Digital Trends

Microsoft Flips the Switch on Silverlight 3

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 11:15:00 PST

Microsoft has formally released Silverlight 3, the latest version of its interactive technology which is often described as the company's direct competitor to Adobe Flash, but might be better viewed as a development platform that also competes with the likes of Adobe Air, JavaFX, and even efforts like Google Gears. Silverlight 3 beefs up the technology's support for streaming high-definition video by offering direct support for available GPUs, supporting H.264/Advanced Audio Coding (AAC) Audio, and a new stutter-free "Smooth Streaming" feature when used in conjunction with Microsoft's IIS 7 server. Microsoft also launched Expression 3, a new vers

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Sprint Outsources Billions in Network Operations to Ericsson

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 10:30:00 PST

In a a move to cut costs and improve its corporate balance sheet, telecommunications provider Sprint has announced a seven-year agreement to turn over operation of its networks to Ericsson. Dubbed Network Advantage, Sprint will pay Ericsson $4.5 to $5 billion over the term of the contract, and roughly 6,000 Sprint personnel will transfer to Ericsson as part of the deal. "No other U.S.-based carrier has followed through on the business-enhancing vision inherent in Network Advantage," said Sprint's president of network operations and wholesale Steve Elfman, in a statement. "O

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Chrome OS Means Google CEO Reviewing Role on Apple Board

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 10:20:00 PST

Speaking at the Allen & Company media and technology conference in Sun Valley, Idaho, this week, Google CEO Eric Schmidt indicated that Google's newly-announced Chrome OS means that he will have to speak with Apple about how his role on the Apple Board of Directors might change. Google's Chrome OS will presumably be in direct competition with Apple's own Mac OS X operating system products. The position not only creates a potential conflict of interest, but federal law prohibits individuals from being on the boards of multiple companies if it decreases competition between them. Prior to Google announcement of Google Chrome OS, the

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Vizio Clears Customs

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 10:00:00 PST

Low-cost television maker Vizio has scored a victory in its long-running patent dispute with Funai: U.S. Customs has certified that current Vizio television models do not infringe on Funai's controversial patent 6,115,074, which clears the way for Vizio to import the televisions into the United States and offer them for sale to consumers. The finding could be the last gasp in the companies' long-running patent battle: Funai had won a ruling from the U.S. International Trade Commission, which issued an order blocking Vizio from importing TVs that infringed on the patent into the United States

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Dell Brings Inspiron 15 Notebook to its Design Studio

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 09:30:00 PST

More than a year ago, computer maker Dell began offering a series and stylized covers for notebook computers—starting off with its Studio series—to let users express their personalities and creativity, rather than going with a bland same-old same-old notebook lid. The program must be popular, because Dell keeps expanding artwork options for the program, and now it has brought the Design Studio offerings to its Inspiron 15

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Legal Action Against Tagged.com

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 07:00:00 PST

Andrew Cuomo, New York Attorney General, has stated he’s going to prosecute social networking site Tagged.com, alleging it tricked members into providing the site with their e-mail address books, which were then used to send out spam to the individuals stating people has posted pictures of them online. Cuomo said: “This company stole the address books and identities of millions of people. Consumers had their privacy invaded and were forced into the embarrassing position of having to apologize to all their email contacts for Tagged’s unethical – and illegal – behavior.” “This very virulent form of spam is the online e

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Digital Trends Week In Review 07/10/09

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 06:00:00 PST

AmazonWireless To Serve Mobile Needs

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 06:00:00 PST

Amazon is set to open up one-stop shopping for cell phones and service plans when it opens up AmazonWireless. The site is currently in beta, and already offering plans from AT&T and Verizon Wireless, with over 120 phones, including the BlackBerry. The site is bound to garner a lot of interest by offering free two-day shipping and even waiving activation fees on some handsets. Customers will be guided through all phases of purchase. In a statement, Paul Ryder, VP of consumer electronics for Amazon,

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Three Critical' Fixes For Patch Tuesday

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 05:00:00 PST

Microsoft’s Patch Tuesday is rolling around again next week, and the company has announced they have three fixes, all deemed critical. The most important, without doubt, is one that fixes the hole in Internet Explorer that was announced earlier this week. The problem is in a browser component that deals with video, and thousands upon thousands of websites have been hijacked to give redirects to unwitting surfers what Microsoft has termed “browse-and-get-owned.” Those unprotected could find themselves part of a botnet or personal details plundered. In a posting, Microsoft's Jerry Bryant wrote: "Our engineering teams have been working

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Hardware Manufacturers Teaming Up With Chrome OS

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 04:00:00 PST

Google has made public the names of computer manufacturers that have agreed to make machines that will run its forthcoming Chrome operating system. Chrome OS – at least at first – will be designed to work with the smaller netbooks, and Acer, Asus, Freescale, Hewlett-Packard, Lenovo, and Toshiba have already signed up. Chrome should debut in the second half of 2010, with the code open sourced later this year. The software will, of course, be free.

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OCZ Sabre OLED Gaming Keyboard

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 00:00:00 PST

The dream of a keyboard with customizable OLED keys that change to anything you want lives on. Though our experience with the very first OLED keyboard soured us a bit to the idea (and if you actually bought an Optimus Maximus, put you out $1,877), other companies are starting to take Art Lebedev’s lofty aspiration and distill it down into something practical. OCZ Technology’s Sabre keyboard follows the same concept, but makes a number of compro

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Getac 9213 Rugged Business Notebook

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 00:00:00 PST

Rubber gaskets, shock-mounted hard drives and rugged exterior coatings may go a long way in making a notebook tough, but they certainly don’t flatter them on the scale. Most rugged notebooks weigh far more than their consumer-grade counterparts, leading to an interesting paradox: You can take them anywhere, but probably won’t want to. Getac’s new 9213 rugged business notebook defies that expectation with a weight of just 3.9 pounds – not at all excessive for a machine in its 13.3-inch size class. Getac pulled it off wi

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Philips Streamium NP2500

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 17:33:18 PST

Rolling a dial through a handful of FM stations seems like an ancient exercise, compared to the nearly limitless variety of free music available through Internet radio and other Internet music stops. Perhaps that’s why Internet radios have become an essential add-on for stereo buffs with even the most impressive CD collections. Nothing can quite match the variety. Squeezebox and Sonos may the most common names to crop up on this streaming audio frontier, but Philips’ own low-flying Streamium line delivers many of the same features on a much lower price scale. While the top-of-the-line NP2900 acts a standalone box with built-in speakers, the cheaper NP2500 works in conjunction with an existing stereo, piping in music from a PC, Internet radio, and Rhapsody. Priced at $229, it’s significantly less expensive than competing systems from the big guys, but as we found out, Philips makes a number of serious sacrifices to get there, too.

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T-Mobile myTouch 3G

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 15:27:38 PST

Warning: This review is not as in-depth as we would like, so we will be updating it when we can. We got a chance to fiddle with the second-ever U.S. Android phone, the T-Mobile myTouch 3G made by HTC, for around 45 minutes at an introductory event yesterday. The myTouch became available for pre-order to current T-Mobile subscribers Wednesday, and will be available to all August 5 for at $199.99 (with a two-year service contract). Our initial quick-take verdict? This sleek, lightweight touchscreen smartphone offers several improvements to its predecessor, the G1. But one major similarity to the G1 and a third Android phone due later this year may keep many potential T-Mobile customers from touching myTouch.

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LaCie Adds High Definition Its LaCinema Rugged HD

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 11:00:00 PST

Storage and peripheral maker LaCie continues to push into the digital media space and finding new ways to differentiate its hard drive and storage offerings from the competition. One example of that is the LaCie LaCinema series, which aim to function as media vaults rather than merely conventional storage: users plop their digital video onto the drive, then connect the drives directly to a television or other video output device for playback—no computer or convoluted media management required. LaCie's new LaCinema Rugged HD adds to the appeal by offering high-definition output: now users can hook up the tiny portable hard dri

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Getac 9213 Rugged Notebook Combines Small and Tough

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 10:45:00 PST

Ruggedized notebook computers can be a great thing for engineers, first responders, law enforcement, contractors, inspectors, or just about anybody who needs to take a computer into the boonies—whether urban or rural. They take the bumps and thumps and detritus of a hard knock life and keep on ticking a whole lot better than those fragile and fashionable notebooks all the cool kids are carrying around. But while ruggedized notebooks are built like tanks…they also weigh like tanks, making them a bit of a bear to haul around. Getac—an MiTAC subsidiary that spun out of Ge Aeorspace—aims to solve that problem with the Geta

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TiVo and Best Buy Announce Broad (and Vague) DVR Partnership

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 10:00:00 PST

DVR pioneer TiVo and consumer electronics retailer Best Buy have announced a broad partnership agreement that will see Best Buy promoting TiVo products heavily in its stores, while TiVo will look into rolling a special version of the TiVo platform just for Best Buy, along with working with Best Buy brands (like Insignia and Dynex) to integrate TiVo technology. The deal will also see Best Buy using TiVo technology to market Best Buy services and product offerings directly to customers, along with consumer education tips and insights. Financial terms of the partnership were not disclos

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Netflix Skips the PlayStation 3 and Lands on Sony Bravia TVs

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 09:10:00 PST

Electronics giant Sony has made a deal with Netflix to enable Netflix subscribers to stream Netflix video to Sony Bravia Internet-enabled televisions beginning "in the fall." The deal marks the latest in a spate of agreements that open up Netflix's streaming video capabilities to a number of services and devices, including Blu-ray players and dedicated set-top boxes from the likes of TiVo, Roku, and

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Amazon Drops Kindle 2 Price to $299

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 08:50:00 PST

Amazon.com has cut the price on its Kindle 2 ebook reader from $359 to $299, representing a $60 price cut. Launched back in February, the Kindle 2 is Amazon's second-generation ebook reader, featuring a 6-inch 800 by 600-pixel eInk display capable of displaying 16 shades of grey and wireless connectivity to Amazon's Kindle Store via Sprint's 3G network, so users can buy and download new content while they're on the go. Amazon has not changed the pricing on its larger Kindle DX, which was introduced

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Cyber-Terrorism: Are We Next?

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 00:00:00 PST

Cyber-Terrorism: Are We Next? - How safe is America's Internet infrastructure from cyber-terrorism? We question Robert Ayoub, Global Program Director of Network Security for the Frost & Sullivan research firm, about the state of the United States' Internet infrastructure in the government and financial sectors. Rob explains the three main reasons for cyber-attacks: lowing the performance of an infrastructure, obtaining classified information, and financial gain. He also goes on to describe how the terrorist's most common cyber attack, denial-of-service (DoS) works, and what effects such an attack can have.

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Samsung HMX-H106

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 13:58:10 PST

Flash memory marches on! Samsung recently introduced a trio of high-def camcorders using advanced solid state drives (SSDs) rather than hard drives—or ancient media like tapes and shiny three-inch disks. SSDs read and write faster than HDDs, are lighter, use less power and have no moving parts making them just right for capturing video on the fly. Samsung sent us one with a 64GB drive—the HMX-H106—but the -H105 and -H104 are available with 32GB and 16GB storage, respectively at lower prices. The new AVCHD camcorders are fairly tricked out and it would be good to see if Samsung should be considered a key player in the HD Camcorder Game.

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TomTom One 140 S GPS

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 09:47:21 PST

When it comes to budget GPS systems, TomTom has the formula nailed. The company’s One line of navigators have consistently earned high marks for value in years past, delivering navigation on par with the big guys, but without the extras that typically inflate price tags. Despite the bare-minimum reputation, TomTom hasn’t let the One line stagnate either. The latest model, the One 140 S, pads some meat onto the barebones model with the inclusion of many trickle-down features from pricier navigators, and a $200 price tag. Are the extra features worth the upgrade for budget users when the baseline One 125 model can be had for $120 – more than fifty dollars less? We stuck it up in the windshield to find out.

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10 Essential Summer Vacation Gadgets

Tue, 07 Jul 2009 00:00:00 PST

The average business traveler already has a solid roundup of tools and technology for the road, but there’s a whole different bag of gear for leaving the office behind, donning a pair of flips flops or a luau skirt, and traveling for pleasure. Smart travelers pack light, finding multi-purpose gadgets that help minimize how much stuff they try to cram into their carry-ons. The ideal schwag bag is filled with electronics that are high-tech, low-weight, and have true staying power (battery power, that is). Who says getting away from it all means you can’t stay connected? Certainly not us. In fact, the 10 products that we deem most essential for summer holiday travel are designed to let you enjoy y

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Best Office Furniture & Accessories

Tue, 07 Jul 2009 00:00:00 PST

Your new home office has fresh drywall from floor to ceiling, a fragrant new patch of short-nap carpet, and a window that looks out on the backyard garden. Now you just a need a spot to put that computer. And the printer. And all those papers. And the phone. Maybe it’s time for some furniture. But before you make a trip to the local office store and come back with a minivan full of flat-packed particleboard, it’s worth doing a little research and planning. We’ve broken down the key elements to any office, explained some of the key factors you should weight when picking them out, and given a few of our favorites.

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Learning to Love the Kindle DX

Tue, 07 Jul 2009 00:00:00 PST

I’ve been using the Kindle DX for several weeks now, and it was anything but love at first sight. This is my third Kindle: I was one of the first with the initial Kindle, got the Kindle 2 when it first shipped, and figured, what the heck, I’d pick up the Kindle 2’s big brother, the Kindle DX. I wanted to try it with newspapers, since it had a bigger screen, and was initially anything but impressed. The Kindle 2 is smaller, lighter, and since the newspapers don’t render like newspapers, I thoug

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AIAIAI Y-com Headphones

Mon, 06 Jul 2009 16:53:20 PST

While the rest of the headphone world is following Apple with soft white designs or going stealth with seven shades of black, the quirky Danes at Aiaiai have thumbed through a pile of Dr. Suess books for inspiration and designed something different. Aiaiai worked hand-in-hand with fellow Copenhagen-based design firm Kilo Design to produce the Y-com headset, and strays from the conventional in favor of the whimsical, and includes a microphone for use with cell phones too. But does the same cool factor translate to great sound? We decided to find out.

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Testing Clear's WiMax Internet Service

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 00:00:00 PST

We’ve huddled under awnings on the sidewalk in the rain to tap weak Wi-Fi signals, slipped into hotels as “guests,” and paid big bucks from cell carriers for a wireless modem, all to get our mobile Internet fix. And every option seems to suck in its own way. Whether you’re being hounded by an impatient barista and force fed soft jazz, or waiting 20 seconds for every page to load from a 3G modem, neither comes close to matching the silky-smooth connection and freedom you have at home. Why can’t you just get broadband speeds everywhere? If you believe the marketing of Clear Wireless, you can. So when the WiMax pioneer rolled into Digital Trends’ home town of Portland, Oregon, plastering u

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Lusting After the Fisker Karma

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 00:00:00 PST

I’m in the market for a new car, and I’m struggling with what to buy. Currently, I have a 2003 Infiniti FX45, which I love, but it is starting to feel its age. I tried the new FX50, but it seems that, to get ahead of the technology curve, I should get a hybrid or electric car, and Infiniti doesn’t make one of those. In addition, the FX50 looks like they grafted a new nose and tail to my car, and the whole thing doesn’t look very attractive to me. It reminds me of bad plastic surgery. Given the

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Robots that Live Among Us

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 00:00:00 PST

As we all learned from Terminator, artificially intelligent machines will one day conduct a systematic extermination of all human life forms and turn the Earth into one gigantic robot playground. But until that day comes, robots are our friends. From heavy industry to the toy industry, devices that perform at least some automatic functions have been with us for quite some time. But in this roundup, we’ll look at robots that go far beyond the basics. Some benefit humanity as a whole. Some are already at work in the corporate world, handling complex or tedious tasks and situations that even a decade ago seemed impossible. Some point the way to a better future, others impress with their ability to mimic life fo

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Digital Trends

Microsoft Flips the Switch on Silverlight 3

Sprint Outsources Billions in Network Operations to Ericsson

Chrome OS Means Google CEO Reviewing Role on Apple Board

Vizio Clears Customs

Dell Brings Inspiron 15 Notebook to its Design Studio

Legal Action Against Tagged.com

Digital Trends Week In Review 07/10/09

AmazonWireless To Serve Mobile Needs

Three Critical' Fixes For Patch Tuesday

Hardware Manufacturers Teaming Up With Chrome OS

OCZ Sabre OLED Gaming Keyboard

Getac 9213 Rugged Business Notebook

Philips Streamium NP2500

T-Mobile myTouch 3G

LaCie Adds High Definition Its LaCinema Rugged HD

Getac 9213 Rugged Notebook Combines Small and Tough

TiVo and Best Buy Announce Broad (and Vague) DVR Partnership

Netflix Skips the PlayStation 3 and Lands on Sony Bravia TVs

Amazon Drops Kindle 2 Price to $299

Cyber-Terrorism: Are We Next?

Samsung HMX-H106

TomTom One 140 S GPS

10 Essential Summer Vacation Gadgets

Best Office Furniture & Accessories

Learning to Love the Kindle DX

AIAIAI Y-com Headphones

Testing Clear's WiMax Internet Service

Lusting After the Fisker Karma

Robots that Live Among Us

Three Critical' Fixes For Patch Tuesday