It’s common knowledge round these parts that Verizon probably has the best coverage, but their devices have been so-so. Oh, who am I kidding? The phones available on that network are about as atrocious as their customer service and rate plans. But their device lineup is certainly shaping up to take on the likes of T-Mobile. Well, actually, every major service provider is getting a boatload of cool phones in the coming months, so Verizon just needs to work on not being so shady, but I digress. → Read More
Destroy all phones: Portable GSM phone jammer DIY Jacobs Ladder is a shockingly fun time Messy Cable Madness The DIY community needs to get a clue and wake up Visa Micro Tag Keychain → Read More
Comments are the greasy oil that keeps the blog machine running. Here are three great (and 100% unedited) comments recently posted by your fellow readers. CrunchRumor: HD DVD version of Transformers will be transformable, whatever that means Paul G I wonder if it will transform into a good movie. → Read More
The VAIO SZ6 series is a relatively new addition to Sony’s notebook line. I picked up the VGN-SZ650N/C model, which features a 13.3" screen, carbon fiber casing, long battery life, dual graphics cards, and a hybrid hard drive with 256mb of built-in flash memory. Looks good so far, but how does it perform? → Read More
There are a couple of wacky, wacky guys out in Atlanta who put on a health and fitness show every Thursday evening. After weeks of missed connections, I finally got to sit in on one of the tapings and even got to say a few words on gadgets I used on the road to finishing my marathon. Take a listen. They guys are hilarious and I even mention Yoda. It sounds like I’ll be on every other week or so, so if you’re online or in Georgia, have a listen. Podcast → Read More
I came across this particular post on BoingBoing today and got kind of pissed off. A lot of DIYers are defending the 19-year-old MIT student, Star Simpson, who last week, walked into Boston’s Logan International Airport with this odd homemade electronic device on her sweatshirt. Understandable, but there’s something called social responsibility that applies to us humans. → Read More
I’m not sure where I heard this rumor, but if you’re a Transformers fan and you’re set up for the whole HD DVD experience then take heed for this may pique your interest. So ya know how the menu bar pops up from the bottom or you could throw it up on the side? It’s not as customizable as it should be, right? Well, this random rumor that I seriously don’t know where I picked up on states that you’ll be able to customize said menu depending on whether you’re an Autobot or Decepticon. → Read More
When the first one was released a few months back everyone went crazy for the small form factor, innovative touch interface, and slow as hell processor. The new Touch Slide improves on the non-slide model by adding a BlackBerry Pearl-like sliding QWERTY keyboard, 3G data, and the industry standard 400mhz Qualcomm processor. The device is slightly thicker now but the keyboard and faster processor make it a worthy sacrifice. There are no details as of yet regarding which carrier will get this first or when but we’re assuming it is going to be AT&T some time in October. Hit the jump for more shots. → Read More
Looks like everyone with a Gmail account has something new to worry about. The unreleased, proof of concept vulnerability discovered by some security specialist can set filters on your inbox to block and/or automatically forward any email you receive. Weak. Although the threat is labeled as serious at the moment, don’t worry. Google patches up vital holes pretty efficiently and there are no documented accounts of anyone actually falling prey to this. I’d say just check your filters every now and then. Serious cross-site request forgery vulnerability found in Gmail [Arstechnica] → Read More
Hey, guys. I’ll be in Tokyo for CEATEC next week. If you’d like to meet up for some sake and iPhone fondling and/or Web 2.0 talk, please drop me a line at john @ crunchgear.com. My schedule is still kind of up in the air but I hope to have an evening free for karaoke. See you soon! → Read More
Rumor has it that GameStop—a small chain of mom and pop video game stores—will no longer stock Core Xbox 360s once the current supply dries out. Further still, managers have been told by Mr. and Mrs. GameStop to remove any and all signage relating to the Core. There was a rumor floating around during the summertime suggesting that MDOLLARSIGN was planning to scrap the Core altogether, so maybe this is some sort of confirmation. I mean, no, it’s not a confirmation at all, but it does perpetuate the rumor’s “meh, it-might-be-true”-ness. There’s still supposed to be an entry level Xbox 360, but this time it’ll include a wireless controller and a 256MB memory card. And here I thought everyone who already wanted a 360, especially now that Halo 3 is available, already had one. Xbox 360 Discontinued [Kotaku] → Read More
International payments processor Xoom has raised $20.29 million Series E in a round led by DAG Ventures and joined by previous investors Fidelity Ventures, New Enterprise Associates and Sequoia Capital. Xoom’s international payments platform allows users to transfer money to overseas accounts; think Western Union without the excessive fees, and you can use funds in your PayPal account for the payment. I’ve used Xoom in the past, and it’s a great service that steps in when Paypal withdrawals (or in some cases Paypal altogether) isn’t available in the country you’re paying to. The fees are reasonable, varying between 4% for a small payment down to 1.1% for larger payments. The service is also a convenient way to make international wire transfers that compare well in price to most major banks. The Series E round takes Xoom’s total funding to in excess of $50 million. (via PEHub) → Read More
I like to keep things “real,” so let’s get it out of the way right now: this kid is probably smoking cannabis out of a Nintendo 64 controller. Don’t give me that, “it could be tobacco” nonsense, either. He doesn’t look a day over 14, and smoking tobacco out of a pipe (especially a pipe that looks like a cheap St. Marks bowl) doesn’t enter into a man’s conscious until he’s signed his first mortgage papers. What’s not shown is the after-the-smoking-session photos. I guarantee he’s watching “Wheel of Fortune” while trying to spell words in his bowl of cheerios. The Controller Bong [Aeropose via Boing Boing] → Read More
As we all know by now, the latest software update to the iPhone may in some cases turn it into a useless brick—if you happen to have put hacked software on it or unlocked it (ahem, John) in order to make it work on a non-AT&T carrier (such as T-Mobile, in the U.S.). Apple, of course, is free to try to lock in customers to its partner AT&T and to control what software will work on the phone. That’s just the way the cell phone business works. Right? It’s all about customer lock-in and reducing churn. But Steve Jobs might be better served here to take his own advice and think different. Because, as he has so elegantly demonstrated with the iPhone, these devices are finally becoming little computers. So it shouldn’t be a surprise that consumers will expect them to act like computers. They will want to modify them to their exact, quirky predilections. They will want to use them any way they want, as a general-purpose device. That is why PCs took over the world. They could be tuned a million different ways to the needs of a million different customers. You don’t ask Apple permission to download software off the Web for your Mac. And you would never agree to buy a laptop that only worked with only one broadband provider. Why should the iPhone be any different? The uproar today may be limited to hackers and the digerati. But soon everyone will want the same thing. And if they don’t get it from Apple. They may look somewhere else. Google Phone anyone? → Read More
In an interview with 60 Minutes, Redfin CEO Glenn Kelman said that “Real Estate is by far the most screwed up industry in America.” That may or may not be true, but one thing is certain: a lot of people have had negative experiences with realtors and wish there was a better way to buy and sell houses. And whenever we write about how screwed up that industry is, the realtors come out and start trolling in the comments. The profession seems to attract a fairly outgoing group; individuals that like the sound of their own voice. That may explain the success of Active Rain, a blogging platform for real estate professionals. It launched in June 2006, and by March 2007 had 20,000 bloggers, 12,000 of whom were real estate agents. Now the service is in litigation with Move.com, a company with a collection of websites (including the official site of the National Association of Realtors). In late 2006 ActiveRain entered into discussions to raise money or be acquired by Move.com. In January 2007 the two companies signed a nondisclosure agreement. Two months later Move.com sent Active Rain a letter of intent to acquire the company for $30 million, although it isn’t clear that either side actually signed the letter and made it binding. Then things started getting interesting. According to a lawsuit filed by Active Rain, Move.com kept telling the company the acquisition was on track, and also kept asking them for lots of information about their business. Active Rain said they complied, occupying weeks of the owners’ and officers’ time. Move.com supposedly told Active Rain that the deal had been unanimously approved by Move.com’s board of directors and that the closing was contingent only on the tweaking of a few minor details. Then the coup de grace: Move.com asked Active Rain for, effectively, a database download, including “highly sensitive information about its members and its network.” On May 3, 2007 Active Rain complied and sent the data. Within “hours” Move.com notified Active Rain that they were pulling out of the deal. A few days later Move.com announced that they were “rolling out free blogs for realtors” and competing head on with the service. A press release on the new product was issued in August. The $33 million lawsuit is pending. Move.com filed a answer denying some of the claims and demanding a jury trial. There isn’t much more → Read More
Want to know why I don’t got to the movies anymore? Because consistently and without fail all the times I’ve gone in the past two years I’ve sat behind or in front of — always very near — people talking on the phone. Seriously. So in leiu of throwing Junior Mints at them, I suspect I’ll just get this portable phone jammer for $166 and cut them off at the source. Product Page → Read More
http://embed.break.com/MzY3NTk4Mega Man 3 Intro Guitar – Watch more free videos Found via Phillyist, here’s a video of some kid chilling in his bedroom playing the Mega Man 3 intro on guitar. Sounds very 1980s, but it’s still boss. Really has that shred/arena rock feel to it. Now that I think about it, isn’t every damn Nintendo game made to sound like the 1980s? Go listen to tracks from games like Contra, F-Zero, Darius Twin and pretty much any Mega Man title. You’ll see what I mean. Today’s most strum-it-yourself video: Mega Man 3 intro on guitar [Joystiq via Phillyist] → Read More
Hey, guys. I, John Biggs (not Mike) will be in Tokyo for CEATEC next week. If you’d like to meet up for some sake and iPhone fondling and/or Web 2.0 talk, please drop me a line at john @ crunchgear.com. My schedule is still kind of up in the air but I hope to have an evening free for karaoke. See you soon! → Read More
Two big private equity deals today. Shareholders finally approved the $8.2 billion buyout of Avaya by Silver Lake Partners and the Texas Pacific Group (not bad for an IP phone company that once was part of Lucent). And 3Com, the perpetually money-losing maker of computer networking equipment and competitor of Cisco Systems, has agreed to be acquired by Bain Capital and Chinese networking company Huawei Technologies for $5.30 per share in cash, or $2.2 billion total. For 3Com, that’s 1.7 times last year’s revenues, and for Avaya it is 1.6 times. The price for 3Com is a 44% premium to Thursday’s closing share price of $3.68. Huawei Technologies will gain a minority stake in 3Com as part of the deal. This 3Com deal marks the ascendancy of China in the networking equipment market, partially because networking is still very much a growth market in China and partially because Ethernet switches and the like have become such commodities that only the Chinese can compete. The deal also marks the latest of a string of low-margin tech giants getting bought out with private equity money going all the way back to Silver Lake’s acquisition of Seagate in 2000. But like all private equity deals, those too were fueled by low interest rates. The Avaya deal was brokered earlier this year, before the recent subprime credit crisis threatened to put a damper on the buyout trend. How many more of these do the markets have an appetite for? → Read More
The Michelin Red Book is Europe’s premier restaurant guide. Yes, it’s sponsored by a tire company but its rankings are so highly regarded that an eatery can make or break its reputation based on a star from the guide’s reviewers. It’s big overseas, but not so big over here, which is why ViaMichelin, a GPS device maker and mapping service, has a hard road ahead of them. The X970 is a twee GPS device that comes with a power cable and base with built-in speaker. It’s fairly basic — program in your destination and go. However, it also includes content from the Michelin Green Guide of famous points of interest and it works with ViaMichelin.com to allow you to drag and drop restaurants and other destinations onto your unit. → Read More
