| Eight Days and Counting |
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Apple’s invited all the tech elite — apparently, I didn’t make the cut — to a special event on January 27 to “Come see our latest creation”. Most likely they’re referring to the iSlate (or whatever they decide to call it). Stay tuned. |
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Submitted by: Dan Giancaterino, Education Services Manager
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Comments (1)January 11, 2010
| This is for Zhora … And This is for Pris |
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As I blogged last month, Google has released the Nexus One. I could link to a bazillion articles about it, but the NY Times has a handy roundup of the media coverage. Oh, and the estate of Philip K. Dick wants Google to pony up some bucks, since the replicants in Blade Runner were designated as Nexus models. Unfortunately, the author never trademarked the term. However his daughter says it’s not about the money: “People don’t get it. It’s the principle of it.” |
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Submitted by: Dan Giancaterino, Education Services Manager
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| Would You QUEue Up To Pay 800 Bucks For An eReader? |
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Last week Plastic Logic announced the availability of its previously-introduced eReader, the QUE proReader. It’s a cool-looking device, but I’m a liberrian, so price tends to be the bottom-line with me: “The price for QUE will range from $649.00 for the 4GB QUE model with WiFi that holds up to 35,000 documents, to $799.00 for the 8GB QUE model with WiFi and 3G that holds up to 75,000 documents.” Oy. Have I mentioned that my netbook set me back only $279? In the end, though, it may not matter what they want to charge if Apple unveils the iSlate at the end of the month. I’d love to be a fly on the wall in Amazon’s offices when that happens. |
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Submitted by: Dan Giancaterino, Education Services Manager
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December 29, 2009
| Time for a “Janus” Post |
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Looking back: Engadget has a really meaty post titled “Ten years of BlackBerry“. I’m not a BBerry fan — I’m appalled at the software (including the Web browser) that I see on my boss’ Curve — but I can’t wait to finish reading this article. Looking ahead: Google announces an Android press gathering on January 5 in order to introduce their new Nexus One phone. Hmmm … I’ve had my G1 for more than a year now. Can I pull off an upgrade? |
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Submitted by: Dan Giancaterino, Education Services Manager
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December 28, 2009
| Another Thing That May or May Not Ever See the Light of Day |
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I recently blogged about the not-so-top-secret Google phone that everyone (but me) seems to have seen and touched and worshipped. (Oh, and here’s another article about it from today.) And now heeeeeeeere’s another ghost device: the Apple iSlate, a tablet computer that looks like a super-sized iPhone. Will it be released on January 26, when Apple has promised a “major product announcement“? We’ll see. |
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Submitted by: Dan Giancaterino, Education Services Manager
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| Flying’s Becoming More and More Like Riding the El [UPDATED] |
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Thanks to a moronic terrorist wannabe, The TSA has enacted more fun rules and regs for your comfort and protection on international flights: “Passengers flying into the United States from abroad can expect to see additional security measures at international airports such as increased gate screening including pat-downs and bag searches. During flight, passengers will be asked to follow flight crew instructions, such as stowing personal items, turning off electronic equipment and remaining seated during certain portions of the flight.” The NY Times translates that for us: “The airlines said the new T.S.A. measures required an additional round of searches, including body pat-downs at airport gates overseas. International travelers were also told that they could not leave their seats for the last hour of a flight, during which time they also could not use a pillow or blanket. They were also limited to one piece of carry-on baggage, including a purse or briefcase, and that piece had to be stowed in an overhead compartment for the last hour of a flight. Airlines were ordered to turn off in-flight entertainment systems with maps showing a plane’s location, and pilots and flight crews were told not to make comments about cities or landmarks below the flight path.” Gizmodo also reports on how some passengers were required to turn off and stow electronic devices, including iPods. I figure after 20+ years of riding the El — being crammed into an aluminum tube with no space and no rest rooms, receiving a pat-down from my fellow passengers (Hey … where’s my wallet?!) and getting no information about why the car has unexpectedly stopped in the middle of the tunnel — these new airline security regs are like second nature to me. UPDATE, 1:55 pm - Xeni Jardin of BoingBoing wonders if the new regs are the end of in-flight wifi. |
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Submitted by: Dan Giancaterino, Education Services Manager
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December 15, 2009
| Let’s Run Down Google’s Life List, Shall We? |
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Conquer other search engines. Check. Become a media darling. Check … and check. Make yourself a synonym for online video. Check. Digitize every book known to humankind. Check. (Pending resolution of pesky legal issues.) Become the world’s map-maker. Check. Poke Microsoft in the eye. Check. (What fun!) Remake email in your own image. Check. Establish a beachhead in the mobile wars. Check … and check. Invent the world’s fastest and safest browser. Check. (More Microsoft eye-poking!) What the heck — leverage that into an operating system for PCs. Check. (The ultimate e-p experience!) Finally, since you’ve got a few spare minutes somewhere you can tap into, take a shot at Apple as well by creating your own phone. Check — the Nexus One, designed by Google and built by HTC (the company that produced the G1.) The phone will be unlocked and will work on GSM networks such as T-Mobile and AT&T. (Sorry, Verizon.) Pricing rumor follows: “Here’s the price: $199 unlocked in stores. $100 rebate online if you have an active and old Google account. That $100 rebate is either to buy it $99 online from Google’s online phone store, for using on Android Marketplace or for using on any Google Checkout stores.” |
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Submitted by: Dan Giancaterino, Education Services Manager
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December 8, 2009
| Search Trifecta For My Android Phone |
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Yesterday Google released a search-by-image Android app called Google Googles. Take a picture of something and Google will run a search for whatever the heck it thinks it is. Very nifty. It worked like a champ for the following:
Googles isn’t perfect, however. It gacked on my Pepsi Max label, including the bar code. I would have thought that was a gimmee. Oh, well. Anyway, now I can search any of 3 ways with my G1: by camera with Goggles, by voice, and using the slide-out or on-screen keyboards. I’m waiting for the day when I can simply press it to my forehead and it’ll search for what I’m thinking about. |
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Submitted by: Dan Giancaterino, Education Services Manager
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December 2, 2009
| Verizon Wireless is #1 |
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The NY Times reports that Verizon tops Consumer Reports’ annual cell survey. T-Mobile is #2, followed by Sprint. AT&T is dead last. According to the post: “The unscientific but widely followed survey, which spanned more than 50,000 Consumer Reports readers in 26 cities, found that AT&T’s main weak spot is voice connectivity, but the carrier got panned in everything except Web access and texting.” I’ve written 2 previous posts about how the iPhone is killing AT&T’s network, so I’m not going to jump on the anti-AT&T bandwagon. It would be interesting to see how well Verizon’s network would handle the iPhone’s bandwidth demands. Anyway, my whole family (except me) is on AT&T and they’re happy. (Believe me, I’d hear about it if they weren’t.) And I’ve never had a bad customer service experience with them. Bottom line for me is that I always tend to take Consumer Reports’ stuff with a grain of salt. |
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Submitted by: Dan Giancaterino, Education Services Manager
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December 1, 2009
| More Small Numbers Loosely Joined |
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Item 1: Looks like Verizon will sell 1 million Droids during 4Q 2009. In my previous “Small Numbers Loosely Joined” post, I discussed how they sold 100K Droids during the first weekend. Item 2: The excess heat generated by a new data center in Helsinki will be used to warm 500 homes in the city. (Those Finns are soooo forward-thinking.) Item 3: 06/2010 is the target date for the desktop and online versions of MS Office 2010. (That’s June 2010, but you got that, right?) |
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Submitted by: Dan Giancaterino, Education Services Manager
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