CrunchGear |  |
- CrunchDeals: 25% off Skagen watches
- The Nook gets Pandora, web browser, Facebook apps
- Get Ready For The Google Branded Chrome OS Netbook
- Are U.S. Drones Really Being Watched With a Simple “Satellite Internet Downloader?”
- Shaimus finally releases a music video for “Like a Fool”
- Report: Sharp and Philips agree on LCD TV deal
- Daily Crunch: Mouth to Mouth Edition
- WTFComcast: Best Blog Ever?
- Twitter App for the Zune HD: It works, but it’s buggy and censors tweets
- Review: Viewsonic PJD2121 Projector
- iPhone leapfrogs WinMo market share
- Bag Week: The Vega & Corsair from Chrome Bags
- Review and giveaway: SteelSeries Siberia v2 surround-sound headset
- A Great Deal On A Handgun. Woot!
- Reminder: Seattle meet-up tonight, 6:30, at Cyclops
- A bit of C&C4: Tiberian Twilight gameplay
- Here’s the latest Alice In Wonderland trailer in HD
- Zero Punctuation on Demon’s Souls: it’s too hard!
- FTC accuses Intel of ‘strengthening its monopoly,” slaps it with a lawsuit
- Nerd Alert: Calculator shaped like a gamepad
| CrunchDeals: 25% off Skagen watches Posted: 17 Dec 2009 03:25 AM PST
|
| The Nook gets Pandora, web browser, Facebook apps Posted: 17 Dec 2009 03:08 AM PST
In the proud tradition of the CueCat the street is finding its own use for the Nook, adding Facebook, Pandora, and Browser apps to the ereader. Nookdevs have already rooted the Android-powered ebook and programmers have succeeded in installing multiple apps that have been ported to the version of the OS running on the Nook.
Has anyone nooked up their Nook yet? We’d love to hear your experiences.
|
| Get Ready For The Google Branded Chrome OS Netbook Posted: 17 Dec 2009 02:20 AM PST  Most of the tech world now considers it a given that Google will be selling its own unlocked phone, called the Nexus One, to customers directly early in 2010. A few stragglers are still debating the finer points of the difference between Google working with handset manufacturers and carriers on a good Android experience v. them dictating the hardware specs and selling it directly to users. While they work that out for themselves we're off to the next story - the Google Chrome OS Netbook (although we think Google has a few surprises left around the Nexus One, too). Google has said from the beginning that they plan on working with select manufacturers to ensure a good Chrome OS experience for users when devices first hit the market next year. From an early FAQ: "The Google Chrome OS team is currently working with a number of technology companies to design and build devices that deliver an extraordinary end user experience. Among others, these companies include Acer, Adobe, ASUS, Freescale, Hewlett-Packard, Lenovo, Qualcomm, Texas Instruments, and Toshiba." Most people assume that "working with" around Chrome OS means the same thing as "working with" around Android - lots of meetings to make sure the devices and software work together as well as possible. But sometimes those pesky hardware guys just don't do things quite right. And when you're competing against Apple, everything most definitely needs to be quite right. That may explain why Google has, according to multiple sources, been talking to at least one hardware manufacturer about building a netbook for Google directly. As in Google gave the company a RFP with quite detailed technical specifications and has begun discussions on building it.
|
| Are U.S. Drones Really Being Watched With a Simple “Satellite Internet Downloader?” Posted: 17 Dec 2009 01:25 AM PST
Either the WSJ hasn’t taken their anti-crazy pills or there is something severely wrong with the military industrial complex. I’m betting on both. The story says, essentially, that insurgents in Iraq are “taking control” of our pilotless drones with a $25 piece of software called SkyGrabber. By “take control” the WSJ means “download video feeds from” and by “software” I mean essentially a satellite network snooper. Now I’m not a rocket scientist, but it looks like what is happening here is that Iraqis are pointing their satellite dishes into the air and watching for downloads. This would be approximately equivalent to packet or token sniffing that, if I’m not mistaken, is popular with teen l33t haX0rz. Declan McCullagh notes that:
This suggests that the final link between the drone and the operator is between a satellite flying around in space and that that final link is unencrypted for reasons unfathomable to anyone with even cursory knowledge of network communications. Maybe they wanted to save on bandwidth costs? We’ll follow this but I’m kind of flabbergasted.
|
| Shaimus finally releases a music video for “Like a Fool” Posted: 17 Dec 2009 01:04 AM PST
Look. It’s 1 AM, I’ve had a few too many White Russians, and something out on the street outside of my apartment keeps making a horrible buzzing noise. Don’t bother me with that “WHY IS THIS ON A GADGET BLOG?” nonsense. If you’ve ever played Rock Band 2, you’ve heard Shaimus’ Like A Fool – at least, you should have. It’s the best song on the damned game. Anyway, they released a music video for it earlier today, roughly 19 years after they should have. It’s after the jump. If you’re up at 1 AM for no sensible reason like yours truly, grab some headphones and rock the hell out.
|
| Report: Sharp and Philips agree on LCD TV deal Posted: 17 Dec 2009 01:02 AM PST
The consolidation process in the TV business continues and now even becomes international. Just last month, Sharp inked a “historical” joint venture deal with former rival Sony, agreeing to supply LED backlights to Sony for their LCD TVs (which happened this month). And now Japan’s biggest business publication, the Nikkei, has learned that Sharp now plans to deliver LCD TV panels to Dutch electronics giant Philips. Starting as early as next year, the panels will be shipped from Sharp’s plant in Sakai, Osaka, to Philips factories in South America and Poland. The Sakai plant began operating just in October this year. Sharp’s factory in Poland will first turn the panels into semi-finished products and then deliver them to Philips’ plant in the same country. In South America, Sharp panels will be shipped to Philips factories in Brazil. According to the Nikkei, Sharp aims at optimizing use of their new plant through the cooperation, while Philips tries to cut production costs for their TVs and wants to reach break even in that segment next year. Research company Display Search says Sharp is currently the world’s fifth biggest LCD maker, while Philips is the number six. Via Nikkei [registration required, paid subscription]
|
| Daily Crunch: Mouth to Mouth Edition Posted: 17 Dec 2009 12:00 AM PST |
| Posted: 16 Dec 2009 10:03 PM PST
A few weeks back, for the first time in the history of mankind, someone actually paid attention to the description snippets that accompany Comcast’s On Demand videos. Within seconds, it was clear: whoever was writing the descriptions was bat shit insane. And with that, WTFComcast, a blog which highlights the oddest of Comcast’s oddities, was born. Go ahead, delete your RSS feed. WTFComcast is the only blog you need to read. Oh, and CrunchGear. And MobileCrunch. [Via this Reddit thread]
|
| Twitter App for the Zune HD: It works, but it’s buggy and censors tweets Posted: 16 Dec 2009 08:12 PM PST
Oh now this is exciting. Microsoft released a Twitter application for the Zune HD a few moments ago, and I’ve been tasked with testing it out for your edification. Spoiler: it works, it’s buggy, and I can’t see the sense in using it. Installation was not easy. Oh, sure, loading up the Zune software and navigating to the appropriate section was simple enough, and syncing the application was as expected, but my Zune HD wouldn’t connect to the Internet for whatever reason. An error message popped up saying “Disconnect your Zune HD from the computer before trying to connect to a wireless network.” To that effect, at least. (Strike one.) Well, Mr. Zune software, I’m holding the device in one hand and the USB cable in another. The Zune, in fact, is disconnected from my PC. This is not how to get on my good side, especially as I was interrupted watching Samoa Joe vs. CM Punk I to test you out. Moving on. Once the Zune HD stopped freaking out, I was greeted by a simple username and password screen. You log in there. Up top there’s four icons: a little man which gives you your timeline; an @ symbol that threw up the error “Oops, something went wrong. We can’t load this data due to an external error. Please try again shortly.” (Strike two.) It loads all the tweets that mention your name; a heart icon that I don’t know what it does because it says “Unfortunately, there is nothing to display here.” (Strike three.); and then a mail icon for all your DMs. Along the bottom there’s icons for writing a tweet, searching tweets, and for fiddling with the application’s settings. Let’s see what happens when I try to send a tweet. Well, the tweet went out, but once again I ran into the “external error” happened. (Strike four.) (External to what, by the way?) On twitter.com, all my tweets read “from Zune HD,” which links to zune.net. Usability: limited. I can’t type for beans using the Zune HD’s onscreen display, but that could well be a function of me exclusively using the device as a music player and I’m not used to it. T9 tries to help you out but it can only help so much. I don’t understand the point of the app either, other than to say, “See, we have a Twitter app!” But since the Zune HD only connects to the Internet via Wi-Fi, how is it any more useful to use the clearly glitch Zune app to tweet when you can, I don’t know, use a real computer or one of those iPhone or BlackBerry or Android apps? It doesn’t make any sense to me. Oh, and it censors tweets. (The tweet in the main photo up there is supposed to read: Bret Hart is coming back to WWE according to dave meltzer fuck yes!) No bad words to be found on the app, and there’s no setting to uncensor tweets. Why? How many little kids use Twitter (on a Zune HD, no less) that Microsoft had to go out of its way to censor tweets? Dumb. In conclusion: it’s buggy and there are far more practical ways of accessing Twitter.
|
| Review: Viewsonic PJD2121 Projector Posted: 16 Dec 2009 06:00 PM PST
Pros:
Cons:
Review: While Viewsonic is mainly known for their LCD monitors and displays, they’ve actually been in the projector business for quite some time. The PJD2121 is one of their most recent entries into the portable projector market. I’m very impressed with it: it’s bright, colorful, and works great at short distances. I tried it for PC and console gaming and had no issues with it. It worked best with my Xbox360, and playing Dirt 2 on a 60-inch display was almost a religious experience. I can definitely see this as an excellent product for a business traveler as well. The display is sharp, clear, and the 1800:1 contrast makes it work well even in a fairly bright environment. Text and graphics all display in vibrant color, and the contrast between text and the background is crisp and easy to read. I was slightly disappointed by the fact that the PJD2121 doesn’t have integrated speakers, but realistically it’s more intended for a business setting then for a gamer like myself.
Be aware that the connections are limited to SVGA 15-pin and component. No HDMI or composite devices need apply. This makes it a great projector for gaming and plugging into your laptop for a sales meeting, but not so great for a home theater setup.
The Viewsonic PJD2121 is a great little projector for $419. The bright colors make it great for watching movies, playing games, or showing that spreadsheet to a client. The projector itself is warrantied for a period of three years, but you should expect to replace the lamp after roughly 2000 hours. A replacement lamp has an MSRP of $456, however a quick search shows that you’ll be able to pick one up for about $150. Product page: Viewsonic PJD2121
|
| iPhone leapfrogs WinMo market share Posted: 16 Dec 2009 05:21 PM PST  Oh my. This can't be what Redmond had planned. But I guess they should have spent more time revising their platform during the years and years they dominated the smartphone field. Now, with the triple threat of consumer-accessible Blackberry devices, cheap iPhones, and legions of Android handsets, it seems that even WinMo 7 may be too little, too late. iPhone users now outnumber WinMo users, according to a recent ComScore survey.
|
| Bag Week: The Vega & Corsair from Chrome Bags Posted: 16 Dec 2009 03:52 PM PST
I put up a hand-on of these two bags a few months ago, but I have to repost it. Not only in the spirit of Bag Week, mainly because I’ve found after using both bags over the last few months, my initial conclusion was dead on: These bags are rad. Features:
Pros
Cons
So what makes these bags so good? Well, for one, they are extremely well made with quality material. The Cordura fabric seems like it will last forever. The straps are lightweight, but also wide enough that they shouldn’t dig into your shoulder even when loaded down. What I like the best about both of them is that they are lined with a rubber material which should keep the bag’s contents safe from weather. Now, the bags aren’t sealed up as the top is held on with just two straps, but I wouldn’t expect rain or snow to seep through this layer. Neither bag is very large. Don’t expect to put more than two text books in either. The Vega is really more of a man purse than anything else. It could probably hold your Franklin Covey planner, Kindle DX, and a magazine alright, but don’t expect anything else to fit comfortable. The Corsair is a tad larger, but not much. Chrome markets these as utility bags and not notebook bags. That’s doesn’t mean you could use them as such. Just be careful. The bags do not have any type of padding. I found that a 13-inch iBook fit in the Vega and the Corsair held a 15.6-inch Asus just fine. I would recommend some sort of notebook sleeve though. As with any quality item, these come with a price – a high one. But if you need a solid, weather-resistant utility bag, you probably will not mind spending $80 on the Corsair or Vega. I wouldn’t. Read more Bag Week reviews here.
|
| Review and giveaway: SteelSeries Siberia v2 surround-sound headset Posted: 16 Dec 2009 03:00 PM PST
Plus: I’m giving these away! A lucky reader will be wearing these in a week or so. Details in the full review.
Pros:
Cons:
Review: I used two SteelSeries headsets before this one, and neither worked for me. I found the 5HDs tinny, and the original behind-the-neck Siberias tended to slide down your head and put all their weight on your ear (painful). So I’m happy to report that the Siberia v2 combines a traditional form factor with an improved sound driver — as well as a virtual surround sound USB connection. It works out to be a pretty decent little package. The headphones identified themselves as “C-Media” when I plugged them in, which turns out to be a generic USB audio dealer; I’m guessing the USB component is a SteelSeries branded one of these. Not that I expect everyone to design their own Dolby Surround interface, but you should know you’re not getting anything exotic here. Coffee, Tea, or USB? The handy thing about these headphones is that they can be either USB or traditional. Unlike either the G35s or Megalodon, you can just pop the audio jack in like any other pair and not have to worry about changing sound devices — say, if you’re in the middle of a song or podcast and don’t want to interrupt it. That convenience, and the light weight of the headset, are probably the best reasons to choose these over another.
Because these really are light. So much so that my first impression was one of cheapness. To be honest, that impression wasn’t at all alleviated by the USB attachment, which looks and feels like something you’d buy at a dollar store. The headphones themselves are shiny plastic, rather plain-looking but not badly put together by any means. It’s just the lightness that throws you off. One tends to expect a certain amount of weight with surround-sound headphones, but the truth is the surround part is just a way of processing the sound; the headphones themselves need not be especially heavy-duty.
The Sound of 0wned When they’re on your ears, however, the sound is great. The original Siberia headset had the same well-balanced sound, and SteelSeries has embiggened the driver to produce clearer bass in the v2s. Movies don’t have the canned sound that seems to happen when surround sound is forced. Games sounded great as long as the headphones stayed on my ears. I got owned in Counter-Strike Source (guy took three bullets from my deagle and didn’t drop, come on now), but it was worth it to test out the sound; positioning was good, clarity was good, no complaints at all. The cord is… a bit annoying. There are two inline remotes if you’re in USB mode; the first is a third of the way down the cord, then the next one is another third of the way. That’s a troublesome configuration, since there is no stretch of cord you can roll up if it’s only a short way to where you’re plugging them in. The USB cable is very stiff, which doesn’t help either (of course, the G35’s cable is like that the whole way). And there are no clips, so it’s always just kind of hanging there. The microphone is great, though. It sounds good and retracts or pulls out easily so it doesn’t get in the way. If it’s something you care about, the Siberia v2s are pretty cool looking. Here’s a big version of the header photo; plain, but also refined. Final word Headphones are a crowded field right now, and there are a lot of good products out there. Unfortunately, I can’t give the Siberia v2s a very strong recommendation; there are simply too many little issues for a >$100 headset. Although the sound is great (as it was in the previous version) and the USB/analog flexibility is nice, I just don’t see myself using them regularly due to the fit and setup issues. Guess I’ll wait for the v3. Product Page
|
| A Great Deal On A Handgun. Woot! Posted: 16 Dec 2009 02:27 PM PST  A few weeks ago, Woot opened up a new section of its site called Woot Deals. This area marked a departure for the service because it is run by Woot users, rather than a Woot employees selecting every deal. Of course, when you open it up to users, they're going to get what they want. Today, the most popular items in this deals section include a bunch of video games, some tennis shoes, a monitor, some laser pointers, oh, and a 9mm handgun.
|
| Reminder: Seattle meet-up tonight, 6:30, at Cyclops Posted: 16 Dec 2009 01:45 PM PST
|
| A bit of C&C4: Tiberian Twilight gameplay Posted: 16 Dec 2009 01:30 PM PST If you’ve been following the Command & Conquer 4 development, you probably know the final game in this series is going to be a bit different. Base development has taken a backseat to the action and the 5 minute video after the jump clearly shows that. Hopefully not all of the magic that made C&C special has been wiped out though. That would make me sad.
|
| Here’s the latest Alice In Wonderland trailer in HD Posted: 16 Dec 2009 01:00 PM PST
|
| Zero Punctuation on Demon’s Souls: it’s too hard! Posted: 16 Dec 2009 12:40 PM PST This week, Yahtzee takes on the game that is, to me, the best reason to buy a PS3 right now: Demon’s Souls.This innovative title was hailed widely by critics as a return to the old-school “you die now” style of gaming many of us grew up with, but it doesn’t sit quite right with Yahtzee. Of course, he doesn’t mention the controls, graphics, depth, or anything other than the fact that it’s groin-punchingly hard, so you can bet he thought all that was great and just didn’t want to say so.
|
| FTC accuses Intel of ‘strengthening its monopoly,” slaps it with a lawsuit Posted: 16 Dec 2009 12:20 PM PST
Looks like Intel is in a bit of Dutch. The Federal Trade Commission sued the company for using its position in the market "to stifle competition and strengthen its monopoly." Not good, no. This may seem strange in the wake of the $1.25 billion settlement between Intel and AMD, the Barcelona to Intel’s Real Madrid. But that hasn’t stopped the FTC from saying that Intel:
There’s not too much wiggle room in that statement, now is there? Of course, Intel has fired back and said that the FTC’s case is "misguided and unwarranted." This will drag on for some time. So what are the FTC’s major complaints? One of the main things is that Intel feels that, in the future, GPUs will be just as important as CPUs going forward. To that end, Intel will make it so that GPUs from rival companies don’t play nicely with its CPUs. The fear is that Intel could make it so difficult for rival GPU manufacturers to create properly working GPUs that Intel could, one day, produce a GPU that immediately puts all the others guys out of business. I wonder if Intel will ever develop the anti-competitive reputation that dogged Microsoft back in the day, if not to this day. On a lighter note, here’s Conan visiting Intel’s headquarters a little while ago.
|
| Nerd Alert: Calculator shaped like a gamepad Posted: 16 Dec 2009 12:00 PM PST
Awww, schweeeeeet! This calculator says, "Hey, I need a calculator but I want people to know that I'm down with video games. Please don't step, mess, or front. I got eight digits to work with, B." Shaped like an Xbox controller, you've got a D-pad with add, subtract, multiply, and divide keys, number pad right in the middle of everything, functions on the right, and big fat CE and equals buttons. Oh and the shoulder buttons correspond to on and off. It's $13 from an Australian store. The product page says that it's almost sold out, which makes perfect sense since this product is somehow so dumb it’s cool. X-Cool Calculator [DealsDirect.com.au via Newlaunches]
|
![Screen shot 2009-12-17 at [ December 17 ] 1.00.35 AM](http://www.mobilecrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/Screen-shot-2009-12-17-at-December-17-1.00.35-AM.png "Screen shot 2009-12-17 at [ December 17 ] 1.00.35 AM")
Specs:
The downside of this lightness is that they don’t really settle on you. The elastic part of the headband actually lifts them up a bit, which results (at least for me) in the bottom parts of the earcups tilting out and coming off your ears. Needless to say, this produces sound leakage and eliminates any isolation they might have offered. They didn’t always do this, but any movement of my head seemed to make them shimmy up just a little bit, until there’d be a small gap through which I could hear the outside world. I can’t say, of course, whether this would happen for you, but I believe the light construction and elastic head-bit are going to produce the effect to some extent no matter what. People with bigger heads might get off easier, I’m thinking.
| You are subscribed to email updates from CrunchGear To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610 | |
No comments:
Post a Comment