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If you abolutely, positively can’t wait for the GSM Treo 600

Then get on over to MobileFly where you can purchase a SIM-Unlocked GSM version for the incredibly outrageous price of $729.99 – saving 10 bucks!!

As much as I want one, there is no way I am paying this much for a smartphone – at least not at this time. Perhaps in the future there will be something that warrants such a fee… but for now I’ll just wait it out like everyone else.

I have caught a few threads of people talking about buying the Treo through Cingular and then just swapping their SIM card with a T-Mobile account. In theory, this should work as the two carriers do have a roam/share agreement in place to better their coverage in markets where one has superior or the only coverage.

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Why the Friendster bubble ‘has peaked – will pop’

“It’s a bubble. Social networks have been around for a long time,” he says. “Friendster is feeding off the hype. People get excited about joining a network and use it for a couple of months but once they get to know people they’ll use other communication like email or IM.” He likens it to fads such as weblogging, which has a higher abandonment rate, or flash mobs.

It isn’t just VCs who see an opportunity in the hype. Wiki-fiddlers, or HTML coders who have been unemployed since the last dot.com explosion, are also hopeful that this represents a change in fortune. But Friendfinder’s CEO thinks they might all be disappointed.

“I’d like to see the conversion rate when Friendster starts charging for the service. How many people will pay even $10 or even $5 a month, when they have access to their Outlook Express inbox for free?” [The Register]

Certainly an interesting consideration. I was speaking with some people about this very thing today and it seems that after a short while, Friendster interest wanes drastically. Not sure how the professional networks are faring, but I would think they have a slower rate of attrition.

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Sony PSP Concept revealed…

In a presentation further explaining Sony’s Transformation 60 restructuring plan, Sony Computer Entertainment president Ken Kutaragi today showed one of Sony’s first concept models for the PSP, its upcoming handheld game system. While the model isn’t intended to represent the final product, it does show Sony’s design ideas moving in some interesting directions. [1UP]

You can actually download the complete presentation as a PDF which shows the Sony connected vision – very cool stuff!

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Xbox to Switch to PowerPC

The chip that powers the Macintosh will soon be in Microsoft’s gaming console. That’s good news for IBM and a bad sign for Intel. [Wired News]

Certainly no shortage of news on this one…though the most interesting tidbit I picked up is that it may be the first move by Microsoft in enabling Windows on non-Intel silicon. Apparently they will use the VPC core acquired with Connectix to enable backwards-compatibility with the current x-box system. The device will use (in theory as it is still not confirmed) a chip that will be essentially the same as the current G5 used by Apple.

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MTV eyes digital music store by early 2004

Via MacMinute…MTV Networks is preparing to launch a music download service with plans to go up against Apple Computer Inc.’s iTunes and other competitors, said MTV chief Tom Freston on Monday.

“There’s no doubt it’s a strong brand, with a strong profile of viewers,” said Phil Leigh, senior analyst at Inside Digital Media, about MTV’s plans. “But they can’t rely solely on their brand come next year … After iTunes launched in April, MTV should have been like a hawk on a field mouse.” [Reuters]

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Musicmatch tries to stay plugged into iPod

On Monday, the San Diego-based music software company sent an e-mail to its customers letting them know that, despite the arrival of Apple Computer’s iTunes for Windows, customers can still use its jukebox program to connect to Apple’s iPod. However, the message warns them that if they install iTunes, Musicmatch’s connection to the iPod will be severed. [CNET News.com]

I would just go for it… F- Music Match. You get better ripping speed (for free) and a much better interface for accessing music you already have, not to mention a great store from which to purchase new music.

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The importance of Webmail

Fortunately my host offers webmail access to email, which is a great way to get to your mail when away from your computer. It is also a great way to be able to send when your company turns off Port 25. ;(

Squirrelmail, which is the software I have access to, refreshes on a nice short interval and can even notify me of new messages with a sound or a simple change in the name of the tab I am leaving open in Safari. While not as good as any POP or IMAP client you might have, it gets the job done and plays within the rules at work.

Whoa – one cool thing I just noticed as I was clearing out some spam is that you can block receipt requests when you open or check messages.

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Final Day of Jury Duty…

Today is my last day of Grand Jury service… four Weeks, three hours per day finally over.

I’ve learned some interesting things in the time and I thought I’d share:

  • If you’re a moron, don’t visit NYC and expect to find fame and fortune with a fortune teller
  • Shopping can be hazardous (that includes Payless Shoes, Macy’s, Barney’s, Duane Reade and Rite Aid)
  • Stupid criminals commit stupid crimes. Sure you can learn that one from Cops, but seeing it in action is amazing). Related to this one… if you do need to commit a small crime, leave it at that… assaulting someone only gets’ you jail time.
  • If you need to drive with a gun or drugs in your possession, choosing one seems to be better for your charges
  • Marrying a guy already on Rikers Island only leads to trouble
  • If you decide to commit check fraud, at least get the details of the checks correct for either the bank or the place you are ripping off.
  • When someone suggested that they can help you with your money problems because they work at the bank, think twice…
  • When at Port Authority, don’t let anyone help you with your bags … or your money

I supposed there are some other obvious lessons like a crazy amount of crime (that gets reported and for which arrests get made) takes place above 113 street.

All in all, not a horrible experience… though there were some horrible crimes we had to listen to.

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Amazon Promotions to Use Celebrities

Amazon.com is enlisting the help of Bruce Springsteen, Michael J. Fox and R.E.M. to promote its entertainment products over the holiday shopping season, the company said on Sunday. [New York Times: Business]

FYI – Unlike the Apple iTunes Store, which lists celebrity choices of music (ala a Mix Tape) the Amazon selection is straight from the celebrity’s catalog. I just checked and the first celeb on the A-List is Bruce Springsteen… some new content is available via Windows Media Player (why??) and everything else links to Boss-related merchandise.

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Digital Networks: PC to Stereo

A new class of device that transmits music, photo and video files from the computer to home entertainment systems may play an important role as digital music and home networks really take off. [Wired News]

Quick overview on some home media sharing options… leading with the SliMP3, one I have and will continue to recommend.

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CIngular an official Treo 600 Carrier, but….

Just received an email from Handspring which announced that Cingular service available in my area. Checking the site I saw that for some foolish reason they are not offering an unlimited data plan. You can only pay more (24.99) to get get 10 MB/month. On the same page, you can see that Sprint is clearly charging $15 for unlimited data and about $5 more for the same level of voice minutes.

There are other differences in service, like Cingular’s rollover minutes and Sprints desire to charge $.50/min when you roam off their network…

Hopefully AT&T or T-Mobile will have a good deal on this by the time Portability hits.

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NY Marathon

Today as I am sure you know is the NYC Marathon and my sister is running for the first time! So far she is kicking some serious ass – maintaining an average Pace Per Mile of 8:25 and looking at an estimated finish of 3:40:42.

You can look up any runner you know is going for it today courtesy of the Marathon Tracker, which is a very cool use of the runner radio tags everyone has on their shoes. For fun, we checked and can see that so far Leslie is kicking P Diddy’s ass as well.

OK – Final info is in… Leslie ran an amazing 3:47:39 in her first marathon! Diddy is still running…final time – 3:58:22. This beats his goal of 4 hours and should be what he needed to complete the mission of raising money for NYC Schools. He actually raised $2 Million, a Million over his goal!

Now that the Marathon is over, you can check how people did in a head to head simulation…