Jolicloud Introducing Their Own Netbook: Jolibook
As far as we knew, Jolicloud was a software company. And they still are. But now, they're a hardware company too. Or at least they are partnering with a computer maker in order to make themselves seem like one! Either way, Jolicloud is doing the unthinkable soon: they'll be introducing a netbook of their own with their own Jolibook operating system onboard. This will be going up against dozens and dozens of netbooks powered by Windows 7, and considering that Microsoft's OS is the one with the most mindshare,
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Tt eSports Presents New Azurues Optical Gaming Mouse
Another month, another new gaming mouse. In fact, it's getting hard to keep up with all of the options out there. There are dozens of choices from Razer, Microsoft and Logitech (among others), and now there's one from Tt eSports. This is a Taiwan-based company looking to make a move in a market already saturated, but as always, more competition makes the world a better place for consumers, particularly when it comes to this. The company is actually a division of Thermaltake, who makes a slew of highly respected
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AMD To Provide Technical Expertise In Joining MeeGo Crew
There's a MeeGo Conference ongoing in Dublin, Ireland right now, and AMD is making some fairly big news there. As a little back-story, MeeGo is the realized result of Intel's Moblin and Nokia's Maemo, smashed together to become a powerhouse open-source OS. It's meant to work on smartphones and tablets, and designed to rival Windows 7, Android and a host of other competitors. But as with any new OS, the main problem is gaining support; hardware support, vendor support, and consumer support. But having a major
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TuneIn Radio Arrives On Google TV
The Google TV craze is just now getting started, and while Google is battling with NBC, ABC, CBS and FOX to enable users to view content via Google TV devices, other companies seems more than eager to do business with the search giant. Many companies are optimizing their apps and websites for use on Google TV; it's a great way to get users to experience something that they otherwise wouldn't bother to try. By getting into the Google TV spotlight, it enables Google TV users everywhere to hop in and get started
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Blue PlayStation 3 To Ship Alongside Gran Turismo 5 This Month
Gran Turismo 5 seems like vaporware to many. It's a game that has been delayed countless times. So many times, that many are believing that Sony won't ever ship it. But with the holiday season coming up, it seems like Sony has finally got a place where GT5 can no longer be delayed, even if Sony wishes it could be. If this game hits one more snag, who knows how many pre-orders will be canned. According to a recent post on the Sony PlayStation blog, GT5 will now go sale throughout North American on November 24th.
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Elgato EyeTV Netstream Sat Streams Freesat TV To Your Home Network
While North American definitely gets a lot of things first, it's lagging behind when it comes to content distribution at home. Japan has Blu-ray burners everywhere for burning content that see on television, and the UK's Freesat can be easily transferred between devices. Who knows if that functionality will ever come to America, but if you're in the United Kingdom, Elgato has a new device that'll make watching Freesat television a lot easier. The EyeTV Netstream is a compact box that will enable users to stream
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AOL Announces Project Phoenix, a New Webmail Client
On the eve of Facebook's rumored announcement of a Facebook Webmail product, AOL announced an attempt to rise its email product from the ashes of AOL'e email, which is seeing its user base rapidly decline: Project Phoenix. Project Phoenix can be accessed at phoenix.aol.com. It is invite only, at least for now. It's hard to see how a Webmail refresh can stem the tide of those leaving AOL's email service. Business Insider's chart on the decline and fall of AOL's email shows the service has fallen below MySpace
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U.S. Broadband Still Proceeds at a Relative Snail's Pace
Broadband speed claims by ISPs are one thing, but it is real work results that are most significant. Thus, Royal Pingdom's report on the real-world state of the Internet, in terms of speed, drew our interest. Royal Pingdom used data from Akamai to come up with its results. The data is from Q2 2010 and represents averages speeds in the country. Here are some interesting data points: China is No. 1 in terms of number of Internet users, but No. 42 in terms of speed (860kbps) The U.S., creator of the Internet, is
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Asus Unveils Motherboards Based On Next Gen Intel Chipsets
Asus held a tech seminar over the weekend in which it discussed future product launches, new features, and its plans for the year 2011. We've got information on the four new motherboards Asus is launching to support Intel's upcoming Sandy Bridge. Fans of Asus who are also interested in upgrading when Sandy Bridge drops, will find the below of particular interest. From the top left corner we've got the Asus P8P67 Pro, the P8P67 Deluxe, the Maximus IV Extreme (bottom left) and the Sabertooth 3D (bottom right.)
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Which Phone Grills Fastest: iPhone 4, G2 Or Surround?
By now, you might have heard of "Will It Blend?" It's a clever idea that puts new gadgets into a blender to find out whether or not it will blend. To date, every portable gadget ends up blending (surprise!), but here's an even crazier twist on that idea: "Will It Grill?" EZGrill, a company that produces a quick-fix $10 instant grill, has put together a cute montage showcasing the grill itself as well as the iPhone 4, the T-Mobile G2 and the HTC 7 Surround, a Windows Phone 7 device. It's a pretty gruesome watch.
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Netflix Coming To "Select" Android Handsets Next Year
It's a little hard to believe, but there's still no Netflix support for Android. Netflix streaming has been supported via an iPhone app for months now, and Windows Phone 7 support was granted just as soon as the OS hit the market. But Android has been around for years, and still no Netflix app. So, what gives? Finally, Netflix is shedding some light on that very question. Greg Peters, from Netflix product development, recently posted a blog concerning the lack of Netflix support on Android. He seems quite
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U.S. Broadband Still Proceeds at a Relative Snail's Pace
Broadband speed claims by ISPs are one thing, but it is real work results that are most significant. Thus, Royal Pingdom's report on the real-world state of the Internet, in terms of speed, drew our interest.Royal Pingdom used data from Akamai to come up with its results. The data is from Q2 2010 and represents averages speeds in the country.
Here are some interesting data points:
- China is No. 1 in terms of number of Internet users, but No. 42 in terms of speed (860kbps)
- The U.S., creator of the Internet, is No. 2 among Internet users but No. 12 in speed (4.6Mbps)
- The top 3 in speed are all Asian: South Korea (16.63Mbps), Hong Kong (8.57Mbps), and Japan (8.03Mbps). South Korea has long been the top spot in the world for speed; we'll guess that all that bandwidth is being used for StarCraft 2 right now.
- Of the top 10 countries, 3 are in Asia, and 7 in Europe.
- Iran rounds out the top 50 at 410kbps.
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Which Phone Grills Fastest: iPhone 4, G2 Or Surround?
By now, you might have heard of "Will It Blend?" It's a clever idea that puts new gadgets into a blender to find out whether or not it will blend. To date, every portable gadget ends up blending (surprise!), but here's an even crazier twist on that idea: "Will It Grill?" EZGrill, a company that produces a quick-fix $10 instant grill, has put together a cute montage showcasing the grill itself as well as the iPhone 4, the T-Mobile G2 and the HTC 7 Surround, a Windows Phone 7 device.
It's a pretty gruesome watch. And it's well over $1000 in gadgets wasted. But it's all in the name of fun. Or grilling. Or something of the sort. We can't spoil the ending for you, so you'll have to press play and watch it yourself to find out which phone holds out the longest. It's a crying shame, no matter how you split it.
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Asus Unveils Motherboards Based On Next Gen Intel Chipsets
Asus held a tech seminar over the weekend in which it discussed future product launches, new features, and its plans for the year 2011. We've got information on the four new motherboards Asus is launching to support Intel's upcoming Sandy Bridge. Fans of Asus who are also interested in upgrading when Sandy Bridge drops, will find the below of particular interest. 
From the top left corner we've got the Asus P8P67 Pro, the P8P67 Deluxe, the Maximus IV Extreme (bottom left) and the Sabertooth 3D (bottom right.) We visually compared the Pro and Deluxe—the Deluxe offers at least one more fan connector, more backplate USB ports, a BIOS output code display, and board-mounted buttons to control power, reset, etc. The Deluxe version also has a second, heatpiped heatsink—but if you compare the two boards, it's not at all clear what the heatsink *does.* We can safely assume that the Pro's smaller heatsink is sufficient to cool the board on its own. A second heatpiped heatsink offers a bit more room for overclocking or higher temperatures, but Asus would do better to simply slap a well-made small fan on the existing structure.
There's one potential flaw to the Deluxe that the pro doesn't have. If you check the board photo, the first PCIe x1 slot is hard against the second heatsink. We've seen this problem before on other high-end boards—any x1 card that doesn't vertically conform to the actual size of the slot may not fit. This issue isn't unique to Asus, we've seen other high-end boards whose heatsinks prevent anything but the smallest x1 cards from fitting.
The Maximus IV is an imposing beast of a motherboard with four full PCIe x16 slots, one x1 slot, and an actual x4 slot at the bottom. That last is a nice feature for anyone interested in a PCIe storage device like the OCZ RevoDrive or RevoDrive X2. Finally, there's the Sabertooth. If Asus' intention was to build a board that left everyone staring, they've succeeded. The problem here is that we've got no idea what we're actually staring at. The Sabertooth's backpanel offers features more-or-less in line with the other boards discussed above, but it offers just two PCIe x16 slots and three PCIe x1 slots. Supposedly this is a product designed for high reliability and durability. We're great fans of both, but we're uncertain what Asus' design actually protects. Unless the area under the board is specially ventilated via its own unseen fan, the components underneath the board will bake. This is particularly true of the southbridge, which is apparently flush with the sides of the...flak jacket.
We expect to see more and more announcements from motherboard manufacturers in the coming weeks; stay tuned for further coverage on who's offering the best price/performance/feature ratio.
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TSA Bans Ink/Toner Cartridges From Airline Passengers; Wi-Fi Future Uncertain
In the wake of the pair of thwarted bombings by Al Qaeda last month, the TSA has announced additional restrictions and guidelines for passengers traveling both within the United States and internationally. In additional to logical and prudent steps, such as banning packages from Somalia and Yemen (temporarily) and additional screening for packages classified as high risk, there's a new pair of rules that're collectively bizarre. From the DHS press release: Toner and ink cartridges over 16 ounces will be prohibited on passenger aircraft in both carry-on bags and checked bags on domestic and international flights in-bound to the United States. This ban will also apply to certain inbound international air cargo shipments as well. The Administration is also working closely with industry and our international partners to expedite the receipt of cargo manifests for international flights to the United States prior to departure in order to identify and screen items based on risk and current intelligence. We are also working with our international and private sector partners on the expansion of layered detections system including technology and other measures.
The immediate rationale behind the restrictions is clear. One of the packages withstood multiple passes from Scotland Yard's high-tech scanners and low-tech dogs. If investigators had been unable to provide a specific tracking number to identify the package, it would've been passed and presumably detonated. Both of the bombs were found encased in printer cartridges. Practically speaking, this isn't a restriction that's likely to affect many people. We're fairly certain that most folks don't carry multiple cartridges of black ink stuffed into their pants pockets or strapped to their legs. The wording of the restriction also seems to imply that while no single cartridge can weigh more than 16 oz, multiple 12 oz cartridges would be just fine. Most consumer-oriented print cartridges weigh much less than 16 oz, but higher-end printers often use cartridges that weigh more.
"Limited impact," however, does not equate to "intelligent safety improvement." Presumably, the would-be bombers used print cartridges because they're familiar enough to the eye to pass rote inspection, yet sturdy enough to contain the contents of a bomb as it travels towards its destination. Serviceable items include childrens' toys, external hard drives, and Mrs. Jones' cat.
He doesn't LOOK busy...
More ominously, there are rumors that the TSA is considering banning the use of in-flight WiFi after useless, SIM-card-lacking cell phones were discovered attached to the toner cartridges in question. No one is arguing that the cell phones could've been detonated by a phone call in flight, but there's the possibility that such a device could be constructed, which may be all the incentive the DHS needs. The appeal of being scattered over twenty square miles of ocean just because a seatmate wanted to check Facebook is admittedly small. The idea that a ban on airplane WiFi would prevent this from occurring is blindingly stupid. Terrorists who found themselves unable to construct complex detonators out of cell phones and WiFi might be forced to wreak havoc with other devices like a thermometer, egg timer, or LED clock.
On a side note, we expect the airline industry would fight tooth and claw to keep in-flight WiFi flowing. It's one of the few services that's begun to turn a profit in recent months and the carriers would be loathe to see it go.
The only thing more dangerous than no security at all is a security system that lulls people into thinking they're safe when they aren't. The more regulations, baggage checks, and clothing-removals the TSA mandates, the greater the divorce between the actual danger and perceived danger of a terrorist attack.Â
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TuneIn Radio Arrives On Google TV
The Google TV craze is just now getting started, and while Google is battling with NBC, ABC, CBS and FOX to enable users to view content via Google TV devices, other companies seems more than eager to do business with the search giant. Many companies are optimizing their apps and websites for use on Google TV; it's a great way to get users to experience something that they otherwise wouldn't bother to try. By getting into the Google TV spotlight, it enables Google TV users everywhere to hop in and get started with an app or content portal.
And while Google TV is obviously focused on television, there are obviously other uses. Like radio! TuneIn Radio has already become extremely popular on Android and iOS, and now users looking to tune into their favorite stations online via Google TV (and leave running while dinner cooks, etc.) can do so. TuneIn Radio is now available through the Google TV spotlight, optimized for use on the platform and giving users the same features that they have come to expect from the mobile versions. It's free to use, and automatically displays a user’s local AM/FM stations, and provides links to search the entire directory by selections such as “Music,†“Talk,†and “Sports,†as well as an enormous library of podcasts. If you create a free account, users can link their presets to their Google TV accounts, and save and access presets on Google TV, RadioTime.com and the TuneIn Radio mobile apps.
 TuneIn Radio Builds Worldwide Internet Radio Tuner for Google TV Platform
TuneIn Radio by RadioTime enables users to search for songs and artists airing in real-time
DALLAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--RadioTime, Inc., a developer of technology for finding and listening to radio online, today announced its TuneIn Radio website optimized for viewing through Google TV, and featured in the Google TV Spotlight. TuneIn Radio features RadioTime's new Song Search technology, which allows users to quickly and easily search the directory of over 50,000 AM/FM and Internet-only radio stations for specific songs, artists, programs and stations.
   “We've optimized the experience for the television, with a clean and simple interface that makes it easy for users to see what's airing on their local stations, quickly tune to their favorite radio shows, and discover great new radio content.â€
“The TuneIn Radio applications we've developed for the iPhone, Android, BlackBerry and Palm platforms have become enormously popular, and we wanted to bring a similar experience to Google TV users,†said Thomas Hutchings, Vice President of Development for RadioTime, Inc. “We've optimized the experience for the television, with a clean and simple interface that makes it easy for users to see what's airing on their local stations, quickly tune to their favorite radio shows, and discover great new radio content.â€
The TuneIn Radio home page automatically displays a user’s local AM/FM stations, and provides links to search the entire directory by selections such as “Music,†“Talk,†and “Sports,†as well as an enormous library of podcasts. Users can also search by a wide variety of parameters, such as program, station, genre, song title, artist name.
Users who create a free account on RadioTime.com can link their presets to their Google TV accounts, and save and access presets on Google TV, RadioTime.com and the TuneIn Radio mobile apps.
“Before the Internet, before television, there was radio, and the medium has remained a primary source of news, sports and music for 100 years,†said Bill Moore, CEO, RadioTime. “Seeing TuneIn Radio in Google TV Spotlight next to websites from such well-known content providers as CNN and Vimeo is extremely gratifying and validates all the hard work our team has put in to bringing the TuneIn Radio experience to Google TV.â€
Pricing and Availability
TuneIn Radio is available now through the Google TV Spotlight. It is accessible to users worldwide online at: www.google.com/tv/spotlight-gallery.htmlÂ
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Blue PlayStation 3 To Ship Alongside Gran Turismo 5 This Month
Gran Turismo 5 seems like vaporware to many. It's a game that has been delayed countless times. So many times, that many are believing that Sony won't ever ship it. But with the holiday season coming up, it seems like Sony has finally got a place where GT5 can no longer be delayed, even if Sony wishes it could be. If this game hits one more snag, who knows how many pre-orders will be canned.
According to a recent post on the Sony PlayStation blog, GT5 will now go sale throughout North American on November 24th. Meaning that unless we see another last-minute delay, people will be giving up their Thanksgiving dinners in order to play another round of GT5. But that's not all. Sony's special edition Blue PlayStation 3 will also go on sale along with the game, but the console will be a Japan exclusive at least for now.
It will ship with GT5 in Japan for around $430 starting November 25th, but hopefully the bundle will make it to other markets soon.
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AOL Announces Project Phoenix, a New Webmail Client
On the eve of Facebook's rumored announcement of a Facebook Webmail product, AOL announced an attempt to rise its email product from the ashes of AOL'e email, which is seeing its user base rapidly decline: Project Phoenix. Project Phoenix can be accessed at phoenix.aol.com. It is invite only, at least for now.
It's hard to see how a Webmail refresh can stem the tide of those leaving AOL's email service. Business Insider's chart on the decline and fall of AOL's email shows the service has fallen below MySpace Mail, way down the list.
Additionally, and worse news for AOL, AOL Mail provides 45 percent of the page views on the AOL network. Thus, it is obvious that AOL needs to halt the decline of its email users.
While speed and integration with social networking sites are the keys to Project Phoenix, Fortune also notes the follow changes:
- Aggregation of Aol, Yahoo, Gmail, Comcast, and other email accounts into one inbox a la iOS.
- A "Quick Bar" or shortcut bar above the inbox with short email, IM, text, Facebook and Twitter status update capabilities.
- Three inbox views -- "expanded," which allows viewing of the first few lines of each email, "compact" (think traditional), and and the Entourage-like "reading pane."
- Web browser-like tabs for switching between user inbox and messages.
- A Mapquest sidebar adjacent to the email body that automatically detects addresses listed in open emails and offers directions
- A photo sidebar that aggregates photo attachments.
- New optional email domain names.
AOL Disrupts the Inbox with Project Phoenix by AOL Mail
PALO ALTO, Calif., Nov 14, 2010 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- On the heels of the launch of the new AOL.com and several new local content initiatives, AOL Inc. today unveiled a preview of the new AOL Mail, code-named Project Phoenix. This is a major milestone in AOL's overall efforts to reinvent its products and deliver on its commitment to provide the best consumer experiences on the Internet. Phoenix was designed and built from the ground up as an innovative and intuitive email solution that fits the way consumers communicate today. AOL Mail remains an important part of AOL's business; in fact it represents 45 percent of the page views on the AOL network today.
"Email remains one of the most vital communication tools despite all of the new sites and apps available to consumers today," said Brad Garlinghouse, President of AOL's Consumer Applications Group. "There is still so much innovation to be done in the space and Project Phoenix is just the beginning. We see a huge opportunity to disrupt email in a big way. AOL is the company that brought everyone online, and now we're making it simpler and more enjoyable to be there."
Project Phoenix is a fast and fresh new experience. Users will notice a streamlined design that is both visually appealing and intuitive in nature. Other notable features of Project Phoenix include:In conjunction with the preview, AOL will offer consumers the opportunity to get the email address of their choice by offering more options for name structures and new domains like love.com, wow.com and games.com. The full product will be released early next year, but interested users can sign up to request an invitation to the beta today.
- Quick Bar - makes it easy to quickly send emails, instant or text messages and even update Facebook and Twitter via Lifestream directly from the inbox.
- Smart View - prominently displays important information like maps, attached photos and files, and conversation threads on the right hand side of the inbox so users can see relevant details and files before they even open a message.
- Email aggregation - makes it is easy to receive and send messages from almost any provider, including GMail, Yahoo! Mail, and Hotmail, right inside your AOL inbox.
- Single-click search - makes it easy to search across any folder and all email accounts and instantly refine the search by clicking simple options that appear dynamically next to the search results.
- Free access to premium service - includes customer support for each email account along with unlimited storage, a choice of POP or IMAP email service, and support for email attachments of up to 25MB.
For more information about Project Phoenix go to phoenix.aol.com.
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Elgato EyeTV Netstream Sat Streams Freesat TV To Your Home Network
While North American definitely gets a lot of things first, it's lagging behind when it comes to content distribution at home. Japan has Blu-ray burners everywhere for burning content that see on television, and the UK's Freesat can be easily transferred between devices. Who knows if that functionality will ever come to America, but if you're in the United Kingdom, Elgato has a new device that'll make watching Freesat television a lot easier.
The EyeTV Netstream is a compact box that will enable users to stream Freesat satellite television to any PC on your home network, and even to your iPad via an EyeTV app. The box functions as a network tuner for DVB-S2 streams, and it makes things easy when looking to stream a single Freesat signal all over your house. Instead of distributing Internet as with a WLAN router, this new box streams live, over-the-air television.
Support has yet to come to the iPod touch or iPhone, but we have all ideas it's coming soon. The box will go on sale later in the month for £189.95, and the EyeTV app is another £2.99. Like we said, we can only hope this sort of technology comes to America.
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Netflix Coming To "Select" Android Handsets Next Year
It's a little hard to believe, but there's still no Netflix support for Android. Netflix streaming has been supported via an iPhone app for months now, and Windows Phone 7 support was granted just as soon as the OS hit the market. But Android has been around for years, and still no Netflix app. So, what gives? Finally, Netflix is shedding some light on that very question. Greg Peters, from Netflix product development, recently posted a blog concerning the lack of Netflix support on Android. He seems quite upset that they haven't been able to figure out a solution just yet, and while he wants Netflix on Android ASAP, there's one major problem: DRM. The same loopholes that have allowed piracy to run rampant in the Android Market are keeping content partners from signing off on a Netflix Android app. According to Peters: "The hurdle has been the lack of a generic and complete platform security and content protection mechanism available for Android. The same security issues that have led to piracy concerns on the Android platform have made it difficult for us to secure a common Digital Rights Management (DRM) system on these devices. Setting aside the debate around the value of content protection and DRM, they are requirements we must fulfill in order to obtain content from major studios for our subscribers to enjoy. Although we don’t have a common platform security mechanism and DRM, we are able to work with individual handset manufacturers to add content protection to their devices."
That last line is most important. What you're assuming is indeed the case. Moving forward, Netflix will be working with specific handset makers to product a Netflix app for specific phones. That means that whenever a Netflix app does come out for Android, it won't support all Android phones. Peters realizes that this will lead to a "fragmented" experience, but they feel that giving Netflix to some on Android is better than denying all Android users the ability to stream.
We aren't so sure we agree. Why not fight the content partners until all Android users are given clearance? It sounds to us that the content partners wouldn't hesitate to deny access to all Android users, but Netflix is doing the best they can with the situation they have been given. It's not ideal, but at least the first Android Netflix app is expected "early next year." No word on what phone(s) will support it right away, but hopefully it's a big bunch.
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