Austin360 blogs > Digital Savant > Archives > 2008 > June
June 2008
Losing tiny tech things
Last Friday, I realized that I’d lost a small black Bluetooth earpiece. Not one of those ugly, cruddy, “Star Trek: The Next Generation” jobs you can buy at the checkout line at Target. I mean a really nice, elegant-looking one that was making me come back around to the idea of using one again.
The earpiece is tiny. So tiny that I can’t find it anywhere. I searched my car, my work bag, my house, the pockets of every item of clothing I’ve work in the last week, the washer, the dryer, my desk at work, all my desk drawers, the bed sheets, under the bed, my car again, my living room, all of our junk piles where small items tend to migrate and even, in one ridiculous moment, in the garbage disposal.
I have a sneaking suspicion I might have lost it on a trip to Houston I took recently, but I’m not sure I have the energy to go searching all over that city.
It’s probably lost. Or maybe I put it somewhere to keep it safe and forgot where that was. I’m good at losing things by putting them somewhere that I know will keep them from getting lost.
I added this tiny device to my other list of lost items: a 2-gigabyte flash drive that I probably handed to a photo editor or designer with some important files and forgot to retrieve. Who has it? Who knows.
Over the weekend, I bought a 4-gigabyte flash drive to replace the one that was lost, only to subsequently lose that one. This time I got lucky: I found it in a pair of shorts I’d been wearing. The plan was to attach it to my keychain so I wouldn’t lose it, but my wife was out driving my car and had my keys. So I put it in my shorts pocket. For safe-keeping. Until I forgot all about it.
I’ve learned not to keep any vital data on any object smaller than an iPhone. Flash drives for me are just for moving things back and forth between computers. I’d never keep anything on them I couldn’t replace.
I’m all for tons of storage and big capabilities in small packages, but when an earpiece or a flash drive is tiny, black and so light it doesn’t register as real weight, I will lose it. You can’t trust me with these things.
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‘Rock Band 2’ confirmed for September
It was just two days ago that I was at home, baby asleep, quietly downloading the Pixies album made available on “Rock Band.”
Lucky for me, I’ll be able to keep playing those songs on “Rock Band 2” when it comes out in September.
Harmonix, the company behind “Rock Band” announced today that a new version of the game is due out. Details are scant, but there are tantalizing hints of compatibility with new instruments (likely custom-made drum kits and cool guitars made by third-party vendors) and the promise that all the music bought online for the game will be transferable to the new version, something that hasn’t been the case with the “Guitar Hero” titles.
One big change: it will only launch for Xbox 360, no concurrent release for PlayStation 3 like the first “Rock Band” game. The Wii version of the first “Rock Band” just launched in June.
September seems a bit soon for a sequel to a game that still seems to be picking up momentum, but given how many versions of “Guitar Hero” will be released this year (four or five, by my count), it’s only fair that Harmonix get to earn a little more cash, too.
I spent some time Saturday night playing “Rock Band” and found that it’s just not that fun playing alone. My vocals get all inhibited and quiet and my drumming is overcautious at best. I think playing solo definitely favors the lonely guitarist.
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Blizzard announces ‘Diablo III’
Blizzard Entertainment has been teasing fans all week with its home page, revealing a little bit at a time a monster that was to figure prominently into its next big game announcement.
Would it be more details about its next “World of Warcraft” expansion? A whole new massively multiplayer online game?
It turns out that just a little over a year after announcing “Starcraft II,” Blizzard is working on another sequel to one of its great, successful franchises: “Diablo III.”
The “Diablo” series has always been the high-water mark for easy-to-play, addictive dungeon crawl action games. Gameplay videos revealed on the site show that the game’s look and feel haven’t changed too much, but some gameplay mechanics, 3-D graphics and other details have been highly refined. The game takes place 20 years after the events of “Diablo II” and, from what we can see, is capable of throwing lots more bad guys at you at a time.
Read more details on the Game On blog, including info about the new character class, Witch Doctor.
No release date was mentioned: Blizzard rarely gives a timetable for future releases, but the footage we can see shows the game is much further along than we could have even hoped.
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More ‘GTA IV’ reaction
A reader of today’s review of “Grand Theft Auto IV” concurs with my almost embarrassing praise of a game that has already received so much love from mainstream and gaming press.
He writes: “I try to explain to my friends and family how epic this game is, but they wash over it as, ‘just another video game’ but I passed it about 2 weeks ago, and still play it in awe. I think this game is epic and historic.”
There are games that are fun and worth recommending like “Boom Blox” and “Mario Kart Wii” and games that offer up something larger and more cinematic like “God of War II” or “Devil May Cry 4,” but rarely do you see a game that is so ambitious that even a minor stumble would have crippled the whole enterprise.
“GTA IV” isn’t perfect, but it does so much right and on such a large, previously unimaginable scale, that you embrace its shortcomings as part of a breathtaking whole. Very few games aspire to be true works of art (although many games have very artistic elements); “GTA IV” is one of only a handful that really gets there.
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Jailbreaking the iPhone
I mentioned last week that in order to try out Qik’s video streaming software on my iPhone, I had to go through the process of jailbreaking my phone.
You don’t hear much about jailbreaking these days, but after the iPhone launched last year, tales of bricked iPhones (that is iPhones that were unsuccessfully jailbroken and then rendered inoperable) were plentiful and the mere thought of messing with the brains of a $600 were a little terrifying.
Now that the current iPhone is headed to the great Wall-E scrap heap of obsolescence and the new iPhone will start at a mere $199, jailbreaking doesn’t seem like such a huge financial risk.
For anyone remotely curious, it’s reassuring to know that the tools for jailbreaking have become safer to use and more user friendly. Some programs purport to jailbreak the iPhone/iPod Touch with one click. I didn’t find it quite that easy, but it did take me less than half an hour to have the phone unshackled, new software installed and Qik up and running in its alpha version.
So how did I do it? Inspired by this podcast on GeekBrief.tv, which made it look super easy, I downloaded iFuntastic for the Mac.
iFuntastic asks you to plug in your iPhone and then walks you through several options for jailbreaking/unshackling your iPhone (allowing you to install third-party applications). iFuntastic doesn’t unlock your phone (allowing it to work with carriers other than AT&T). I only wanted to jailbreak the phone, so good so far.
iFuntastic gives you several program options for jailbreaking programs. Based on their recommendation, I chose iLibertyX, which sounded like the easiest option.
I ran the program and suddenly my iPhone screen filled up with a bunch of text, which is a little worrisome, but perfectly natural for what’s happening.
After a restart, the iPhone was ready to go. It added a program to my home screen called “Installer.” Using Installer, you can download (over Wi-Fi is recommended) and install a variety of programs, from utilities to games. I had to add a special “SOURCE” address to get Qik (which is not yet publicly available), but otherwise I stuck to sources that were already available under the Installer.
Among the programs I’ve added to my iPhone are “iFlickr” which allows me to post photos directly from the iPhone to Flickr.com instead of having to send them through e-mail. I’ve installed “Tap Tap Revolution,” a cute touch-screen take-off of “Guitar Hero.” “PhoneZap” allows me to make my own custom ringtones using MP3 files on the phone on the fly. And “TuneWiki” turns my iPhone music library into a karaoke machine, complete with lyrics.
You can also find lots of themes to change your iPhone screen’s appearance several utilities for organizing contacts or using services like Twitter. There’s also a Video Recorder that I haven’t tried yet, but which is said to be able to capture audio and video with the iPhone camera, right now.
When Apple unveils its application shop next month with the rollout of iPhone 2.0 software and the 3G iPhone, most iPhone users won’t need to jump through hoops to access these kinds of programs. Some or all of them may be available as free or cheap downloads through the site.
But as long as jailbreaking an iPhone is relatively safe and easy, I can’t imagine that the underground third-party software market won’t continue to thrive.
A few quick things before I wrap up: there’s nothing illegal about jailbreaking an iPhone. The risk you run is not arrest, but merely voiding your warranty, the same kind of suffering you’d endure if you opened up your iPod to replace the battery or cracked open your laptop without a certified technician’s help. The danger you run is that the Genius Bar may not be willing to help you if your little jailbreak goes horribly wrong. On the other hand, it’s not difficult to completely restore your iPhone to its factory settings/software. You’ll lose any data that’s not backed up through iTunes, but your hardware isn’t going to burst into flames or blend itself.
If you’re going to jailbreak, I suggest your read up first and make sure you have a good exit strategy in case you decide midway through that this is the worst idea ever.
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‘Wii Fit’ hits the mall this weekend
The $90 fitness device, a battery-powered balance board that communicates with the Nintendo Wii console, has been sold out at every store I’ve checked locally (no, I don’t own one myself. Yet.). “Wii Fit” comes with a bevy of mini-games that teach yoga, strength training, balance and jogging with a Wiimote in your pocket.
Models will be demonstrating the device and I hear from a reliable source that Wii Fit socks will be given away. The device will NOT be sold at the event, however, so don’t go thinking you can just show up, spend $90 and take one home. That would just be silly. We’re talking about Nintendo.
The demos will be going Friday and Saturday, 10 a.m. through 9 p.m., and Sunday from noon to 6 p.m. at Lakeline Mall’s Dillard’s Court and Barton Creek Square’s Elevator Court.
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Spurs’ Tony Parker: cover athlete for ‘NBA Live ‘09’
He gets to be married to Eva Longoria and now he gets to be on the cover of EA Sports’ “NBA Live ‘09.” Even losing the NBA championship, it’s still not too awful to be Tony Parker.
EA announced that Parker is the cover athlete for its long-running basketball series. Peep the cover shot and a screen grab below.
And, say it with me: “Go, Spurs, Go! (Next year!)”
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Two videos that couldn’t be more different
Today, I offer you two videos that could not point in more different directions. However, each may enrich you in surprising ways.
First off, the local social media folks at the American Cancer Society have launched an online video contest for their Relay for Life. The deadline is Aug. 10 and the prize (aside from potential national exposure) is a Flip camcorder. Now, if you’re submitting an online video, I’d have to assume you already have a video camera, but, hey, they make great gifts. Here’s a promotional video for the contest featuring not quite the best rapping you’ve ever seen:
The second video is a “Reveal trailer” of the upcoming game “Call of Duty 5: World at War.” “Call of Duty 4” was a huge hit last holiday season that many gamers are still playing. Will a return to a WWII setting derail the franchise?
You be the judge (warning, lots of video game violence ahead):
A relay of hope and a bunch of virtual guys gunning each other down. You can’t say I don’t give you some variety for your Wednesday.
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Coupons story: the deleted scene
This happened with the Saturday coupons story. I found a very nice local woman who was kind enough to chat with me by phone, but in the end, her story didn’t fit into the story I was working on. Sometimes when this happens, I end up writing a whole separate article about these editorial leftovers when they go in a different direction.
However, it’s still worth sharing, I think. Pamela Estepp, who works at an Austin drug store, also posts lots of information about freebies and deals on a page she maintains on Gather.com. There, she earns points for posts, comments and connections she makes. She uses these points to cash out gift cards for retailers like Borders, Home Depot and Omaha Steaks.
“Basically, I’m just trying to survive on a budget,” Estrep said, “For years, I’ve been doing coupons and rebates and that sort of thing. I enjoy doing it and it helps my roommate and me; we’re trying to make ends meet.”
Estepp says she spends several hours a night posting items on Gather. She gets tips from friends and relatives and reposts them for others.
She enjoys the freebies and special offers you can get online. One site she also works with is BzzAgent. The site sends her samples and coupons on products and she’s asked to write reports based on her own experiences and feedback she gets from friends. She also earns points good toward gift cards there. Recently, she got to try out a SonicCare toothbrush and got samples of Hershey’s candy bars.
Estepp says she’s been burned by sites that ask people to earn points and then quickly go out of business, but, she says, most of them allow users to transfer their accumulated points in some way to another site.
If you didn’t get enough advice and tips from yesterdays coupon live chat with Rochelle Hamby (the transcript is still available for viewing), here another: Coupon Winner posts promo codes and deals for online shopping. A PR person for the site says they have over 9,000 coupons from 3,142 retailers. It may be worth your time if the idea of hitting the stores in this summer heat turns you off.
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Live blog with coupon expert Rochelle Hamby
Rochelle Hamby of divagirlsdeals.com talks about grocery savings and stretching your dollar.
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Intelliscanning: not as smart as it should be
It took me much longer that it should have to review the Intelliscanner Mini, a small, wireless device to scan barcodes and import them into personal databases. That’s because the first time I tried using it, it felt like I’d been bitten by a snake. I began to wonder if I had somehow provoked the innocent-looking little thing, but nevertheless regarded it warily, giving it a dirty look every time I passed its box.
Surely this product, which is a fantastic idea, couldn’t be that bad. Surely I was wrong. So I gave it another try.
I was right. This thing is a snake in the grass.
The idea is one whose time has come: we have so much stuff — books, CDs, DVDs, wine, groceries, electronics — that there must be some way to more easily organize and catalog it all.
The Intelliscanner Mini is a bite-sized version of several products offered by Intelliscanner Corp. for small business and personal use. The Mini is a wireless USB device that allows you to scan 100 barcodes at a time, bring the data back to computer and seamlessly import them into programs that will automatically bring up the items you scanned. Included in the $300 package is software for organizing media (books, CDs, movies); for making a database for your wine collection; for sorting your kitchen inventory; bringing in your home assets; and, finally, your comic book collection.
Sounds brilliant, right?
The problems begin with the Mini’s hardware itself. It’s a USB device, but for some strange reason requires that it be plugged to an ugly, clunky serial adapter and then converted back to a USB cable before it can connect to your computer. What was a tiny, sleek little device becomes a mess of wires and unsightly plastic on your desk. It’s 2008. A small USB device shouldn’t need this much rigging up to function:
Especially when you consider what the Mini is actually doing: it converts barcodes into a series of numbers and spits them out the moment you plug the thing in to your computer. If you don’t happen to have the right window up on the right piece of software to correspond with what you just scanned, you will lose that information instantly. The moment the Mini connects with your computer, those numbers are spit out and lost. If you spent an hour scanning 100 books on your shelves and you didn’t have the software set to accept the barcodes when you plugged in the Mini, you just lost an hour of your life.
You also can’t mix barcodes: you can’t scan in barcodes for comic books on the same trip as books, wine or kitchen items.
And although I didn’t test out the wine software (I don’t have enough bottles of wine in my house to constitute any kind of collection), the comic book and kitchen software were abysmal.
I couldn’t get the software to recognize a single comic book barcode I scanned in. My comic book collection isn’t exactly state-of-the-art, but after about 50 tries, I gave up. And an integrated viewer to subscribe to Web comics barely functions at all. I tried to access a few popular Web comics via their RSS feeds (a user-unfriendly step to begin with), and they didn’t work. Half of the comics that were already built into the Web comics feature also didn’t appear.
The kitchen software only recognized about 7 of 20 pantry and refrigerator items I scanned, even items made by Kellog’s. Forget about H-E-B or any other regional/local brands. It recognized the manufacturer, but not any specific products.
Add to this an ugly and confusing Windows interface and you have software that kills what might otherwise be a very useful, worthwhile product. If you’re used to dealing with Apple software, more recent incarnations of Microsoft Office products or even decent Web 2.0 Web sites, you’ll be stunned by how inelegant and old-school the Intelliscanner software feels. It badly needs a visual makeover and a usability rehaul.
For me, there was only one redeeming feature: the Media program actually functions very well and recognized a pretty good variety of video games, books, DVDs and music CDs I own. It brings up a wealth of information about each (including a photo) and is idea for creating a personal library, especially if you tend to lose track of belongings you’ve lent out.
You can also assign barcode stickers and create your own library (most useful for comics, I imagine, many of which don’t carry barcodes), but it seems pretty labor intensive to me.
If you are anal retentive about your media and have $300 to spend, the Intelliscanner Mini may be worthwhile. But, disorganized mess that I may be, I have better things to do with my time than wrestle with impossible software and a badly designed product.
Here are some photos and screen shots of what some of the Intelliscanner software looks like:
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Yes, the iPhone can shoot video. Wanna see?
When Steve Jobs recently announced the iPhone 3G, one of the few bummers was that Apple didn’t say anything about recording or streaming video on the new device. Everyone assumed beforehand that because the phone would be on a speedier AT&T data network, that sending video to YouTube or participating in a video chat with a friend would be a given. Some even suggested that Apple would add a second camera to the iPhone, one that faces the front, to facilitate that.
Unfortunately, the camera specs didn’t seem to get bumped at all. (Insert sigh of disappointment). My guess is that in an effort to keep the phone as cheap as possible, Apple decided against beefing up the camera to match pricier phones like the Nokia N95, which has a fantastic set of two camera built in.
But here’s the big surprise. The iPhone, even the current generation iPhone, can shoot and stream video. The hardware is there. You just have to unlock it.
When I heard that Qik.com, a site I’d been trying out with the N95, was working on a similar application for the iPhone (they also recently released a Windows Mobile version), I asked to be let in on the software test.
The big caveat: using the test software would require me to jailbreak my iPhone, voiding the warranty and setting it free in the wilds of non-Apple-approved software. Uh oh.
Well, I went ahead and went through with the jailbreak (sorry, Steve Jobs!). I make the big sacrifices for you, dear reader. I’ll write an entry about that a little later, but for now, you might be wondering: what’s video on the iPhone like?
Here’s a video I shot using the iPhone over my home Wi-Fi connection:
Not too bad, right? When you’re using it, the iPhone’s big, beautiful touch screen is divided into a tiny capture box at the top (what will actually be broadcast) and a large chat window below where people watching your streaming video can shoot you comments as you’re filming.
My limited experience using Qik on the iPhone is that the first video I shot seemed to broadcast in super fast-forward speed with no sound. The second video I shot (the one above) cuts out on the sound, but otherwise looks fine, if a little blurry. (I attribute that to the iPhone’s camera, not the service, which looks great with the N95.)
Bear in mind, this is a very early version of the software and the issues I brought up are being worked on by the QIk team. At the moment, the application only works in a Wi-Fi zone (of course there’s no way to test the iPhone in a 3G network yet) and broadcasts at a minuscule 174x144 resolution.
But it’s a great start, I think. If Apple isn’t keen to announce a video streaming application of its own, we can hope that developers like Qik and maybe Kyte.com will fill the void.
Make no mistake: the iPhone can definitely shoot and stream video. You just saw it for yourself.
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Required reading: tech news updates
I was in Houston yesterday for work I’m doing on an upcoming story and came back today to realize that there’s tons of updates to things I’ve written about around here. Let’s hit the high points:
- Firefox 3 went online for download yesterday after a bit of a false start. Despite the technical difficulties, it seems that more than 8 million people downloaded the new version of the Web browser yesterday, quadrupling the software’s market share, according to Computerworld. All those downloads are being verified as a possible world record breaker.
- Jade Lindquist, whom I wrote about last year in a story about Spanish-language learning podcasts and mobile software, sent me an e-mail update. She says her company Edufone has added a free Skype and e-mail study buddy service. “If I were planning a trip to Mexico or another Spanish-speaking country and I wanted to become familiar with the accent and vocabulary of that country, I could register for free at Edufone and find people from that country to practice Spanish with. They would talk to me only in English and I would reply only in Spanish.”
- Rather than research questions about the new 3G iPhone that people may have, I’m going to direct them to this guide to the new iPhone on Macworld, sent in by reader David Wyatt.
- The entirety of “Doolittle,” the brilliant early Pixies album, will be available for download on “Rock Band” next week (Tuesday for Xbox 360, Thursday for PlayStation 3). It’ll cost a whopping $19, but you get songs like “Debaser,” “Here Comes Your Man” and “Monkey Gone to Heaven.” You can also buy individual tracks for $1.99 each.
- A divorce Web site asks, “Are video games causing divorce?” Ask me in about 20 years.
- It looks like the folks at 2K Sports made a good bet for their next cover athlete.
- Conservative blogger Michelle Malkin wants everyone to (for fun, of course) bill The Associated Press for quoting from the blogosphere. Nice.
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment Categories: Applications, Austin, Internet, Phones, Shopping, Videogames
AP does itself harm upsetting the blogosphere
I am perhaps the wrong person to cast judgment on issues of established news media when it clashes with the world of bloggers and online news aggregators, given that I sort of fall in the middle there, but I wanted to at least point out what’s going on with The Associated Press right now.
The story so far (and I first heard about it on Twitter and from bloggers, not from those who would write about it later like The Guardian and The New York Times): The Associated Press sent a cease-and-desist letter to a site called The Drudge Retort asking it to take down excerpts from AP stories it said were a copyright violation.
Bloggers shot back, suddenly wondering why AP hadn’t made this policy clear in the past and wondering if they’d be targeted next. Acting quickly as bloggers do, some decided to boycott AP entirely or to simply rant on the matter.
As the gray lady reports, AP has withdrawn somewhat from this earlier stance and is not looking to draw up a policy guideline for blogs that, truth be told, very few blogs are going to bother to follow. AP can sue whomever it wants, but it will be doomed to fail if it thinks it can regulate the world of blogs with an edict from on high. And suing the people who are your best customers (voracious, news-hungry readers) is never a winning strategy. Just ask the music industry how that one played out.
The AP clearly wants to be a in the new media game as their efforts to become a killer app on the iPhone suggest. But they stumbled mightily with this one. In making an effort to protect their work in a rash and disorganized way (why target one blog when tens of thousands of others do the same thing?), they hurt their brand, perhaps irreparably.
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Set browser to record-breaking download on Tuesday
On Tuesday, the Mozilla Corporation is releasing the official version of Firefox 3, which gives the free Web browser a facelift, some speed improvements and other new features.
They’ll also try to break the Guinness World Record for most downloads in a day. The group has set up a page where you can pledge to download the software on Tuesday. More than 1.1 million people have promised to participate so far.
Should you get Firefox? Yes. If you’re not already using the browser in some capacity, you should get it, try it out, and see if you’re comfortable with the software. It certainly beats the nightmare that is Internet Explorer and though it’s not as light and speedy as some versions of Safari and Opera, I’ve been pretty happy with the pre-release versions of Firefox 3, as I wrote recently.
I have heard some recent complaints about Firefox’s stability and many of the add-ons that worked in Firefox 2 have still not been updated to work properly with Firefox 3. But that will be remedied, no doubt, with future updates.
Mark your calendar for Tuesday and if Mozilla doesn’t break the Internet with its effort, you should be able to check it out for yourself.
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Twitter meets Texas politician
I am not well-versed about politics. In fact, I’d prefer to hear about the pressing issues facing the Mario Bros. in their pursuit of gold coins than sit in a legislative committee meeting.
But I can’t help but be curious when I hear that a U.S. representative from Texas is actually using Twitter to talk about politics, votes and, you know… congressional stuff.
Rep. John Culberson (@johnculberson to his Twitterbuds) (R-Houston) started posting on Twitter on May 26. The next day, he wrote triumphantly, ” I just learned how to Twitter!!” a rite-of-passage post that many newbie Twitterers are wont to post.
Is this the end of democracy as we know it? Can the complexities of governance really be summed up in 140-character bursts? Can Congress do something about all these stupid Twitter outages?
Post your thoughts in the comments.
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Gamefly.com unveils Austin distribution center
The shorthand for GameFly.com is that it’s like Netflix for games and that was how co-founder Sean Spector described it to me and to Statesman reporter Lilly Rockwell in a tour of the company’s new distribution center in Austin.
The secret location (no logo, no identifying characteristics at its Northeast Austin warehouse) is where video games are stripped of their shrink-wrap, cataloged and shipped to rental customers in the region. It’s one of four such distribution centers in the U.S.; the others are in Los Angeles, Pittsburgh and Tampa, Fla.
Since the Los Angeles-based company was founded in 2002, it’s continued to grow with the video game market. GameFly stocks about 6,000 game titles, though none for PC or for game consoles older than the PlayStation 2.
Spector said the company will employ about 14 people in Austin, possibly more during holiday rushes. At the facility on Tuesday afternoon, what looked like thousands of copies of the new game “Metal Gear Solid 4,” which hits stores today, were being taken off of pallets, opened and prepped for mailing. The company’s biggest orders to date have been the console hits “Grand Theft Auto IV,” “Mario Kart Wii,” “Call of Duty 4” and “Halo 3.”
Spector said the company chose Austin for its distribution center because of the large concentration of gamers in Texas as well as the city’s excellent U.S. Postal Service facility. A lot of the games rented out to customers are then sold to them. Customers have the option to buy the game online, after which Gamefly ships them the original box and manual.
When asked about whether digital distribution of games might affect GameFly the way that online movies and TV shows are beginning to affect Netflix, Spector said that he thinks that because console games keep getting bigger and more sophisticated, it won’t be practical for people to download games such as “GTA IV,” which would require lots of bandwidth and storage.
The company thinks about 90 percent of its customers are men between ages 18 and 34 and has targeted its advertising on TV, on Sirius and XM satellite radio, and in game magazines. They’ve also partnered with Microsoft Corp.’s Xbox Live service, Kraft Foods Inc. and Pizza Hut Inc. on promotions to grow the service.
Here’s a video we shot at the warehouse:
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iPhone 3G: The bloom is off the rose
It’s been a day since Steve Jobs announced that the second version of the iPhone will be released on July 11.
That gives us a solid month to ponder the possibilities — for current iPhone users to weigh upgrading versus keeping their current model, for others to consider whether the reduced price is worth breaking an existing cell phone contract.
The improvements to the iPhone are nice: 3G is certainly faster than EDGE (although, as I found on a recent trip to South Texas, 3G is not available everywhere you might roam). No one can argue with the improvements in the software due out in July, collectively dubbed “iPhone 2.0” in the Steve Jobs keynote. And the new iPhone will have improved battery life, a slimmer design and a cheaper price tag.
But.
While Jobs delivered the expected new version of the product and made the goodies sound pretty good, was it good enough? Many were expecting that video chat would be made available on the new iPhone and that there might even be a new camera (a front-facing one) that would compete with Nokia’s increasingly popular N95 phone.
(Shirtless Internet grouch Loren Feldman amusingly makes his case for unlocking the iPhone’s video capabilities in this not-quite-safe-for-work video, which we can’t embed here.)
As we’ve known for months, the iPhone is capable of recording video with some hacking. It just hasn’t been made an official capability.
The camera functions haven’t been improved (nor has the resolution) on the new iPhone. GPS is nice, but it’s increasingly becoming a standard feature on a lot of phones. (And stand-alone GPS units are under $100. It’s no longer a gee-whiz technology, really.)
What else is missing? How about iChat? It’s been a year. Where’s iChat, Steve Jobs? Why do we have to rely on third-party software to get a feature that’s available on the cheapie free phones you buy at 7-11?
Some people also grumbled that there was no 32-gigabyte version of the iPhone announced. I hear ya. It would be nice.
But in trying to keep the price of the phone down to reach a wider market, Apple seems to be scrimping on making a leading-edge product. Certainly all of these things could be part of the new iPhone, but the name of the game right now is pushing as many iPhones out the door to make the company’s targeted 10 million units sales goal this year. The goal no longer seems to be making the iPhone the most untouchably advanced cell phone. That was last year’s goal.
Many people will get the 3G iPhone for $199 and $299, believing they’re getting a huge bargain. They won’t even consider that they’ll be paying $10 more a month for 3G data service than what customers of the first iPhone paid for unlimited EDGE service. As some have pointed out online, you have to wonder about that extra $120 you’ll be paying a year to have an iPhone 3G. The minimum cell phone bill you’ll be paying per month will be $70 ($40 calling plan plus the $30 data plan), plus fees and taxes.
AT&T says that the requirement that buyers sign on for a new two-year commitment (it resets your two-year contract even if you already own an iPhone) is what’s subsidizing the low price of the phone. But I think it’s the increased data network fees. And a less prominent announcement from yesterday — that you’ll no longer be able to activate an iPhone yourself — means Apple and AT&T are trying to crack down on people buying phones and unlocking them or exporting them to other countries. You won’t be able to walk out of an Apple or AT&T store with an iPhone anymore without that two-year contract.
Those things taken together, I’m feeling a little less euphoric about the iPhone 3G. It’ll be smartly designed, beautiful to behold and a joy to use. But one year later, the bloom is off the rose. Apple’s evolutionary enhancements may not be enough as rivals catch up and customers like me think twice about those extra fees.
Will I upgrade? I don’t really know. I bought my iPhone in January and don’t feel compelled to go stand in line in July 11, just as I didn’t feel compelled to buy an iPhone last year when it was $600.
For me, the improvements don’t feel particularly compelling to me. I use the Web browser quite a bit, but I’ve learned to live with EDGE and mostly browse sites that load speedily and don’t need a lot of bandwidth. I already have a GPS device. And I keep a charger around in case my iPhone runs out of juice.
Do I really want to commit to another two years, pay an extra $120 a year for data and pay $200 or $300 for a new phone when my current iPhone will be receiving the new software updates and still runs like a champ?
For the first time in a while, I’m feeling like a flagship product from Apple just isn’t enough.
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iPhone 3G a reality: $199, debuts July 11
Apple CEO Steve Jobs rolled out the next iteration of the iPhone today at the Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco. We’ll have a few weeks to disseminate the information: The new so-called “3G iPhone” will be available July 11 in 22 countries.
It will be priced at a surprisingly low $199 for an 8-gigabyte version (the original iPhone debuted at $599 for the same amount of memory a year ago). The new phone runs on AT&T’s faster 3G network (Jobs says it runs 2.8 times faster than the old phone’s data network), now includes GPS and is slightly redesigned: It’s thinner, has a black plastic back, improved audio and better battery life.
Check out Bob Keefe’s entries about the phone on the Plugged In blog.
Here are some more details from the keynote:
- A 3G iPhone with 16 gigabytes of memory will be available for $299 and will also be available in white.
- Battery life for the 3G iPhone will be five hours of talk time (compared to about three hours on other 3G phones, according to Jobs).
- The Apple Store’s applications for the iPhone will be available wirelessly and some applications will be free downloads. AP will offer a free news app and there will be video games, sports applications (one shown off was from Major League Baseball) and even medical apps.
- More business/enterprise-friendly features will put the iPhone squarely against the BlackBerry, including push e-mail, contacts and calendar items and support for Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync. (In a not-so-subtle slip, one of the tech gurus on stage during the keynote called it “ActiveStink.”)
- Apple introduced its “Me” service, which will replace .Mac. It will be an online place to store files, data and other information. “Mobile Me” will be a kind of “Microsoft Exchange for the rest of us” where calendar, contact and other kinds of data will automatically synchronize with devices like the iPhone, laptops and home computers. The service will be offered as a free trial and, as has been the case with .Mac, will cost $99 a year.
- In July, Apple will roll out iPhone 2.0, the software that will incorporate new features like contact search, the application store and better support of iWork and Microsoft Office documents. You’ll be able to view PowerPoint files on the iPhone.
There’ll be plenty more news leading up to July 11, I’m sure, and we’ve yet to hear pricing details about AT&T’s 3G network service. More to come.
UPDATE: AT&T has announced its 3G data pricing plans. It’ll be $30 a month for consumers and $45 a month for business users. This is for unlimited 3G data and in addition to the voice plan. The current EDGE-network data plan is $20 a month, so for consumers, factor in an extra $120 a year for 3G data to that attractive, lower hardware cost.
I’ve also added an image of the 3G iPhone below.
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iPhone 2.0 is a reality
Apple is announcing features of its iPhone 2.0 as I type this. Early revelations include more business-friendly options like push e-mail and filters for contacts and games developed for the platform.
New features also include the ability to search through contacts, more support for iWork and Microsoft Office documents (including PowerPoint) and parental controls. The new iPhone software will e released for free in July. Also a neat trick: the built-in calculator will turn into a scientific calculator when you rotate the iPhone on its side.
More details as they arrive will be added to this post. If you want to hear a live audio stream of Steve Jobs’ keynote, you can find it on Ustream.
Also, Bob Keefe of Cox News is live-blogging from the event.
And lastly, you can keep an eye on the newly installed Twitter box below to see what I’m posting about the announcements as they happen.
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Celtics star is NBA 2K9 cover athlete
Take Two’s 2K Sports brand has announced its cover athlete for its next basketball game, “NBA 2K9,” and it couldn’t come at a better time: It’s Boston Celtics star Kevin Garnett.
The game has no street date yet, and even with the help of KG, the game will face stiff competition from EA Sports’ “NBA Live ‘09.” EA still hasn’t announced its own cover athlete (perhaps they’re waiting out the NBA finals and don’t have faith that the Celtics will take it).
Here’s some of the artwork that’s been released:
We’re still on iPhone 2.0 watch, of course. Steve Jobs is expecting to take the stage at the Worldwide Developers Conference at noon central time. We’ll have updates on Apple’s announcements today as soon as they happen.
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72 hours until iPhone 2.0?
It’s gone from rumors to a foregone conclusion that on noon Monday, at the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference 2008 in San Francisco, Apple Inc. chief Steve Jobs will unveil the next iteration of the iPhone.
Nearly a year after it hit U.S. Apple and AT&T stores, the iPhone has been improved with several significant software upgrades, but the rumor mill believes that some hardware improvements will make the handset even better. Among the anticipated improvements: built-in GPS (as opposed to the faux-GPS that current iPhones employ using triangulation); 3G wireless speeds that would allow the iPhone to surf more quickly even out of Wi-Fi zones; size changes (either thicker, thinner or in two screen sizes, depending on what rumor you believe) and more memory.
No one expects a total redesign of the phone. Reviews over the past year have largely been positive for what was at one time referred to as the “Jesus Phone.” The hardware is nicely designed and the software remains elegant. Issues that were brought up early on — the difficulty of use of the screen keyboard, limitations in text messaging and worries about the limited memory have largely been addressed. (Well, not the keyboard; some people still don’t like it. I’ve come to really like it, myself.)
Apart from changes to the iPhone itself, Jobs is expected to open the floodgates to third-party applications for the phone, which would be distributed and sold through the iTunes store. Expect to see a flood of handy apps and tools announced Monday.
What nobody seems to agree upon is pricing, which (for me, at least) was a huge issue when the iPhone was introduced. Will there be a plan to subsidize current iPhone users so they can upgrade to a 3G version painlessly and with little cost? Will Apple cut the price of the iPhone to boost sales, which have begun to show signs of weakening?
While at one time, I believed Apple would allow the new version of the iPhone to co-exist with the old one, I now think they’ll do whatever they can to move people over to the new iPhone, even if that means giving current users a huge discount.
I also think AT&T will charge more for access to the 3G network, but it won’t be a huge increase: maybe $10 more a month for unlimited 3G access. That would make the iPhone’s data plan about $30, putting it within range of what people pay for BlackBerry data plans.
What do you think Monday will bring? Post your speculation and hopes in the comments.
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Is Plurk the next Twitter?
On Sunday, popular podcaster and tech journalist Leo Laporte posted a message on Twitter.com about a new microblogging service and invited everyone to come join him to try it out.
The site, callled Plurk, almost instantly collapsed under the sudden surge of traffic, but it soon came back. After a few hours, many people were already calling the site a “Twitter-killer” (or at least a nice alternative for the increasingly frequent times when Twitter goes offline).
As with Twitter, Plurk asks you to post messages in 140 characters or fewer and allows friends or “Followers” to post responses or send private messages.
Unlike Twitter, Plurk has a quirky visual style. Messages are posted horizontally on a timeline, from right to left. The messages themselves are info boxes — when you click on a message someone has posted, responses to the message suddenly appear and you can add your own comment.
You can also earn “karma” by inviting other people to Plurk or by posting to and responding to messages. Earning a certain amount of karma allows you to use animated emoticons in your message or earn the ability to customize parts of your profile.
Is it a Twitter-killer? I don’t think so. The service isn’t nearly as impressive in its mobile form (which looks a lot like Twitter), and the scrolling interface is very Web 2.0, but not something that’s very sustainable if you have a lot of people you’re following. With Twitter, you can follow hundreds of people and still keep up with the conversation. On Plurk, the timeline fills up with messages and the responses (often just “Me too!”-style postings, especially for followers of popular Plurk users such as Laporte and video blogger Veronica Belmont) soon drive you to distraction. Any time someone posts a response to a message, you’re alerted to it. A message Belmonth posted about liking pizza on Sunday currently has more than 220 responses, and each of those responses raised an alert on my screen.
Plurk is very noisy, in other words. If you follow the advice of the site’s founders, you’ll want to use Plurk with a close circle of friends, not follow a ton of people you don’t know as you might on Twitter.
On the other hand, Plurk has some other neat tricks up its sleeve: photos and YouTube videos can instantly be embedded in posts. They appear as tiny thumbnails, but clicking on them brings up the full image or video. Plurk also allows for more immediate conversation, almost like a chat room, in a way that Twitter doesn’t do very well.
But Plurk currently has no API, the language that allows outside developers to use Plurk’s service to build cool applications and tools that work along with the site. From the moment it took off, Twitter had an API in place that allowed for great map mashups, external Twitter-based applications and integration with Facebook and other social networks.
Will Plurk take off the way that Twitter did? Not without some major improvements. You get the sense that the developers were taken by surprise by the sudden interest in the service and that they’re scrambling to add features and keep the site stable.
But at the very least, the temporary defection of some hard-core Twitter users to Plurk should give the Twitter team some incentive to keep their site up at all times and continue to roll out improvements. For now, Plurk feels like the microblogging flavor of the week, made suddenly popular by some very influential Twitter users.
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Twitter tech of the week
Tech-related posts to Twitter from the last week:
- Twitter CEO complaining that the Internet is slow today is a little like the Titanic captain complaining that the water’s a little choppy.
- Jimmy Buffett three-pack coming to “Rock Band.” Get your tacky tropical print shirt and sandals ready.
- Waiting for @scobleizer to turn into The Hulk and destroy Twitter HQ.
- (Directed to Prentiss Riddle) I was on a panel about the social media press release last year. My short answer to what I think of it: “Not much.”
- Tried to sign up for Plurk and got: “The server has either erred or is incapable of performing the requested operation.” It IS like Twitter!
- Hmmm, Plurk has potential, but the fact that it’s already having server errors is troubling. Also, it may be too pretty.
- Plurklurking.
- I’m sure you’re tired of hearing about Plurk, but just wanted to mention that the mobile version on iPhone looks a lot more like Twitter.
- Anybody played with TimeBridge for scheduling? It uses GoogleCal, Outlook and apparently they’re adding iCal soon.
- Interesting: Bill Harris says he heard that Intel will not be deploying Windows Vista internally.
- I’m starting to think that Windows 7’s best feature will be that it can remove Windows Vista from a PC.
- Even my jaded self must admit that “Be the pleasure machine of legend” is a pretty awesome spam subject line.
- Moka reminded me that Wallop.com was the beautiful social networking site that Plurk makes me think of. Gorgeous, but impractical.
- Plurk is a Pownce-killer, not a Twitter-killer, says @joshleejosh. He is exactly right.
- Smuckers paying $3.3 billion for Folgers Coffee. Did they secretly switch Folgers crystals with ground platinum or something?
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Starbucks ‘free’ Wi-Fi service finally emerges
After several months of speculation on how Starbucks would roll out free Wi-Fi access to about 17,000 U.S. hotspots, details have finally been announced today.
As expected, the company is tying wireless service provided by AT&T (it broke with T-Mobile WiFi back in February) to its Starbucks cards. Customers must use this card once every 30 days and sign up for the service on Starbucks’ Web site to get two hours of WiFi access a day.
Customers must also receive to get marketing e-mails from AT&T up to four times a year. (Insert sound of millions of Starbucks addicts setting up a filter to route those e-mails to the trash bin.)
There was some confusion recently as to what Starbucks’ plan for iPhone users would be (given that they introduced, then took down free access for the devices). This would seem to address that as well.
Sure, there are tons of other coffeehouses (10,000, I hear) in Austin, many of which allow you to have all the WiFi you like without a loyalty card, bacn e-mail or a Web site signup. But some people just prefer the Norah Jones-on-the-sound-system, mahogany wood feel of Starbucks. To each their own.
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Macbook Pro users reporting wireless issues
A blog reader and Apple Macbook Pro user shot me a message pointing me to this discussion forum where MBP users are complaining that they’re suffering from wireless woes.
The problem, according to posters, is that on some Wi-Fi networks, the laptops are either dropping their Internet connection or throttling transfers to dial-up speeds.
Given that the MBP is Apple’s flagship notebook (it’s pricier than the Macbook Air), owners expected that Apple would fix the problem with its most recent massive software update. Apparently, that didn’t do the trick.
Apple was said to have apologized last month to faculty from the New York City Department of Education after the issue led the department to cancel a large Macbook Pro order because of the issue.
Apple should have some major announcements on Monday and the last thing they need is this kind of publicity. Let’s hope a software patch is forthcoming and that it fixes up the problem for angry owners.
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Digital review: ‘Lego Indiana Jones’
Even if you grew weary of the hype that accompanied the recent release of “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull,” you’ll find it hard to resist the new LucasArts game “Lego Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures.”
Like the previous video game series “Lego Star Wars,” LucasArts has taken the three original movies and packed it into an adorable, Lego-based package that is faithful to the feel of the source material, while slyly tweaking the movies with playful asides and jokes.
On the Xbox 360 version I played (the game is also available for every other major game console, including portable systems), the high-definition graphics were superbly rendered. The game’s bright colors pop and the Lego characters and bricks are set against beautiful backgrounds. Although the characters don’t speak, their grunts and mumbles convey a lot. Lego Harrison Ford, with his stubble drawn on with dots, is a joy to behold.
The only flaws that mar the experience are that the gameplay is lifted wholesale from “Lego Star Wars.” Instead of laser blasters, you’ve got whips and wrenches, but you’re still building Lego objects, collecting tiny Lego gears, looking for keys to door locks and taking out bad guys with punches (amusingly, they break into pieces when defeated). The cut-scenes, as cute as they are, can also wear a little bit. The game designers go out of their way to remind you that they designed “Lego Star Wars” (Luke Skywalker and C3PO, among others, make brief cameos) and the universes cross over so much that it the joke wears thin before you’re past the second level.
But there’s enough gameplay here to overlook those minor issues: Early in the game you can unlock all three movies and start playing through whichever one you like.
It’s not quite a must-own, but “Lego Indiana Jones” is charming enough for even the most casual of fans.
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Buying a digital camera? Read this first
This evening, Consumer Reports is releasing the results of its latest tests on consumer digital cameras. The findings, to be published in the group’s July magazine and online, are said to show an growing overlap between features and quality in point-and-shoot cameras and digital SLRs, which are generally pricier and bulkier.
According to the report, the smaller cameras are gaining ground, especially in shooting in low-light, while some SLRs don’t produce the kind of photos their price would lead you to expect.
Among the magazine’s recommendations:
- For a pocket-sized subcompact camera with good image quality, CR recommends the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W200, which sells for about $300; the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T70, the Pentax Optio Z10 and the Kodak EasyShare M853. Those range in price from $120 to $280.
- Among compact cameras, the best rated were the Canon PowerShot A720 IS, the PowerShot A650 IS and the PowerShot SD870 IS ELPH. They range from $180 to $350.
- Digital SLRs mentioned included the Panasonic Lumix DMC-L10 ($1,300), the Nikon D80 ($900), the Olympus Evolt E-410 ($450) and the Canon EOS 40D Digital ($1,300).
The article also includes general tips for buying a point-and-shoot or SLR camera.
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‘King of Kong’ airing on G4 this month
In case you missed it in theaters or on DVD, the excellent video game documentary “The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters” is airing this month on the G4TV network (the channel featuring video game trailers, amazingly attractive lady hosts and commercials for Mountain Dew).
I was surprised to see it playing on the channel yesterday and couldn’t change away from the channel. It definitely holds up on repeated viewings. Unfortunately, the next showing isn’t until 6 p.m. June 13, if G4TV’s awful TV schedule Web page is to be believed. Set your DVR now.
The film follows the quest for the global “Donkey Kong” high score as competed for by two very different men: science teacher Steve Wiebe and Billy Mitchell. Hilarious, poignant and very retro, the documentary is fantastically entertaining, even if you’re not into video games.
I gave it four stars when I reviewed it last year, and the movie holds a special place in my heart because I turned in the review just as my wife was going into labor.
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Shopping alert: Logitech Harmony 880 for $92
I’ve extolled the virtues of the Harmony 880 remote, the only universal remote I’ve used that combines the peanut-shaped ergonomics of the TiVo remote with the wide capabilities that Logitech continues to perfect in its Harmony software.
Buy.com has a special deal on the remote today. After a $50 mail-in rebate, the device ends up costing $92 (with free shipping), which is the cheapest I’ve seen the 880 anywhere. (It cost about $150 when we got ours.)
We’ve been using ours for several years and I even like it more than the more recent Harmony One, which adds touch-screen capabilities, but sacrifices usability at about twice the price. When we sent back the review unit, we were happy to go back to the 880.
The only drawback I’ve found to the 880 is that it can’t control Bluetooth devices (like the PlayStation 3). Otherwise, it’s a good buy for anyone looking for an excellent remote control without spending hundreds of dollars.
If you don’t mind dealing with mail-in rebates, it’s worth a buy.
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