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- Daily Crunch: Green Bottle Edition
- Review: HP TouchSmart 600
- Metal Gear Arcade gets head-tracking VR goggles
- Get ready NASCAR fans, Mario Kart is coming
- Baby Bidou mp3 player. You know, for kids
- Review: Microsoft Sidewinder X4 keyboard
- Fake security camera moves, pretends to keep you safe
- Microsoft to WinMo 6.5 devices: You want WinPho 7? You can’t handle WinPho 7!
- Nintendo successfully sues Aussie etailer for selling DS flash cartridges
- Plant-based plastics promise perkier peat
- Benjolin Light Synth: What the cuss?
- Vuze/Azureus being pushed out on prominent BitTorrent sites
- Trying to track down those Chinese hackers
- Should mobile phones be subject to warrantless police search?
- Review: Kempler & Strauss W Phone Watch
- Nostalgia week continues with Apple ][, Pascal, and old-fashioned newsletters!
- Sony’s mysterious universal video game controller patent portends PS3 Virtual Console (or maybe it doesn’t, who knows?)
- Portable fuel cell to recharge your cell? Sure, why not
- Penny Arcade tackles piracy
- Sharp Japan’s cordless phone system features integrated photo frame
| Daily Crunch: Green Bottle Edition Posted: 20 Feb 2010 12:00 AM PST |
| Posted: 19 Feb 2010 07:00 PM PST
Features:
Pros:
Cons:
Full review: The TouchSmart 600 is one of the next generation of touch screen computer appliances developed by HP. While it’s not the ideal computer for a business or gamer user, it is ideal for a casual user or someone who wants easy access to media, or has a limited amount of space and needs something that can fulfill multiple roles.
The system I reviewed came in a fairly decent configuration, sporting an Intel Core 2 Duo 9600, 4GB of RAM, and an Nvidia GT230. This makes the TouchSmart a fairly capable machine, albeit mainly useful from a media and internet appliance standpoint. It is worth noting, however, that HP recently came out with an upgraded version of the hardware, including a option to select a Core i7 720QM or Core i7 820QM processor. The part that makes it stand out from other systems is, of course, the touchscreen. HP built a custom interface over the top of Windows 7, and it works really well. The interface allows you to access Hulu, Twitter, Netflix, and a really nice recipe program. For the most part, the Hulu and Netflix interfaces are customized and optimized to work with the touch screen. The Netflix interface is particularly well done, and scrolls by nicely with the flick of a finger. I also (being a photographer) enjoyed the Canvas program. It really takes advantage of the multi-touch functionality, allowing you to shrink, enlarge, drag, and otherwise manipulate your images on the touchscreen. If you move at a slower pace, the screen is about 98% accurate. If you move too fast though, you do lose a bit of accuracy. The screen is responsive, but you do have to be careful not to flick too fast. Running programs in the background will definitely have an impact on the responsiveness.
Cosmetically, the TouchSmart looks good. The black plastic shell fits in well no matter where you want to put it, and the 23 inch screen doesn’t have too much glare, though as you may be able to see in the pictures, it is extremely glossy and reflective. When I first took this machine out of the box, I immediately thought it would be ideal for in a den, dorm room, and even potentially in the kitchen. The TouchSmart comes with a low profile wireless keyboard and a standard wireless mouse. You technically don’t have to use the keyboard or mouse, due to the touchscreen having a keyboard, but don’t expect to be able to type with any speed using the on-screen keyboard. I supposed it’d be fine for Tweets or Facebook updates, but I’d be reluctant to use it for anything more strenuous. It’s worth noting that the TouchSmart 600 also came with some Microsoft Surface programs, which, while pointless, are quite fun as technical demos. The Globe in particular is nicely executed, using multi-touch to rotate, zoom, and generally manipulate the world. The bottom line: The TouchSmart 600 is a cool computer. The touchscreen is fun to play with, if not entirely practical for everyone. The custom interface makes it an ideal media platform, and I’d recommend for pretty much everyone except a power user. Casual games work great, but the TouchSmart lacks the computing power needed to run anything too graphically intensive. Prices start at $1049 directly from HP, but you can get it from other retailers at better prices. Click here for HP’s TouchSmart 600 website and for more information.
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| Metal Gear Arcade gets head-tracking VR goggles Posted: 19 Feb 2010 07:00 PM PST
You can watch a trailer for the game here, where it (briefly) shows the glasses, but that’s not really what it’s going to be like. You’re going to be strapped in with a 5.1 system wrapped around your head, a gun in your hands, and freaking VR goggles on your eyes with the excellent graphics of the latest Metal Gear pretty much fooling you into thinking you’re actually there. [via Joystiq]
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| Get ready NASCAR fans, Mario Kart is coming Posted: 19 Feb 2010 06:30 PM PST
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| Baby Bidou mp3 player. You know, for kids Posted: 19 Feb 2010 05:30 PM PST
Baby Bidou says you’re old enough at birth. The Baby Bidou is available in pink or blue, and can be preloaded with a Brainy Baby soundtrack for an additional $4. Soundtracks include sleepy, peaceful, cheerful, and happy, and do cost extra. Parents can also load their own music on the Baby Bidou, and select the volume for the child so junior doesn’t accidentally destroy his eardrums listening to “Won’t Get Fooled Again”. The Bidou also has a microphone built it to allow parents to record their own voices, and the volume can be set to fade so as to slowly lower the volume of the sound being played for the child. The Baby Bidou is priced at $59.98, and currently out of stock on the company website.
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| Review: Microsoft Sidewinder X4 keyboard Posted: 19 Feb 2010 03:30 PM PST
Pros:
Cons:
Full review:
What we have here is… well, a normal keyboard, basically, with some macro and media keys. The trouble is, if you’re the type of gamer who uses macros a lot, you probably want a little more keyboard than this offers. There are lots of options out there, including the unique and cool Sidewinder X6, which I liked a lot. Functionality is as you see: some macro keys on the left there, which are useful in all the situations you’d expect, and the configuration thereof works just fine, though it’s extremely spartan. There’s a nice long list of handy commands you might want to use, something which developers often fail to include. The media keys worked out of the box with Winamp, though irritatingly if Winamp is not open, pressing the Play/Pause button will launch Windows Media Player. You can’t disable that, unfortunately; there’s no option to select another default player. I’m not sure I dig the layout, either.
Doesn’t that seem a little weird to you? I think play should be in between previous and next track, though that may just be me. But why is mute attached to the play controls cluster? Shouldn’t it be over with volume up and down? Not a big deal, obviously, but if you could choose between a keyboard that has them laid out in an intuitive way, and one that didn’t, which would you choose? Right, me too. Lastly, for a gaming keyboard, it sure doesn’t have any extra connectors, like USB or audio. That’s kind of an important part of a gaming keyboard, and really, I just realized that the X6 has the same problem, as well as a similar media key layout. Well, consider this criticism retroactively applied to that thing as well. Conclusion Like so many devices in the crowded “gaming enthusiast hardware” field, the X4 is simply outmatched by the competition, which is too close in price to warrant a downgrade. Microsoft’s own X6, for instance, can even be found for cheaper than the X4, and it certainly offers a cooler feature set. Logitech and Razer also offer compelling alternatives for similar prices. Sorry, X4, but there’s just too much good stuff out there.
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| Fake security camera moves, pretends to keep you safe Posted: 19 Feb 2010 03:00 PM PST
I suspect that generally speaking, if you shop from Hammacher Schlemmer, you’re not going to need to buy a fake security camera. Going fake however, can be quite expensive. The FauxCam has a blinking LED, and a built in motion sensor that moves to follow the person in the target area. So if you’d rather have all the insecurity and none of the protection, you can buy this product for $59.95. Personally, I’d say buy a real security camera for about the same price. [via Red Ferret]
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| Microsoft to WinMo 6.5 devices: You want WinPho 7? You can’t handle WinPho 7! Posted: 19 Feb 2010 02:45 PM PST
Earlier this week we told you guys that Windows Mobile 6.5 was going to stick around after Windows Phone 7 hits the masses. It would even take on a new name — Windows Phone Classic. With everyone sticking around and playing nice at this party, you’d think that maybe current WinMo 6.5 handsets might get a little Windows Phone 7 love. Sorry to burst your bubble. Read the rest of this entry at MobileCrunch>>
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| Nintendo successfully sues Aussie etailer for selling DS flash cartridges Posted: 19 Feb 2010 01:00 PM PST
GadgetGear (no affiliation with yours truly) was selling the R4 flash cartridge, which can be used to backload homebrew apps, games, and of course pirated ROMs onto your device. The key word there being was, since Nintendo has successfully sued the bejeezus out of them, resulting in hundreds of thousands in damages being paid, and of course an agreement not to sell the forbidden product. Well, it’s all part of the great circle of life in hacking products:
In this case the hardware makers are revising the path the cards take to get to modders’ hands. They can shut down legit operations in a place where there are laws, like Australia, but what about a shady eBay store or e-tailer that works from a location where Nintendo has no jurisdiction?
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| Plant-based plastics promise perkier peat Posted: 19 Feb 2010 12:30 PM PST
Anyway, scientists at Imperial College London found a form of degradable polymer made of sugar which would, in theory, allow you to add your plastic bottles to your compost pile and watch them degrade into happy, healthy plantfood. The plastic is made from tree and plant glucose and… here, I’ll let them explain it.
My question is whether you could feasibly eat the bottles after you were done with them. I would totally do it, too, at parties and stuff. The plastic should be commercially viable soon.
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| Benjolin Light Synth: What the cuss? Posted: 19 Feb 2010 11:30 AM PST
You can learn how to make your own here. If you do, please tell us so we can leave your town.
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| Vuze/Azureus being pushed out on prominent BitTorrent sites Posted: 19 Feb 2010 11:00 AM PST
There’s a bit of a controversy in the BitTorrent community, friends. Two rather prominent, so-called private trackers, whose names I will not mention “just because,” have announced that they will be banning Vuze, the former Azureus, one of the elder statesmen of the BitTorrent protocol. Say what you will about the direction Vuze took—I hated it—but there isn’t a more powerful torrent client under the sun. Make no mistake about it: it is an important loss, and one of the bigger developments is the recently quiet world of BitTorrent. The decision was taken because of the potential for Vuze to be tampered with—it was a hassle to ensure that Vuze stats were on the up and up. Nothing is more vital to the success of private BitTorrent sites than accurate stat tracking. What do you want, chaos? It’s a valid complaint, to a point: you cannot run a BitTorrent site with the threat of users gaming the system. Private sites usually operate on the upload-to-download ratio system: you’re required to keep your ratio above a certain number in order to keep your account in good standing. So, you’ve uploaded 20GB of data and downloaded 15GB of data, giving you a ratio of 1.33. Now, if you were to somehow tamper with the way your BitTorrent client reports stats, you could rig it so that it looks like you’ve uploaded 50GB and downloaded only 10GB, the site would suffer. How often that has actually happened, who knows? I do know this: if you’re tampering with your clients’ stats you should be deported. The sites in question now recommend Windows users use uTorrent; Mac users uses Transmission or uTorrent; and Linux users use rTorrent. It’s a peculiar decision. Popular because of its simplicity and small footprint, uTorrent is a closed-source application, and one point was linked with the MPAA and RIAA. You’d think that people who were engaging in wanton copyright infringement would be a little more prudent with their activities, but far be it from me to question people’s decision-making skills. The Windows version of uTorrent is far more mature than the Mac version. One feature you won’t find in the Mac version of uTorrent is RSS, something that’s been around seemingly forever. Transmission is another client that’s popular because of its small footprint. (If you’re seeding on a dedicated box, or have a system with a decent amount of memory, having a small footprint is essentially irrelevant. I used to run Azureus 24/7, and never noticed my machine slowing down.) Again, it’s on the simple side, so people who want to “set it and forget it” will be right at home. I don’t know, it sounds like I’m pro-Vuze here. I don’t give a damn; I use Usenet for my escapades. I will say, I did the majority of my torrenting—I barely torrent these days—using Azureus/Vuze, so it’s a little sad to see it being pushed out like this. Still, if it’s for the good of the sites in question, then so be it.
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| Trying to track down those Chinese hackers Posted: 19 Feb 2010 10:00 AM PST
More news from that China hacking deal. Investigators have tracked the attacks that befell Google and other victims to two schools in China, one of which has ties to the Chinese military. Whether or not this was an officially sanctioned series of attacks, or merely a couple of comp-sci students testing out their skills, clearly nobody knows. That’s the beauty of these hacks: there’s not a chance in hell there’s going to be a “smoking gun,” giving the hosts of The Today Show a three minute segment on Chinese hacking. The schools are the Shanghai Jiaotong University and Lanxiang Vocational School. It’s the latter that has ties to the Chinese military, initially set up to train future computer scientists. Of course, people will see that connection and be all, “You see! The Chinese government knew all along about these hacks!” I don’t know, I think it’d be silly to assume that all the big countries in the world don’t have dedicated teams who snoop around each other’s computers. Why wouldn’t they? There’s so little chance of these attacks being tracker to one, singular source. I operate under the assumption that both the U.S. and China are actively going back and forth on the Interwebs. I’m cool with that.
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| Should mobile phones be subject to warrantless police search? Posted: 19 Feb 2010 09:30 AM PST  At what point do you consider something "unreasonable"? Let's say you're pulled over while speeding—do the police have the right to search your mobile phone? And let's say they do, and they find other verboten material on the phone? Should you also be on the hook for that, on top of your speeding ticket? It's a pretty important debate, and it's one that going on right now.
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| Review: Kempler & Strauss W Phone Watch Posted: 19 Feb 2010 09:00 AM PST
Features:
Pros:
Cons:
Review: In using the Kempler & Strauss W Phone Watch I was reminded of a quote from the Steinbeck book Travels With Charley. In it he describes a venison dish, noting that:
To be fair, this is truly one of the funnest phones you will ever own. However, like a tough piece of venison, all of the accessories included in the phone make you consistently ask the question “Why don’t I just get a real phone and a Bluetooth headset and call it a day?” The W Watch Phone is surprisingly small and light. It weighs about 2.5 ounces and is 57mm long, about as big as a standard watch. The screen is about an inch on each side and there is a small speaker in the band. A microphone hides on the side. On the top of the watch is an odd little VGA camera that can take JPEGs at 640×480 and video at 128×104 (!!). It also plays back MPEG4s and most audio files. These watch phones are not new. A quick perusal on the Interwebs will produce a list of a number of Shenzhen-based watchphone manufacturers who are selling their wares for as low as $99. What Kempler & Strauss has done is add on a bit of design and some quality assurance to a product that’s been available on Shenzhen streets for months, if not years. I used the phone a few times over the past few weeks and found it to be fun at parties and useful on a limited scale. There are multiple input methods, from tapping the little icons with your finger to using the point of the included Bluetooth headset to pick or scribble out letters and numbers. All of these methods, while sound and approachable with practice, are very frustrating at first. The handwriting recognition, for example, works as well as it did on the Palm V or the Fossil Palm watch of yesteryear. It appears when you’re entering numbers so don’t expect to be able to write out the Magna Carta on this thing. The watch can send MMS messages, as well, using photos taken with the piteous camera. The less we say about the camera the better. Below is an actual image:
Other features include “games” – actually just one game that involves catching fruit in a basket – and background sounds that simulate various scenarios, allowing you to blame the phone’s poor reception on your surroundings. “Pub,” for example, makes it sound like you’re calling from a noisy pub, while “sidewalk” simulates a sidewalk. Making and taking calls with a Bluetooth headset is simplicity itself and the sound quality is fine. Making calls by talking into your wrist and listening to responses from the built-in speaker can lead to madness. The simple fact that I’m sitting in front of a phone watch right now is a testament to the slow but inexorable ascent of mankind’s prowess as a toolmaker. These are, verily, the days of miracles and wonder and the “Ho-hum” feeling I get when I handle the W Phone Watch is a bit odd. After all, a few short years ago our phones could barely fit in our pockets let alone around our wrists. What Kempler & Strauss – and the OEMs that work for them – have done is laudable and fascinating. Bottom Line Product Page: Kempler & Strauss W Phone Watch
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| Nostalgia week continues with Apple ][, Pascal, and old-fashioned newsletters! Posted: 19 Feb 2010 08:30 AM PST
The first link above is interesting in a several contexts. The notion that learning to program is a fundamental aspect of using a computer is long dead. Today, a computer is simply a tool. Maybe it’s because there exists a wealth of pre-programmed utility applications today that simply weren’t available when the computer first became personal. Maybe it’s the natural evolution of any new technology, as the early adopters trailblaze the thing into commodity. Maybe we all missed a very important opportunity. What do you think? Feel free to share your nostalgia in the comments. Bonus points will be given to links to historical artifacts like those in the links above.
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| Posted: 19 Feb 2010 08:00 AM PST
This is more interesting than I had originally thought. Sony filed a patent last year (it was only unearthed today or yesterday) describing a universal video game controller. You know how there’s universal remote controls (like this one I used), smart devices that can control a TV, cable box, DVD player, etc.? It’s the same principle here: a single device that’s about to function as a video game controller for all sorts of consoles. A universal game console controller that has an LCD presenting, depending on what type of game console a user has input, a controller key layout for a first type of game console or a controller key layout for a second type of game console. The picture does a pretty decent job of describing the controller. You’d have a “controller” in your hand, and on that controller would be a touch-sensitive LCD. Various controller layouts would be placed on the LCD. So, you’d have a GameCube button layout when in GameCube mode, a Dual Shock layout when in PS1 mode, and a DreamCast layout when in DreamCast mode. Depending on how responsive the LCD is, and how comfortable the actual plastic is in your hands, it could be a nifty little thing. But, why should Sony want to create such a controller? Is there really such a demand for universal video game controllers that it was worth it to Sony to A) come up with the idea in the first place, B) draw up schematics, and C) file all the paper work with the U.S. Patent Office? It’s not like all of that can be done in some guy’s lunch break. Let’s say there’s not a demand. Why do I need a device that can emulate the “look and feel” (well, kinda) of an SNES controller? PS3 Virtual Console! Now, there’s zero proof to that effect, but it would certainly make sense in the “why bother with such a controller” department. That said, a PS3 Virtual Console would be legitimately neat, I think. via Kotaku
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| Portable fuel cell to recharge your cell? Sure, why not Posted: 19 Feb 2010 07:19 AM PST
Think about it. Mobile base stations can often now reach far into the countryside, even in some previously remote places in Africa. But actually keeping the phone charged is an issue. myFC is a small hydrogen fuel cell power source which will still work under extreme environmental conditions. The exterior plastic housing appears to be be very durable and it has no moving parts.
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| Posted: 19 Feb 2010 06:30 AM PST
Those wacky Penny Arcade guys! Always writing something intelligent about issues that force most gamers to resort to name-calling and cursing!
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| Sharp Japan’s cordless phone system features integrated photo frame Posted: 19 Feb 2010 06:00 AM PST
Back in August 2009, we covered a cordless phone offered by Sharp Japan that could be connected to a portable 7-inch touch panel via infrared. That panel could be used as a digital picture frame, for example. And yesterday, the same company announced [JP] the JD-4C1CW, which again links a cordless phone to a touch screen. This time, the display is part of the phone. The new device is a trimmed down version of the previous model: The screen isn’t portable anymore, it’s considerably smaller (4.3 inches), the internal memory is now just 64MB (down from 128MB) and you can’t use the device to send or receive faxes anymore either.
The JD-4C1CW cordless phone system, which comes with 2 handsets, will cost $310 when it hits Japanese stores sometime in April. Sharp hasn’t said yet whether the device will ever be available outside this country as well.
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Despite what my co-workers believe, the fact that I live in Northern Nevada does not automatically make me a fan of NASCAR. I am a fan of MarioKart though, and the fact that Nintendo has teamed up with the 
I always say that you’re never to young to start with your first gadget. This is an example of that theory, taken maybe a little more serious then I would normally consider reasonable. How old do you need to be to have your first MP3 player? 
So you want your neighbors to think that your house is an impenetrable fortress, but you don’t really feel like shelling out the hundreds of dollars needed to buy actual security cameras? Maybe you’re seen those other fake surveillance cameras in stores, but you want something that moves, damnit. Well here you go: the Hammacher Schlemmer panning Faux Security camera set. 
One of the more interesting objects on display at Mobile World Congress this year was a portable power pack / charger produced by a Swedish company. But no, this was not a car battery or an electrical generator on a bicycle. This was a small portable fuel cell.
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