Hasta La Gadget!

Google Voice, the very cool invite-only calling wrapper that used to be called Grand Central, can now be controlled directly from the iPhone with the GV Mobile app. It’s pretty fantastic.

The app costs $3 and is just designed to interface with Google Voice. You can dial directly out from your GV number (either using the dialpad or through your normal iPhone contacts list), send texts from your GV number, and access your GV number’s voicemail.

Text and calls go through properly and voicemail is as close an approximation of your iPhone’s visual voicemail as it gets. Fairly accurate transcripts of your voicemails can be sent via text to your phone as well. History is funky, however, since it shows “Unknown” for all my calls. You can control which phone numbers incoming calls dial, and also which phone you want to “call out” from.

If you’re a Google Voice user, the $3 is well worth it to be able to text and call from behind another number. It allows you a layer of privacy, so that people don’t know your real number and you can block callers from the main Google interface. The only thing left is to wait for Google Voice to open up to the public.

There’s also a free version that allows you to just dialing, which is good enough for most people. The pay version is here.

We’ll be totally honest here: we love TiVo. TiVo DVRs of every vintage are scattered throughout the Engadget editorial ranks, and Series3 units are our preferred hardware for HD Netflix streaming and Amazon’s nascent HD Video on Demand service. And, well, using a TiVo is just fun in a way that no other DVR ever is — those booping noises still provoke smiles all around.

But here’s the thing: it’s been ten years since TiVo first introduced the Philips-built HDR110 at NAB, and while the company’s name has since become synonymous with time-shifted digital video recording, it’s not because its products have achieved runaway success. In fact, it’s the exact opposite: most consumers choose to get by with awful cable- or satellite-company DVRs, and TiVo’s only just barely pulled a full year of profitability, two factors that have kept it firmly on deathwatch since 2005. Not only that, but while TiVo might have pushed the DVR into the mainstream, it hasn’t meaningfully innovated since — apart from HD output and the aforementioned streaming services, you’d be hard-pressed to tell a brand-new TiVo HD from an original unit by using it for five minutes. Worse, the entire DVR category’s essentially remained stagnant as well — one study found that the average DVR-enabled family records just 15-20 percent of the TV they watch, a startlingly low number by any measure.

So look — it’s not working, guys. We’re happy that Comcast is now offering the TiVo interface in certain markets as a paid option, and we’ll be pleased as punch when those long-promised new DirecTiVo units ship out, but the simple fact of the matter is TiVo can’t continue to rely on the same strategies and ideas that haven’t worked for the past ten years. What TiVo needs is a new plan — and we’ve got five simple ideas that might help kickstart the company and the DVR market for the next ten years. Read on for more.

Continue reading Ten years of TiVo: how far we haven’t come

Filed under: Home Entertainment

Ten years of TiVo: how far we haven’t come originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 28 Apr 2009 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

We like how you’re thinking, AMD, and we don’t say that everyday — or ever, really. During a time when even hardcore gamers are having to rethink whether or not that next-gen GPU is a necessity, AMD has pushed out a remarkably potent new graphics card for under a Benjamin, and the whole world has joined in to review it. The ATI Radeon HD 4770, which was outed just over a week ago, has been officially introduced for the low, low price of just $99 (including rebates, which should surface soon). Aside from being the company’s first mainstream desktop GPU manufactured using a 40nm process, this little gem was a real powerhouse when put to the test. In fact, critics at HotHardware exclaimed that this card “offers performance in the same range as cards that were launched at the $299 to $349 price point only a year ago.” The bottom line? It’s “one of the best buys” out in its price range, and even with all that belt tightening you’ve been doing, surely you can spare a C-note, yeah?

Read – HotHardware (“Recommended; one of the best buys at its price point”)
Read – XBit Labs (“the best budget graphics accelerator [out there]”)
Read – LegitReviews (“great performance, low power consumption and low noise”)
Read – PCStats (“strikes a balance between performance and price”)
Read – TechSpot (“an outstanding choice in the $100 graphics market”)
Read – NeoSeeker (“a good value”)
Read – PCPerspective (“impressive”)

Filed under: Gaming, Peripherals

ATI Radeon HD 4770 GPU review roundup originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 28 Apr 2009 14:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

We know you’ve been literally hanging on the edge of your seat waiting for this day to come, so it’s our honor and privilege to announce that Lenovo and RIM’s Constant Connect solution is now available. For those who managed to sleep right through February, the technology enables select ThinkPads to automatically pull down BlackBerry emails whenever it’s within range, even if the laptop is completely off. There’s no word on what it’ll cost to have this added into your next corporate machine, but you can head past the break for a quick demonstration vid if you think you’re interested.

Update: It’s a $149 option from select business partners and through Lenovo.com.

Continue reading Lenovo and RIM’s Constant Connect now available

Filed under: Cellphones, Laptops, Peripherals, Wireless

Lenovo and RIM’s Constant Connect now available originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 28 Apr 2009 13:23:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

It’s been a rough week or so for Big Cable, but it looks like the East Coast’s Cablevision’s decided to play things a little differently than Comcast and Time Warner: it’s just announced that uncapped 101Mbps DOCSIS 3.0 service will be rolling out on May 11 across its entire service area. The best part? It’ll cost $99 a month, making it faster and cheaper than any other high-speed package we can think of — 50Mbps service from Comcast and Verizon is around $140. Not bad at all — let’s hope the competition picks up on it.

[Via Electronista]

Filed under: Networking

Cablevision loves you, will offer $99 101Mbps uncapped internet service originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 28 Apr 2009 12:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments