Archive for Tech
Apple plans “Premium” games section on iTunes
January 29th, 2009 •
Tags: Apple, AppStore, games, iPhone, itunes, premium games
Complaints leveled at the iTunes app store by developers are that any app priced over 99 cents risks being overshadowed by the plethora of quick and cheap apps. I have to admit it takes much less deliberation to decide if I should fork over a buck for a game. A five-dollar or more game receives a little more thought. This is natural, and I’m not sure there is any way to avoid it.
Apple has decided the best remedy is to separate so-called “premium” games from the standard games section of the store. The only problem is that the new division of the store is said to be limited to large publisher. Fans of indie games and developers will be a little miffed to say the least. The app store has really leveled the playing field to allow small-time developers to compete against the larger developers. It would really be a shame to see all that go out the window.
Thanks to Cult of Mac for the heads-up.
Web site offers new ways to browse Netflix InstantWatch
January 28th, 2009 •
Tags: instantwatch, movie, Netflix, streaming, Video
ReadWriteWeb has discovered a new way to browse Netflix InstantWatch titles. I am a huge fan of the InstantWatch system. It always seems that when I have time to watch a movie, either my discs are still in transit or I’m not in the mood for the movie I have. Without InstantWatch, I may have already ditched Netflix even though I think it is an excellent service even if the only offering were discs by mail. There is nothing like the convenience of being able to sit down and watch any time I please. The newly launched Xbox 360 integration is icing on the cake.
One of my biggest complaints about Netflix in general is that browsing for movies is very inflexible. For instance, while browsing Blu-ray movies, I can’t filter by genre. In the InstantWatch section, it seems there are too few ways to separate the good from the bad. In short, any site that will make it easier for me to find cool stuff on InstantWatch is a site that gets tagged in my delicious. Instantwatcher.com offers just that. I’m already loving the “Highest rated” list and the ability to call up a random title.
NetFlix InstantWatcher: A Netflix Mashup for Impatient People
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Review: Dell Inspiron Mini 9 netbook
January 27th, 2009 •
Tags: Aspire One, Computers, Dell, Dell Inspiron Mini 9, Linux, netbooks, reviews, Solid-state drive, Ubuntu
I purchased the entry model of the Dell Inspiron Mini 9 for my daughter for Christmas. I am not among those hanging on every morsel of netbook news out there. I’m interested in the relatively new netbook market, but I don’t really think the form factor is for me. I did think it would be a perfect gift for my daughter, though, since she has small hands and needs a smaller notebook. Also, she is very young and this is a first computer.
I can compare the Dell only to the Acer Aspire One as it is the only other netbook I have first-hand experience with. A few of these have been purchased for colleagues by my employer. A notebook of this size is very pleasing to look at and to hold. Of course, the screen resolution makes it difficult to do much with it, but this could be expected from this type of product. The product is decked out in piano black and that faux-aluminum silver plasic that seems to be all the rage among notebook manufacturers. It’s really quite ugly, but I didn’t really expect much in that regard either.
My number one issue with this netbook is the battery placement. The battery is inside the lid of the computer just behind the keyboard. I would venture a guess that Dell placed the battery this way to maintain the form of the computer. The Aspire One has a battery that hangs a little off the back of the notebook. The problem with Dell’s placement is that it leaves very little room for the keyboard which would already have been cramped by nature of the fact the computer is so small. The major compromise is that the apostrophe (‘) is moved from directly to the right of the semicolon down to the bottom of the keyboard. Should you ever forget about this foul arrangement and attempt to place an apostrophe, you will instead press the “Enter” key. I just hope you weren’t typing in any sort of field that takes the “Enter” key as anything but a line break. If you’re typing an IM or entering text in a single-line web form, your data is already off to the races!
Another minor issue is the trackpad. I’m unsure if this problem may be a behavior of the OS (Ubuntu Linux) or an attempt at a hardware compensation for the trackpad’s diminutive height. The mouse pointer tracks much more quickly vertically than it does horizontally. The effect is very disorienting and really takes some adjustment.
My last complaint is that the 4GB SSD is really very small. I realize I chose the most basic hardware package, but I believe this notebook should not have been made available with less than 8GB of solid state memory.
On the up side, the OS is very snappy in spite of the system’s specs. Dell has even included some custom extra software to make the netbook experience more complete. Puzzling is the install of several applications designed for playing and burning CDs… by default… on a computer with no optical drive. Hmm.
I’m not very happy with this particular netbook. For my daughter’s part, she loves it, but I really wish I had chosen a different option for her. It should be good enough to get her started in computing and maybe provide her with some learning opportunities over the next couple of years, but I unfortunately cannot recommend it.
Nice deal on a Garmin StreetPilot c510 GPS
January 27th, 2009 •
Tags: deals, Garmin, GPS, woot
I was tipped off by a friend that sellout.woot has an awesome deal on this Garmin StreetPilot c510 GPS with 2009 maps. The GPS is $69.99 with woot-customary $5 shipping. It does not natively have text-to-speech capability, but Engadget has a hack to add the feature.
In case you don’t know about woot.com, this deal is for today only and only until it’s sold out. Get in quick if you want one. This one is refurbished, but even refurbs are going for $100 elsewhere online.
Your analog TV is safe… for now
January 27th, 2009 •
Tags: analog, digital, DTV, dtv switch, dtv transition, Television
Image by trainman74 via Flickr
For those of you living in your shack in the hills 75 miles from the nearest big-box store with no car, your analog TV is safe for a little bit longer. The February 17th deadline for the DTV transition has been moved to June 12th is still exactly as it was. That’s would have been nearly four more months of Beverly Hillbillies and The Andy Griffith Show reruns. Make sure your shotgun is loaded and ready at your side on June 12th February 17th when Uncle Sam comes to take away your analog TV. Hold on… What do you mean they can just do it remotely?!
Correction: This never actually took place! The bill was put forth before the house but was never signed. What did you take this blog for? A credible news source?!
Update February 12th: This bill was ultimately passed.
Game|Life’s 10 iPhone games you must own
January 26th, 2009 • 1 comment
Tags: games, iPhone, iPhone games, wired
Wired‘s Game|Life blog has posted an interesting article listing 10 of their favorite iPhone games. I can agree with a lot of the list, but there are a few I haven’t even tried. (I would really love to try out Crayon Physics Deluxe!) What iPhone games are your favorites? Post a comment to let me know.
iLife ’09 ships tomorrow
January 26th, 2009 •
Tags: Apple, garageband, ilife, iphoto, mac, Software
The Apple blogosphere has erupted with the news iLife ’09 will ship out to stores tomorrow. I have to admit I’m a little excited for the facial recognition in iPhoto. I think the change with the most potential is the addition of music lessons to GarageBand. I wish I were excited for it, but I realize I have neither the time, the patience, nor the inclination to sit down and learn an instrument. Sigh…
Thoughts on the Palm Pre
January 26th, 2009 • 1 comment
Tags: iPhone, mobile gaming, Palm Pre, WebOS
It seems odd to say this since the device has not even been launched, but the Palm Pre is old news. Just after its unveiling at CES, the super-phone received an explosion of coverage. In my estimation, there is good reason for it.
My iPhone 3G has been by my side since I purchased it this past July. As far as I can tell, it is as close as you can get to perfection in a phone. In spite of how this statement may sound, I am far from a fanboy and my devotion to the iPhone is not the kind of religious devotion that allows me to forgive all its faults. There are problems with the iPhone. Apps can’t run in the background. I can’t copy and paste, I can’t do Flash. There is no real keyboard. These are issues that I would love for Apple to solve, but I’m not at all above switching to another device that can fix them so long as that device also does all the things that my iPhone does so well. In the wake of the original iPhone and the 3G, tons of devices hit the market playing catch-up. These devices seemed to market themselves by touting their similarities to the so-called Jesus-phone. Some of them bested the iPhone in one way or another, but they often came up short most everywhere else. The Pre is the first device that seems to share most of the strengths of the iPhone and refine them by adding some of the little things iPhone users have been clamoring for.
First, of the complaints I levelled at the iPhone above, the Pre solves all but one: Flash. Sure, it is disappointing considering all the new features they have included, but the new features will still be compelling to iPhone malcontents. The Pre can multitask and programs can send out system notifications as they run in the background. The lack of any means for an app that is not running to notify the user of new events has all but killed the functionality of twitter and instant messaging apps on the iPhone. It has copy and paste. This is surely one of the loudest complaints of the iPhone user base. It has a hard keyboard. I personally don’t have a huge problem with the iPhone’s soft keyboard; I think it is an excellent implementation, but, given a choice, I would probably take anything more than a couple of sentences to a hard keyboard rather than fumbling it out on-screen.
It seems like a no-brainer. Ditch the iPhone for the Pre and you will get much of what you have been begging for from Apple for months. Unfortunately, every Achilles has his heel. In designing the Pre and its WebOS, Palm has committed two sins so terrible, they more than negate all this goodwill they have built up with Apple’s fanbase by granting many of their collective wishes. First, the Pre is (initially, at least) a Sprint-exclusive phone. Sprint has customer service that makes holy men swear vengeance. I have suffered it first-hand, and I will never go back regardless of the fact that they are generally cheaper than some of the other providers. The second sin will have gamers everywhere crossing the Pre off their wish list: no native apps. That’s right. Palm has taken a few small steps forward but one large step back. WebOS apps are—as you might expect—web pages consisting of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. You’re not going to milk any smooth 3D graphics out of your Pre in the foreseeable future.
Even though this sounds like the Pre has come so close to besting the iPhone but just didn’t get there, not all is lost. Both of these issues are relatively minor and could certainly be worked out in time. Once the Sprint exclusivity deal is up, the Pre may be available under any carrier you like. Palm would be better served by a broader potential customer base especially only having sidestepped oblivion with the announcement of the Pre at CES. Palm may also choose to add support for native apps as a software update just as Apple did just six months ago. If these two issues can be resolved, the Pre appears to be the only phone on the horizon that will be capable of competing toe-to-toe with the iPhone on nearly every front. Unfortunately, you’re not looking at an iPhone killer out of the gate unless you can handle a couple of major shortcomings.
Nice collection of iPhone wallpapers
January 25th, 2009 •
Tags: backgrounds, iPhone, wallpapers
Smashing Magazine comes through with a collection of 100 awesome wallpapers for iPhone users. I personally have a collection of about 400 wallpapers that I keep on my phone and compulsively switch between periodically. These are all great, but more than likely, you will find you have a taste for some and not so much for others. I tend to like the abstract or illustrated wallpapers over the nature pics. Luckily, there’s a little something here for everyone.
Incredible guide to tweaking Windows XP services
January 25th, 2009 •
Tags: services, Windows, Windows XP
This guide has everything you ever wanted to know about tweaking the services in Windows XP. Then it has some more… and more still! Basically services are magical programs that start with Windows and run while your machine is running. Each one uses a tiny slice of your resources and provides some… service. The idea here is that many people don’t use many of the services. So, rather than letting them each take a little bite of your RAM and CPU, figure out which ones you don’t need and disable them! There have been many sites in the past that try to accomplish the same thing but none with such depth as this single blog post on Devoted Geek.