The next generation DVRs are at the top of my list of new products to see at CES next week. I still don't have a TiVo at home, but with BitTorrent, video-on-demand and NetFlix, I already have a fair amount of media options. Still, it seems pretty clear that a DVR console, most likely one with a built-in DVD-burner and some media center capabilities, is going to be the hot upgrade for many home entertainment centers over the next 12 months.
Oliver Rist at the Technology Filter has the details on one of the more interesting models so far, the LG LRM-519 ($599.95). The hardware is LG, but all of the software and programming guides are provided by Microsoft. There are a bunch of these coming out at the show, so look for a roundup of the best products on PCMag.com in the next few weeks
I may have cross-country skiied in high school, but the slopes scare me. If you're anything like me, you'll prefer the snow in the safety of your own home. That's why Hammacher Schlemmers' Virtual Reality Snowboard is totally my thing.
All you do is put your foot through the strap of the board, place the wireless headset on your head, and you're ready to perform cool tricks on a snow-capped mountain. You'll experience sound effects and full-color 3D graphics. The virtual reality game features multi-level play for competing against other boarders, as well as a volume control and automatic scoring and timekeeping.
BusinessWeek is out with a scoop that could have a big impact on the ebook business. According to a story that posted today on its Web site, Sony will be launching a new ebook reader at CES next week and plans to sell ebooks from its Sony Connect online store. I have been reading ebook on my Treo since I got it, and I think the screen is just bearable for reading text. A larger display would be great, but I am not sure I would pay $300-$500 for dedicated eBook reader, especially if Sony follows it pattern of offering only DRM-protected content for its devices. Still, it is something I will have to check out at the show next week.
If only that iPod display was just a little bit bigger....
Electroplankton. It's not a game, precisely, though you do play with it (or on it, or through it...). Essentially, it turns your DS into a music creation tool -- but that's not quite right either, since you create rich and colorful visualizations as you play, and that's a huge part of the experience. So I think Nintendo has created a new category; MusiCreatiVisual? Kudos to the spunky game company.
I was thrilled when the title arrived yesterday, and I spent an absorbing hour and a half last night just noodling around with the different plankton types; there are 10 of them, and each makes sounds in a novel way. (Pictured is Lumiloop; you trace the circles with your stylus at different speeds, and they emit varied colors and tones.)
In the booklet that comes with Electroplankton, you'll find a charming letter from its creator, media artist Toshio Iwai. At different times in his life, he variously used and loved a microscope, a tape recorder, a synthesizer, and a Nintendo NES. These devices were the combined elements that sparked the idea.
Electroplankton will be available online and at the Nintendo World store on January 9, for $34.99.
It's easy to tell when gaming has gone too far, but the folks at Microsoft are probably foaming at the mouth with this concept.
Nissan developed a new gaming concept dubbed URGE which utilizes a steering wheel, aluminum-alloy wheels, a 6-speed manual gearbox, aluminum body panels, and a cockpit with an integrated Xbox 360 console (gee, how'd they score a 360 so quick?). The rumor is that Nissan will debut URGE in early January 2006 at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit.
enGadget reports that "gameplay is only enabled when the vehicle is parked; while driving, the 7-inch flip-down LCD serves as a teched-out rear-view mirror." All I know is, I feel like I'm stuck in a Back to the Future movie.
It isn't easy being married to a professional geek. This Christmas, my wife was kind enough to purchase me a lovely 4GB iPod Nano ($244-$270), which as most people know, is more than the enough MP3 player for the average person. The problem is my library, including music, audiobooks, and podcasts, is currently 33GB and growing every week.
I had her take it back and get me the latest 30GB iPod ($300) for an extra $50. I understand this is a selfish act. I have apologized personally, and now publicy, for my unfettered consumerism and obsession with the new. But I want my whole library to travel with me. I also want to be able to show friends pictures of my son over drinks after work. (I have also been developing a taste for DL.TV, but that's kind of a work thing.)
When my wife was making the exchange at the Apple Store, the saleswomen told her, "No one ever fills these things."
While browsing the list of 2006 CES Innovations honorees, I found this really unusual-looking speaker, the Da Vinci Horn. Apparently, according to the CEA, it "is a high efficiency single driver speaker that reproduces music to a level of realism and quality that few speakers can achieve - with just one watt." And it looks like a horn. But the company isn't exhibiting at CES, and their Web site is password protected. What is this thing? I'd ask Mike Kobrin, but he's on vacation.
Buy a hybrid, and atone for the sins of your neighbor, who drives a gas-guzzling SUV. Or buy a hybrid, and atone for the sins of your gardener, whose raggedy truck, lawnmower, weed whacker, and leaf blower spew pollutants. The well-off are not the only ones messing up the environment.
Hybrid vehicles are partly about doing something for the environment. They're also about celebrating your conscience. If you drive a Prius, your colleagues know you're a good person. But even for the apolitical motorist, the mostly overlapping categories of hybrid vehicles, high-mpg vehicles, and alternative-fuel vehicles are starting to make sense.
It is not cast in stone (nor tacked to an old-growth redwood endangered by air pollution) that a smaller vehicle with a downsized gasoline engine, a rack of batteries under the back seat, and an electric motor is the only true low-emissions solution. But it is the most typical solution. And the likes of the Toyota Prius and Honda Civic Hybrid are appealing, especially if most of your driving is urban, you don't need a big vehicle, and you go lightly on the throttle pedal. Even compact SUVs can be hybrids: The Ford Escape / Mercury Mariner twins weigh in at just under 2 tons each, yet each has city fuel economy of around 30 mpg. The hybrid price premium is several thousand dollars, but that's improving: The new Civic Hybrid is only about $1,000 more than its gas-engine sibling.
The Japanese have been ahead of the world with hybrids. American automakers are slowly moving to hybrids at the same time that they're pushing alternative-fuel vehicles. The Germans are warming to gas/electric hybrids: At the fall Frankfurt Auto Show, Audi, BMW, Mercedes, Porsche, and VW all promised hybrids, which is an-about face. Previously, the German strategy was efficient diesel-engine cars today, and hydrogen fuel sometime in the future. The U.S. automakers, along with the German makers, have been reintroducing the variable displacement engine -- an 8- or 6-cylinder engine that idles 2, 3, or 4 cylinders when they're not needed.
Passenger-vehicle diesels haven't played well in the U.S., except for big pickup trucks and a loyal Mercedes-Benz passenger car contingent. Diesel deserves another look. Inside the car, there is no -- no, repeat no -- diesel-engine clatter or harshness. Outside, the sound and diesel exhaust smell are muted. BMW has a twin-turbo diesel capable of 0-to-60-mph runs in under 6 seconds. (Some diesel cars sold during the early-1980s fuel crunch needed 15 to 20 seconds.) In 2006, the U.S. mandate for the low-sulfur diesel fuel long available in Europe means diesel-engine pollution will be vastly reduced, although it's still touch-and-go on how closely we'll meet the so-called Tier 2 emissions standards for the 2007 model year (2009 for light trucks) for reduced soot (particulate) and nitrogen oxides.
Diesel vehicles excel on highway fuel economy, the reverse of gas/electric hybrids. Make a hybrid out of the diesel car, and you'd likely cut emissions further. That's the case with DaimlerChrysler hybrid transit buses. Here's why: Diesels are cleanest and most efficient within a narrower rpm range than gasoline engines, and if that's too much power for deceleration or low-speed driving, the excess can be dumped to the batteries. What a turbocharger does now for a diesel, an electric could later, driven either by an array of batteries or eventually an array of capacitors that would never wear out.
Alternative fuels, such as ethanol and biodiesel, are also options. They look better when government subsidies help pay for them. Some research indicates the conversion of corn to ethanol fuel is energy-negative, meaning it takes more energy to create a gallon of ethanol that you get back burning it. Still, corn's a renewable resource, and you don't have to go to the Middle East or Kazakhstan for the harvest.
If you're concerned about pollution and energy use, think big picture, not just about your own car. SUVs are cooler than minivans and don't (yet) carry the soccer-mom connotation, but minivans haul just as many people with a third better gas mileage. Big houses and inefficient houses are also part of the picture. (When did you last change that furnace filter?) For that matter, so is an airplane vacation to Hawaii, when you could have taken a bus-tour vacation of an adjacent state's lake district. So are gas-powered garden tools.
And so are other peoples' vehicles. The dirtiest tenth of the nation's cars account for about half the vehicle pollution. And those vehicles are disproportionately in the hands of people who are low on the economic ladder. Through the end of 2005, the U.S. government offered a $2,000 rebate for hybrid cars (this policy continues, in lesser form, in 2006). If you wanted the greatest social benefit, would the money have been better spent motivating people who drive junkers to buy cleaner, more efficient vehicles?
Americans aren't the only ones at fault. Although we lead the world in energy usage per person, others are catching up, and some developing countries have horrible air- and water-pollution problems. When a butterfly flaps its wings in Asia, some of that soot may land on your shiny new hybrid.
Just got an email from Matrixstream about the world's first video-on-demand IPTV set-top box designed for 1080P--that's really really high-definition television, of course. Most folks know to look for the maximum displayable resolution when they're out shopping for that new high-def plasma or LCD TV. Some only do 720p, some go as high as 1080i. 1080p? That's a giant resolution...and as common in the content world as knees on bees. Matrixstream's set-top box will stream all that video goodness to your HDTV over your broadband connection. H.264 compression makes it all work, they claim. The company doesn't sell to retail markets, however, so start bugging your ISP to pick up the device now. I figure an email or two a day for a few solid months should further your cause.
Robots can pretty much do anything these days. What's scary is that some may cost us our jobs!
According to NPR, a team at Carnegie Mellon University is developing a way to make robots less boring. So, a computer science professor named Reid Simmons decided to create a roboreceptionist: Marion "Tank" LeFleur. But how can you make a roboreceptionist more intriguing? Simple: ask the School of Drama for some acting tips and poof! You've got yourself a funny, charismatic, moody robot.
Tank is situated in a computer science lobby for eight hours a day, five days a week. He has a computer monitor for a head, which looks a lot like a blue Frankenstein. He can feel your presence when you walk up to him, but you won't be able to converse with him without typing your questions on a keyboard. If you ask Tank what he thinks of his creator, he replies with, "Dr. Reid is my boss. I don't know him very well yet. Don't you think he has shifty eyes? And, what's up with that hair?"
But, watch what you say to him. He can get angry if you insult him or bang on his keyboard, and he can collect data about people's interaction with him.
Apparently, Tank isn't the first roboreceptionist. The team first created Valerie, described as "a spunky Barbra Streisand fan." Boy, talk about A Mirror Has Two Faces!!
For years now, I've lusted after the products from Japanese design firm PlusMinusZero, like this humidifier. It's such a perfect, futuristic bauble, but +-0's stuff usually isn't available outside Japan. Now I find that Dynamism is selling the humidifier here in the US, for $229. I have a baby on the way. The baby will need a moist environment. The baby will probably also need $229 worth of diapers. But the baby's aesthetic sense will become so finely developed in a room with this gorgeous thing jetting out hot steam. Think it's worth it?
It’s been a few years since I’ve bothered with New Year’s resolutions. This is largely because I’ve found so few I could keep. However, after promising to build a PC in 2006, I realized that if I aim low enough I might be able to come up with resolutions I will actually keep.
Having assembled my list of slacker/geek resolutions, I realized some of these might be worth sharing:
Build a PC -- As promised, I will build a PC during 2006. The problem with this is that I need a fairly pedestrian machine for my wife, but it needs to have XP Pro on it to work with my home network. That makes me think building a Media Center, minus the TV tuner, would make sense. The machine will also have to be upgradeable to Vista, so I need to pay attention to graphics. But, since neither of us is a gamer, I don’t need to build anything too fancy. So, I probably need to leave myself an out with this one, since buying a low-end Media Center may be considerably less expensive than building one.
Reprice Services – I’ve just completed this, but it’s something that needs to be done every six months or so. What I mean by this is calling your service providers and demanding a lower price. But, be aware that getting one might require a new commitment. For example: I am getting faster and less expensive DSL service (beginning next week) but I had to commit to one year of service. Seems reasonable enough for a $200 savings over the next year. I did the same with SprintPCS, but told them that if they wanted a new commitment I’d happily go someplace else. That got me a lower price and I didn’t have to commit.
Check for Automatic Payments – Look over your credit card and bank statements to see if you are still paying monthly/quarterly/annual fees for services you no longer use. One of the first online services, a Reader’s Digest operation called “The Source” stayed alive for several years on automatic $9.95/month charges to member credit cards, even though they weren’t using the service.
NiMH Cells Only -- I will replace all my AA alkaline batteries with rechargeable NiMH cells. I recently sent all my NiCad’s in for recycling, meaning I dropped them off at RadioShack. That left me with a variety of NiMH cells, ranging from 1000 to 2650 milliamp hours each. With one-hour and even 15-minute rechargeable cells available, there is no longer any reason to avoid rechargables for any application. This is good for the environment and less expensive over the long haul. Only exception: When hauling back the spent NiMH's would be a problem, but if I keep the backup set in a case, then I can put the used cells there.
Mark Every Wall Wart -- I will always mark every new wall wart with what it’s supposed to power. Wonder what those silver Sharpie pens are for? I use them to make permanent marks on black objects. Like most of you, I have a garage full of “wall wart” plug-in power cubes that don’t seem to match up with anything I own. But, where did all that stuff go? Anyway, my solution is to make sure that every wall wart I use now and all the new ones that show up get marked as to what device they belong to.
Establish a Single Charging Station – I tend to leave chargers plugged in, even when they aren’t doing anything (or worse, when they are overcharging something). I also have lots of battery packs for various devices that get separated from both device and charger. This wouldn’t happen if I’d charge things—and keep the extra power packs—in a single place. There will be an exemption or two, such as my cellular phone, which needs to charge here at my desk. But, if I can create a single flat surface where all my charging takes place, my life will be simplified. Also: No wall warts connected to power when they aren’t doing anything.
HDTV – 2006 will be the year I finally invest in HDTV. But, the longer I wait the better (and less expensive) it will be. Get Rid of My Treo 600 – I have a love/hate relationship with this device. I love that it carries all my phone numbers and can easily sync with Outlook. I hate that it has such tiny buttons and, thus, is so hard to dial without glasses.
Make a Cellular Carrier Decision – I have been a mostly happy SprintPCS customer for many years. But, when I replace my phone, it might make sense to choose a new carrier as well. Verizon is the first choice; T-Mobile and Cingular are last, based on what people have been telling me of their own experiences.
Experiment with Extended Range Wi-Fi —This is part of my radio hobby and disaster work. Volunteers did tremendous things with long-distance Wi-Fi in providing temporary communications following Hurricane Katrina. I’d like to be able to do that in my own community when the need arises.
New Antenna Mast – I need to do something to get a HDTV antenna up in the air if I am to receive over-the-air signals at my home. Fortunately, the FCC allows even us deed-restricted folks to install a TV antenna that’s 10 feet above the top of the house, which would be about 40 feet, in my case. This is a bigger project than it seems since I am talking about a self-supporting tubular tower.
Better mileage – You may have noticed an energy conservation theme in several of these items. Well, it looks like I will soon be purchasing a car. As much as I love my Explorer (now 220,000 miles and needing either a head gasket or something worse), my new car will be something that gets 25 mpg or more. It will be a great car for my wife’s 25-mile commute as well as for weekend birding trips.
So there are my New Year’s Resolutions, at least the first draft of them, for 2006. It’s possible I may yet add to or amend this list, so stay tuned. You’re also quite welcome to make suggestions or offer your own resolutions.
I've done a lot of "best" lists recently, culminating in our annual Best of the Year story. Last week, somebody at a party asked me if I'd reviewed anything really awful, though, so I thought I'd give you guys a "worst of the year" in phones and PDAs. I generally don't review really bad products - life is too short, so I stick to products I think will be interesting. These devices, though, were real disappointments.
5. Virgin Mobile Slider Sonic - Yes, it has fun content. But it has a memory card, yet it won't let you transfer your photos to your PC. Even Verizon has given up on that level of fascism.
4. Samsung SCH-A970 - Low shutter speeds and a serious autofocus problem damaged the promise of this otherwise cool 2-megapixel cameraphone.
3. Audiovox CDM-180 - The wide screen is a good idea, but this phone's software doesn't take advantage of it. And I got lousy reception. On Verizon! No excuse for that.
2. LG CE500 - Supposedly a music phone, my model was burdened with awful PC music software, buggy drivers and an inability to transfer photos to your PC.
1. PepperPad - My worst product of 2005 is an overweight tablet that costs as much as a mid-range laptop, running balky software. Pepper Computing should take a lesson from Nokia on how to build these kinds of devices.
I'm an old-school journalist, so I only report on things I've held in my hands and information I can officially verify. That doesn't mean I don't read rumors, but I take them with a block of salt. And whoo, have there been a lot of rumors around the cell phone space recently.
Leaks and rumors in the cell phone world are a natural outcome of the wireless carriers' paranoid approach to product launches, where they try to let out as little information as they can before the products hit retail. The leaks generally come from one of four places:
Thieves. Especially in eastern Europe, thieves sneak into factories and make off with pre-production products, selling them for huge prices to the highest bidder. Or they buy them from corrupt employees.
"Friendly" users. Every carrier runs "friendly user trials" before they launch a phone, to make sure it works in a real-world context. Those friendly users are sworn to secrecy, but sometimes they get a bit too friendly with bloggers.
The FCC. All phones released in the USA must be filed with the FCC, because they're radio transmitters. A careful search of FCC files can reveal plenty of as-yet-unreleased phones. That's how Rich Brome, the scrupulously ethical owner of Phone Scoop, gets his scoops. I don't report on those because FCC approval, sadly, doesn't mean a phone will be picked up by a US carrier any time soon.
Retail sales staff. Carriers put their new releases into their internal computer systems a few weeks in advance. Sales staff check out what's coming, and then post the details anonymously on bulletin boards like Howard Forums.
If you're interested in rumors, you probably already read some of the other blogs out there. (Heck, I'm interested in rumors, so I read those blogs, too!) Here are a few of the more exciting phones that might appear at CES, but that I couldn't get reliable enough confirmation on to give the PC Mag stamp of approval.
This is Nokia's first phone for Verizon's high speed EV-DO network. Nokia is the world's #1 phone maker, but they're only #4 in the US because of their lack of products for the CDMA/EV-DO networks run by Verizon and Sprint. The 6305i could help even the odds ... if it appears, which, well, I have no clue.
The big brother of the SLVR L6 will have EDGE, an MP3 player, and a memory card slot. It might even have iTunes. But will Motorola have closed a deal to sell it in the US? Who knows?
Verizon employees on bulletin boards have been saying this high-speed handheld, the twin of Sprint's excellent PPC-6700, might drop at CES. It would provide some pretty stiff competition to that new Treo everybody's talking about.
The blogs were buzzing a little while ago about this bizarro handset, which would be the first thing with a keyboard you could use on Virgin Mobile. I'll swing by and see if it's in the Kyocera booth.
The birds may have flown south for the Winter, but that doesn't mean that you can't surprise them in their journey home with the Arbordale Solar Birdfeeder ($54.95 list).
It features:
Energy efficient solar panels with (3) Amber LED's
Holds 3.5 lbs. of seed with a removable top for easy filling
Bird feeder with solar-powered lights
Steel chain and S hook
Constructed of durable aluminum with clear glass panels
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