Category Archives: Technology

Verizon & T-Mobile introduce new tiered data plans to compete with AT&T’s offerings

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Remember back in June AT&T marked the beginning of the end for “unlimited” data plans for cell phone users?  Well direct competitors Verizon and T-Mobile recently jumped onto the tiered data plan bandwagon, so let’s have a look-see.  Unlike like AT&T’s data-capped plan that forces new subscribers to choose between 200MB and 2GB options, Big Red and T-Mobile are keeping the unlimited $30 smartphone 3G data plans (for now).  What’s changed is the addition of cheaper options for less data-heavy users.  The breakdown is fairly simple.  VZ subscribers can now choose from the $30 unlimited option and a new $15 150MB/month option with $0.10 per MB overage.  T-Mobile subscribers can go unlimited for $30 or pay $15 for 200MB/month.  You can pick up the latter option for only $10/month for “a limited time” if you sign a new 2-year contract with it.  And that’s about it.  What’s interesting here is that VZ and T-Mobile have decided to keep the unlimited option, while AT&T has eliminated it for new customers (if you had it before the changes AT&T let you grandfather it).  I’m oh-so curious to follow the journey of the unlimited data plan; with such a big push toward tiered data plans, it’s starting to seem like carriers are moving away from it.  Will it survive in a 4G world?

[Via Engadget, here & here]

Dean Kamen’s Luke prosthetic arm in action

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You remember Dean Kamen and his advanced prosthetic arm codenamed Luke, don’t you?  After shopping it around on The Colbert Report, Kamen brought his impressive prosthetic to the grocery store, and this time it was attached to Jerry, a Vietnam veteran who lost his arm in battle.  Look at the level of sophistication and precise movements this artificial limb can perform.  It really is quite extraordinary and I’m excited to see where this moves beyond the testing stages.

[Via BoingBoing]

E-ink, shme-ink, says Barnes & Noble; meet Nook Color

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Yesterday Barnes & Noble unveiled the next version of their Nook e-reader.  Nook Color is more than a simple e-reader, proclaims B&N; they call it a “reader’s tablet.”  Let’s run through the impressive specs and features, shall we?  The new Nook was designed in collaboration with industrial designer Yves Behar and it packs a 7-inch (1024×600) LCD color touch display (from LG) that can show more than 16 million colors and has a wide viewing angle thanks to integrated IPS screen technology.  The “VividView” display is covered with a lamination screen film that promises to minimize glare.  E-ink is no where to be found here–this is LCD all the way.  Liken this to iPad reading, not Kindle reading.  It’s light and portable at 8.1” (height) by 5” (width) by 0.48” (depth) and 15.8 ounces.  Built-in 802.11 b/g/n WiFi is used to explore, purchase, and share content.  A 3G model was not announced.  There’s 8GB of internal storage, and that can be expanded up to 32GB thanks to the microSD slot.  B&N claims it has an eight hour battery life with WiFi turned off–a steep price to pay for color support (the original Nook boasts a 10-day battery lifespan).  Nook Color runs Android all across its 7-inch touchscreen (the original Nook features a large E-ink screen with a small Android-powered touch display below it).  Swiping through books and pinch-to-zoom are present and accounted for.

Content and apps time.  The NOOKbook Store includes over two million books for Nook owners to preview and purchase.  NOOKnewsstand brings a whole slew of newspapers, periodicals, and magazines to Nook; they include The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, USA TODAY, Rolling Stone, Esquire, US Weekly, National Geographic, Martha Stewart Living, Cosmopolitan, and Elle.  Periodicals will be available by subscription and single copy.  Reading is optimized for the touchscreen; ArticleView allows you to customize the reading experience to your liking.   NOOK kids brings over 130 digital picture books and 12,000 chapter books aimed at children.  AliveTouch enables children to interact with words and pictures; it also gives them the option for the device to read a story aloud (death to parenting!).  The Read In Store program allows Nook owners to read Nookbooks for free one hour at a time inside B&N stores only.  With the LendMe app, owners can lend their friends books and request to borrow books from friends; sharing books is free and books can be lended for up to 14 days.  Books can be recommended and shared with friends over Facebook, Twitter, and email; yes, the Nook has gone social.  Since Nook Color technically is a tablet too, developers can now create engaging apps for the device.  B&N calls them “extras” and those available at launch will include Pandora (for music streaming), Quickoffice (for reading Microsoft Office files, PDFs, JEPGs, and more), and games (crossword puzzles, Sudoku, chess, etc.).  Though it runs Android, users will not have access to the Android Market or Market apps.  The upswing?  A full browser is included to surf the web (Flash is not supported).

Nook Color hits store shevles November 19 for $249.  You can preorder today at the B&N website.  It will go on sale at Walmart, Best Buy, and Books-a-Million in late November.  Full PR after the break.

In addition to announcing Nook Color, B&N took time to share details about a pending software update for the original Nook (WiFi) and Nook (WiFi+3G) models.  Expect faster page-turn speed, improved search functionality, customized B&N Library organization, password protection, and continuous reading across all NOOK devices and software.  Firmware update 1.5 will be available as a free download via WiFi this November.

[Via B&N; Engadget]

Continue reading E-ink, shme-ink, says Barnes & Noble; meet Nook Color →

White iPhone 4 delayed, again; is it dead and gone?

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After announcing two delays already, Apple has gone ahead and delayed the oft-delayed white iPhone 4 once again.  Due to manufacturing problems, the white iPhone 4 has been delayed to spring 2011.  I know what you’re thinking–by then a brand new iPhone will have been announced and perhaps even released!  Good thinking, because that is highly likely.  Hours after Reuters spilled the beans on a third delay, Boy Genius Report has a source that claims the iPhone 4 will never be coated in white and that the color option has been cancelled.  No matter the outcome–delay or cancellation–if you’ve been holding out to get the white iPhone it’s time to call it quits and give in to the black model.  Don’t worry, it won’t bite.

[Via Gizmodo; Reuters; BGR]

Office for Mac 2011 available today

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Office for Mac 2008–be gone!  This week Microsoft announced that a refreshed version of its productivity suite is finally available for Mac OS X users.  The most significant update?  Microsoft has trashed Entourage and replaced it with the real thing–Outlook!  That’s right, full Outlook integration the Mac.  Oh happy day.  In addition, the new Office will play nice with Office Web Apps and other cloud-based applications; also, new co-authoring tools “let users edit the same Word document or PowerPoint presentation simultaneously with other people in different locations who are using Office on a PC or a Mac” and users can “quickly share their presentations with anyone who has browser access by broadcasting their presentation.”  Pretty neat, huh?  And it doesn’t end there; the new version packs a whole slew of new features–and not to mention welcome aesthetic tweaks.  There are two version of Office for Mac 2001 available today: the Home & Student version ($149.99) and the Home & Business version ($179.99).  They both pack Word, PowerPoint, and Excel, and I think you can guess which one includes Outlook.

[Via OfficeForMac; Engadget]

Microsoft revamps Games for Windows Marketplace next month

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Having updated Xbox.com for Xbox 360 gamers, Microsoft is readying a relaunch of their Games for Windows Marketplace online portal for PC gamers.  The gaming on-demand online distribution site “will offer PC gamers a robust lineup of games they love, easier navigation and purchase, and recurring specials such as Deal of the Week.”  The new streamlined experience promises fewer clicks to purchase and download games and better search functionality.  The Marketplace will launch with a portfolio of 100 “top-quality titles” including Fable: The Lost Chapters from Microsoft and Grand Theft Auto III from Rockstar.  As long as you’ve got a Windows Live ID (that emcompasses Windows Live, Xbox LIVE, Games for Windows – LIVE and Zune accounts) you will have access to the store and all that it offers.  Microsoft Points are accepted as currency.  Expect the site to undergo core and aesthetic changes November 15.  In a recent interview with Kotaku, Microsoft’s Peter Orullian says that the company is “doubling down” on PC gaming”, so you can expect the revamp of the Marketplace the beginning of a chain of events in the PC gaming realm as far as Microsoft is concerned.  Better Windows/Xbox 360/Windows Phone 7 integration?  Fingers crossed.  PR after the break.

[Via Engadget, here & here] Continue reading Microsoft revamps Games for Windows Marketplace next month →

HP gives in, officially unveils Windows 7 powered HP Slate priced at $799

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After almost an entire year of teases, demos, random resurfaces, and handlings on YouTube, the once mysterious HP Slate has been formally announced and detailed.  What was originally intended for the consumer market has been tailored and made destined for “business, enterprise and vertical customers.”  (You can thank HP’s aquisition of Palm and their current plans of designing webOS tablets for this slight shakeup in marketing.)  By now you should know the Slate’s specs by heart, but let’s run through them anyway, you know, for fun.  Weighing in at 1.5 pounds, the Slate features a 8.9-inch (1024×600) capacitive multitouch display, 1.86GHz Intel Atom Z540 processor, 2GB of RAM, 64GB SSD, 802.11n WiFi, rear-facing 5 megapixel camera (for taking still images and video), front-facing VGA camera (for video chat), and a Broadcom Crystal HD Enhanced Video accelerator to help provide 1080p video playback.  Ports-wise there’s 1 USB, a headphone jack, an SD card slot, and a mic.  A myriad of buttons surround the bezel; there’s a home button, a keyboard button that brings up and hides the on-screen keyboard, volume up/down buttons, and a Ctrl-Alt-Delete key.

The Slate 500 runs a clean version of Windows 7 Professional; you won’t find any kind of HP skin here, which can be a good or bad thing depending on your preferences.  Unlike Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android Froyo platform, Windows 7 was not designed from the ground up for touch input.  A capacitive screen and a fairly speedy Intel processor will get the job done, but just barely.  If you are willing to learn how to navigate a made for mouse-and-keyboard OS using your fat fingers, go for it.  All I’m saying is that it might be hard to justify dropping $799 for a tablet of this kind.  A worthy iPad contender this is not.  If you’re anti-Apple, I’d recommend purchasing the Samsung Galaxy Tab over the Slate any day.

But enough of my gripes.  Let’s talk Slate accessories and release details.  It ships with a Wacom active digital pen to use for note taking and writing emails.  It also comes with a dock fitted with an HDMI port for video out and a “portfolio” case.  Again the Slate will ship for $799 and it’s coming to the U.S. first (at an undisclosed date) and will then be “evaluated for further market expansion.”

Look in the gallery below for stills and after the break for official PR.

[Via Engadget]

Sony ships 1 million Move controllers in first month of availability

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The suits at Sony have something to smile about.  Today the company reported having shipped 1 million PlayStation Move controllers in North and Latin America in the first 30 days of availability.  SCEA CEO Jack Tretton is enthused to say the least.  “Retail demand is incredibly strong and we’re working hard to keep the product in stock”, he said.  “We believe consumers have already shown their preference for a precise, interactive game experience.  We are on target to meet our end of year goals and expect sales to increase as our publishers and developers continue to update popular titles and introduce new games.”  This is certainly great news for Sony, but Joystiq makes a solid point when they say this announcement does not help you figure the precise install base of the new motion controller.  Many PS3 owners likely purchased more than one Move for two-hand and multiplayer functionality.  Still, this does not take away the fact that Sony has something powerful in their (er, our) hands.  Right now there’s 24 Move-supported titles out, with 17 more promised before the year runs out.  I gotta get my Move on.  Full PR after the break.

[Via Joystiq] Continue reading Sony ships 1 million Move controllers in first month of availability →

Nintendo Wii Remote Plus comes stateside for $39.99, bundled inside celebratory red Wii console

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We knew it was coming, but Nintendo has made it official.  The Wii Remote Plus (or the newly designed Wii-mote with the MotionPlus accessory built inside) is coming to U.S. Wii players for an exciting low price of $39.99.  Ninty confirms the Wii Remote Plus will become the new standard Wii-mote to come stuffed inside all Wii packages and bundles when it releases November 7.  It will come in the following tints: white, pink, blue, and black.

To celebrate the 25th anniversary of the original Super Mario Bros. game, Nintendo decided to deck out the Wii in a red coat of paint for Japanese gamers.  Today I am happy to announce that the company who invented Mario is bringing the celebratory console to the States.  In addition to the red Wii console, the limited edition bundle includes a red Wii Remote Plus and matching Nunchuck, Wii Sports, and a copy of New Super Mario Bros. Wii.  The bundle costs $199.99 and ships November 7.

But the fun doesn’t stop there!  A special-edition Nintendo DSi XL bundle lands November 7, too.  The red DSi XL features three iconic Super Mario Bros.-themed graphics and comes bundled with a copy of Mario Kart DS and preloaded with Brain Age games and a Photo Clock.  It’s priced at 179.99.

Let’s hear it for the most iconic video game characher ever–happy birthday Mario!

[Via Joystiq]

Kinect TV ads: YOU are the controller.

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Here we go!  Microsoft has officially begun the marketing blitz for Kinect.  At the center of all these commercials is the philosophy that you don’t have to have any previous knowledge of playing video games; you are the controller, so it all comes naturally.  Look after the break for two more ads featuring flailing children in large, brightly lit living spaces plus an extended commercial highlighting Xbox Live with Kinect functionality.

[Via Joystiq] Continue reading Kinect TV ads: YOU are the controller. →

Network TV says HALT! to Google TV

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Didcha get yourself a new Sony Internet TV or Blu-ray player or are you thinking about impulse buying the Logitech Revue powered by Google TV?  If you’re contemplating such a purchase did you think you’d have the ability to watch network TV content off their respective websites using the built-in Chrome browser?  Well you thought wrong, unfortunately.  Today the Wall Street Journal confirms that CBS, NBC, and ABC have blocked TV programming on their websites from being accessed on the Google TV platform.  NBC and ABC are allowing select promotional content to be viewed, but if you attempt to stream a full episode of The Office you will fail miserably.  And to top all this off, Hulu is blocked too; and not because it’s Flash-based–Chrome runs Flash content just fine–it’s the networks’ fault.  So what’s Google going to do about this?  In a word, nothing.  In more words: “Google TV enables access to all the Web content you already get today on your phone and PC, but it is ultimately the content owners’ choice to restrict their fans from accessing their content on the platform,” said a Google spokeswoman.  News Corp., for the time being, has not opted to block FOX content.

Why is this happening, you ask?  Well in the end it all comes down to making money.  And networks know TV ads bring in a whole lot more cashola than Internet-based ads.  Right now we’re stuck in this weird transition state where TV has snuck into bed with the Internet and just doesn’t know what to do next.  Here’s to hoping that something is figured out real soon.  Because I want my on-demand teevee streaming content this very second.  Boxee, good luck.

[Via WSJ]