News

Corsair Introduces High Speed, Monster Capacity Flash Drives

How would you like a USB flash memory thumb drive that could back up your netbook’s entire 120GB hard drive? If you’ve got $460 to spare, then the Corsair Voyager GTR 128 can take care of that task for you … and get it done quickly. The quad-channel architecture employed by the Flash Voyager GTR series delivers read speeds up to 34MB/s and write speeds up to 28MB/s, approaching the maximum transfer rates supported by the USB 2.0 interface. The outstanding performance numbers translate into genuine, real-world results. In the Corsair Labs, using a typical Windows 7-based PC, the Flash…

News

The Return of Dear Gear Diary…

photo credit: Alex E. Proimos Starting next month, we’ll be bringing the Dear Gear Diary series. Each week, we will be picking out an email or two sent in by our readers, and then posting them with our answers. With this series we hope that we will be able to help out with your gadget-related questions. We have a large group of writers with very different backgrounds, and we are confident that someone here will be able to help with just about any tech or gadget-use questions you all can throw at us. Are you trying to figure out what…

News

Skooba Design Wants to Stable Your Cable … Among Other Things

Tell me that you haven’t been bothered when it came time to pack for a trip, and you didn’t have an organized and protective way to carry your cables, chargers, and miscellaneous gear. I’ll tell you what I usually do with mine – charging cables get put in the side pocket of my carry-on, syncing/charging cables go into my laptop bag, and camera chargers and other items that don’t get put in my laptop bag usually get shuffled into the cracks and crevices of my carry-on. This arrangement works fine for the most part, but I have accepted that anytime…

News

A Pictorial View of What You Miss By Watching Pirated DVD’s

Our younger son had his birthday at the local theater this past weekend, and part of that was getting a tour of the projection area, getting to splice a trailer into a reel, and even starting the movie they were seeing and checking audio levels. It is a really cool time, and the local theater manager does a great job with the kids. I took note that even after doing all of the start-up in the booth, getting his special theater display poster and other stuff for the kids in the party, and heading on downstairs and into our theater…

News

Monster Introduces Their Latest: Vivienne Tam Butterfly High Fashion In-Ear Headphones

I’ve enjoyed watching the ways that Monster Cable has found to collaborate with various musicians like Lady Gaga, Puff Daddy Puffy P. Diddy Diddy and Dr. Dre to create custom headsets and earphones. The new designs are funky and fresh, but their stylish exteriors cover earphones that many are saying sound fabulous. Their latest design, in collaboration with Vivienne Tam, marks the introduction of something lovely: the new Butterfly High Fashion In-Ear Headphones, which will go along perfectly with her “Butterfly Lovers” Digital Clutch. Butterfly is a unique collaboration between Monster, a leader in consumer electronics, and renown Fashion Designer,…

News

A Peek Into Our Green-Screen TV Adventures

Have you ever watched a stunning TV episode, or even just a pedestrian street scene, and wondered how they managed to take over that part of Washington / New York / Boston / wherever in order to get the shot? Chances are they didn’t. Stargate Studios, a “visual effects and production services” company, also offers a “Virtual Backlot Library, which includes hundreds of photo-real, virtual locations covering 28 major cities from around the world”. To illustrate their capabilities they have a Virtual Backlot page, a gallery of cities, and also an amazing YouTube video showing before and after green-screen clips…

News

Idol Thoughts: Does Anyone Care Anymore?

Four or five years ago my kids got my wife and I involved watching American Idol from the very beginning of the season, since it was something they discussed with their friends. In various articles I’ve been pretty clear that my musical tastes range pretty far from the popular realm, but family time trumps all for me. On a now defunct site I started writing a series called ‘Idol Thoughts’, where I would blog weekly about the show, later carrying it on to my own personal blog and GamerDad’s blog where it was popular with many other parents who were…

Events, News

HTC Introduces The HD Mini Windows Phone

click to enlarge HTC is introducing a new Windows Phone this morning — the HD Mini. Specifications on the first press release that I received were pretty sparse, as it only said the HD Mini would be “sleek, well-crafted and easy to use,” that it would have a capacitive touchscreen, and that it would offer personal WiFi for your computer or other devices. Because HTC was being stingy with the specs (up until almost midnight last night), I consulted my Magic 8 ball to answer the questions not covered by the vague initial press release, and these were its replies:…

Events, News

HTC Introduces the Legend and Desire Android Phones

the HTC Legend (click to enlarge) This morning HTC is introducing two new Android handsets, the Legend and Desire. Both sport “an enhanced HTC Sense experience that will … take Android to the next level.” Both will also have “broad improvements to applications including the browser, email client and others.” The Legend includes a 3.2″ AMOLED HVGA display. HTC has replaced the trackball with an optical joystick, “surrounded by a narrow button to improve usability without interrupting its unique design.” I won’t know how well it works until I give it a try, but the optical joystick looks pretty quirky….

News

Zibits Minature Robots Will Keep You Entertained

Just what’s needed to brighten up a dreary cubicle and provide entertainment when your warden supervisor isn’t looking — Zibits, a new series of miniature remote controlled robots that are about 2″ tall, move in “several directions including a full 360º rotation”, and that are equipped with “robotic lights and sounds”. Zibits will show up at Toys ‘R Us in mid-March for less than $10. Zibits Miniature Robots

eBooks, News

Is the Honor System a Failure for Books?

(image courtesy Smashwords) Smashwords today on their blog revealed some interesting statistical data; that people are cheapskates. I know, you’re shocked. Try to keep it together for the rest of this post. Apparently, in a wide-ranging study (353 people!) only 15% paid. Everyone else downloaded the book for free. Smashwords explained their take on this data:

News

Survey Uncovers Workplace Behavior and Jargon You Find Annoying

I have just past 1.5 years with my current company after relocating after a layoff from the previous job I had for the better part of 20 years … and I knew I was truly ‘home’ a few weeks ago when I used some of the homespun jargon naturally without thought. Every company regardless of size or industry has its own set of jargon and habits, and a study by Opinium Research reported by Reuters finds the stuff most folks find annoying. Here are the workplace habits: 1. Grumpy or moody colleagues (37 percent) 2. Slow computers (36) 3. Small…

Music Diary, News

After 9 Months of ‘Variable Pricing’ … Music Sales Are Down

Image Courtesy of HardwareZone I think we all recognized the REAL intent last year when Apple finally caved to the music industry to allow for a new price structure in exchange for getting the same DRM-free music they were already giving everyone else: it was to make more money from every type of consumer. Anyone who didn’t get the message that day saw the truth soon enough – like my kids who instantly saw that a $15 iTunes Gift Card was worth about 4 songs less than before. Well, it turns out that folks are none too happy – and…

News

Dog-e-Minder for the Absent Minded Pet Owner

I have mixed feelings about the Dog-e-Minder pet assistant. On the one hand, it looks like this device could be an invaluable tool for remembering pet medications – especially when they have to be administered more than once a day, or it could serve as a way to remember the last time you took your puppy outside during potty training. On the other hand, it seems like the type of person who needs help remembering when the last time they fed or walked their dog might be better off with a cat. Was that too judgmental? Anyway … The simple,…

News

The Urbantrim Squidarella Brings Color to a Rainy Day

the dry Squidarella Like much of the country, West Texas has been experiencing a wetter than usual late winter. Rather than snow, we have had rain … nearly 6″ in some parts of my county alone. Due to the weather, I’ve found myself reaching for an umbrella more times in the last couple of weeks than I had in the last few years. And since my umbrella has basically become a regular accessory, I can’t help but wishing that it was as colorful and interesting as this one. Urbantrim has just launched a new collection of color changing umbrellas. “The…

eBooks, News

Amazon Scores Another Exclusive

Looks like Ian McEwan and Stephen Covey have company in the Amazon exclusives club! Gavin De Becker, author of “The Gift of Fear”, has an exclusive with the Kindle Store for one year. This is probably Amazon’s best defense against the agency model that’s all the rage among scared publishers; Amazon guarantees themselves great content, the author gets a raise, and the consumer wins too! And if you don’t know who Gavin de Becker is (I didn’t!), Amazon’s press release has some details: “The nationally bestselling ‘The Gift of Fear’ is a perennial bestseller in its category, and de Becker’s…

eBooks, News

Random House Stands Alone With Amazon?

Random House has weighed in on the eBook price wars, and it looks like Macmillan, Hachette and Harper Collins won’t be sending them a fruit basket next Christmas. At the American Bookseller’s Association Winter Institute meeting, Random House made it clear they aren’t interested in pursuing the same “agency model” as their three colleagues. From the Mobileread forums: The only bright spot for Amazon, and Kindle owners, came from Madeline McIntosh, the President of Sales, Operations, and Digital for Random House. She pointed out that publishers “have no real experience at setting retail prices.” She also revelaed that one of…

News

3D Rugby Hits England!

I love rugby. I played it in college, and again for a few years as an adult. If you’ve never played, imagine American football merged with soccer. Rugby is extremely fast-paced, with lots of hits and action. Part of that fast pace means sometimes you’re left scrambling trying to follow the game. O2 and Cineworld are riding the 3D craze with a new way to change that; they’re airing England’s national rugby games in theaters in 3D! From the Guardian‘s review, it seems like it was overall a huge success: The international game has long been a geometric business, a…

News

Making Of Google Nexus One Video Series

The Google Nexus One is arguably one of the most successful Android devices to-date. Google was said to have worked closely with HTC in order to produce a device to really showcase what they thought should be a premier Android handset. I was always curious about the design and collaboration that went into creating this device. Turns out a series of videos will explain just that!

News

PC Magazines Gives Us 42 Reasons Netbooks Are Better Than The iPad

Are you tired of all the negative backlash from last week’s iPad announcement … or still tired from all of the hype leading up to the announcement? Probably some of both. Well, as Dan noted, Steve Jobs took an unwise swing at netbooks in his pitch, so naturally we now have a nice list from PC Magazine of things that make netbooks better than the iPad. Of course, since the iPad isn’t shipping, nor are the specs even final, such stuff is largely a useless exercise in … well, something. But it is still good fun to look at these…

Events, News

The Inbrics M1 Android Mobile Internet Device

Mobile World Congress will be kicking off in about a week, and the new device frenzy has already started. One of the items shown will be the Inbrics M1, an Android-based mobile internet device (MID) with a “3 screen plus” media convergence platform”. We’ve been hearing about the M1 since late last year, and it also made a CES debut. Now what some have called “possibly the ultimate Android device” may be that much closer to actually being available for purchase. The M1 has everything you could want in an MID, including Wi-Fi 802.11, an AMOLED touch screen that slides…

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