Well The Ninja Team may have all the hype right now with their Wiinja mod chip but the boys over at Maxconsole have their hands on the CycloWiz mod chip that’s expected to start shipping by weeks end. Seems to be a quicksolder job and the ability to play Wii backups, Gamecube backups/homebrew/Imports, built in Audiofix, DVD+-R support and a few other goodies. We’ll see how legit this is by weeks end. So beat that Ninja Team! Wii Hacks [Maxconsole via Digg] → Read More
AllFreeCalls, a new service which lets people make free phone calls by first calling a phone number in Iowa and then calling to any of dozens of other countries, just added eight new countries to the permitted lists (plus Antarctica). In an email the founder also said that they handled 80,000 call minutes yesterday. The company operates under a legislative loophole that gives rural telco’s a kickback on every received call. That kickback is greater than the cost the company bears for making outbound international calls. So someone’s paying for these calls (other telecos? taxpayers?), just not the person using the service. I love bureaucracy. → Read More
The Wall Street Journal reported (behind paywall) this morning that News Corp would announce a $12 million investment in online video startup ROO. However, unlike other investments and acquisitions in Internet startups, News Corp. subsidiary Fox Interactive wasn’t involved in the deal. Fox Interactive owns Myspace and has made investments in startups such as SimplyHired. They are the Internet arm of News Corp. From what we are hearing, not only was Fox Interactive not involved in the deal, they didn’t even know about it. The rumor is that Fox Interactive execs only heard about the investment when they read the WSJ article this morning. And they weren’t happy. An insider told us that they were incredulous News Corp. would do an Internet deal without Fox Interactive’s involvement (or at least knowledge), and said he couldn’t believe News Corp. invested in that “fucking disaster.” Adding to the embarrassment – Fox Interactive has been having separate conversations with ROO competitor Brightcove, which recently raised nearly $60 million in a round of financing that valued them at a rumored $220 million. Fox Interactive was reportedly in conversations to acquire Brightcove just prior to the closing of that financing, for $250 – $300 million. This is clearly a case of the right hand not knowing what the left hand was doing. Fox Interactive has been weakened since the departure of former head Ross Levinsohn, who was replaced by an executive with little Internet experience. The fact that News Corp. made a significant investment in an Internet startup without consulting Fox Interactive suggests News Corp. is no longer looking at their Interactive subsidiary to guide them with online strategy. Update: I got an email from another insider that suggests the initial Wall Street Journal report was incorrect and that News Corp. received warrants to acquire stock in ROO based on certain revenue/performance thresholds. Despite reports coming from Fox Interactive PR that they did know about this deal, we’re sticking with our initial assessment that this was a complete surprise to them. → Read More
you’ve also got the world’s first active 4G mobile network. Thanks! Yah, we know that your handsets on the Chinese network in Shanghai can now get up to 100MB/s (!?) for streaming video in HD. We know that video calling is part of the package, too. We heard you when you said that phone-based email servers might even be possible, among other things. You don’t need to brag. Thing is, what good is 4G in Shanghai when the rest of the China is yet to have access to 3G because of regulatory hurdles? HA! Take that, fancy-pants! Sure, we’re stuck with 728Kb/s down, but I can get that anywhere from sea to shining sea here! Get that, Asia? Even Alaska! The populated areas, anyway. Report: China’s 4G wireless launch leapfrogs 3G [ZDnet News] → Read More
Devices like these have been around for some time, but this one is fully automated. Measuring in at about the size of a computer speaker, the SkipDR AutoMax can automatically buff scratched discs into submission. Just spray the disc with the resurfacing fluid and load it into the slot. The device then spins a motorized radial wheel for a minute to remove a microscopic layer of plastic from the playside which should remove surface scratches. Each wheel is good for about 50 disc repairs and can be replaced for $12.99. It can run on either six AA batteries or an AC adapter, which on a sheisty note, is not included. The SkipDR AutoMax is available now for $39.99. Product Page → Read More
The Pioneer FH-P510MD Multi-Media DSP Receiver is all sorts of crazy. In addition to the obvious AM/FM tuner, it supports CD, CD-R, CD-RW, MP3 and WMA. This $400 main unitr also has a mini-disc player than can play both MD and MDLP. And as an added bonus it has a 50×4 MOSFET amp and an OEL screen. Have I mentioned that I love Uncrate? It always points me toward the most excessive gear. This player makes me want to go buy a giant truck that gets like three miles to the gallon just so I have a vehicle ridiculous enough to put this thing in. Pioneer FH-P510MD Multi-Media DSP Receiver [AudioCubes via Uncrate] → Read More
For-fun betting sites like Gottabet and PicksPal, which combine social networking with betting, are gaining popularity. The success of PicksPal in particular has been stunning. Friends group together and bet on the winners of upcoming sporting events, or more detailed things like the number of touchdowns in a given game. A small percentage of users on PicksPal tend to be correct in their bets so often that the company started selling their predictions last year. It’s no surprise, then, that PicksPal is expanding and launching a pop culture version of its sports betting site. The new site, called PicksPop, allows users to bet on things like “Will Pam Anderson and Tommy Lee get back together?” (pays 100/1), “Will Angelina Jolie/Brad Pitt announce their separation?” (also 100/1), and “Will 24 be in the Top 10 for the week?” (pays 1/1). All bets are for points, and each user gets 1,000 points to start. Top ranked users are listed on here. Like PicksPal, PicksPop is also a social network where each user gets a profile page, can add friends, etc. The company is based in Silicon Valley and has raised $6 million in venture capital over two rounds of financing. They are backed by Canaan Partners and Bay Partners. → Read More
It’s no secret that I’m a fan of the NV series. I’ve been using an NV3 as my pocket camera for a bunch of months now and I’m every bit as enthralled by it as I was when it first arrived. The series is a marvelous blend of style and functionality. Samsung today announced the fourth camera in its NV line, the new flagship NV11. The 10-megapixel rig features a Schneider lens capable of 5x optical zoom. What’s more, it has a 1600 ISO that should actually be functionally with Samsung’s proprietary ASR image stabilization. And it has a beautiful 2.7-inch high definition LCD display. → Read More
If you’re a budding Lucas, Jackson, or Spielberg, plugging away at YouTube in hopes of being discovered, chances are it ain’t gonna happen, pal. Sorry. But that doesn’t mean your work has been in vain. The Google-owned online video site has plans for 2007 that include video advertising bumpers before videos, with the proceeds for said ads being shared with the video’s producers. That means the video of your ex-girlfriend throwing up at that rager that got 33,000 streams might make you some quick money. Exact specs on the deal aren’t yet known, but we do know that not just any clip qualifies. To be eligible to makes the green, the content poster much have full copyrights to the clip being viewed. This, however, is a good thing, as it means more original content. This helps develop YouTube as a place where wannabe auteurs can hone their chops, and make a little change to boot. More original content is what the Internet needs in general, trust us on this one, so we’re all for it, even if it does mean more streaming Hummer commercials. YouTube Contributors To Receive Portion of Ad Money [Daily Telegraph] → Read More
YouTube co-founder Chad Hurley has hinted future plans of revenue-sharing at YouTube in the coming months. The BBC is speculating that the ads might take the form of 3-second pre-roll, but Chad Hurley didn’t mention that in his comments. The millions of YouTube videos is a huge inventory that finally gives advertisers a real reason to start investing in the creation of video ads and begin using Google AdSense Video. I believe there will be three parties seeking compensation: Video content owners — owners of original content. (An audio “fingerprinting” copyright system has been in the works for a while, which will match videos up with content owners, in order to compensate audio/video content owners.) Video content creators — users that mash-up content into custom creations. Publishers — user/company that displays a video on their website to visitors. One of the many questions is whether ads will appear on YouTube videos that are displayed on websites outside of YouTube.com. If I’m a publisher, I’d want the option to make revenue on a video I publish — but if I’m a publisher (user) on MySpace, MySpace is the ultimate publisher. MySpace is loaded with YouTube videos, but MySpace doesn’t allow external advertising on their website. Also, MySpace has been blocking external widgets randomly and without explanation, so I would imagine that YouTube wouldn’t take a chance by displaying ads in videos that are seen on MySpace pages. Google is already in bed with MySpace, which could lead to rev-share discussions of ads within YouTube videos that stream on MySpace — and also ensure that YouTube doesn’t ever become an unexplained banned victim of MySpace. YouTube competitors have worked to differentiate themselves by compensating video content creators, but once YouTube enters this game with their top-dog status already — I question what would make a user go to a lesser-visible video site such as Revver, Guba, Metacafe, etc. Competitors have been struggling of recent — Revver lost two founders and Guba lost its’ CEO and two executives. Editor’s Note: This post was written by guest contributor Steve Poland, whose blog Techquila Shots brainstorms web start-up ideas. CrunchBase Information YouTube Information provided by CrunchBase → Read More
The horror that is Windows Mobile 5 currently comes in three flavors: Pocket PC edition (for non-smartphone handhelds), Phone edition (for smartphones with touchscreens), and Smartphone edition (for phones without touchscreens). This is all very confusing, because on top of all the features your phone might support, you must determine which flavor of the OS it’s running to make sure any applications you download will work. What a pain. Crossbow, however, aims to fix this. Crossbow is Windows Mobile 6, and instead of the confusing naming scheme above, Microsoft has apparently decided to change to a more familiar sounding format. The touchscreen-having version will be referred to as Windows Mobile 6 “Professional“, the smartphone version will be “Standard“, and the handheld-but-not-a-smartphone will be “Classic“. This system does make a hell of a lot more sense than the current system, but that doesn’t mean Crossbow is going to win us over yet. New Names for Windows Mobile [PocketInfo.nl] → Read More
. According to the manual, the new high-end RAZR utilizes Windows Media 11 and PlaysForSure, meaning your Yahoo! music subscription will work with the phone. The idea of carriers opening up their hardware to music from other services isn’t new, Cingular started the trend way back when with its super-sleek, sexy, slender, desirable ROKR, an iTunes-compatible musicphone. The thing was a STNKR, but it did prove that people wanted music on their phones, but didn’t want to be locked into a second music store. While PlaysForSure is still playing second fiddle to iTunes as far as legit music downloads go, that could change if more carriers and manufacturers start loading their phones up with the non-Apple competitor. PlaysForSure works just like iTunes, the available music is roughly the same, and the quality is just fine. The key, however, is that there are far, far more cellphones than iPods, and if they all worked with the PlaysForSure store of the user’s choice, then it could be the first real threat to iTunes and the iPod. RAZR maxx For Verizon Hints At New Music Strategy [PhoneScoop] → Read More
Lenovo, Chinese makers of the suh-wheat Thinkpads, is expanding its desktop line with the A55 SFF desktop PCs. The Mac Mini-ish boxes are full power, though, with enough muscle to run Vista with dual-monitors out of the box. That’s decent. The boxes are centered around Core 2 Duo chips, and starting tomorrow they’ll be available pre-loaded with Vista, like just about everything else. This is good news for Lenovo fans, though, as the maker is known for Linux desktops or laptops, not so much for Windows PCs. If this line has the same reliability cachet as its other offerings, they’re with out a doubt worth a look. Lenovo Press Release [Lenovo] → Read More
here at the Gear, and there are good reasons for that. When the largest technology company in the country (world?) decides to go head-to-head with the de facto variant of the MP3 player, we have to report on that. When said company utilizes innovations (no matter how emasculated) like built-in WiFi, we report on that, too. We like the Zune—especially Blake, but you all know he’s a PC fanboy. Sadly, we have to report that the brown brick cost Microsoft $289 million last quarter, hardly the numbers the company was hoping to post at this time. While we’re assured from our internal sources that the next rendition of the Zune (it’s not the Zune II) will address many of the shortcomings of the current model, and that the group has a roadmap to profitability in the works. That’s good news, as over the weekend we stopped by our local overstock and discount store in Seattle and were shocked—shocked!—to find a stack of nearly a dozen brand-new, unopened Zunes selling at $168. → Read More
SocialPicks, a social network around stocks, is officially out of private beta and has added features to make it one of the more compelling places for stock junkies to hang out. SocialPicks tracks imaginary portfolios as they shrink and grow, ranking users by paying close attention to how well their predictions pan out. The new release comes with a face lift, and a tweaked ranking calculation that takes into account the average return your picks, your accuracy in calling the direction a stock moves, and how highly the community rates your advice. SocialPicks tracks a series of “celebrity” stock pickers like Jim “BOOYAH” Crammer or Warren Buffet and the hope is that professionals will use the service too, in order to publicly assert their trading prowess. They also hope to generate revenue the stock picking data of top users, PicksPal style. The company has started with a contest for $1,000 to attract some top pickers. Their new Blog Tracker product is really interesting – submit your financial blog to SocialPicks. They’ll parse your RSS feed to try and determine when you are giving an opinion on the future performance of a stock (human verified). All of these blogs are then ranked by how well these predictions do over time. Currently Main Street Stocks is the top rated blog with a 66% accuracy rating. If you’re interested in SocialPicks, see our coverage of Motley Fool CAPS as well. CrunchBase Information SocialPicks Information provided by CrunchBase → Read More
I will once again admit that I was enamored by the iPhone when it first came out but then I learned of all the dirty little secrets that little apple from Silicon Valley held. I began to raise my nose and give the stinkeye at anyone who mentioned it. Sure it has the full screen touchpad and all that jazz but it lacks 3G capability and with a launch on that orange guys (AT&T/Cingular) network it should have been a no brainer. But what do I see over the horizon coming from the ginormous Communist state? → Read More
I use computers running on Mac OS X and Windows XP. I fully intend on upgrading to Leopard when it launches, however, I’m staying away from Vista for the time being. I was planning on going into a full-on diatribe of why, but Computerworld/PC World managed to pinpoint all of the reasons I do not plan to buy and upgrade to the new Windows OS. Writer Mike Elgan nails everything that irritates me about the launch: the high pricing (Home Premium is $239, $159 upgrade; Ultimate costs $399, $259 upgrade), XP is not dead yet (though Microsoft wouldn’t mind if you thought it was), upgrading and setting up Vista promises to be a very time-consuming project, Vista is not fully cooked for general use or gaming and you’ll need new hardware for decent performance (that 18-month-old PC just won’t do). Finally, if you’re looking to buy a new computer anyway, Elgan suggests Vista is a good reason to switch to a Mac. The fact is, OS X already does most of the stuff Vista does, and has for some time now. Unless you’re dependent on a Windows-only piece of hardware or software that there is no Mac equivalent for or you’re a hardcore 3D gamer, it’s worth investigating a switch to OS X. Leopard promises to be pretty outstanding and if Apple follows the pricing it has in the past, it’ll only cost $129 to upgrade when it rolls out. → Read More
Walking around most big cities you’ll see tons of people with their Bluetooth headsets yapping away. This is all well and good. But anyone who has their headset in while they’re not actually talking makes me think evil thoughts. Which is why I’m up in the air about this new LG headset. Designed with Jabra, this odd Bluetooth headset, BT135, isn’t the smallest or sleekest looking design but it does have an LED display that tells you how much battery life you have left and lets you check on your connectivity. Now just imagine if you could have a scrolling message that announces to the world if you’re on the phone or not and if you aren’t – and are still wearing the headset – will broadcast the “I’m a big douche” alarm. That would make my day. Geeek [Mobile Korea TV] → Read More
we can with your support. And it’s not as if that support will go unrewarded. To enter, all you have to do is head over to Technorati, log in or create an account (make a fake one for all we care), favorite us and take a screenshot. Send the screenshot to contest at crunchgear dotter com with the subject line “YOU’RE MY FAVE” and enter to win a drawing for a Samsung T629 from T-Mobile. Everybody thank Samsung and T-Mo for hooking us up with the device to giveaway to you. → Read More
I have before me a Blackberry Pearl from Cingular and a TeleNav GPS Receiver. Individually, the Pearl is one of the most desirable phones on the market. Packed within its ultra-svelte casing are some genuinely dynamic features. Although it’s small and attractive, it maintains Blackberry’s acclaimed productivity suite. I’ve used plenty of smartphones and I continue to find something incredibly appealing about Blackberry. It might not have every single feature that WinMo phones have, but what features it has, it does flawlessly and I’m left to wonder whether additional features are truly necessary. Indeed, the Pearl does essentially everything I could ask of it. One of the few drawbacks of the PEARL is its lack of a QWERTY keyboard—granted that’s also one of its biggest advantages. Nevertheless, the Pearl integrates RIM‘s SureType technology creating the best typing experience I’ve ever experienced with a standard phone keypad. It’s not quite as quick as a QWERTY, but it’s damn close. → Read More
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San Francisco, CA
