Short version: Nintendo’s new DSi XL is aimed squarely at the older generation of casual gamers. People that appreciate something that’s a little easier to read. The people who wear their reading glasses while they sit down for their morning glass of fiber and read their copy of the AARP Journal. And heaven help me, I like it. → Read More
Back in fall 2008, when the App Store was less than 100 days old, I wrote about an incredibly trippy and innovative application called RjDj (iTunes link). The app is a bit hard to describe, but it essentially takes audio or motion input from your iPhone, passes it through a variety of filters, and outputs music that’s customized to your surroundings (you really need to try it for yourself to see what it’s like). Now, RjDj is taking its application to the next level: the company has released a new desktop app called RJC1000 that allows Mac users to easily build their own reactive music for use on any of RjDj’s growing roster of applications.
To take a step back, when you use RjDj, you listen to what’s called a “Scene” — a combination of filters that determine what your reactive music sounds like. A Scene can pay attention to your iPhone’s microphone, accelerometer (so it can ‘hear’ motion), and even your GPS position. It then interprets those inputs to generate a dynamic music soundtrack. → Read More
The new 1001PX from Asus isn’t particularly noteworthy spec-wise. 250GB hard drive, 1.66GHz Atom processor… you know the drill. But it’s got a matte screen! I really don’t understand why people want these glossy screens so bad. Just give me the option, whether it’s cheaper or more expensive — I’m tired of staring into a mirror-like surface whenever I’m trying to write. Now, if they could just put this on the much-sexier 1005PR… → Read More
The second half of SGU‘s first season starts this Friday. We already know it should be a good one thanks to the MGM teaser showing off that ugly baddie. But some crazy fans might hold off until June 13 when the Blu-ray is released sans all the commericals and probably with high-quality picture and sound. But that’s not me. → Read More
Short version: There’s lots of mass produced, low quality, netbook sleeves and bags out there. Generally speaking, you get what you pay for. But what about something made by one guy, his sewing machine, and a dream? Can a home made product sold on the internet hold up to the same standards as products made by Crumpler, or Timbuk2? Can the little guy be competitive in the market with companies that spend more on staples than what he spends on materials a year? I say: yes. → Read More
A few years ago, I was in Paris during the summer, and it was so intolerably hot that I needed to stay in for the middle of the day. My friend Mike, whose family I was staying with, was also there, and just as tired of the heat. We resolved to put our MacBook Pros on an ad hoc network and play through Quake — you know, instead of visiting the Louvre or something. And I recalled then just how awesome that game is. → Read More
Back in September of last year, Starbucks made it possible to pay for your daily caffeine hit with their Starbucks Card Mobile iPhone app. The entire concept is pretty simple: punch in your Starbucks Card info, verify some details, and BAM! The iPhone app becomes the gift card, presenting a secure QR code for the Barista to scan when it comes time to pay up.
Here’s the catch: out of Starbucks’ roughly 74 billion locations, only a few have started accepting the mobile payment system. As in very few. As in sixteen. Until today! → Read More
Before we begin by announcing the winner of the T-Mobile HTC HD2, let’s pour a little out for the smartphoneless. We feel for you. We do. We went through a whole lot of tales of woe. Lots of people literally deserved phones for the trouble they’ve been through and I’m going to encourage T-Mo to go through the comments to address some of the T-Mo customers who feel they’re being unfairly treated. However, we had to pick one and we picked a young man with a sad phone and an even sadder tale of woe. He wrote: My laptop was stolen three weeks ago. I subsequently got food poisoning at Red Lobster. Also subsequently, I was rejected from my transfer college of choice. This week my iPod classic committed suicide from inside my car and leaped onto a major road. Needless to say, it is very, very dead. My phone has no outer shell. It broke last year. I have a skeleton. → Read More
When Steve Jobs tells the technology industry to get in line, it gets in line pretty quick. All the initial hair-pulling and angst surrounding Apple’s decision to not support Flash on the iPad is already mattering less and less. At least for video, most of the major online video platforms such as Brightcove and Ooyala are supporting HTML5 playback in the iPad browser. YouTube might eventually get there as well.
Now Kyte is jumping on the HTML5 bandwagon. Kyte videos will stream in an HTML5 player in the iPad browser using the same embed code that triggers a Flash player on other computers. But Kyte is also going to release a software developer kit (SDK) which will let its media partners create apps specifically for the iPad. The SDK will also let them create versions of the same apps for the iPhone and the iPod Touch. This will replace the iPhone framework Kyte released last year. → Read More
Proving once again that duct tape is capable of almost anything, here’s a little DIY project for you. It looks fairly simple to build your own projector, even if it’s not particularly aesthetically pleasing. → Read More
If you’ll pardon the pun, SimpleGeo has positioned itself well.
With a frenzy of activity surrounding location-based services, more and more startups are launching ideas that rely heavily on location. But implementing location is still a relatively complicated process. And that’s where SimpleGeo comes in.
We’ve written about the service a number of times over the past several months. Basically, they provide the infrastructure and tools to allow other services to add location elements with ease. In fact, since they launched in beta late last year, they already have some 5,000 developers on board using their service. And tomorrow at the Where 2.0 conference in San Jose, CA, they’re opening up their platform for all to use. → Read More
Short version: The price is right, and it is rugged, but form factor problems may sink this camera’s chances. → Read More
There was a wee bit of chaos amongst iPhone jailbreakers after this morning’s iTunes 9.1 update hit. Seemingly out of nowhere, “tethered” jailbreaks (the slightly-less-convenient type necessary for newer iPhones) stopped working. Panic!
Fortunately, the endlessly resourceful army behind the jailbreaking effort has already isolated the problem, and a fix is in the works. → Read More
Tunes 9.1 just went live. I’m digging through to see what’s new in this version, but iTunes just updated to 9.1. It seems you actually have to go to the Apple.com/itunes site to download it because my System Update and the Update Software command in iTunes didn’t catch it. → Read More
Soldats, je suis contents de vous! EA and DICE just released the second VIP map pack for Battlefield: Bad Company 2. I take it I’m the only person on Planet Earth to buy the game strictly for the single-player mode, but go ahead and have fun without me! → Read More
I’ll keep this short and to the point, if only because I’m sensing the “outrage” surrounding DRM has sorta died down. The movement ran out of fuel, I mean. Anyway, gamers in Australia have been unable to play Settlers 7, which uses that silly DRM nonsense that requires you be to constantly connected to the Internet, because Ubisoft‘s servers have been unreachable. Who saw this coming? Oh, right: everyone but the Ubisoft executives in Paris. /Le sigh. → Read More
This may be the greatest sentence ever written in the English language: “As IT industry analysts label 2010 the ‘Year of the Cloud,’ a new report by Greenpeace shows how the launch of quintessential cloud computing devices like the Apple iPad raises fresh questions about how the Internet is powered and whether the IT sector will continue to fuel climate change by increasing demand for dirty coal power.” Dirty Coal Power: on tour this summer (with special guest Limp Bizkit)! In other words, does the iPad hate freedom? Obviously. → Read More
http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=10544706&server=vimeo.com&show_title=0&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=ff9933&fullscreen=1 Before each of this week’s rugged and waterproof cameras gets examined on terms of usability, image quality, and so on, I had to check whether their makers were pulling my leg about their rugged qualities. A quick trip to the park furnished a suitable environment to test this out, and here’s the video. → Read More
iBUYPOWER just announced the latest in their gaming notebook lineup, the Battalion CZ-11. The CZ-11 features a 15 inch screen, as well as the new Intel Core i7 processor. iBUYPOWER has also loaded the CZ-11 with 4GB of RAM, an ATI Radeon 5650, and a 500GB drive. Click through for the press release and more details. → Read More
Over the past few months, Automattic’s popular blog platform WordPress.com has taken an in-depth look at their blogging ecosystem, and realized that one of the major pain points for the 12.1 million users who self-host their WordPress blogs is security and restoration. WordPress.com backs up all of the blogs that it hosts, but those users who self-host their WordPress-powered blogs need to download outside plugins, such as this one, or use backup services like Mozy or Backupify to protect their data and content. Today Automattic is changing that with the launch of its own blog protection and restoration service for self-hosted blogs, called VaultPress.
Currently in private beta, VaultPress is a plugin users can download that acts as a backup service for your blog. Not only will the software help keep your blog up and running, but it will also soon monitor your site to alert you if their is suspicious activity or a hacking. Alternatively, VaultPress will eventually update your blog with security hot-fixes automatically. VaultPress will be a paid service and will probably be in the ballpark range of $15 to 20 per month, according to Automattic VP of User Growth Paul Kim. At first VaultPress will be extended on an invitation only basis and will eventually be open to the public in the near future. → Read More
