Category: gadgets and technology

Coming attraction on DVDs: PC content – Tech News – CNET.com

Sonicblue’s DVD player will be able to connect to networks via an Ethernet connection. Consumers will be able to purchase 802.11b PC cards to connect the player to a PC using wireless networking. 802.11b, also known as Wi-Fi, is a technology that allows the creation of wireless networks with a radius of around 300 feet.

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The Go-Video D2730 player’s software will let consumers view content on their television that’s stored on their PC using a remote control for navigation. The customer will be able to stream music files and other content on the DVD player.

I love Sonicblue’s determination to take content from one room and move it to another, I just wonder whether it’s worth the risk of purchase based on the lawsuits pending against them.

Top 100 products of 2002 – Tech Trends – CNET.com

It never fails. The year in technology always stacks up like this: There’s the bottom, which is packed with half-baked ideas and badly conceived devices. There’s the middle, where it’s so crowded you’ll find only room for improvement. And then there’s the top, where it’s lonely and there’s only room for one—or in this case, 100. Find out what CNET editors picked as the crème de la crème of tech in 2002.

New services to be announced at the CES in January…
Excite – Computers and Internet

3G Mobile-analyst.com

The delayed introduction of the P800 will further hinder Sony Ericsson’s chances of making up ground on its rivals. A recent report by Gartner Dataquest showed that Sony Ericsson’s share of handset sales almost halved to 4.8% between September 2001 and September 2002. The company needs to boost its market share to around 10% to stay on course to reach profitability by 2006. Both Sony and Ericsson may have to invest further capital in their joint venture if its performance does not improve.

Graham Hayday from Silicon.com reports on Audi’s plans to incorporate Bluetooth into some of its cars.

CSR (Cambridge Silicon Radio) will be providing the German company with its BlueCore silicon technology. The Audis will be the first cars to be offered with Bluetooth-enabled GSM car phones and cordless handsets. The vehicles will be rolled out in countries supporting the GSM network in Europe and Asia from December 2002.

How about a hint on when…

The Register

Product manager Will Rees told us that Handspring was looking at smaller keyboards and improving one-handed operation for its next generation, but that there wouldn’t be a return to the pen-only PDA.

“We took out almost every instance where you need to use the pen,” said Rees.

Salon.com Technology | Replay it again, Sam

Craig Newmark epitomizes the kind of person electronics industry marketers lovingly refer to as an “early adopter.” His modest apartment in the friendly San Francisco neighborhood of Cole Valley is decked with many of the gadgets that the industry is hoping most other people will think of buying in a few years’ time. In his living room, there’s a widescreen TV surrounded by a half-dozen silver audio and video devices, the most important of which are his two ReplayTV units. One is an older model he purchased a few years ago, when he first heard of PVRs; the second is a ReplayTV 4000, whose broadband connection and automatic commercial skip caused 28 media companies, including Viacom, Disney, AOL Time Warner and their subsidiaries, to file suit against Sonicblue last October. They charged Sonicblue with engaging in an “unlawful plan … to arm their customers with — and continuously assist them in using — unprecedented new tools for violating plaintiffs’ copyright interests”

While I don’t have one just yet, the idea that I can move my contacts and calendar info from desktop to device is very compelling. The link for the software to move your contacts is here I found it in the readme for the iCal bit mentioned below. At $99 as mentioned earlier today this baby is looking good. I have read about a pending sync app, which is due probably in Q1 ‘2003 according to folks chatting on the Danger discussion groups. That would make it ideal.

iCal to Sidekick 1.0b: “This script exports iCal events into a file that can be uploaded to the T-Mobile Sidekick Desktop Interface. Source code is included. [d/l]” Source: AppleScript Info

Nokia propose new wireless technology

The aim of the new G-WCDMA standard is to unite the existing and competing wireless broadband network standards WCDMA and CDMA2000 1x.

You can now get the Sony Ericsson T68i Phone for 24.99

A Treo 180 (GPRS) from Handspring is $99

T-Mobile Sidekick with Camera Attachment… is $99.

This site catalogues the life of a Segway owner… interesting stuff to read and view througout. If you have any interest in the Segway, this site is a good one…

the book of seg. phillip m. torrone. segway ht human transporter

Just in time for last minute shopping, O’Reilly comes through with a list of items for the geeks you know without the usual bank bending gadget prices…

O’Reilly Network: Gifts for Geeks on the Cheap [Nov. 26, 2002]

Might not be entirely legal, but available now… looks pretty cool and well made and the price is certainly right.

Readymade Pringles antenna for Don’t-DIYers.: “I’m going to get one of these readymade Pringle can antennas for $20. They look cool, too! What a great idea. [Update: Dave Sifry warns that if you buy and use a Cantenna, “you could get your door busted in by the FCC, as ubergeek Tim Pozar explains on the BAWUG list“]LinkDiscuss(Thanks, May!)” Source: Boing Boing

The Nextel Blackberry seems to have been released – at least for public inquiry. It supports POP email accounts as well as the usual suspects in server sync as well. The only downside for someone like me, is that I won’t be able to sync my Mac to it were it to be my PDA. I will still need a Palm for that.

Seems that the more I consider this the more the Danger Hiptop from T-Mobile (aka Sidekick) is the device of choice based on bang for the buck. It also does not sync, not yet anyway, but only costs $200 compared to the Blackberry which will most likely cost about $500 if I had to guess. The wireless plan will also most likely cost much more that the hiptop which is about $40 flat right now.

My ideal situation?

• wireless device for email on multiple POP3 accounts
• syncs with Mac for calendar access
• color for photos and games – preferred though not a requirement if the screen is good enough
• bluetooth optional

I don’t see anything like this out there yet… do you?

This is one tasty machine… I’ve been hoping to see something from them since CES last January. Everything they have said is there and more with connectivity to external devices a very real possibility. Charter needs to launch this successfully so other cable systems can take advantage as well. Time Warner are you listening?

The Moxi product is the most powerful PVR system to be found today in this specific embedded market. It runs on a 733 Mhz C3 Cyrix x86 CPU, uses a Broadcom graphics chipset with dedicated video capabilities and is fully configurable by a cable provider. It comes with 40 GB of hard drive, but can easily use more than 100 GB. Moxi supports HDTV and has a TV-out (naturally), but no VGA output. Providers can customize the machine and the OS will also provide the required software for any additional peripherals (for example, a DVD or a CD-RW drive).

Moxi PVR — features, flexibility and DRM: “Paul Allen’s Digeo has demoed its Moxi PVR for OSNews. The device has got lots of sweet features — runs on GNU/Linux, allows for easy expansion, and will record both digital and analog TV signals. You can plug in CD burners or DVD players, and it doubles a videophone. On a disturbing note, though, the device apparently comes loaded up with DRM out of the box:

PCs are not secure enough for the PVR purpose, as most channel providers won’t like to see their content easily pirated. Moxi provides such security after special agreements with the cable provider or channels.

LinkDiscuss

(via /.)” Source: Boing Boing

This seems like it actually might work. The picture looks interesting, a bit less from the future this time and seemingly practical.

A Palm That Fits On The Wrist: “A Palm That Fits On The Wrist: “Now Fossil is taking a second crack at it. And this time it’s putting the Palm operating system into a device no bigger than a digital watch. If you’re a Palm user who’s not as careful to carry your handheld with you everywhere you go, you might find yourself without access to your contact list just when you need it. At least with a watch, you’re less likely to leave home without it. ” [Not bad…]” Source: Archipelago