The Paper PC

Motorola Droid Lands at Verizon Wireless

2009-10-30T16:31:00.008-05:00

You've seen the dark and stormy TV commercial teasing us about the device that's going to do all sorts of nifty things that Apple's iPhone can't. Now it's here--almost.

Motorola's Droid smartphone , the first with version 2.0 of Google's Android operating system, won't arrive at Verizon Wireless stores until November 6, but the press received a preview this week at special events in New York and elsewhere.

My first look and complete review of the Droid are up at PC World .

Let me know what you think.

Booklet 3G netbook: Nokia turns a page

2009-10-15T16:01:00.026-05:00

A notebook from Nokia? What is the netbook world coming to? Maybe to a Best Buy near you ... or at least Nokia hopes so.

At a splashy press event in New York this week, Nokia introduced the Nokia Booklet 3G, its first foray into the already crowded notebook market. Not surprisingly, the 2.76-pound netbook focuses not on top-shelf processor power or on graphics muscle, but on connectivity and uptime, and in these respects it may succeed.

"It was a decision to start with what we know," said John Hwang, head of the Nokia product team which developed the ultrathin netbook. "And that's mobility."

The Booklet 3G ($299 with a 2-year data service contract) includes Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 2.1 support, but also includes a 3G HSPA wireless data modem for the AT&T Wireless network. A slot is provided for the necessary AT&T Wireless SIM card. The unit also promises 12 hours of battery life per charge.

"It's not 12 hours in the brochure, it's 12 hours true battery life," said Lars Boesen, senior director for OEM emerging market business development for Microsoft Corp.

He noted that the Booklet 3G comes with Microsoft's upcoming Windows 7 operating system, which is optimized for the 1.6-gigahertz Intel Atom Z530 processor at the heart of the unit. Windows 7 will go on sale Oct. 22.

He said the unit comes with just a small suite of preinstalled software, thus allowing the user maximum use of the Booklet 3G's 120-gigabyte (GB) hard disk and 1GB of RAM. Also missing is a fan, he noted; the Booklet 3G doesn't need one.

The 10.1-inch, 1280-by-720 pixel display was bright and sharp, but that resolution proved too low for some Web sites, like the newest version of Yahoo! Web mail. The site bumps users who come in at too low a screen resolution back to the less-glitzy "classic" version.

As small as the 0.8-inch thin unit is, it still has room for three USB ports, an HDMI port, a combination microphone/headphone jack and an SD Card slot. Just above the screen is a 1.3-megapixel webcam.

You can access the 3G data network directly with the Booklet 3G or via a Bluetooth connection with a cell phone. You can also synchronize your contacts, calendar entries, tasks, photos and other data between a cell phone and the unit via a Bluetooth connection. Boesen noted that the unit could move smoothly from a 3G data connection to a Wi-Fi connection without interupting the user's Internet experience.

The Booklet 3G, available in black, white or blue, will be sold exclusively at Best Buy until the first week of January 2010, when other stores will offer it, said a Best Buy representative. He said demonstration units would begin appearing in stores Oct. 25, at which time pre-orders would be taken. The units will ship about Nov. 15, he said.

The AT&T Wireless Web site will begin selling the unit Oct. 22. The Booklet 3G is $599 if purchased without a data plan.

Entering the PC space is something very unique," said Boesen. "We think this product is very, very good."

But a notebook from Nokia? Can it succeed in a market already laden with nifty low-priced netbooks? It certainly will be tough.

Then again, many of us gurgled and laughed a few years ago when Apple announced it was entering the cell phone market with something called an iPhone.

Top photo courtesy of Nokia

IREX DR800SG Challenges Amazon's Kindle

2009-09-23T15:36:00.008-05:00

You can't have too many digital book readers. At least that what IREX Technologies is banking on as it rolled out the IREX DR800SG at a well-attended press conference at the New-York Historical Society in Manhattan.

The new $399 unit, with a crisp 8.1-inch display and an very simple interface, seeks to take bite out of a market already crowded with Amazon's Kindles, the Sony Readers and other devices. It will be available in Best Buy by the end of October.

What do I think? See my piece in PC World. Then let me know what you think.

NYPL Wi-Fi: No Power for the People?

2009-08-25T22:34:00.005-05:00

Patience and Fortitude are the nicknames of the marble lions that guard the Fifth Ave. entrance to the famous New York Public Library building on 42nd St., but you may need a little of both if you want to use the free wireless Internet there for more than a couple hours at a time.

The NYPL recently opened a Wi-Fi Reading Room and Laptop Loan center in the elegant confines of the Edna Barnes Salomon Room, which has been the site of many art and book exhibitions and other special events. Aside from the classic paintings on the wall and the high ceilings, the room offers 16 long tables, each with eight comfortable chairs, thus providing seating for 128 Wi-Fi users. If you don't have your own laptop, you can borrow one for use in the room at no charge.

So what's missing from this picture? Power.

None of the tables here offer an AC power outlet. Thus you're at the mercy of your laptop's battery, which of course drains a little quicker when you're using its Wi-Fi adapter.

So what can you do if your device's low-power warning starts flashing? You could walk across the third floor to the southern half of the equally elegant Rose Main Reading Room, where all of the desks offer AC outlets. The room is covered by Wi-Fi and some of the desks also offer working Ethernet jacks for wired Internet access. Unfortunately, both the wired and wireless Internet access were down when I attempted to use them Tuesday afternoon.

From there you could have walked downstairs to the DeWitt Wallace Periodicals Room, another excellent working space also covered by Wi-Fi, but there are no AC outlets there either.

Kudos to the Fifth Ave. NYPL building for providing free public Internet access in an area where hotels and convention centers charge steep fees for the same. However, sometimes less is more.

Many of the smaller NYPL branches offer free Wi-Fi and dinky tables for laptop use--but they provide AC power strips, thus making them more useful, albeit less comfortable, than the august Wi-Fi Reading Room.

No, I'm not suggesting that the floor in the Edna Barnes Salomon Room be sawed up to accommodate floor AC outlets, but a powerless Wi-Fi Reading Room just misses the point.

What do you think?

Samsung's DualView Cameras: About Face

2009-08-13T11:52:00.024-05:00

Maybe it's a response to an epidemic of digital narcissism or maybe it's just a tip of the hat to the explosive growth of me-centric social networking sites. Either way, Samsung's new DualView digital cameras--the first ever with a second LCD screen on the front--seem to beg the question, "Now why didn't I think of that?"

The point is simple: The LCD on the front lets you frame self-portraits correctly instead of using the old "point-and-pray" method.

At a press event at New York's Time Warner Center, Samsung introduced its first two 12.2-megapixel DualView cameras, both of which feature 1.5-inch displays on the front in addition to larger touchscreens on the back. The TL 220 ($300) and TL225 ($350) come with 4.6X optical zoom lenses and 3.5-inch (TL225) or 3-inch (TL220) rear touchscreens.

Aside from being larger, the rear display of the TL225 is also sharper, with a resolution of 1.1 megapixels as opposed to the 230,000-pixel resolution of the rear display on the TL220.

As you frame the shot, the front LCD indicates whether the camera's face-recognition technology has locked onto your face and the smile-detection feature will snap your photo as soon as it detects an upside-down frown and your pearly whites.

Tim Baxter, co-president of Samsung Electronics America, said that instead of just taking photos of others, today's American camera user is more likely to put himself into his photos and share them.

"The role of the photographer has shifted," said Baxter, who added that camera makers "... cannot get by with selling a box that just takes pictures."

The front display turns on by tapping it and most camera adjustments are handled by the rear touchscreen, which vibrates to give tactile feedback when a button is touched. The camera also has a Gravity Sensor that lets you select functions by tilting the camera in the direction of the icon you want to activate.

Some of the functions of the camera's Smart Gesture user interface are truly intuitive. For example, to delete a photo, you simply draw an invisible "X" through it with your fingertip. The camera remembers up to 20 faces and will give exposure preference to the most frequently photographed faces.

If you engage the self timer, the front LCD will display a digital countdown. The front LCD can also be switched to a "child mode" in which it will display a cheerful, colorful cartoon designed to get children to look at the camera and smile.

"It's kind of a modern adaptation of 'look at the birdie,' " said Reid Sullivan, senior vice president of Samsung Electronics America.

The units, which will go on sale in September, are available in red, blue, silver, orange and purple.

Does a second LCD make sense to you?

Photo courtesy of Samsung Electronics America

Sprint's Samsung Reclaim: Lean & Green

2009-08-10T23:10:00.015-05:00

Are you eco-conscious? Do you care what your cell phone is made of? Sprint certainly hopes so.

Last week, at a well-attended press event at the Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum in Manhattan, Sprint introduced the Samsung Reclaim, a phone made of 80 per cent recyclable material. Two dollars from each purchase goes to the Nature Conservancy's Adopt an Acre program.

How does it rate? Read my review at PCWorld.com.

T-Mobile myTouch 3G: Google Android Take 2

2009-07-08T17:59:00.034-05:00

Make it work, make it mine, make it easy: Those are the three customer wishes T-Mobile aims to fulfill with its new flagship smartphone: the myTouch 3G .

The touchscreen smartphone, manufactured by HTC and based on the same Google Android operating system software as the T-Mobile G1, offers a slimmer profile than the G1 thanks to its lack of a slide-out keyboard.

Highlights of the new unit include its large library of Android applications and the multitude of ways in which it can be personalized.

"It's a very sleek device," said T-Mobile Chief Marketing Officer Denny Marie Post (above, left), who readily admitted that her 15-year-old son was instrumental in helping her set up her phone. "You feel very bold to experiment with it.... It becomes 100% you."

"This is our first, and our real big bet for 2009," said Cole Brodman, T-Mobile's chief technology and innovation officer (above, right) at the July 8 press event in New York. "The myTouch 3G is unique through and through."

Brodman said there were already 5,000 Android applications available for the myTouch 3G and the G1, including many location-aware utilities that take advantage of the GPS receivers built into the phones.

For example, Sherpa, from Geodelic Systems, can locate points of interest close to you as you move around. Clicking a restaurant button will generate icons for the closest eateries, complete with the addresses and the distances from where you are. Click on an icon and the phone searches for relevant information on the restaurant, such as menus, travel directions, cuisine and reviews.

Rahul Sonnad, founder and CEO of Geodelic, said Sherpa was first developed for PCs, but was ported to Android as the software platform gained traction.

Brodman described Sherpa as a "really unique recommendation and discovery engine. He noted that it remembers the user's preferences as it processes requests. "The more you use it, the smarter it becomes," he said.

Brodman said T-Mobile's sales force had been trained to help users set up and personalize their myTouch 3G phones. "Make it work, make it mine and make it easy," said Brodman, taking the role of a prospective customer.

Current T-Mobile customers can pre-order the myTouch 3G for $199 with a 2-year service plan. Those who order by July 28 will receive their units by Aug. 3. The unit will be available in T-Mobile stores Aug. 5. The myTouch 3G offers a 3.2-inch touchscreen, aWi-Fi adapter, a 3.2-megapixel digital camera, a digital music player with a preinstalled four-gigabyte microSD memory card and support for T-Mobile's fast 3G data network.

After few minutes of testing, the phone worked well. The touchscreen was responsive and the Web browser rendered pages fairly quickly. The on-screen keyboard, which can be set up to give tactile feedback when a key is touched, flips over to the side when the phone is held in landscape orientation.

Post said the myTouch 3G was poised to be a viable challenger to Apple's iPhone to date. Time will tell.

Text and photos Copyright 2009 Stadium Circle Features

CompuServe Classic: So Long, Old Friend

2009-06-30T00:01:00.000-05:00

No, your monitor won't blank out, your Internet connection won't stall and your PC won't crash, but a major event is about to ripple across the Internet today: CompuServe Classic is closing.

After 30 years the plug will be pulled on what was once the finest online service on the globe. (CompuServe 2000, a newer iteration of CompuServe will continue.)

And the saddest part is that it ends not with a bang, but with a whimper. Ask anyone about CompuServe today and the response will probably be "Are they still around?"

And that's not fair for a service that once meant so much to cyberspace--long before we started calling it cyberspace. It dates to a time when most home PCs didn't even have hard disks, just floppy disk drives, and when most PC users never went online.

CompuServe, the corporate entity, dates to 1969 but the CompuServe Classic online service for consumers debuted in 1979. In 1987 it was the flagship of online services with 380,000 users. A 1991 TV commercial trumpets CompuServe as the only online service with more than a half-million members.

Unfortunately time, and its acquisition by AOL, has not been kind to CompuServe. In recent years it has barely been marketed. Its Web site looks like a throwback to the (gasp!) 20th century. The "build" date on version 4.0.2 of CompuServe for Windows NT, the latest version of the access software for CompuServe Classic, is January 11, 1999.

CompuServe Classic's demise will come six years to the day after MCI Mail, another once-dominant online service, went dark. The text-only service had a Spartan interface but was terribly reliable. Many major corporations used it as their default e-mail service.

CompuServe Classic was home to forums for every profession and special interest imaginable. For example, the old Journalism Forum attracted journalists from around the world and was a hotbed for some of the most lively flaming sessions (that means trading insults, young folks) as well as many intelligent debates.

CompuServe Classic introduced many of us cyberdinosaurs to services we now take for granted.

Online shopping? Stock quotes? Worldwide weather forecasts? CompuServe was providing all of that in the 1980s. Who needs color graphics, music and streaming videos? CompuServe could provide users with what they needed with plain text on a slow dial-up connection.

Today there's Orbitz, Expedia, Travelocity and dozens of other travel sites on the Web, but in the 1980s it was the American Airlines EAASY SABRE service on CompuServe that introduced many of us to online airline ticket booking.

I still remember the joy of watching those first characters crawl slowly across the screen of my Tandy 100 laptop at 300 baud when I opened my CompuServe account in December 1985. How slow is that? Most of us can type faster than a 300-baud connection can send characters.

Even as newer services like America Online began to attract more users and overtake it, CompuServe managed to maintain an air of dignity. Its forums were more professional, its users were more cyber-savvy and the depth of its services and software libraries were far deeper than those of other services.

For example, when AOL started offering unlimited dial-up access in 1996, it didn't have enough modems in service to keep up with the spike in traffic. The result? Constant busy signals. Some users would go to sleep with their AOL connections on so they would have access to it in the morning.

CompuServe, on the other hand, always had the data capacity it needed. AOL's woes led to a memorable CompuServe TV commercial which ended with the punch line: "CompuServe: Get On with It." That bit of cockiness was short-lived, however, as AOL absorbed CompuServe in 1997.

So who will care when when CompuServe Classic goes dark today? I will as I retire my 23-year-old user ID : 72407,3343.

So long, old friend. And thanks.

NOTE: If you're a CompuServe Classic member and you haven't converted your e-mail address to the new system, put this blog down and do it now. You won't be able to do so after today.

Jitterbug J: Phone for Seniors Graduates

2009-06-02T21:51:00.005-05:00

Just days after some Jitterbug phones were recalled due to a problem with making some 911 calls, Great Call Inc. is back with the Jitterbug J, its newest easy-to-use phone for older adults.

Jitterbug and Samsung recalled some phones sold after March 1, 2008 after they had problems making 911 calls when outside of Jitterbug's network. The problem is being repaired with a software patch.

The new Jitterbug J is sleeker, but still simple and has none of the 911 problems.

For more information, see my piece on the PC World Web site: Jitterbug J: Keeping it Simple

CompuServe Classic E-Mail: The Next Generation

2009-05-19T23:27:00.019-05:00

As CompuServe Classic readies for its final log off on June 30, CompuServe Member Services has thrown the switch on a migration utility that allows Classic members to keep their e-mail accounts alive.

Gone will be CompuServe Classic's old number-comma-number e-mail address format and in its place will be a standard POP3 e-mail address with the familiar "@" sign. Many CompuServe Classic users already have alternate POP3 addresses for their accounts. Those addresses will be preserved in the transition. Just don't expect to connect to the Internet through a CompuServe dial-up number after June 30--those are on their way out too.

CompuServe Classic members must convert to the new e-mail system by going to the CompuServe Mail Center by June 30. Here's what happens once they get there:

You can start the conversion process by logging in with a Classic numerical e-mail address or with the alternate POP3 access information.

Once you click "continue" on the screen above, the next one asks for some basic demographic information and offers you a chance to pick a new password.

From there you need to agree to the Terms of Service by typing in the letters that appear in the image box.

If everything goes well, you'll get the following welcome screen.

Finally, clicking the right button takes you to your new inbox.

As for accessing the new e-mail service with Outlook or another e-mail client, you'll need the new server settings. You can retrieve your e-mail as a POP3 or IMAP account with or without a secure connection (SSL). The port setting is found in the advanced settings section of Outlook and other e-mail clients.

The POP3 settings are:

POP: pop.csi.com port 110 (SSL = port 995)

SMTP: smtp.csi.com port 587

The IMAP settings are:

IMAP: imap.csi.com port 143 (SSL = port 993)

SMTP: smtp.csi.com port 587

So how did it work on my CompuServe Classic account? So far so good, but other users have reported some problems.

What about you?

Kindle DX: A Spark on the Paper Trail?

2009-05-06T13:47:00.032-05:00

The debut of Amazon.com's Kindle DX electronic book reader Wednesday breathed a little fresh air into the hopes of the newspaper industry. Just a little, but it was a refreshing breath just the same.

Newspaper moguls have been scratching their collective heads for a solution to their dwindling readership and ad revenue numbers and the concept of an electronic book platform that the masses could embrace has been an elusive dream.

The Kindle DX, with its 9.7-inch, 16-gray-scale E-ink display and impossibly slim 0.38-inch profile, goes a long way in providing an electronic book reader that's as usable for textbooks and technical documents as it is for reading newspapers and blogs. But no, it doesn't go all the way.

The Kindle DX supports Adobe PDF documents in addition to its native format and can download entire books wirelessly in about a minute. Its 3.3 gigabytes of available storage is enough for 3,500 books. The $489 device won't be available until this summer, but Amazon.com is already taking orders.

At a well-attended press event at Pace University, which includes a Park Row building which was once home to the New York Times, Amazon.com CEO Jeff Bezos (above) said the new Kindle DX is meant to blend into the background, letting the user focus on the content.

"It gets out of the way so that you can enter the author's world," said Bezos amid the clicking, clacking and clunking of Twittering journalists and trigger-happy photographers. "It doesn't beep at you. It doesn't get warm in your hands."

Bezos noted that newspapers have been "an absolute best seller on Kindle." Readers can adjust the screen font and the number of words in each line and the unit automatically reorients the text if you turn the unit on its side or upside down.

Bezos said that paper survives today because it provide a better reading experience that most computer screens. "Paper is better. It's worth the hassle of printing," he said.

However he said the Kindle's low-glare paper-like display is easy enough on the eyes that eyestrain is not an issue.

The New York Times, the Washington Post and the Boston Globe have signed on to deliver content to the Kindle DX and to sell the $489 unit at a discount -- in exchange for a long-term newspaper subscription. The units would be available in areas outside of a paper's delivery zone.

"This experiment ... demonstrates our commitment to reinvention," said Arthur O. Sulzberger Jr., chairman of the New York Times Co. He said the Kindle DX combines "the immediacy of the Web with the portability and depth of the newspaper."

Students at Pace as well as at Princeton University, Case Western Reserve University, Arizona State University, Reed College and Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia will get first crack at the units through a trial program, said Bezos. Amazon.com has also inked agreements with major textbook publishers, he said.

So will the Kindle DX signal the beginning of a new generation of electronic book readers that are user friendly enough to be embraced by the public as well as those still willing to advertise in newspapers? Now there's a big "Maybe."

What do you think?

Middle photo courtesy of Amazon.com

It's Over! CompuServe Classic is Closing

2009-04-15T16:14:00.008-05:00

CompuServe Classic, the legendary online service that once dominated the industry, will close June 30 after 30 years in cyberspace. CompuServe 2000, a newer iteration of the service, will remain online.

Long outdistanced by newer rivals and long neglected since its acquisition by America Online, its membership has dwindled to a relatively insignificant number of cyberdinosaurs -- including myself. My CompuServe Classic account dates to 1985; six years after CompuServe's online services for personal computer users debuted in 1979. CompuServe itself was founded in 1969.

While CompuServe Classic's passing won't affect too many Web surfers, it will indeed close a major chapter in the evolution of cyberspace. I'll miss my old numerical address: 72407,3343.

Below is the text of the closing announcement.

So long, old friend.

-----Original Message-----

From: CompuServe Member Services

Sent: Wednesday, April 15, 2009 4:18 PM

To:

Subject: Important CompuServe Classic Account Notification

Dear CompuServe Classic Member,

After many years of providing online services, we regret to inform you that as of June 30, 2009 the CompuServe Classic service will no longer operate as an Internet Service Provider. We hope this does not cause you an inconvenience.

Note that this shutdown only relates to the CompuServe Classic service. The CompuServe 2000 service will continue to operate as it does today.

We're aware that this change may raise several questions for you.

Here's what this will mean:

DO YOU NEED AN INTERNET SERVICE PROVIDER?

* If you need dial-up Internet access, there are two options you may wish

to consider.

Netscape Internet Service (as low as $9.95 per month)

+ Includes 1 month FREE trial!

+ Unlimited dial-up access

http://www.getnetscape.com

AOL ($11.99 per month)

+ Includes 1 month FREE trial!

+ Unlimited dialup access

+ 24/7 tech support

+ McAfee security software

+ Unlimited email storage

http://free.aol.com/tryaolfree/index3.adp?promo=804302&service=aol

ACCESS AND BILLING INFORMATION:

* The last day you will be able to access your CompuServe Classic account will be June 30, 2009. Your dial-up access will no longer be available after this date.

* We urge you to immediately forward, back up, move or otherwise copy to a location outside the CompuServe Classic system any stored data you wish to keep. This data will be inaccessible after the CompuServe Classic service is closed on June 30.

* The CompuServe Classic Ourworld "homepage" service

(http://ourworld.compuserve.com) will also close on June 30. After that date, you will be unable to access or retrieve any images, files, or other material stored in the Ourworld service. Any content you wish to retain must be saved to a new location before June 30.

* Your final monthly charge for the CompuServe Classic service will occur on your June billing date.

EMAIL AVAILABILITY:

* We are creating a new email system where you will be able to continue

using your existing CompuServe Classic email address. This new email

service will be available to you at no charge - but you will need to

provide your own Internet access.

* Some of the benefits of the new email system include:

+ Unlimited storage lets you keep as many messages as you want

+ Ability to receive large messages (up to 16MB per message)

+ Industry leading spam and virus protection to help eliminate

threats and hassles

+ Mail filters that allow you to store and organize mail

+ Open accessibility and compatibility with IMAP & POP3

+ Seamless integration w/ AIM for instant messaging

* The transition to the new mail system will occur in mid-May. More

information will be sent to you shortly concerning the migration

of your mailbox to the new CompuServe Classic mail system.

ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS?

Member Services phone support will remain available for the

CompuServe 2000 service, and can answer any billing questions

about CompuServe Classic.

Should you have questions about the termination of this service,

please contact CompuServe Member Services at:

Tech Support

1-800-848-8990

8 a.m. - 1 a.m. EST, Mon - Fri

10 a.m. - 10 p.m. EST Sat and Sun

Billing Support

1-800-848-8990

10 a.m. - 10 p.m. EST, Mon - Sat

Closed Sundays and all major U.S. Holidays

We thank you for being a CompuServe Classic member over the past years.

Sincerely,

CompuServe Member Services

Tempting Tech for Tough Times

2009-02-02T17:48:00.009-05:00

Wallets are thinning and so are the head counts at major corporations, but there are still some nifty products out there that make us want to spend the little we have or at least dream about it. Take the LG-GD910 Watch Phone (above) from LG Electronics. It's a gadget Dick Tracy could be proud of.

You can read about the Watch Phone and other cool gadgets from the 2009 International Consumer Electronics Show and elsewhere in my latest piece in the New York Daily News.

Images courtesy of LG Electronics

Palm Pre: Preview to a Palm comeback?

2009-01-09T18:28:00.015-05:00

The 2009 International Consumer Electronics Show is in full swing in Las Vegas right now (I'm not there this year) and so is the inescapable blizzard of press releases, Twitter tweets and other flashes from the show floor.

While there are plenty of nifty new devices that make good use of today's technologies, there are not many product announcements that have made a major ripple so far.

One notable exception, however, is Palm Inc.'s new Palm Pre smartphone. Like Apple's iPhone, the Pre has a touchscreen, but unlike the iPhone, it also has a slide-down QWERTY keyboard.

Palm has authored a new operating system for the new phone: Palm webOS. Like the Android software developed by Google for T-Mobile's G1 smartphone, webOS is an open platform, which bodes well for seeing nifty applications for the Pre from independent software developers.

The Pre has a 3.1-inch touchscreen, a 3-megapixel digital camera, GPS, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, a Web browser, e-mail and instant-messaging software, eight gigabytes of data space and some preinstalled applications. It will be available from Sprint later this year and support the carrier's 3G high-speed data network. No pricing has been announced yet, however.

Like any Palm device, a lot of time has been put into developing the unit's calendar and contact list applications. The phone merges data from different sources to make it easier to manage. For example, if you have the same person listed in the contact list on your computer and on your Gmail contact list, the phone will detect that it's the same person and provide just one listing for that person on the phone. The Pre can run multiple applications at once and allows you to flip quickly between them.

It's been a while since Palm has created this much buzz for a new product. The announcement of the Pre sparked a boost in Palm's stock price. It remains to be seen if this unit will have the necessary level of user-friendliness and reliability to make a dent in a market dominated by Research in Motion's Blackberry devices.

Is the Pre for you? Why or why not?

Images courtesy of Palm Inc.

AFL Cancels 2009 Season: Wanna Buy a Ticket?

2008-12-16T11:15:00.007-05:00

The Arena Football League announced Monday (Dec. 15) that it would cancel its 2009 season and reorganize the league. As of Tuesday morning, however, it seems that word hasn't even reached the right side of the league's own Web site.

Google Chrome: Color it gold

2008-12-12T23:30:00.005-05:00

When Google first announced it was introducing a new Web browser called Chrome, I thought the same thing you might have: Why bother?

After using it for three months, however, I can say this: It's now my default Web browser.

Why? Because it basically delivered on its promises. For example, a crash in one tabbed window doesn't bring down the whole browser -- just the misbehaving tab -- just as Google promised.

On Thursday Google took Chrome out of "beta" status and declared it golden -- a finished product.

To be sure, the early public beta product had its share of holes where bugs and gremlins could find safe refuge. For example, the earlier versions had problems with parts of Facebook.

I like the smooth way in which tabs can be grabbed and reordered in Chrome and I like the way you can drag a tab away and create a new window and then grab that new window and bring it back into your tab lineup. It seems fast enough, and, yes, stable enough for everyday use.

Of course it's not perfect. Other browsers do certain things better. For example, Firefox has a handy, one-step "Undo Close Tab" command which quickly brings back Web pages you may have closed by mistake. Yes, you can recover closed tabs in Chrome via the the "Recently Closed Tabs" listing that pops up when you open a new tab, but it takes a few extra clicks.

And of course there are those Web pages that absolutely, positively demand Microsoft Internet Explorer, so you'll always need to keep that handy on your computer.

One thing you may have a problem with is making Chrome your default browser through Chrome's options settings. When you open up the options in Chrome, you may find that the "Default Browser" setting is grayed out and can't be changed.

In that case, assuming that you're running Windows Vista, try this: Close Chrome. Instead of double-clicking on the Chrome icon on your desktop or elsewhere, click the right mouse button. In the dialog window that pops up, select "Run as Administrator."

Once Chrome reopens, go back to the options page and the "Default Browser" setting should be unlocked and clickable.

No Chrome isn't perfect, but it's mighty good for a one-day-old browser.

What do you think?

PC Magazine to end print edition

2008-11-19T09:41:00.005-05:00

According to an exclusive story posted on PaidContent.Org, Ziff-Davis Media is closing the print version of PC Magazine. The last print run of the magazine, which dates back to 1982, will be the January 2009 edition, according to the story. The magazine, and its staff, will continue online, however, according to PaidContent.Org.

I was the senior writer at PC Magazine from 1993 to 1998 and remember the days when the magazine actually turned away advertising because the printer couldn't physically fit any more pages into the magazine. The dull thud of a 500-plus-page edition of PC Magazine hitting the bottom of a mailbox has been a distant memory as more recent editions have struggled to stay above 100 pages.

While PC Magazine will apparently continue on the Web, it's indeed the end of an era.

T-Mobile G1: A promising disappointment

2008-10-16T00:10:00.008-05:00

Apple's iPhone has nothing to worry about from T-Mobile's new G1. At least not at the moment.

After a week with the T-Mobile G1, the first with Google's new Android operating system, I find myself both elated and disappointed. The G1 offers some nifty features and some of the first Android applications are impressive, but the unit has enough glitches and bugs to make me think twice about using it as my primary phone -- for the moment.

A major irritation was the POP3 e-mail client, the one which allows you to add e-mail services other than Google's own Gmail, which is handled separately -- and smoothly. The e-mail software couldn't open common attachments like Microsoft Word files (the Gmail client can) and it also pulled an irritating disappearing act.

Three times I carefully entered the details of my Prodigy/Yahoo, AOL and AT&T e-mail accounts and three times the phone ate them all, leaving me with nothing but a friendly invitation to start the e-mail setup wizard again.

Fortunately the phone defaults to a setting in which mail is never actually deleted from the server, thus allowing you to download it again later. Word to the wise: Don't change this setting. At the moment I've entered only two e-mail accounts and the G1's memory seem to be holding for the moment.

Speaking of disappearing acts: While the keyboard on the brown version (white and black are also available) of the G1 is very easy to read in bright light or in low light (thanks to backlighting), in moderate light the letters actually disappear into the silver keys as the backlighting kicks in, forcing you to tilt the phone until you can read the characters.

The contacts list is very clear and readable, but sorts entries on a person's first name. If you have a contact entry with a company name and a phone number, but no person, the entry shows up as a phone number. If your entry just has a company and an e-mail address, it shows up as "unknown."

To be fair, the phone handles the basics well. Sound quality is good, the touch screen is responsive, the Web browser is nice, and most menus are clear and easy to activate. With Wi-Fi, GPS and Bluetooth wireless adapters built in, the phone could be a very productive tool for a busy traveler.

For example, the GPS, when combined with the preinstalled Google Maps Web link, makes for a handy companion for walkers. On a recent trip to a New York suburb that I was not familiar with, I was able to map my location and find a local public library -- where I wrote this blog post.

The G1's link to Amazon's digital music site was smooth and the link to YouTube worked well, except that the videos appear blocky and murky at times. The connection to T-Mobile's new 3G high-speed data network worked well when it was available, but the phone frequently reported back with "connection error" when trying to download e-mail.

The good news is that many of the phone's glitches could be resolved with software upgrades; which I hope are forthcoming. History will note that the iPhone endured a number of software updates before all of its functions stabilized.

With both a touch screen and a keyboard, the T-Mobile G1 is an impressive phone with the potential to be a true iPhone competitor. The potential is in the Android software, so keep an eye on new Android-compatible applications and tools and on how swiftly the phone's software issues are addressed with updates.

The G1 will arrive at T-Mobile stores Oct. 22. The phone will be $179 with a two-year T-Mobile contract, and of course the phone is locked to the T-Mobile service for now.

So what do you think? Let me know.

Photo courtesy of T-Mobile

Accoona: Business search engine goes out of business

2008-10-08T18:14:00.008-05:00

It started with quite a bit of fanfare in 2006, but the business-centric Accoona search engine turned off its lights this week, blaming too much competition in the search engine market.

When it launched in March 2006 with a big media event at the United Nations in New York, former President Bill Clinton made a video sales pitch and chess champion Garry Kasparov made an appearance. Also present was the new chairman of Accoona Corp., none other than Eckhard Pfeiffer, former CEO of Compaq Computer.

Accoona's home page (see above) was clean and uncluttered and the search engine offered some nifty features, like the ability to quickly filter a long list of data by a person's name or the name of a company. Unfortunately, Accoona apparently couldn't market itself loud enough to be heard above the roar of Google, Yahoo and the other major search engines.

Accoona's going-away message was short and to the point:

"Dear Accoona search users,

Due to an overwhelmingly competitive search market, Accoona.com and Accoona.cn will no longer be active.

We thank you for your previous support.

Sincerely,

Accoona Management"

T-Mobile G1: Android Alert!

2008-09-24T00:33:00.021-05:00

So what's the big deal about the new T-Mobile G1 cell phone with the touch screen and flip-open keyboard? Yes it supports 3G and GPS and has a nifty flip-open, five-row keyboard, a usable trackball and a responsive touch screen, but we've seen all of this before, right?

Right. But that's OK. It wasn't the phone that was the star of Tuesday morning's well-attended T-Mobile/Google press conference in New York, it was Google's new Android phone operating system, a software platform destined to make major ripples in the smartphone market.

The difference between Android and other platforms like Microsoft's Windows Mobile, is that Android's code and software development kits (SDKs) are available free to software developers, thus allowing them to create innovative applications at a lower cost.

As the first phone to use Android, the T-Mobile G1 is temporarily in a class by itself, the only phone able to use the dozens of applications already written for Android.

Tuesday's press event was held under the Queensborough Bridge at Gustavino's, a high-ceilinged restaurant located about as far east as one can go in Manhattan without getting wet, but that didn't stop dozens of journalists from piling in for a first look at the new phone and operating system.

The phone features a 3.2-inch display, a 3.2-megapixel camera, a microSD card slot (a one-gigabyte card is included) and Bluetooth 2.0 wireless networking support.

One nifty Android application is ShopSavvy, a utility that allows you to scan product barcodes with the G1's camera, send the data over the Internet, and get a list of stores that sell that product. Thus you could walk into Store A, check the price of a product on the shelf, scan the bar code and have the phone report back with prices for the same product at other stores.

Of course Google applications and services such as Gmail, Google Calendar, YouTube and Google Maps are fully supported by the T-Mobile G1.

The phone, while offering a partially iPhone-like experience, does not aim to be a direct competitor in all aspects. It has no headphone jack and can't handle protected iTunes files, although it can play MP3s and other music formats.

As the last big cell phone carrier in the U.S. to build out a third-generation (3G) data network, T-Mobile now has a trendy phone that makes good use of it. It supports T-Mobile's HSDPA and EDGE data networks and has Wi-Fi support as well. It can even switch between Wi-Fi and the data networks depending on where the better throughput is.

The T-Mobile G1 costs $179 with a two-year service agreement. An unlimited data plan with 400 free messages is $25 per month. For $35 per month, both Web access and messaging are unlimited. The G1 will be available Oct. 22, but can be preordered now.

For more information, see the T-Mobile G1 Web site.

Other graphics courtesy of T-Mobile and Google.

Tyke Tech for Trendy Parents

2008-09-08T17:03:00.006-05:00

Becoming a new parent doesn't mean you have to leave your love for gadgets behind. My piece in today's New York Daily News reviews four products for parents who often balance baby with BlackBerry. As always, let me know what you think.

Google Chrome: So far, so ... whoops!

2008-09-03T00:04:00.012-05:00

The birth of a new Web browser sponsored by an Internet power as muscular as Google Inc. is no minor footnote in the history of the Web. The debut of Google Chrome on Sept. 2 sent almost audible shock waves through cyberspace.

Remember, it was only in March that America Online ended support for Netscape, the legendary browser early Web surfers cut their teeth on. As it leaves the maternity ward, Google Chrome enters a space already crowded by Microsoft Corp.'s Internet Explorer, the Mozilla Foundation's Firefox, Opera Software's Opera browser and Apple Inc.'s Safari.

Will it make room for itself? Things look promising.

The good news, at first blush, is that Google Chrome is, as advertised, a snappy, fast and clean-looking browser.

The bad news is that it's still a beta (unfinished) product. There are some irritations you'll run into with the new browser, but chances are good that the problems will be cleared up soon given the size of the Google Chrome development team.

For example, while using the "new" Facebook, I was unable to trigger some links like "Go Online" and "Back to the old Facebook." I couldn't even leave a comment to a fellow user who was also testing Google Chrome.

To be fair, bugs are to be expected on opening day for a software project this complicated. But on the up side, the software installed quickly and seems very stable.

Early verdict: Worth trying.

The Windows version is ready now. Mac and Linux versions are on deck, according to Google.

What do you think so far?

It's official: DigitalLife postponed

2008-08-20T13:10:00.013-05:00

As reported here first on Tuesday, the 2008 DigitalLife consumer electronics, technology and gaming expo scheduled for Sept. 25 to 28 in New York is off the calendar.

An official notice is now on the Web site and the ticket sales engine, which had been accepting orders as late as this morning, has been taken off line. The show was to be held at the Jacob Javits Convention Center.

"After careful deliberations, we have decided to postpone the DigitalLife show scheduled for September 25-28," wrote Paul O'Reilly, vice president of the DigitalLife event, in a statement.

"The poor economic conditions have created a very different and difficult dynamic for us this year and we weren't confident that we could present a show experience that was consistent with the successes of prior years. Hopefully a bigger and stronger DigitalLife will return in 2009. We will make additional announcements about the future of the show when details are available."

DigitalLife Postponed?

2008-08-19T15:13:00.009-05:00

The DigitalLife consumer technology event scheduled for the Jacob Javits Convention Center in New York has been postponed, according to sources, including exhibitors.

The event was to run Sept. 25-28, but has now been taken off the calendar, according to sources.

According to its Web site, the DigitalLife show was expected to draw 60,000 "tech enthusiasts" and 1,500 members of the press.

However, such figures might have been overly optimistic given the types of small vendors who were present at a DigitalLife press preview held earlier this summer at the Roosevelt Hotel. Many of the big names in consumer electronics and personal computing were not present at the press preview.

As of Tuesday evening, the DigitalLife Web site was still selling tickets and inviting exhibitors to participate.

Copyright 2008 Stadium Circle Features
All rights reserved

VAIO Up! Sony unveils all-star notebook lineup

2008-07-14T23:33:00.026-05:00

With much of New York City's attention focused on Yankee Stadium and the Major League Baseball All-Star Game festivities, Sony took time out Monday to move a few players in its notebook lineup off of its virtual on-deck circle and into the marketplace.

At a special press event near Times Square, Sony showed off a mix of business, multimedia and lightweight notebooks aimed at capturing the attention of different types of users.

The heavy hitter of the group is the Sony VAIO FW (above), which aims to be both big and svelte at the same time. While its 16.4-inch widescreen display is bigger than that of most notebooks, the missing six-tenths of an inch allows it to fit into a package significantly smaller than that of notebooks with 17-inch screens. At 6.4 to 6.7 pounds, it's much lighter than Sony's own VAIO AR series 17-inch-screen notebooks, which can weigh as much as 8.4 pounds.

The premium version of the VAIO FW ($1,750) comes with a Blu-ray disk drive that can output 1080p high-definition video to an external HDTV. A standard version ($1,000) comes with a rewritable DVD drive.

Sony's new utility infielder is the VAIO BZ business notebook (right), which is built for hard and frequent use. The unit (starting at $1,000) weighs less than six pounds and is housed in a magnesium alloy shell. The hard disk is protected by Sony's G-Sensor shock-detection technology, which counteracts sudden movements.

In addition to 15.4-inch screens and spill-resistant keyboards, the VAIO BZ series notebooks have fingerprint sensors, memory card ports and built-in Wi-Fi wireless networking.

On the thin, light and colorful side, the VAIO SR series of ultraportables (left, starting at $1,400) weigh just over four pounds, have 13.3 inch screens and are packaged with entertainment and media-sharing software. The units, which can be ordered with a built-in webcam, come in five colors: black, sunset pink, glossy pink, classic silver and glossy silver.

The VAIO Z series of lightweight, performance business notebooks come in carbon-fiber shells and feature 13.3 inch displays. The units come in at just over 3 pounds, have HDMI ports, can be ordered with Blu-ray disk drives and come with data-migration software so you can import data from your old computer via an online service. Like the VAIO FW and VAIO SR, the VAIO Z offers flat, slightly raised keys (see below), which, according to Sony, provides a more user-friendly typing experience.

The VAIO Z can also be ordered with a solid state drive, a feature which greatly speeds up data retrieval shortens boot-up time. A version with a standard hard disk starts at $1,800 while a unit with a solid state drive will cost about $2,300.

All of the units above are now available only or in Sony Style stores, according to Mike Abary (above), senior vice president for IT product marketing at Sony Electronics Inc.

Top and bottom photos Copyright 2008 Stadium Circle Features.
Other photos courtesy of Sony Electronics Inc.
Text Copyright 2008 Stadium Circle Features.