Best New Technology

The fat lady may not be signing yet, but she must be warming up her vocal chords to get ready to sing for the HD DVD format. The Blu-ray format got yet another boost this week courtesy of Netflix, which has decided to only carry DVDs in the Blu-ray high definition format. That means if you’ve been using Netflix to rent HD DVD movies, it’s only a matter of time before you can’t get them anymore.

Now, the move won’t be immediate. Netflix said it plans on phasing out the HD DVD format over the year. Netflix cited the decision of four of the 6 major movie studios to offer movies only in Blu-ray format as one of the reason for ditching HD DVD. Netflix also said the industry was showing a clear preference in format, and it was time for the company to make the transition to a single format.

Gartner has already predicted that this year will mark the end of the HD DVD format. It seems that Netflix shares that opinion as well. It’s very clear that the HD DVD format is only alive because of life support, and it’s clear movie studios are pressuring Toshiba, the creator of the HD DVD format, to make the right decision and pull the plug. You can expect some more slashing of HD DVD players and movies before the plug is officially pulled, though.

Read more from the Netflix press release.

This lampstand is certainly different from what you can find in the market - it features an MP3 player dock that allows you to enjoy your favorite songs while planting your rear end on a comfortable chair and catching up on your reading. A quartet of AA batteries provide anywhere from half a dozen to 12 hours of use where the E-Light is concerned. At $99.50, this is a modern home improvement idea that will probably not win the hearts of traditionalists.

Apple has provided more fodder for the "When are they going to get into video games?" debate with a new trademark filing which seeks to extend the Apple brand to  "hand-held units for playing electronic games; hand-held units for playing video games; stand alone video game machines; electronic games other than those adapted for use with television receivers only; LCD game machines; electronic educational game machines; toys, namely battery-powered computer games.”

Let the speculation begin on what this might mean for a a future iPhone.

Apple Gaming iPod On The Way? [Spong]

Posted Feb 12th 2008 4:04PM by Nilay Patel
Filed under: Desktops, Laptops

Those “Vista Capable” stickers certainly caused consumers a lot of confusion, and it looks like they even tripped up some senior Microsoft execs. According to internal MS emails introduced as evidence in the ongoing lawsuit over the program, several MS managers expressed concern that they were misleading people, with the VP of Windows product management saying “I PERSONALLY got burnt… I now have a $2,100 email machine” and Jim Allchin saying MS had “really botched” the program, and that it “had to do a better job with our customers.” Of course, the main reason for all the confusion is the multiple editions of Vista that run with different capabilities depending on your hardware, but that’s a subtle point to make with a sticker — or, as one Microsoft employee admitted in an email, “Even a piece of junk will qualify” as Vista Capable. That’s some pretty damning stuff, but the case isn’t anywhere near resolution yet — the judge has yet to decide whether to certify it as a class action, which looks like it’ll depend on a technical reading of what exactly Microsoft was advertising throughout the Vista Capable program. We’ll know in 10 days, when the judge has said she’ll issue a ruling — we’d imagine the plaintiffs’ legal team has plenty more of these emails in store if the case goes through.

[Via Slashdot]

Disclaimer: There once was a man named Nilay / Who was indeed an attorn-eye / He wrote this post, but he’s not the lawyer of most / And this post is not legal advice or analysis and should not be taken as such.

Several companies at GSMA are showing prototypes running the Google-backed open-source Android operating system (aka the “GooglePhone”), and judging by the crowd reaction, these “phones” are the hit of the show. The one above is Qualcomm’s effort, and there are also examples from ARM, NEC, Texas Instruments, Wind River, and Marvell.

It’s not fair to laugh at the huge circuit boards: These are design prototypes and will of course be shrunk down to a fraction of this size. But despite the fugly appearance, these Android phones are the buzz of the show. At the NEC booth, the guy pointed me straight past the other boards saying, “This one is the Android. That’s the only one anybody is interested in.”

Qualcomm’s 7201a has both ARM 11 and ARM 9 chips, built-in GPS, a couple of DSPs (digital signal processors) and 2D and 3D graphics acceleration. In the short video clip below you can see the result. A spinning globe, which could one day couple with the GPS to make a mobile Google Earth. The second part shows NEC’s implemention browsing the web with the Webkit browser.

Right now the UI is clunky and slow, but the fact that so many manufacturers are already on board means that Android is already a success. Qualcomm plans to have a shipping hardware platform in the second half of the year.

Below is another shot of the Qualcomm board, showing the application launcher screen.

And here is a video grab of a Whack-a-Mole style game, played with a stylus. I think this might ship with the SDK, as NEC had the same thing running. Who’s face is that?

This is the NEC board again, with the application launcher.

And this is a shot of the video browser under a greasy screen. All videos failed to play.

So you think you’re pretty smug with an SDHC card in your camera while the rest of your friends still use regular SD? Wipe that smile off your face as Panasonic has just launched a Class 6 SDHC card that features a maximum transfer rate of 20MB/s. This 32GB monster has enough storage capacity to store up to four hours of 1920 x 1080i compressed AVCHD video, although you will have to part with $699 for it in the first place.

Source: Engadget

For the latest info on the coolest gadgets, emerging technology and wired madness, subscribe to our full news feed or have it delivered to your inbox. Always free. Always unique. Thanks for visiting!

I remain convinced that cooking, especially baking is a suitable activity for the technologically inclined.  There is so much science to it, when you get down to the blending of flavors, fermentation of yeast and that sort of thing.  Cooking can also be a lot of fun, if you know what you are doing.  Over at Snack or Die they just featured some delectable looking Pac Man Cheddar Crackers.  All you need to produce these is flour, salt, pepper butter and 8 oz of extra sharp cheddar cheese.   Appliances that are required include a blender and an oven and you will of course need some simple cookie cutters.  I won’t bother you with the recipe, because you can find it at the link above.

What do you think, just the thing for your next LAN party or what?  Don’t forget to keep the grease off your Lachesis.

Source: Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories, Snack or Die

The ad for the new BlackBerry Pearl asks “Are you confident enough to wear pink?” Funny, that’s how I’ve always felt about my pink-hued gadgets - I don’t need to have industrial looking (read: black) technology to be taken seriously. I want functionality and style, thank you very much.

I decorated my first BlackBerry with jewel-like rhinestones, and you can be sure no one in the AOL meetings accidentally picked mine up. Much later I graduated to the Curve, a wonderful machine, that I kept holstered in a classic pink leather holder.

But it wasn’t until the introduction of the Pearl, its smaller size and “lifestyle” features like television, music players, cameras and Facebook social-networking software that the BlackBerry appealed to a broader audience. Up to this point, my daughter Mackenzie had turned up her nose at my BlackBerry, which didn’t pass the most important test for a teenager, which seems to be the ability to put a gadget in the pocket of their jeans. When she saw my spiffy review unit of the Pearl, she had to have it.

Now they’ve improved on the basic model with the 8130, which is a lovely metallic blush, and features an improved camera (2.0 megapixels), video capabilities, full email and web browsing, a music player (player reads MP3, WMA, and AAC files and displays album art), Bluetooth, AND an expandable memory (up to 8GB.) Like it’s predecessor, it features SureType QWERTY keyboard technology - which you either love or hate. (My daughter is a wiz at typing on it, so there you go.)

MWC ‘08 is the venue where ailing Motorola released its RAZR2 V8 Special Edition handset that comes adorned with 18K and 24K gold, with snake pattern leather rounding off its aesthetics. Measuring a mere 12.05mm thin, you get the following features :-

• 2.2″ 240 x 320 resolution internal display
• 2″ external display
• Linux OS
• 2GB memory
• 2 megapixel camera
• USB 2.0 and Bluetooth connectivity

Sony Ericsson will launch its new clamshell phone called the Z770. It features high-speed internet access with HSDPA, an intuitive user interface, the Exchange ActiveSync capability, a 2.2″ screen, text to speech functionality, and Bluetooth connectivity and comes in Vogue Red, Graphite Black, and Exquisite Gold. No word on exact release date or pricing as of right now.
[Source]