Gearlog

World's Largest Network Radio Telescope Powers Up

2009-11-20T19:08:59Z

If one telescope is good, 35 is most assuredly better. That's the number of networked radio telescopes that just powered up to observe 243 quasars across the universe, according to Space.com.

The goal, in what amounts to a record-breaking effort: "improve the precision of the reference time frame that today's scientists use to measure positions in the sky," as well as possibly enhance future Earth-based GPS systems.

Quasars emit powerful radio waves, and are distant enough to appear stationary as seen from our planet, the report said. Scientists will combine data using a technique called very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) to measure celestial positions. (Image credit: U.S. Navy/Naval Oceanography Portal)

Hands On, Kid Tested: Jakks Pacific Big Buck Hunter

2009-11-20T18:32:01Z

The plug-and-play TV game Big Buck Hunter Pro ($59.99 list) from Jakks Pacific is rated Teen by the ESRB, but I thought my six-year-old son would enjoy it, since he loves a similar game called Chicken Shoot that he plays on his Nintendo Wii. The game doesn't come close to being as fun as Chicken Shoot, but that had nothing to do with his age.

Big Buck Hunter is a port of the arcade/bar gaming machine of the same name. This home version includes a rifle and shot sensor that you place above your TV. It requires four double-A and three triple-A batteries, which are not included.

Getting this finicky game to work correctly is a chore. We tried it on two different TVs and had problems with both. With our 42-inch plasma, we had a difficult time getting the shot sensor to stay on top of the thin TV. It kept falling off until we finally got some two sided tape.

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Once setup was squared away, we found it difficult to get the rifle's sight to show up at the bottom of the screen. The sight would appear fine when it was near the top of the screen or in the middle, but whenever we had to shoot something at the bottom, the sight would disappear. We kept backing up and recalibrating the rifle, but it never worked well.

We then tried playing Big Buck Huner on a 32-inch CRT TV. This time we were able to back up far enough so that the rifle registered everywhere on the screen. Unfortunately, at that distance, the sight becomes jittery. This could be because of unsteady hands, but it seemed to be more than that.

With the setup issues aside, once we played, we had some fun. Shooting the deer wasn't all that exciting for me and my son, but the included bonus games were entertaining.

Post by Tim Smith

Hands On: Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 ('Rachael')

2009-11-20T18:18:09Z

I had a chance to test out Sony Ericsson's new Xperia X10 (codenamed "Rachael") for a few minutes at last night's Pepcom in NYC.

The Xperia X10 is a slim, sleek slab with an expansive 4-inch capacitive touch screen with 854-by-480-pixel resolution. That's the same pixel count but slightly larger than the 3.7-inch screen on the Motorola Droid. Unlike its predecessor, the Xperia X1, the X10 drops the keyboard and also switches from Windows Mobile to Android.

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The Xperia X10 also includes GPS, Android Market, and an 8-megapixel camera with a Carl Zeiss lens and facial recognition. In addition, there's Mediasync, which is yet-another attempt by Sony to tie a mobile device's media collection to a PC as well as offer PlayNow and YouTube access.

There's still no word on an American carrier, price, or release date (even in unlocked form). In short, it's a beautiful phone in a way that's uniquely Sony. But--just like the X1 and the W995a--it's also DOA here in America without a carrier and a subsidy.

Camangi WebStation: A 7-inch Android Tablet

2009-11-20T17:35:50Z

While the tech world has been waiting for Apple, Microsoft, and even TechCrunch to introduce their tablets, a company called Camangi has gone ahead and released its own device: The WebStation is a 7-inch touchscreen tablet that runs Android 1.5. The device features 802.11 b/g WiFI, a GPS module, and a built-in micro SD Card Reader.

The WebStation features a number of baked-in apps, including a Web browser and Gmail. The device can also serve as an e-book reader and a music player, and there's a stand on its back, so it can double as a photo frame or movie-streaming device. The WebStation also has a USB hub and a rechargeable battery, which should give you four to five hours of media usage, according to the company.

The WebStation will be available early next month for $399.

Imation Hard Drive Cuts the Cord

2009-11-20T17:29:08Z

We're heading for a completely wireless world, and Imation is helping it along with the Imation Pro WX USB hard drive. This 1.5TB drive comes with a USB dongle that plugs into your computer; the drive itself can be placed anywhere within a 30-foot range.

Going wireless doesn't mean sacrificing speed, as this drive offers a 15MB-per-second data-transfer rate. It works with both Windows and Macs, and comes with Memeo Instant Backup software. That means you can set it up, place it far away from your computer so you don't hear it working, and know that all your data is constantly being backed up without you having to think about it.

The Imation Pro WX includes a built-in stand so you can set it horizontally or upright, and features a one-touch backup button. It's not the cheapest model around at $449.99 (list), but wireless convenience is worth paying for.

Hands On, Kid Tested: Spin Master Air Hogs Switchblade

2009-11-20T15:44:52Z

I've been a remote-control-airplane enthusiast for years. I've never really been able to get my six-year-old son into it, though: Planes are difficult to control, and he's a bit afraid of breaking the machines I've spent hours putting together.

When the chance for him to try the new Spin Master Air Hogs Switchblade ($69.99 list) came along, I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to get him into the hobby. The Switchblade is part helicopter, part plane. It takes off by rotating like a helicopter, but once it's up high enough, you hit the Morph button to cause the wings to align--and it then flies like a plane.

Once you remove the Switchblade from its box (which includes, naturally, those annoying wire-ties), resist the urge to throw away the packaging. One part of the Switchblade looks like packaging material, but you'll need it to assemble the launch base; I had to retrieve it from the trash.

]]> The remote control requires eight triple-A batteries, which are not included. Once we got the batteries installed, we began to charge up the Switchblade. It took about 30 minutes to charge, which gave us time to read the instructions.

We first attempted to fly the Switchblade in our backyard. This was a bad idea; the heli-plane needs to be flown in a football field or larger area. In the backyard, the Switchblade took off from its launching base, but as soon as we morphed it into the plane, it flew into the trees.

At the football field, my son let the Switchblade lift off high into the air. When it was about 20 feet off the ground, he hit Morph. The Switchblade's wings aligned into place. While it did this it dropped down a few feet and then leveled itself.

Using the right joystick, my son was able to steer the Switchblade left and right. He quickly learned that the best way to control the Switchblade was to give it constant throttle in order to keep it in the air and also to give it tiny control inputs. Pushing on the right control too drastically would cause the Switchblade to spin to the ground.

This toy really took a beating. We crashed it into the ground at least 10 times, but there was little damage: some dents in the wing, but nothing that would affect its flight.
My son really enjoys the Switchblade. "It's fun to learn to fly," he told me. Not being afraid to damage it seems to make all the difference in the world.

Post by Tim Smith

Blue Microphone Unleashes the Yeti

2009-11-19T20:02:17Z

Singers and podcasters take note, Blue Microphone recently released the Yeti, an affordably priced premium microphone and the world's first to be THX-certified.

The Yeti is a USB mic, and it offers high quality recording by using Blue's premium condenser capsules in a proprietary triple capsule array. You'll get studio-quality performance with zero latency, amplified headphone monitoring, a microphone mute, and hardware-based gain adjustment.

"Blue Microphones recognizes THX as a benchmark within the industry for professional audio production and playback," says John Maier, CEO of Blue Microphones. "We, are honored to be recognized as their first partner for audio input."

The Yeti will be available in December at Apple, CompUSA, Fry's, Guitar Center, and other consumer electronics shops for an MSRP of $149.99.

Live Blog: Google Chrome OS Event

2009-11-19T18:00:00Z

While the new Google Chrome OS is still at least a year away from being a commercial product, Google's technology preview this week will be our first opportunity to see Google's vision for its computing platform.

Google told us that the event, held at its Mountain View headquarters in California, is really designed for developers and third-party partners. However, a select group of journalists and analysts have also been invited to see what Google's been up to for the last four or five months.

Bookmark this page now and join us on Thursday, November 19 at 10 A.M. Pacific, 1 P.M. Eastern time, for our play-by-play live blog--fresh from the Google Chrome OS event.

10:02 PST: We're still waiting for the event to start. You'll find updates after the jump.

[All updates from Mark Hachman]

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11:21: Q: What is Chrome OS's strategic position?

Sergey: We really focus on user needs rather than strategy relative to other companies...If you build 3-5 netbooks, no way to manage them. We believe that the Web platform is a much easier way to do so. Since that's a very important need in the market right now, that's what we're trying to fill.

And that's it!

11:19: Q: Real-time notifications. Do we need them?

Segey: Yes, we do. I don't think there's a good reason to have chat missing from Web app. MP: There is a notification API that is being discussed in the W3C, and we're working with that.

11:18: Q: How do you hope the community will evolve?

MP: We're really excited to get the open source community involved. We're really about upstreaming what we do. On the hardware component side this lets them help run stuff on system.

1:17: Q: Dell and others have instant on OSes. Is this Google's plan?

MP: No. We're trying to make core OS boot quick and fast, not spend effort on dual boot.

Q: Printer drivers. How are they handled?

Pichai: Printing: We're taking an innovative approach, and we'll share more next year.

11:16: Q: Another question about running Android apps on the Chrome OS.

Pichai: The use case is to make everything Web applications.

11:15: Q: Data syncing. Is that also open? Signature process: is Google in charge of it?

MP: Plan is to open source the review process and to make sure that security ecosystem helps us. We're not contemplating signing drivers on Web apps.

Sergey Brin drops by.

11:13: Q: Should we really trust the cloud, and the security of their data?

Pichai: Our point is simple: if the cloud is down, it affects any PC you're on. When people talk about reliability of cloud services, think its important that users have choice. Users are always in control. When you use email, Webmail is in the cloud.

11:10: Q: What's new and different about Chrome Os than Firefox?

Pichai: A lot is available in other browsers, but others aren't available, such as app tabs and panels. But this is a fundamental change in the model of computing, not browsing.

MP: Things you can't do in normal OS than can be done in Chrome OS: verified boot, rapid boot (through excluding services, etc.)

11:08: Q: Will Chrome OS run on ARM?

Pichai: It's open, and it will work on both X86 and ARM. Work is underway to make it work on ARM as well.

Q: What's the business model?

Pichai: 2010 is the timeframe for building devices, and that's what we're focused on. Biz model: Chrome OS is free and open source, and as people use the Web more, it benefits us a company. Web apps may have ads, but that's going to be up to app developers (since they're Web apps).

11:05: Q: Are you working with partners? [This seems somewhat redundant!] And will Android apps run on Chrome OS?

Pichai: This is a major product focus with partners. Things like Photoshop on Web, we are very excited by that. And since every app on Chrome OS is a Web app, Android apps won't run on Chrome OS.

Pichai: Current plan is to support Web apps. Third-party Web apps will work, as long as they're Web apps. Counter-example: iPhone. But Pichai notes that browser works on bigger form factors. The mobile team is working hard to push the paradigm, but the Web works well on native form factors.

11:03: Q: File size?

Pichai: It's open source, and it will evolve over time.

Offline access?

Pichai: This is primarily for use with connectivity. Showed experiences with playing media and playing games, offline. We are exposing offline capabilities with access to local storage. So if an app wants to work offlline, it can.

MP: Focusing on 802.11n. Today, you can build the source code in a virtual machine.

11:02: Q: is this just a netbook OS?

Pichai: We will be announcing hardware partners next year. As to the first part of the question: We are initially focused on (netbooks) or netbook-like form factors,: clamshell, with real display and touchpad. We want to run on laptops, desktops, etc., but this is not our focus for 2010.

11:01: Pichai: End to end, Google Chrome OS is open source. If making a similar operating system with their browser. There is no certification involved.

10:59: Pichai: Chrome OS today: Can't install binaries, but in the case of certain plug-ins we will work closely with partners. No comment on Silverlight.

10:57: MP: Everything that works in Chrome works in Chrome OS, including codecs. We run Flash and Flash codecs. We also run codec hardware acceleration. All the stuff in Chrome will come in Chrome OS as well.

Pichai: Also investing a lot in Native Client. A lot of what you see in Chrome OS will be in Chrome.

10:56: MP: Helping hardware partners to build off references designs, and to make sure at the end of the day to make sure that drivers are of highest quality.

Pichai: We really focused on use case for devices. We expect them to have another device at home. We hope to deliver a companion device. The goal is to be a delightful experience on the Web. But there are other apps on the Web.

If you're a lawyer editing contracts on the Web, this is not the machine for you.

10:55: Q: Will there be a Google Chrome OS app store? Who supplies the drivers? Editing applications?

Pichai: 1.) We'll have a lot more details to announce in this area (app store). You saw me play a chess game. We se a real app platform. On the Web, there are hundreds of millions of applications, and we will help users find them

10:54: Pichai: We have a lot of documentation on the Web site, and reached out to partners. We will also have plenty of documentation for developers. We will have a Web page that will state which devices will support Chrome OS.

Pichai: We have worked on W3C on the subject of Web standards. In general, we want to see all of this get standardized.

10:52: Pichai: There are no price targets.

Pichai: Demo running on an off the shelf EeePC.

10:50: Wow, a long question on the possibilities. Pichai: there are large innovations thare going on, and where there are open platforms like that , time will tell. Hmm.

Question on what these will cost: Pichai: You will hear this messaging from our partners. It's hard to predict the hardware curve a year ahead of time.

10:49: That concludes the formal presentation: on to Q&A!

10:48: What if you didn't have nagging updates, reboots, blue screens of death? What if nothing was stored on your computer?

[Basically a techie recap of what we've been hearing for the past 30 minutes or so.]

10:46: Demo: If you're like me, you spend 90 percent of your computer time on the Internet, which makes the Web browser the most important part of your computer. So what if we redesigned the Web browser from scratch?

[The promo is minimalist and funny. It points out that a typical PC takes about 45 seconds to boot, enough time to make a sandwich!]

10:44: Google will be completely developing this in the marketplace with developers. Linux kernel, Ubuntu, Webkit, all contributors and partners. If you are a Web developer, help build apps, Pichai urges. If you're an OS developer, help with marrying to the hardware.

[Video demo from the marketing team.]

10: 43: One: Google is working on Google OS image, the software. But also working with partners to specify hardware. We will call it the specific wireless card we will support. No hard drives. We not only have software, but also specifying reference hardware. Consumers can download Chrome OS, but need a Chrome OS device. Target: before the holidays in 2010.

Form factor: larger netbooks, with full size keyboards. "We really want to make sure we get compelling devices out in the marketplace."

[Pichai takes the stage again. How Google goes to market is the next topic.]

10:40: What makes this a cloud device is that all user data is synced back to the cloud. All user data is essentially cached and used to be accelerated.If you lose the device, all the data gets synced back.

10:39: File system: The system is always auto updated. The solid state drive is always primary system level is read only. The OS bits on the disk itself in an area not writeable. We're really locked it down in that regard.

User partition: file data always encrypted. If you lose a machine with your data on it, you can be sure it's encrypted.

10:37: In Chrome OS, Google has taken a different approach. Apps are treated as a system level to make sure they're not fundamentally hostile. Apps can't change settings, or files on your hard disk.

In Chrome, there's a use called sandboxing, where apps are placed in a virtual OS. Chrome OS takes this further, meaning that every tab is completely locked down from other tabs, as well as the core OS.

10:36: More on security: how do we make sure that apps don't harm your machine? Conventional PCs and OSes run with your privileges; apps run essentially as a representation of you. A hacked app can do great damage to the system, or leak data, and users are forced to make hard decisions on whether an app is safe.

10:35: What happens if something goes wrong? If one byte is wrong, there could be multiple reasons: malware outbreak, cosmic ray, bit flip or random error. Malware is detected and the system reboots. At that time, the system is essentially reimaged.

10:34: Verified boot: malware breakouts happen on any OS. Challenge is how to fix this when it happens. Each day Google checks you have the right version of the OS, with the correct patches. Every time Google OS boots, Google checks the kernel, the file system, etc. with a cryptographic hash to make sure you have the right set of bits.

10:33: When you first punch the power button it first goes out and looks for a floppy drive, at least today's PCs do. Eliminated the boot loader, optimized the kernel, don't load services we don't need. In addition, we autostart the browser, automatically launching app tabs and the tabs from the last session.

10:32: Current sketch: Speed is the focus. What we're going here is it feels more like a TV than a computer. You punch on and you're connected to Web as quickly as possible.All hard disks in Chrome OS are solid-state discs. (SSDs). No rotating hard drives allowed.

10:31: Matt Papakios, engineering director at Google, takes over.

MP: All the code is out in the open. We've also opened up all our design documents. We've shown not just what we've done so far, but also what we're doing next.

10:29: Demonstrator takes a picture, plugs camera into Chrome OS machine. The Chrome OS detects the phone as a storage device, and the picture is popped up. Movies are also displayed in a patent.

"We just want to make computers delightful and work," Pichai says. PDF files work right in the browser: speed, simplicity and security.

10:27: Core part of the user experience. With netbooks, users will do a lot of common thing that they're used to using with computers; for example, plugging in a USB drive. In this case, Chrome opens a tab and shows you the files. An Excel file opens Windows Office Live. "Anybody who writes an app for the Web is writing an app for Chrome OS," Pichai says.

10:26: Another example, Google Books. Scanned books that are available. We are really interested in solving these user experiences for people.

Overview model: see all the windows open on system.

Drag and drop tabs from one window to another window.

10:25: : The app menu once more. The great thing about netbooks is that as battery life gets better, can carry around as general entertainment devices. Pichai demonstrates a chess app, using a Flash app. "These are good examples of what we expect people to do with these machines."

10:21:Top tabs are application tabs. You can take any of your familiar applications. In addition to this method of accessing applications, you have the app menu. We want you to be able to discover new applications as well as top apps. You can take any of your familiar applications. With any application can pin it to the application.

Moles: Pop up windows from underground, or panels. Panels are persistent, or some are.

Example of panel: a chat window. Buddy list and chat. Notepad: another panel pops up. The demonstrator typed in notepad, and saved to Google Docs in the background. All data is saved.

10:20: Demo time: cold reboot. It takes about 7 seconds right now, and we are working very hard to make this time shorter. [The demo and presentation is being run from inside Chrome OS!]

Inside joke: Chrome is Chrome OS. Interesting tabs on the top. Many many important concepts here which wil be carried over, although the project is open source.

10:18: Data stored in the cloud, like Gmail. We want all of personal computing to work that way. If I lose my Google OS, I should be able to get new machines, log in, and download my old data.

Final point is security. Can fundamentally do different things with security than what we do now. Users don't install binaries on the system. Fix ourselves with a reboot. We run completely inside the browser security model.

10:17: Chrome OS: speed, simplicity, and security. By the time you press Boot, by the time yo turn it on, you should be on the Web, using the applications. Chrome on Chrome OS will be faster than Chrome. [whew!]

No conventional desktop apps. It's a Web app. It's a link. Just a browser. Browser with a few modifications, nothing to maintain, the computer should just work.

10: 14: But while working on Chrome, there have been three powerful trends: the growth of netbooks ("Phenomenal") . Growth happened during worst ecoonomy since Great Depression, as companion PCs.

Second: the growth of the cloud. What I do is built into the cloud. Most new apps are Web apps. Every new capability today is a Web application.

Third, tremendous innovation on computing device level. Phones, for example, are getting smarter. Phones get computing capabilities. Netbooks more like phones. Battery life times are getting better.

This is very powerful, and lends itself toward a new model of computing. We believe so, and that is what Chrome OS is.

10:11: Example: graphics. We want Web aps to have access to GPU.

Example: multicore CPU: How do we make sure that Web apps have access to multicore.

Real-time communications; access to Webcams and other peripherals.

Local storage: Make sure that Web aps can access external hard drives and other storage appliances.

In 2010: expect to have these capabilities built into Chrome.

10:10: We focused on HTML 5 We really want to push the Wb forward. Just this year in terms of Chrome. Before the end of the year, three more announcements: Chrome (browser) for Mac. Chrome for Linux is also comig along below. Nearing the lauch of extensions. We want extensions to be much easier to write, lightweight. More importantly we will keep extensions updated for users.

HTML 5: very important for what we are doing. Goal here is as well as desktop applications. Applications have a lot of access to OS resources, but Web apps don't. We are working hard and identifying gaps so that Web apps can take care of these resources as well.

Example: graphics. We want Web aps to have access to GPU.

10:09: Why Chrome OS? Most common feedback we have is that Chrome is fast. Last year we updated Chrome 20 times. We really care about updating Chrome seamlessly.

10:08: Three mains things we focused on in Chrome: speed, simplicity, and security. Mostly speed, though. Chrome is about 40% faster ... than the current version of IE8. As you start using the next-gen Web apps ... like Wave, you don't need a benchmark to say that Google Wave is faster. Most users will notice the speed.

10:07: Sundar Pichai, VP of product management: "We aren't launching the product today, and no beta. But we've made tons of progress. Whatever we do will be in the open and we are really looking at working with the open source community. Google chrome is the foundation of everything we are doing here."

10:05: And we're starting.

Hands On, Kid Tested: Nanover Nanoscope

2009-11-19T17:24:32Z

The Smith & Tinker Nanovor Nanoscope ($49.99 list, for kids 7 to 12) is an electronic handheld device that turns the Nanovor online game into a portable experience. In the Nanovor game, kids collect Nanovor characters and have them battle against other players' Nanovors. The Nanoscope device, about the size of a large MP3 player, lets kids play against their friends (as long as they also have Nanoscopes) without a computer: You simply touch the Nanoscopes together, and you're on your way to a battle.

Once my six-year-old son and I got the Nanoscopes working, he really enjoyed Nanovor; in fact, I had to ask him to stop playing several times. However, getting the toys up and running was not easy.

First, let me warn you: The packaging says it works with Windows XP. It doesn't. When updating it, the software wiped out the Nanoscope firmware. We were able to recover the Nanoscope by connecting it to a Vista machine. This seems to be a known issue, as we found mention of it on the company's Web site.

]]> not install the software that comes in the package! Take the time to download the software from the site. It's about 800MB, but it's worth downloading.

When we installed the software in the CD we had all sorts of problems. The first was that it defaults to installing in the Documents and Settings folder rather than the typical Program Files directory. If you specify a different directory, it ignores the new directory. And the application shortcut that was created had the wrong "Start in" folder, so the app wouldn't run when launched from the shortcut.

The second problem was that we needed to update the client several times, as well as the "assets" associated with the program. Installation took well over an hour. When we installed the software from the download to our second machine, installation was much faster (after the initial download).

Once we installed the software, we created an account; this can be done through the app or online. We logged in with our new account and attached the Nanoscope with the included USB cable (on the Vista machine). We were prompted to assign the Nanoscope to our account, and it updated the firmware. Once this was completed, we were able to assign the Nanovor that comes with the new account to our Nanoscope. We selected the Nanovor we wanted and then transferred it, which updates the firmware on the Nanoscope.

Now, finally, we were good to go. We found out that each Nanovor has health points (HP), strength (STR), and speed (SPD). In addition, each Nanovor has different attacks for damaging opponents. These variables determine things like who strikes first, how many points of damage your Nanovor can inflict, and how long you can survive.

One of the best features of the Nanovor Nanoscopes is that you don't have to have another player to enjoy the Nanoscope: You can do training on your own, and you can purchase Solo Battle cartridges.

Despite all the pain of getting the toy going, I have to say that my son has really enjoyed playing with the Nanovor Nanoscope.

Post by Tim Smith

Verizon Launches Rugged G'zOne Rock

2009-11-19T15:13:12Z

Verizon on Thursday announced a new addition to its Casio G'zOne family with the G'zOne Rock, a rugged flip phone targeted at people with high-adventure lifestyles. Verizon claims the phone is resistant to water, shock, dust, vibration, humidity, salt fog, solar radiation, altitude, and high and low temperature.

The price tag is a little high at $200 after mail-in rebate with a two-year contract, but for a phone that won't break under most conditions, I'll bet some people will be willing to plunk down the cash. The G'zOne Rock also has a 2-megapixel camera with video capture, stereo Bluetooth, and touch-sensitive music controls. Included as well are six unique outdoor apps including a powerful compass, a walking counter, and a thermometer.

The Rock appears to be a successor to the G'zOne Boulder, released more than a year ago. The phone comes hot on the heels of the more-upscale G'zOne Brigade, a horizontal flip phone with higher specs that was announced two weeks ago.

NASA Astronauts Get Ready for Spacewalk

2009-11-19T13:28:10Z

Two astronauts will leave the International Space Station and step into free space today, for the first of three spacewalks to deliver spare parts, Space.com reports.

The two spacewalkers will spend about six and a half hours floating outside. Here's the to-do list: install a spare communications antenna for backup, grease the station's robotic arm and rail car attachment point, and install new cables and a handrail for a future ISS expansion mission.

The shuttle Atlantis launched mission STS-129 Monday and arrived at the ISS Wednesday with a total of six crewmembers. The entire round trip will last 11 days, barring unforeseen weather issues the day of landing. (Image credit: NASA TV)

Palm Pixi Already Discounted to $25 on Amazon

2009-11-19T13:20:45Z

Well, that sure didn't take long. Amazon has discounted the brand-new, mostly-good Palm Pixi webOS smartphone to just $25 with a two-year Sprint contract, only one week after its introduction.

The Pixi is a smaller, sleeker, but less powerful version of the Palm Pre. The Pixi drops the slider mechanism, steps down to a slower CPU architecture, loses Wi-Fi, and has a smaller touch screen with less resolution.

None of that is terrible, necessarily. The big problem all along has been its big brother the Palm Pre, which is a truly excellent smartphone that was already selling for below $100 when the Pixi hit stores last Thursday. (Via Engadget Mobile)

Don't Shoot in Auto: Do-It-Yourself White Balance

2009-11-19T13:04:21Z

Want perfectly color corrected photos? Stick a translucent white disc in front of your camera lens for one test photo and the rest of your pictures taken in odd lighting situations will have the same neutral color cast your eyes saw when you shot the picture. Correct color balance is the promise and delivery of the Expo Imaging ExpoDisc. It works this way: Set your camera for auto exposure, take one picture with the calibrated ExpoDisc filter in front of your lens, remove the ExpoDisc, then tell the camera to use that photo to set white balance. The photo above shows an image taken under incandescent light using auto white balance (left) and corrected with an ExpoDisc (right); the background in real life is off white, as the right picture captures. Of all the methods I've tried, ExpoDisc works best and is most idiot-proof. As well it should be, for the ExpoDiscs run $60 to $105 (direct) depending on lens diameter. Just buy whatever fits your largest lens and let it overlap the others. ExpoDisc isn't cheap if you're a casual photographer, but it does work in almost every lighting situation.

]]> As Geoff Fox explained in his white balance primer, there is a color temperature associated with each type of lighting: sunlight, open shade that makes objects appear slightly blue, incandescent light bulbs that make objects appear brownish (see the photo above), and florescent bulbs that give an image a greenish cast. Your camera's auto white balance setting does the job partly but seldom perfectly. Your options include living with the image (the most popular choice), dialing in a color correction on your DSLR and some advanced pocket cameras (indoor lighting, shade, fluorescents), or in photo editing software trying to pick a neutral white or gray spot (which sometimes makes the image look worse when it turns out the spot isn't a neutral color after all). If you shoot in RAW format, it's easier to correct off colors (RAW applies no camera corrections) but RAW images suck up huge amounts of space, sometimes 20MB per image. One solution is to shoot in RAW and JPG both, and keep only the RAW images of the most important photos. That's easier said than done since you've got to find the time to decide which photos are the ones you want to keep; in the meantime you can be sucking down 1 GB of disk space for every 50-100 photos. I have some five-year-old RAW images I've been meaning to cull - someday soon.

In working with the ExpoDisc filter I found the color correction to be spot-on. So much so that what's actually corrected to neutral seemed a bit cool. Thus there's also an ExpoDisc Portrait filter that warms the image ever so slightly and I prefer that for portraits. But all of a sudden you're talking $120 to $210 to get both. Ka-ching. For a pro whose reputation depends on great photos, it's a cost of doing business. For others, just get one; then you can try tweaking the color temperature ever so slightly in your image editing software. ExpoImaging says the difference between the normal and portrait filters is the same as putting a Wratten 81A warming filter in front of the lens. If you've got Adobe Photoshop, that's actually an effect you can add with one click.

In working with ExpoDisc, I found:

--The method for setting white balance varies from camera to camera, even within one brand. Study the online instructions before heading out to shoot photos the first time.

-- You don't leave the ExpoDisc on for the actual pictures after the first test photo. The filter transmits light but not the image. The filter looks a bit like the diamond-shaped diffuser in a fluorescent light. It comes with a neck lanyard as well as a protective carry case.

-- For best results, take the test photo from where the subject is, aiming back at where the camera will shoot from, because there may be a slight variation in color temperature, more so indoors that out.

-- ExpoDisc transmits 18% of the light, which is what most scenes average out to be. That helps you set exposure for tricky conditions such as shooting sports against a backdrop of dark trees, which leads to overexposed photos. Here's why: When a camera sees a dark background, the camera sees it as a normal not dark background that's getting insufficient light, so it boosts the exposure and that washes out the photo.

-- ExpoDisc won't work in many arenas and rinks because the color temperatures and even the light output of some sodium vapor and mercury vapor lamps actually fluctuate multiple times per second.

-- If ExpoDisc is too rich for your blood, Expo Imaging makes a less costly ExpoCap that provides basic white balance correction for $45-$60 direct. It should be good enough for many users. You can't use ExpoCap to help determine exposure.

Hands On: Fisher-Price 3-in-1 Smart Sports

2009-11-18T19:52:50Z

Looking for a toy for your child that's similar to the Wii but doesn't cost as much? How about an "edutainment" game that's fun to play as well as educational? Fisher-Price has just what you're looking for with the TV-compatible 3-in-1 Smart Sports ($60 list, ages 3 to 7). Your kids will be up on their feet.

The 3-in-1 Smart Sports includes a storage dock, base unit and grip controller with baseball bat, golf club and tennis racket attachments. All the attachments are kid-friendly and made out of soft foam. The base unit has attached AV cables and an on/off button, along with baseball, golf, and tennis balls that light up when the game turns on. The storage deck has three slots for each attachment, and the grip controller has a sliding on/off switch. Three color-coordinated buttons match the attachments and have up and down arrows for movement.

Setup is easy. You'll need four double-A batteries for the base unit and two double-As for the grip controller. When the batteries are in, just plug the AV cord into the proper TV input, hit the on button on the base unit, and play ball.

The included games teach numbers, colors, and letters as well as adding, subtracting, and spelling words. Each game features a character, one for each sport: a monkey (for tennis), elephant (golf), and cat (baseball). Your child can customize the characters by changing the colors of their clothes and accessories. The 3-in-1 Smart Sports includes nine different games, with three levels of difficulty for each.

]]> My kid tester was Jordan, my five-year-old nephew, and he loved the game even before he played it: As soon as he saw the box, he got excited. We gave it a go last night, and it's his new favorite game.

I took the 3-in-1 Smart Sports out of the box and plugged it in to the TV, and Jordan did the rest: He turned it on, attached the tennis piece to the controller, and was ready to play. When the game comes on, directions are spoken along with pictures, which helps kids learn how to play.

Jordan selected a game displayed on the screen by pressing the appropriate color, and it started immediately. He eventually played all the games and used all the attachments. It kept him engaged for quite some time, and he got very excited when he got the right answer. He played for a couple of hours until it was time for bed.

Overall, I thought this game hit a home run. It's portable and would be great to take on trips to keep your little one occupied; it's inexpensive and easy to learn and use; and it's clearly great fun for the appropriate age group.

Nokia N900 Hits Stores

2009-11-18T19:30:16Z

Has Nokia finally figured out the formula for a successful Internet tablet-gadget-thing? We're about to find out, because Nokia just announced the Maemo-powered N900 is now on sale in the U.S. and shipping to customers who pre-ordered the device.

Unlike Nokia's earlier efforts such as the N800 and N810, the N900 is roughly the size of a regular smartphone. It also actually makes cellular calls on T-Mobile's 3G network or AT&T's 2G EDGE network, instead of relying on Wi-Fi or WiMAX. The N900 offers the Linux-based, open-source Maemo OS, along with 32GB of internal storage, 3G connectivity, multitasking, and the ability to install third-party apps (commercial, homebrew, or otherwise).

The N900 also features a 3.5-inch touch screen, a full QWERTY keyboard, four customizable home screens, and Adobe Flash 9.4 support within the N900 Web browser. Look for it in Nokia's flagship Chicago and New York stores for--hold onto your earmuffs--$649 unlocked, as well as online at www.nokiausa.com and www.amazon.com. And if you grab one, let us know what you think of it in the comments.