Back in Demember, we mentioned the kids at MyRoomBud.com who design costumes for the iRobot Roomba. Well, they're back with a new ensemble: RoomBette La French Maid.
From the MyRoomBud.com site: RoomBette sports a black cover with a white apron trimmed with shirred white lace. As with all French Maids, Roombette shows a bit of Roomba skin.
Not only are the Roomba costumes sold through eBay and Amazon, but folks living in Switzerland can purchase them through the Roomba Shop.
Spring is coming to the Northeast, which means it's time for me to start pretending that I'm a serious cyclist. Serious is relative of course, but I try to get out about four times a week for twenty to forty mile rides. In the past, when I've gotten to the end of my rides, I went into Microsoft MapPoint and plotted my route, jotting down speed and distance info from my bike's computer.
This is why I was so excited at DEMO last month to see Bones in Motion's BiM Active service. BiM Active is a free service that lets you map your route, capturing factors like speed (including splits), distance and calories. You can enter the data manually or upload it from a GPS data file. Or, if you have certain GPS-enabled cell phones, you'll be able to see and post your data in real-time. The real-time aspect carries with it a $9.99 monthly fee. Yes, it's yet another monthly fee, but it's pretty reasonable.
Next month, a company called Motion Lingo is going to introduce the Adeo Fitness Companion, that takes a different approach to tracking workouts. The GPS-equipped Adeo looks like a small portable audio player. Plug-in headphones and Adeo will speak to you with real-time reports on your progress. You can also hook the device into your iPod or MP3 player and it will intersperse the reports with your music.
When you get back to your PC, you'll be able to download your workout data off of the Adeo, add comments, and track things like weather conditions and even shoe mileage. Adeo will cost $149.99 and, unlike BiM Active, it appears that there won't be any monthly fee. I would like to see community features with Adeo like BiM Active's ability to share routes with other runners and riders.
Despite the fact that I saw Lance Armstrong on an Outdoor Life Network special last year using his iPod while training on California roads, it's not a very good idea to cycle in traffic while wearing headphones. (Lance had coaches keeping an ear out for motor vehicles.) You're better off using something like a Garmin Forerunner GPS. But if you're a runner or workout off-road, the Adeo Fitness Companion looks like it could be a great addition to your routine. Hopefully we'll get a unit in soon to test out.
Dada Footwear is launching a wireless footwear system dubbed, "Code M." The Code M System delivers both audio and data—through your sneakers! Say goodbye to wires and carrying an MP3 player.
The Code M System is integrated into the basketball sneaker's heel and tongue. It can hold up to 100 songs, running on a 6-hour battery life. To transfer songs onto the system, just use the USB port on the side of the shoe. To listen to your music, use the included wireless headset, which picks up the music playing from your sneakers up to 30 feet away.
Here comes the real kicker: the sneakers will also feature house speakers for listening to music out loud. (I can just imagine Michael Jordan being the spokesperson.)
If the Code M Sneakers prove successful, the company plans on expanding their line to a Get-Fit program in which you can receive workout-related data from a personal trainer's voice. It doesn't end there. The shoes may also be designed as a way to forward your phone calls to it.
I think this is a really cool idea, although I hope they're sweat-proof out on the court. I don't know how well the sound quality will be, but Dada certainly knows how to think out of the box. Hopefully they'll come out with other colors.
How many automakers include a top-notch navigation system as standard equipment, then bury any mention of it in the "and more!" part of the marketing? That's what Cadillac is doing with the XLR luxury sports tourer, a two-seater chock full of technology goodies that doesn't necessarily want to be known for its tech savvy.
For people to whom life has been good, the XLR makes a great third car to park between, say, your Cadillac STS and your Escalade. These folks may or may not be psyched about active cruise control and magnetically adjustable shock absorbers.
Loads of Tech Features—Standard
The XLR is a Chevrolet Corvette that's gone to finishing school; both are built in the Corvette factory in Bowling Green, Kentucky. Instead of the bad-boy Corvette motor, Cadillac uses the smooth and powerful Northstar V8. And the company overlays an edgy Cadillac-signature bodywork that makes visual standouts of the XLR as well as of its siblings, the compact CTS touring sedan and the SRX crossover wagon. You can't mistake these cars for anything but contemporary Cadillacs. (A mild version of the new-Cadillac look was applied half-heartedly to the midsize STS and not at all on the AARP-special DTS sedan.)
Buying an XLR is a snap: Everything comes standard for the base price of $77,295: the 4.6-liter V8 engine producing 320 hp, magnetic ride-control shock absorbers, active cruise control, a head-up display, a power retractable hardtop roof, a Bose six-CD stereo system, nine-speakers, XM radio, rear parking sonar, steerable xenon headlights, run-flat tires with pressure monitors, heated and cooled seats, and the Denso navigation system. The XLR-V edition is the only option, at $100,000 (exactly), with a 443-hp supercharged engine, bigger wheels, and suede leather seats, in case you need to reach 60 mph in 4.3 seconds instead of 5.9.
Using Those Tech Features
Approach the car with one of the two Bulgari-designed keybobs in your pocket, and the XLR unlocks automatically. Settle in, make yourself comfortable in the somewhat cramped cabin, press the starter button, then press and hold a console button: In half a minute, the hard top smoothly retracts into the trunk. We'd recommend trying this outside the garage; the top soars way up before descending. Then drive back into the shade of the garage to fix your destination on the touchscreen nav system, because it's close to unreadable anytime the sun shines on the instrument panel.
Many of the cockpit controls can be handled through voice input or steering wheel buttons. One caution: The ACC button on the dash doesn't activate active cruise control; it turns off the engine and puts the car in accessory mode. (Ask us how we found out.) The most glaring technology omission is no Bluetooth for cellphones, and that's a weakness throughout the GM line. But if you can afford $77K for the car, you can afford to spend $200 on a non-GM, under-the-dash add-on that ties in to the audio system.
Straight-line acceleration and braking are fine, while cornering and mountain roads are more of an adventure, even with GM's MagneRide shock absorbers, which quickly adapt to changing road conditions. And the XLR has some body flex, because of the convertible design. It's more like a polished boulevard tourer such as the Jaguar XK or Lexus SC430 than like the Mercedes-Benz SL coupe/roadster or BMW 6 Series. The XLR has exclusivity on its side: Just 3,730 were sold in 2005. The others, save Jaguar, are at least twice as common on American highways.
Good News, Bad News
There's a yin-yang nature to the XLR. For nearly every terrific feature, we found a gotcha such as the photophobic LCD that really should have been deeply recessed.
For instance, the XLR makes a great long distance tourer: The cabin is quiet because of the metal convertible top. Active cruise control paces the car ahead of you on those long interstate drives, and the head-up display shows only the essential you need, such as speed, following distance, and the current music selection.
But the seats aren't very comfortable (especially the back support), the roof and top of the windshield pillar come close to your head, and despite the car's 72 inches of width, you can't stretch your left elbow too far without hitting the door. Trunk space is modest with the top up; with the top down and the trunk mostly filled with metal hardtop, there's just 4 cubic feet of luggage space, room for perhaps two duffle bags. That's why you keep extra clothes and golf clubs at the lake house.
Cadillac's Web site is passable. If you want to learn about the XLR's features, good luck—the Features section is simply five short movies. The build-your-own section is a no-brainer, because all you have to choose from are five paint colors and two interior colors. You end by filling out a form that's submitted to an "XLR personal assistant," to help you via e-mail or phone.
For owners, mygmlink.com lets you track all your GM vehicles together. It has an electronic version of the owner's manual, and it also has a fatal flaw: Access to the advanced areas of the site requires you to enter your VIN (vehicle identification number), but it won't register the number until as long as 60 days after you buy the car. Michael Moore ought to make a film about that.
In this price range, you're buying style and exclusivity as much as performance. Toss in a healthy dose of technology features, and the XLR makes an appealing second, third, or fourth motorcar.
Microsoft officially unveiled its new slimmed down Tablet PC platform, called the "UltraMobile PC" at the CeBit show in Germany. Sitting between notebook-sized tablet PCs and portable media centers, it's a small XP device that Microsoft unabashedly hopes will be bigger than cellphones.
The unit will include extensions to the Tablet PC OS called "Touch Pack", designed to make touch-screen navigation easier. And in a nod to popular taste, it'll include Microsoft's first Soduku game too.
But the shocker in Microsoft's big Origami unveiling in Germany today wasn't the device itself – which had been rumored about for weeks.It was the launch partner instead.Samsung is finally entering the US market with its own branded Windows computer (Dell has been selling Samsung-built notebooks here for some time).It'll cost between $600 and $1,000, and will be available in April.For more details on both Samsung and the Origami project, including pictures, check out my UltraMobile PC launch story at PC Magazine.
New to the Lowepro line of carrying solutions is the CompuDayPack. It's specifically designed for geeks and their gadgets, protecting up to a 17-inch laptop, a digital SLR camera and lens, MP3 player, CDs, and more. You'll also find a quick-access pocket with a headphone port to thread your headphone cables through.
The CompuDaypack measures 13.8- by 8.5- by 17.5-inches and is also water resistant. It comes in Slate Gray, Burnt Orange, and Leaf Green and sells for $79.95 each.
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A Corvette for grown-ups who value a smooth ride over rip-roaring performance, the XLR packs a load of technology features into one fixed price.
Active cruise control, head-up display, parking sonar, navigation system, steerable xenon headlights, all standard. Powerful, smooth engine. Nifty folding-metal hard top.
Nav system washes out in sunlight. No Bluetooth available. Many website features unavailable to new owners. Cramped cabin.
