in town.

The iPhone is not a smart phone

2007-01-11T07:30:00.000-08:00

And the reality slowly sets in about what the iPhone is and is not. Noted analyst and Engadget pal Michael Gartenberg stated that the iPhone is first party software ONLY -- i.e. not a smartphone by conventional terms, being that a smartphone is a platform device that allows software to be installed. That means hungry power-users -- you know, those people ready and willing to plunk down $600 for an 8GB musicphone -- won't be able to extend the functionality of their phone any more than Apple (but thankfully not Cingular) dictates. Other unfortunate realities about the device:

No 3G. We know you know, but still, it hurts man.
No over the air iTunes Store downloads or WiFi syncing to your host machine.
No expandable memory.
No removable battery.
No Exchange or Office support.

Apple Accessories

2007-01-11T07:27:00.000-08:00

Apple accessories are big business, and the Apple TV is no different. Apple has teamed up with XtremeMac to help you get your Apple TV connected, and they seem to have every option covered: HDMI, Component, HDMI>DVI, Toslink -- even analog audio, (no ATV doesn't support composite or S-Video). This takes care of most sets, but many TVs only have one HDMI input, so XtremeMac is also offering a HDMI 4-port switch. You can use the supplied remote or the button on the front, but there's no auto switching, which would have been nice. The surprisingly delightful part is the price; while many major retailers charge as much as $150 for a HDMI cable, this one is only $19.99. No word on the price of the switcher, but all will be available by the ATV's launch in February.

Dell to auction off custom World of Warcraft XPS M1710 laptops

2007-01-11T07:24:00.000-08:00

Dell's in your laptop, airbrushing your WoW art -- in honor of the upcoming World of Warcraft Burning Crusade expansion release on January 16, they again commissioned artist Mike Lavalee to airbrush two limited edition XPS M1710 laptops with BC-inspired art; the lappies will be auctioned off to benefit World Harvest, an international humanitarian relief organization. For the ~~non-addicted~~ uninitiated, the artwork depicts the two new Blood Elf and Drainei races to be released in the expansion in the process of totally pwning each other. It'll be interesting to see how much these actually fetch on auction, as ironically the people who'd want them most may be ~~unemployed and living in Mom's basement~~ financially challenged.

Cingular scheduled to rebrand as AT&T by iPhone launch

2007-01-11T07:23:00.000-08:00

At a press conference at CES today we learned that Cingular intends to initiate its rebranding to AT&T (not AT&T Wireless) by mid-year -- in time for the iPhone launch. While they weren't entirely certain of an exact date, they definitely seemed determined to make sure the AT&T branding was firmly in place by the time the industry-changing device was announced. Cingular couldn't officially confirm whether Apple could or couldn't make an identical device without a cell radio (i.e. the "true" video / widescreen / WiFi iPod), but they stated "Apple can build [their] devices." Other interesting Cingular / Apple bits:

It was again confirmed that customers must agree to a two year contract, even if that requires customers to renew their current service.
There is no iTunes revenue sharing.
There will be no physical branding on the iPhone but Apple branding. The only AT&T / Cingular branding will be on-screen where the carrier readout is shown.
Although nothing was confirmed, Cingular made it sound as though users might be able to expect a specially bundled data plan for the iPhone.

Sony breaks out five new HDD Handycams

2007-01-11T07:21:00.000-08:00

Up top we have the $1,000 DCR-SR300, which features Super Steadiest image stabilization, that dual-record feature for capturing 4 megapixel stills while recording video -- you can do 6 megapixels when you aren't recording. The camcorder records in 5.1 Dolby Digital sound, and supports that Bluetooth ECM-HW1 for enhanced center channel recording. Perhaps most interesting is the 240 fps three second burst recording mode for getting those slow-mo action shots -- normal recording is at 60 fps. Next up is the DCR-SR200, which shares most of the SR300's feature set, but only manages 2 megapixel and 4 megapixel shots respectively. Further on down the chain we have the 60GB DCR-SR82, 30GB SR62 and 30GB SR42, which go for $750, $650 and $600 respectively, but don't feature a whole lot in the feature department. All of these cameras are available for pre-order now, and will all be out at some indeterminate date in 2007.

Cingular rolls out Motorola KRZR

2007-01-11T07:18:00.000-08:00

Verizon, Sprint, Cingular, T-Mobile -- that looks to be the order of American major network KRZR releases now that Cingular's flavor has officially hit the streets. With nothing more than EDGE to shore up its data offering, the K1 isn't exactly a tech powerhouse, but we somehow suspect that the fashion-friendly lines, gloss, and touch controls will sell themselves to a fairly sizable (and profitable) demographic. Cingular customers can put a little piece of Motorola's (in)famous industrial design in their pockets today for $200 after contract and rebates, and on that note, we'd just like to gently remind folks that this is a good hundie over and above the smarter 3125. We're just sayin'.

Sony PSP goes Champagne Gold

2007-01-11T07:15:00.000-08:00

Champagne Gold" wasn't exactly our first choice for a new PSP color -- it's a little nouveau riche for our blood -- but Sony will be rolling it out in Japan on February 22nd, adding it to their current line up of black, white, pink, silver & blue models. No word on if, or when, it might be released here in the States, but Sony hasn't been very good about introducing new PSP colors over here.

iPhone & LG KE850: separated at birth?

2007-01-11T07:13:00.000-08:00

Two sparsely-buttoned large, touchscreen phones: the Apple iPhone, and the LG KE850 (which already won the International Forum Design Product Design Award for 2007). Separated at birth, or possible lawsuit number two for Apple? You decide.

Cisco sues Apple for trademark infringement: ruh roh!

2007-01-11T07:12:00.000-08:00

"It is our belief that Apple intends to agree to the final document." Not so much. We're not quite sure what broke down in talks between Cisco and Apple, but they ain't playing friendly no more. Cisco just announced that it has filed a lawsuit in Northern California to prevent Apple from infringing upon its registered iPhone trademark. The word yesterday was that Apple and Cisco had been involved in "extensive discussions," and that they were expecting Apple to sign up for whatever final agreement they proposed. "Cisco entered into negotiations with Apple in good faith after Apple repeatedly asked permission to use Cisco's iPhone name," says Mark Chandler of Cisco. "There is no doubt that Apple's new phone is very exciting, but they should not be using our trademark without our permission." Obviously all we've heard so far is Cisco spin on the situation, but so far it sounds like they're being fairly reasonable with Apple on this -- it is their own dang trademark after all. So what gives, Apple?

How the iPhone avoided being leake

2007-01-11T07:09:00.000-08:00

We all knew Apple was going to announce the iPhone at yesterday's Macworld keynote, but we didn't really know, y'know? Despite years of anticipation, false starts, and promised rumors, we can't decide if we're more impressed by what Apple managed to pack into the iPhone's slender frame or their ability to keep the entire thing an absoloute secret. Fortune takes a look at the process, covering the highly secretive cooperation with cell-carrier Cingular, the unusually distributed effort within Apple itself, and the increasing strain placed on the personal lives of employees tasked with long hours and strict confidentiality. Perhaps most interesting was the creation of "bogus prototypes" that they used with not only Cingular executives but with Apple exployees themselves. Lucky for us, an insider deep inside the core of Apple sent us this cameraphone snap of an early prototype featuring a (now absent) external antenna. What is that, a granny smith? Sweet! Errr, rather, sour.

HP's hd100 external HD DVD drive now on sale

2007-01-09T19:27:00.000-08:00

HP's hd100 HD DVD external USB drive is finally shipping and listed on sale at several retailers. Announced last fall, it was scheduled to ship in 2006 but didn't quite make it. We checked with HP when taking a look at a few other proucts (like it's evil twin, the bd135 Blu-ray burner also pictured above) and found out it is now shipping, a quick search on Froogle shows it can be bought for $449. What does $240 more than the price of an Xbox 360 HD DVD add-on that also works on the PC buy you? A drive capable of 2.4x HD DVD / 5x DVD / 14x CD read speeds, USB 2.0 cable, power cord, assorted manuals and support software and a copy of Cyberlink's PowerDVD HD DVD edition. Unfortunately, at a price that buys two Microsoft-subsidized Xbox 360 drives and leaves $40 left over to put towards playback software and an HD upgrade we're not in that much of a hurry to add-to-cart, but for an officially supported HD DVD solution on the PC, this is about it.

Apple unveils Bluetooth headset, new headphones for iPhone

2007-01-09T19:24:00.000-08:00

So Apple couldn't release its iPhone without also unveiling a new Bluetooth headset and a tweak to their iconic headphones now, could they? Keeping in line with Apple's minimalist design ethos, the Bluetooth headset appears from the side as a simple, thin, 2001-esque, black slab. It only has one button (on the top) and is apparently "incredibly small." Apple has also unveiled a new set of stereo headphones that accommodates the iPhone's cellular functionality. Similar to wire based hands-free kits, it has a small white box halfway up the wire with an integrated microphone and a "squeeze" switch for answering and hanging-up calls. Check out the break for a shot of the hands-free Apple headphones.

Apple confirms Paramount and iTunes deal

2007-01-09T19:23:00.001-08:00

It's official, Viacom's Paramount Pictures will indeed offer its movies for download over Apple's iTunes service. Some 250 titles in fact, including Tomb Raider, Italian Job, Wrath of Khan, Chinatown, Zoolander, School of Rock, and Sum of all Fears. The titles are currently being moved into the iTunes store and once available, should cost the same (no pricing was given) as the Disney films already available: $9.99 apiece for most titles, $14.99 for new releases and $12.99 for pre-orders.

The Apple iPhone runs OS X

2007-01-09T19:12:00.000-08:00

Capping literally years of speculation on perhaps the most intensely followed unconfirmed product in Apple's history -- and that's saying a lot -- the iPhone has been announced today. Yeah, we said it: "iPhone," the name the entire free world had all but unanimously christened it from the time it'd been nothing more than a twinkle in Stevie J's eye (comments, Cisco?). Sweet, glorious specs of the 11.6 millimeter device (that's frickin' thin, by the way) include a 3.5-inch 480 x 320 touchscreen display with multi-touch support and a proximity sensor to turn off the screen when it's close to your face, 2 megapixel cam, 4GB or 8 GB of storage, Bluetooth 2.0 with EDR and A2DP, WiFi that automatically engages when in range, and quad-band GSM radio with EDGE. Perhaps most amazingly, though, it somehow runs OS X with support for Widgets, Google Maps, and Safari, and iTunes (of course) with CoverFlow out of the gate. A partnership with Yahoo will allow all iPhone customers to hook up with free push IMAP email. Apple quotes 5 hours of battery life for talk or video, with a full 16 hours in music mode -- no word on standby time yet. In a twisted way, this is one rumor mill we're almost sad to see grind to a halt; after all, when is the next time we're going to have an opportunity to run this picture? The 4GB iPhone will go out the door in the US as a Cingular exclusive for $499 on a two-year contract, 8GB for $599. Ships Stateside in June, Europe in fourth quarter, Asia in 2008.

Apple Computer Inc; is no More Computer...

2007-01-09T19:11:00.000-08:00

Today Apple dropped the word "Computer" from their name. Now, known more simply as "Apple, Inc." to better reflect their steady but relentless move into the wider field of consumer electronics. With a portfolio now spanning software, retail, the on-line distribution of electronic media, home entertainment, digital audio players, cellphones and computers can anyone blame them? You paying attention Samsung, Sony, and Philips... Apple is serious about claiming your turf.

iTv = Apple TV

2007-01-09T19:09:00.000-08:00

Well now we know that iTV has officially become Apple TV. It's real folks: we got 802.11 b/g AND 802.11n, USB 2.0, Ethernet, WiFi, HDMI, bunch of standard outs, plus a 40GB hard drive -- all powered by an Intel CPU. So resolution is only 720p -- looks like a few folks are gonna be out of luck, but TV manufacturers are sure gonna be happy to sell all those new sets. Not just one, two or three but five computers can connect to the Apple TV box, making a true hub for all your PCs. You can watch content stored on your rig -- movies, TV shows, photos, etc. -- and you can also pull streaming vid directly off sites like...Apple.com! Plus, the box will even grab content from PCs outside of your house -- finally, we can watch all the great swag that our rich friends can afford. Interested? You'll be able to grab one immediately for $299.

The genesis of the iPhone

2007-01-09T19:06:00.000-08:00

"Everybody hates their phone, and that's not a good thing. And there's an opportunity there." Jobs told Time for a rather interesting and revealing piece chronicling the genesis Apple's new iPhone. (We didn't realize for sure that the iPhone can't use its WiFi to download tracks over the air, for instance.) What started more than two and a half years ago as a foray into tablet computing to counter Microsoft's efforts (whodathunk, Apple really was thinking of building a tablet PC), which inevitably led them to creating the iPhone. If you're the type wondering things like why the new device doesn't have rubber feet, check out the piece, it's a good read.