CrunchGear

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• “This means something:” Why the magazine industry is suddenly crowing about tablets
• Euro-folk not big on the Android
• A HUD in your ski goggles? Only in Sci-Fi for now
• Huge Scandinavian study suggests no link between mobiles and brain cancer (so relax)
• Note to all Acer easyStore H340 WHS owners
• Greatest luggage of all time turns into a SCOOTER
• Windows 7 Family Pack all but sold out
• Weekend Giveaway: Astro A40 BxR Special Edition Audio System

“This means something:” Why the magazine industry is suddenly crowing about tablets Posted: 06 Dec 2009 01:16 AM PST Whenever companies do something inexplicable, the nerd in me always comes back to that scene in Close Encounters of the Third Kind when Richard Dreyfus keeps building models of a mountain, culminating in a huge, muddy mess in his kitchen. Throughout it all he keeps saying “This means something.” Well, the latest molehill into a mountain is the move by Time Inc. and Conde Nast, among others, to build a tablet-based interface for their flagship titles. This means something, but what it means is that the homes of Time and Gourmet (oh, wait), aren’t going to take the coming industrial disruption lying down. While I don’t think their preparations will be for naught – there will be some sort of reader device coming soon that will give the magazines what they need and want in terms of interface – I think the most important aspect of this recent upswell in tablet interest is the harsh realization by publishers that the fit is hitting the shan. Make no mistake: none of these publishers know that the Apple Tablet – or any other *Pad, *Tablet, *Reader – is coming. If they did they couldn’t talk about what they’re doing for it. NDAs are very strict and if anyone, from the publisher of Vanity Fair to the CEO of Time, Inc. sat down with Apple to talk about the iTablet and then went on to run his or her mouth about the project, we’d hear more about the lawsuits than anything else. These efforts are based on conjecture and some sort of undying hope that someone, somewhere is planning something cool that these publishers can use. In my opnion, newspapers and magazines should band together to release a subsidized reader. This reader will include a touchscreen, WiFi, and a color display. Offer every subscriber a choice: you can keep getting the dead tree version of our rag for $X or you can get this device for the same amount, maybe less, maybe free, and have access to multiple magazines on the go in a subscription or a la carte payment model. Later you offer third party versions of the reader, dump the reader code into an iPhone app, and then wait for the profit. Even if this initial reader is the CueCat of its generation, publishers will have escaped the terminal fall into unyeilding firmament. Publishing companies want you to think they’re on top of things. Unfortunately, publishing is an entrenched world of power players with little power all jockeying for a blockbuster. That these organizations are now working together shows that they have learned a little bit from the music and movie debacles going on around them but I worry that their reliance on coming technology that may or may not exist is a bit naive. To truly survive they have to take their own destiny in hand and prepare for the worst, the worst being that Apple will take over their potential media marketplace with an iTunes Magazine Store. I’m glad to see some of these companies are proactive in terms of future media. However, they are replicating efforts made by many before them, including Zinio, a company noticeably quiet in this transaction. After all, someone owns the patent for the “reproduction of magazine content on a web tablet” and I assure you it isn’t Anna Wintour. It was probably filed long before the end of the dot com boom, just as the captains of the media industry were dining on truffle oil and gold foil garnished duck. Sadly, those same captains are now slumming with online as their listing ships begin to sink.

Euro-folk not big on the Android Posted: 06 Dec 2009 12:38 AM PST I’ll be in Europe most of December so I’ll assess this on my own but it seems that the Eurozone doesn’t quite know what to make of Android. This is partially because they don’t have many Android phones in circulation and partially because of WinMo and Symbian entrenchment on the continent. Total Android market share rose one percent, to about 5%, this month. Granted Android’s market share in the US is under 10% but here it’s growing quite quickly. Some dude from IDG notes: “Consumers steer clear of Google’s OS and sell-out is below everyone’s expectations. Consumers recognize the Google brand, but still do not understand what Android is,” IDC analyst Francisco Jeronimo said in a statement. That will change, however, with increased movement in the Android space, probably around February when the Mobile World Congress hits the scene. Interestingly, this entrenchment actually comes from Europe’s early adoption of smartphones, long before the US found them to be useful or popular. Because so many IT shops focused on WinCE/WinMo early on it’s hard to pull those phones out of the enterprise. Add in Nokia’s relative control of the market and you’ve got a tough sell.

A HUD in your ski goggles? Only in Sci-Fi for now Posted: 05 Dec 2009 05:16 PM PST It’s not that I don’t think this is a good idea. It’s just that I am absolutely certain that these won’t be as cool as you want them to be. Think about it. If it’s projected on or inside the goggles, it’s covering up the slope — and at any rate you’d get a headache switching focus between it and the real world. If it’s projected onto your eye, that’s freaking science fiction; if these guys had eye projection technology that works as advertised, they’d be contracting with the Pentagon, not making extreme sports accessories. So it’s also got to have a GPS unit, camera, accelerometer, controls, plus CPU, RAM and storage — and these goggles are supposed to weigh a quarter of a pound? Right! Did you ask if they have any bridges for sale? Seriously, I’d like to rock these as much as anyone else, but chances are it’s going to be some shiesty low-rez display and it’ll only work under very specific circumstances. I appreciate their dedication, but it’s not going to happen. That said, if they prove me wrong I’ll buy a pair like that. [via GearJunkie and Gizmodo]

Huge Scandinavian study suggests no link between mobiles and brain cancer (so relax) Posted: 05 Dec 2009 02:00 PM PST This particular issue is far from settled, since it is a fact that certain levels of radiation lead to transcription errors and such, but at the very least, studies like this one reinforce the idea that we’re not all of us going to drop dead in a couple years. The study, performed by the Danish Cancer Society and documented in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, studied brain cancer rates in Scandinavian countries over a period of 30 years. It is likely ongoing, but they have issued the results of the 30-year analysis, not having found “any clear change in the long-term time trends in the incidence of brain tumours.” The critical period in the mid-nineties when cellular use really spiked was the focal point for their study, and they found that while there has been a constant increase in glioma diagnosis since the 70s, and any deviations from the slow increase are explainable by other means than mobile use. Like most studies, this one does not prove anything, but it would be coincidental indeed if every Scandie managed to avoid brain cancer by chance, while also happening to be among the most mobile-friendly areas on Earth. So brain cancer appears to be out, but, and I’m not joking here, what about stomach, prostate, and ovarian cancer? Our phones spend more time in our pockets and purses than up against our ears, so that’s probably still worth a look.

Note to all Acer easyStore H340 WHS owners Posted: 05 Dec 2009 01:04 PM PST Own a Acer easyStore H340 Windows Home Server? Don’t be like me and spend countless hours trying to figure out why the hell the box keeps randomly shutting off. I spent the last two nights running spy sweepers and virus scans, pulling hard drives and swapping memory in search of a solution. I’m better than that. What I should have done first is ask Google. She (that’s right, I picture Google as a smart, but seductive, oracle) has all the answers as long as I know what to ask. It turns out that there is a bug with the WHS LightsOut plug-in that comes pre-installed on the computer. Just uninstall the app via Add/Remove Programs in the control panel and either update to the newest version here or run without it; I did the latter. More info about the bug can be found here and here.

Greatest luggage of all time turns into a SCOOTER Posted: 05 Dec 2009 12:42 PM PST Hats off, gentleman — hats off. I can say with certainty that this is the best roller bag ever made. Why this particular bit of genius hasn’t caught on, I can’t imagine. Possibly because, like those who ride the accursed Segway, riders of this contraption would give off a certain “punch me” vibe. And yet, one can’t entirely suppress the feeling of wanting to switch places with them, if only for a moment. Shameful, but understandable. The Trolley Scooter from Samsonite und Micro Mobility is the perfect tool for bloggers like myself who, at trade shows like CES, must walk miles (miles!) with packs full of gear just to bring you guys the freshest news. I’d rather scoot. I’d rather scoot than do most things, to be perfectly honest. No price is given and I can’t find it on Micro Mobility’s site, but I would ballpark its cost at around 100€ — $120 or thereabouts. [via Reddit]

Windows 7 Family Pack all but sold out Posted: 05 Dec 2009 11:57 AM PST Hope you already bought the Windows 7 Family Pack. Well, if you were planning to; you could be the type of person who still writes "M$" without a hint of irony. Anyhow, the Family Pack is now sold out. The Windows 7 Family Pack, you’ll recall, was a special edition of the operating system that came with three Home Premium upgrades for $150. (A single Windows Home Premium upgrade retails for around $110.) The thing is, Microsoft had always said that the pack would be a temporary offer, sold while supplies lasted. Supplies have been exhausted! Well, inasmuch as supplies of software can be exhausted. The point is, the Family Pack is damn near impossible to find now, and Microsoft has no plans to produce any more. Of course, you could be totally unscrupulous and "find" Windows 7 from somewhere else, but that’s none of my business.

Weekend Giveaway: Astro A40 BxR Special Edition Audio System Posted: 05 Dec 2009 07:00 AM PST The folks over at Astro Gaming wanted to share some holiday cheer and are giving us one of their new Astro A40 BxR SE Audio Systems to hand out to one lucky CrunchGear enthusiast. The new BxR system comes with a headset, in either red, blue or military green (we’re giving the green one away), and a MixAmp. This headset comes with 5.1 Dolby Digital Sound, allowing you to hear everything around you in any game that supports it, and a noise-canceling microphone. Additionally, you can add your own soundtrack to any game by connecting your MP3 player to the A40 MixAmp. The game and voice balance integrated into the MixAmp also lets you adjust the volume levels of each to your liking. The BxR Special Edition sound system has a significant upgrade from their predecessor the Astro A40’s. The MixAmp has a new USB adapter that will work seamlessly with the PS3 (previously it worked solely with the Xbox 360, and the PS3 needed an extra adapter). I have a pair of these and honestly can’t think of gaming without them. They improve the gaming experience exponentially. Sound off in the comments section if you want a chance to own this $250 system. Tell us what games you’d be pumped to play these with.

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