I’m sure the K700 is really nice. And if it were ever going to come out in the USA, I’d love to take it out some time just to talk, maybe grab some gelato, or whatever. But I’m just not feeling that connection… oh, all right, if you must know, it’s the chin. A strong chin is sexy on some handsets — I hooked up with an original Hero once — but it just doesn’t fit with the rest of the K700. You know what I mean? I think Philips does — check out those pictures, they used “Myspace angles” to hide it. → Read More
This just in: the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers thinks it’s a bad idea for you to talk on your phone while driving if you’re not using a headset. They also think that you shouldn’t text while driving, because that causes you to take your eyes off the road. Well duh? → Read More
Guys, I’m really excited. I’m stoked that Microsoft choose me, ME, to host a Windows 7 Launch Party. That’s right, lame ol’ Burns is going to host a Windows 7 party. I just got my confirmation email saying I was a finalist and to head over to HouseParty.com ASAP. Once I filled out all the steps to create a party webpage and invite my guests, I got the email above confirming I’m the coolest person on Earth. Now all I have to do is wait for my pack of party supplies to arrive, which includes a signature edition of Windows 7 Ultimate thankyouverymuch, and watch those fabulous party instructional videos for pointers. → Read More
Finally, actual PS3 Slim sales numbers. Before all we had were percentages—sales up 300 percent over last week, that type of thing. Anyhow, Sony sold one million PS3 Slims since its launch back on September 1. That’s worldwide, mind you. → Read More
Bing is beginning to find its way onto the iPhone through apps that build on top of its APIs. One that just hit the iTunes Store is an augmented reality app called Robotvision (iTunes link). Like other AR apps, it uses the video camera on the iPhone 3GS, as well as the GPS and the compass to bring up data about nearby restaurants and shops, including reviews. It gets this local business data from Microsoft’s Bing search engine.
Once you find a place nearby, you can call it the business from within the app. A lot of this functionality is already in the current Yelp iPhone app hidden as an Easter Egg, but Robotvision has some nice extra features. For instance, a feature is triggered by looking down at the screen, which shows the business and others like it as pins on a map. You can toggle back and forth between augmented reality view and map view depending on how the phone is positioned. (see video demo below). → Read More
Fitness gadget Fitbit was a hit at last year’s TechCrunch50, where it created a ton of buzz and was a runner-up for the top prize. Of course, we all know that it takes hardware companies longer to launch than software startups and since last September, Fitbit has been working tirelessly to refine the product, establish distributions channels and tweak its online platform. Now we won’t have to wait any longer, since Fitbit will officially open up to the public on Tuesday. The site you see currently is the beta version and will feature a redesign as well on Tuesday.
So what does Fitbit do? The sleek little device clips onto your clothing and tracks your movement, sleep and calorie burn throughout the day and night. Fitbit, which costs $99, uses the information it gathers about your movement to help you determine how much exercise you’ve been getting and how many calories you’ve burnt. It can also tell you how many steps you have taken and how well you’ve slept, all based on its internal motion detector. By clicking a little button on the device, you’ll see a small blue LED screen that will alternate between the steps you’ve taken, the calories you’ve burned, your distance, and gives you a gauge of how high your activity level is. This is shown via a small flower that will grow as you exercise more (though I’m told that you will be able to switch your icon). → Read More
Where did this rumor that Microsoft wanted to buy EA start? You know what, it doesn’t matter where it started, because it’s not true. No, Microsoft has no plans to buy EA, so don’t sweat the technique ($1 if you get that reference). → Read More
There’s nothing solid on this, but the usual mysterious sources are whispering about an iMac refresh coming next week. We knew this was forthcoming, but the changes themselves are anybody’s guess. We expect upgraded CPU and GPU, possibly a slimmer design, and some people even suggest Blu-ray is in the cards. Those people aren’t right, though. If Apple was changing its mind about Blu-ray, it’d do so with more than an iMac refresh. → Read More
Given my recent rants about Silicon Valley’s ratio of stinginess-to-wealth and the current trend against “changing the world,” it’s not a huge surprise that more blog posts and tweets were coming from Demo or the B-list-celebrity-studded 140-The Twitter Conference than at the Clinton Global Initiative summit that was also held this week in New York.
Techies who did follow the conference likely did so through the tweets and TwitPics of eBay founder Pierre Omidyar. After founding one of the biggest successes in Silicon Valley history Omidyar bucked the serial entrepreneur trend and turned to angel investing and do-gooding. At the conference he announced another big move: His philanthropic investment firm, The Omidyar Network, is committing $30 million towards backing high-impact entrepreneurs in emerging markets, specifically Sub-Saharan Africa and India.
It’s an interesting fill-the-gap strategy between mainstream venture capitalists looking to benefit from the emerging world’s booming demographics but frequently stymied by cultural and logistical challenges and micro-loans, which the Omidyar Network has already done a good deal of in these regions. → Read More
The Fonera name doesn’t really mean much here in the U S of A, but it’s a little more popular in Europe. (I know I occasionally ran into Fonera Wi-Fi networks in Barcelona last year, and I had never seen one in Manhattan or Queens in New York.) In any event, Fon has, indeed, released the Fonera 2n router here in the U.S.. The big thing is that it works with 802.11n. I guess that’s what the “n” is for. → Read More
In a rather surprising move considering Verizon’s lack of compelling handsets, the nation’s biggest wireless carrier has decided it’s going to pass on the Palm Pre, if reports are to be believed. This is a serious blow to Palm’s aspirations, and their stock took a 5% hit as if to rubber-stamp it. Although the team here is divided over Palm’s new efforts (and advertising strategy), I think we were all secretly rooting for Palm just a bit. After all, WebOS is impressive and the Pre and Pixi are solid little devices — but Verizon doesn’t think so, or at least not anymore. Nobody can deny that sales have been underwhelming — half a million is about where I’d place them, which is no way to launch a giant-killer. That’s Verizon’s first complaint, and you can’t really blame them. Okay, strike one. → Read More
For the last 18 months Google Sites has given businesses a way to quickly build their own websites with no HTML knowledge required, making for an easy way to help coordinate efforts internally and to also build consumer facing sites. But there’s been one fairly major complaint about the service: there was no easy way to export your data if you wanted to take it elsewhere. Today that changes, as Google introduces its new Sites API.
For those that aren’t familiar with it, Sites is the reincarnation of Jotspot, which Google acquired back in 2006. The product is Google’s easy-to-use website and wiki builder that’s widely used by businesses, though there’s a consumer option available. → Read More
You put a marshmallow into it. It catches on fire. You shoot it. This, in a nutshell explains how the mazing Roasted Marshmallow Shooter works.
As far as I tell it uses a a toilet paper tube to light the marshmallows which then blow out of the the tube.
Also, don’t try this at home. → Read More
A company called Swiss Military Watch – I’ve never heard of them – ran their heavy duty diver through a few clever tests including a blast from a fire hose and a close, personal connection to a stick of dynamite.
The model in question, the 20,000 feet looks pretty hefty and includes a nice 7750 Valjoux movement with COSC certification. It has a large crown, heavy side cards, and is made mostly of titanium. Also it’s like $4428, not amazingly bad for a Valjoux COSC-certified chrono. Plus you can shoot it. → Read More
Every so often, we get pinged about Google’s Project 10^100. The program, which asked for ideas that could change the world which Google would in turn put money towards, launched exactly one year ago (in honor of the company’s 10th birthday). But voting was meant to start in October of last year and conclude in January 2009. That never happened. People started to question if Google was quietly letting the ambitious project die. It wasn’t. And today it’s back.
With a post on the Google Blog today, Google has let everyone know that it was simply overwhelmed by the response it received about Project 10^100 (Google’s Marissa Mayer has made comments recently saying the same thing). Over 150,000 idea submissions came in written in 25 different languages. Google says it took over 3,000 employees around the world to go over all of them. But they’re still not done. And they need your help. → Read More
In its newest incarnation, Konami’s best-selling soccer game Winning Eleven (known as Pro Evolution soccer outside Japan) is as great as ever. I played the Xbox360 version with a friend in two-player mode (but PS3 owners will get to play Winning Eleven 2010, too). → Read More
Turn-by-turn navigation was one of the features that iPhone users were most looking forward to with the release of the iPhone 3.0 software. Unfortunately, as users quickly found out, turn-by-turn meant either significantly more expensive apps, or a monthly fee. Not only does Waze do it for free, but it offers an interesting gaming element to boot.
The reason Waze can be free while other turn-by-turn apps are expensive is that their maps are entirely user-generated. Waze simply lays down a foundation and users build out the roads just by using the app. And the company makes it in your interest to help them not only by offering turn-by-turn functionality, but also by turning the mapping of uncharted areas into a game or sorts. If you’re on a road that no Waze user has mapped before, you will see little dots and your car icon will turn into a Pac-Man-like character, to eat the dots and collect points for it. → Read More
Of all the times for me to not live in the UK, THIS IS THE WORST!
Reuters is reporting that lefties across the pond will soon be getting special undergarments designed specifically so that they “can finally go to the bathroom as quickly and efficiently as their right-handed colleagues.” → Read More
There is no love lost between CBS and Hulu. You won’t find any full episodes of CBS shows on Hulu, and CBS’s own site TV.com is so similar in look and feel that one might call it a product of envy. So it should come as no surprise that the knives are still out for Hulu at CBS Interactive.
An email with an article critical of Hulu from CBS Interactive CEO Quincy Smith that was passed around internally (excerpted below) landed in our inbox. Smith confirms that the email is real. Earlier today, he passed along an article from Contentinople titled “Execs Rip Hulu for Giving Away Content” which quotes media executives on a panel laying into Hulu for giving away TV shows for free. The panelists in the article also praise the cable industry’s proposed TV Everywhere model which will make TV shows and movies available online only to consumers who are already existing cable TV subscribers and can be authenticated as such.
Smith passed along the entire article to his executive team, along with a note wondering “how hard it would be to prove that some ratings declines are a result of reckless hulu streams.” CBS’s ratings for the Fall Season premiers have been doing relatively well, compared to other networks. The implication Smith seems to be making here is that maybe the other networks are down because their audience is going online. If he could prove that, it would make his strategy of shunning Hulu look smart. → Read More
Do you remember the iriver Story, the company’s first stab at an e-book reader? Of course you don’t, especially since it’s still only slated for release in Asia. Be that as it may, it’s now available for pre-order for a hot $281, or thereabouts, fiat currencies being what they are. → Read More
