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Incoming! Blackberry Playbook Appears On FCC

Posted: 11 Mar 2011 05:04 AM PST

Not much here to note but this FCC filing shows that the Blackberry Playbook has pushed through another hurdle towards reality. The filing shows the capacaties – 16, 32, and 64GB – but the rest is classified per RIM’s request to the FCC. I’m actually quite intrigued by this pad but I’d probably never buy one. We shall, as they say, see.

via Engadget


Are You Seeing Any Lines For The iPad 2?

Posted: 11 Mar 2011 05:00 AM PST

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Hey, people near Apple stores (or in line at Apple stores), are you spotting any long where you are? I’d like to see how popular this launch is for Apple, given SXSW and, you know, world events? Check in in comments below and email photos to tips @ crunchgear dot com.

Need Some Cash? Buy Apple Stock Instead Of Apple Gear

Posted: 11 Mar 2011 04:45 AM PST

If you had bought Apple stock instead of an iPod back in 2001, you’d be about $10,000 richer. According to an assessment by Kyle Conroy, you’d be a few times richer if you bought Apple stock instead of Apple gear on day of launch. What does this say about us, as consumers? That we’re ravenous fools intent on spending ourselves into oblivion? Pretty much.

The highest bit of profit comes from the Apple PowerBook G3 250 released in 1997 on the cusp of Apple’s turnaround. If you invested the $5,700 you paid for that laptop into Apple stock, you’d have made $330,000. However, to be fair, the productivity gains you probably experienced thanks to a laptop in those days may have made up for the initial purchase price.

Regardless, let’s take this lesson to heart: instead of pressing “Buy Now” on Apple.com/store, let’s try pressing “Buy Now” on Ameritrade every once in a while. Your wallet will thank you. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have an iPad 2 to buy.

via NYT


You Can Order An iPad 2 Right Now. Are You Buying?

Posted: 11 Mar 2011 04:03 AM PST

Slightly ahead of the announced 1 AM PST launch time, Apple's iPad 2, which was introduced earlier this month, is now up for sale at the company's US online store.

Estimated shipping date for iPads are from March 18 to March 25th. That day, the iPad 2 will also be made available in 26 additional countries – Apple says further international availability and pricing will be announced at a later date. Online orders will ship within 3 to 5 days, and buyers are limited to two units per order.

Read more…


Nikon May Have Leaked Their Own D5100 DSLR

Posted: 10 Mar 2011 06:45 PM PST


Nikon may have just accidentally revealed the successor to their D5000 consumer DSLR. This video shows various cameras in the Nikon family, but Nikon Rumors noticed that when it shows the D5000, the LCD is shown swiveled to the left side. The Problem? The D5000 LCD only swivels down.

Not much revealed other than that, but a good catch by NR. If the release is soon, it could steal the Canon T3i’s swivel-thunder. We’ll keep you posted.

News Corp: WSJ Tablet Subscriptions Are Blowing Up

Posted: 10 Mar 2011 06:20 PM PST

I think we are all still pretty skeptical of the tablet-based newspapers right now — nothing against them, it’s just a question of scale and pricing. With surprisingly low pricing like the Daily’s, or (relatively) high pricing like the WSJ’s, can they get enough people to subscribe to make turn a dollar?

As it turns out: yes, at least on the Wall Street Journal’s part. The paper’s publisher, Les Hinton, says the number of tablet subscribers to the WSJ has quadrupled since last year, and is now hovering around 200,000. The paper itself has a circulation of about 1.6 million, so that’s not bad at all.

Then there’s the Daily, which is a different value proposition, being only on the tablet. My guess is they’re struggling for subscribers right now, but they probably expected that to happen. They’re among the first to go all-tablet, and that’s risky. But if they’re willing to spend the money at the beginning, they can work out the process, squash the bugs, and be at 100% when the others launch their inevitable competitors.

Two sure things: the market is growing and people are willing to pay, so it’s too early to call it one thing or another.

Video: Bytejacker At GDC

Posted: 10 Mar 2011 05:54 PM PST


Bytejacker is a good “layman’s” resource for the indie gaming world: up to date but not esoteric, enthusiastic but not fanboyish, and generally bite-sized, although this week’s episode, in which they hit up GDC, is longer than usual. There’s lots of good stuff, including a few previews of games you know are going to be big, some random good stuff, and even a brief interview with Pixel, who pretty much singlehandedly created Cave Story.

Check it out. They’ll be adding more stuff to their YouTube channel later, in case you’re wondering what they couldn’t pack into this jumbo episode.

x-Ar Exoskeleton Arm Lets You Lift Like a Robot: Indefatigably

Posted: 10 Mar 2011 04:30 PM PST


We see interesting exoskeletal mechanisms here on CrunchGear every once in a while, though most of them are pretty specific in their applications. The x-Ar from Equipois is no different: it’s not for making you into a superhuman, but just making people whose work involves constant extension of the arm and heavy lifting be a little less fatiguing.

I mean, think about it: your arm weighs quite a bit, though it’s not something you notice until you have to keep it extended for more than a couple minutes. Imagine if your job involved having your arms out with heavy tools in them for most of the day. My hands get tired just sitting there. The x-Ar is intended to make your arm and whatever you’re carrying feel like they have zero weight. It attaches to your wrist via a cuff and by using technology inspired by steadicams, lets you move freely while still supporting lots of weight.

Equipois’ previous robo-arm let you mount a heavy tool to the end, so this would be more for tasks where the delicacy of a human hand is still required. Sounds good to me. Now if only they’d release one that types for me.

Canon Throws Its Weight Behind Intel’s Thunderbolt

Posted: 10 Mar 2011 04:00 PM PST


There are no products to announce or anything, but Canon has decided it’s going to saddle up with Thunderbolt, Intel’s new high-speed interface. It’s doubtful that it will be integrated into cameras being released this year, since like most companies it wasn’t included in pre-release development, but you can expect the next generation of DSLRs and maybe even point-and-shoots to sport little lightning bolts. It’s a great match for cameras, I think, since it does double duty as a display and data pipe.

Video: Ivan Cobenk on Kevin Bacon – Extended Cut

Posted: 10 Mar 2011 03:29 PM PST

The extended cut of the Kevin Bacon Logitech Revue commercial. Yep, 3:33 minutes of Kevin Bacon hawking Google TV. Enjoy. It’s my gift to you.

Movie Gossip: Doom Re-Boot In The Works, To Be Shot In 3D

Posted: 10 Mar 2011 03:00 PM PST

Here’s a fun one for your Thursday afternoon enjoyment. It looks like Universal Studios is currently shopping around a script to re-make the Doom movie, only this time it will be shot in 3D. Will Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson return? (That’s him to the left, cutting a promo on John Cena, as you do.) Unknown. Will the movie be nothing more than empty action? Almost certainly.

The movie, says What’s Playing’s Hollywood Insider, will "entirely [skip] over the events of the insipid 2005 film ," which is slightly unfair. The movie was based on a game that, nearest I can tell, had no plot whatsoever. Something about Hell monsters on Mars. The game wasn’t trying to be anything more than "ahh, monsters, shoot!" so to pan the movie for not being, I don’t know, a Terrence Malick work of art seems slightly unfair.

Dare to dream, friends.

Gemini Introduces FirstMix, A USB DJ Controller For Noobs

Posted: 10 Mar 2011 02:31 PM PST

Gemini is known for making some pretty cool DJ equipment and mixers. Today they released FirstMix, a USB DJ controller with two scratch wheels, rotaries and a cross fader. The controller sources music from iTunes or any other music library and plays them in the included Cross LE DJ software. The controller also works with Traktor, Virtual DJ and Algoriddim's DJAY and other popular DJ software.

FirstMix received "Best in Show" at this years Winter NAMM show. “We took many of the best features from our Gemini professional DJ products and integrated them into FirstMix for anyone who is interested in a fun and easy way to get started in digital DJ," says Mark Wilder, Vice President of Marketing for GCI Technologies. "FirstMix lets you 'scratch' right out of the box and gives you the tools you need to put together a great party mix."

Price is $79.95, and will be available at many electronics and DJ retailers in May, 2011.

Press Release

Edison, NJ – March 10, 2011 – Gemini, a division of GCI Technologies and a leading innovator of modern DJ technology, is excited to unveil the FirstMix USB DJ Controller for aspiring DJs. This easy to use, yet feature rich controller with two touch sensitive jog wheels that allow anyone to scratch like a pro.

A "Best in Show" winner at the 2011 Winter NAMM show, FirstMix connects via USB and allows users to DJ using their iTunes or other music library. FirstMix ships with Cross LE DJ software from MixVibes and is also compatible with Traktor, Virtual DJ and Algoriddim's DJAY and other popular DJ software.

"We took many of the best features from our Gemini professional DJ products and integrated them into FirstMix for anyone who is interested in a fun and easy way to get started in digital DJ," says Mark Wilder, Vice President of Marketing for GCI Technologies. "FirstMix lets you 'scratch' right out of the box and gives you the tools you need to put together a great party mix."

Other key features include the ability to seamlessly mix songs together, spice up tracks with effects, play music in reverse, adjust bass and treble output and record your set. Priced at $79.95, the FirstMix is the newest addition to Gemini's Digital DJ Controller line and will be available through musical instrument, electronics, and DJ retailers in May, 2011.

For the latest information on FirstMix and all of Gemini's DJ gear, visit www.geminidj.com and follow us at facebook.com/TheGeminiDJ and twitter.com/gemini_dj.

About GCI Technologies:

GCI Technologies is three innovative music product brands: Gemini, Cortex, and iKey Audio. Gemini, who virtually invented the mobile entertainment products genre in the 1970s, is well-known in the DJ and pro audio markets. Cortex breaks new ground in technology products for the modern digital DJ. iKey produces numerous recording products for musicians, home studio enthusiasts and audio hobbyists.


Non-Toxic, Ethical Bike Care Products From Orontas

Posted: 10 Mar 2011 02:21 PM PST


If you’re like me, you cringe a little whenever you put a little synthetic oil on your chain or send some toxic cleaning fluid down the drain. Seems to me that people with bikes are more likely to care about their environmental impact, and also more likely to pay more for quality gear and accessories. These sustainable bike care products from Orontas let you and your bike feel good.

There’s cleaner, lube, grease, and… more lube. They’re all non-toxic, plant-based, and biodegradable, so you don’t need to worry about slathering it on. You can find a store where they sell it nearby you (there aren’t too many in the US, unfortunately), or buy them online; the bottles run for about $13 each, which is more than you’d pay for a bottle of Brand X, but that’s the price of righteousness.

[via NotCot]

Take This Camera With A Grain Of Salt – Literally

Posted: 10 Mar 2011 02:00 PM PST


This microscopic camera is the work of the Fraunhofer Institute and image sensor company Awaiba. It’s essentially a tiny 1mm square substrate with a layer of image sensors and then a lens layer on top of that — giving this camera a total size of 1x1x1mm. Yeah, it’s pretty much the smallest camera ever.

The resolution is 250×250, and it sends its signal over an electrical wire instead of a fiber optic cable. The camera unit is so cheap to make that they consider them disposable — making them ideal for use in the medical world for things like endoscopy. The extremely small size also makes them good for embedded applications like motion detection, security, or eliminating driver blind spots and such.

As always with small-aperture, small-sensor cameras, the image quality is suspect, but in this case it’s not a consumer application and they’re not marketing it as a replacement for a point-and-shoot or anything. They hope to bring them to market in 2012.

It does make the world a creepier place — there could be cameras the size of salt grains all over my apartment and I wouldn’t know. Scary.

PS3 To Be Re-Secured by 3.60 Firmware

Posted: 10 Mar 2011 01:30 PM PST


The “epic fail” of PS3 security discovered by hackers in January and pried open further by Geohot (who is now being sued) may be fixed with the latest patch to the PS3. This is the natural way of things, of course.

Hack developer Youness Alaoui has said on Twitter that “For now, it looks to me (at first glance) that the ps3 has been resecured, but it doesn’t mean it can’t be broken again from scratch..” Though he hastily added that he doesn’t plan to work on a 3.60 crack, and that noobs should stop @ing him.

In the meantime, if you’re running a hacked OS or homebrew stuff, you should probably stay with the version you’re currently using, and avoid a net connection, since you know how serious Sony can be about pushing updates.

[via Eurogamer]

Analyst: Non-iPad Tablets Will Be Collecting Dust On Store Shelves

Posted: 10 Mar 2011 01:00 PM PST

The immense popularity of the iPad, and now the iPad 2 (recently reviewed by The Daily’s Peter Ha), has Apple’s competitors, in the words of Steve Jobs, flummoxed. What to do? According to a J.P. Morgan Research analyst, it may well be that all of these competitor tablets will be sitting on the store shelves as folks decide en masse that the iPad is the way to go. In other words, competitors trying to convince people that their tablet is "better" than the iPad could well be wasting their time. And money, of course.

The report, which was obtained by Cnet, was presented by one Mark Moskowitz and says that competitors trying to play catch-up are going to have a "tough" time, and that the effort to flood the market with tablets could result in a severe over-saturation. Nothing’s quite worse than sinking a bunch of money into a product’s R&D, manufacturing too many of them, then having them sit on store shelves—next to signs that say, "Sorry, we’re out of iPads. Check back later!"

The report also mentions that, because so many manufactures are jumping aboard the tablet bandwagon we might start to see relevant supplies—glass, processors, flash chips, etc.—become stretched, making these tablets even more expensive to produce. Meaning, of course, that every unsold tablet will hurt just that little bit extra.

The report also says that it’s expected that many consumers will be "underwhelmed" by the many iPad alternatives out there, such as the Motorola Xoom and other Honeycomb-wielding models.

iPad Versions Of iMovie And GarageBand Touch Down Early

Posted: 10 Mar 2011 12:39 PM PST


Although I generally consider iMovie an abomination, I have some hopes that once they put a decent camera on the iPad and bump that resolution to the rumored 2048×1536, it’ll actually be a very interesting proposition. Until then, I’ll let them work out the bugs and refine the interface — but if you’re more optimistic, you can go download it right now. iMovie and its loop-lovin’ cousin GarageBand have hit iTunes a day early; they cost five bucks each.

Update: Want to install iMovie on your original iPad? 9to5Mac has you covered.

Sony Wins Case Against LG. LG Ordered To Pay

Posted: 10 Mar 2011 12:20 PM PST

Sony has won their case against LG. The more than 300,000 PS3′s that were seized will be returned to Sony. Also, all future shipments into Europe will continue without any issues.

LG will have to pay Sony 130,000 Euros for the cost of the hearing and Sony will collect 200,000 euros per day from LG for everyday that the PS3 shipments are delayed going back to Sony.


Apple Now Requiring Passwords For All In-App Purchases

Posted: 10 Mar 2011 11:44 AM PST

Bad news for any shady iOS developers out there: if you were sneakin’ In-App Purchase opportunities into the first 15 minutes of your game in hopes that lil’ ones might accidentally buy it, your evil-genius plan has been foiled.

Read the rest at MobileCrunch, where we know that the only thing we should be tricking little kids into doing is the house work >>

First 2 Browsers To Fall At Pwn2Own: Safari & Internet Explorer

Posted: 10 Mar 2011 11:30 AM PST

Apple’s Safari and Microsoft’s Internet Explorer 8 were the first two Web browsers to fall in the latest Pwn2Own contest. And yes, this takes into account Apple’s latest Safari security patch that dropped yesterday.

Pwn2Own, of course, is the HP TippingPoint-sponsored contest that invites security researchers to try to crack open Web browsers and operating systems.

And while it’s going around that Chrome wasn’t yet hacked, that’s only because the researchers who pledged to tackle Chrome either didn’t show up or instead decided to focus on the BlackBerry Web browser.

The good news is that TippingPoint will supply the relevant companies al the information related to the hacks, so these vulnerabilities should be patched up sooner rather than later.


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