There's a reason why the Mazda Miata is the best selling roadster of all time, and it ain't tech.
(Credit: James Martin/CNET)
Often, we get cars that are pretty good, but lack good cabin tech. And because our Car Tech reviews are weighted toward, well, …
Originally posted at The Car Tech blog
Typing on the Lenovo IdeaPad S10-2.
(Credit: Sarah Tew/CNET)
In testing Lenovo’s IdeaPad S10-2 and IdeaPad S12 Netbooks this week, an interesting thought occurred to us. Technically, both laptops are nearly similar inside: Intel Atom N270 processors, 1GB of RAM, 160GB hard drive. What differentiates them more than anything else are their screen sizes (10.2 inch and 12.1-inch) and their keyboards.
While screen size has been often discussed among Netbook owners, keyboard size and comfort hasn’t as much. And, to a degree, it’s the only true factor differentiating smartphones and Netbooks as far as interface is concerned. The real advantage to Netbooks is that you can type on them, like a laptop. But here’s the question: are almost-regular size keyboards more difficult to use than intentionally small keyboards on MIDs and smartphones? Click through to hear us out.
…
Hot? No beach? No Pool? No problem.
If you have a bit of an imagination, the Hydroglass shower is almost like snorkeling off of some pristine Caribbean island. Alllllmost. [Hydroco via Link]
Again, if you have some imagination, the Aquavolo can be like standing in a refreshing rainstorm on a hot summer day. It can also be like standing in a stream underneath a waterfall with a simple flip of the showerhead. [Bossini via Link]
It may cost $1000, but this portable spa is still cheaper than most hot tubs and it can be drained and deflated quickly for storage. It also features five adjustable hydro-massaging jets and a 900W heating system that can be controlled with the push of a button. [Hammacher]
The Mr. T sprinkler I had as a kid did the job, but it is nothing compared to what I could have done with this remote controlled water cannon. It attaches to a standard garden hose and can shoot water up to 100 feet. And the best part is that it can be controlled wirelessly via remote control. It also includes three interchangeable nozzles to alter spray patterns. [Hammacher]
Slip ‘n Slides are a classic alternative to the backyard pool, but with a little work you can easily put one together yourself. Check out the following link to see this extreme homemade version in action. [Link]
Start waging war against the heat first thing in the morning with a DIY alarm clock that wakes you up with a squirt gun. Hit the link for instructions on how to build one yourself. [Hack ‘n Mod via Link]
You may not be able to get to the beach this year, but you can still simulate an underwater experience with the Umine projector. In addition to projecting sea-like waves, the Umine features sound effects that help immerse you in an ocean experience. [Himeya via Link]
If you are looking to save a little money on your water bill, a rain barrel is a smart way to power up your sprinklers and fill your water weapons. This particular 56-gallon rain barrel happens to be butt-shaped, which will no doubt open up a world of opportunity for hilarious diarrhea jokes. [Link]
The next best thing to a pool with a diving board is a water-logged Big Wave trampoline. Water, trampoline…what could go wrong? [Big Wave]
There are commercial water mortar toys, but they won’t hold a candle in terms of firepower compared to one that you build yourself. This DIY version is easy to build, and it’s a serious piece of water fightin’ artillery. [Instructables via Link]
Last week, Sprint’s Vice President of Strategy Russ McGuire admitted that carriers might be an impediment to growth and innovation in the cell phone industry. Speaking at the MobileBeat conference in San Francisco, McGuire said that carriers need to “let go” and allow the industry to move at a …
Originally posted at Dialed In Podcast
Look out, internet! The Engadget Podcast Audio Talking Show has arrived, complete with technical topics of discussion, talented staff members and a guest of note. Ross Rubin, an analyst with NPD and regular Engadget contributer in his Switched On column, was kind enough to drop by and talk it up with Josh and Paul about the HTC Hero and the future of ebooks — things that weigh heavily on all of our minds. Nilay’s out this week, leaving a gaping hole in all of our hearts, but we promise to get the gang back together real soon.
Hosts: Joshua Topolsky, Paul Miller
Special guest: Ross Rubin
Producer: Trent Wolbe
Song: OxygenStar – In The Garage
Hear the podcast
00:01:35 – HTC Hero review
00:30:50 – Plastic Logic e-book reader will use AT&T for its 3G needs
00:35:30 – Barnes & Noble partners with Plastic Logic, becomes “exclusive eBookstore provider” for its e-reader
00:53:30 – Apple bucks recession, records best non-holiday quarter in company history
01:01:05 – Microsoft sees first annual sales decline in its history for fiscal 2009
01:10:25 – Wii Sports Resort impressions (and video!): MotionPlus killer app, or killer tech demo?
Subscribe to the podcast
[iTunes] Subscribe to the Podcast directly in iTunes (enhanced AAC).
[RSS MP3] Add the Engadget Podcast feed (in MP3) to your RSS aggregator and have the show delivered automatically.
[RSS AAC] Add the Engadget Podcast feed (in enhanced AAC) to your RSS aggregator.
[Zune] Subscribe to the Podcast directly in the Zune Marketplace
Download the podcast
LISTEN (MP3)
LISTEN (AAC)
LISTEN (OGG)
Contact the podcast
1-888-ENGADGET or podcast (at) engadget (dot) com.
Twitter: @joshuatopolsky @futurepaul @reckless @engadget
Filed under: Podcasts
Engadget Podcast 156 – 07.24.2009 originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 24 Jul 2009 14:48:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
We love gadgets — we really do. And that’s why, when a gadget fails to measure up to its promise, doesn’t work as you’d expect, is locked down with DRM or crippled with a terrible user interface or hobbled by a stanky-ass design, we get angry. We speak with the disappointed, crushed hearts of the gadget idealists we are: Why does this thing suck so bad?
Well, we’ve had it with crappy gadgets. Like our friends at Underwire, Autopia and Wired Science, we’re recruiting the help of a black hole to crush the worst gadgets into nothingness. Here’s a list of 10 gadgets — plus one bonus “gadget” — that deserve to be thrown beyond the event horizon, never to return.
We’ve probably only scratched the surface here, so feel free to nominate (below) your own candidates for gadgets that should be thrown out of normal spacetime.
1. iPod/iPhone earbuds
The crummy earbuds included with every iPod or iPhone are ugly, don’t fit well and deliver terrible sound. They’re a beacon for burglars: Hello! I’ve got an iPod in my pocket, and it’s right here! And they don’t even last very long: Within months of normal use, they often start developing painful buzzes.
2. CueCat
The most amazing thing about this infrared barcode reader, which did nothing but read special codes printed in magazines and then take you to a website, is that the company convinced so many publishers to distribute them. During the height of the CueCat craze, hundreds of thousands were shipped to customers around the U.S. — including a half-million subscribers to Wired — whether they wanted them or not. They were ugly and almost totally useless, and most probably wound up in landfills within the year.
3. Sony MiniDisc
Sony’s come up with many annoying and proprietary formats in an ill-advised attempt to control its customers, but this was one of the worst. It combined a new physical media format with Sony’s annoying ATRAC file format, and of course had ridiculous restrictions on copying files. While MiniDiscs achieved some popularity with musicians for their ease of recording and editing live performances, most people gave this horrible format a justifiable pass.
4. Motorola RAZR
Everyone had this phone, and everybody hated it. So sexy, yet so crappy with everything it did: poor call quality, cheap buttons, bad software on every carrier.
Sony Vaio Lifestyle PC. Photo: Jonathan Snyder/Wired.com
5. Sony Vaio Series P Lifestyle PC
Screw this thing. Sure, it looks beautiful, and it’s meant for fashion-conscious people who want a stylish, amazingly portable PC. But its crummy keyboard, short (two-hour) battery life, squint-inducing 8.9-inch screen and high price tag make it the perfect device for — well, we don’t know anyone we would wish the Vaio Series P on.
6. HiPhone
There are a lot of crummy Chinese knockoffs of the iPhone. We bought this, called the HiPhone, for $118 plus $42 shipping, to see if it might be a budget-conscious consumer’s alternative to a pricey Apple handset. We were almost instantly sorry.
7. Apple’s Hockey-Puck Mouse
Everybody makes mistakes, and Apple, the king of industrial design, really screwed up on this one. The hockey-puck mouse, which Apple shipped with its tooty-fruity iMacs, was an ergonomic atrocity. You never knew if it was pointed the right way until the pointer started moving diagonally on your screen instead of straight across like you intended. And who could possibly find a circular mouse comfortable? Perfect peripheral for Cookie Monster, we suppose.
8. BlackBerry Storm
BlackBerry Storm. Photo: Jonathan Snyder/Wired.com
When RIM announced it was going to make a touchscreen phone, lots of Crackberry addicts were excited. Finally, they’d have a chance to use a BlackBerry with a touchscreen! Um, not so fast: The BlackBerry Storm has an oddball interface, with a touchscreen that “clicks” down (the whole thing physically moves) every time you press a button. It’s supposed to make the touchscreen experience more accurate and more tactile, but it just winds up slowing you down. And it feels weird besides.
9. Asus S101 Netbook
Yeah, yeah, we’ve seen the numbers about how many millions of netbooks people are buying. But seriously, how much junk are people willing to put up with? With a crummy trackpad, substandard keys and horrible build quality, this netbook disappointed us more than most. While Asus may have lead the netbook revolution, this is one product that needs some serious work.
10. Simon
Did you ever have to play this game? That was one annoying gadget.
BONUS: AT&T Wireless
While not technically a gadget, it’s the network that supports one of our favorite gizmos, the iPhone. But good gravy, have you ever seen a carrier that was so good at providing service so badly? It’s infuriating enough 3G data speeds are slower than a stunned yak, but AT&T seems to revel in giving its customers less than everyone else. Between crippling some features that became standard on other devices years ago (MMS and tethering) and having notoriously spotty coverage — even in metropolitan areas — it’s a wonder why people would volunteer to sign away two years of their lives on service that borders on barely functional. We don’t want to destroy the network that powers our iDevices. But unless AT&T shapes up soon, we’ll have no choice but to crush it into a state of infinite mass and density for its own good. Think of it as the cellular equivalent of the ending of Old Yeller.
Top image: Artist’s rendering of a black hole. Courtesy NASA
.
What gadgets would you throw into a black hole? Enter your nominations below, and vote on other readers’ suggestions right here. We’ve primed the pump with a few gadgets that didn’t make it into our top 10 list, mostly because the G-Lab crew didn’t all agree that they sucked. NOTE: Voting “up” means that yes, you agree it is a gadget and should be thrown into a black hole.
While you can submit as many gadgets as you want, you can only submit one every 30 minutes. No HTML allowed.
It looks like Redmond is backing slowly away from its previous IE-or-else stance on Windows 7 for European markets. According to an article just published, the OS giant has apparently caved to pressure from the European Commission over “monopoly abuse” (practices which essentially force users into Internet Explorer as their main browser). The last we’d heard on this story, the company was considering shipping the new operating system without a browser altogether, but it looks like those plans have changed. Microsoft has relented and will now offer consumers a “ballot screen” on first boot, allowing purchasers to make their own (we’re hoping informed) decision about which window into the web they’ll be looking through. Additionally, while Windows 7 will still include an install of IE, users will have the option to disable it, and computer-makers will also be allowed to pre-load any browser they see fit for their systems. We’re glad that Microsoft is taking the inclusive approach here, though there are lots of good arguments against the EC’s actions. We don’t see Apple getting the same heat for Safari, though Apple doesn’t currently hold the lion’s share of the market. At the end of the day, we’re personally just happy to not be using IE — no matter how you slice it.
Filed under: Desktops, Laptops, Software
Microsoft relents to European Commission, will give users browser freedom in Windows 7 originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 24 Jul 2009 14:16:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
We can’t fault Motorola for trying to get some developer tools out in the hands of Joe the App Developer before the company launches its own Android phone, but you’d think it would at least announce a handset before getting all dev tool happy. Motorola is now offering a beta version of its MOTODEV Studio for Android, a development environment that works alongside Google’s existing SDK, along with the new MOTODEV App Accelerator Program which gives devs early access to tools and better exposure for their apps. It all sounds fine and dandy, but “later this year” isn’t much to go on as far as an actual Motorola device to target. Come, Morrison, save us from this madness.
Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds
Motorola’s MOTODEV “accelerates” Android development; isn’t a phone originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 24 Jul 2009 14:08:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
Nokia has purchased Cellity, a service to manage one’s social networks and contacts from a single point.
“Nokia will acquire the Cellity team to strengthen its competencies in the area of social networking,” the company said in a statement. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
But the acquisition also means that Cellity will be discontinuing its service, leaving its subscribers out in the cold.
We will begin ramping down our service as both Nokia and cellity
have agreed that our current services will not transfer to Nokia,” Sarik Weber, Cellity’s vice president of marketing and communications, said in a blog post.
“So what does this mean for you? Beginning September 30, 2009 our service will no longer be available
for use,” Weber added. “As of today, unfortunately, no further top-ups will be
possible. We kindly ask you to use up the remainder of your existing
account balance before the end of September. Additionally, if you have
stored contacts with us in our social address book, please remember to
download them before the end of September (you will find all necessary
information within the cellity web app).”
Yet another rumor about Apple’s fabled touchscreen tablet has emerged, with sources claiming the product will hit stores in early 2010.
In its report, AppleInsider cites “people well-respected … for their striking accuracy in Apple’s internal affairs,” who claim a 10-inch, 3G-enabled tablet will turn up between January and March.
AppleInsider’s article conflicts with a rumor report posted by TheStreet’s Scott Moritz earlier this week, which stated an Apple tablet was due as soon as October this year. Moritz’s report also said the tablet would be subsidized by Verizon.
Wired.com has more faith in AppleInsider’s report, because a 2010 launch of this product would be more realistic. It’s unlikely Apple would release a tablet in October 2009, because it would cannibalize sales of MacBooks during back-to-school season — when MacBooks tend to sell very well. Plus, Apple recently slashed MacBook prices, and the company would aim to capitalize on the move during back-to-school season without introducing a competitor into its own product line. Third, many rumor reports suggest a new iPod Touch is due in stores fall, and a tablet would likely cannibalize on sales of this product, too.
A January to March time frame would be a much wiser move for Apple. That’s because the Consumer Electronics Show — the largest technology convention in the United States — takes place January. Apple does not plan to attend the Macworld Expo trade show, also in January, nor does it plan to attend CES. So a tablet timed for a January announcement would be the perfect way for Apple to steal thunder from other tech companies showing off new gear at CES.
Also, Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster laid out strong reasoning to believe an Apple tablet is arriving 2010:
“Between indications from our component contacts in Asia, recent patents relating to multi-touch sensitivity for more complex computing devices, comments from [chief operating officer] Tim Cook on the April 22 conference call, and Apple’s acquisition of PA Semi along with other recent chip-related hires, it is increasingly clear that Apple is investing more in its mobile-computing franchise,” Munster said in a research statement issued to clients in May.
Lastly, we’re more skeptical about TheStreet’s October prediction given Moritz’s track record, which is notoriously spotty when it comes to Apple rumors. For example, in May, Moritz wrote a story titled “Tech Rumor of the Day: Apple,” which quoted an analyst who predicted AT&T would reduce prices for the iPhone’s monthly service plan. Not only did that not turn out to be true; it wasn’t a rumor at all — just a prediction from an analyst.
Regardless, given the number of rumors floating around, and reports that Apple’s component suppliers in China are receiving orders for parts to build a tablet, an Apple tablet almost seems inevitable. With AppleInsider’s report, we’re placing more chips in the betting circle for a 2010 launch of this device.
See Also:
Parody, mock-up illustration of an Apple tablet: Andy on Flickr/Flickr
This is site is run by Sascha Endlicher, M.A., during ungodly late night hours. Wanna know more about him? Connect via Social Media by jumping to about.me/sascha.endlicher.
