The Paper PC

Moving Day: Follow The Paper PC on WordPress

2011-10-18T21:16:00.002-05:00

The Paper PC is moving to a new home at WordPress. Not a single byte has been lost--all previous posts have been transferred. The new site gives The Paper PC a bit more flexibility in design but the content will be of the same quality that you've come to expect here for the past six and a half years.

Click here to express to the new blog site. And don't forget to bookmark it.

As I said in the very first blog post in 2005, "Thanks for stopping by."

--Robert S. Anthony, Editor, Stadium Circle Features

Five Things to Remember About IBM's First PC

2011-09-02T21:42:00.000-05:00

So the IBM PC is 30 years old. So what? I was a newspaper reporter in 1981 when IBM trotted out its first PC. I remember how it created a newsroom buzz and how deadly serious it looked next to the snappy-looking Atari, Commodore and Radio Shack/Tandy computers of the day. Never mind the now-laughably slow processing speed of that first PC. It was plenty fast for the time.

The best way to compare that original 1981 IBM 5150 PC to today's machines is not to talk about what it could do, but to fondly recall the things it couldn't. Many of the little things we take for granted today were not even on the drawing board in 1981. That device that started out as a bland, beige, boxy business tool for geeks is now a cornerstone of our daily lives.

Connection to Nowhere
First of all, the 1981 IBM PC connected you to nothing. It was a standalone computing box that sat on your desk. Whatever you did at the keyboard was between you and the PC--no one else knew what you were doing. If you wanted to share something with someone you waved him over and let him look over your shoulder. If you were ambitious, you copied a file onto a floppy disk (remember those?) and walked it over to the recipient--a process referred to as "the sneakernet."

It had no modem or network card, which was fine in 1981 since very few people knew what the heck email was. If you needed to send a message to your entire office you cleared your throat and shouted. The Internet as we know it today was hardly a twinkle in the eyes of its fathers.

Aside from trashing an occasional floppy, the most dangerous thing a 1981 PC could do to you was give you a virus. No, not a computer virus--a real one--but only if the previous user neglected to wash his hands.

Hostile Desktop Takeover
Unless you were a big shot with a really big desk, the IBM PC didn't share your desk--it took it over. Take a look at the "footprint" of that 1981 IBM PC: The system unit was 20 inches wide, 16 inches deep and 5.5 inches high. The monochrome monitor added 11 inches in height. The system unit weighed in at 25 pounds when configured with one diskette drive.

The keyboard was huge too. It was 20 inches wide to match the system unit and 8 inches deep. It was also one of the most comfortable and responsive keyboards ever made. Yes, it was loud and clacky, but it was reliable.

Couldn't See a Thing
When matched with the right software, even that first PC could generate nice-looking business letters and resumes. You could even design an eye-catching restaurant menu or bulletin board poster. Trouble is, you never knew what you had created until you printed it out.

Early version of Wordstar word processor

The monochrome monitor couldn't show much in the way of character formatting, much less high-resolution graphics or photos. What it could show were arcane codes and squiggles to indicate where the formatting changed. The days of WYSIWYG (what-you-see-is-what-you-get) desktop publishing applications were years off.

No Mouse in the House
Unplug your computer's mouse or ignore the touch pad and get back to work. See how much extra finger time those arrow keys get? That's how we interfaced with PCs in the 1980s--one space at a time. No expressing from one end of the screen to another with a single click. Now try to use your web browser without a mouse for a few minutes. Yeah, that's the definition of torture, isn't it?

Help Isn't on the Way
When the IBM PC warmed up and was ready for work, it greeted you not with a friendly, colorful desktop full of icons, but with a mostly blank screen and an "A>" prompt. (The "C>" prompt arrived later with hard disks).

What you typed in after the prompt was up to you because the PC wasn't going to help you. At that point it was time to ask a friend, take a class, or at least grab a software or system manual to see what you should type in. How long has it been since you typed in "dir" to find out what was on a floppy disk?

The 1981 PC was a game-changer, but not for the general public. They were still trying to master the new-fangled bank ATMs. It took years before many PCs made their way into dens, kitchens and bedrooms.

There's lots more the 1981 PC couldn't do--but I'm drawing a blank at the moment, so feel free to chime in.

Text Copyright 2011 Robert S. Anthony, Stadium Circle Features
IBM PC photo courtesy of Ruben de Rijcke via Wikipedia
Wordstar screen shot courtesy of RaviC via Wikipedia
IBM keyboard image courtesy of Mewtu via Wikipedia
Command prompt image courtesy of Microsoft Corp.

Blogger Delivers Post Office to US Postal Service: No Kidding

2011-08-02T09:12:00.000-05:00

Battery Park APC

New York's Battery Park self-service post office will soon gain its rightful place in cyberspace thanks to The Paper PC. You're welcome.

Soon you'll be able to surf to the US Postal Service website (www.usps.com), click on the post office locator and actually be able to find the Battery Park Automated Postal Center (APC) at 88 Greenwich St. in lower Manhattan. That's not the case right now.

Last week's Paper PC post pointed out that the USPS website didn't seem to know that the Battery Park APC was there. Even if you enter its exact address into the website's APC locator (see image), it directs you to an APC across town at One Peck Slip.

USPS.com APC locator

The Paper PC contacted the local media relations office of the US Postal Service and pointed out the problem.

After a few more e-mails a friendly USPS rep now reports that a fix is on the way.

"We found the issue with the Battery Park APC. There was a glitch in assigning it in our data base. It is being worked on and will be corrected," wrote the USPS representative in an e-mail.

As of this posting the APC is still invisible to the website, but hopefully that will change soon. We hope.

The moral: As they say in the New York subway system: If you see something, say something.

Can you find your local post office or APC on the USPS website? Take a look. Yours may be missing in action too.

Lost in Manhattan: One Library and One Post Office

2011-07-28T02:29:00.001-05:00

NYPL Battery Park City Branch
Text and photos Copyright © 2011 Stadium Circle Features

How do you lose an entire library? What happens when the postal service can't find its own post office? Just call them lost in cyberspace.

Blocks from each other in lower Manhattan is a New York Public Library (NYPL) branch that the library system's new smartphone app didn't know about and a U.S. Postal Service location that the USPS website can't find.

The NYPL recently released iPhone and Android smartphone apps that allow library users to manage their accounts, reserve books, check on fines and otherwise make good use of the library's many online resources. To use the new apps NYPL users need to register with the library's new online catalog.

The apps also provide listings of the NYPL's branches, which are spread out over Manhattan, The Bronx and Staten Island. However if you were one of the first to download the new Android NYPL app and wanted to locate the Battery Park City Library, guess what? It wasn't listed.

The listing jumped from "Allerton" to "Baychester" with nary a mention of the airy Battery Park City branch, which opened last year.

The temporary oversight was ironic since the Battery Park City branch is one of the most cyber-friendly public libraries in the city. The branch, located at 175 North End Ave. at Murray St., offers free Wi-Fi across its two floors, 36 public computers and plenty of desks with top-mounted AC outlets for laptops.

Fortunately an update which appeared in the Android Market Wednesday addressed a number of bugs, including the branch listing, which now includes every branch, including Battery Park City.

While the updated NYPL app was able to locate its library, the recently freshened-up U.S. Postal Service website doesn't seem to know about a small, but useful Automated Postal Center (APC) site located just south of the World Trade Center site.

Nestled in a small storefront at 88 Greenwich St. is an APC location with lots of tabletop space for preparing packages and a single APC kiosk providing self-service postal services. There are many post-office-based and standalone APCs, which look like bank ATMS, scattered around the city. However, while the APC locator on the USPS.com website can locate most of them, this one is invisible.

Even if you enter "88 Greenwich St." in the box that pops up after using the "Find USPS Locations" link on the USPS website--making sure to change "Post Office Locations" to "Automated Postal Centers"--the USPS website directs you across Manhattan to a post office at One Peck Slip more than half a mile away. Other suggestions listed by the locator included an APC site across the Hudson River in Jersey City, New Jersey and another across the East River in Brooklyn. Rowboat anyone?

Will the USPS website ever deliver the 88 Greenwich St. APC? Stay tuned: I have an e-mail in to the USPS media relations office.

Robert S. Anthony, Stadium Circle Features

Aetrex Opens Trendy High-Tech Shoe Store

2011-06-04T17:26:00.001-05:00

Former New York Giants quarterback Phil Simms likes it and so might you: A new shoe store with a computerized gizmo that scans and sizes up your feet.

The new Aetrex Worldwide Inc. store that opened on East Palisade Ave. in Englewood, New Jersey today features no one resembling the poor Al Bundy character made famous in the old "Married with Children" TV show but instead offers a computer that can measure and assess you shoe needs better than luckless Al could have even on his best day.

The Aetrex store features the Aetrex iStep 5000, a piece of hardware which looks like a foot bath, but has thousands of barometric sensors below your feet to assess how your weight is distributed and hundreds of infrared LEDs around your feet to accurately measure them.

The result is data that can create a 2D or 3D image of the pressure points on your feet. This allows the salesperson to fit you with any necessary orthotics while fitting you with the proper shoe. You can have the computer data sent to you via e-mail or straight to your cell phone via text message. The scanning process takes about 30 seconds.

Simms, who was present at a preview and ribbon-cutting event for the press on Thursday, said his Aetrex shoes had eliminated much of the heel pain he used to get from his other size 14 shoes.

Aetrex is marketing its proprietary software and hardware solution to other shoe stores, so you may see one of these setups in your neighborhood sooner than you think.

For a quick demonstration of how the Aetrex iStep 5000 works, see my piece for PC World.

Yobot the Luggage-Totin' Robot Gets Busy at Yotel New York Hotel

2011-05-08T02:08:00.001-05:00

It's not the kind of thing you expect to see on the sidewalks of New York--and most Times Square locals have seen just about everything--but the Yotel New York hotel's new front-desk robot is definitely a head-turner.

Instead of leaving the task of lugging luggage to human luggers, the Yotel New York has employed Yobot, the world's first luggage-storing robot, to quickly store and retrieve guests' luggage. And instead of performing this task in a dark and dingy storage room, Yobot performs before a large sidewalk-level window for all passersby to see.

It's an impressively smooth and quick process which is as efficient as it is entertaining. The Yotel New York, located on W. 42nd St. and 10th Ave. just west of Times Square, will specialize in rooms that are small, but efficiently designed but nowhere near as small as the micro-accommodations at Yotel's rent-by-the-hour "pod" hotels at two London airports and one in the Amsterdam.

Want more information? See my PC World story.

Video and text Copyright 2011 Robert S. Anthony, Stadium Circle Features

Nintendo 3DS Takes Manhattan Early

2011-03-24T22:39:00.000-05:00

New Yorkers get an early peek at Nintendo 3DS at the South Street Seaport.

You can't buy it until Sunday, but dozens of New Yorkers have been getting their hands on the hotly awaited Nintendo 3DS portable game console thanks to a roving band of Nintendo representatives.

At Manhattan's South Street Seaport Thursday, a group of white-clad Nintendo product demonstrators showed off the dual-screened 3DS, which can display 3D images without the need for 3D glasses, to whoever cared for a short demo. From there the Nintendo team headed to Union Square, which will be the site of one of ten 3DS launch parties at Best Buy stores nationwide Saturday night.

Want more information and more pictures? See my piece for PC World.

Text and photo Copyright 2011 Stadium Circle Features

$499 Too Much for an iPad 2? How about $3,750 for a DOS Tablet?

2011-03-03T20:41:00.002-05:00

Would you pay $3,750 for a tablet computer? In 1991 lots of people did, and apparently were quite happy to do so.

It never ceases to amaze me how the power of the computer-buying dollar continues to rise at a breakneck pace despite the sour state of the U.S. economy.

With each new year you get much more video muscle, far more data storage and much stronger and faster processors for the same number of dollars.

And that's the rule whether we're talking PCs, laptops, cell phones, tablets or any other computer-based gadget. And if you adjust for inflation, the numbers only get better.

With the introduction of the Apple iPad 2 this week at prices starting at $499, I began to wonder what kinds of tablets were available 20 years ago and what they would have cost. Then I stumbled upon the above photo in my computer history archives.

The GRiDPAD RC and GRiDPAD HD, manufactured by GRiD Systems, were announced in 1991 and were indeed standard-setters at the time. In fact the original 1989 GRiDPAD was developed by Jeff Hawkins, better known as the father of the Palm Pilot handheld computer. Instead of a finger, the monochrome, backlit and transflective touch screens on the GRiDPADs were navigated with small pens wired to the units.

The 4.6-pound GRiDPAD HD listed for $3,750 and came with a 20-megabyte (That's right, not gigabytes. And wipe that smile off your face!) hard disk and a RAM card slot. The hard-diskless GRiDPAD RC ($2,870) came with two RAM card slots which would allow you to install as much as 2MB of storage. Both came with 2MB of internal RAM for programs.

By comparison, Apple's $499 Wi-Fi only iPad 2 comes with 16GB of RAM, weighs 1.33 pounds and has a 9.7-inch, 1,024-by-768-pixel color display. Of course the iPad 2 offers far more sophisticated features and software than the ancient GRiDPAD units, but all were standard-bearers for their time.

For example, even though Windows 3.0 was available when the GRiDPAD HD and RC were announced, they came with with the much more reliable, stable and less-memory-hungry DOS (Disk Operating System). Windows 3.1, widely regarded as the first truly reliable Windows version, didn't appear until 1992.

Now before you think of what you could buy for $3,750 today, let's adjust for inflation. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' CPI Index Calculator, $3,750 in 1991 translates to $6,063.41 in 2011 while $2,870 in 1991 becomes $4,640.53 today. And just for the heck of it, note that today's $499 translates into $308.61 in 1991 dollars.

See those dollars sitting innocently in your wallet? They're getting stronger by the hour--at least in terms of gadget-purchasing power--even as you turn a couple loose for that cup of Starbuck's coffee.

Any other good examples of 1991 pricing? Let's hear about them.

Text Copyright 2011 Stadium Circle Features
Photos courtesy of GRiD Systems and Apple.

Sprint Echo: One Phone, Two Screens, But Just 3G

2011-02-08T00:38:00.000-05:00

The Echo by Kyocera for Sprint is exactly what it looks like: An Android smartphone with two screens instead of one. Does the extra screen improve your productivity or does it just suck battery power? Yes. But that's OK: Batteries (two of them) are included.

Sprint Echo by Kyocera

The Echo was unveiled Monday at a glitzy event in New York which featured the magic of David Blaine. While the phone lacks smoke or mirrors, it does feature a specially designed hinge that allows it to snap quickly from single- to dual-screen mode.

The Kyocera unit's dual 3.5-inch touch displays can be used in tandem or separately in either portrait or landscape orientation. The phone will sell for $199 after a $100 rebate with a two-year plan.

The unit is only a 3G phone, however, and can't use Sprint's ultra-fast 4G network. It can, however, serve as a Wi-Fi hotspot for a notebook or other wireless networking device.

During the press event Sprint representatives demonstrated how the Echo's screens can be used to run separate applications in each screen or run a single app that spans both screens. When reading e-mail, for example, you can read the e-mail summary in one window and read the full e-mail text in the other. You could also, for example, open your Twitter account in one window and peek at Facebook in the other.

The phone can also run games, as Sprint representatives demonstrated as they showed off a version of The Sims that took advantage of both screens (see video below).

As for the specs, the phone comes with Android version 2.2, a 1GHz Snapdragon processor, an 8GB removable memory card (up to 32GB cards supported), Bluetooth 2.1 support for wireless headsets and other devices, and a five-megapixel camera with support for 720p HD video.

Due to the power demands of the dual 800-by-480-pixel screens, the phone comes with two 1,370 mAh batteries and an external battery charger that can connect to the phone, thus allowing you to charge both batteries at once. As for battery life, neither Sprint nor Kyocera mention this prominently on their product pages, so you'd be advised to keep the batteries charged and the charger handy.

At 6.8 ounces and two-thirds of an inch thick, the unit is both thicker and heavier than the original Motorola Droid with the slide-out keyboard (6 ounces, half-inch thick). In other words, the unit has a bit of heft to it and will definitely fill out a shirt pocket.

Like Acer's Iconia dual-screened notebook, it remains to be seen if two screens are better than one or if they just make the folks at Con Edison smile.

Text and video Copyright 2011 Stadium Circle Features

A 2011 CES Miracle: Silence in the Press Room

2011-01-06T18:31:00.000-05:00

Silence in the press room on Press Day at CES? Never thought I'd see the day.

Indeed that's almost what happened at the main press room at the Las Vegas Convention Center Wednesday afternoon even as thousands of journalists poured into town for the media preview day before the 2011 International Consumer Electronics Show opened to the public today.

The reason? Most journalists were a few miles away at the Venetian Las Vegas Casino, Hotel & Resort, where most of the larger press events were held. When it came time to write their stories and blogs and upload their photos and videos, most journalists ventured to the much smaller and much-less-equipped CES press room at the Venetian.

The result? The area around the Venetian press room resembled a natural disaster assistance center. The sight of dozens of tired, deadline-pressured, alcohol-lubricated journalists strewn in the hallways around the packed press room gave the area the aura of a flophouse which ran out of beds before the stream of incoming clientele did.

Those sharp enough to catch a shuttle bus to the much larger and better-laid-out CES press room at the Las Vegas Convention Center found seats, serenity and plenty of available computers and laptop desk space--all of which will be nonexistent starting today.

But on Wednesday you could have heard a whispered PIN number drop as journalists quietly, politely and efficiently got their work done without stress, four-letter words or fist shaking. Utterly amazing.

So how do you keep track of the announcements coming out of the show? If you have a Twitter account, all you need to do is search for a term like "#CES," "#CES2011" or any similar variation and you'll get an instant snapshot of what's being announced at this moment. Follow me on Twitter at: @newyorkbob.

Keep an eye right here for some special reports from CES as well.

Video and text Copyright 2011. Stadium Circle Features

CES 2011: OnStar - Now Almost Anyone Can Have It

2011-01-05T03:36:00.001-05:00

OnStar announced a new product at the 2011 International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas Tuesday that non-GM-vehicle owners have been clamoring for for ages: A kit that allows you to add the OnStar satellite information and security service to almost any car on the road.

Where do you find such a device? Just look into your rearview mirror ... and then replace it ... with OnStar's $299 addOn replacement rearview mirror. The addOn includes the familiar OnStar blue button and provides access to OnStar's satellite-borne services such as turn-by-turn navigation, stolen car tracking, hands-free calling and automatic crash response. Service plans will run from $18.95 a month to $199 a year. The new unit will be available at Best Buy later this year. Until now, OnStar was only available as a preinstalled option in GM cars.

At a press conference at the Venetian Resort Hotel Casino, OnStar President Chris Preuss showed off the new addOn unit to hundreds of journalists two days before the official opening of the convention floor on Jan. 6.

According to OnStar's press release, the addOn is "certified to work on 99 percent of the top 20 selling non-GM vehicles over the last 10 years, or approximately 55 million cars and trucks."

More CES coverage coming. Stay tuned.

Text and video Copyright 2011 Stadium Circle Features
Photos courtesy of OnStar

Paper PC Picks: Gifts for iPod Lovers

2010-12-20T02:38:00.001-05:00

With the holiday gift season hard upon us and crowds of head-scratching consumers filling electronics stores, now is as good a time as any to start a series of cool gadget selections. The Paper PC Picks will be culled from newly announced products spotted at press events and from the interesting products I've had a chance to look over. So let's get started, in no particular order, with the first set of Paper PC Picks.

Gifts for iPod Lovers

A strange gadget recently made an appearance in a New York subway car: An original, first-generation iPod. It had a tiny monochrome display and the now-legendary mechanical wheel for menu navigation. In a car full of modern iPods and iPhones, the sighting of a "classic" iPod proved one thing: iPod users really love their devices. As the holiday shopping season rushes to a close, here are some gift suggestions for your favorite iPod lover.

v-moda Crossfade LP
At the high end of the scale is the $200 Crossfade LP from v-moda, a studio-quality, over-the-ear headphone which doesn't look the least bit like an iPod accessory. Aside from comfortable, well-padded earpieces and a choice of six colors, the unit offers two detachable, cloth-covered wires: one for audio only and the other with an inline iPod-compatible remote control and microphone.

Instead of multiple drivers per earpiece, the Crossfade LP uses single 50mm dual-diaphragm driver on each side, a design which, according to v-moda, allows the unit to provide deep basses and clean midrange sounds without the need for batteries. The stylish headphone, which also comes with a ruggedized hard carrying case, proved both comfortable and comforting since external noises were held at bay by the ample padding, thus allowing the pure sounds of digital music to stand alone.

Denon AH-C260R
If you damage or lose your original white iPod earbuds, you'll find that there are many alternate headsets that offer equal or superior audio quality at lower prices than Apple's replacement earbuds ($29 list) or dual-driver in-ear headset ($79 list). The $50 Denon AH-C260R in-the-ear headset is a good example.

The headset, part of Denon's Mobile Elite series, has a three-button inline iPod-compatible remote control and an inline microphone. When tested with Skype telephony software and with and the voice recorder in a second-generation iPod touch, the clarity and fidelity of the unit's inline microphone proved impressive. The earpiece shells are made of an aluminum alloy and a resin compound, a combination which, according to Denon, minimizes unwanted resonances.

Blue Microphones Mikey

Anyone who's owned an iPod for more than a few minutes knows that it can do far more than just play back digital music. For students who want to record lectures or business workers who need to record meetings or conference panels, the Mikey microphone ($79 list) from Blue Microphones turns most iPods into fairly sophisticated voice and music recorders.

The square, hinged, second-generation Mikey fits neatly into the docking port of first- to third-generation iPod touches; second- to fifth-generation iPod nanos, iPod classics and fifth-generation iPods. The unit works best when used with the Blue iPod app, readily available at no cost in the iTunes Apps store.

When tested in a large New York hotel ballroom during a panel discussion, the Mikey, when adjusted for high sensitivity, clearly recorded the proceedings.

Philips Fidelio DS8500
Earlier this year Philips expanded its line of iPod-docking speakers with the rich-sounding Fidelio series of premium speakers. In the middle of the line is the curvy $200 Philips Fidelio DS8500. Unlike boxy, clock-radio-type iPod docks, the Fidelio DS8500 is designed to look classy even when an iPod isn't docked to it. You can also connect other MP3 players and music accessories to it via a stereo input jack.

The unit comes with dual 3-inch, 15-watt speakers behind a fabric mesh, a remote control and its own iPod / iPhone app. The app, which can be downloaded at no cost from the iTunes App Store, includes an equalizer and other features that allow you to tune the sound of the unit to your ear. The app also includes an alarm clock which allows you to wake up to music from your iPod. And of course the speakers can be used for streaming music from Pandora and other Internet radio services when your iPod or iPhone has an Internet connection.

The Fidelio has a proximity sensor which illuminates the front-panel volume buttons as you approach and turns them off as you move away, thus providing more power for music and less for interference from the lights. The powered speakers come with an AC adapter and the Fidelio recharges your iPod as it sits in the dock. The unit is compatible with almost all iPods and yes, when tested with an iPod touch, the audio was warm and crisp.

An Ounce of Protection

If you think your iPod lover might like to personalize his unit, there are a number of services that let you design your own iPod case. For example, Coveroo has a deep selection of college and professional sports team logos, emblems, mascots and other images that can separate your iPod from the crowds.

Coveroo

The images are manufactured into the cases, so they won't wear off, according to Coveroo.

Case-Mate also offers a large line of cases for iPods, iPads and some Android-based cell phones like the Samsung Galaxy S series, also allows you to design your own case. The do-it-yourself area of the Case-Mate website allows you to upload your own design or photo and have it manufactured into a phone or iPod case. Here again the design or photo is embedded into the final product and doesn't wear off, according to Case-Mate.

And one last word here: Happy Holidays.

Text Copyright 2010 Stadium Circle Features
Photos courtesy of v-moda, Denon, Blue Microphones, Philips, Coveroo and Case-Mate

No Keyboard? No Problem: Acer's Dual-Touchscreen Iconia Oozes Coolness

2010-11-24T04:12:00.000-05:00

Acer Iconia with dual 14-inch touchscreens

Is the Acer Iconia the opening salvo of a new generation of keyboard-free notebooks or just a grand experiment doomed to be a footnote in the annals of PC history? It's certainly too early to tell, but there's one thing that can be said about the new dual-touchscreen unit: It's just darn cool.

With no visible moving parts other than the hinge connecting the two bright 14-inch touchscreens, the Iconia is a sleek, clean-looking computing machine with nifty enhancements to the standard Windows interface.

You can navigate through your browser, word processor and other software with your finger as you would on an Apple iPad or other tablet, but if you lay both palms upon the lower touch screen, a full size keyboard appears, including a virtual touchpad, thus allowing you to work as if it were a conventional notebook.

Acer Iconia with virtual keyboard

The unit, and a handful of other new mobile devices, was introduced by Acer Tuesday at a spiffy New York press event which included a white runway more suited for fashion models than computer company executives.

Both of the LED-backlit14-inch LCD touchscreens offer a resolution of 1,366 by 768 pixels and come with a protective layer of Gorilla Glass, a scratch and crack-resistant composite glass developed by Corning, which is based appropriately enough in Corning, New York.

Acer Groups Senior Corp. VP Jim Wong watches demo

The full-size keyboard not only offers all of the keys of a standard keyboard, but can do some tricks that a hardware keyboard can't. For example, once you touch the virtual touchpad below the virtual keyboard, the entire bottom screen becomes your touchpad as long as you don't lift your finger. Instead of dragging your finger in short bursts across a two-inch square, you can use the entire real estate of the 14-inch display to propel the cursor around the top screen.

The Paper PC on the Iconia

Touching the keyboard with five fingers and then giving the screen a twist causes the Acer Ring, a circular, scrollable group of one-touch application cards, to appear.

In practice the keyboard worked fairly well, requiring no more practice than one would need to use the virtual keyboard on an iPad or other tablet. The lower section can be used for generously sized system configuration screens--a boon for those with aging eyes.

The lack of a hardware keyboard allows for a very slim profile and of course, a very quiet notebook. The unit will be built with Intel's i5 family of processors, but other configuration information wasn't immediately announced.

A key question went unanswered Tuesday: The price. Acer officials said it had not been finalized yet. While Acer said that the unit may be available as soon as late this year, no sale date was given.

So is this the beginning of the end of the keyboard as we know it? Not quite. The lack of haptic feedback or the reassuring bounce-back of a physical keyboard may cause even good touch-typers to constantly look at the virtual keyboard instead of the screen. However the Iconia's dual screens brings the concept of a lightweight, but very rugged notebook with a weatherproof display and keyboard closer to reality.

So the question is: Would you buy something like this as your primary laptop? Chime in.

Top two product photos courtesy of Acer
Text and other photos and video Copyright 2010 Stadium Circle Features

World's Largest QR Code? Maybe Not, But...

2010-11-17T12:02:00.001-05:00

Video screen above Times Square American Eagle Outfitters store.

It may not be the world's largest QR code, but it may be one of the most effective. While there are plenty of bright and flashy video screens in New York's Times Square, there aren't many that will prompt people to put aside their high-quality still and video cameras in favor of their little cameraphones.

Why? So they can snap an image of the huge QR (quick response) code which appears at regular intervals on the massive video screen of the American Eagle Outfitters store at 1551 Broadway.

These QR codes, which usually appear in somewhat smaller form in magazines, newspapers and sometimes the sides of bus stops, provide instant access to discount coupons or other assets like digital music clips, movie trailers or printed articles. As long as your smartphone has a bar code/QR code reading application--and there are many available for iPhone, Android and Blackberry phone users--you can scan the code, send it over the Internet for processing and download whatever goodie is attached to the code.

When snapped on Nov. 16, the Times Square American Eagle Outfitters QR code lead to a coupon good for 15% off its merchandise.

The L-shaped video screen section which includes the code in the photo measures roughly 79 feet wide by 44 feet tall, making it hard to miss even in the visual cacophony of Times Square. And there are 11 other sign sections in the massive structure above the store.

It was indeed amusing to watch tourists and hardened New Yorkers alike snatch their smartphones from their pockets as if they were Old West gunslingers in an effort to start their phones' code-reading apps and scan the code before it disappeared.

So what's your favorite bar code/QR code reading app? This inquiring mind would like to know.

Photo and text Copyright 2010 Stadium Circle Features

Samsung Continuum: Tick, Tick, Tick

2010-11-09T00:32:00.002-05:00

The ticker at the bottom can be configured to show
the date and time, the weather or other infornation.

So you're in that big meeting and you're bored stiff. You want to keep track of the calls you're missing, your e-mail and the price of that stock you just invested in, but you don't want to get caught poking at your cell phone every other minute. For you there's the Samsung Continuum, an Android smartphone billed as the first with its own customizable "ticker."

The Continuum, the newest in the Samsung Galaxy S family of handsets with Samsung's bright, sharp Super AMOLED display, arrives at Verizon Wireless stores Nov.18 but orders will be taken starting Nov. 11. The handset will sell for $200 with a two-year service plan after a $100 rebate. The Galaxy S family has already sold three million unit since its introduction this summer, according to Kim Titus, director of public relations for Samsung Telecommunications America.

Samsung Continuum ticker in music player mode with album art

Below the Continuum's 3.4-inch main screen and four touch-sensitive Android keys (menu, home, return and search) is a thin piece of screen real estate at the very bottom set aside for a scrollable ticker. You can customize this 1.8-inch ticker so that it shows missed calls, incoming e-mail, stock prices, the weather or other bits of continuously updated information. And all you need to do get the ticker to reveal itself is to grip the handset at the bottom. Only the ticker section will come to life--the rest of the screen will remain dark, thus making it less likely that the chairman of the board will catch you checking your e-mail while the big meeting is still in progress.

Nick DiCarlo, Samsung

At a press conference in New York on Monday, Nick DiCarlo, director of product planning at Samsung Telecommunications America, said the Continuum was an example of "innovating on Android ... in a way you've never seen till now."

The point of the ticker is to allow you to get information without interrupting what you're doing on the main part of the screen. For example, if you're using your calendar app on the main screen, you can see the contents of an incoming text message in the ticker as it comes in without having to leave the calendar.

Thanks to the lightweight nature of the Super AMOLED screen technology, the Continuum is thin and light like the other handsets in the Galaxy S-family handsets. The Continuum will ship with Android 2.1, however, which means it won't be able to handle Web videos and other features built with Adobe Flash 10.1 until it receives the Android 2.2 upgrade.

The unit can function as a Wi-Fi hotspot, allowing you to link up to five other devices to the Internet through the phone. Also included is a five-megapixel digital camera with HD video capabilities, stereo Bluetooth support for wireless accessories, a standard 3.5mm headphone jack and an eight-gigabyte removable memory card--which can be swapped for media with capacities up to 32 gigabytes.

Also preinstalled is Swype, a utility which lets you spell words on the on-screen keyboard by sliding your finger from key to key without lifting your finger from the screen.

On balance, the Continuum seems to be an admirable addition to the Samsung Galaxy S family, but it remains to be seen if the ticker feature will catapult it to the head of the pack.

Text and photos Copyright 2010, Stadium Circle Features

Logitech Revue: After All the Buzz, Will It Take Flight?

2010-10-07T04:29:00.002-05:00

At a well-attended press conference Wednesday, Logitech showed off its Revue, the first in what will probably be a litany of Google-powered TV devices that will let you view content from the Web, broadcast and application sources on a simple TV interface.

Kevin Simon, Logitech

At $300, the Revue comes with a nifty thin wireless keyboard controller with a touch pad (held in the photo by Kevin Simon, director of product marketing for Logitech's digital home group) and runs on Google's Android operating system with Google's Chrome Web browser.

Also available is a sharp-looking, backlit mini controller ($130) or you can operate the Revue with your Android phone or iPhone once you've downloaded a free app from the Android Market or iTunes App Store.

Logitech Revue mini controller

At the press conference Junien Labrousse, Logitech's executive vice president for products, said the Revue would make it simple for TV viewers to find and watch their favorite programs no matter where the content came from.

"Imagine having all your favorite content at your fingertips," he said. "The magic with the Logitech Revue is that everything just works."

Preorders are being taken now but the unit won't arrive at Amazon and Best Buy until the end of the month.

So what are the details on the new Revue? See my piece at PC World.

Journalists jammed the Oct. 6 Logitech Revue press conference in New York.

HP Photosmart eStation: Take One ‘Tablet’ and Call Me When My Boarding Pass is Ready

2010-09-22T00:01:00.003-05:00

All-in-one inkjet printer has a detachable Android-based color control panel which looks and acts like a tablet, but isn’t.

So what can you get in a $399 all-in-one printer in 2010? Answer: The HP Photosmart eStation, a unit with a detachable, wireless Android-based control panel. The seven-inch color touch screen offers a full Web browser and a selection of HP Web apps, including an airline app that will print your boarding pass in four clicks.

At the HP Imaging and Printing Group Innovation Summit in New York Monday, HP showed how the eStation’s panel can surf the Web without a PC and can download and print out online documents. Like other printers announced this year, the Photosmart eStation supports HP’s ePrint feature, which allows you to e-mail print jobs to the printer from any Web-connected device.

The control panel is similar in size and shape to many of the new Android-based tablets like Samsung’s Galaxy Tab, but even though it’s based on the Android 2.1 operating system, it’s not configured to act an independent tablet.

While it does have a solid Web browser, supports multi-touch image resizing and rotates the image from portrait to landscape orientation as needed, it doesn’t have a memory card slot and it doesn’t have access to the apps in Android Market. It does, however, function as an ebook reader and to that end has access to the Barnes & Noble eBookstore. The control panel has a little more heft than some of the newer tablets but has a solid feel and proved very responsive.

Already installed in the control panel are apps for Facebook, Yahoo, the Snapfish online photo service and other websites. Also installed is a Delta Airlines app, the first of what HP representatives said would be a handful of links to airline ticketing systems. The app will allow users to print out their board passes in four clicks, HP said. The control panel will evolve over time and more apps may be added in the future, HP representatives said.

The eStation can send faxes over the Internet, thus negating the need for a telephone line, and supports two-sided printing. According to HP, the unit can generate up to 33 black and white pages or 32 color pages per minute, its scanner tops out at 1,200 by 2,400 dots per inch and the unit supports the 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi standards.

Video, photo and text Copyright 2010 Stadium Circle Features

Samsung Galaxy Tab Does Adobe Flash

2010-09-19T21:32:00.007-05:00

During a press conference last week for the newly announced Samsung Galaxy Tab, Kevin Lynch, chief technology officer at Adobe, showed off how the Android-based tablet can do something Apple's iPad can't: Play videos, games, web tools and other online content created with Adobe Flash.

The Galaxy Tab comes with the Android 2.2 operating system--the same used on popular Android smartphones--and comes with support for Adobe Flash 10.1.

During the Samsung press event in New York, Lynch showed how the tablet handled the video-heavy Major League Baseball website and a couple of Harry Potter online games.

The Galaxy Tab will debut with AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon and a Wi-Fi-only version will be available later. The unit weighs well under a pound, has a 1GHz Hummingbird processor, 16GB of internal memory (expandable with memory cards), and a 7-inch screen.

Want to see more? My video of the Galaxy Tab in action is available at PC World.

Video and text Copyright 2010 Stadium Circle Features

Panasonic Serves Up First Consumer 3D Camcorder at U.S. Open

2010-09-06T00:33:00.000-05:00

If you've been ducking and weaving virtual tennis balls in your living room for the past week, chances are good that you've been watching the U.S. Open tennis tourney on a 3D HDTV. Panasonic is providing the high-end, commercial-grade gear that's being used at courtside to render Venus Williams, Rafael Nadal and the other tennis stars into almost-live participants in your living room, but for those who want to try 3D video for themselves, Panasonic has a solution: a new consumer-grade, handheld 3D camcorder.

Panasonic announced the $1,400 HDC-SDT750 3D camcorder a few months ago, but gave the press a chance to give it a little exercise at the U.S. Open in New York last week. The unit proved as easy to use as any other camcorder and felt balanced despite its 3D lens. The camera can take standard 2D video in full 1,080p HD resolution (1,920 by 1,080-pixels), but connect its stereo lens adapter and the unit can shoot 3D video at 960 by 1,080 pixels. You can pre-order the unit now, but it won't ship until mid-October.

Want to know more? See my piece in PC World.

Text and images Copyright 2010 Stadium Circle Features

PayPal App Pops Up on Droid X: You're Welcome

2010-08-29T16:37:00.004-05:00

The PayPal mobile app showed up on Motorola's Droid X last week. And I think I might be responsible.

For months I had been wondering why PayPal's mobile application could be installed on all of the Android phones I've tested so far except Motorola's popular Droid X for Verizon Wireless. It was easy enough to find the PayPal app in the Android Market with other Android handsets, including the original Droid (left in photo), but it wouldn't show up if you searched for "PayPal" in the Android Market with the larger Droid X.

Last week PayPal held a nifty press event in New York to show off its close integration with the StubHub online ticket exchange and other sports-related services. I asked a couple PayPal representatives about the Droid X but no one knew why the PayPal app wouldn't show up on it. I followed up the next day with an e-mail and was told the matter would be looked into.

The next morning I searched for PayPal on the Droid X and, much to my surprise, it was there. It installed without a problem and is very easy to navigate on the Droid X's large, 4.3-inch display.

Kudos to PayPal for the quick action. And for those of you who may also have had the same problem: You're welcome. (I also blogged about this on PC World.)

New York Tabloid Wars: Looks Like a Tie

2010-08-25T09:10:00.000-05:00

Is it just me or was yesterday the first time the "competing" free New York tabloids looked exactly the same in the sidewalk newspaper box?

On Aug. 24, amNewYork, published by Newsday, and Metro New York, published by Metro International, were blanketed by the same Time Warner Cable four-page wraparound ad, thus making them look identical to readers at first glance. Of course the content inside each paper was different, but you couldn't tell what was within these books by looking at their covers.

Makes one wonder who is fit to be tied when a wraparound ad blocks the view of a newspaper's front page: The readers or the editors who came up with the nifty headlines--which nobody saw? What do you think?

The Lost Smartphone: An ID Thief's Dream

2010-08-11T15:29:00.000-05:00

Where's your smartphone? Did it fall out of your pocket or did you leave in that rental car?

If you did those cameraphone photos from the bachelor party might be the least of your worries. With a wealth of personal information and possible application links to things like your bank accounts and your personal schedule, today's smartphones offer lots of data that would be valuable to an ID thief.

So what can you do to protect your data? Add-on applications like tenCube's WaveSecure can protect your phone even when it's out of your hands. Take a look at my latest piece in PC World for more information. And let me know what you think.

Copyright 2010 Stadium Circle Features

Samsung Galaxy S: Shining Star on Smartphone Horizon

2010-07-01T14:22:00.001-05:00

With the introduction of the Samsung Galaxy S smartphone at a lavish launch event in New York this week, Samsung claims the lead in smartphone display technology. So how nice is the 4-inch, Super AMOLED display? Very nice indeed, even in bright sunlight.

Not only is the display bright and rich, but video playback is more than impressive, rendering even action movies with a jitter. Combined with a 1GHz processor, the Galaxy S handles high-definition videos very well. Take a look at how nice the movie "Avatar" comes across on the small screen. The entire movie comes with the phone on a removable memory card.

The Galaxy S is known as the T-Mobile Vibrant, the Verizon Wireless Fascinate, the AT&T Captivate and the Sprint Epic 4G, which, unlike the other three, has a slide-out QWERTY keypad.

What else do I think? See my first impressions at PC World.

HP ePrint: No Print Driver? No Problem

2010-06-07T14:18:00.006-05:00

Hewlett Packard led off Internet Week in New York Monday by unveiling ePrint, a new Web print service that allows users to print from any Web-enabled device whether it has built-in printing support or not. The new ePrint service will come with a wave of new all-in-one inkjet printers starting at $99.

During a morning press conference, Vyomesh Joshi (right), HP's executive vice president for Imaging and Printing Group, noted that all of the new printers will come with their own e-mail addresses. Sending a print job to any of the ePrint-enabled printers is as simple as sending an e-mail he said.

While three of the four new printers will be available in August and September, the $99 HP Photosmart e-All-in-One printer, which features a 2.4-inch touchscreen and a flatbed scanner, will be available later this month.

For more on the new ePrint service, see my piece at PCWorld.com.

Gates on Gates: Proud Son Yields to Prouder Dad

2010-06-03T02:09:00.002-05:00

Bill Gates Sr. joins famous son to promote book on family values

Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates doesn’t have to deal with second billing too often, but he was happy to do so Wednesday since the person hundreds of people packed a New York auditorium to hear was someone he truly admired: His father.

“Needless to say, I am quite proud of the outcome of my family,” said Bill Gates Sr., 84, to a roar of laughter during an event at Manhattan's 92nd St. Y to promote his book, “Showing Up for Life,” which focuses on the value of family and hard work.

Gates Sr. said his position as co-chair of the charity founded by his famous son, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, “is why I still get up and go to work every morning.”

“I had a lot of fun growing up,” said the younger Gates (William H. Gates III, to be precise) who famously took a pass on a Harvard education to found Microsoft. “I’m not sure if I made it fun,” he added with a smirk.

Gates Sr. had a bit to say about the value of a strong family, the poor condition of the American public education system and the damage extreme partisan politics has done to government at all levels. However his true focus was on his family, which includes two more children: daughters Kristianne and Libby.

He noted that he has a tradition of taking his grandchildren anywhere in the world they wanted to go when they turned ten years old.

“By and large we were able to accommodate their wishes,” he said.

The last request came from one of his son’s children: Antarctica. They made it.

Gates Sr. was downright exuberant when he spoke of the 6,000 students a year who “go to school on Bill and Melinda’s dollar.”

During a question-and-answer session, the younger Gates said running Microsoft during its infancy “wasn’t that hard” and “didn’t seem like that big of deal” at the time.

He said Microsoft started on the premise that software, not hardware was the “key ingredient” in developing a usable computer. Unlike other companies that focused on a single product, like the old WordPerfect Corp., Microsoft sought to develop entire platforms of software products, he said.

“In all success stories there are significant elements of luck and timing,” he said. “You do have to be lucky enough, but you have to be fanatical enough to keep it going.”

In a week where Apple, buoyed by strong sales of its new iPad tablet, nudged ahead of Microsoft to become the world’s largest tech company in terms of market capitalization, the younger Gates actually eked out some praise for his competitor.

“Now Apple’s doing a good job with hardware,” he said as some in the audience tittered. “There’s room for more than one success story.”

So what did Gates Sr. aim to teach readers with his book?

“To get people to think about how we are all in this together,” he said. “We’re grossly interdependent.”