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iHome’s misleading yet useful charging system

Posted: 16 Jul 2010 10:14 PM PDT

So you look at whatever this abortion is an say to yourself “Wow! They connected an iPad to a Kindle or whatever and some kind of phone! These guys are geniuses!” Then you realize it’s just a charger and then you’re kind of annoyed.

Anyway, this is just some kind of charger thing but it’s pretty cool. It’s from iHome and does all of this stuff:

Charges iPad. Built-in stand included.
Dual universal docks: One to charge and sync to iTunes
Second dock for quick charge of iPhone/iPod
Charges (via USB port) iPad, Blackberry, and most eBook readers, including Sony Reader, Amazon Kindle, Barnes & Noble Nook, etc.
Expandable, rubberized rest area accommodates Blackberry, and most eBook readers

Great, right? Right.

Weekend Giveaway: A Droid X from Rebtel

Posted: 16 Jul 2010 09:57 PM PDT

If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you’ll probably want to know is where I was born, an what my lousy childhood was like, and how my parents were occupied and all before they had me, and all that David Copperfield kind of stuff, but I don’t feel like going into it, if you want to know the truth. In the first place, that stuff bores me, and in the second place, my parents would have about two hemorrhages apiece if I told anything pretty personal about them.

They’re quite touchy about anything like that, especially my father. They’re nice and all–I’m not saying that–but they’re also touchy as heck. Besides, I’m not going to tell you my whole autobiography or anything. I’ll just tell you about this madman stuff that happened to me around last
Christmas just before I got pretty run-down and had to come out here and take it easy. I was giving away a Droid X sponsored by a company called Rebtel and they wanted me to post it on CrunchGear and TechCrunch and ask people to comment to win.

Here’s a bunch of information about Rebtel, in case you wanted to know:

Rebtel is yet another reason you need to convince your friends abroad
to get an Android. Rebtel’s Android App says bye bye to international
calling fees. Simply download the app and call any other Android
device around the world for free, just paying the price, if any for
your local minutes plan.

For all other calls, Rebtel’s international calling app runs in the
background and will intercept users from making expensive long
distance calls by automatically converting the number to a cheap local
number. It’s seamless to the consumer and saves 95% of the call price.

No Wi-Fi needed: Rebtel works on the standard cellular network using
local phone numbers where the caller lives instead of requiring an
active Internet connection to make free or low-cost international
calls. Rebtel for Android works anytime, anywhere and works with the
standard dial pad and address book.

Also just so you know I’ll be picking a winner at noon Eastern on Monday. Only comment once and include your email in the comment form but not in the comment body itself. It’s a Verizon phone and all that, so if you’re not in Verizon’s coverage area it probably won’t do you any good. Otherwise, it’s a pretty good phone.

Also understand that I censored the first few paragraphs of one of the greatest American books of the 20th century because I knew there would be a bunch of folks who would get angry at me for saying swear words.

Activision has sunk $100 million into StarCraft II

Posted: 16 Jul 2010 06:45 PM PDT


One hundred million dollars. That’s quite a lot of money. If you factor in advertising, you’re looking at what is perhaps the most expensive game ever made. It’s not a chump bet, though: the insane popularity of StarCraft means that they can expect a huge return on their investment, to be paid back over what will certainly be a long, long shelf life for this game. Activision may be expecting as much as a billion dollars in revenue to come out of this particular item. I believe it.

[via 1up]

Auction off your Cease and Desist from LucasFilm for fun and profit

Posted: 16 Jul 2010 06:12 PM PDT


Remember that cool-looking Spyder III Pro Arctic laser from WickedLasers? Remember how LucasFilm thought it looked a little too much like a lightsaber? Remember how they then served WickedLasers a Cease and Desist? And then, remember how WickedLasers put that Cease and Desist up on eBay?

You probably don’t remember that last part, because I’m just telling you now. It’s up on eBay, as of this writing going for around $600. That’s one way to pay for your legal fees. I love that the letter starts off with “Gentlemen.”

[via TechDirt]

We have met Antennagate, and it is us

Posted: 16 Jul 2010 04:53 PM PDT


There is no Antennagate.

Well, that’s not true. But what Jobs called Antennagate at today’s press conference is more than just the design flaw in the iPhone 4 they insisted was a non-issue. It’s a design flaw with the entire way the issue was handled — by them and by us. The feeding frenzy around the iPhone 4 has been a months-long affair, for a combination of two reasons: one, that Apple has a unique position in tech coverage, and two, that controversy generates traffic. The result is outrage, confusion, expenditure, flamewars, and everything else that’s been happening online since the launch.

Sorry about that. We’re not perfect.

See, as you may know, Apple enjoys a bit of a coverage bias here and elsewhere on the net. Why is that? You know why, for the most part: sexy products, charismatic leader, a whiff of elitism. They’re fun to write about and many people enjoy reading about them — that’s enough for us. So it shouldn’t come as a surprise that, when a design flaw, plain for all to see, was detected in what was heralded as the best smartphone ever to be released, the response in the tech community was mixed and misleading.

I say mixed because Apple coverage seems to be opinionated for more than other coverage, anywhere you look on the net. There is very little emotion in reporting on HP or Palm — perhaps it is because, as MG suggests, Apple works hard on building an emotional bond with its customers, something which its detractors see and abhor. Whether that’s the case or not, Apple news is often delivered with a slant. And I say misleading because in some ways, how Antennagate (which I am going to stop referring to as such; “-gate” terms are overused) was reported exposed many of the weaknesses in the online reporting structure of which we are a small part. Let’s get into that.

Apple’s ubiquity in web culture usually works in their favor: a press conference with a couple hundred people becomes an internet-wide festival of love and hate. Of course, part of that is their knowing how to put on a presentation, the value of which is something many companies deeply underestimate. Even when revealing the iPhone’s flaws and return rates, Steve treated it like he was revealing new flavors of candy. But the coverage is unstoppable and in a way, free. A major part of advertising is getting people talking about your product; with Apple, people are so primed to talk that all they have to do to advertise is show a picture with the name of the product. Considering Apple’s marketing reach, the excesses and Jobsian quips that do routinely set the internet on fire are mercifully few and far between.

In the last few weeks, however, that self-same ubiquity has been Apple’s worst enemy. Imagine if everything you did propagated, memelike, to the farthest corners of the internet, where even the die-hard Apple hater must acknowledge every announcement, even if it’s just to criticize it (something I enjoy occasionally). After using that power judiciously and deliberately for years, the inevitable finally happened: they dropped the ball — and it dutifully propagated. When your failure becomes a meme, you’re cooked.

For the record, these were my two contributions:


The signal drop heard ’round the world was followed by many more reports of launch issues. It was rough, and because of the way the internet has set itself up to instantly propagate exactly this kind of thing, soon people were hearing about iPhone 4 issues before they even knew there was an iPhone 4. The launch problems became a bigger story than the launch. Why? Because we liked it that way.

The appetite for this kind of thing is bottomless. Reasons for interest include fanboyism, professional interest, idleness, schadenfreude, legitimate concern… there was something for everybody. Then Apple, knocked off-balance by their own unpreparedness, gave a response that simply made things worse. “Non-issue. Just avoid holding it in that way.” I can’t think of a response that could have garnered a more comprehensively varied response. Shock! Defensiveness! Rationalizing! Minimizing! The circus became a feeding frenzy. And then the official statement, in which they revealed that iPhones had been using a ridiculously inaccurate signal display for years, and that they were going to make the bars bigger? My god!

So Apple was far from innocent in this whole affair, right up to the non-apology given by Steve today. Their only mistake, Steve implied, was a visual element that caused users to involuntarily ruin their own signal. Steve could talk his way out of a sunburn, as the saying goes, but not this time. Scott noted when we were chatting about this that according to Apple, the iPhone is unlike every other phone on the market — except when there is a problem, at which point it’s just like every other phone on the market. That said, I’m glad they decided to give out bumpers, and of course you can always return the phone for a full refund, so as far as I’m concerned, customers are completely provided for. Class-action lawsuits are pending but I wouldn’t hold out much hope for a settlement.

But were we innocent? One could say we just did our jobs, and wrote up what was going on. We detailed it step by step. Was that the extent of our responsibilities, though? If it was, then Twitter did our job as well as we did, and maybe better. I wrote a while back: “Real time, real discussion, real reporting – choose two.” Looking back on all the coverage, there was a lot of real-time discussion, but almost no reporting at all. Some very valuable input came from Anandtech, when Anand systematically tested the attenuation caused by shorting the antenna, but by and large it was theories, counter-theories, rumors, and fabrications getting multiplied and amplified by blogs like this one. Even ostensibly reliable outlets in the old media posted garbage of every kind. Publishing rumors is, of course, a valuable part of the job, since many are true or end up resulting in interesting discussion. I’m glad we posted all the things we posted. But I also think Steve is right: this was a pretty serious mountain-molehill situation.

The antenna problem is real, of course. How much of a problem it really is — that’s harder to say. Although I would normally say that it’s under-reported in those Apple statistics, that probably isn’t the case here. After all, this is probably one of the most widely-publicized product launches in history, partly because of the huge amount of attention given to this very flaw. If a user has an iPhone, they are almost certain to know of the issue. And if they know of it, they are almost certain to notice it when it happens. Although as Apple and others have noted, it mainly occurs in areas with marginal reception, so many people may find later that they are death grip sufferers and didn’t know it when they take a trip to the boonies. For this reason I’d suggest getting a case even if you don’t really need it where you live.

But those numbers: half a percent of iPhone 4 users complaining? 1.7% return rate? Nearly identical call drops to 3GS? Out of 3 million users, that’s around 30,000 — not a trivial number by any means, but in retrospect, does it justify the international wave of mockery? It ain’t exactly Side Talkin, after all: 2.9 million people seem to be happy with their phones.

The Point

What am I getting at here? Well, I think this whole debacle demonstrates the power of the Internet to report in the wrong way, as opposed to the Tiger Woods incident, which I think demonstrated the Internet’s strengths (though it also resulted in my writing the “Choose Two” article I mentioned). When the event is what matters (e.g. Tiger Woods crashing his car with his wife beating on the windows), and updates on the granularity of minutes are warranted, the Internet is the perfect medium. But by applying that toolset to something it is totally unsuited for, we found ourselves groping in a dark and crowded echo chamber, grasping at factual straws and thrusting them into the faces of everyone we encountered. How little it accomplished! Apple is temporarily humbled, but they would have been one way or another. But they have the benefit of being unfairly set upon, of being able to quote hundreds of articles spewing FUD and unconfirmed nonsense — after all this, they get to play the victim card! That’s the real Antennagate.

Unfortunately, the solution is an impossible one. This is because the solution is discretion. Discretion and restraint are things that have more or less disappeared, since the benefits of being first and wrong outweigh the benefits of being late and right. The short-term benefits, I should say, in the form of traffic and popularity — very important metrics to the powers that be (advertisers and such). The long-term benefits of being a reliable source for news and analysis are becoming more and more difficult to discern, which is disturbing to me. Yet I still believe, and this whole thing has made me believe more, that perspective and discretion are as important as ever — and probably only as rare as they ever were to begin with. I’m not going to get all emotional on you here and say “oh no journalism is dying,” as if I know a thing about that, but let’s be honest: sometimes journalism can be pretty hard to find — even if you think you know where to look.

There you have it. I just wanted to put my own lid on this whole iPhone 4 thing, with the conclusions I’ve drawn from it. If it came off like Apple apologia, I don’t think you read closely enough. The way the world reports and is reported is going through all kinds of transitions, and one day I think that this whole thing and other stories like it are on their way to becoming case studies in Mass Communications 101.

Hulu Plus on the PS3 and iPad can’t give free content away

Posted: 16 Jul 2010 03:45 PM PDT

So Hulu Plus preview users on the PS3 and iPad have run into some strange licensing issues. The details on the iPad situation are a bit unclear, but the PS3 users get to pay lots of extra fees for the privilege of watching content they could see for free on the web.

Let’s start with the PS3: not only will users have to pay $9.95 a month for Hulu Plus, they’ll also have to pay $50 per year for the requisite PlayStation Plus membership if they want Hulu Plus right now. After all that, users paying for the service aren’t able to watch the free content via their PS3. This is of course the free content on the web that non-paying Hulu users can see any time they want on the web. Sony has stated that Hulu Plus will eventually be available to all their users in near future. It’s unclear at this time if that means that Hulu Plus subscribers wouldn’t have to pay the $50 for a PlayStation Plus membership or not.

iPad users have experienced the same issue. Content viewable for free on the web is unavailable via the Hulu Plus client. Apparently it comes down to licensing: Hulu doesn’t have the rights to include some of the shows available for free on the web via their premium product. No doubt this is something the lawyers will work out later, but for right now it kind of sucks for the people who are paying for Hulu Plus.

It’s also kind of funny. “You can’t have it.” “Why?” “Because it’s free.” Shades of Abbott and Costello.

[via Electronista]

Handmade knife chipped from fiber optic glass

Posted: 16 Jul 2010 03:00 PM PDT

Flint (and glass) knapping is no longer practiced on a large scale, but it used to be the primary method of making weapons for primitive cultures. In this day and age of course, it’s easy to go to the sporting goods store and pick up a quality steel knife, but it wasn’t always so.

There are still people out there that practice the art (and I do mean art) of knapping; one such artist created this knife from fiber optic glass, and offers them for sale on his web site. Personally, I doubt I would ever use such a knife for fear of breaking it, but it does make an amazing display piece. If you want one, it’ll cost you $165 – a small price to pay considering the amount of time it must have taken to hand make this knife from a piece of glass. Remember, one mistake, and you have to start over.

[via Make]

Google to no longer stock Nexus Ones

Posted: 16 Jul 2010 02:26 PM PDT

The Nexus One’s time is about to expire. Google will soon no longer stock its self-branded Android handset and just received its last shipment of handsets. It was good while it lasted. Even though the Nexus One never really caught on outside of the close-knit Android community, it was a killer handset and might still be one of the top three available.

“Vibration-Powered Generating Battery” is a AA that makes its own power

Posted: 16 Jul 2010 02:15 PM PDT


Harvesting kinetic energy to “charge” a power element is something that goes back thousands of years, to the wind and water mills among other things. And in a more germane form, the self-winding watch goes back decades, if not longer (I’m not the watch expert here). So it’s not really a surprise that it’s being put into batteries — though I wonder whether this is the most efficient way of going about this.

At first I thought these were like the “parametric generators” we saw back in March, but those harvest ambient harmonics. These batteries from Brother are designed to be shaken, not hummed at.

You’ve probably seen the flashlights that you can shake for a few minutes in order to get half an hour of light (they’re called Faraday flashlights, interestingly). Very handy — and smart, in that the power generator is the size of the flashlight itself and not contained within the battery. With kinetic harvesting, the more movement, the more space, the more force, the better. These things seem to work the same way, but because they have to put so much more in a small space, the power they can generate and store is necessarily lower. Occasional draws of 100mW seem to be the limit for now, which pretty much puts this in the “clicker” category. Well, good. I hate changing the batteries in clickers.

[via Obsessable]

A video tour of Apple’s wireless test chambers

Posted: 16 Jul 2010 01:15 PM PDT


Apple wants you to know that they’re very serious about testing their products, even though they end up with a death grip issue anyway, and also use the wrong signal display algorithm for three years. This little video at Apple shows their testing setup. It’s a pretty blatant scramble for goodwill, but the fact is this: anechoic chambers are cool-looking. So go watch!

Another melted Apple USB cord, this time on an iPad (updated)

Posted: 16 Jul 2010 12:51 PM PDT


Last week we heard about an iPhone 4 cord that flared up, scorching the device and melting the cord. This week it’s an iPad; TechReport reader Forge says he woke up at 5 in the morning to the smell of burnt plastic. The USB connector was melting and the iPad was extremely hot, so much so that when he grabbed it to disconnect the cord, he immediately dropped it on the ground.

I noted last week that even with extremely high yields in relatively simple parts, when producing five or six million electronic devices, you’re guaranteed to get a few bad ones. Two USB burnouts in a row seems like a lot, but there are millions of devices out there not catching on fire. All the same, a high-capacity battery and high-voltage charger do have the potential to get very hot, so take reasonable precautions when setting your devices down to charge for the night.

Apple devices in particular tend to get super hot due to the slimness, density, and (in my opinion) inadequate ventilation, so keep that in mind. The more you know!

Update: in an interesting follow-up, it seems that the user took it in to the Apple store to have it replaced, fixed, or what have you, and they refused. The reason? He had jailbroken his iPad. I bet you’re expecting me to be like OMG FREEDOM WTF but no, this falls squarely under the personal liability you assume when you hack your device.

Update 2: One Mac flame-up caught on video, in case you’re wondering what something like this looks like in general. It’s not a fireball. Actually, that one looks like a short – those power adapters had weak points right at the end of the round bit.

DA Withdraws iPhone 4 Warrant, Returns Gizmodo Editor Jason Chen’s Possessions

Posted: 16 Jul 2010 12:28 PM PDT

The iPhone 4 may be available to the general public, but the police investigation into the leaked device that Gizmodo purchased last spring is still going strong. Now there’s been a new development: the EFF reports that the San Mateo District Attorney has withdrawn the warrant it used to search Gizmodo editor Jason Chen’s house last April, when it confiscated multiple computers, hard drives, and other electronics.

Update: The Wall Street Journal reports that Gawker has reached an agreement with investigators. Chen’s materials will be returned, and Gawker/Chen will be voluntarily handing over materials deemed “relevant to the case” by a court appointee.

Quick rant @ Verizon: How about providing the customer service number when OTA activation fails?

Posted: 16 Jul 2010 12:03 PM PDT

You know, it’s the little things that makes companies great. Attention to detail, if you will. I just opened my new Droid X and attempted to active the phone. It failed. That’s fine. Things happen.

Then this message plays,

“I’m sorry. We are unable to program your phone at this time. Please call customer service from a landline phone and a representative will be happy to assist you.”

Oh boy; here we go.

Amazon can supply all your Uranium Ore needs

Posted: 16 Jul 2010 11:00 AM PDT

From the product description,

We are always in compliance with Section 13 from part 40 of the NRC Nuclear Regulatory Commission rules and regulations and Postal Service regulations specified in 49 CFR 173.421 for activity limits of low level radioactive materials. Item will be shipped in accordance with Postal Service activity limits specified in Publication 52.

$29.99 (make sure you read the reviews)

Apple sold 3 million iPhone 4s in three weeks, “perhaps our best product”

Posted: 16 Jul 2010 10:18 AM PDT

Apple started off today’s press conference with a little bit of bragging: they moved over 3,000,000 iPhone 4’s in three weeks. It took the original iPhone two and a half financial quarters to hit that sort of sales numbers. However, those numbers are on the same sort of blockbuster level that the iPhone 3G and even 3GS experienced in their early days.

Those sales numbers are with the so-called Antennagate scandal in which Apple is currently trying to spin out of. It would be interesting to the iPhone 4’s sales numbers on a bar graph to see if the antenna issue actually had the any impact on overall sales. It was a hot topic on line, but until it hit the public conciseness a few days back with Consumer Reports, Keith Olbermann and even Letterman, the average iPhone 4 buyer probably either didn’t care or know what was going on.

But luckily for Apple, they are finally attempting to make things right starting with today’s press conference. More as we get it.

Live from Apple’s iPhone 4 Press Conference

Posted: 16 Jul 2010 09:26 AM PDT

In a bit of a last-minute surprise, Apple has called a press conference at their Cupertino headquarters. Only one thing’s for sure: it’s about the iPhone 4, and presumably about the iPhone 4’s antenna issues. So what’s going to happen: a mass recall? Probably not. Free bumper cases from everyone? Perhaps. We all have our theories, but nothing’s concrete until it comes out of the mouth of Jobs himself — and when it does, we’ll be there reporting it live. Join us?

Video: All Nippon Airways brings Gundam to the skies

Posted: 16 Jul 2010 09:22 AM PDT

It seems that Japan’s obsession with Gundam is limitless. What can follow after a 60-foot Gundam robot, a Gundam Cafe in Akihabara, or a 1.5m tall figure? Answer: a Gundam jet.

Bandai Namco, the company behind the cult anime robot, teamed up with Japanese airline All Nippon Airways (ANA) to paint a Boeing 777-300 with a “life-size” Gundam on one side and a Gundam logo on the other (the logo’s pictured above). The jet will fly on certain domestic routes from today till spring 2011 to mark the 30th anniversary of the release of the first Gundam model kit.

Here’s a video (in English) that provides more insight about the ANAxGundam project:

Via Robots Dreams

This 32 port USB charging station is more than you can handle

Posted: 16 Jul 2010 08:53 AM PDT


Forget about about buying a 5-port USB every couple of years to support your growing collection of novelty flash drives. Do it once and do it right. Buy the Professional Hub Series B2 charging station.

Actually it’s not even meant for flash drives as there isn’t even a computer interface. I just wanted you to picture the board filled with Yoda, Boba Fett, and other random flash drives. That thought made morning.

This USB board is actually a charging station. Picture a classroom full of iPods. This thing can charge all them simultaneously. That’s not the coolest thing, IMHO. You have to dig the industrial but yet functional design. I want my next clock radio to look like that. $299 GBP (about $460 USD)

Tesla to build all-electric RAV4 for Toyota (and maybe a supercar, too)

Posted: 16 Jul 2010 08:24 AM PDT

The all-electric RAV4 is set to make a comeback. But this time around Tesla Motors is going to provide the electric powerplant, rather than Toyota themselves. In fact, Tesla might even be doing the bulk of the assembling if this CNN Money report is correct.

Toyota announced that the Japanese auto maker planned to invest $50 million into Tesla after a successful initial public offering. That took place a couple weeks back on June 29 and this is the first we’re seeing from the investment.

This isn’t the first all-electric plug-in RAV4. Toyota produced the first model back in the ’90s and in fact some are still running around the streets. The one embedded about is part of the fleet is still used by Southern California Edison Electric Vehicle Technical Center.

The RAV4 has changed a bit since that model, though. The model is on its 3rd generation platform and is significantly more bulky. It’s longer, taller and weighs a good amount more. The original model was based on a Corolla platform and could be considered a micro SUV. Not anymore.

However, the larger build might help Tesla more than it hurts. It might be heavier than other Tesla models, but the larger platform probably provides more space and better suspension for the heavy liquid cooled lithium ion battery packs. The first batch of is supposed to hit before the year’s end with the model being widely for the 2012 model year.

But maybe supercars are more your thing. Toyota and Tesla are reportable working on one of those, too. Maybe something to compete against the Mercedes-Benz or Audi models. This could be awesome.

The story goes that Toyota’s President took a spin in a Tesla Roadster and loved it so much that he immediately approved the project. The powerplant is said to product about 500 HP with electric motors at each wheel providing the movement. But that’s about all Motor Trend knows at this point. It could an entirely new beast or even an electric version of the Lexus LFA.

Either way, Toyota will no doubt be a huge player in the growing electric/hybrid supercar market although they are getting a slightly late start. Many car makers including Porche, Ferrari, and BMW already have next-gen hybrid platforms racing around the Nurburgring just waiting to eat a Toyota for a snack.

Sharp Blu-ray recorders support quadruple-layer discs with 128GB capacity

Posted: 16 Jul 2010 08:00 AM PDT

The 100GB BDXL Blu-rays Sharp unveiled today are nice and all, but they’re useless with all Blu-ray recorders that are currently on the market. That’s why Sharp Japan also announced [press release in English] not one but two new Blu-ray recorders (the BD-HDW700/pictured and BD-HDW70) that will actually support the BDXL format.

Both devices are compatible with triple-layer Blu-rays (100GB capacity) and even quadruple-layer discs (with up to 128GB capacity). The recorders were developed by Pioneer Digital Design & Manufacturing Corp, a joint venture of Pioneer Corp and Sharp, which was established last year. Apart from BDXL, both devices also support 3D Blu-rays (the drive is pictured below).

Sharp Japan plans to start selling the recorders in Japan on July 30. Prices: $2,300 for the BD-HDW70 with a built-in 1TB HDD, and $3,500 for the BD-HDW700, which comes with a 2TB HDD.

Via AV Watch [JP]
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