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News & Features November 23, 2011

Garmin StreetPilot App Helps Avoid Gridlock with Real-Time Traffic Photos

Just in time for the huge travel weekend that is Thanksgiving, Garmin has released an update for its StreetPilot Onboard iPhone navigation app. The new version of the app includes the ability to show real-time photos from traffic cameras. As the Garmin release explains, This functionality can help holiday travelers get to their destination faster by giving them the ability to literally see traffic conditions ahead of time. The update also includes live weather information, the option to share points of interest via Facebook and SMS as well as other improvements. The update is a free download to current app…

News & Features November 23, 2011

Killing webOS Cost HP HOW MUCH?!? Also, HP Nabs #2 Tablet Spot for 2011!

Two interesting pieces of contrasting TouchPad news: one about failure and the other success. From AllThingsD, we get a snip from the recent HP earnings report specific to Palm, webOS and the impact of folding up that business on their results. Here is their quote from the earnings report: Non-GAAP earnings and operating profit information excludes after-tax costs of $3.3 billion, or $1.56 per diluted share, related to the wind down of HP’s webOS device business, impairment of goodwill and purchased intangible assets, amortization of purchased intangible assets, restructuring charges and acquisition-related charges.

News & Features November 23, 2011

Battle of the Annoying Black Friday Commercials: Kohl’s vs. Target

Image courtesy Zap2It Everything is turned up to 11 as we frantically approach Black Friday and the traditional start to the holiday shopping season. If you watch network television, you have likely seen and heard two amazingly annoying ads: Kohl’s ‘Rebecca Black Friday’ commercial and Target’s ads featuring the simpering presumed cokehead who hasn’t slept in days. Have you seen these? Well, here they are! [poll id=”9″] Are there other annoying ads you want to share? Link them in the comments! Also, what are your plans for Black Friday?

News & Features November 23, 2011

William Shatner Helps You Cope with Being Un-Friended

With the new Facebook Timeline it is possible to discover who has unfriended you, which might cause some distress in general. Add to that last week’s ‘National Unfriend Day’ on Jimmy Kimmel’s show and you add to the possibility of being unfriended. But on a holiday weekend there is even more cause for concern: I got a notice that my high school graduating class is having an informal mini-reunion, and my brother is going to his 30th high school reunion, meaning there are more opportunities than ever to come face to face with someone who has unfriended you. Source: Buzzfeed

Music Diary, News & Features November 23, 2011

Music Diary Deal: Coldplay Live in Madrid EP FREE on Google Music

If there is something Google knows, it is how to do ‘free’ – never before has a company made so much by charging so little. So as they simultaneously try to crank up their niche Google + ‘social network’ and also their late entry also-ran music ‘service’, the immediate tool they pull from their bag is ‘free’. In this case what is free is a live EP of Coldplay. Here is the description: This EP was recorded in a Spanish bullring during an American Express Unstaged event that saw nearly 20 million live streams on YouTube, and it pretty much…

News & Features November 23, 2011

February Will Bring the Launch of an All New 2013 Lexus GS

Some of you will recall our ‘Guess what I am and Win’ contest series which offered a prize package consisting of: 2 one-year Pandora One premium subscriptions 4 movie tickets a month for a year from MovieTickets.com A $250 OpenTable dining card The clues were: My screen width is wider than an iPad I can help you plan your dinner-and-a-movie night out. and I can read your SMS texts for you…and even respond, if you like. The answer, as EdifyHimDaily soon guessed, was the 2013 Lexus GS. Some of you might have wondered what the prize package had to do…

News & Features November 20, 2011

NOOKTablet Rooted, but There’s a Big, Honking Catch

Last week I asked if the NOOKcolor had more hacks than apps…and the comments seem to indicate the hackability were a big part of what attracted many buyers to it. At the time, the NOOKTablet was not yet rooted, but it looks like there’s finally been some success on the rooting front. Unfortunately, it’s not nearly as easy as the NOOKcolor’s. First of all, the hack is still very rough around the edges. It involves using the Android SDK, which isn’t hard to install, but it is a pain to use if you aren’t terribly computer savvy. If you read…

Music Diary, News & Features November 20, 2011

Music Diary Notes: Billboard Revamps Rules in Attempt to Stop Lady Gaga-esque ‘Gaming’ of Charts

Earlier this year Lady Gaga released an album that sold over a million copies in the first week, then plummeted by a historic 84% in the second week before fading into nowheresville. As I noted, nearly HALF of her first week sales were generated by the ‘giveaway’ at Amazon (99 cent full album) and other freebie pack-in deals that were counted as sales. It was a rather obvious ploy set up to falsely generate an impression of a larger event than happened – and considering how terrible the album is, perhaps that was the ONLY way to get people to…

Editorials, News & Features November 19, 2011

Android Rules Smartphone Roost … But Holiday ‘Wish Lists’ Show Vulnerability

Guess who wants an Android Tablet for Christmas/Hanukkah? (Hint: no one). But we’ll return to that in a moment. This week we got news that put the Android OS at more than 50% market share for smartphone operating systems. This is based on numbers from Gartner, which means that they willingly and knowingly count Samsung’s % estimates’ the same as other people’s ‘shipments’ the same as other people’s actual SALES. In other words, their numbers are a crapshoot. But make no mistake – Android is BY FAR the dominant mobile OS. If you look at the trends in the graph above,…

News & Features November 19, 2011

Rolling Through the Bay is Scott Weaver’s Toothpick Masterpiece

Scott Weaver used 1000,000 toothpicks, about 30,000 hours and Elmer’s Glue to create a visually stunning 9′ tall masterpiece with five different “ping-pong tours” through the various San Francisco landmarks. I have used different brands of toothpicks depending on what I am building. I also have many friends and family members that collect toothpicks in their travels for me. For example, some of the trees in Golden Gate Park are made from toothpicks from Kenya, Morocco, Spain, West Germany and Italy. The heart inside the Palace of Fine Arts is made out of toothpicks people threw at our wedding. This…

News & Features November 18, 2011

Random Cool Video: Mambo #5 Meets The Matrix

If you just say the phrase ‘that one scene from The Matrix’, almost everyone immediately thinks of the lobby gunfight scene. Well, after watching this video of the scene synced up to Lou Bega’s Mambo #5 you might never think of it the same way. Check it out: And as an interesting aside, my first exposure to this song was through a Radio Disney CD our kids had, so I really had no clue what was going on when I heard the actual song! Source: Neatorama

News & Features November 18, 2011

Samsung Hits Another Advertising Home Run with Google Nexus Commercial

I had already written about just how great the Samsung Galaxy S II commercial was a couple of months ago, but at the time Apple and Samsung were in the midst of the ‘copy me, copy you’ spectacle and so I wrapped it around a tongue-in-cheek accusation of copying. Certainly Samsung has learned that the macho specmanship approach of Motorola has a very narrow appeal, which shows very well in this new ad as well. The upcoming Nexus has gotten some very positive early looks, and should be a big success for Samsung and give a great look at the…

News & Features November 17, 2011

Look Like a Tool with the Ear Shaped Case for iPhone

Friends, Romans, Countrymen; len me your … If you can’t stand being in a room without having all eyes on you — for any reason — then this may be the case for you. Latest Buy is accepting pre-orders for this silicon rubber iPhone 4 case, and if you get one the puns and bad jokes are almost guaranteed to follow. $21.95, and it’s yours. Latest Buy’s Ear Shaped iPhone Case

News & Features November 17, 2011

TruConnect Brings Cheap & Easy 3G to Your Kindle Fire or Nook Tablet!

Last month I reviewed the TruConnect ‘pay as you go’ mobile broadband solution, saying: TruConnect absolutely delivers on their claims of a simple device, easy setup and configuration, and clear pricing of as little as $4.99 per month. Beyond that, every person needs to make their own value judgement in terms of the data fees. For light or occasional use, you can get 250MB for less than $15 a month, but once you break 1GB of monthly data you might be better off with a full access plan. The good news is that you have no contract and no termination…

Music Diary, News & Features November 16, 2011

Music Diary Notes: Sting Releases ’25’ iPad App for FREE – But it Cost More Than $1 Million to Make!

If you look at the legendary figures in pop and rock music in the post-Beatle era, The Police and their frontman Sting have to be on your shortlist. After an amazing but short career with The Police, Sting struck out on his own with an ensemble populated by young jazz musicians playing a new kind of jazz-tinged pop-rock. Through the 25 years since, Sting has had some amazing highs and lows, but always worked to put his best music out to the people. Now we get a new app from the music legend – ‘Sting 25’ is the companion to…

Music Diary, News & Features November 16, 2011

Music Diary Notes: Stream Nickelback’s New Album on iTunes for Free!

The pop-rock group Nickelback is one of those love/hate things for many – ‘hardcore’ rockers absolutely hate them on principal, yet they sell millions of records and there are people who either like them or – like my wife – consider them a ‘guilty pleasure’. If you are a fan of the group, or just curious to check out their upcoming release, here is your chance! For a limited time you can stream the entire album for free on iTunes! As with previous deals like this, you can’t skip songs or shuffle or otherwise control the playback – it is…

News & Features November 16, 2011

NeverWet — I Want to Coat My House in This Stuff!

I have a consistent problem with spilling drinks. No glass of water or bottle of beer is safe near me. It’s not my fault, of course; gravity just works more strongly on liquids when I’m nearby. Clearly. So when I saw this video today for NeverWet, I was not joking when I exclaimed: “I want to coat my house in this!” It’s amazing…I have no idea how they manage to do it, but when and if this ever becomes a commercial product they will make millions. I could see this stuff coating clothing, rugs, tables, and athletic wear. Forget Gore-Ttex,…

News & Features November 16, 2011

Businessweek Provides a Eulogy on Borders, and Hope for the Future

Earlier this summer, the final chapter was closed on the Borders bookstore chain. It led to all sorts of conjectures as to why, and what it means for the future of bookstores and readers. Some said it was ebooks, while others pointed out Borders had a long history of mismanagement and neglect. Businessweek has a good overview of the history of Borders, and some of the reasons why it died a sad death (spoiler alert: it wasn’t ebooks). What I found most interesting was this commentary from Borders’ last CEO, Mike Edwards: Edwards says that by the time he became…

News & Features November 15, 2011

PocketLoops Let’s You and Your iPhone Make Beautiful Music Together

I loved reviewing Gear4’s UnityRemote and continue to use and enjoy it. Now they have come up with a new “appcessory” called PocketLoops. PocketLoops is a “portable music creation studio for iPhone and iPod touch”. As the company explains, An innovative platform for the musically-minded, PocketLoops is a powerful tool that combines app-based software with advanced hardware, allowing musicians to build their own loops, remix them into full tracks and share them with friends. The hardware is $79.99. The app that turns the hardware into an “appcessory” is available from the iTunes App Store. You can learn more here on…

News & Features November 15, 2011

Veterans Day Is Every Day with the ElementCase Patriot Case

If you have a favorite soldier or if you’re just feeling patriotic, Element Case has an iPhone 4 / 4S cover that will have you seeing stars! Take a look at their limited edition $124.99 red, white and blue Patriot Case that first went on sale on 11/11/11, Veteran’s Day; they’ve created a series of 200, and 10% of the proceeds will go to the non-profit “Disabled American Veterans.” They hope to raise $10,000 for the group, and with your help, they’ll do it! ElementCase Patriot Case Learn more about the Disabled American Veterans at www.DAV.org.

News & Features November 15, 2011

Zinio’s on Fire with $25 Shopping Perks and Availability on Amazon Fire

Zinio isn’t about to let Apple and Amazon slow down their momentum. No way, no how. And to help make sure they remain the eMag service of choice they are introducing a shopping perk program that puts a $25 credit into the accounts of all new Zinio registrants from now until March 2012. Better still, this credit can be used to purchase magazines across the company’s entire global newsstand. In addition, the Zinio app is now available in the Amazon Appstore. The timing is key since many of us will be getting our net Kindle fire’s today. As Chris Wilkes, vice…