Hasta La Gadget!

HP’s Mini 1000 certainly hasn’t had much difficultly attracting its share of fans, but it looks like those wanting to hook the netbook up to an external monitor have been having their patience tested considerably as of late. According to reports on the HP Support Forums, the promised VGA adapter for the netbook has been nigh impossible to come by and, for the time being at least, HP doesn’t seem to be getting any more specific than “early 2009” about widespread availability. The headaches might not end then, however, as some folks have been reporting problems with the VGA out for the very similar Mini 2140 netbook, and with a USB-to-VGA adapter used with the Mini 1000. In both cases, the Mini 1000 is apparently unable to automatically detect the external monitor’s native resolution, so it simply pumps out a standard 1024 x 768 resolution no matter what size monitor is hooked up. Looking for more tales of woe? Then dive into thread linked below for the full rundown of laments.

[Thanks, Shane]

Filed under: Laptops

HP Mini 1000 VGA cables: hard to get, hard to use? originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 12 Mar 2009 14:26:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The March 13 release of Capcom’s Resident Evil 5 for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 (actually something like the 12th game in the series) makes it easily the highest-profile new video game of 2009 so far, and marks the end of the typically dry post-holiday game season.

We’ve been playing through a preview version of the game for more than a month now, and found it to be a largely successful mix of familiar and new elements. Like all the Resident Evil entries, this is essentially an action game where a somewhat generic protagonist has to travel through creepy houses, compounds, cities, or secret bases, shooting zombies, madmen, and other monsters along the way.

Two key elements separate games of this genre (the awkward Japanese translation is “survival horror”) from straight-up shooters. First, there are occasional brain-twisters to solve, such as deciphering a puzzle to open a door; secondly, ammunition for one’s firearms is relatively scarce, so making every shot count is important. However, RE5, like its immediate predecessor, Resident Evil 4, tones down both of these gameplay factors, at least compared with earlier games in the series, opting for a more fast-paced (some would say mainstream) approach.

What distinguishes RE5 from its forbearers and imitators is a change of scenery, moving the action to Africa, and trading the traditional Resident Evil look–dark, shadowy nighttime tableaus–for brightly lit, outdoor villages, where sunlight offers no guarantee of safety. This change throws a wrench in the classic “fear of the dark” instinct that we automatically fall back on in movies, video games, and real life.

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Originally posted at Digital City Podcast

Verizon has unveiled TALKS for Verizon Wireless, a new service that gives blind and visually impaired customers audio feedback for messaging, dialing, and other tasks. Initially, it will be available for the MOTO Q9c smartphone beginning on March 15th.

The service essentially offers voice-to-text translation powered by Nuance, the company that owns Dragon NaturallySpeaking, but with an increased emphasis on audio clarity for cell phones. In addition to sending and receiving text and e-mail messages, TALKS also aids with caller ID, dialing contacts, adding and editing contact entries, writing documents in the mobile versions of Word and Excel, composing multimedia (MMS) messages, and browsing the Internet with Internet Explorer Mobile.

Users can also adjust speech volume and—interestingly—the rate of speech. Verizon Wireless is selling the MOTO Q9c as a package with TALKS for $249.99 with a two-year contract and after rebates. Existing MOTO Q9c customers who want to add TALKS should call Verizon Wireless Customer Service at 800-922-0204.

Sprint’s LG Rumor was a solid voice and texting phone when it hit the market in late 2007. Since then, it had been surpassed by the Samsung Rant in features.

Now LG is striking back with the Rumor2, the next generation of the popular messaging device. Like the original, the Rumor2 features a sliding QWERTY keyboard, Bluetooth, and a 1.3-megapixel camera. But this time around, in addition to revised styling, it includes a QVGA (320-by-240-pixel) display instead of the old 220-by-176 LCD panel. The Rumor2 also plays music over stereo Bluetooth, has a built in GPS radio that supports Sprint Navigation, and can hook into Microsoft Exchange Server and Lotus Notes e-mail accounts.

With the Rumor2, Sprint will offer the Everything Messaging plan. It pairs 450 voice minutes, unlimited nights (beginning at 7 pm) and weekends, and unlimited text and picture messaging for $49.99 per month plus taxes and fees. The Rumor2 will be available online for $49.99 (with two-year contract and after rebates) beginning March 15th, and will hit Sprint retail stores on April 19th.

Like a predatory loan officer or an unstable partner, technology companies have an obsession with locking you down. Here are some of the worst examples of proprietary products that leave you trapped, broke and angry.

The iPod Plug

While it in some ways seems like an example of a proprietary technology done right (it’s solid, supports lots of connection types and has become basically ubiquitous), Old 30-Pin has quite a bit to feel bad about. Consider this: It single-handedly obliterated the non-iPod accessory market. Almost every MP3 player dock, FM transmitter or interfacing device supports this port exclusively—or with some feeble aux plug (cable not included) in the rear. And why shouldn’t they? There are more 30-pin-jack iPods out there than there are all other MP3 players combined.

But it means Apple is stuck. An abrupt switch would be a disaster for third parties and customers alike (consider the outcry when the iPhone 3G wasn’t compatible with some older 30-pin accessories) and it’s not clear what they could switch to. Micro-USB probably doesn’t have enough pins for all the various functions the port should serve, and switching to a solution that would, say, force users to connect both a power plug and and audio cable to a dock would seem like a step backwards. But hey, just because it’s currently practical and ubiquitous doesn’t mean it isn’t evil. It’s because of you, iPod jack, that my Sansa has about as many docking prospects as the average Giz writer.

Sprint and Verizon’s Secret Shame: CDMA

To the end user, CDMA and GSM don’t seem very different—Sprint, a CDMA carrier, offers the same services as AT&T, a GSM carrier—except when it comes to how they handle phones.

GSM phones are identified by the SIM card that they carry, which can be moved between phones at the user’s will. Not so with America’s other wireless standard. Effectively, a CDMA phone is like a GSM phone with the SIM card welded to its socket. Your CDMA phone is permanently locked to your carrier, and your mobile connection is permanently bound to your handset—unless your carrier is kind enough to authorize a transfer to another phone.

The presumably intentional effect is that there’s no market for 3rd party hardware in CDMA, which is fine for carriers, shitty for customers. Worst of all, there’s no good reason for this. CDMA SIM cards exist. They’re called R-UIM cards, but US carriers are in no rush to implement them.

The Battle of the Redundant Audio Formats

There was a time when it wasn’t clear which stupid format would reign supreme, Microsoft’s WMA or Apple’s AAC. [Note: Yes, Apple didn’t invent AAC. However, they are the only reason any of us have heard of it.] While each technically brought improved sound quality, they were both bastards born of the same greedy combination: the desire for DRM and the unwillingness to pay MP3 encoder/decoder royalties. Your AACs wouldn’t play on your Zen; your WMAs wouldn’t work on your iPod; your ATRAC3s wouldn’t work on anything. These formats only grew popular because people accidentally used them to rip their music, and later, because they were an unavoidable part of the digital music purchasing process.

With wider format support in new players, the slow death of the all-you-can-download rental WMA stores and Apple’s new “our bad!” attitude towards audio DRM, it seems like we’re taking a healthy step back to good ole’ em-pee-threes. And while iPods will never play WMA, iTunes does convert ’em. And it’s nice to see more Microsoft products supporting AAC, which Apple still won’t shake off.

A Unique Phone Charger for Every Phone

Even—or rather, especially—when phone plugs were only for electricity, every goddamn manufacturer had their own exclusive, silly connector for dumping current into batteries. Today, little has changed, and as virtually anyone who owns a cellphone knows, this sucks. A lost charger means your phone is out of commission, and because of carrier subsidies, a new charger sometimes costs more than the phone itself did.

And that’s how we arrive at the reason for this stupid situation: Unique chargers=$$$ for cellphones makers. This would explain why the first substantive call for standardization came so recently, and why Nokia, Samsung, Motorola, Apple and pretty much everyone else still, in 2008, enforce phone-charger monogamy. And if you think phones are a pain, try finding a replacement charger for your Bluetooth headset. Good luck.

A Raw File By Any Other Name…

R-A-W. If you care about digital photography, these three letters form the most beautiful sound in the English language. Raw images, supported by almost every new DSLR and an increasing number of point-and-shoots, are made up of the ‘raw’ image data, pulled directly from your camera’s sensor, letting you change all kinds of parameters—white balance, exposure and noise reduction, to name a few—instead of letting the camera pick them automatically during the shooting. And you can make infinite changes and tweaks long after the photo has been taken.

It would seem that by now importing raw files should be as easy as transferring JPEGs. Well, it’s not. The problem is that almost every camera maker has insisted on using their own slightly different version, meaning that you either have to use your camera’s supplied raw conversion software (almost always a steaming pile) or invest in a wide-support program like Photoshop, Aperture or Lightroom—and make sure it has the right compatibility. Come on guys, Adobe gave you a perfectly fine, royalty-free raw format back in 2004. Use it.

So Many Memory Cards

For years, everyone had their own memory card format: Sony products used Memory Sticks, Olympus used xD, Fujifilm used SmartMedia and so on… they all thought they had the heir to the 35mm/CD/Zip Drive throne. It was adorable! Now, it’s not. While we were all busy stockpiling one soon-to-be-obsolete memory cards and multi-compatible (bit never totally compatible) readers, most of the electronics industry was aligning itself with a winner.

Two, actually—or maybe three. SD cards (backed by Panasonic) are cheap, compact and capacious and only getting better, with MicroSD as its tiny phone version. Meanwhile, beefier, more durable Compact Flash cards suit the serious photogs. The rest of you: You all do the exact same thing! Please die.

For Our Earphones Only: Non-Standard Headset Jacks

When a little metal trim kept the original iPhone from accepting regular old 3.5mm headphones, a lot of people almost blew a gasket, and rightfully so. It seemed hopeless: Even a phone that was more iPod than handset couldn’t resist the allure of proprietary earphones.

Phones have always been terrible for this. The same varied, awkward orifices that charged your old phone probably served as its headset connector too, leaving you stuck with the flimsy, tinny OEM earbuds or an easy-to-lose adapter to deal with. For a while though, it seemed like companies were starting to catch the drift, as standard 3.5mm headphone/mic jacks became more and commonplace in music phones. But a Nokia or two is little comfort; HTC’s newest Android phone, a multimedia powerhouse, only has a USB port. Apple’s new Shuffle—a friggin’ iPod–only works with the supplied earphones or special replacements. Grief ensues.

Sony’s Entire Oeuvre

The story of Sony is like an exaggerated summary of the history of proprietary goofs. Sony entering a new market=Sony introducing a new, frustratingly exclusive format, plug, codec or device standard. With audio, it was MiniDiscs and ATRAC; on the PSP, you got UMD; for cameras and other portable devices, the Memory Stick. In video, there was Betamax, Laserdisc, HDV, and now Blu-ray. Yeah, this last one is sorta successful, but only because Sony decided to fight like there was no tomorrow to beat its rival format. [Blam: I’m not apologizing for the past, but Sony’s promised to better about open formats going forward.] It worked this time, but God only knows what Sony labs have in store for us, and our shrinking wallets, next.

Did we leave out any nasty ones, like Nintendo’s many accessories, or an Apple USB port that doesn’t take all USB products? If you have a good one, throw it into a comment below.