Okay, it's time for another rant.

I received a press release in my inbox today entitled, "Does Cingular's Southern Charm Skew 'American Idol' Results?" My first response to the title, before even reading the release was, "Yes!!" For many seasons now, I've been wondering why all five American Idol winners have been from the South. Where's the East or West Coast lovin'? Maybe it's just coincidence, but something seems a little biased to me! Southern Idols have had Cingular saving their butts throughout each season due to the amount of text messages sent in for voting. And why wouldn't there be a lot of text messages coming in—you sure can't ever vote by phone because the line is ALWAYS BUSY.

Did you know that Cingular Wireless has a dominant share of its subscriber base in the South—20 million to be exact! And that nearly 18 million of Cingular subscribers text message?

So that explains why Southerner Taylor Hicks won this year; California-native Katharine McPhee just didn't have a chance! Taylor had the entire south to back him up with their Cingular votes. So why didn't the Southerners back up my man Chris Daughtry (who is from North Carolina), who really should've won in my humble opinion?

Of course, it was smart for Cingular to jump into the whole text-messaging voting thing when they had the chance. I think they knew as much as the fans that American Idol was going to be a hit. But having an exclusive relationship with the show—I don't know if that was smart on Fox's part. How can the voting process NOT be biased? There was talk that the night before Chris was eliminated, his voting phone line was redirected to another contestant's; thus skewing his voting results. I don't know if this really happened, but it has happened before on previous seasons. All I know is, I'm with the daughtrygang!

From the press release:

"Cingular has partnered with the show's producers to provide text-message voting solely from Cingular phones, so it's certainly possible that Southern subscribers might have more of a voting edge, than those in other regions in the U.S.," Hull said. "Had 'American Idol' partnered with another carrier with a higher percentage of their subscriber base in another region, the results might have been different."

Following is a breakdown of Cingular subscribers by region, based on data compiled by NPD for April 2006:

+ South:  46 percent (20 million subscribers)
+ West: 23 percent (10 million subscribers)
+ Northeast:  16 percent (6 million subscribers)
+ Central:  15 percent (7 million subscribers)

+ Taylor Hicks (2006): Birmingham, Alabama
+ Carrie Underwood (2005): Checotah, Oklahoma
+ Fantasia Barino (2004): High Point, North Carolina
+ Ruben Studdard (2003): Birmingham, Alabama
+ Kelly Clarkson (2002): Burleson, Texas

 

Don't get me wrong; we're lucky to have southerners like Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood. They're both amazing singers. I just wish there was something that the show could fix with the voting process. Sometimes it just seems too one-sided to me. Maybe they should start allowing us to e-mail our votes? Then maybe it'd be a bit more fair? But I suppose in Reality TV Land, there's no such thing as fair.

Nearly twice the number of Cingular subscribers in the South

than in any other region; All five winning "Idols" hail from a Southern state

PORT WASHINGTON, NEW YORK, June 20, 2006 -- Ever wonder why all of

the "American Idol" winners have thus far hailed from Southern states?

According to information released today by The NPD Group, a leading

consumer and retail information company, the results of text-message voting

on the popular Fox Network talent show, "American Idol," might actually

affect the final voting outcome. After all, Cingular Wireless has a dominant

share of its subscriber base in the South and significantly more of those

subscribers use text messaging, than do Cingular subscribers in other regions

of the U.S.

Based on recent data from NPD's Mobile Consumer Track service, nearly half

of Cingular's subscribers are located in the South, and more than 18 million

(42 percent) Cingular subscribers in the U.S. actively use text messaging. In

fact more than twice as many Cingular subscribers (nearly nine million) in the

South do so, as in any other region. By comparison just over four million use

text messaging in the West, three million in Central states and three million in

the Northeast. According to NPD Wireless Industry Research Director Drew

Hull, this regional skew might have been large enough to affect the voting

outcome.

"Cingular has partnered with the show's producers to provide text-message

voting solely from Cingular phones, so it's certainly possible that Southern

subscribers might have more of a voting edge, than those in other regions in

the U.S.," Hull said. "Had 'American Idol' partnered with another carrier with

a higher percentage of their subscriber base in another region, the results

might have been different."

Following is a breakdown of Cingular subscribers by region, based on data

compiled by NPD for April 2006:

+ South: 46 percent (20 million subscribers)

+ West: 23 percent (10 million subscribers)

+ Northeast: 16 percent (6 million subscribers)

+ Central: 15 percent (7 million subscribers)

"We have to remember that this is a talent contest, and voting is subjective,

so there are many possible reasons -- including pure coincidence -- that

all 'American Idol' winners have come from the same U.S. region," Hull

said. "But based on the comparative consumer penetration into the South, it

is possible that sheer numbers might indeed have an effect on the contest

outcome. Of course, the South could also just have a stronger talent pool of

aspiring singers or more 'American Idol' fans, too."

The U.S. Census Department defines Southern states as Texas, Oklahoma,

Louisiana, Arkansas, Tennessee, Mississippi, Kentucky, Alabama, West

Virginia, D.C., Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Georgia,

Delaware, and Maryland. The list of "American Idol" winners and their home

towns, as listed on American Idol's Web site, is as follows:

+ Taylor Hicks (2006): Birmingham, Alabama

+ Carrie Underwood (2005): Checotah, Oklahoma

+ Fantasia Barino (2004): High Point, North Carolina

+ Ruben Studdard (2003): Birmingham, Alabama

+ Kelly Clarkson (2002): Burleson, Texas

Methodology: Mobile Consumer Track offers the industry's most in-depth and

comprehensive examination of consumer spending and usage of mobile

services and content. It specifically tracks consumer adoption, consumption,

and use of mobile services and downloaded content. Each month NPD

compiles and analyzes mobile consumer information from more than 15,000

completed online consumer research surveys. Surveys are based on a

nationally-balanced and demographically-representative sample of consumers,

and results are projected to represent the entire population of U.S.

consumers.

About The NPD Group, Inc.

Since 1967 The NPD Group has provided reliable and comprehensive consumer

and retail information for a wide range of industries. Today, more than 1,400

manufacturers and retailers rely on NPD to help them better understand their

customers, product categories, distribution channels and competition in order

to help guide their businesses. Information from The NPD Group is available for

the following industry sectors: automotive, beauty, consumer technology,

entertainment, fashion, food and beverage, foodservice, home, software,

sports, technology distribution channel, toys and wireless. For more

information, visit www.npd.com.

 

Read Gearlogger Jen's rant here.

 

This morning, Carol and I met with the UK-based company Logic 3—mostly known for its speaker products. The company has been successful in the U.S. with its new line of portable iPod speakers.

You may remember the i-Station 6: a portable speaker system for the iPod and other MP3 players. Well, it's the number 2 seller in the market right now with over 56,000 units already sold—trailing Bose of course. I find this quite amazing, considering the company never even marketed the i-Station in the U.S.

New for this year are three more i-Station models that come in black and white. First is the i-Station 3. It works with any MP3 player with a dock connector, including iPods. It features a docking station for charging, 6 Watts of sound, and includes a USB cable, AC adapter, and stereo line-in cable. And it's very compact for easy storage in any purse or bag—just fold it up and use the plastic ends on each side to protect the speakers. It's great for the dorm room or small apartment (especially for those who reside in Manhattan). For a small speaker system, the sound quality was pretty good, too.

The i-Station 3 will be available in the U.S. in August for $59.99.

The i-Station 7 is popular with surgeons. (At least that's what the company rep told us!) I just hope doctors performing surgery while listening to Slipknot—that could be dangerous! The i-Station 7 produces 12 Watts of sound with a 2.5-inch Woofer. It comes with an infrared remote control that controls both the i-Station and your iPod, which lets you mute, shuffle, repeat, rewind, fast forward, control volume, and more. You'll find a plastic cover to protect the speakers for easy portability. Includes an AC adapter and stereo line-in cable.

The i-Station 7 is available now from $79-$99 at BestBuy, Target, Amazon, and other retailers.

The i-Station 8 (pictured at the right) is the first stereo speaker system for MP3 players to offer a back lit LCD display. When the company demonstrated the sound quality coming from the i-Station 8, we were amazed! The sound was very loud and crisp. In fact, the i-Station 8 won "Best of Show" at MacExpo, and I can see why! It produces 22 Watts of sound, and each speaker is angled and set at different frequencies, so that no matter where you are in proportion to the speaker, you can hear the sound well. It supports both S-Video and Composite Video, and there's even a headphone jack.

The i-Station 8 just launched a couple of weeks ago in the U.S., and will sell for $179.99. Look for it at major retailers.

What else does Logic 3 have up its sleeves? Besides speakers, you'll also find the Crystal Case for the iPod nano and the Crystal Case for the iPod Video handy for the beach or for boating. It's made of polycarbonate plastic to protect your iPod. However, the company says it's only splash-proof, not water-proof. It also comes with a neckstrap. Both models sell for $19.99.

I got my hands on the first Blu-ray disc: "House Of Flying Daggers," which ships with the Sony VAIO VGN-AR190G. Thanks to PJ Jacobowitz, our reviews coordinator, I also have some images of the actual disc and of how it looks on the laptop. Overall, the quality is pretty darn good. There are instances of stuttering at the beginning of several scenes, especially the drum scene, but it's nothing a software patch can't fix. Intervideo has informed me that they are already working on that patch.

I was able to navigate all the "scenes" menus on the disc, unlike with the Toshiba Qosmio G35-AV650, and all of the other extras on the disc worked fine. Using the HDMI port on the Sony, I also had the chance to hook it up to a Proview 32" RX-326 HD display. The image detail is crisp despite the Proview being a 1080i max display, not 1080p. The Sony laptop is supposed to output signals at 1080p. One thing to note: The video stuttering is even more apparent on a larger display.

Look for the review on PC Magazine. It should be up shortly. You can view the other images here.

Blu-Ray disc on the Proview RX-326

 

 

 

 

 

Summer Gadgets Countdown #2: Portable/Rechargeable Ear Dryer

Protecting your skin isn't the only thing you have to watch out for in the summer. When you're swimming in the pool or ocean, bacteria and fungi can actually grow in your ear canal. What you need is something to grab the trapped moisture inside your ear to keep it dry.

Design: Made by Ear Surgeon Hamilton P. Collins II, MD, the Portable/Rechargeable Ear Dryer is a device that regulates the flow of air into your ear, keeping it dry from moisture-causing bacteries.

Features: Portable. Five interchangeable, color-coded earpieces: blue, green, purple, pink and yellow so that your friends and family can have their own for hygiene. You can use the device over 50 times before it needs to be recharged. Comes with a rechargeable lithium ion battery that charges within five hours.
   

How It Works: This device is actually patented with a customized computer chip which "directs the heater and fan to blow a regulated flow of warm air into the ear canal. Each earpiece is specially designed to exhaust the airflow from the ear canal along with the evaporating moisture. In most cases all the moisture trapped in you ear will evaporate in about a minute" [From the DryEar site]. Let the DryEar run for about 80 seconds while in your ear.
 

Price: The Portable/Rechargeable Ear Dryer sells for $99.95 at Hammacher Schlemmer.

Lovin' Factor (1-10): 6