::: bisonium.com :::

Rumors and speculation about Microsoft's new iPod-killer have been floating around for some time now, but today Microsoft announced the Zune officially.  So is it the iPod killer Microsoft claims it to be?  My initial reactions are mixed.  First strike against the Zune is the design.  This thing is just straight-up UGLY.  Not really sure what someone was thinking releasing a brown version, but so be it.  I can hear the jokes about the brown one already.  I can say a few things about it too, but we won't go there. ;-)  I think part of the appeal of the iPod is it's sexiness.  The Zune just doesn't ooze with that sexiness of the iPod.  Maybe it's the black wheel sticking out of the center, and that horrid bezel surrounding the scroll wheel and screen.  I dunno.  My second beef is something that's hard to ding Microsoft on, no integration with iTunes or music purchased from the iTMS.  Again, this is a major problem for ALL manufacturers, not just Microsoft.  Apple has a lock on iTMS and they aren't about to let the other kiddies play in the sandbox.  One question I have for the Microsoft folks is why such a small hard drive (30GB)?  I suspect it was to keep initial costs down, but this could really be an issue for media junkies like me who have over 80GB of content sitting in my iTunes.  I would really like to see a model in the 80-120GB capacity.  So what else am I griping about?  Sit down...this is unexpected...but NOTHING else seems to be a deal-breaker on the Zune so far.

So what did Microsoft do right?  Plenty.  Can this really kill the iPod?  I suspect YES.  It's not going to be an easy battle, but with future iterations of the product, as the user feedback pours in and the product team assimilates that feedback, I suspect we will see a modified form factor, much like Apple has refined the iPod from what it was when they first released it.  Folks, this is a serious piece of hardware and Apple should be SCARED.  REAL SCARED.  Here's the things that Microsoft LISTENED to their users and not only took away, but actually IMPLEMENTED them into their product:

1. WiFi - You can share your media with friends now.  iPod users have been asking for this for ages.
2. Built-in FM Tuner - Yet another feature the iPod community has been screaming for.
3. Widescreen QVGA Screen - this was a no-brainer.  What has Apple been thinking lately?
4. Formats Gallore - the Zune supports h.264, MP3, AAC and WMA.  Choices.  Fancy that?
5. Multi-formats in the Media Manager - The media manager will also handle photos!  Nice.

Other key features include Microsoft's Zune Marketplace.  Details are sketchy, but Microsoft claims that there will be millions of songs to choose from in a variety of formats.  You will be able to import your media from iTunes and Windows Media Player, with the exception of items purchased on the iTunes Music Store.  As I mentioned before, that's a real bummer, but beyond Microsoft's control.  The Zune WILL however allow you to share full-length songs with your friends via the WiFi connection.  Shared songs can be played for up to three days, and if you like the tunes, you can flag it for purchase and connect directly to the Zune Marketplace to purchase the song.  Way cool.  The Zune will come pre-loaded with a bunch of tunes and Microsoft will be offering an all-you-can-eat option called a Zune Pass subscription.  No word on pricing for the Zune or anything else for that matter.  Part of the Microsoft PR and full pics after the jump..

Technorati Tags: Cool Gear, Microsoft, Mobility, Peripherals, Portable Audio, Portable Devices, Zune

Continue reading "It's Official: Microsoft Zune is out!" »

Posted by Frank Bisono at 2:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Well, it certainly looks like Sony is on a product release rampage.  Looks like they have just updated the old UX180 that I was soooo lusting over, and now it's the UX280.  Major improvements have been made in memory (bumped up to 1GB)  and storage (doubled to 40GB).  The UX280 UX280P is "Windows Vista™ Premium Ready, Edge, WiFi and Bluetooth are built right in, and expansion is a breeze with the included port replicator.  The processor is still a Core Solo U1200, shame they didn't go the Duo-Core route, but it's still an impressive little machine.  Now for the typical Sony blow to the gut...the price is a whopping $1999.  Now what on God's earth is Sony thinking here?  Have they any clue what kind of a Mac Notebook you can buy for that kind of money?  I mean the form factor is great, but it isn't THAT great that I am willing to blow $2k on it.  So once again, Sony comes out the door guns blazin, only to get nuked by their own "friendly fire."  Nice try Sony, let me know when you come back to planet Earth and I'll consider buying one at that time.

Technorati Tags: Cool Gear, Mobility, PC, Portable Devices, UMPC

Posted by Frank Bisono at 1:12 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

In true Sony fashion, they have come out with what appears to be one of the sleekest looking GPS devices on the market.  The user interface seems decent based on the images so far.  Memory seems adequate and bluetooth is standard.  Rather than rehash what someone else already did pretty well, here's the review from Yournav.com:

"Electronics giant Sony hasn't quite given up on navigation yet: starting this November two new PND's a supposed to gain a bit of market share for them. These new devices, the Nav-U80 and the Nav-U81T, both feature a large 4,3 inch touch screen and what Sony calls 'Position Plus'.

Position Plus
Sony's Position Plus is a technology which is supposed to provide a better positioning at times when reception of GPS signals is bad or non-existent even. By means of a built-in acceleration and pressure sensor, the position and movement of the vehicle can be estimated with more accuracy.

Also new are the 'Gesture Commands'. Using this technology, frequently used commands like 'Navigate Home', or 'Look for nearest petrol pump' can be entered with one finger-movement across the screen.

Maps
The Nav-U81T ships standard with a 4 GB harddisk which holds the complete European map with 37 countries. The Nav-U80 ships with the regional maps of the area of purchase on the integrated 512 MB of internal memory. The U81T comes with TMC built-in, for the U80 it's available as an option. Both PND's enable hands-free phoning in combination with a supported Bluetooth mobile phone."

Prices for both devices are still unknown for now, but we expect more info on that soon.

Technorati Tags: Cool Gear, GPS, Mobility, PND, Portable Devices

Posted by Frank Bisono at 2:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

No, I'm not talking about MY life online, this is SONY's latest and greatest geek gadget, mylo (My Life Online).  This is the device that many of us wanted Apple to announce at yesterday's WWDC Keynote, yet it took Sony to actually give us what we wanted.  This device has the potential to be another iPod with todays digital generation, but it's not quite there yet.

The mylo is a wireless broadband personal communicator.  Unlike it's closest messaging competitor, the T-Mobile Sidekick, this device works on WiFi rather than a cell providers signal.  That's good and bad.  Good, you can do things like instant message your buddies, surf the web, and even make phone calls via Skype for free.  The bad news, you can ONLY do it on WiFi.  No WiFi and you are out of luck.  From the initial looks of it, the mylo only supports messaging via Skype, Google Talk or Yahoo.  So where's the AIM support?  Got me, but you'd think that they would support one of the largest messaging networks on the planet.  They also seem to have forgotten about MSN (both chat and email).  That in itself is a major product-killer.

The mylo is also attempting to jump into the iPod space by providing you the ability to load up your music, photos and video.  Unfortunately it falls WAY short of the iPod in these areas.  The screen is smaller, it only plays a few music formats (Apple's AAC isn't one of them), and probably the single biggest drawback is Sony's insistence on utilizing their memory stick format, rather than a hard drive in the device.  By using the memory sticks, they once again fail to provide adequate storage space for things like music and video, which is one of the biggest downfalls of the PSP.  When will Sony learn?  And to add insult to injury, if you want to take full advantage of being able to xfer video to your device, you need to pay more money for Sony's Image Converter 2 software.  That's just about the most retarded move I have seen yet.

Another feature that just seems like a "Duh?" feature that is missing is a camera.  They went this far, why stop by failing to provide camera and video chat support?  The whole mylo concept seems great, and something that many of us would certainly want.  Unfortunately, it seems as if the product has been rushed to market.  It's missing apps and features that I think are essential to giving users that über geek device we are all seeking.  I think that with a little more thought and some feature and application enhancements, Sony could have a real winner on their hands.  If Sony's intent is to compete with the iPod, then they have some serious problems to overcome, formats and storage capacity for starters.  If Sony wants this to be taken seriously as a video device, they need to also think about bumping that screen size to at least PSP levels, and empowering users to do this by providing the software tools in the box.

Am I being a little harsh on Sony?  You betcha.  As an early-adopter and super geek, this is what I want.  I already have the iPod, a Treo, PSP and a Laptop.  How much more crap do you think I am going to carry Sony?  If you can develop the ultimate device that can replace the iPod, Treo and PSP and give me all of that in one device, you have hit the jackpot.  Combine these features into a UX-180 with a phat hard drive, and you hit total geek nirvana.  Until then, I guess we are all stuck wishing for the non-existant.  For a more opinions and a first look video, check out Gizmodo and Engadget.

Technorati Tags: Cool Gear, Mobility, Portable Audio, Portable Devices

Posted by Frank Bisono at 4:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Recently I traded some gear I wasn't using for a TomTom Go 700 GPS with Remote Control, in practically new condition.  I have to tell you folks, this was the best trade I have done in years.  The Go 700 was TomTom's flagship GPS until their latest edition this year, the Go 910.  There are some nice upgrades on the 910 like a bigger screen, hard drive and additional Plus Services, but overall, for the price I paid, the Go 700 is one heck of a GPS unit and quite a nice add-on to my car.  You can read some great reviews on TomTom's GPS systems, as well as many others over on GPSreview.net.  If you are in the market for a GPS or just like keeping up on the latest navigation gadgetry, you should definitely check the site out.

TomTom has some great extra "Plus services" that come along with the purchase of their units.  Many of the services require pairing the GPS unit with your phone via Bluetooth.  Unfortunately the list of compatible phones is less than stellar.  If you have been following my blog for a while, you know that my current phone is a Treo 650.  It's been a solid phone, minus a few problems in the beginning, and I am generally overall satisfied with the unit.  It also happens to be one of the most popular phones around, and you would think that most companies would try to make their equipment compatible with it.  As many of you know, that isn't exactly the case.  TomTom is no exception.  The Treo 650 is not "officially" supported on their site.  That's actually not entirely true.  I was recently able to hack the Go 700 and got it to pair up successfully with my Treo 650.  The trick to this was enabling the Bluethooth mode on the Treo 650 and turning "Dial-up Networking" [ ON ].  The phone WILL successfully pair up with the Go 700 (you might have to try a few times) and if you have a service plan like Cingular's MediaNet (I have the unlimited), then you will be able to connect to TomTom's Plus services and download updates, get traffic and many more services.  You will NOT however be able to connect to the Go 700 and use it as an external speaker/mic for the Treo 650.  Basically you won't be able to use *any* normal bluetooth features, like pairing it with your headset, while in DUN mode.  That's not such a big deal to me, it might be to others.  I thought it might be interesting info for any of you Go 700 users out there that might have a Treo.  This hack might even work on the newer Go 910 and with the Treo 700 series phones.

If you don't have a portable GPS unit, you don't know what you are missing!  I wasn't really sold on the idea before.  I figured since I didn't drive out of my normal areas too often, it was a waste.  Well, how wrong I was.  If you have any kind of a lengthy commute, combining the GPS with the traffic services alone is worth the money.  The Points of Interest (POI's) is another great feature to have.  If you are somewhere and need to find say...the closest pharmacy, the Go 700 will take you to the closest pharmacy you specify.  The unit comes with an internal database of millions of POI's and you can add additional POI's by downloading them via the net, or through TomTom's website, as well as directly via the Plus services via that bluetooth connection on your phone.  Pretty darn slick.  And if you get tired of the voices that ship with the unit, you can add additional voices, available via a variety of websites out there.  My favorite co-pilot these days is "Yoda".  Yeah, you read right - YODA.  ;-)  "Right you must turn in - 400 yards!"  If you haven't had Yoda as your co-pilot, you haven't lived yet. ;-)

Technorati Tags: Cool Gear, GPS, Hacking, TomTom, Treo 650

Posted by Frank Bisono at 2:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (11)

Things have been a little slow on the posts around these parts, I know...but I am still here alive and kicking.  It's been a while since we talked about gadgets and gizmos, so here's the first of a few gadget reviews that I think you should know about.

So terrestrial radio is dead...WTF you say?  Yeah, radio as you know it is dead.  I know it's been said before and a lot of people really don't get it, I was one of them.  Well folks, I have been converted to Satellite Radio and I will never go back!  I just recently received a Sirius Satellite Radio for my birthday.  I specifically got the Sirius Sportster Replay model with the car kit.  Installation was pretty straight forward, although if you want a "clean" install that won't have wires showing everywhere, you may want to have a professional install it if you don't have the chops for that kind of work.  After the installation, activation was straight forward and pretty painless.  One thing you will want to make sure you get is the Wired Fm Modulation Relay.  This little box will make all the difference in the world on sound quality if you are going to route the receiver through the FM stereo.  There are definitely more elegant ways to get your satellite radio installed in your vehicle (like routing it through an AUX jack if you have one), but the FM route is definitely the quickest and easiest.  Considering that you aren't going to get CD quality sound from any satellite radio no matter how well you hook it up to your existing setup, the extra effort for the AUX input just didn't seem worth it.  The sound quality overall, is excellent.  Although it's no CD, it's still better than FM and unless you have a high-end audio system that goes boom, this setup should be just dandy for your listening pleasure.

After a few minutes on the phone, my receiver was activated and I was up and jammin.  One thing you want to make sure of is to let the Sirius rep know you would like the Playboy Channel activated (if you so desire- and it's free).  That channel is turned off by default to safeguard parents against any kids that may be listening (although after listening to Howard Stern's channels, I don't know that there is much difference between Stern's channels and Playboy).  The content on both channels is pretty raw and a bit over the top most of the time.  Definitely not for young ears.

What makes satellite radio so appealing to me is the variety of content and NO COMMERCIALS on the music channels.  Notice I said on the MUSIC channels.  You will definitely hear commercials on all other channels, some of it from Sirius and some from network channels (FOX News, CNN, Bloomberg, etc) which I assume Sirius has no control over. One thing I can say about those commercials is that if you happen to hear one for something you want more info about, you can actually save the information to the radio's memory (Sirius actually broadcasts information about the commercial via the receiver).  How often have you been driving and heard a commercial with a website URL and you couldn't write it down because you were driving?  Now you can hit one button and BAM, it's saved in memory.  VERY COOL.  Moving right along with cool features is the Tivo-like features of this particular unit.  The "rewind" models offer the ability to time-shift your content.  So you are driving along jammin to your favorite tune, or listening to a show when the inevitable phone call comes in, and usually right at the worst possible moment.  No worries here, hit pause and take the call.  You can rewind, fast forward, just like your Tivo.  The buffer only holds about 44 minutes, so don't talk too long or you will miss out on what you have saved in memory.  Going back to the content, it just seems never-ending.  I am absolutely in looooove with Big 80's, Classic Rewind and 1st Wave.

The whole reason I switched was because I am sick and tired of hearing the same crap on the radio every day, 10 times a day.  Today's DJ's also need to learn when to STFU and just play music. My iPod is great and I love it, but for the car, it just doesn't do it for me anymore.  I have 80 GB of content, so playing DJ and organizing playlists just takes too much time.  I'd rather use the iPod for Podcasts and videos (if I ever finally get around to upgrading to the video iPod - for now videos are limited to my PSP).  Satellite radio fills a void for my music needs perfectly.  The comedy is out of control and talk channels are interesting to say the least.  The traffic / weather is another AWESOME feature that comes in handy with the ridiculous south FL traffic.  Another thing I am looking forward to is NASCAR on Sirius starting in 2007.  That's going to be HUGE.  I'm not so crazy about listening to a race (unless I can't watch it on TV for some reason), but the channel will be dedicated to racing and motor-head related news around the clock.  Tony Stewart will have his own show and Sirius is pumping the hell out of this.  I can't wait for that.  And then there's the online access to the music channels.  This feature is pretty kick-ass if I do say so myself.  Although for best results, you should have a fast broadband connection, it's a great little feature for listening to Sirius while at work.  You won't get all the channels you do on the receiver, but you get more than plenty to keep you jammin on the 'puter.  Nice little bonus.

So with the good, there's always some bad.  Albeit, there isn't much to complain about here.  My main gripe is the loss of signal on occasion, which typically is when going under a bridge or under a car-port like at a gas station.  I could understand losing the signal going through a tunnel, but under an open air car port?  That totally blows.  I'm sure it has to do with the fact that the antenna is an omni-directional low-profile antenna and not avery powerful one at that.  Maybe they could build some kind of buffer into future radios, but that is unlikely due to the complexity.  My friends on XM say they don't experience the loss of signal as bad as on Sirius.  Not quite sure what the difference is, but this is certainly one area Sirius should look to XM to learn from (if they haven't already done so).  Gripe #2 is with the radio unit in particular.  According to the manual, you can change the back-lit color of the display.  When you follow the instructions in the manual, the menu's they demonstrate don't appear anywhere.  I guess it's possible that they have upgraded the firmware and removed this capability in lieu of something better, but I'll be damned if I would have know about it otherwise.  An updated manual on the website would be in order at the very minimum.  Gripe #3 is with the installation.  While everything was pretty straight forward, Sirius needs to seriously consider providing alternate means of powering the unit.  The included cigarette lighter-plug barely had enough length to run from my center console arm-rest to the dashboard.  Mind you, I am driving a 2006 Mustang, not exactly a big vehicle, and I barely had enough cord to get the unit mounted to the lower left side of the dashboard (while running the wire through the console / dash (ie. stealth mode).  I would have liked to have a coiled cord for a short run (like from the center of the dash to the center console) and a longer straight cord version that could be used with the cig. lighter OR hard wired and run through the car in stealth mode.

Overall I am tremendously satisfied with the unit and Sirius Satellite Radio as a whole.  If you have been looking for something new and exciting to make those long commutes more tolerable, this is definitely a worthwhile investment.  Stay tuned for a few more gadget related reviews coming soon.  Can anyone say GPS?  ;-)  Happy motoring!

Technorati Tags: Portable Audio, NASCAR, Satellite Radio, Sirius

Posted by Frank Bisono at 4:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I know I know....where have I been, blah blah blah.  I won't bore you with excuses, just know I have been up to some interesting things around here lately.  Hopefully I will be able to post about that soon and you will fully understand why life had come to a grinding halt for the last month and a half.

In the meantime, I had to post something about this.  I have always been a hard-core Sony fan, although I may not always like the proprietary nature of some of their hardware.  However, when it comes to sleek, sexy electronics, you can't beat Sony.  Sony recently started shipping what I think is one of the absolutely coolest devices on the planet, the UX-50.  This thing is incredible.  The full power of Windows (no wise cracks, yeah - windows), in the palm of your hand, and I don't mean a Windows mobile device either.  Sony claims that the UX50 is Vista ready as well (they know something I don't know? - I would love to see Vista Beta 2 on this device).  The guys over at MicroPCtalk.com have documented the unboxing of their UX50 in what is probably the most thorough display of ultimate geekdom I have seen yet.  Over 180 images of the entire process.  I love it.  Now if Sony would only come back to planet earth and make that price point a little more realistic...they might have a chance at selling a few of these.

What really intrigues me about this device is that lately, I really haven't been using my laptop for anything more than email, basic surfing the web, and reading my RSS feeds.  For the heavy-duty design work, I stick to my Dual 2.5 G5 at home, which just cranks beyond any laptop out there at the moment.  So my big beef right now is with portability and not having to lug around a huge laptop case when I go to the local Starbucks. I love my Powerbook, but lugging that 15" machine around, with accessories, can become a bit much at times.  Having this UX-50 would allow me to carry a simple messenger bag with things like the computer, a book and misc. odds and ends, while keeping the weight to a minimum.  I'm all about portability right now.  Not even a tablet can offer this kind of flexibility.  This little device connects to the online world in almost any way you can think of (Wifi, Bluetooth, WWLAN, etc).  That WWLAN is an interesting feature too (only available on the higher-end UX180P).  Provided you fork over the cash for Cingular's data plan, when you aren't within reach of a Wifi Access Point, you can use Cingular's Edge Network to connect to cyberspace from anywhere you can get a cell phone signal.  Lets not forget there's also EVDO out there, which is even faster (although I haven't read all the specs on the UX-50 to see if it can handle PCMCIA cards).

So now the real questions will start to flow concerning this new trend in Micro PC's.  How will this affect design trends for the future?  As these devices become more popular, will users demand content formatted to fit within these devices screen constraints?  How will the User Experience and overall usability be affected? Just when you thought you were making progress with going beyond 1024x768 designs, are we going back to the retro small screen real estate of yesteryear?  Or now with all the new Web 2.0 sites and CSS making huge progress on the web, will designers have to "think different" in how they present content to their users?  In theory, if the site has been coded correctly, we could address this issue with something as simple as a Micro PC style-sheet.  But who is going to determine what those Micro PC standard screen sizes will be?  Will the rest of the industry follow Sony and adopt their screen size as the new standard for Micro PC's?  How will banking and other critical sites render on these smaller devices? I suspect a lot of these questions will start floating around the design scene within the next year as more players come to market with similar devices.  I think it's safe to say that even software vendors should take a good hard look at their applications and see if they can incorporate an option to run an alternative UI based on the device you are using.  Imagine something like Outlook on that tiny screen.  Yes, you can connect an external monitor to the device when you are in the office, but the whole point of the Micro PC is to get AWAY from the office while still maintaining productivity.  Could Microsoft feasibly create alternate UI's for these devices?  I suspect the answer is yes, but the question there is whether there will be enough user demand for the feature.  You gotta love technology, it gets more interesting every day!  Until next time...

Technorati Tags: Mobility, Portable Devices, Design, UMPC, PC, Windows

Posted by Frank Bisono at 11:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Well here's something you don't see everyday.  Here's a very cool insider view of the MacBu @ MSFT.

[ via O'Reilly MacDevCenter.com ]

Microsoft's David Weiss gives a tour of the Microsoft Mac Lab:

Microsoft's David Weiss provides a A Tour of Microsoft's Mac Lab. Lots of interesting information and good photos from the home of Mactopia.com.

Technorati Tags: Macintosh, Microsoft

Posted by Frank Bisono at 10:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Here's a killer deal I came across this weekend at Costco.  I recently hurt my back and lifting anything right now is out of the question.  That leaves me with a real problem, I am a computer bag pack-rat.  I carry around a MacGeiver collection of crap in my computer bag that makes it really interesting when traveling through airport security.  All that weight in the bag makes it too hard to carry using a shoulder bag or backpack for the time being.  I've been shopping online for a week looking for the perfect bag, when walking through Costco, I stumble across this sweet little setup.

They currently have this 2-piece FAA approved rolling bag for $70!  You get a roller bag that can easily carry enough for an overnight trip along with the notebook to boot.  It was too good a deal to pass up so I figured some of you might be looking for a great bag too.  My 15" PowerBook fits perfectly in this bag and it can handle any laptop up to a 15.4" screen.  This thing has more pockets than a herd of Kangaroos.  Everything is very well thought out and after packing it with all my gear, I couldn't be happier.  It's quite sturdy and knowing that it fits in the overhead or under the seat in front of you when traveling by air is a real plus.  Similar bags that I looked at were easily in the $150 range.  Right now you can pick it up at Costco or eBay pretty easily.  I can't say how long this deal will last, so you better act quick if you want it!

Technorati Tags: Laptop Bags, Great Deals

Posted by Frank Bisono at 12:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Been a loooong weekend at Disney and I am beat.  Just checkin the wires and came across this.  Pretty spankin cool!  Give some new life to that old iBook or PowerBook laying around...

[ via MacMinute ]
MacStyles relaunches expanded, enhanced Web site:
MacStyles.com today relaunched an all new and expanded Web site. MacStyles are custom-cut vinyl decals for iBooks and PowerBooks. They can be made in a variety designs and are crafted from a selection of 21 colors. Eleven new colors are being offered as of today. Along with the addition of "MacPads and MacStyles Pro," the company is working on a line of decals for iPods, as well as an extended line of accent decals known as "Maccents."

Posted by Frank Bisono at 8:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Anyone remember the Titanium PowerBook?  Yeah, I have 2 and lapburn scars to prove it.  Boy would this have come in handy!

[ via Gizmodo ]

Prevent Lap Burn:

If hot laptops have ever been a problem, here's the perfect, simple solution. Cooler Master NotePal all-aluminum coolers work for 15-and 17-inch laptops and even have a range designed for Apple's widescreens. The NotePal takes down heat with twin 2.8-inch fans (that have a life expectancy of 3000 hours), which also help with airflow around your laptop, shielding it from any direct heat. And bonus—it's fairly quiet as well. The NotePal is powered directly from your laptop and has two 2.0 USB ports and an on/off power button for the fans. The line starts at about $40.

Posted by Frank Bisono at 9:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Now this is T-I-T-E (tight).  My big question is...can you hook up a Mac Mini to this beyotch?

[ via Gizmodo ]

Clarion's In-Car Multimedia System at CES:

New and improved (like just about everything at this show) the Clarion VRX765VD will make life in your car a dream, and shut up any crying child in minutes (not guaranteed by the company, unfortunately). With a 7-inch flip-out touchscreen to play with, the DVD multimedia system comes with a soil-resistant (I love that. Because we're all soilers, aren't we?) touchscreen that controls DVD menu options. It also sports an improved user interface that now offers video playback for the Video iPod. Also includes 200 watts of max power, 24- Bit D/A Converter and a single play DVD mechanism that plays DVD Video, CD Audio and Video CD and a bunch of other audio formats including MP3/ WMA and encoded CDs. Runs for about $1100.

Posted by Frank Bisono at 5:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Ok, I want one NOW!!!  Just let me put all of Apple's technical documentation on this thing and I am good to go.  Wow, can you imagine being able to carry an entire reference library of books, technical briefs, white papers, magazines, etc...all in a little compact and READABLE form factor?  Awesome...

[ via Gizmodo ]

Live From CES: The Sony Reader:

Who needs Blu-ray? This is the Sony reader that uses the display technology from E-Ink I've been hearing so much about. To give you an idea of just how good this display looks... I walked up to the counter, looked at the text on the screen and asked, "So when will you have working units to play with?" The reply: "This is a working reader." I mistakenly though the text on the screen was some kind of plastic overlay—that's how ink-like it looked. Then the PR rep increased the text size, searched through the table of contents and showed me some Manga comics. It is the first e-reader that seemed like I could sit down and spend hours on without experiencing eye strain. Part of the reason it works is that it does not have a backlight, so forget about reading in the dark. There is also zero flicker, as far as I could see. It's small and lightweight too (.5 inches thick and smaller than a hardcover book). The reader accepts both Memory Stick and SD flash memory cards. It's got a USB plug, and could be used to download and read websites, JPEGs or PDF docs. The battery life, as they are selling it, is equivalent to "7,500 page turns, avid readers can devour a dozen bestsellers plus War and Peace without ever having to recharge."

The books will be available through the Connect Store, and there is some Connect software for managing your books (so far this is the only drawback). Random House, HarperCollins Publishers, Penguin-Putnam, Simon & Schuster and Time Warner Book Group are all on board with titles, along with Manga publisher Tokyopop. Sony is promising to deliver this reader by Spring.

Posted by Frank Bisono at 4:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Sexy laptop...still no Powerbook, but damn nice.  If it comes pre-loaded with Linux, I give it a thumbs up!

[ via Foursprung ]

Notebook: First pictures of the Lamborghini notebook!:

The German Car Blog has the first pictures of the long awaited Lamborghini notebook.
The Lamborghini notebook will be produced in cooperation with ASUS and will be available in Lamborghini yellow and black with all the characteristics of a Lamborghini: Energy, Speed, Power and Beauty.

Expect more product details next week!

Posted by Frank Bisono at 4:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Ok, so now i have an excuse to upgrade to that F350 Dualie I have been foaming at the mouth for.  Already have the F-150, so trading in for another F-150 seems silly no?  :-)

[ via MacNN ]

Mac mini with Front Row in a Ford F-150:

Car news site Leftlane News has a report on one Mac user's project to install a Mac mini in a Ford F-150. The user makes use of Apple's Front Row software and a Keyspan remote for easy navigation. He placed the Mini out of sight, and also installed a 10.2-inch LCD touch screen. The user also installed some GPS software to serve as a navigation system. In January, we noted a Washington Post article suggesting the Mac mini "comfortably fits in my car's glove compartment." Later, we reported that a New York-based company had plans to install the new Mac mini into car dashboards.

Posted by Frank Bisono at 5:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The mother of all PowerBook bags!

[ via TUAW / MacMinute ]

Booq announces large capacity Python XL bag for 17" PowerBooks:

Booq has done it again and announced the Python XL, a capacious and compartmentalized rugged backpack for the 17" PowerBook.  A waterproof zipper, water-resistant ballistic nylon exterior, seatbelt nylon straps, rigid laptop compartment and pockets and compartments galore make up this $199 monster of a backpack. The bag has room for a water bottle, a dedicated no-scratch iPod pocket, a stack of books 6" high and more. There's even a small "clip-on accessory bag" they call Ecto which has room for the little stuff like your checkbook, and iPod, cell phone, etc.

I've owned a Booq pack before, and I can vouch for their construction. These things are built really well, but their premium is sometimes tough to swallow. Head over to Booq's product site for more pictures of the pack and what you can stuff into it and make your own decision.

Posted by Frank Bisono at 4:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

What a great find by Jeff Nolan!  This is some serious stuff...it is both disturbing, but strangely intriguing.  Given the circumstances of Hurricane Katrina, if there was some kind of GPS and satellite based transmission system in place, the ideas presented here (using the wifi iPod) would have been invaluable.  I think our federal government should very seriously consider opening those satellites to communications services like this that are not land based and depend on something so archaic as an antenna or tower.  Googlezon, iPod and GPS will rule the world!!!  :-) 

Hang on to your eyeballs! Epic 2015:

this video clip is disturbing.

Link: Hang on to your eyeballs! Epic 2015.

Here is a must-see video clip called Epic 2015 that extrapolates current events and practices forward into a disturbing identity future.  I doubt many will be able to stop themselves from laughing while they watch this, but not many will walk away …

Posted by Frank Bisono at 12:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

What some people will do to protect their goodies.  Apparently some enterprising whipper snapper got his beloved iPod crushed against a handrail in a crowded Japanese subway and vowed to never have it happen again.  The solution, the Fort Knox of all iPod cases.  Check it out here.

Posted by Frank Bisono at 9:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Gizmodo just finds the coolest damn stuff. This is friggin sweet! I gotta gig in my pocket going jinga-linga-ling...(lemme stop while I am ahead). Check it out...

[ via Gizmodo ]

SwissBit Victorinox retroALOX 1GB Reviewed (Verdict: Worth Its Weight in Nazi Gold):

I had not realized that Victorinox had upgraded their Swissbit USB key/Swiss Army knife combo, but Trusted Reviews got their hands on one and proclaim it a winner. It's got a new look, obviously (the new model is called the 'retroALOX' but I don't know my knife history well enough to tell you if that means it's based on an older knife or not), but also is a USB 2.0 part, making for much faster fills of its 1GB storage.

Plus, I happen to think that Victorinox has the best pocket scissors around, even compared to the Fiskars that come on the Gerber multitools.

Oh, I almost forgot the best part. You can take out of the USB key now, meaning you don't have to leave your data at home when you got on a plane. Smart. Update: And apparently, not a new feature. Still!

Swissbit SWISSMEMORY| Victorinox retroALOX [TrustedReviews]

Posted by Frank Bisono at 12:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This definitely merits some attention. It isn't often you find a decent looking display for $300, much less an LCD flat panel display. Westinghouse just announced this slick new screen and it's available now in retail stores. The display uses a standard DVI connector and is VESA compatible so that you can even mount this beauty on the wall. For more specs follow the link. Not too bad for a lightbulb company!

Posted by Frank Bisono at 10:12 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Wicked wicked cool...

[ via Engadget ]

Sony HDR-HC1 HDV Handycam: world's smallest and lightest HD consumer cam:

Sony’s not content to wow everybody with just the unveiling of the PS3 alone, so they're also putting out what's reputedly the world's smallest and lightest HD consumer cam. Like the QUALIA 002 and the HDR-FX1, the HDR-HC1 supports HDV and records in 1080i. At a mere one and a half pounds, your camera bag would be a smidge less burdensome with this thing in tow. Other features include a 2.7-inch hydrib touchscreen LCD, SteadyShot image stabilization, 90 minutes battery life, 10X optical and 120X digital zoom, PictBridge capability, and the ability to snag 2.8 megapixel stills directly onto Memory Stick Pro Duo cards. They're also saying it's the only HD camcorder that lets you take a 1 megapixel still shot while concurrently filming HD video. It's gonna roll out officially in July, though they omitted one of those finer details we'd rather like to know: the price.

Update:

Japanese reader Toshio says it''ll be out July 7 for about $1700USD. The Year of HD, indeed.

Posted by Frank Bisono at 10:49 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

If you listen to some of the more popular podcasts like Adam Curry's "Daily Source Code", then you no doubt have heard the rants and raves about Skype - the next generation phone company. I have so far resisted the VoIP craze due to the technical limitations of what would make VoIP feasible for my needs. But I must admit, the constant jabbering about Skype has tweaked my curiosity to the point of having to finally install the damn thing.

So far, it looks like a pretty slick service. I have literally just installed it and have yet to make a call using the service, but something tells me this is going to be cool....WAY cool. I gave up on using MSN IM a long time ago since 98% of my friends use AIM. The other deciding factor was that I didn't want to be running a million IM clients and quite honestly, nothing matched the convenience and integration of iChat on my Mac.

I can probably say that I am about to make an exception to my rule. Skype not only allows you to call other Skype users, but via their optional (and incredibly inexpensive options), you can have an inbound phone # (up to 3) in the area code of your choice (though limited at the moment), as well as call outbound to any land line phone number. This has GOT to be driving the telco's insane. The one thing I see missing at the moment is toll-free options for phone #'s. I am sure that will come with time.

In addition to the insane pricing and options you get with Skype, you can also have a multi-party conference and can chat with other users just as you can with iChat. Another killer feature is the ability to send LARGE file xfers to your buddies without the connection crapping out as it does so many times through AIM. This gives a whole new meaning to P2P file sharing if you get my drift.

Overall, the benefits far outweigh any negative comments I have heard so far. As with any new technologies, there are going to be hiccups along the road to success. Even the almighty Apple Computer didn't get it right with the GM version of Tiger. It still has quite a few gremlins, especially in iChat AV with the video quality during multi-party video chats. I am sure that this service is going to get better by the minute over the coming year. I won't be able to give it 2 thumbs up until I have had a chance to really play with it, but I think we have a winner. If you want to test it out, give me a ring...you can find me under Frank Bisono (frankbisono) on the Skype user listings.

Posted by Frank Bisono at 1:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Wicked cool. About time we got this much storage for a laptop. BUT, the magic questions: 1) Will IBM match this with their drop-kick resistant drives? 2) What is the MTBF on the Fujitsu vs. the IBM? Anyone with a clue....chime in!

Fujitsu debuts 120GB disk drive for notebooks:

Fujitsu has begun initial production of a 120GB mobile 2.5-inch hard-disk drive for notebooks, accor...

Posted by Frank Bisono at 11:03 PM | Permalink

From our buddies at Engadget.com, this is a must have for me. I sure hope it works with a Mac!!!

Uniden 5.8GHz Bluetooth home cordless phone:

Uniden’s ELBT595, in addition to being just your usual cordless phone with Caller ID, speakerphone, and answering machine, pops in Bluetooth capability so you can use your landline with your favorite BT headset. It also has a USB connector with downloadable software included (what it’s for we don’t exactly know), but if you want to walk around your house and look like you’re talking on a cellphone, then this is for you.

[Thanks, Philipe]

Posted by Frank Bisono at 3:37 PM | Permalink