CrunchGear |  |
- Panasonic to roll out another two large-screen 3D plasma TVs
- Huzzah! The iPad 3G is “prepped to ship”
- Garmin-Asus Echoes the Nuvifone A50 With Their Second Android Phone, The A10
- Sony Japan teases “VAIO New Ultra Mobile”
- Daily Crunch: Unhinging Edition
- Looks like Microsoft’s Kins might be heading to AT&T, T-Mobile, and many more
- Three new Zune HD apps: Stopwatch, Labyrinth, Solitaire
- Samsung looking into bringing Android to the TV
- The PowerV Quad from Konnet Technology aims to charges and display Wii Remotes
- If I Did It: a blogger’s guide to not getting raided
- Wii hack shows what Wii Music might have been
- CrunchDeals: 1200 free photo prints at ArtsCow
- CrunchDeals: Sony Vaio FW for $720
- A photo gallery of the tiny 16GB Lexar Echo ZE flash drive with 12 household items
- Steven Frank Unboxing the iPad
- Malware targeting iPad users
- Benheck’s PS3 Slim laptop has blast processing
- The robot doctor will see you now
- Zeemote Bluetooth controller gets some Android love
- Nokia asks for their prototype N8 back, jabs at Apple’s security policies
| Panasonic to roll out another two large-screen 3D plasma TVs Posted: 28 Apr 2010 05:01 AM PDT
It seems Japanese companies are releasing 3D displays on an almost daily basis. Yesterday, we reported about Toshiba’s 3D HDTV, and today Panasonic Japan announced [JP] two new 3D plasma TVs for their VIERA line-up, the TH-P65VT2 (65 inches) and the TH-P58VT2 (58 inches). Both TVs require active shutter glasses to view images in 3D (the TY-EW3D10W, pictured below). They have the following features:
Panasonic plans to start selling the TVs in Japan from May 28. Prices: $7,500 for the 65-inch model and $6,100 for the 58-incher. The 3D glasses sell for $110, but Panasonic throws in a pair when you get one of their TVs.
Both plasmas are following two smaller models Panasonic showed back in February. The company has already entered the American market with its 3D devices.
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| Huzzah! The iPad 3G is “prepped to ship” Posted: 28 Apr 2010 04:58 AM PDT
You know news is tight when the words “Prepped for shipping” warrant their own post. However, the iPads 3G are now “prepped for shipping” which means they should be winging their way to the US in the next few days, just in time for the April 30th cut-off date.
How excited are you about your iPad 3G. So excited?
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| Garmin-Asus Echoes the Nuvifone A50 With Their Second Android Phone, The A10 Posted: 28 Apr 2010 04:43 AM PDT  Garmin-Asus today announced their second Android-powered phone, the A10 (for reasons unknown, they're seemingly not calling it a nuvifone). Just like the nuvifone A50, the device aims to be a pedestrian navigation device (as in, for pedestrians, not a boring navigation device), and will come with Garmin's navigation software and maps pre-loaded.
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| Sony Japan teases “VAIO New Ultra Mobile” Posted: 28 Apr 2010 04:21 AM PDT
Remember Sony Japan’s unusual promotion campaign for an 8-inch netbook (or ultra-mobile PC, as the Japanese like to call these devices) from December 2008? The target group was amused with the campaign. And it appears the marketing coup helped Sony actually sell the Vaio P, as the company today updated its Japanese site with yet another teaser for yet another “mysterious” netbook. All that Sony says on the site is that the device will be a “VAIO New Ultra Mobile”, meaning we can expect another sub-10-inch netbook (there is no info on specs, price, or release date). And if you live in Japan, you can register for a coupon that you can use when you buy the device. Sony will likely run similar campaigns again in other countries in the next weeks.
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| Daily Crunch: Unhinging Edition Posted: 28 Apr 2010 12:00 AM PDT |
| Looks like Microsoft’s Kins might be heading to AT&T, T-Mobile, and many more Posted: 27 Apr 2010 10:54 PM PDT
Looks like the Verizon/Vodafone exclusivity on the Kin 1 and Kin 2 might be short-lived — or at least, someone at Microsoft is already prepping for the day when it’s over. Days before the Kin 1 and 2 were made official, a ROM hacker known only to the internets as Conflipper published screenshots pulled from an early copy of the Kin OS. After a bit more digging, Conflipper just stumbled upon some more goodies: Kin system provisioning files for other carriers. Lots.. and lots of other carriers. Read the rest at MobileCrunch >>
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| Three new Zune HD apps: Stopwatch, Labyrinth, Solitaire Posted: 27 Apr 2010 06:00 PM PDT
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| Samsung looking into bringing Android to the TV Posted: 27 Apr 2010 05:30 PM PDT
An anonymous Samsung exec was quoted as saying, “we are considering Google TVs.” It makes sense to license Android, since the application base keeps growing, and you could potentially write software to take advantage of a larger display for productivity reasons. Besides, it’s also rumored that Sony is working on a Android TV as well, which will certainly help drive other manufacturers towards the technology. [via Pocket Lint]
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| The PowerV Quad from Konnet Technology aims to charges and display Wii Remotes Posted: 27 Apr 2010 04:39 PM PDT
There isn’t much to be said here. One look at the pic and headline and you probably already know what it’s a 4-port Wii Remote inductive changing station. But you probably don’t know that the PowerV Quad even works Wii Motion Plus and silicone covers. Nice, eh? $50 and ships in a few weeks.
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| If I Did It: a blogger’s guide to not getting raided Posted: 27 Apr 2010 04:30 PM PDT
As you’ve no doubt heard, Jason Chen’s house was raided by the local police, on a judge-signed warrant presumably brought about by charges filed by Apple. We’ve been discussing the case throughout the day — as non-lawyers but with that excellent visual acuity which hindsight is known for — and we have agreed that there are, in fact, some things we might have done differently in their position. Their reporting is their business, of course, and they have parleyed this story into enough traffic melt their servers, so I don’t mean this as a criticism of their coverage, but rather a few lessons we’ve learned from it that may prove valuable to anyone in a similar situation. Again, I would like to emphasize that I am not a lawyer, and furthermore the boss, who possesses many lawyer-like qualities, has already weighed in. But in case you find yourself about to break a big story like this, to be forewarned of the dangers and protections awaiting you is to be forearmed, and with a little foresight your foyer won’t be littered with the splinters of your foredoor. That’s your front door, which the cops will break down if you’re not there to open it when they serve the warrant. 1. What iPhone?
What’s more, as the finder, if you find yourself in possession of such goods or information as could be considered a trade secret or something else of importance and worth, it is probably best not to make this obvious unless you are sure of your ground. Knowing or stating its value is as much an admission of your knowledge as saying its name, by the way. But provided you are making a reasonable attempt to return the device, I see no reason why you couldn’t contact a friend who might be interested in the device. After all, if you found a valuable and interesting book and were waiting for its owner to call you back, wouldn’t you show your book-collecting friend? If it were to turn out to be a pre-release copy not for public consumption, well, no court on earth would convict you for not knowing that it was something you had no idea existed in the first place. If your friend, who may also be a journalist, finds it interesting and wants to take pictures, well, that’s his business as long as it doesn’t interfere with the lawful return of the item. On the other side of the equation, if you are a journalist and have reason to suspect you may be onto something big, it would be well to protect yourself. It sounds hokey, but limit your vocabulary. If Chen’s emails are submitted in court, it may be shown that he and others at Gizmodo conspired to pay money for a stolen trade secret they recognized as such (objection! hearsay!). With a little cloak and dagger tactics, all that might be found was that Chen was visiting an acquaintance who had something cool to show him. You don’t have to say “the eagle has landed” or “the package is in the open” — but avoiding things like “I’m going to pick up that stolen iPhone prototype, who has the cash?” seems advisable. 2. What source?
The protection afforded to journalists is really protection of sources. Even if the source may have committed crimes in furnishing you with that information, you cannot be forced to divulge anything. There are exceptions, however, for cases in which the reporter is himself implicated in the crime — to avoid journalist-criminal team-ups, I suppose. It remains to be seen which category the alleged iPhone theft falls under; that will surely be a point of contention in the upcoming legal action. What might a journalist do in order to limit his liability here? Well, although we’re not quite at the level of Presidential misconduct here, this is about the highest profile tech leak I can think of, so think Deep Throat. You don’t need to have an elaborate system of signals like I had when I was deep undercover in East Germany, but ideally only you know who your source is, and taking steps to ensure that is important. Gizmodo on the other hand wanted to tell a story, so they told one. If it’s true, though, everything narrated there is one less thing the prosecution has to prove, and at any rate if what is narrated is a crime, then that’s complicity right there. What if they had just published the preview, the teardown, the features, without the story? Personally, I think it might have been nice to have kept much of the mystery. Apple would know what really happened, of course, but that doesn’t really matter. With the benefit of hindsight (again, I want to stress that I’m not criticizing Gizmodo for the way they handled it but sharing what I feel I’ve learned from the last week), I would have published all the information without a second thought, but also without context. If our readers required more to convince them, we would simply have to keep our mouths shut until Apple proved us right in June. The context makes for good reading, sure, but will it also make for millions of dollars in damages? Gawker has lawyers; I’m sure they went into this thing fully aware of the risks. However, it’s my stated purpose in this post to suggest the safest path, not the one with the most pageviews, so I would advise against their approach. 3. What crime?
Arrington has stated that we do not pay for stories. I know I have never done, since I have barely enough to keep me in coffee. But he also notes that this scruple is far from universal among even the best-respected news organizations. If the idea of paying for a story is abhorrent to you (as it must be for me), proceed with the following substitutions: for “source” put “unscrupulous blogger” and for “prototype iPhone” put “suitcase nuke.” In this way, you will find we are not talking about how to compensate a potentially shady but important source, but rather how to safely remove a dangerous item from the hands of one who is not qualified to own it (on account of being unscrupulous — for which reason he is also demanding you pay him for the privilege). Also, you’re planning to write an article about it. Nick Denton publicly stated on the day the leak was published that Gawker had paid $5000 for the device; its return was also offered that same day. What the specifics of the deal were, I don’t know, and it doesn’t particularly matter. If the device is found to be stolen property, and that seems to be a distinct possibility, all that matters is that they knowingly paid money for stolen goods. It’s a crime, and a lawyer would argue quite a serious one, if he can convince the court of lost revenue or other damages directly resulting from the crime. But what if there was no crime? Sometimes the law must make way for justice, even if it doesn’t appear to be justice at the time. The ability to report something, anything, that one has seen or heard, is one of the rocks upon which our country is founded, and it is possible that laws may be broken along the way. At the risk of getting highfalutin on you, it does come down to a matter of free press and free expression. If people were prohibited from reporting something because it might cause a company to lose money — well, you can bet this country would look a lot different now. As for the question of bloggers as journalists: I think I might be a little biased, but I fail to see how a professional blogger of Jason Chen’s stature (or any of the others at Gizmodo or other prominent sites such as our own) could not be considered a journalist by an informed judge or jury. But to return to the topic at hand. I feel like a crime-lord, meditating on these dark matters, but sometimes one must think like a criminal in order to stay within the law. The precautions I’ve suggested above apply as always: be discreet, protect your source. And now, avoid committing a crime yourself. In this case, the crime was (allegedly) buying stolen property. But it’s not illegal to see stolen property, especially if you don’t know it’s stolen. You can’t be told if you don’t ask, by the way. And a consultant, who has found something interesting for you to look at (for an hour or a day, who’s keeping track?), not necessarily related to the controversial story, might be compensated in cash for expenses. I’m sure you see what I’m getting at here. Though I should make clear again that this is purely a thought exercise and in no way represents the policies of this website. In this fashion, the information is reported, the source is obscured, and the property is returned in short order to its rightful owner. Everybody wins! Except Apple. Luckily, there’s an app for that. So there you have it. In a nutshell, the lesson to be learned here is: don’t appear to know more than you should know, don’t reveal your source even indirectly, and avoid committing a crime in your reporting, even if that means using a quasi-legal smokescreen like an anonymous consultant. If these sorts of tactics make you uncomfortable, it’d be better to stay out of the shady-reporting business altogether. That’s my plan. One last point: I wouldn’t take legal advice from gadget bloggers, if I were you.
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| Wii hack shows what Wii Music might have been Posted: 27 Apr 2010 04:00 PM PDT
I was impressed but skeptical until he started throwing chords in there — skip to three minutes in if you want to skip the technical stuff and see what it’s like in use. The industrial design could use a little polishing, but if you make those flex sensors a little more sensitive and work out some easier plucking mechanics, this could be pretty awesome. [via Hack a Day]
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| CrunchDeals: 1200 free photo prints at ArtsCow Posted: 27 Apr 2010 03:20 PM PDT
The official rules are here. You still have to pay for shipping, and unfortunately this deal only applies to “orders placed and shipped within the globe.” I’m assuming they mean orders placed from this, the third planet from the su. So those of you in low earth orbit or on the Mars base are out of luck. [via LogicBuy]
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| CrunchDeals: Sony Vaio FW for $720 Posted: 27 Apr 2010 02:45 PM PDT
So what do you get? A maroon Sony Vaio, with a Intel Core 2 Duo 2GHz, 6GB of RAM, and all the other goodies you expect on a top end notebook computer. You can pick it up from the Sony Style website, however be aware when you first click on the price it’ll show up as $920. The system will automatically apply a $200 promotional discount and bring the price down to that $720 mark. [via I4U News]
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| A photo gallery of the tiny 16GB Lexar Echo ZE flash drive with 12 household items Posted: 27 Apr 2010 02:05 PM PDT The FedEx man just dropped off the new Lexar 16GB Echo ZE Backup Drive. This thing is tiny. Like I knew it was small judging by the press photos when it was announced back at CES, but I had no idea it was this small. You need to see this thing to scale to really appreciate it and so I snapped a few pictures with random items around my desk. Click through for the photo gallery. You have to see this thing. Full review coming soon.
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| Steven Frank Unboxing the iPad Posted: 27 Apr 2010 01:36 PM PDT
Steven Frank’s Internet Technology Podcast is serious business. Click through for his first unboxing, oh so many moons ago.
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| Posted: 27 Apr 2010 01:30 PM PDT
People who download the fake update are actually installing a data harvester program, which collects logins, passwords, software keys, and other personal data. The bad news is that this particular bit of malware only targets PC users, further promoting the false ideal that the Mac is safe from viruses. The lesson here is be careful where you download your software from, and double check that link before you click on it, no matter what computer you use. [via PCWorld] Really guys? I didn’t think it was necessary to differentiate between Mac and PC users, since it’s about iPad users being targeted. Please, leave the kittens and puppies alone.
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| Benheck’s PS3 Slim laptop has blast processing Posted: 27 Apr 2010 01:15 PM PDT
Well well well, look what Benheck has come up with. It’s a PS3 Slim laptop. It’s everything you need to play God of War III in one handy package. And, if you’re a wealthy person, Mr. Heckenorn will happily construct you one! So, it’s a PS3 along with a 17-inch 720p widescreen display, built-in speakers and a headphone jack, and "stylish pin striping to make games run at blast processing." If you youngsters don’t know what blast processing is… Um… awesome? That’s probably the most appropriate word right now.
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| The robot doctor will see you now Posted: 27 Apr 2010 12:45 PM PDT
It’s a brave new world of health and technology, coming together to keep you as healthy as modern medicine allows. The Senate Committee on Aging was witness to a show-and-tell of sorts last week, getting a first-hand look at some of the hi-tech innovations that promise to annoy people who cringe at the idea of universal healthcare. Because keeping people healthy is pure, pure evil, apparently. It all sounds a little like Blade Runner. Laptops with built-in blood pressure monitors, a device that can automatically pump out the appropriate amount of insulin without having to consult a doctor (keeping the good doctor free to check on more complicated issues), little alarms worn on your person that would call 911 if something bad happened to you (like you’ve slipped on ice), and so on. Then there’s the benefits of giving doctors access to electronic medial records, delivered to and fro’ in the blink of an eye thanks to broadband. It’s the future~!
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| Zeemote Bluetooth controller gets some Android love Posted: 27 Apr 2010 12:08 PM PDT
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| Nokia asks for their prototype N8 back, jabs at Apple’s security policies Posted: 27 Apr 2010 11:48 AM PDT
Nokia’s not very happy right now. Just days before they officially announced their new flagship phone, the N8, someone managed to get their hands on an early prototype. Sound familiar? Unlike Apple’s prototype iPhone, Nokia’s leaked N8 actually booted up, bearing its early software — and all of its early faults — for judgement. Read the rest at MobileCrunch >>
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Sources at Samsung revealed that they are looking at TV’s that incorporate Google’s Android OS in them. I’m not so sure I want a TV that is quite that intelligent.
The legal status of an unreleased high-profile device like a new iPhone is nebulous. I’m guessing there are some precedents regarding trade secrets, but there’s no law against taking a picture of something cool you found at a bar. That’s how we 
In the market for a good deal on a laptop? Sony’s 
Uh oh, sounds like the tablet that Steve brought down from the mountain might be susceptible to attack. A recent campaign by malware spammers has been targeting users of the much hyped iPad, inviting users to download an updated and improved version of iTunes. The update promises to provide more compatibility and better performance, and is completely fake.
It’s only taken about a billion years, but the 
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