Hasta La Gadget!

The 404 Podcast, and the CNET office in general, hasn’t been the same without Natali Del Conte around, so we’re all super psyched for the long-awaited return of NDC Thursdays…well, everyone except Wilson; he’s at home waiting for the perfect time to interrupt today’s show.

Although she describes the difficulty in leaving her newborn son at home, the self-proclaimed domestic diva is back in the office after her maternity leave to make her son proud!

Oh, she also tells us what she did on her lunch break yesterday, but that’s no big deal…!!!! Don’t miss the first half of today’s episode, and be sure to send your congrats to the new Mrs. Morris!

At Apple’s Mac OS X event yesterday, Steve Jobs unveiled both an update to Apple’s MAC operating system, now called Mac OS X Lion (now with FaceTime,) as well as a refresh to the Macbook Air line of portable, and pricey, laptops. The new Airs are much smaller than the originals and now benefit from ultralong battery life and instant-on functionality thanks to the integrated solid-state drives.

Prices range from $999 up to $1,599 based on screen size (11.6-inch or 13.3-inch), processor type, and storage capacity. We’re all still waiting for the next iPad to drop before we run to the nearest Apple Store, but keep an eye on CNET.com for benchmark scores in an upcoming review.

We’re also rolling out our first batch of VIDEO VOICEMAILS today and since they’re just YouTube links people send over, check them out for yourself!!

Jeremy has bad news about “Back to the Future.”

Aaron has good news from Hawaii.

Ben has nice things to say about The 404!

Michael has a deadly gift for Natali and Justin!

If you have something you want to say about the show, record a YouTube video and send the link to the404(at)cnet(dot)com and we’ll play it on the air! As usual, audio voicemails are also welcome, and the number to dial is 1-866-404-CNET (2638).

Tune in tomorrow when TONY HAWK will once again join us in the studio to chat about skateboard, video games, and more!

Episode 692

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When Microsoft announced its Adaptive Keyboard, backed by an LCD not entirely unlike the Optimus Maximus and its dynamic ways, the company said it’d be hosting a contest to see which students could come up with the best way to use the thing. Now it’s time to look at some of the results. Highlights? One app, with the press of a button, replaces your keys with the icons on your desktop. Another brings Windows Media Player playlist control to your fingertips, and a third lets coders easily navigate namespace, class, and member variables. Oh, and then there’s the app that dynamically remaps your keys to frustrate keyloggers — and users. There are lots more, all presented by some generally uncomfortable looking students over the course of the video embedded after the break. Warning: it’s 24 minutes long, so you’d best get a refill before clicking “Play.”

Continue reading Students get their hands on Microsoft’s Adaptive Keyboard, adapt it to their nefarious ways (video)

Students get their hands on Microsoft’s Adaptive Keyboard, adapt it to their nefarious ways (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 21 Oct 2010 13:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We still don’t know what Barnes & Noble is announcing at its “very special event” next week, but the company has just made another fairly big announcement: the Nook will be hitting the shelves at some 2,500 Walmart stores beginning “as soon as” October 24th (in addition to Walmart’s online store). That includes both the 3G and WiFi-only Nook models, and some Walmart stores will even have a “Nook-branded eReading area” where customers can try out the device. Head on past the break for the complete press release.

Update: Not to be outdone, Borders will release the Kobo e-reader at Walmart next week as well. Competing devices on the very same shelf — imagine that!

Continue reading Barnes & Noble Nook goes on sale at Walmart next week (update: Kobo, too)

Barnes & Noble Nook goes on sale at Walmart next week (update: Kobo, too) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 21 Oct 2010 13:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Steve Jobs wasn’t kidding when he said Apple was borrowing philosophies from the iPad to implant into the new MacBook Air. Like the iPad, Apple’s brand new MacBook Air is missing a software plug-in that shipped with previous Macs: Adobe Flash.

I noticed this upon booting up and attempting to watch a Hulu video for the first time on an 11-inch MacBook Air that Apple loaned to Wired.com on Wednesday. Instead of a video, the message “Missing Plug-in” popped up in an empty window.

The lack of Flash on the new MacBook Air is not a big deal, considering you can simply head to Adobe’s website, download the plug-in and install it on the computer within a few minutes — unlike the iPad or iPhone, which doesn’t support the plug-in at all. But the omission of Flash is both interesting and amusing.

Apple’s grudge against Flash is thoroughly explained in a web post written by Jobs in April. There, he explained that Flash wasn’t technically up to par to perform well on mobile devices such as the iPhone and iPad, and supporting Flash would stifle Apple’s ability to innovate. He added that Flash was the No. 1 reason that Macs crash, and Adobe still hasn’t made any major improvements.

“We also know first hand that Flash is the number one reason Macs crash,” Jobs wrote. “We have been working with Adobe to fix these problems, but they have persisted for several years now. We don’t want to reduce the reliability and security of our iPhones, iPods and iPads by adding Flash.”

However, Apple failed to completely block Flash from the iOS platform. In September, Apple revised its developer guidelines to allow third-party programming tools to be used to develop iOS apps. That effectively opened doors to Adobe’s Packager for iPhone, a tool in Creative Suite 5 that enables Flash to be easily converted into native iPhone app language. So Flash has made it to the iOS platform in a roundabout way.

Jobs can’t be happy about that: An iOS developer told Wired.com it was likely that the FTC forced Apple to allow third-party programming languages because the restriction reeked of anti-competition. The ineffective exclusion of Flash on the MacBook Air, and presumably on future Macs,  serves as a statement more than anything else: Apple really doesn’t want to endorse Flash anymore.

See Also:

• Why Apple Won’t Allow Adobe Flash on iPhone
• Apple Slaps Adobe’s Flash with iPad-Friendly HTML5 Showcase …
• Apple Promotes ‘iPad-Ready’ Websites Ditching Flash
• Google’s ‘Don’t Be Evil’ Mantra Is ‘Bullshit,’ Adobe Is Lazy …
• Apple Video Shows iPad Flash Support, But Don’t Believe It …
• Apple Eases App Development Rules, Adobe Surges

Photo: Brian X. Chen/Wired.com

North America’s greenest hotel is set to open in about a month, in what was once an abandoned building in downtown Toronto. Dubbed The Planet Traveller, the hotel exceeds LEED Platinum certification, which is the highest achievable rank.

The Planet Traveller features 114 rooms, a rooftop bar, and a slew of green features, including: a geothermal temperature control system, motion sensing lights to conserve power, solar and photo voltaic panels, and it can even turn wastewater into usable water.

“Climate change is both the biggest problem and the biggest opportunity our society has faced,” owner Tom Rand said. “I believe we can lower our carbon emissions by 75 per cent over the short term, and to near zero over the long term. Countries that figure it out fast will be selling solutions to the rest of the world.”

Via Inhabitat