CrunchGear |  |
- Fever Pitch: It’s Droid Day, Enjoy The Moment.
- Samsung dual screen camera big bucket of fail
- Finally: Panasonic to convert Sanyo into 100% subsidiary next month
- Smartphone Showdown: iPhone 3GS vs. Motorola Droid Round 2
- New Japanese Avatar trailer features new scenes
- Virtual pinball machine looks cool, may be missing flippers
- Dell Adamo XPS looks like it could cut the air in half
- T-Freestyle NW snowboarding controller coming to Wii
- CrunchDeals: 25% off a bunch of Logitech gear
- Remember to vote for the CG Costume Contest
- Microsoft’s new Windows 7 ads keep with the same message
- Breaking: Large Hadron Collider shut down by precision bird strike
- Ford announces inflatable seatbelts, one step closer to Demolition Man
- WE WON! Lenovo will allow you swap Fn and Ctrl in BIOS
- Gopher: Content > Presentation
- Apple welcomes Windows pirates with open arms
- Breaking: Online social network use isn’t detrimental to your actual social network
- Netflix starts shipping out PS3 streaming discs
- Kari from Mythbusters wants you to say hello to her leetle friend
- California Energy Commission delays TV regulation meeting to ‘consider’ submitted opinions
| Fever Pitch: It’s Droid Day, Enjoy The Moment. Posted: 06 Nov 2009 04:26 AM PST  If you are a tech lover, there is nothing quite like the launch day of a much hyped new gadget. Expectations run high. And since those expectations are rarely satisfied once you have the special little device in hand, it's a moment to savor. In the hours before you own it, that device is perfect in every way. It will make you happier, a better person. There are no bugs, there are only features. It is whatever you want it to be. Launch day of a new cool gadget is the closest thing to being a kid again on Christmas day (or whatever your winter solstice holiday of choice). You've anticipated the day. You've called in sick to work. And you are standing out in the freezing cold at 7 in the morning, hoping your place in line assures you a device before the carefully-planned sell out occurs. You've worked yourself into…a Fever Pitch. I've always been let down with the real world gadget after that high of anticipation. But that's ok. It's part of the cycle of tech. Today is Droid day. In just a few hours Verizon stores will open and the first customers will get their hands on their very own Droid. And I promise you, if you are one of the people waiting in line, you will have a much lower than average amount of letdown. That's because, in my humble opinion, the Droid is the coolest mobile phone to exist to date. It is as close as we've come to the Platonic ideal of a smartphone. It's very existence ensures that the next iPhone will be even better than it otherwise would have been. Competition is good. Yes, this is an unabashed love letter to the Droid. If you want the dispassionate reviews, we've got em. And then some. That isn't what this post is about.
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| Samsung dual screen camera big bucket of fail Posted: 05 Nov 2009 11:00 PM PST
Samsung really wants you to like this camera, as evidenced by the massive media campaign that they’ve been running (smiling monkeys, anyone?) but it seems to have been for naught. Wired reviewed the camera today and they’ve rated this one a 4/10. In addition to the laundry list of problems listed above, the image quality is also poor, much less then you would expect from a 12.2 megapixel camera.
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| Finally: Panasonic to convert Sanyo into 100% subsidiary next month Posted: 05 Nov 2009 11:00 PM PST
The deal has been in the making for months now, but yesterday Panasonic finally announced a tender offer for Sanyo Electric, paving the way to convert Sanyo into a wholly owned subsidiary as early as the middle of next month. The tender offer is being supported by Sanyo’s board, and the company’s three main shareholders (all of them are in the finance sector) have agreed to sell their shares to Panasonic. The shares from the companies account for 50.13% of all Sanyo shares. Both the Sanyo brand and the company’s listing at the Tokyo Stock Exchange remain untouched however. Panasonic says the primary goal of the acquisition was to boost the company’s position in the field of green energy, i.e. by tapping Sanyo’s expertise in batteries and solar panels. One of Sanyo’s biggest hits in the past few years has been their eneloop series of rechargeable batteries and related products. The new giant will rival Japan’s biggest electronics company, Hitachi, in terms of sales.
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| Smartphone Showdown: iPhone 3GS vs. Motorola Droid Round 2 Posted: 05 Nov 2009 10:11 PM PST
My inbox is in pain. Almost immediately after I hit the publish button on last week’s iPhone 3GS vs Motorola Droid Smartphone Showdown, a torrential blast of comments and questions has been barraging just about every communication inlet I’ve got. Phone calls. Twitter DMs. Lots, and lots, and lots of emails. Across the board, it all seems to indicate one thing: people want more. We hear you. There are a number of worthwhile topics I simply didn’t get a chance to touch on, and a few observations I’ve made since that are worth mentioning. For those, may we present: Round 2.
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| New Japanese Avatar trailer features new scenes Posted: 05 Nov 2009 09:43 PM PST
Reactions to John Cameron’s next big movie Avatar, scheduled for release (almost) worldwide on December 18, can be called mixed at best. We’ve shown you two trailers already, and now Japan gets a third one with a handful of scenes not seen before. The two-minute clip has English dialogue and is free of spoilers as far as I can tell. Watch the newest trailer here:
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| Virtual pinball machine looks cool, may be missing flippers Posted: 05 Nov 2009 06:30 PM PST
The Multispin Digital Pinball machine uses a 32 inch LCD monitor for that play field, and a smaller monitor mounted on the back glass to replicate the scoring section of those classic games. There is just one thing that makes me nervous, and that’s the lack of flipper buttons on the pictures of the machine. Hammacher Schlemmers website says that it does have flipper buttons and a ball launcher just like the real thing, but I can’t seem to find it. The Hammacher Schlemmer website lists the pinball machine as being currently available, however it will take 4-6 weeks for delivery, so order fast for Christmas. The Digital Pinball machine will set you back $6,000. I’ve got to say though, I think it’d be worth it. [via Technabob]
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| Dell Adamo XPS looks like it could cut the air in half Posted: 05 Nov 2009 05:40 PM PST
The industry is all a buzz with the latest entry in the “I’m the thinnest laptop” competition. The latest Dell Adamo is definitely a strong contender, at 9.99 mm at some points. Of course, that’s just the official figure. I would have tested it myself but I forgot my calipers. The Adamo definately does the sleek, simplistic look well. About two inches bigger in both directions than a sheet of paper and only 3.2 lbs, you could almost forget you were carrying this thing around. Although forgetting you have $1800 in your arms might not be the most desirable…
Dell replaced the usual manual cover latch with a heat-sensitive capacitor. Just swipe your finger across the front edge and the lock disengages. When you open the Adamo, the screen doesn’t so much fold up as the keyboard folds down. It rests in the crazy position you see below. And it’s not just for looks, kids. The open space under the unit allows for more effective airflow, meaning no more burning laps while you work. The keyboard has full sized, metal keys, and the angle didn’t interfere with my typing at all. The touchpad on the other hand, is a little on the small size. This thing has multitouch support, but even my small hands found trouble getting multiple fingers on there. Another thing I didn’t like was that when you adjust the angle of the screen, it moves the angle of the keyboard as well. Now I’m sure the question you’re all wondering is how in the world does this thing sit on your lap? Its actually pretty comfortable, and you can type without fear of knocking it off your lap with each keystroke. However, it does only have two points of contact so its not as secure against people bumping into you as other laptops.
As for the device’s internals, nothing jumps out at the eye. The screen is 13.4″. Powered by a 1.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo with integrated graphics and 4 GB of DDR3 RAM. You get 128 GB of SSD, no word on whether that is upgradable yet. Wireless comes in two flavors, 802.11n and Bluetooth 2.1. The only ports on the laptop are 2 USB 2.0 jacks, audio, and a DisplayPort out. Ethernet, HDMI, and the like can connect through the use of an external dongle.
Another cool feature is the replaceable battery. But you’ll have to be replacing it every 2 and a half hours. Not very long for a laptop that is designed for maximum mobility, but at that size? Can’t beat it. You can expect the Adamo sometime this holiday season. Windows 7 comes standard as well as the diamond-etched logo on the cover. If you’re into that sort of thing.
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| T-Freestyle NW snowboarding controller coming to Wii Posted: 05 Nov 2009 05:15 PM PST
Made from real maple, the T-Freestyle is designed to work as either a snowboard or skateboard controller, the wooden deck replicates that flex and resistance that a real board posses, allowing for a better gaming experience. Thrustmaster also built in their new “rolling motion board” technology, which allows the controller to move like a real snowboard or skateboard, without dumping you on your tail. The Thrustmaster T-Freestyle NW should be available at your favorite retailer at the end of this month, for the quite reasonable price of $29.99.
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| CrunchDeals: 25% off a bunch of Logitech gear Posted: 05 Nov 2009 03:50 PM PST
Seriously, Logitech makes some of the best mice in the world, and these are great deals. For gaming, either of the G series mice will do, but for regular tasks, multiple CG writers swear by the Performance MX (or at least its MX revolution cousin). The deals are all at LogicBuy, which must have hijacked a truckload of these things. G19 Keyboard Found all these over at Tom’s Hardware, where they’ve got a few more deals of this sort today.
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| Remember to vote for the CG Costume Contest Posted: 05 Nov 2009 03:00 PM PST  Happy post-Halloween! Thanks for sending in your costumes and thanks, most of you, for following the rules. That said, I'm proud to show you the 11 best costumes in this line-up, as judged by all of us at CG. I added one extra because we just couldn't bear to choose between the various Iron Men we saw. Here's how to vote:
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| Microsoft’s new Windows 7 ads keep with the same message Posted: 05 Nov 2009 02:00 PM PST
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| Breaking: Large Hadron Collider shut down by precision bird strike Posted: 05 Nov 2009 01:30 PM PST
Not impossible. I used to bulls-eye whomp rats in my T-16 back home.
The absurdity of this failure (though it apparently won’t affect the re-activation) makes me think that maybe the LHC really is so abhorrent to nature that the universe is contriving to snuff it out. [via PopSci]
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| Ford announces inflatable seatbelts, one step closer to Demolition Man Posted: 05 Nov 2009 01:00 PM PST
The new seatbelts will be available starting next year, debuting in the 2010 Ford Explorer. Ford has stated that they intend on offering the new seatbelts on all of their cars worldwide in the future. The new seatbelts are considered to be much safer then the current technology, and more comfortable. Ford hopes that the new design will help to increase the usage of rear belts.
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| WE WON! Lenovo will allow you swap Fn and Ctrl in BIOS Posted: 05 Nov 2009 01:00 PM PST
OMG! Did you hear? Lenovo has just added a BIOS feature to its new ThinkPads allowing you to swap Ctrl and Fn! Apparently this was a big request for many people in the world and Lenovo, being good guys, listened intently and pushed this passed the faceless bureaucrats in accounting and GOT THIS THROUGH! Hope, people, is what Lenovo promised, and change is what you get.
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| Gopher: Content > Presentation Posted: 05 Nov 2009 12:00 PM PST
Ars Technica has a nice retrospective of the Gopher protocol. It’s a no-nonsense information presentation mechanism that places content squarely at the forefront. No pictures-of-text or confusing and inconsistent navigation elements to slow you down: navigating one Gopher site is the same as navigating any other Gopher site. Firefox provides native support for the Gopher protocol, and the Overbite project provides an enhanced add-on for Firefox, as well as an Adobe AIR standalone Gopher client. Old protocols die hard, I guess. There’s even a Twitter-over-Gopher solution (although everyone knows that Twitter-over-IRC earns more geek points). I used Gopher at my university’s library, where the entire card catalog was indexed in a Gopher space. It was, at the time, remarkably obtuse and hard to use; but then again I was still fighting SLIP connections on my home dial-up to access the “Internet”. Everything was a little kludgey back then. Given Gopher’s limited resurgence in popularity, what kind of Gopher site would you create today?
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| Apple welcomes Windows pirates with open arms Posted: 05 Nov 2009 11:30 AM PST
Computerworld tested a few other keywords, including “buy Windows 7″ and “Windows 7″ itself and the ads didn’t appear. Clearly they are looking for a “different” type of customer. Why are the targeting pirates? It doesn’t make a lot of sense but it does make sense for Apple to target folks who are on the fence about Windows 7 and could be looking to download the OS for free rather than making the total jump. Those same swing-users could be swayed to roll over to OS X given enough prodding.
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| Breaking: Online social network use isn’t detrimental to your actual social network Posted: 05 Nov 2009 11:30 AM PST
A Pew Internet & American Life study has refuted the idea that use of the Internet necessarily leads to decreased social isolation. Quite the opposite!, yelled a character in a Charles Dickens novel. It turns out that as people continually use things like Twitter, Facebook, and the like, they’re both expanding their social circle and increasing contact with said circle. The old way of thinking was that spending all day on the computer would come at the expense of maintaining meaningful human contact. Can’t talk to someone about The Issues of the Day online, right? (Wrong, but whatever.) Some bullet points, because those are easy to write: • People who use mobile phones have a 12 percent larger discussion circle (people you talk to about Important Stuff) than non-mobile users • The diversity of a person’s "core network" is 25 percent larger for mobile phone users, and 15 percent larger for basic Internet users • People who use social networks tend to have "real" social networks that are more diverse than people who don’t • Internet users are no less likely to have a chat with their neighbor than someone who doesn’t use the Internet all that much You can read the full study here, or, like me, just be content with the executive summary. My interest in social networks died some time ago, but hooray for all the folks out there who keep bringing the thunder. via Yahoo
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| Netflix starts shipping out PS3 streaming discs Posted: 05 Nov 2009 11:17 AM PST
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| Kari from Mythbusters wants you to say hello to her leetle friend Posted: 05 Nov 2009 11:04 AM PST
Fresh from the Twitter feed of Grant Imahara we see Kari from Mythbusters going nuts with a sniper rifle taller than her. I hope it’s for an experiment and not a Discovery-channel sponsored “Deadliest Game” reality show where the prey will be hosts of various Food Network programs.
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| California Energy Commission delays TV regulation meeting to ‘consider’ submitted opinions Posted: 05 Nov 2009 11:00 AM PST
More developments in the absolutely gripping California Energy Commission vs The World drama. The CEC has delayed a meeting wherein it was to discuss the possible implementation of a ban of sorts on the sale of energy-hogging televisions. The Consumer Electronics Agency (it organizes CES every year) has been fighting against the measure, arguing that any such regulation would necessarily raise TV prices, stifle innovation, etc. But yes, the meeting has been postponed till November 18. The CEC said it postponed the meeting in order to "consider all the comments submitted" by the November 2 public comment deadline. Bureaucratic nonsense, all of this.
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Bad news people, the Samsung TL225 camera that was released 
A virtual pinball machine sounds like a really good idea. No less then 17 tables, on a LCD display (so the playfield doesn’t wear out). Best yet, the virtual pinball machine has some of the most famous 
So you live in Kansas, and you want to learn how to snowboard before that big trip to the mountains. What do you do? Well, you can always wait to get up the hill to buy some lessons, or you can pick up a Thrustmaster T-Freestyle NW controller, and you’ll be carving down a half-pipe in no time.
Ford just announced the inflatable seatbelt, intended to protect passengers seated in the back of the vehicle, where they are more vulnerable to head, chest, and neck injuries. How long will it be before our vehicles are filled with SecureFoam, filling our vehicles whenever we crash. 
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