End User

Golden Shellback Splashproofing Now Available to All

Submerging an MP3 player or mobile phone in water usually precipitates the sure-fire death of the sodden device--at least until this week.  That's because the wizards at Golden Shellback are now taking orders for their remarkable splashproofing treatment.  You send them your iPod Touch, Shuffle, or a handful of other approved electronic gizmos, and they'll coat it with a vacuum deposited film that effectively weatherproofs the item.  The film coats both the surface of the device as well as the internal components, so all is not lost if it falls in the drink.  While it's not technically waterproofing, there are a couple of videos online that demonstrate the ability for treated items to function underwater.  Getting your device Shellbacked isn't exactly cheap--$60 for the Shuffle or $120 for the Touch--but it's a smart investment for hydrophiles. [via ohgizmo]

-- Jon D.

Internet Radio Made Simple

The Internet is a vast expanse of awesomeness if you're a music fan. Putting aside the fact that little-known bands can now share and distribute their music with ease, and buying new music is as easy as switching channels on the TV, there's also the global reach of Internet radio. Whereas we once had to rely on shortwave receivers to listen to stations that originated across the ocean, now we can simply access the station's online feed (assuming it offers one).

The only problem is that there are tens of thousands of stations, and it's not always easy to figure out which stations are worth checking out. Enter the Aluratek Internet radio jukebox, a small USB device that looks like a flash drive but acts like a global radio tuner. The device--which fits neatly into your computer's USB port--offers access to more than 13,000 Internet radio stations in more than 150 countries. Once plugged in, you can search for stations by continent, country, state, or genre, letting you switch between Swedish hip-hop, Afro-Cuban jazz, and Vietnamese folk music all in the space of a few seconds. All in all, it's a pretty handy little device.

And yes, we know that iTunes and a few other media players do basically the same thing for free. However, there are times when iTunes isn't practical, like when you're at work on a locked machine, or when you're using a friend's iTunes-less computer. Plus, the Aluratek jukebox is plug 'n' play, so you can get started immediately.

Blockbuster Launches Set-Top-Box Video Service With 2Wire Device

There has been talk for months that Blockbuster, Inc. might be following the likes of competitors Netflix, Apple TV and others and enter the set-top-box video on demand market in a bid to stay relevant beyond its imposing, yet increasingly outdated appearing network of brick and mortar stores, and that is just what the Dallas-based video rental giant has done. The result is the Blockbuster OnDemand system and its MediaPoint Digital Media Player manufactured by 2Wire.

OnDemand is designed to take advantage of the digital rights to 6,000 or so titles that came with Blockbuster's 2007 acquisition of Movielink, plus eventually the rest of Blockbuster's catalog, in a way their existing PC download service has not been able to do. The OnDemand system utilizes 2Wire's MediaPoint Digital Media Player. Unlike Netflix's streaming video service which works with a number of purchasable devices, including Roku, two Blu-ray options, Microsoft's Xbox 360 and next month, TiVo (Series3, HD and HD XL), Blockbuster is offering the 2Wire device for $99 for what is termed "a limited time," when 25 video titles are pre-purchased. Additional titles are purchased a la carte for between $1.99-$3.99 and require a standard Blockbuster rental account with credit card on file, but not a monthly membership fee. Beyond a possible overall price difference for movies (for example Netflix allows for an 'all you can eat' scenario through its three unlimited monthly plans), the real difference here is in the video transmission method and the number of titles available. Again, using Netflix as a foil, the competition streams video through a broadband connection allowing for nearly instantaneous viewing, but viewing that can possibly be interrupted by a glitch in a user's Internet connection. OnDemand uses progressive playback via a broadband connection, and storage up to 30 days via SD card. This is a download technology, which ideally ensures consistent video quality even when disconnected from the Internet, but could make for longer wait times depending on the speed of your connection. Blockbuster recommends connection speeds of 1.5 Mbps or better in its manual to the service and insists that viewing can start before the download is complete. Regarding title availability, Netflix offers 12,000+ titles, where as OnDemand is launching with about 2,500 of what it calls "the best, biggest movies available." with a limited number of HD titles, but promises more to come. That's a promise that must be kept.

It's only been a few days, but taking a look at Blockbuster's stock price today and over the last year (not often over $1) they could REALLY use a win here. They've taken a big risk in going it alone and not working with hardware providers the way Netflix and others have. They have got to be taking a loss on each unit shipped. In a sense this seems odd, seeing that other players like Sony's PlayStation 3 will definitely be coming to the market soon. But for now Blockbuster had best do themselves a huge favor and get their full catalog going forward online VERY soon, and perhaps think about offering a subscription model if they hope to compete. Of course the other side of this is that the more successful they are, the more they will impact their brick and mortar business, but if they hope to survive the digital delivery revolution in the video rental industry, that will be a hit they will have to be willing to take.

I've seen no complete specs on 2Wire's MediaPoint Digital Media Player, but the manual for the OnDemand system as a whole can be accessed here on pdf format. Click on the image above for a look at its digital audio, USB and component, composite and HDMI video ports.

--Tom Milnes

Lunascape Alpha Release Bridges Gap Between Browsers

The alpha version of the free Lunascape browser has been released.  Claiming to be the "fastest browser ever", even faster than Google Chrome and Firefox 3, Lunascape is the first triple-engine web browser.  What that means is that the three most popular web rendering engines--Firefox's Gecko, IE's Trident, and Safari's Webkit--are all running under the hood.  And it can switch automatically between them.

Not only is it insanely fast according to the SunSpider JavaScript benchmark test, but it doesn't give up features to be so: standard features out of the box include RSS and podcast services, mouse gestures, tabbed browsing, multiple search engines, auto-saving functions, and compatibility with many of the plugins for both IE and Firefox.

Bookmarks, settings, RSS feeds and more are handled via a sidebar that provides pop-out menus when you hover over them.  Another interesting feature is that the tab bar uses whatever space isn't taken up by tab headers to scroll RSS headlines from sites like the New York Times, CNN, Digg, and more.

You can change almost anything about the browser, including skins and buttons.  Several stock skins are included (including "Simple" and "Cool", resembling Safari and IE respectively) and many more are available at Lunascape's Skin Center.

It's Windows only, but if you want to take it for a test drive you can download the alpha here.

--Aric A.

Whoops....Did I Drop This Black Friday?

Looks like Gizmodo let the cat out of the bag....

So yes, we're starting Black Friday a little early at Amazon this year.  We don't usually talk about sales and such on this blog, but since the news is making the rounds anyway we thought it polite to give a confirmatory ('zat a word?) heads-up. 

We've got deals on headphones, laptops, Blu-Ray players and more, so feel free to check out what we've got up for grabs at our Black Friday page.  More deals will pop up there throughout the week, so check back often.  Happy hunting!

--Aric A.

Bites from the Apple: iPhone and Apple TV Get Updated

After a couple weeks of little exciting news, this week brought about a number of discussion-worthy items that range from new software updates for the iPhone/iPod touch and Apple TV and a kerfuffle over the discovery that High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection (HDCP) has been added to the new crop of MacBooks. Ars Technica reported that the HDCP copy protection prevents many movies downloaded from Apple's iTunes site from playing back on "non-compliant" TV monitors and projectors via a Mini DisplayPort-to-VGA adapter, throwing up an error dialog to let you know that your purchase will not work. Ars also notes that it's not a consistent spanner in the playback:

Strangely, only some iTunes Store movies appear to be HDCP-aware, as other purchased media like Stargate: Continuum and Heroes season 2 play through the projector just fine. Attempts to play Hellboy 2 or other HDCPed films through the projector via QuickTime also get denied.

Also noted in the Ars article, this has been an issue for Apple TV users who don't use a pure HDMI digital connection (component video output isn't covered by HDCP), as was discovered by Jeff Carlson as he was writing the second edition of his Apple TV Pocket Guide (which I helped out with). Michael Rose comments at TUAW:

In this case, 'compliant' means HDMI or recent-vintage DVI, but even monitors or TVs that support HDCP may not properly negotiate with the DisplayPort connector to give iTunes and QuickTime the all-clear signal (if so, quitting and relaunching iTunes once the display is hooked up may clear the playback hold). Equally annoying: HDCP is only supposed to apply to 'high-value' digital streams, meaning standard-def purchases and rentals on the iTunes store should be out of scope... but some reports indicate that both the HD and SD instances are flagged, blocking playback on anything but the laptop's internal display or a straight-thru HDMI connection.

Cory Doctrow over at Boing Boing chimes in:

But copyright law isn't violated when you watch a movie on an "unapproved" monitor. This isn't about enforcing copyright law, it's about giving a small handful of movie companies a veto over hardware designs.

Very early Friday morning, Apple released the long-awaited iPhone 2.2 OS update (also compatible for iPod touch models) with goodies including Maps enhancements (with Google Street View), over-the-air podcast downloads, and some functional additions such as the ability to turn on/off auto-correction in Keyboard settings. TidBITS has an excellent rundown of the new features, which was quite handy since I couldn't figure out how to get Street View working:

To use Street View, you must drop a pin, and then examine whether a tiny Street View icon - an orange person - is tinted fainter or at full intensity. If at full intensity, you tap the tiny icon, and the Maps application rotates into landscape view to display a navigable image.

A small circle shows the current cone of sight and street location. You can drag, pinch, and expand, while tapping an arrow moves the view to the next street slice. There's no warning when data runs out; an empty "holodeck" image appears instead.

As you can see from the screenshot that I captured, the street view image can be a bit fuzzy. I recently became a convert to Street View (after pooh-poohing it as just being an excessive wow feature) when I used it to determine a playground I was heading to (with toddler) did indeed have climbing equipment. (Unfortunately, if you're an iPod touch user, you don't get the Maps update, which also includes transit information and walking directions.) I also tried the OTA podcast download, and got a 6 MB file downloaded over my old-and-slow EDGE connection in just about 5 minutes. Note, however, that OTA downloading only pertains to podcasts (no music yet).

• As is customary with these updates, if you're an iPhone jailbreaker, you're cautioned to hold off on updating until the iPhone Dev team can come up with a workaround.

• Another big update release came for the Apple TV this week, which enables you to stream music stored on the Apple TV wirelessly via AirTunes Streaming to an Airport Express Wi-Fi plug-in (or to another Apple TV, just in case you have more than one), the addition of playlists (for movies, TV shows, music, and podcasts) and music volume control, and support for third-party remotes (in case the spartan Apple Remote isn't doing it for you). Over at iLounge, they've quickly put together one of their very detailed Instant Expert overviews of the new update, and included this tidbit about streaming:

  As an additional caveat, the Apple TV’s performance when streaming to remote AirTunes speakers can be extremely sluggish, even on a fast 802.11n or wired Ethernet connection between the devices. Playback performance is acceptable, but the remote control input seems to become unresponsive, making browsing the Apple TV while listening to content a frustrating experience at best.

• However... installing the 2.3 update will break the Boxee hack that Aric wrote about earlier this month. Check out the second half of this post at The Apple Blog for more info on what to do to keep Boxee running if you've installed it on your Apple TV (hint... don't install 2.3). I was hoping to install it last weekend, but toddler duty prevented my hacking, so I guess I'm glad that my time wasn't wasted. Hopefully the Boxee team will get a workaround available soon.

• Rumor Watch: The Macworld Expo is less than a month-and-a-half away, and rumors of new hardware releases are flitting about, with TUAW reporting that the iMac might get a quad-core processor boost. Also, based on a slide shown at the Large Installation System Administration (LISA) conference in San Diego last week, it looks like we might be seeing the release of Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard in the first quarter of 2009 (via Macworld).

• Bad news on the Flash front from MacNN:

  The iPhone is unlikely to carry Flash even if its hardware technically supports it, a report claims. Although Flash is in widespread use on the Internet, running everything from animation to full applications, Wired notes that section 3.3.2 of the iPhone SDK specifically prohibits the downloading and use of interpreted code in apps, unless the APIs and interpreters are already preloaded. This by definition bars third-party plug-ins, whether from Adobe or any other developer.

• According to iPodNN, Electronic Arts will release an iPhone version of SimCity.

• Cult of Mac is into DIY clip binder stands for the iPhone, and a reader submitted an even sturdier model than their inital stab (check Instructables for the step-by-step)

  

• And finally, how many apps do you have on your iPhone? At last count, I had 43, and was thinking I needed to pare that down a bit. But that's nothing compared to Flickr user Sigalokos, who has 8 screens (with a 9-screen limit) full of apps (via Textually).

  

--Agen G.N. Schmitz

Cell, Cell Cell: Cloudy Forecast for BlackBerry Storm

Tomorrow's the big day for the iPhone Killer to beat all iPhone Killers: the Blackberry Storm. This long-awaited touchscreen behemoth is officially released via Verizon tomorrow, but the bigwhigs in the gadgetosphere have already received their samples and reviews are starting to filter out. And they're not great. IntoMobile has a good round-up of opinion that spans the spectrum from good (including Walt Mossberg) to bad (including Gizmodo and Laptop Magazine). One of the biggest complaints is typing on the touchscreen, which Anita Hamilton at Time Magazine details with comparisons to the iPhone and T-Mobile G1:

The trouble with having to push down on the entire 3.2-inch screen every time you type a letter or confirm a menu choice is that it slows you down. The idea behind the clickable screen is that it will minimize errors by getting you to think before you press. Instead, it took much of the fun out of using the device. While some people complain that the iPhone's touchscreen is a little too slick and imprecise — of the three devices, I tend to make the most typos with the iPhone — at least it's fast. And while the G1's mini, Chiclet-size keys seem designed for Lilliputians, they are accurate and respond even when pressed with the edge of a fingernail. The Storm's click screen, on the other hand, demands the strength of your entire thumb.

To see the typing in action, check out this soundless demo shot by the folks at CrackBerry.com. You can see that when the Storm is in landscape mode, you get a full QWERTY keyboard. But when the phone turns upright to portrait mode, you get an onscreen version of the BlackBerry Pearl SureType hybrid keyboard (complete with auto-completion). For more hands-on videos, take a visit to CNet and Gearlog.

[UPDATE: The Storm is now available at Amazon; also check out Jason O'Grady's photo gallery of the STorm's UI.]

In other cell news:

• Touchscreens continue to be all the rage, with recent releases including the Samsung Eternity on AT&T, the Samsung Behold (the Eternity's sibling on T-Mobile), and the hybrid slide-out QWERTY/touchscreen HTC Fuze (AT&T's version of HTC's Touch Pro).

• If you're still not ready to go to the touchscreen for your smartphone communications, but want an alternative to BlackBerry, the Symbian-based, physically keyboarded Nokia E71 has been garnering loads of positive reviews, including receiving a top 9-out-of-10 rating from Wired's Test 2008 issue and praise from Sascha Segan in PC Magazine's year-ending Best of Tech issue. It's not available from any domestic carrier, but Amazon is offering it as an unlocked phone. However, it looks like it might be coming to AT&T in the near future.

• However, just when the E71 seems ready for its coming out party, Nokia announces that its replacement--the E63--will be debuting in Europe by the end of the year. The E63 looks to have the same design of the E71, but replaces the E71's metal body with a plastic one to shave costs (via MobileMentalism).

  

• BlackBerry users can now sync contacts and calendar items with their Google account (via MobileBurn).

• LG plans to unleash 125 unique mobile phones globally for the 2009 calendar year (via Boy Genius Report).

• And finally, here's an example of hybrid phone design run amok: the triple flip IcePhone (seen at right), which includes a touchscreen, QWERTY keyboard, and a game controller-like panel. Originally created for medical professionals (it gets its name from ICE--in case of emergency), it's loaded with 3G and Wi-Fi connectivity, 3-megapixel camera, GPS, Windows Mobile 6, and a very complete first aid software package (via SlashGear and PhoneMag.

--Agen G.N. Schmitz

iPhone Game Releases Bring Apple Closer To Success In Gaming

Gaming has never been Apple's strong suit, so it was easy to see why so many core handheld gamers chose to dismiss the iPhone and iPod Touch out of hand in the midst of Apple's droning on about its future in the gaming industry. Well, that attitude may be on the verge of changing as the iPhone 3G gains a foothold and the list of holiday titles developed for its OS creeps nearer.

The handheld gaming market has been locked up by the Nintendo DS and to a lesser extent, the PSP for years. Gamers are extremely loyal to their platforms of choice, but the thing about them is that for all their dedication they tend to take two things very seriously regardless: the quality of games and price. There has been a fair amount of chatter regarding how the cheap games that have flooded the iTunes App Store could hurt the continued development of quality games on the platform. Again, understandable. After all, historically most video games only have a few weeks on the market following their release to make the lion's share of their take before they are lost in the jumble of new titles that follow. If a game being developed is forecasted to cost $9.99 and it is competing against a passel of $.99 games that's going to weigh on the mind of a quality-concerned developer. But here is where forward thinking on the part of Apple regarding the future of the iPhone gaming marketplace will be important. The millions who hit the App store today may be focused on bargains measured in cents, but the core gamers who may make the leap over to the iPhone platform see bargains in tens of dollars. Right now quality DS and PSP games go for $30-40. Assuming the iPhone install base sucks in the core gaming crowd, If Apple can manage to fill their digital shelves with quality $15-20 titles they will be sitting pretty indeed. Nintendo and Sony on the other hand won't know what hit them. Of course there will also be hardware issues. The iPhone, DS/DSi and PSP are very different devices, with different user demographics and price tags. $300+ for a 16GB iPhone 3G, plus an $80 monthly AT&T wireless plan isn't going to fly with someone who paid $200 for the latest PSP 3000, or much less than that for a DS and eventually a DSi. But as the traditional carefree gamer gets a few more dollars in his/her pocket they could very well see the worth of merging all their portable devices into one.   

Until then Apple should make sure the affordable quality games keep rolling to the iPhone platform. There are many already out that are and well worth the price, but even more coming out, published/developed by the likes of EA, Gameloft/Ubisoft, Sega, THQ, Namco and PopCap, that seem designed to pique the interest of long-time gamers. Here are a few of them to look out for:

Aurora Feint: The Arena, releasing soon, $7.99
This RPG-tinged puzzler followup to Aurora Feint: The Beginning, the popular free puzzle game already available for iPhone, Arena will feature online multiplayer functionality. 

SimCity, December release, $9.99
One of the best-loved gaming series of all time on PC, consoles and handhelds, SimCity for iPhone looks to have the look and feel of SimCity 3000, and will have players using touch controls to build cities and attempt to keep the peeps from revolting.

Need For Speed: Undercover, December release, $9.99
The latest version in EA long-lived street racing franchise, Undercover won't have the cinematic flash of the console versions but its mission play, street racing and car customization should play nicely with the iPhone's touch and tilt controls.

Ferrari GT Evolution, December release, $9.99
Yet another car-based game that should utilize the unique tilt and touch controls of the iPhone. 

Rolando, December release $9.99
Heralded as one of the best games yet developed for iPhone, Rolando is similar to Loco Roco, and perhaps a little like Patapon, in that you control ball-like creatures in a Pachinko-like and guide them in timed mission play.

Dr. Awesome, releasing soon, $???
Looking something like a Trauma Center clone, Dr. Awesome has players taking care of patients, chatting with nurses and well, being awesome in-between using the touch screen to perform operations and treatments.   

Dropship, releasing soon, $???
Vector graphics and heavy space combat equals two fingered fun here as you use one to steer and the other to shoot.

Zombie Driver, releasing soon, $???
Core gamers love them a zombie fest. As always you are man alone, in this one with only yourself and your car against a passel of the walking dead. You'll know what to do.

--Tom Milnes

Nokia N96 Bruce Lee Edition Hits China

Nokia's N96 was announced at this year's Mobile World Congress in Barcelona and has been available in Europe, the Middle East and elsewhere for a few months, but in a world market swamped with smart devices how does a manufacturer ensure that its latest must-have device makes an impact? Generally with a bucket load of features and decent marketing. The US version of the N96 has all the features you could need including music, maps, photo, Internet and Amazon.com video on demand functionality (nice!), but the Chinese version just released has simply taken its marketing to eleven with the Bruce Lee edition.

Complete with phone, an action figure, photos of the Dragon himself, an autographed case, miniature nunchucks and more, this limited edition item is for the Hong Kong market only, but apparently can be purchased here for 8,788 Yuan (about $1,200). Make sure you are confident in your Chinese before plopping down anything. Frankly, I've never seen anything quite like this marketing outside of the the realm of video game Collector's Editions, which always come with additional items. Then again I've never been to Hong Kong. It could be that this run of the mill there, but I doubt it. There is a Chinese website associated with the Bruce Lee model. Unfortunately I've not been able to get it to load properly. Maybe you will have better luck. Regardless, good stuff this, with collectible written all over it. If Nokia is smart they will expand this to the world market.

           

If you can't access the site linked to above, check out the You Tube video below of a Bruce Lee, or perhaps a Bruce Lee impersonator, taking on a pair of ping-pong experts with his nunchuks. No face shots here, so I'm guessing this is a fake, but impressive skill with the bamboo as well as as viral marketing nonetheless.

--Tom Milnes

The Real Reason The PS3 Keypad Is Due Out In December

I'm really just taking a shot in the dark here, but it's one that followers of the Next-Gen console wars might relate to.

Late last week Sony announced that the PS3 Wireless keypad, a Bluetooth device that attaches to DUALSHOCK 3 and SIXAXIS wireless controllers making texting, IM, Internet browsing and e-mailing through PlayStation 3 MUCH easier, had been pushed to December from its November release date. Granted that's not much of a push, but considering the fact that the keypad has been positioned since its announcement as being designed to enhance the functionality of Sony's much delayed PlayStation Home, a community-based online social network that much of the PS3's PlayStation Network (PSN) is thought will be anchored to for years to come, it's hard not to see the two as attached at the hip. So, my guess is that the PS3 keypad will release in the first week of December, quickly followed by the launch of the open Beta of Playstation Home (closed Beta is going on now) and a quick hard launch by the New year.

           

These question marks around timing might be altogether minor if it were not for the fact of what PlayStation's opponent in the Console Wars are doing, oh, tomorrow; that would be launching the New Xbox Experience (NXE). Although PlayStation has a large install base and assumed number of active PSN accounts--14 million according to the PS3 birthday post on the PlayStation blog the other day--continuing to allow Xbox LIVE to beat them to the punch in the online arena will eventually take a very heavy toll. The most expensive part of that toll will be in the non-gaming arena via the streaming video on demand that NXE is pioneering through its deal with Netflix. This in conjunction with a low cost could in effect increase the Xbox 360's install base and paying Gold Memberships to the LIVE service (PSN is free, hence the large number of users) by millions in a very short period of time. Today Sony took action to lessen the impact of the Netflix functionality by rescinding Netflix's rights to stream content owned by Sony Columbia Pictures to Xbox 360s. Nice block on Sony's part, but there is a lot more work for them to do yet, beginning with the PS3 Keypad-PlayStation Home release and launch, and hopefully soon streaming functionality of their own.

Check out more details and specs on the PS3 Wireless Keypad at the PlayStation.com.

--Tom Milnes