When I think GE, I think washer/dryer, I think fridge. Turns out this enormous company makes about everything under the sun that’s even remotely electronic. I’m a DSLR guy, but stuff like touchscreen LCDs and built-in GPS receptors could tempt even the most skeptical old-schooler. Here are the facts for the $250 E1050, for example: 10 megapixels, 28mm equivalent lens, 5x optical zoom, 3″ touchscreen LCD, up to 3200 ISO, records and plays back hi-def movies (details lacking here) It’s got face, smile, and blink detection, GPS tagging, in-camera panorama stitching, and electronic image stabilization (optical is usually better but they’ve worked out some of the bugs in EIS). Sounds cool. The “article” is basically a press release, but whatever. GE Cameras Score Big Features: Smile and Blink Detection, Better Optics, HDTV, GPS, and More [Business Wire] → Read More
Twitter dumped Joyent as its hosting provider late yesterday (see our report here) and it was presumed by some that the switch away form Joyent was due to the poor reliability of the service. We later learnt that Twitter had switched to Verio, and this is where the rumor mill gets interesting. According to one source, the move to Verio wasn’t related to issues with Joyent, but due to a yet to be disclosed investment from Japanese telco NTT, who are also the full owners of Verio. They did not provide the amount of the investment or terms, but they suggested it was finalized at the same time the Digital Garage investment was announced. Apparently it had been a done deal for months prior to that, hence the talk that Twitter had been planning a move away from Joyent for months. The Digital Garage deal was announced January 16, so presuming reasonable preparations before that, 15 days after signing to make the move is a reasonable enough time frame. There is some sense in the notion that NTT may have been involved along side Digital Garage in taking a strategic investment in Twitter. Although both companies are separate, they often cross paths in Japan, and staff such as Stuart Woodward have worked for both. Twitter’s still strong roots as a mobile offering would also appeal to NTT, particularly as Google tries to break into Japan with Jaiku one of the platforms they may eventually be offering, and Digital Garage is creating a Japanese version, so all the better if NTT gets the mobile version of that exclusively on their phones. NTT does however have a search deal with Google, but no doubt due to the promised financial returns from it as opposed to any greater love for Larry and Sergey. This is an unconfirmed tip so we’ve put an email into Twitter for comment on this, and if we get a response we’ll add it. On the reliability side, the move to Verio isn’t going well for Twitter so far with regular down time, delayed messages and related issues in the just over 24 hours since the move was made. As one wag suggested on Twitter, “even www.istwitterdown.com can’t keep up.” CrunchBase Information Twitter Joyent Information provided by CrunchBase → Read More
I know I’d never buy this doodad, but maybe some crazed DS fanboy might. I think the speakers are adequate enough and it’s the perfect size. For some reason Gametech thinks differently and wants you to fatten up that DS Lite with the Sound Shell. It also acts as a case and has a built-in stand, so that’s worth something. Not sure how much louder the sound will be, though. It retails for about $30, but it’s only in Japan. [photopress:gametech_sound_shell_dlite.jpg,thumb,pp_image][photopress:gametech_sound_shell_dlite_stand.jpg,thumb,pp_image] Impress [via DS Fanboy] → Read More
After months of speculation EA’s CEO John Riccitiello confirmed today at the end of the Q3 conf call that Rock Band will be coming to the Wii. No word on when and for how much, but rest assured that it’s coming. Rock Band Confirmed for Wii [IGN] → Read More
Kara Swisher’s elves must have Mark Zuckerberg’s number. Because she is reporting details from an all-hands meeting the Facebook founder held on Thursday for employees that had an open dial-in number, in which he revealed the following financial metrics for the still-private company: 2007 Revenues: $150 million 2008 Revenues: $300 to $350 million (projected) 2007 Headcount: 450 2008 Headcount: 1,000 (projected) 2008 Capital Expenditures: $200 million (i.e., servers) 2008 EBITDA: $50 million 2008 Cash Flow (EBITDA – CapEx): negative 150 million. If he wants to go public in 2009, he is going to have to start making some money before then. CrunchBase Information Facebook Information provided by CrunchBase → Read More
Cooking and recipe sites are a dime a dozen online, but usually they offer generic recipes tailored for people who cook regularly….and despite women’s liberation and equality of the sexes that’s still statistically women. Culinary Seductions is billed as “the guys guide to cooking for girls” and does just that, offering recipes for men wishing to look smart by cooking for women. The recipes are split into Dishes/ Course (including “food for the morning after”), difficulty and moods. Moods include decadent, snugly, saucy, sassy, nutty and luscious, but seems to miss out some obvious mood choices for a partner like cranky, irrational and argumentative. The recipes on offer seem to be reasonable enough; there’s nothing ground breaking in the food but the way its split up is helpful and the instructions are fairly straight forward. Might be worth a look if you’re a bloke looking for something to cook for your better half. → Read More
[photopress:hugshirts_1.jpg,full,center] We’re coming up to Valentine’s Day, 2008, and here I am again without a date. Ok, not true, I have two dates, but it’s not like that. Ok, it is if I’m lucky. Anyway, the point is, there are these shirts, see, and when you and your signif are wearing them, and you come within hugging distance (which is a scientific constant, like 1AU), the half-filled pixelated hearts fill all the way up, because you’re in love! Actually, with my luck, even if I had a girlfriend, we’d each only find ourselves wearing these on dedicated Arguing Days. Sucks to be me. 8-Bit Dynamic Light Shirt [Think Geek] → Read More
A source at Intel has revealed that Windows PCs will soon be using the much-lauded MacBook Air processor that Apple forced Intel to make practically at gunpoint. This isn’t really surprising; it’s understandable that Intel would let Apple have the glory of the unveil, but it’s a valuable technology and I’ve heard from reliable sources that Intel likes money. So don’t be surprised to see a “As featured on the MacBook Air!” sticker on that Dell or Acer or whatever the kids are buying these days. Windows PC makers to use MacBook Air chips [PC Advisor] → Read More
It’s been a while since my last Orientation, but we’ve all been traveling around for various events and such over the last month so it’s been a little hectic. To get things back on track, we’re going to talk about High-Definition Multimedia Interface, better known as HDMI. The Super Bowl is coming up as well as March Madness and some of you just got a brand new HDTV for the holidays so let’s try and get the best out of the whole deal. Sound good? → Read More
[UPDATE - I put the chat room over on the side, just to see what, if anything, will happen if our readers can talk to each other. Lawsuits here we come!] We talked about Meebo quite a while ago. They’re essentially a web-based IM client that supports a number of protocols including AIM and MSN. Well, they’ve just started offering embeddded rooms for websites like the one above. We’re going to hide this one here in case we need it for keynotes or breaking news but feel free to idle in it like it was 1998. While this isn’t very new or special, you can, potentially, place this same chatroom on your homepage and constantly be in contact with the CG team at any time, day or night. How about them apples? Product Page → Read More
[photopress:chronicast.jpg,full,center] Bad: A tornado comes and destroys your home. Worse: Comcast wants to charge you $2000 for the five, nine-year old cable boxes that got destroyed. That’s what happened to a Wheatland, Wisconsin resident, and Comcast is standing its ground. The cable operator says that the victim will have to get reimbursement from her insurance company to pay the bill. The insurers, however, are only willing to pay the depreciated value of the five boxes and cable modem, even though Comcast is asking for the original price. I’ve had a similar situation with Comcast: an ancient cable box of mine was destroyed at a party, and they wanted me to pay $500 for it before I could get a new one. The thing wasn’t worth that much new. So, I went to the Goodwills and was able to replace it for about $10. Me, 1; Comcast, 0. But really, should Comcast expect full value on equipment nearly a decade old? We think not. Cable TV bills with a twist [Kenosha News] → Read More
[photopress:intelius.jpg,full,center] He could be looking up your info! There’s a database out there with your name on it. (In it, but on it sounded better.) Intelius collects information like your cellphone number, how much your house worth and so forth and then stuffs it all into a database. This information is gathered from public records. The database can be used by anyone, provided they pony up at least $8, though the most in-depth report costs $50. Privacy advocates and the people who love them aren’t too keen on the database, saying it’s an invasion of privacy. Verizon Wireless doesn’t like it either and says it’s prepared to go to litigation to prevent its customers’ numbers from getting out. I did a quick search on our well-muscled leader John Biggs and found out some interesting things. Did you know his middle name begins with a “D” and he once lived in Farifax, Virginia? I didn’t pay for the rest of the report because I’m poor and live in Queens, but you’re all more than welcome to try it out for yourself. Search for yourself, search for your friends, search for celebrities. Have fun! Cell phone directory rings alarm bells [MSNBC] Intelius → Read More
Motorola is exploring spinning off its mobile devices unit “to recapture global market leadership and to enhance shareholder value.” The move comes in an ever increasingly tight market which has seen Apple capture 19.5% of the smartphone market in its first twelve months, a new iPhone style device announced by GPS provider Garmin, and a slew of Android powered phones coming later this year, including at least one mobile phone from computer maker Dell. Motorola’s mobile phone market share has continued to slide in the face of existing competition with the handset unit recording a $1.2 billion loss in the 4th quarter of 2007. Although mobile phones are still perhaps the public face of Motorola, the company is also an enterprise provider of communications tools to business, Government and the military. We’re placing Motorola’s handset unit on Deadpool watch. Motorola has had a mixed track record of spinning off companies, having success with Freescale Semiconductor, however Iridium saw what was once the worlds leading commercial satellite network file for bankruptcy in 1999. A new company based around a business unit with a $1.2 billion loss is going to take some serious work in turning around under normal circumstances, but in a market that will see a slew of new competitors and where a new comer such as Apple can take such a big slice of the market in such a short time, it will be harder again, if not near on impossible. → Read More
Are we looking at HTC’s next GUI? Could be! It might be called “Manila” too. Doesn’t it give you goose bumps? Oh really? It didn’t give me goose bumps either. I just said that because I figured there was something wrong with my feelings again. Here’s some more info from the::unwired, I have zero information if this screenshots are legit or just a simple PhotoShop result but according to Swiss Windows Mobile fan-site “Mobile-Devices.ch”, bellow you see some screenshots of HTC’s upcoming/next TouchFLO GUI which is code-named “Manila”. No further information given so it’s not clear if it is real (really from HTC), an HTC development environment or really HTC “TouchFLO 2.0″; also Mobile-Devices.ch hasn’t mentioned where they got the information from but from what you can see from the screenshots, it could be real indeed. So there you have it. Grains of salt and all that good stuff. LEAK: Is this a new HTC TouchFLO GUI called Manila? [the::unwired] → Read More
[photopress:blogger.jpg,full,center] The US Governemnt is staging a terrorist-like War Game, called “Cyber Storm”, to simulate an attack against our country’s infrastructure, ala Die Hard 4. Attacks would be carried out against transportation and utilities, using hijackers, hackers, and bloggers. Wait, what? Apparently Homeland Security is worried that us troublesome bloggers will reveal vital gas lines or something in the case of an attack, so we’re a threat. Watch out for bloggers! We can spout all kinds of stuff that the Terrorists can use to blow you up. We’re dangerous! This is such crap. U.S. Mock Disaster Drill: Trains, Planes and Bloggers [News Factor] → Read More
The big auction is in full swing, and the anonymous bids are flowing in. After two weeks of bidding, the FCC is set to receive more than $12 billion for the various blocks of spectrum, with the valuable C block bringing in $4.7b of that with the most recent bid. Breaking the reserve means that the restrictions Google suggested — making the spectrum open to outside devices and applications — are now in effect. People were afraid when the FCC adopted this idea, with the condition that the reserve was met, would dampen interest in the spectrum block. But as it stands, they’re making a killing on it although we won’t know who’s dropping the bills until it’s all over. It’s so exciting! Large block in 700MHz auction exceeds reserve price of $4.6 billion [InfoWorld] → Read More
Cornerworld has acquired social media marketing company Sway Inc for $30 million. The OTC listed Cornerworld is a relatively unknown social service provider that “combines social networking, content-sharing and business management tools to enable independent people to profit from their original digital works;” a full profile from DemoFall 07 can be found here. Sway offers a central control platform for administering marketing campaigns across social media and “multiple web 2.0 platforms.” Their key products offer customers real-time results tracking across HTML e-mail, podcasts, video syndication, RSS and SMS mobile phone text messaging. Update: The deal was terminated on May 1, 2008. CrunchBase Information Cornerworld Sway Information provided by CrunchBase → Read More
