For the last four years, Swedish company Electrolux has been developing a smart refrigerator with Web access. In the latest incarnation of the appliance, cell-phone users could remotely snap pictures of items inside their fridges. Is this the smart way to the future, or simply a gimmick bound to flop? [Wired News]
Wi-Fi wonderland
The hippest hotspots for the Web browsers
who do it without wires [NY Daily News]
GPRS/CDMA 1xRTT laptop card
Verizon and Vodafone are collaborating on a dual-band laptop card that connects to both GPRS and CDMA 1xRTT networks, which means you’d be able to easily access both Vodafone’s GPRS network in Europe and Verizon’s CDMA network here. [Gizmodo]
Wired Tour de France: More Data, Faster. Is That Better or Worse?
Popularized by Lance Armstrong, a radio system that allows riders to communicate with their directors and teammates has its advocates and detractors. [New York Times: Technology]
Not only can teams directors be in touch with their riders, but some teams are scanning for opposing team frequencies to try and listen in…
Time Warner DVR
Yesterday the cable guy came and delivered as expected the new Scientific Atlanta Explorer 8000 Cable box. It’s loaded with the Pioneer 3.0 OS (according to the installer as I can’t find any reference to that anywhere and have not forced a reboot yet).
I have not had much time to play yet, so bear with me on this quick overview.
It works VERY well. The guide is actually a slicker version of the already impressive Time Warner (NYC) digital cable guide. There is roughly 80GB of storage space, though I can’t see any way yet to determine how much is left. You can record 2 programs at the same time and watch a third that has already been recorded. This is by far the best feature in my opinion as it is hard to do that on existing cable DVR set-ups. The second tuner also allows for a nice PIP addition to any set and as it is not dependent on your TV to use it. It’s all in the box. Picture quality is very good, better that our Series 1 TiVO in my opinion. I have not and won’t actually do a direct test as TiVO is no longer connected to the main set and won’t be… I’m thinking of moving it to our bedroom set for now.
You can easily create a season pass and manage preferences as to which programs should be more or less of a priority. It’s very slick in my opinion and integration in general with how you normally or previously watched TV is excellent. As I know I’ve mentioned to people in passing and I think somewhere previously here, the program guide on TiVo was the weakness. Since our IPG is advanced the TiVo one always felt like a let down. We can easily see types of programs, by color and navigate much more quickly through the vast (channels go over 1000 and while there are repeats, most are used) content.
Three things TiVO has which this box does not which may or not bother me… Wishlist and alpha data entering, predictive recording. Wishlist was something we used rarely, as was the predictive programming past the first few months as much of what we recorded and time-shifted so far has really just been programming we know we want to watch. There is no thumbs rating to allow the box to learn from anything other than what you record but I am quite sure it won’t be doing that any time soon. The alpha entering though is something that would be nice to have. If you want to record a program that is not first to show and not close to being on, you have to surf for it. Once you set the season passes it won’t be much of an issue (I think), but this morning before I left I tried to set-up Trading Spaces for my wife and was let down by having to actually page through the “T’s” until I got to Tr…(There’s a shit-load of stuff that starts with T!!)
Overall, I think Time Warner has a winner in this box. AND – I believe that there is an HDTV version coming soon. My cable guy seemed like he was very in the know, working solely on DVR’s at the moment. The plan, it seems is to roll the initial box out, see how it does and then follow it with the HDTV box.
For now, we actually have two cable boxes hooked up to our TV as it can easily handle it and allows us to have HDTV, on demand but primarily (guessing since it was just installed yesterday) watch TV through the DVR box until the day comes when one box will work for everything we want.
Almost forgot…. There are actually 2, 1394 (FIREWIRE!) ports on this box. I was told they don’t work yet, but it seems worth a shot. I doubt TWC, would allow for hard drive archiving, but just imagine…
Sony Ericsson’s new
Some (blurry) pics over at Mobile.Burn of two new Sony Ericsson phones, the P810 (the phone on the left) and the Z600 (the phone in the center). The P810 looks even better than its predecessor, the P800, while the Z600 is said to be a essentially a clamshell version of the well-regarded T610. [Gizmodo]
According to the article, the P810/900 may even support Wi-Fi, which will certainly make it a contender in my mind!
PTT: The New SMS?
“The mobile world has been racking its brains to find something that will succeed on the scale of SMS,” comments James Tagg, managing director of push-to-talk startup FastMobile Inc.. “[PTT] will take off like SMS did. Our estimates suggest that push-to-talk could be worth 150 million ($173 million) in Europe over the next year, becoming a multi-billion-euro market in a few years.” [Ed. note: Well, he would say that, wouldn’t he?]
Despite Tagg’s drum-banging, European carriers remain skeptical about the long-term benefits of investing in the technology. Few regional trials have been announced, and local analysts seem reluctant to take the service too seriously.
“There isn’t much evidence of PTT’s success in Europe at the moment,” says Ovum Ltd.’s principal analyst, Jeremy Green. “It is more of a toy and an interesting niche people will fool around with, rather than the next SMS. It won’t be a big earner like text messaging. I don’t believe it is a very big opportunity.”
U.S. analysts beg to differ, arguing that it is only a matter of time before PTT becomes a hit with European users. “I find it strange that we haven’t seen that much interest in Europe, as it is a very attractive product,” says Ken Hyers, senior analyst at In-Stat/MDR. “Clearly, the strengths of the technology will have to be explained to customers, but people aren’t stupid. They quickly realized that SMS is a useful technology, and I don’t see any reason why they wouldn’t see the advantages of PTT as well.” [Unstrung]
Why I Won’t Be Buying a Pocket PC
Long-time PIC contributor Mike Cane emerges from his hermitage to once again offer himself up as a human target for the PDA zealots. This time he explains why, after lusting for Pocket PC, he finally decided to stick with the PalmOS platform after all. [PalmInfocenter]
Time Warner Cable integrated PVR Cable box!
Coming on Saturday is a delivery from Time Warner Cable which is their new cable box which includes built-in PVR. I believe the box is the Scientific Atlanta Explorer 8000 Digital Video Recorder. For $6.95/mo. you can record two programs and watch a third previously recorded show. It’s an 80GB box…
The only sacrifice/question mark for us is HDTV. It’s not supported with the box and it’s not something we want to give up. I’m already thinking how I can hook 2 boxes up to our existing television… Otherwise, we’ll have to hook the new cable box up in the bedroom, at least while the guy is here.
BTW – Time Warner is not officially launching this service until September and it actually took two calls to get this to happen. I first called the main number in Manahattan and my option was to bring in my old box for a swap. Not sure about you, but I’ve been to the TWC office before to exchange a cable modem and it’s not something I really want to do again. I called the Brooklyn office and after confirming I had submitted my info on the sign-up page, they called me back for an install time.
Thanks to Peggy for the tip on this one!
Motorola in Jordan push-to-talk trials
Motorola has signed an agreement with Jordan mobile network operator Fastlink to be the first in the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region to pilot Motorola’s General Radio Packet Service (GPRS) Push-To-Talk (PTT) solution. Point-to-point PTT calls to individuals and PTT group calls have been demonstrated successfully at Fastlink’s facility in Amman.
According to Motorola, the company has GPRS PTT trials and demonstrations with other wireless network operators in EMEA scheduled throughout the remainder of this year. Commercial launch of Motorola’s GPRS PTT solution is targeted for 2004. [infoSync]
I find it very interesting that this is being tested first outside the US … far away from Nextel.
Actually here’s some more detail as reported by CNet:
On Thursday, Motorola announced that Jordanian carrier Fastlink will be the first company in the Europe, Middle East and Africa region to use push-to-talk (PTT) technology. Fastlink plans to introduce a pilot version of a service similar to Nextel’s popular DirectConnect, which creates an instant connection between two cell phones.
In addition, Nextel Mexico, owned by Nextel subsidiary NII Holdings, plans to launch soon its own DirectConnect-like service in Tijuana and in Baja California, Mexico, a source said. [CNET News.com]
Add an internal mic to the Tungsten C
This company seems to have successfully modified the internal workings of a Tungsten C and will do it for you as well. Cost is $69.99, and is guaranteed for 30 days…
We have modified a number of Tungsten C’s by adding an internal
condensor microphone and boy do they work great! This mod allows you
to make full use of the voice features built into the Palm OS 5x.
Enjoy all the benefits of the Tungsten T with the thumb board of a C.
I’m not sure if I don’t use the voice note feature of my Tungsten because there is no mic built-in or because I don’t generally feel the need for voice notes. I recall using them on my Newton MessagePad 2100, which not only recorded the notes but listed them on my “Today” screen like ToDos and memos…
AT&T Wireless gears up for 3G launch
The company says it has ordered the gear needed to meet investor NTT DoCoMo’s deadline for it to launch a next-generation cell phone network in the United States. [CNET News.com]
The U.S. carrier is facing a closing date of Dec. 31, 2004, to launch a high-speed 3G commercial service in four U.S. cities. If it does not meet the deadline, it will have to return about $6.2 billion of part-owner and partner NTT DoCoMo’s investment in the company.
Standards bodies define 3G as delivering 384 kilobits per second of Internet access to cell phones, which is about 10 times faster than the current AT&T Wireless network.
Cell phone service providers worldwide are building such networks because they triple the capacity for cell phone calls, allowing carriers to keep pace with the growing number of minutes used for such calls. To earn back construction costs, carriers plan to offer new services like downloadable videos or Virtual Private Networks.
AT&T Wireless has so far chosen Seattle and San Francisco for its launch of what is expected to be the first commercial UMTS service in the United States, said AT&T Wireless spokesman Ritch Blasi. Two other likely candidates are San Diego and Dallas, where the carrier has an ongoing UMTS trial, he said.
Wi-Fi revenue predicted to fall as use climbs
While global Wi-Fi use is set to explode over the next five years, revenue from the technology is due to shrink, leading to a consolidation of the market, according to a report released this week by Pyramid Research LLC. Worldwide Wi-Fi users will number 707 million by 2008, Pyramid predicted, yet revenue per user will drop from around US$30 a month this year to $3 a month in five years. [MacCentral]
U.S. consumers: we don’t like our phones smart
Through recently conducted research, Jupiter Research says the company has found that when choosing a mobile phone, U.S. consumers prioritize small size and voice-related functionality over more advanced features such as integrated digital cameras, games, PDAs or music players.[infoSync]
That’s M-Life, Do you Get it Now
Wheels of Zeus Appoints Management Team, Signs Customers
LOS GATOS, CALIF. — Wheels of Zeus, a startup formed by Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak to develop a wireless radio system called Woznet, announnced its management team. The firm has also signed letters of intent with two prospective customers, Rich Rifredi, the new chief operating officer, told VentureWire.
Mr. Rifredi previously helped found Pixo, which developed applications for wireless phones, and was acquired by Sun Microsystems earlier this year. His career began at Apple, where he spent nine years and ended his tenure there as worldwide product manager for the company’s Powerbook products.
Frank Canova, the new vice president of engineering, previously served as vice president of worldwide product engineering at Palm. He had also worked at IBM, developing the company’s SmartPhone and managing PDA and portable computer projects.
Gina Clark joins the company as vice president of business development and marketing. She had been vice president of marketing at PalmSource. She also held the same position at LoopNet, an online service for the commercial real estate industry.
The company’s product, a cross between an RFID tag and a cell phone, is a wireless radio with one to two miles of range that provides location and status information. Mr. Rifredi said applications for the system include families keeping an eye on their pets and construction companies tracking whether their equipment has been turned off or on.
The devices have much longer range than RFID tags, which have a range of only a few feet, and do not require subscriptions like cell phones. The device will have a battery life measured in months.
Wheels of Zeus plans to sell its reference designs to manufacturers with distribution in consumer areas as well as in business and enterprise markets. Consumers won’t see a device in stores until the second half of next year, Mr. Rifredi said. The price would be left up to the manufacturers, but Mr. Rifredi says the bill of materials for the device will be $25.
The firm raised $6 million in a first round last year from Mobius Venture Capital, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, and Palo Alto Investors, and plans to raise a second round later this year.
Tired of the Telly? Reprogram It
A Colorado startup is selling a digital entertainment center that can easily be upgraded by its owner. To some, Interact-TV’s Telly looks like the perfect marriage of living-room ease of use with PC upgradability. By Leander Kahney. [Wired News]
The Telly automatically records TV shows, and can pause and rewind live TV. Programming information is provided over the Net through a free subscription service.
The Telly also plays music and displays photos. Thanks to a built-in CD-RW/DVD drive, it can rip and burn CDs, and play DVDs. The company said DVD burning will be added in the near future. Consumers will be able to buy and install their own DVD-burning equipment, and the necessary software will automatically be pushed to the device using the Net.
TiVo upgrading with a mac
The vast majority of TiVo upgrade guides require the use of PC, and there are scant resources and programs for the mac, even though OS X is now a BSD based operating system (meaning most basic linux tools work in BSD as well). Over on the TiVo underground, member A@ron asked for help and got little in response. He eventually found software and figured it out, and posted a full guide to TiVo upgrading using a mac as a result.
[PVRblog]
The New BMW 6 Series coupe
The new 6 Series coupe from BMW will be unveiled in September at the Frankfurt Motor Show and will go on sale in the United States in spring 2004.
BMW says the 645Ci, with a 4.4-liter engine, will be able to reach 149 miles an hour and sprint from 0 to 60 m.p.h. in well under 6 seconds. New York Times
Verizon to launch High Speed Wireless in D.C., San Diego
With virtual private network (VPN) connections, data customers in both cities will be able to access Verizon’s 1xEV-DO high-speed data network as an extension of their corporate local area network (LAN) or intranet. In order to receive the increased data speeds, 1xEV-DO devices are required, and the company says it plans to sell PCMCIA cards, office modem solutions and a number of other mobile devices.
Also in the third quarter, the company said it plans to offer complementary access between its own branded 802.11 service and its WAN. Recognizing the proliferation of Wi-Fi on corporate campuses and in travel related venues such as hotels and airports, Verizon Wireless is working with Wayport to offer Wi-Fi service in popular indoor locations. [Internetnews.com]
Time Warner to Test Microsoft’s iTV Software
“Time Warner Cable is very aggressive and savvy as a technology adopter,” he added. So, if Microsoft’s trial proves out, the move could be a big opportunity to position itself in an interactive television screen. It could also bode well for finds the trial successful, cable technology platform company Scientific-Atlanta could also benefit, Brancheau said.
According to Gartner, as of mid-year 2003, 22 million U.S. households were upgraded to digital cable, out of a total base of 66 million cable households in the U.S. (The total household base in the U.S. is 106 million.)
So, the deal gives Microsoft some room to grow Internet News