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EyeTV 500 brings HDTV solution to Mac OS X

Most excellent! The only thing missing here is the ability to capture from Cable or Satellite – Terrestrial signals only, which I can’t (and would not want to) do here in Apartment land.

Elgato today announced the release of EyeTV 500, the first high-definition television (HDTV) solution for Mac OS X. Designed especially for the North American digital terrestrial television (DTV) market. EyeTV 500, which costs US$349, allows users to watch, record, timeshift, edit and archive free over-the-air HDTV and digital standard-definition television (SDTV) on the Mac. It’s a FireWire-powered, 100 percent digital, HD capable solution. Elgato officials says that “with EyeTV 500, users can receive more than 20 HDTV and SDTV channels and enjoy exceptional viewing quality by taking advantage of the stunning Aqua user interface in Mac OS X.” [MacMinute]

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WiFi and GPRS

It’s become increasing more clear to me that the next handheld device I own have both WiFi and GPRS (or equivalent) via bluetooth capabilities. I’d also really like to have a keyboard for true messaging ability.

Since it’s summer I’ve been taking advantage of my cargo shorts attire and carrying both my Palm Tungsten T3 and Palm Tungsten C around as I walk about the city. I’ve found that when WiFi is in range, email is much more pleasant to deal with. Since I use SnapperMail, I have to check my email, rather than have it automatically appear ala Blackberry. When using the TC, the speed is just an amazing thing – even for syncing IMAP folders. My T3 works in more places, while actually moving, and can be scheduled to poll for messages (like every 30 minutes), but when you want to check it now, you just can’t beat WiFi.

Whatever my next unit turns out to be, a T4, Treo Ace or some surprise unit… it’s got to have both either built-in, or through an expansion card. Of course built-in is preferred… just to keep it simple.

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Leap Frog introduces Leap Pad for babies

I know it’s a bit sick, but I’ve been thinking of the LeapPad since before Hannah arrived… I’ve always seen them as very smart learning instruments (yet they can feel like toys) and have just been waiting for the time when Hannah was of age to really get some value. I guess that day is today as I just learned of the following…

The award winning creators of the LeapPad Learning System have knocked the cover off the ball again with a new offering for children aged 6 months to 36 months.

The Little Touch LeapPad Learning System is designed to capture the interest of babies and young toddlers, and help them get a jump on learning and reading skills through visual, sound, and musical activities. The Little Touch includes more than 100 different learning activities in the starter set, with additional sets available for purchase. The Little Touch is constructed of durable plastic, and runs on 4 AA batteries. It retails for around $40 at most major toy and discount stores. [Blogging Baby]

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Treo 610 — “Treo Ace”

Gizmodo is reporting on some more detail of the next generation Treo…

The short list is very appealing: slightly smaller form factor, 320 by 320 screen, working Bluetooth, context-sensitive “soft buttons,” more phone-like red/end, green/send buttons, a 312MHz processor, and a 1.3-megapixel camera, all running on top of Palm OS 5.4 (Garnet).

Sounds killer to me. Much better than the T4 in fact.

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Is this the Treo 610?

We can hope…

This time the rumored Treo 610 looks about the same as the current one, and is said to have built-in Bluetooth, a faster 312MHz processor, 32MB of RAM, a higher-resolution 320×320 LCD screen, dedicated answer and disconnect buttons, and a 1.2 megapixel digital camera. [Engadget]

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Mark/Space Mac Hotsync

Just in from Palminfocenter…

Mark/Space has announced version 4.0 of The Missing Sync for Palm OS. Expected to ship in August, this version supersedes PalmSource’s aging HotSync Manager for Mac OS X. [PalmInfocenter]

“When we set out to revitalize Mac-to-Palm synchronization, it was our intention to provide users with three things,” said Brian Hall, Mark/Space CEO, “Compatibility with existing software conduits, cool new features like Wi-Fi synchronization and confidence that a dedicated company with many years of Mac and Palm OS expertise is supporting their needs. We’ve succeeded in providing a solution that will ensure the future of Mac-to-Palm synchronization.”

Too bad this will cost $$… You are looking at $39.95 for an electronic copy, but will likely be discounted when you purchase a new device.

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iChat AViation

This is too cool – iChatAV while flying at 35,000 feet!

Sometimes technology creeps up on you, goes boo!, and suddenly you realize you are living in yesterday’s science fiction. Wireless broadband is now offered on several Lufthansa flights, and hence iChat AV video conferencing, as these Apple employees enjoy telling us… [MemeFirst]

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O Captain! My Captain! Thy Joystick Is Near

Nice overview of how the QM2 gets controlled… no wheel at all. I liked how the Captain said they were just looking out the window while docking in NY (hands free) as the ship was doing a better job than they would have. It’s like the HAL 9000 for cruising the high seas. The crew is there to assure safety and to backstop the technology.

Propulsion pods, joysticks and computers help make the Queen Mary 2 nimble. [New York Times]

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Palm Tungsten 4?

If you believe this … rumored specs for the T4

Summary — Slightly faster processor, a tad more memory, 802.11G and Bluetooth, no keyboard.

OPERATING SYSTEM
Palm OS 6.0.0

PROCESSOR
450MHz Intel XScale
STRETCH DISPLAY
320×480 color Transflective TFT display with portrait and landscape
support.

BUILT-IN BLUETOOTH & WiFi TECHNOLOGY
Communicate wirelessly and share files, photos and more with nearby
Bluetooth devices via integrated Bluetooth, as well as accesing
network via IEEE802.11g.

BATTERY
Rechargeable 1100mAh Lithium Polymer battery. Longer time on road.

BUILT-IN MICROPHONE
Record your thoughts with optimized Voice Record button on side of
device.

MEMORY
96MB (84MB actual storage capacity)

EXPANSION SLOT
Supports SD, SDIO and MultiMediaCard expansion cards (sold
separately) to add memory, content like a travel card, or even an
SDIO card like a digital camera.

5-WAY NAVIGATOR BUTTON
Easily access important information with just one hand.

BUILT-IN SPEAKER & STEREO HEADPHONE JACK
Listen to tunes, games, videos or voice recordings with built-in
mono speaker or stereo headphones with standard 3.5 mm headphone
jack. (Headphones sold separately. MP3s require SD card, sold
separately.)

Size:
Height: 4.3 in. (closed)
Width: 3.0 in.
Thickness: 0.66 in.
Weight(Handheld + Stylus): 5.6 oz

ESP: USD 459

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NextMail, push-to-email from Nextel

MobileTracker reports on Nextel’s latest product enhancement, NextMail… From the sound of it, NextMail could be a very slick way to stay in touch indirectly, yet directly with quite a few people in your workgroup (or friends if you’re down with higher monthly fees) through a streaming MP3 audio message.

NextMail can facilitate group e-mails – up to 50 addresses at once – and the recipient of a NextMail message can easily respond to the originator in text (SMS) form. Customers can also deliver NextMail messages to their own e-mail inboxes as verbal reminders or to record meeting notes. [MobileTracker]

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SanDisk Bringing out Wi-Fi SD Card for Zire 71

So the card and driver are finally getting close though it seems it will only initially work with the Zire 71. Aside from how ridiculous this is that it’s not even the latest Zire, the driver won’t work on any other OS 5 device until Palm One steps up and provides the appropriate assistance as each model has different requirement. For some strange reason this help is either lacking or inadequate. Seems PalmOne wants to be the one to bring WiFi to units with Bluetooth itself… though this has yet to materialize.

Even if the card was $150 without additional memory, I bet it would be a good seller. There are some hungry Palm users out there with Treos, T3s and Zires all looking to get this.

SanDisk would like to make this card compatible with other palmOne models, but it isn’t getting the co-operation it needs. The Zire 72 and Tungsten T3 need to have a system patch applied before their SD slots can use this card. According to SanDisk, palmOne won’t publicly release this. Instead, the patch will be built into the driver that palmOne will release with its Wi-Fi SD card, which is expected to be available soon. This patch isn’t something SanDisk can develop itself, which means that the only option for Wi-Fi SD cards for the Zire 72 and Tungsten T3 is the one palmOne itself will sell.

SanDisk promises to try to make versions of all of its SD products compatible with as many palmOne products as possible. However, it says the lack of support from palmOne makes this difficult. SanDisk can’t release its SD card that combines Wi-Fi and 256 MB of storage without further assistance from palmOne. [Brighthand]

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Borderless iPhoto Printing?

Has anyone figured out how to print a borderless shot with iPhoto?

I’ve tried many different paper types and have found it impossible. The result is always a white border on 2 sides for 4×6 prints. When I use the card from my camera directly in my printer – an HP Photosmart 7960 – it works great. It’s easy to print from the printer, but it would be nice to select from our collection and print from the computer without having to copy to the card first…

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Why Sony’s PDAs Failed In The U.S., But Not In Japan

This is certainly an interesting perspective on the Sony’s failure in the US… I can’t say whether I agree or disagree, but will add my own own experience is of not to read the manual unless the gadget seems incredibly complicated and like something I can’t figure out, which is to say pretty rare with me and consumer electronics.

I just did not like what the Sony devices had to offer (except for wifi and bluetooth together) vs. Palm and was not willing to pay the huge price difference. I was pretty close to getting the UX-50 but found the screen way too small compared to the T3.

Sony’s design flaws, and ultimate failure, also came from a misunderstanding of its target audience, as well as poor design. But size wasn’t the problem, rather it was usability by the American consumer.

The typical Japanese electronics buyer (of cameras, camcorders, PDAs, etc.) reads the manual in order to understand everything they can about their devices. I am told (though I have never seen it myself) it’s not unusual to see people wearing a PDA on a lanyard around their neck in Japan. They love their technology and they have no problem spending all the necessary time it takes to learn how to use it well. Americans love technology too but expect it to be powerful AND intuitive, and we don’t want to have to read the darn manual.

Unquestionably, Sony engineers are brilliant; they can make things smaller than anyone on the planet. They can rewrite software to do amazing things on a PDA. They were first to market with lots of PDA enhancements. But they didn’t take the time to make their enhancements intuitive and thus non-manual-reading Americans thought their device was too complicated or worse, broken.

Sony failed with Clies in the U.S. because its devices had numerous small software controls with cryptic icons, buried settings with vast numbers of mystifying variables to set up things like Wi-Fi, and unnecessarily complicated looking screens. Apparently for the Japanese consumer, a complicated-looking Applications screen suggests that the device is cool and powerful. In America, the same screen is seen as too complicated and confusing, and if it requires a manual to figure it out, it’s going back to the store.

There’s even proof of this inside every Clie box lid. Sony prints the message, “If your product is not working properly, DO NOT RETURN IT TO THE STORE…” then it tells you how to get tech support via a toll-free number or web address. The box lid message finishes with, “For U.S. customers only.” [Brighthand]

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Amtrak’s Stationary Solution

This seems like a total rip to me… In my train travels, (I ran the corridor several times a week for a few years) I’d never get to the station with any time to kill unless weather got in the way of the scheduled train. As nice as some of the Amtrak stations are, they really are not where you spend any time. You could do much better with a bluetooth connection from your phone or a handheld like a Blackberry or Treo. I’d like to see Wi-Fi on the train, in motion… that’d be worth paying for even if you only ride the Acela for just over an hour… A day rate would be the best though giving you a single fare for round-trip day trips.

Amtrak and AT&T Wireless put Wi-Fi hotspots in six Northeast train stations: Boston (Router 128), Providence, New York (Penn Station), Philadelphia (30th Street), Wilmington, and Baltimore (Penn Station) have Wi-Fi service starting today, according to the press release. These stations process a million passengers a day. It’s $10 per day per location–unlike T-Mobile’s $10 per day throughout the network fee. They also offer a 5-pack ($30 or $6 a session) and a 10-pack ($50 or $5 a session). Business subscribers only who already participate in AT&T Wireless’s “Corporate Digital Advantage and Wireless Business Advantage” plans can purchase unlimited monthly service for $40 per month to supplement voice plans or $35 per month to supplement data plans. [Wi-Fi Networking News]

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Trade in for a Treo…

I don’t live near a PalmOne Store (well without a car NJ and the Philly airport are a bit far), but if you do, this might be a good chance to upgrade/trade-in for a Treo 600…

Just bring your old handheld computer or smartphone to any palmOne retail location by June 30, 2004 and get $50 off the purchase price of a Treo™ 600 smartphone, Tungsten™ E, Tungsten T3, Tungsten C, Zire™ 71 or Zire 72 handheld.

Plus, you’ll save 10% on any (and all) accessories you buy at the same time. But hurry! Offer is only good for a limited time–and only at palmOne retail stores.

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Make your own Pirate Radio Station with an iPod

Very cool…

This was going to be “How-To increase the range of your iTrip mini”. But after playing around with the new iTrip mini, the FM broadcasting accessory for the iPod (our review here) our little minds got working on some ideas. We thought we might be able to make the range of Griffin’s iTrip mini a little better if took it apart and exposed the antenna, turns out we could. And then we thought, hey- we could use a couple iPods to broadcast something we wanted to get out there, perhaps not “should” that is, but could. [Engadget]

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Nikon Boosts Digital Cameras, Eyes Exit from Film

This is hardly surprising… given the adoption of digital by consumers and the acceleration of professional level equipment to market.

Reuters – Japan’s Nikon Corp said on Tuesday that it was boosting its production capacity for a hot-selling
digital single-lens reflex (SLR) camera, while eyeing an eventual exit from film compact cameras due to sliding demand. [Yahoo! News]