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The Joy of Tech on the iPad

Posted: 13 Mar 2010 01:06 AM PST

The best money making ideas are always the most simple. It’s a fact and the Apple iPad proves it. [via The Joy of Tech]

E-book readers: will secondary features win consumers’ hearts or leave them cold?

Posted: 12 Mar 2010 06:45 PM PST


How many e-book readers do you think are out there right now for you to choose from? If you did a little digging, I bet you’d find 50 or so. Maybe 10 really worth checking out. But right now is a bit of a weird period in e-reader history. The Kindle cemented e-readers in the consumer headspace, catapulting them from weirdo alternative technology to mainstream gadget. That’s what the iPad threatens to do with tablets — we’ll see about that. But the Kindle and the iPad are two important forces in the current e-reader wars; the question, upon the answer of which depends the success of many a device, is whether “bonus” features like second screens and weird form factors in e-readers will be enough to differentiate them from the high-profile devices pressing them on both flanks?

Take a second to imagine it as a battle between three armies. On one side of the field is the steadfast Kindle Corps, seasoned and numerous. On the other is the glorious Apple Brigade, untried in e-reader combat but veteran of other battles. In between them is a menagerie of Sony, Asus, and miscellaneous independent mercenaries, bristling with foreign and barbaric weapons, gathering together only because they don’t stand a chance by themselves. In real life, they are not gathered at all, but that doesn’t work with the metaphor. Maybe they have a non-aggression pact or something, I don’t know. Regardless, the battle is about to begin.

See, the vast majority of e-readers were designed as a response to the Kindle, not to tablet computers, which may or may not obsolete e-readers altogether. It’s a bad situation: the whole time you’re improving your competitor’s product, someone else is skipping your entire device class on the grounds that it will be made ridiculous by their awesome gadget. Some of the special features developed to combat the Kindle will stay, and some won’t live to see their own first birthday.

Personally, I think e-readers will stick around next to tablet computers, since it’s just as much of a problem for a device to do too much as it is for it to do too little. You may not want your e-mail and browsing device to be the same as your reading device. And of course the Kindle isn’t the end of all readers: the generation currently being released has among its members a few interesting features… and a few duds. Let’s take a look.

The nook is what people think of when this type of e-reader is brought up, and for good reason. It’s a sexy little bugger. Now, compare it to its rivals: the upcoming Spring Design Alex and the Entourage Edge. What do you see? A larger secondary screen. Better, right? Unfortunately, the secondary screen does two things that pretty much sabotage the idea.

First, it takes away from the readable area (the main screen); 90% of the time you are using an e-reader, you are reading. That is the device’s stated purpose. When you put in a secondary screen, you are subtracting from the functional part of your device. I think it’s an unstated but obvious goal of design that your device should primarily do what it does.

Second, it implies uselessness on the part of the e-ink screen for UI stuff, and suggests to the consumer “If you want to do stuff other than read e-books, you’re better off with a device that’s all secondary screen.” It’s like admitting a strike against your product before the consumer even sees it. Bad idea.

Not to mention having a color LCD screen raises the cost of the device considerably. It is for these reasons that I think the secondary screen is a one-generation fluke, not likely to be seen again after 2010.

There actually aren’t many that fall under this category, but they are on their way, and I believe this is something that will stick around. Depending on the technology used (Mirasol, pigment pores), there may be no downside to having a color screen other than cost. That is to say that reflectivity, weight, responsiveness, contrast, and resolution will remain the same, except now you have color (however washed out in these first devices).

As I said, there are practically none of these devices on the market right now. Asus has an OLED-based one it wants to push, but at six inches it’s not very tempting, and of course it’ll be expensive. And it’s more of a tablet anyway, so it gets ignored. But you can bet that Amazon, Sony, and every other company is pushing display R&D like none other trying to get color e-ink to work for a decent price. We’ll probably have a few announcements this year, but no products until next CES.

On the other hand, we already have Pixel Qi, which may beg the question of color e-ink before the latter is even viable. On that front, we have the popular Notion Ink Adam, demoed here, which is one of the few devices which genuinely falls under both the e-reader and tablet categories. Personally I’m bullish about it, though I’m afraid it may crumple under the combined pressure of Amazon and Apple, both of which will be gunning for it.

At any rate, color is here to stay. Whether it’s an unexploited e-ink technology or a hybrid like Pixel Qi, you better believe that color will huge in the next year. Not only does it open up capability for running some applications, but it also lets the device and creator tap into the huge academic book market, which needs color. Believe me, I wouldn’t have passed my Neuroanatomy classes with a black and white textbook.

Are you kidding me? Almost every interactive device in the world is going to be touchable by the end of 2010. Any e-readers that don’t have this feature by the holidays are going to be laughed at long and hard. Touchscreens you can write on are going to be key as well; if your e-reader can replace the “back of the napkin” sketches, diagrams, and calculations you do already, then hell, why not?

The Entourage Edge needs another mention here, since it has that book-like format, but as I noted before, that actually ends up being a weakness. You’re splitting your functionality and essentially the user can only use half the device at any given time, and is all the while thinking “Man, I wish the other half of this thing didn’t exist right now.” The Courier, which obviously is not e-reader but tablet, solves this by having both sides active at all times. Not possible for the Edge.

Here’s a tough one: the Samsung E6. Its slider form factor reminds one of their slider phones — this thing in particular. But there are plenty of objections here. You see it and immediately think, “an e-reader with moving parts? No thanks.” I mean really, simplicity is key with a device that’s meant to replace a paperback. And anyone will be able to tell you’re doing something wrong when you need a whole huge sliding mechanism just to reveal a D-pad and a couple buttons that could easily have been put where the Samsung logo is. And the speakers are on it too! What the hell, guys? Well, we can all agree that the E6 is going to sell about three units. I think sliders are out.

But what about a sliding QWERTY keyboard? I haven’t seen one of those yet, but I’m afraid it might have the same issues as the E6. Besides, better displays means better on-screen keyboards. These things aren’t meant for typing anyway. Leave it to tablet computers to figure this out.

What about ultra-slim? Hey, why not? My favorite e-book reader out there is the Plastic Logic Que, for no other reason than that it’s slim and handsome, just like me. Seriously though, a touchscreen (however primitive) and a thin, refined design will sell against the most robust competitors, and the Que is refined as all hell (though sadly, delayed). If someone really and truly just wants to read books and magazines on an e-ink screen, they don’t want or need anything else, but they do care whether it looks like they’re reading a gigantic BlackBerry or not. Slim, buttonless designs will stay. You can be sure the next Kindle will have one (though will likely keep its signature side buttons).

Flexibility? The Skiff is working at this, and it’s something e-ink and (kind of) OLEDs are uniquely capable of at the moment, but I get the feeling it’s going to end up on the low-end devices. See, as long as a consumer is paying $400 or so for a device like this, I think that for the time being, they are going to want build quality that suggests that. They want glass, metal, rigidity, sturdiness, all that. Until you can actually roll or fold up your e-reader, I don’t see this being a big selling point. But don’t count it out completely; this feature isn’t dead, it’s just sleeping.

Another tough one. I don’t have a problem with Android on e-readers — it adds a little credibility somehow, and I’m sure there are going to be a few apps (if there aren’t already) that are meant to run only on e-readers, for customizing this or that, or finding free books. If Android is to be the de facto OS of e-readers, so be it. I feel that Chrome OS will be too much for an e-reader, so it doesn’t pose a threat, nor any of the other mobile or free OSes. They could just as easily run a different Linux-based OS, but Android has name recognition and probably some handy 3G and mobile wi-fi stacks.

There is the issue, however, that in some devices Android does more to show what the device is not capable of that what it is. Look at this little thing from Gigabyte. The OS looks completely out of place there, and is a mess to navigate.

As for Apps in general, well, I think we’ll see a basic stable of apps develop — things that are applicable to e-ink screens, probably features that the creators should have included. Most e-readers don’t have the kind of displays or usage patterns as other Android devices, so lots of the Marketplace will be pointless. And as for other apps, I guarantee anything worth getting will be integrated into the second generation of the reader as a native function. Color screens and better responsiveness might change this (as would a Pixel Qi rout) but for now I’m saying Apps aren’t going to win any battles. Besides, Apple’s got them licked there.

It should be noted that there are plenty of perfectly nice-looking e-book readers out there that are not “special” in any way. Look at this Asus one. Doesn’t it look nice? Yes. But the competition will bury it unless it’s stupid cheap. The Kindle clones will disappear because the vanilla Kindle form factor and feature set will start to show its age to casual consumers this year, especially as alternative and open book stores begin to proliferate (options!) and alternative e-readers penetrate the collective attention bubble. And of course you can expect a totally new device from Amazon this year as well, though they got a bit of a late start.

And what will be the effect of the iPad on all this? I don’t want to say much on this, because there’s still a lot to be learned about that device. I said earlier that e-readers will exist alongside tablets for some time, and I stand by that. If people really like to read books on a device of this form factor, I doubt the iPad (or similar devices) will be their only device.

Personally, I’m sticking with books, and looking forward to tablets as a way to read newspapers and magazines, which obviously require color and a net connection, neither of which is a guarantee with the current or impending generation of e-readers. I’ll be interested to see how my predictions fare against reality, but I think I’m on solid ground with most of them.

Hands-on with the Entourage eDGe dualbook

Posted: 12 Mar 2010 06:00 PM PST


I received the Entourage eDGe review unit the other day, and have been playing with it quite a bit. A full review is coming soon, but suffice to say that I like what I’ve seen so far. Here are a handful of photos to whet your appetite for my forthcoming review!

Fantasy gadgets: in-line A/V switch

Posted: 12 Mar 2010 05:45 PM PST


Question: why doesn’t this thing exist? I’m reviewing projectors the size of decks of cards, and my phone has turn-by-turn GPS navigation, but I still need to use a full-size AV receiver when I need to plug my SNES into my home stereo? I was wondering about this, and just doodled up this little thing here. It seems like for less than $100, a little gadget like this, probably about the size of a paperback, should be able to instantly convert any input stream to another. Why do I need a separate adapter for every single kind of connection?

Correct me if I’m wrong, but nothing really exists out there for this purpose except for:

  • Individual adapters (HDMI –> DVI, RCA –> 3.5mm)
  • Full-size AV receivers (fine but wall-bound)

Sure, the first doesn’t require power and the second is an integral part of any home AV system, but… really, there’s nothing in between?

In a day and age where all our devices have different inputs and outputs, we don’t have a universal, battery-or-USB powered gizmo that just takes whatever you put into it, detects what you’ve plugged in the other end, and outputs in that format. There might be a little upscaling if you’re going from RCA to HDMI, but a little dedicated graphics chip would make short work of that, and really, nobody cares about quality with an old-school analog input like that. You could have a couple models with a variety of inputs and outputs. Analog to digital, studio specialty, that kind of thing.

Seriously, you put a little low-power processor in there, it runs a simple BIOS that simply hears the input and puts out the output. The components have to be cheap enough that it’d be peanuts to build, and a 3000mAh battery should make it last at least four or five hours — enough to watch a movie or power a party where the speakers need a digital input or something.

I mean, I’ll totally take it back if there’s something practical out there for this purpose, but to my meager knowledge there isn’t. Maybe every store sells ‘em and I just don’t know it. Don’t you guys think this would be useful to have around?

Video: The craziest simulator in the world

Posted: 12 Mar 2010 05:00 PM PST

It’s Friday, and that means only one thing: stupid videos, and lots of them. So, allow me to oblige. This here is a video found on a Brazilian Web site showing “the craziest simulator in the world.” Quite.


Review: Mission Workshop Vandal weather-proof backpack

Posted: 12 Mar 2010 04:15 PM PST


Short version: Versatile but not particularly compact, the Vandal is a good choice for the hardcore urban biker/family man who needs to fit everything in his backpack, rain or shine.

Features:

  • Three weather-sealed cargo compartments
  • One expandable huuuge compartment
  • Lifetime warranty
  • MSRP: $229

Pros:

  • Hugely expandable
  • Weather sealing works just fine
  • Laptop fits fine in middle compartment

Cons:

  • No logical place for fragile items like cameras
  • Could use a little strap management
  • Expandable portion not weather-proof

Full review:

The right bag can make all the difference, and there are a hell of a lot to choose from, as we saw during Bag Week. For the gadgeteer, I found the Mamba Shift was great — for a laptop jockey, the Buran is a dream. But if I was travelling or shopping, I wouldn’t choose either if I had the option of the Mission Workshop Vandal. As long as you’re not carrying around a lot of little gadgets, this is a great choice for an all-purpose backpack.

Keep in mind during this review that the Vandal has a younger sibling, the Rambler, which is slightly smaller and costs $30 less, so if things seem a little big, there’s always that option.

So the general idea is that this is a relatively normal-sized backpack, weather-sealed of course, until you need it to carry a ton of junk, in which case you can unzip the sides and it accordions open, revealing a big-ass 800 cubic-inch space. In there goes your laundry, your groceries, your clothes for a trip, etc etc. I finally got a chance to put this to the test on a beautiful day in Seattle. I’d just had a long ride, which is why I’m winded in this video:

You know, in the video it doesn’t really look like that much stuff comes out of the bag, but trust me, it was packed. So that probably expresses more or less what I really need to say here.

Also: I’m very bad at taking pictures of backpacks and bags for some reason, which is why I’m using Mission Workshop’s official shots, except for this one:

Since it was nice out whenever I happened to take this bag with me, I didn’t really get to test out its weather sealing. So into the shower it went! I was happy to see that the water beaded up and flowed right off, as planned. Furthermore, there didn’t appear to be many catch points where the rivulets would collect, which points to good design on their part. It should be noted that the expandable portion of the backpack is not weather-sealed. I imagine this was necessary to let it compact well, but it’s a bummer nonetheless. That said, it’s not like it’s made of cheesecloth. You just can’t wear it in the shower. Also worth nothing: the padding that your back rests on is absorbent as well.

Another minor issue was that the straps have no elastic bands or obvious places to stow them. If you’re riding your bike, this leads to them whipping around and hitting your ears and back. A problem present on many backpacks to be sure, but it would have been nice to be able to lock those down.

I also felt there could have been more padding between the sections. The middle weather-proofed section is the logical one to put a laptop in, but there’s really nothing protecting it from shocks on either side. Likewise, there isn’t anywhere to put something like a camera and lens — to be fair, this is a problem shared by the Buran and many other backpacks, even the gadget-oriented Mamba Shift. But with so much cargo space, I’m disappointed there wasn’t a “safe area” for stuff like that.

Conclusion:

At $229 (or $199 for the slightly smaller Rambler), the Vandal is an expensive backpack. But that’s because it’s a durable, versatile, weather-proof backpack, not some $30 piece of garbage with a zipper that’ll break off after three months. I wish the Vandal had more padding and more ready access pockets, but that’s not really the kind of pack it is. I’d take this thing on a trip around the world in a second — wish I’d had it in Luxembourg when I stashed my regular-style pack under a bush and it started pouring like crazy. If all you need is something to pop your laptop and a book or two in, you’d be better off with a smaller, more tech-friendly bag. But if you’re the kind of person who really uses a pack like this, I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.

Product page: Mission Workshop Vandal

Netflix settles lawsuit, cancels contest

Posted: 12 Mar 2010 03:30 PM PST

Well, the lawyers have won again. Netflix settled the privacy lawsuit brought about by their last contest out of court, and canceled the next contest. Good thing we have outraged class action lawsuits to protect us!

Netflix of course ran a contest to find a better algorithm to recommend movies. Harmless right? Well, in order to help people figure out how to do this, Netflix released a bunch of viewer reviews of movies to interested parties, and that’s where the problem came in. Apparently there was a little too much information in those reviews, which would apparently allow people to compare similarly word reviews to other sites, and thus potentially find out who the author really is. Netflix was promptly sued back in December, and just announced that they’ve settled out of court, and will be discontinuing any further contests.

[via The Firewall]

Pink Floyd only wants you to download their entire albums, not individual songs

Posted: 12 Mar 2010 02:45 PM PST

There was an interesting debate on today’s Ron and Fez that speaks to a subject we’ve been whinging about for some time now: digital delivery of content, specifically of music. Pink Floyd has won a court ruling that will put an end to places like iTunes selling its songs individually. The band feels that their music can only truly be appreciated in the album format, from start to finish, and it never liked people being able to pick and choose what songs they wanted to download.

I will say this right now: I’m not a Pink Floyd fan. I have nothing against them, but when kids were starting to get into bands like Pink Floyd, say around age 13 or 14, I was busy playing Final Fantasy. It’s a case of not being exposed to their music, and at this point, I’m not going to bother. My loss, I suppose. But don’t cry for me, because that’s makes me especially suited to write this story—I have no emotional attachment to the band in question.

The gist of the ruling—The High Court in the UK, to be exact—is that EMI, the band’s record label, won’t be allowed to sell individual songs from its catalog online. That means, from now on, you’ll only be able to buy The Wall as a full album online, and not merely “In The Flesh?” and “The Thin Ice.”

Yes, I had to Wiki that. Again, I wouldn’t know a Pink Floyd song if [insert cliché here].

That’s the debate: should consumers be allowed to buy whatever song they want without having to buy an entire album?

One side says, “Yes, consumers should be able to pick and choose whatever song they want without worrying about what any band says. Just because a band ’says’ its music can only be appreciated in album form doesn’t make it so. Is There Will Be Blood any less valuable when you’re watching the Blu-ray on your 60-inch plasma instead of at an actual movie theater?” (I’d say no, it’s not any less valuable, especially since I can control the viewing environment when I’m watching the Blu-ray—no having to worry about loud idiots texting back and forth with their mates.)

The other side says, “Well, Pink Floyd made the music, and only they know how it can be appreciated. If they intended for the songs to be listened to as an album, we as consumers should appreciate their artistic wishes.”

While I side with the first opinion, the fact is I really don’t care too passionately one way or the other. The band wants you to buy albums? Fine, whatever.

But surely Pink Floyd understands how music is consumed in the year 2010: people put their iPhone or iPod or Zune HD or whatever on shuffle mode, run on the treadmill at the gym for 20 minutes, and hear “Poker Face,” “Run This Town,” and “Lay in a Shimmer” all in a row. Young people ask, “What’s an album? I only listen to my Spotify playlist when I’m writing about what I did on my summer vacation.”

Don’t expect to see this trend—going back to album-based music sales—continue beyond Pink Floyd. The music industry knows people are already used to buying this or that song from iTunes, and it’s in no position to say, “Actually, we want album sales now. Sorry.” It’s grateful that people are buying music at all, let alone expecting people to buy entire albums.

This is where I throw it to y’all: is Pink Floyd in the right here? Should a band be allowed to dictate how its fans listen its music? Or is this a giant “who cares?” debate?

The Spring Design Alex might launch on March 16

Posted: 12 Mar 2010 02:00 PM PST


Watch out! Rumored launch dates are falling from the sky today. Next up is the dual-screen, Android-powered Spring Design Alex and a rumor that states the ebook reader is headed towards a March 16th launch. That’s next Tuesday, kids!

The only thing official so far is a note on the Spring Design website that reads,

Thanks for your patience. We’re almost ready with our Alex store.
Keep checking in and by the first week of March you’ll be able to order your Alex online.
–The Spring Design Team

We took a look at the Alex at CES 2010 and it’s definitely one step above the Nook in terms of taking advantage of the dual screen setup. Hopefully we’ll get a chance next week to see if it stands up to the Nook or Kindle in real world use, though.

Video: The HTC HD2 might not run Windows Phone 7, but it can run Windows 95!

Posted: 12 Mar 2010 01:45 PM PST

We know what you’re thinking. “Man! Now that Microsoft has confirmed (and re-confirmed) that the HD2 won’t be getting an (officially endorsed) upgrade to Windows Phone 7, I can only hope that it will some day be able to run a desktop OS from fifteen years ago!”

Well, friend, that day has come.

Read the rest at MobileCrunch >>

Is the Viliv N5 launching in May?

Posted: 12 Mar 2010 01:30 PM PST


Viliv’s first clamshell is coming soon. We knew that. But the company was previously very quiet about when. Apparently though, the N5 could launch as soon as May. *fingers crossed*

I played with the the N5 at CES 2010 for about 45 seconds and while it looked nice, it didn’t feel nice. The keyboard was about as solid as Jell-O and the hinge was all loosey-goosey. I’m hoping those flaws were because it was a pre-production model. Spec wise, it kicks the crap out of the UMID mbook BZ that I’m currently review with more RAM, faster CPU, bigger SSD, and Windows 7. Hopefully it feels as great, too, because that’s the one thing the mbook BZ has going for it. Hopefully we’ll find out in May.

A musical tribute to Doug Aamoth

Posted: 12 Mar 2010 01:18 PM PST

Godspeed, friend.

Exclusive first look at the Viliv S10 Blade

Posted: 12 Mar 2010 01:17 PM PST


Laptops are becoming smaller and smaller and after we saw and lusted after the Sony Z series we were curious how the new Viliv S10 would perform. First off, it looks great. It’s very slim and the battery life is promising thus far. Is it an iPad replacement? Sure. It’s light enough and small enough and quite cute.

I think netbooks will end up being more like the Blade than actual laptops. The touchscreen makes more sense in this small scale except that this still uses a stylus, a big sad-maker for me. We’ll have a full review shortly.

Specs

Windows 7
Multitasking
Flash support
Unlocked 3G modem
Webcam
2 USB ports
SD card slot
Video out


Hey, Lenovo monitors, how’s it going? Oh, is that multi-touch I see? Cool, cool.

Posted: 12 Mar 2010 01:00 PM PST

There really isn’t too much to say about these Lenovo monitors. To be honest, I never even knew Lenovo made monitors till now. Speaking of monitors, I sure would to find one that’s not incredibly expensive, has a 1920×1200 resolution, and has a headphone jack. I’m a diva.

The highest end of the three monitors just announced today—the L2261, the L2361p Wide, and the L2461x Wide with multi-touch—has multi-tiuch. The name did give that away, but I needed to mention it to help pad this random story about random monitors.

All of them are a mere 1080p, which isn’t exactly anything to brag about in the realm of computer monitors. 1920×1200 or bust, I say.

Oh, price: $Lots. The L2461x Wide with multi-touch commands a $549-$580 price. I suppose if multi-touch if that important to you…

Goodbye, CrunchGear.

Posted: 12 Mar 2010 12:30 PM PST

Hello John Biggs -

I would like to be the CrunchGear intern. At 28 years of age I’d probably be the oldest, creepiest intern that CrunchGear has ever hired. That being said, I don’t look a day past 26. I should also tell you that I’m taller than most people so I would be good at seeing over smaller, scrawnier geeks at trade shows. Although since I’m so old, I’d probably get tired at around noon.

Those words began the e-mail I sent on May 31st, 2007, in response to a post titled Desperately Seeking CrunchGear Intern. I ended the e-mail by saying, "Thanks for your time and I'll be floored if I hear back from you…"

And I was floored. I was truly floored.

Up until that point, gadget blogs were a read-only affair for me. I was on the outside looking in, thinking how insanely wonderful it'd be to write about gadgets for a living. My dream job–absolutely, 100% my dream job. Little did I know it'd turn into a nightmare.

Just kidding. It has been, continues to be, and will always be a dream job for me. I can honestly tell you that there hasn't been a single day I've woken up and wished I didn't have to go to work. I hope that's come through in my 4,036 posts here.

In that spirit, I want to make it clear that I'm not leaving for any reason other than having perpetual, ever-present, non-STD-related ants in my pants. I made it almost three years at CrunchGear, which is longer than I've made it anywhere else. I truly loved my time here.

Those of you who have been reading CrunchGear for a while may recall that one of my favorite games in the whole wide world is SimCity 3000. I look at my work here as a city I've been building for a while. It's big, it's sprawling, and I've used up every tile of space. It's beautiful and I love it, but it's time to start working on a new city. My CrunchGear city isn't perfect by any means, but I'll hopefully use what I've learned here to build another great city.

I'll be joining fellow CrunchGear alumnus Peter Ha over at Techland, where I've been doing weekly video reviews for a while. He made me an offer I couldn't refuse, the timing seemed right, and I can promise you that what I'll be doing over there won't be all that different from what I've been doing here. There will be more videos, more weird "what is this doing on a gadget blog?" types of posts, and more bright blue instead of bright orange.

I can't thank the readers here or my fellow writers enough. Words couldn't possibly express how grateful I am to be doing what I'm doing but, as a writer, I should probably try.

To the readers: I love you guys. You've made me a much better writer. You've taught me the importance of thorough research, the importance of trying to keep straight-up news posts non-biased, and the importance of keeping my videos short and entertaining. I'm sure there are a few of you who may be happy to see me go but I hope there are more of you who have felt like you've gotten your money's worth from me. Readers are absolutely the lifeblood of any good site and I tried to keep that idea at the forefront of my mind during my time here.

To the writers: You guys are hands down the best crew I've ever worked with. It takes a special kind of crazy to work here—long hours, frozen budgets, stolen coverage, miles upon miles of trade shows, exploding live blogs, worn out keyboards, and wondering if what you do for a living really makes an actual difference in the grand scheme of things. I can tell you that what you do does, indeed, matter because I still remember what it was like to be a reader. And a big, big, big thanks to John for turning me from a reader into a writer.

I'm going to miss this place terribly, but I'm excited for what's next. Thanks for the memories, everyone. I'll leave you, if you don't mind, with some of my firsts and favorites:

Firsts!

Favorites!

Ah, good times. Thanks again for the memories, CrunchGear. Don't be a stranger.

donut

Wanna read Kindle books on your iPhone (and maybe iPad)? Of course you do~!

Posted: 12 Mar 2010 12:00 PM PST

All the Applemarks are excited about the iPad. Not me, but whatever. What I am excited about, though, is seeing consumers use the items they’ve bought in the manner of their choosing. Say you’ve bought a bunch of books from the Amazon Kindle store. (Don’t tell Devin!) Those books are only “supposed” to work with the Kindle and the various Kindle readers, but with a bit of work you can read them wherever you want—yes, including on your iPad.

It’s really not too hard. All you need is the book you want to read on your iPad, unswindle, mobiledrm, and Stanza, which is a program that reads ePub files. It runs on the iPhone and iPod touch—presumably one day it will run on the iPad. If not, well, sorry for wasting your time.

OK!

1. Buy your book. I recommend “The Death of WCW” by Bryan Alvarez.

2. Download the required software. This includes unswindle, mobiledrm, and maybe the Kindle reader for Windows.

3. Put everything in the same directory, then run unswindle. The Kindle DRM is now gone~!

4. Fire up Stanza, then convert and read away~!

That’s it. Enjoy being able to read Kindle books on your iPhone (and maybe iPad one day).

Please be aware that Amazon will likely be updating the DRM it uses pretty much every hour on the hour, so don’t get mad when this method suddenly stops working. It’s a cat-and-mouse game because publishers don’t know hot to get on with each other or release books in open standards.


Review: Nooka Asset Organizer

Posted: 12 Mar 2010 11:30 AM PST

Welcome to future world, first stop: wallets. Nooka makes some of our favorite watches an now they’re making what amounts to a wallet for space explorers. Made of soft silicone, it is wear and water resistant and infinitely expandable. It comes in five colors and costs $35.


Before you say $35 is too much to pay for a wallet, let me tell you who this is for. If you’re trying to reduce your wallet load – maybe down to a credit card, a drivers license, some business cards and some cash – this will do the trick. It’s not for the old-fashioned. The pockets let you organize things quite quickly and easily and unless you have a big wad of cash (who does in these trying times) you’re not going to miss the room for all your bills.

That said, I enjoyed using it over the past few weeks. I kept my business cards and Metro card in it and it rode shotgun with my wallet. The silicone was a little too slippery sometimes – it would pop out of my pocket – but on the whole it’s a cool design and a cool idea.

Is it for you? If you like bright colors and need a new wallet, consider it. If you’re more a meat sandwich in the woods on a brisk morning kind of guy, maybe give it a pass.

Product Page: Nooka AO

DIY: A quick and dirty $20 projector ceiling mount

Posted: 12 Mar 2010 11:00 AM PST

I had a problem. I was getting in a couple home theater projectors for review, but I didn’t want to just sit them on a table in the middle of my office. It’s already cluttered enough. The obvious solution was to mount them on my ceiling. However, I’m cheap and didn’t want to spend any money on a mount. I also wanted some truly universal, allowing me to review projectors of all sizes and shapes without worrying about their weight. It would also need to come down when not in use.

So I took a trip to the hardware store.

I had a couple of ideas in mind, but they all revolved around hanging a board from the ceiling where the projector would sit. This way I didn’t have to worry about the projector’s size, weight or if they needed a particular mounting bracket. I also needed the mount to be somewhat shock-proof and not rigid as it would hang only 6.5 feet from the ground. This way it wouldn’t break if something accidentally bumped it.

I ended up with this concoction: 1/2 eye bolt connected to a small eye screw by an open-ended lap link along with a random board from my scrap pile.

The eye screw is sunk into the floor joists (my office is in the basement) and the projector board rests on eye bolt’s nut. It’s really quite simple in design and construction.The mount is also very adjustable thanks to the eye bolt located in each corner that allows for quick and simple height adjustments.

Parts list:

  • A pack of 4 eye screws rated for 95 lbs – $1.59
  • Four lap link connectors rated for 225 lbs – $0.89 each
  • Four 1/2″ x 8″ eye bolts rated for 300 lbs – $3.49 each
  • Total cost $19.11

Tools list:

  • Tape measure
  • Drill press and hand held drill

Construction

Start with the board. You’re going to want to make sure that it’s a few inches longer and wider than the span between the floor joists and the projector. Drill holes the size of your eye bolts in each corner the exact distance between joists. Simple math and a tape measure helps. Use a drill press if you can to ensure the holes are perfectly vertical.

Once the holes are drilled, hold the board up to the floor joists and mark through the holes where the eye screws need to be sunk. Pre-drill holes in the joists and sink the small eye screws.

Then open up the lap links with two needle-nose pliers and join the eye bolt to the eye screw sunk in the wood. Insert the board up through the eye bolts and thread on the nut. Fun stuff, eh?

Yes, I know Monoprice and others sell mounts for around $15. But I constructed this solution in about two hours and it’s more versatile for temporary use. I would opt for one of those if I owned a projector and wanted a more permanent installation.

Oh, and the projector pictured is the InFocus SP8602. It’s nice.

TechCrunch Friday GiveAway: An Apple iPad #CRUNCH

Posted: 12 Mar 2010 10:57 AM PST

It's Apple iPad day, and every early adopter worth their salt is pre-ordering one of the soon to be ubiquitous little devices and counting the days until they get their hands on it on April 3. You've been waiting on this thing since December 2008, after all. We know you've already bought two for yourselves, the limit, because that's how TechCrunch readers roll. We know this because we've told our advertisers that every single one of our 9.2 million monthly readers is a high disposable income influencer in technology and media that just loves to try out new things that they see advertised on TechCrunch. And since those advertisers believe us, we have the means to buy an extra iPad and give it to you. Even though you'll then have three of them. Because you, dear reader, are a high disposable income influencer. Read on for details...


$200,000 BlackBerry takes gaudiness to a whole new level

Posted: 12 Mar 2010 10:45 AM PST

If I lose my phone, it’s a bad day. If this guy loses his phone, he just lost the equivalent of a CEO’s salary.

Read the rest at MobileCrunch >>
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