CrunchGear |  |
- Freestyle AQUOS: Sharp Japan Rolls Out 4 Portable, Wireless, Ultra-Thin LCD TVs
- Nokia Debuts Two New Phones For Emerging Markets: Nokia 101 ($35) And Nokia 100 ($30)
- Fujitsu’s IS12T Windows Phone Mango Launched In Japan Today (Quick Hands-On)
- Steve Jobs the Patron Saint of Perfectionists
- EscapeCapsule Lets You Use Your iPhone 4 In Water, Sand, Mud, Snow, And Other Gross Stuff
- Steve Jobs: The End Of An Era
- Screw You, GameStop.
- Acer Lost Almost $250 Million Last Quarter Alone, Remains Stoic
- Samsung: We’re Not Buying HP’s PC Business
- Urwerk Releases A Pocket Watch For The Technophilic Dandy
- Tactical Messenger Bag Takes Preparedness To The Next Level
- Surprise! Sandisk Is Still Making MP3 Players
- Embedded Serial Number Helps Photographer Find His Stolen Camera
- Hulu Plus Makes Android Tablet Debut With Vizio
- To Heck With iPad Stands, Help Kickstart Some Handmade Pens For A Change
- Fad Or Future? Booktrack Adds Music, Sound Effects To E-Books; Peter Thiel Invests
- TCTV: Presenting The TechCrunch Gadgets Webcast
| Freestyle AQUOS: Sharp Japan Rolls Out 4 Portable, Wireless, Ultra-Thin LCD TVs Posted: 25 Aug 2011 02:25 AM PDT  Sharp in Japan updated their line of AQUOS LCD TVs with the so-called Freestyle AQUOS F5 series [JP]. The four TVs in that series, sized at 20/32/40 and 60 inches have a few common selling points: they are extremely thin, light (one of them is “portable”), and networked. The 60-inch flagship model (pictured above and below) comes with a UV2A panel with full HD resolution, LED backlight, 1,000,000:1 contrast ratio, 176-degre viewing angle, 2x10W speakers, an HDMI interface, two USB ports (connecting external HDDs is possible), and Ethernet. It weighs 21kg and is 2.1cm at its thinnest part (3.5cm at the thickest). The 32- and 40-inch models share the main specs but are much lighter (8.5kg and 5.5kg, respectively), prompting Sharp to choose the term “freestyle” for the series (the company says they can be moved and installed anywhere). Like the 32-inch AQUOS, the 20-inch model only offers 1,366×780 resolution. The smallest TV in the series is based on a model Sharp showed earlier this year and weighs just 2.5kg . For an extra $80, users can attach a hook to it to make it really portable (see below). What all the models have in common is IEEE802.11n/IEEE802.11a Wi-Fi and wireless connectivity to Sharp devices, for example AQUOS Blu-ray players or smartphones, and to various video-on-demand services and YouTube. Sharp plans to start selling their new TVs in Japan from next month (prices: $4,930 for the biggest model, $1,950 for the 40-incher, $1,430 for the 32-inch model and $1,040 for the smallest one).
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| Nokia Debuts Two New Phones For Emerging Markets: Nokia 101 ($35) And Nokia 100 ($30) Posted: 25 Aug 2011 01:24 AM PDT  Nokia this morning announced the launch of two dirt cheap phones, the Nokia 101 and Nokia 100, which the company says are its most affordable phones to date. Priced only 25 euros ($35) and 20 euros ($30), respectively, that should hardly be a surprise. Of course, ‘dirt cheap’ is relative – the feature phones are meant for people in countries where phones have to be this inexpensive to even be considered for purchase (large parts of Africa and Asia, in particular). “We recognize that for many of the next billion people, a phone purchase is an investment. People are looking for a phone that offers great features but also one that is dependable,” said Mary McDowell, EVP, Mobile Phones, Nokia. The Nokia 101 is a dual SIM device that enables users to connect to two different networks to receive calls and messages, helping them manage costs and maintain decent coverage without the need for multiple phones. It comes with an FM radio, MP3 player and a 103 phon loudspeaker, and provides support for up to 16 GB microSD memory cards. The phone will be available in the third quarter of 2011 and comes in black and red. The Nokia 100 is a rudimentary color display phone with an FM radio. It will be available in the fourth quarter of 2011 and comes in blue, pink, black and red. Both the Nokia 101 and Nokia 100 offer Nokia Life Tools (albeit limited to selected markets) and Nokia Money (in India), providing access to locally-relevant information on healthcare, education, agriculture and entertainment. Both handsets are based on the Series 30 operating system and can support up to five separate address books and store personalization details for up to five different SIM cards. Nokia is a Finnish multinational communications corporation. It is primarily engaged in the manufacturing of mobile devices and in converging Internet and communications industries. They make a wide range...
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| Fujitsu’s IS12T Windows Phone Mango Launched In Japan Today (Quick Hands-On) Posted: 25 Aug 2011 01:17 AM PDT  Last month, Fujitsu in Japan unveiled the IS12T, announced as the world’s first cell phone running on Windows Phone 7.5 aka Mango. And the country’s second biggest mobile carrier (and exclusive provider of the handset) KDDI au, didn’t lose much time: the IS12T became available today over here (here‘s Fujitsu’s official press release in English from today). As we reported previously, the Mango handset comes with a 3.7-inch LCD with 800×480 resolution, a 13.2MP CMOS camera, a water- and shock-proof body, 32GB internal memory, a microUSB port, IEEE 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi (no tethering), DLNA support, GSM/CDMA, etc. I went to the only cell phone store in my neighborhood to have a look at the handset today, but unfortunately, I got to take just a few pictures (see above) and play around with it for a few minutes before I had to leave (no pictures-no videos policy). My initial impression was that the phone itself felt light and thin, but also extremely cheap and plasticky (I couldn’t give Xbox Live, the Internet Explorer and other apps a spin because Wi-Fi and 3G were turned off – in the few minutes I played with it, the UI felt great). Price-wise, the IS12T is positioned on the higher end of the spectrum for phones in Japan: the store (and every other retailer, for that matter) sells the phone for up to $955 (but with drastic discounts under certain circumstances). So if Fujitsu really starts selling the handset outside Japan (they do have international plans), don’t expect this to be a budget model.
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| Steve Jobs the Patron Saint of Perfectionists Posted: 24 Aug 2011 05:33 PM PDT  The most amazing thing about Steve Jobs and the revival of Apple he engineered over the last 15 years is so improbable it is. Most of the digital innovations that have transformed our lives have been logical outgrowth of increasing power and decreasing cost of semiconductors. Someone was going to invent personal computers, cell phones, the Internet, even search engines. But there was nothing the slightest bit inevitable about a company whose digital products are perceived as so distinctive they attract dominant market shares despite premium prices. As recently as 2002, personal computers were seen as such a commodity business—dominated by high volume and low costs—that Hewlett Packard paid $25 billion to buy Compaq and vault past Dell to be the No. 1 in the market. Last week, HP, still the leader, said it is considering abandoning PCs altogether, at least partially a concession that Apple was taking an increasing share of the market and most of the profits. I haven't been a Mac user since I sold my first generation model—with 128K of memory and one floppy drive. But I recently walked into an Apple store and fondled the latest MacBook Air. I was blown away by how the use of multi-touch gestures and a few other innovations transformed the experience of this very mature category of products. Again. The succession of new products from the iPod to the iPhone to the iPad has become the business lore of our age. A keynote by Steve Jobs is anticipated, at least by many, more eagerly than the State of the Union address. Even aspects of the computer business that most rivals see as—product sourcing, manufacturing process, and even retail store operations—have become areas of disruptive innovation at Apple. Jobs created a growing snowball of innovation, hype, customer loyalty, and scale that could be seen with astounding force in the iPad. Here was a product category that was entirely new (except for some regrettable Microsoft missteps). But instantly it was a hit—not just among gadget geeks—but with tens of millions of people who saw something that immediately appeared useful and alluring. They trusted that Apple could deliver something that would just work without the glitches and disappointments that dependably accompany the first generation of products from lesser companies. Behind this success was not an engineer, like the troika that until recently led Google, nor a professional manager, like the succession of leaders at HP, nor even an entrepreneur like Michael Dell. Steve Jobs was an impresario, in the tradition, more than anything, of a classic Hollywood studio boss (which he also was in his spare time). It’s fitting that Jobs is now the largest individual shareholder of the company founded by one of the 20th Century’s all time great perfectionists: Walt Disney. This approach didn't make apple a pleasant company to deal with or to work at. Everyone at Apple worked with the anxiety that they must meet the impossible demands of Jobs or endure his anger. To the public and even to Apple's biggest partners the company was about as responsive as Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory; no one ever went in and no one ever came out. And yes to work at Apple was to accept the lot of an Oompa Loompa. The company took secrecy to such an extreme that employees were divided into small groups and ordered not to talk to each other, let alone anyone outside of the company. My one encounter with Jobs was true to form. In 2004, I had just started covering consumer electronics, and I was writing about the battle between iTunes and Microsoft's initiative at the time "Plays for Sure," an effort to create an open standard for music formats. This was before Apple's reputation—and the arrogance it enabled– blew past all previous records. Still, when I asked Jobs at the end of a press conference to discuss Apple's strategy in the music market, he blew me off saying "We don't like to talk about that." We all know lots of people who are nice. We know many people who are smart. We've seen a bunch of corporate leaders who have the rare combination of skills to surf the waves spawned by Moore's Law. But it's hard to think of anyone besides Steve Jobs who through the sheer force of will, self-confidence, vision and perfectionism could upend the powerful forces of technology to make so many products that delighted so many people precisely because they were improbable. Started by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne, Apple has expanded from computers to consumer electronics over the last 30 years, officially changing their name from Apple Computer,...
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| EscapeCapsule Lets You Use Your iPhone 4 In Water, Sand, Mud, Snow, And Other Gross Stuff Posted: 24 Aug 2011 04:37 PM PDT  There really should be no argument when I say that a case for your iPhone 4 is nothing short of necessary. Unless you've got cash to burn, the iPhone is just too damn expensive to leave unprotected. The only problem is that most of them make your phone pretty clunky, which sucks since Apple works hard to make the iPhone as slim as possible. Unfortunately, the only trade-off for all the heft is protection against impact. But what if you drop your iPhone in the toilet? The folks at Catalyst have an answer for you: EscapeCapsule. This thing is more than just a tough exo-skeleton. Made from a high-impact clear polycarbonate, the case protects against water, rain, snow, sand, mud, impacts, scratches… everything. Did I mention water? You can also double-check whether or not the case is securely sealed around the phone through the clear shell. Catalyst says the phone's hardware buttons are protected through a specially designed membrane, as is the touchscreen. The camera works surprisingly well with the cover on, proof of which can be found in the video on the project's Kickstarter page. The case also comes with an attached lanyard to go around your wrist while you're playing in the ocean with your iPhone. Because with the EscapeCapsule, you can play in the ocean with your iPhone. Crazy. The case comes in a number of colors, but if you make a pledge on Kickstarter you'll get Catalyst's Kickstarter-only edition Capsule — a green case with a white glow-in-the-dark rubber bumper and a glow-in-the-dark lanyard. It'll take a $50 pledge to pre-order your very own EscapeCapsule, which is an OK deal considering Catalyst plans to sell the case for $70 when it officially becomes a reality. As of right now, Catalyst has 28 days to reach its $30,000 funding goal. It has thus far received $3,780. Head on over to Kickstarter to check out a video of the EscapeCapsule in action.
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| Posted: 24 Aug 2011 04:23 PM PDT  We all know the broad strokes: a boy is born to a graduate student and her Syrian boyfriend. She places the boy for adoption. He comes to live with Paul and Clara. Paul is a machinist who moved to San Francisco after WWII. He grows up in Santa Clara county. It’s flat, lots of one story buildings, mostly middle/upper middle class, outside of the bad parts. Parts of it are pretty, parts aren’t. He wasn’t coddled. His biological mother makes his adoptive parents promise to send him to college. In fourth grade he has a great teacher and, presumably, another and another. His parents scrape to send him to Reed. He drops out of college and starts dropping in on classes that interest him. He makes money returning bottles and he hits the Hare Krishna temple now and then for a free meal. He takes calligraphy, eschews the typical coursework, and at age 20 he and a buddy start a company. He’s a buddhist with a temper. He cuts down rivals and builds up a team of 4,000 dedicated to his singular vision. He’s ousted, builds another company or two, and comes back. He’s kind of a hippie, enjoying Bob Dylan and the Beatles. He loves music. He’s leaving, now, the victim of something gnawing at his health like sea spray whittles a wooden pier. Where does that leave Apple? And where does that leave us? I wasn’t always a Mac lover. I thought they were over-priced and pretty, the candy colors far too silly for my 486 tastes. Any chip that had the word Power in its name was overcompensating, I wagered. But over the past decade I learned the satisfaction of a machine that just works. It’s a machine that the boy put most of his life into, a machine that has the heart of a much older thing, a thing that lay blinking and frantic in a Stanford computer lab somewhere and then, over time, shrank down to something you and I can fit into our pockets. Many complained that the ecosystem that he created was a walled garden, but I’d equate it to a pasture. “The reason everything looks beautiful is because it is out of balance,” wrote Zen master Shunryu Suzuki. “But its background is always in perfect harmony.” In the front, anything can happen. In the back, perfect calm and order. There is a strain of Internet thought that requires us to tear down, to refuse to see the other side. There will be plenty of that going on in the next few days as talking heads talk. But name one CEO who, on leaving his company, will raise such a wave of well-wishes and interest? When Michael Dell dodders off or Howard Stringer plops into a club chair for his final cigar, will anyone care the next day? We all know the broad strokes: The man got sicker, he almost quit, kept at it. He embraced a successor and groomed him to be as calm a force as he once was. He kept us surprised, entertained, constantly speculating. We wondered where he was. If he was well. We all know the broad strokes: He isn’t well. He’s stepped down. Another Buddhist (or near enough to one) said “The mark of the immature man is that he wants to die nobly for a cause, while the mark of a mature man is that he wants to live humbly for one.” Godspeed, Mr. Jobs. We’ll miss you on stage.
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| Posted: 24 Aug 2011 02:29 PM PDT  We’re through, GameStop. I turned a blind eye when you offered me peanuts for a game that you were still slinging used for bucks shy of full retail. I shrugged it off when your employees endlessly pressured me to pre-order games that I didn’t want every time I set foot in the store. I laughed when I was turned away for trying to buy a new release on launch day sans preorder, only to have a copy miraculously appear as I went to leave. These were all prices I was willing to pay, I figured, to support one of the last remaining brick and mortar game stores. But breaking the seal on brand new copies of games to take out (valuable!) things you don’t like, then selling the game as new? Yeah, I quit you. Here’s the deal: Yesterday morning, a long awaited title called Deus Ex: Human Revolution was finally released to an eager audience. Tucked inside the box was a little surprise: a coupon for a free copy of the same game through the still relatively new game streaming service, OnLive — something which, if purchased directly through OnLive, would cost $49.99. At least, there was supposed to be a coupon… The reports started trickling in fairly quickly: for some reason, the coupon seemed to be absent from nearly all copies sold through GameStop. What had happened? Had the folks at the factory forgotten to pack some of the coupons? Nope. Had GameStop worked out a distribution deal to keep the coupons from ever finding their way into their copies? Nope. GameStop employees had opened the boxes, removed the coupon, and put the product back on the shelf… after orders from above to do so. The first evidence came from an e-mail acquired by GameSpy, allegedly sent by a GameStop Field Operations Manager. The key bit is bullet point #1: “Please immediately remove and discard the OnLive coupon from all Regular PC versions of Deus Ex: Human Revolution,” it read. Surely, this couldn’t be real! A corporate command to open a sealed product, throw out something tradable for a $50 product, and act like nothing happened? But sure enough, GameStop followed up with confirmation on Facebook after word got out:
Note the wording. “May be” opened? Try “are” opened. And what a guarantee! If your disc doesn’t work for some reason, they’ll give you a new ( presumably equally stripped down) copy. But if you’re just pissed that you’ve been shorted a coupon worth $50? La la la la, we can’t hear you. The GameStop-owned service with which OnLive is a “competing service” is called Impulse, which GameStop launched back in July after acquiring Spawn Labs. Look, GameStop: if you want to work out a deal with the distributor to get special copies without the coupons, that’s reasonable. People will still be annoyed they got shortchanged, but it’s at least not incredibly shady. But opening a sealed box, removing a coupon exchangeable for a $50 product, and then sticking it back on the shelf? Terrible. Could a customer have walked in, purchased the game, removed the coupon, and returned the box for a full refund? No? Then this is not okay. Alas, they went with the shady route — and now they’ve gone and given OnLive far more marketing than that silly coupon ever would have. Gamestop is an American video game retailer with over 6,000 locations worldwide. The company spun off from Barnes & Noble in 2004 and operates as GameStop and EB Games.
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| Acer Lost Almost $250 Million Last Quarter Alone, Remains Stoic Posted: 24 Aug 2011 01:02 PM PDT  Acer, recently the world’s second-largest shipper of PCs, has had a rough year. But in March a deliberate decision was made by upper management to abandon their goal of dethroning HP and instead focus on making better, more distinguishable products. The result: sales and revenue in freefall. At least they knew it was coming — but losing millions of customers and a huge proportion of your worth isn’t something any company likes having to do. The company is taking heavy losses — twice as heavy, in fact, as Reuters’ analysts estimated. 6.79 billion Taiwanese dollars (Around $250 million) went down the drain in Q2. That’s their biggest loss ever and the first time they did worse than they forecast. The results indicate that, as Acer’s chairman J.T. Wang admits, “trying to break even this year becomes impossible.” But I doubt they were planning on turning the whole company around in less than a year. Despite the losses and job cuts, Acer remains stoic. They feel the tablet “fever” is lessening and people will return to notebooks (I’m not sure I agree). And while it’s unlikely that they have any interest in (or ability to) buy HP’s PC business, Acer’s president Jim Wang did comment that spinning it off was a natural thing for HP to do. He added, cryptically, that Acer would be working to satisfy its customers’ needs, “including HP’s existing customers.” What a thing to say! Again, though, with billions in losses every quarter, the last thing Acer needs is a $10 billion millstone around its neck from HP. What he probably meant was that Acer may be stepping into HP’s shoes during the confusion. If they can stabilize fast enough, then while HP’s Personal Systems Group is in handoff mode, Acer can sweep in and carry off a few million customers. But before that happens, expect more bad news. (Updated to reflect the fact that the 6.79 billion figure was in Taiwanese dollars. Very dumb of me not to catch that when a $7bn loss would likely bury the company)
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| Samsung: We’re Not Buying HP’s PC Business Posted: 24 Aug 2011 12:30 PM PDT  Since HP made the announcement it would be spinning off its PC business, there have been questions over who would scoop it up. A number of different OEMs fit the bill and have the cash to take on HP’s Personal Systems Group, but one in particular seemed to be looking for an outsourcing partner before HP ever made its announcement. Digitimes reported that Samsung had been in talks with Quanta, Compal and Pegatron to possibly outsource notebook orders, its sources including HP on the list of suitors as well. “The sources added that Samsung’s actions seem like it is already in preparation to take up Hewlett-Packard’s (HP’s) PC business,” wrote Digitimes. But Samsung begs to differ. Whether this is true or not remains to be seen, but Samsung swears it’s malarkey. On the official Samsung blog, the company made the following statement: “The recent rumors that Samsung Electronics will be taking over Hewlett-Packard Co.’s personal computer business are not true. We hope this clarifies any confusion that may have occurred.” Well, there you have it folks: A Samsung-HP love affair is not in the cards at the moment. Though it probably wouldn’t be a great fit, anyways. Samsung’s focus seems to be geared toward higher margin products like its $1,699 Series 9 notebook. Shipping 10 million HP notebooks just doesn’t quite fit into that equation.
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| Urwerk Releases A Pocket Watch For The Technophilic Dandy Posted: 24 Aug 2011 12:04 PM PDT  That’s not the Terminator’s gallbladder you’re looking at there. It’s actually a pocket watch made by Urwerk, a noted designer of extremely high-end timepieces for folks like to think they are Jules Verne. The watch, called the UR-1001 Zeit Device, tells the time down to (up to?) the century and even has a register for 1,000s of years aka millennia. Why? Because they wanted to, that’s why. It’s made of Aluminium Titanium Nitride, a tough metal used in milling machines and drill bits. I doubt any of us will go down to the jewelry shop pick one of these up so our buddy at Hodinkee built up a very useful guide to the Zeit Device’s various features. I also can’t imagine any of us surviving to see the clock tick over to the next century let alone the next millennia, so we’ll have to take Urwerk’s word for it that their watch will survive that long. Whether you’re a James Bond villain timing the launch of your space laser or an immortal crusader tasked with guarding the Holy Grail for centuries, Urwerk has you covered.
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| Tactical Messenger Bag Takes Preparedness To The Next Level Posted: 24 Aug 2011 12:00 PM PDT  I’ll be the first to admit that I usually rock a man-bag on a daily basis, but rarely have I ever considered using something as hardcore as the ITS Tactical Discreet Messenger Bag. While my usual load-out consists of the AOL-issued work laptop and a camera, the TDM bag packs compartments for use that goes above and beyond the ordinary. In addition to the traditional 15″ laptop compartment, for example, the bag lives up to its tactical namesake by including magazine pockets that can store up to 4 AK magazines. Expecting a hairy day? Be sure to load up the medical insert with your gauze, compression bandages, and intubation kit (you do have an intubation kit, right?). The TDM’s Cordura body also means it’ll look no worse for wear as you fight your way onto the 8:15 train everyday. Don’t worry about having enough space for your daily documents or week’s worth of rations: the TDM’s main pocket measures 5.5″ deep, so corporate drones and survivalists alike can go for broke. It is quite the looker too: available in black, coyote, and foliage, the TDM will fit just as well in civilian life as it does while under deep cover in Bolivia. This level of preparedness will cost you though: interested parties can pick one up from ITS for $350. [via Gear Patrol]
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| Surprise! Sandisk Is Still Making MP3 Players Posted: 24 Aug 2011 11:47 AM PDT  Amazingly, someone is still making MP3 players for the mass market. I’m pleased to present the $70 Sandisk Sansa Clip Zip, a tiny, portable media player that comes in 4 GB and 8 GB varieties (the 4GB model costs $50). The Clip Zip comes in 7 colors including red, blue, and orange and is compatible with almost any audio format. It also has a microSD slot so you can expand the player to 32 GB. It also has a teeny tiny LCD screen and a simple interface. Way back in the old days, SanDisk was fairly famous for its fully featured MP3 players but those days are long gone. However, if you’re looking for a simple player for a kid or grandparent this might be the way to go: it’s idiot proof, rugged, and isn’t quite as expensive as a Zune or iPod.
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| Embedded Serial Number Helps Photographer Find His Stolen Camera Posted: 24 Aug 2011 09:50 AM PDT  A photographer, John Heller, had $9,000 worth of gear stolen at a shoot in Hollywood. After giving up all hope of ever getting his Nikon D3 back, he checked with a site called GadgetTrak that scans Flickr and other image upload sites for photos matching the serial number of his DSLR. In a few seconds he had found shots with serial numbers matching his D3 belonging to a professional photographer. With the help of the police he got his gear back and now the tracking service is a recommend site for LAPD detectives on the hunt for fugitive cameras. Want to give it a try? You can search the service for free. It currently holds 10 million serial numbers and it checks sites like 500px.com and Flickr for recent shots. Also note that you should probably write down your camera’s serial number ASAP for this to work correctly at all. A lot of these posts are a bit self serving but it’s great to see folks reunited with their gadgets so often these days (this tale of a stolen laptop is particularly stirring) that it makes me wonder why anyone tries to gank anything electronic anymore.
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| Hulu Plus Makes Android Tablet Debut With Vizio Posted: 24 Aug 2011 09:32 AM PDT  Hulu Plus has found its way to a handful of Android devices these past few months, but today it makes its first official appearance on an Android tablet — just maybe not the one you were expecting. Forget about the Motorola Xoom or the Samsung Galaxy Tab, Hulu Plus is making its tablet debut on the cost-conscious Vizio Tablet. It has to be something of a coup for the budget OEM, but it certainly fits in with the tablet’s focus on media and connectivity: it packs three speakers to pump out the jams and a universal remote app to take control of compatible home theater systems. As fortunate as Vizio is to land the $7.99/month service, the decision may have been made at least partially to account for the ease of execution. Unlike the rivals listed above, the 8-inch Vizio tablet runs Android 2.3 (a.k.a Gingerbread) instead of Honeycomb, which puts it closer in app compatibility to handsets than its tablet brethren. The Hulu Plus app team would have had spend a few extra man-hours to make the app Honeycomb-ready, but not so with the Vizio tablet. Still, easier execution or not, the addition of Hulu Plus will make the whole package more palatable to the media-crazed. Current owners can download Hulu Plus now from the Android Market, and newly interested parties can pick up a tablet for a shade under $300.
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| To Heck With iPad Stands, Help Kickstart Some Handmade Pens For A Change Posted: 24 Aug 2011 08:15 AM PDT  This is what I like to see: people Kickstarting some really amazing stuff. How amazing? Try a handmade pen made of multiple pieces of wood spliced together and top-of-the-line clips and gel-inks. The pen, called the Exemplar, is half-length and costs a mere $100 (relatively cheap for a handmade pen, but still). However, it’s made by two North Carolinian lads, Cass Baltz and Bart Creasman, which adds a certain bit of old country panache. $50 gets you a handmade wooden letter opener. The pair are calling their company Baltz Fine Writing Instruments and, while pens have gone the way of the 50-cent milkshake, human kindness, and the Dodo, it’s nice to see two fellows so dedicated to a rapidly dying art.
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| Fad Or Future? Booktrack Adds Music, Sound Effects To E-Books; Peter Thiel Invests Posted: 24 Aug 2011 07:05 AM PDT  A new startup called Booktrack launched this morning (actually, the NYT launched it yesterday), in an effort to create a whole new genre of e-books. Booktrack creates synchronized soundtracks for e-books that aim to “dramatically boost the reader’s imagination and engagement”. The startup’s technology pairs music scores and sound effects with text, automatically paced to one’s reading speed. Booktracks can be downloaded for iPad, iPhone and iPod touch, and Android apps are on the way. Check out the Booktrack Bookshelf for available titles. The company has teamed up with Sony/ATV Music Publishing, Park Road Post, and Full Fathom Five, and its technology is already fully integrated in the new novel ‘The Power of Six’ by Pittacus Lore (James Frey), published by HarperCollins Children’s Books. Booktrack and publishers will share profits with participating authors, composers, and musicians, the company said in a press release. Booktrack is backed by former PayPal and early Facebook investor (and longtime board member) Peter Thiel as well as authors who will be collaborating with the company. Other initial investors in and advisors to Booktrack include Mark D’Arcy, Director of Global Creative Solutions at Facebook, and Derek Handley, CEO and cofounder of mobile marketing and media company The Hyperfactory. The latter will also serve as Booktrack’s chairman. Paul Cameron, Booktrack’s co-founder and CEO, in the press release compares e-books in their current form with ‘movies with no soundtrack’, but I’m not sure I agree with that statement – reading is an entirely different way of consuming content. I’m not sure a soundtrack attached to an e-book can do anything but distract from the reading experience, actually. Of course, I’ve only briefly tested Booktrack’s technology with a single e-book, so I haven’t entirely made up my mind yet about its potential to disrupt the e-book genre. Wired’s Charlie Sorrel, for one, thinks the idea stinks. He makes a good case, but that won’t (and shouldn’t) stop the company from trying, evidently. In the coming weeks and months, Booktrack says it will publish a specially-curated compendium of short stories from some of the top authors in the world, starting in September with ‘In the South’ by Salman Rushdie. Booktrack will also release editions of classics, including titles such as The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, The Tale of Peter Rabbit, Peter Pan, The Three Musketeers, Pride and Prejudice, Jane Eyre, Romeo and Juliet and more. I’m very much looking forward to reading Paul Carr‘s thoughts on this one.
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| TCTV: Presenting The TechCrunch Gadgets Webcast Posted: 24 Aug 2011 07:00 AM PDT We’ve long wanted to put together a videocast for TCTV focusing on gadgets but, because we were too lazy, it never happened… until now. Please excuse the quality as we’re working out the bugs but we wanted to get something up this week, thereby ensuring we actually do this on a regular basis. This episode is all about tablets. First we talk about Samsung’s belief that 2001 is prior art in the tablet space and then we talk about ten things to do with your brand new $99 TouchPad. Please: enjoy. Credits: Music by voyageurs.
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