2007 CES Hardware Roundup
The best of CES 2007...

CES 2007 will probably be remembered best as a show that concentrated on the refinement of consumer products that already have market acceptance along with the maturation of digital convergence products. We have only looked at a small subsection of products that were available for viewing. At times it felt like we had seen the same product at least a dozen times when walking through the various consumer sites showing row after row of plasma, LCD, or DLP screens. Every once in a while we would notice something that would catch our eye, but overall the show was fairly bland which allowed us to concentrate on actual discussions about the products we were interested in rather than standing in an hour long line to view some hot new item


Read all about it here, courtesy of Anandtech.com

People spend more time with PC, than spouse
This doesn't surprise me one bit. Now I could only remember my wife's name...

edwood City (CA) - The cliched phrase "Honey, I'm home" may now actually be addressing the household computer, as a new survey by Kelton Research shows that the majority of Americans spend more time with their computer than they do with their significant other.

The study, which took a representative sample of 1001 adults, showed that 65% of the people polled said their "significant other" was receiving less attention than their computer, as part of an underlying trend of Americans' increasing devotion to and relationship with technology.

The results also showed that about 84% of Americans are more dependent on their computer today than they were three years ago. Additionally, the survey looked at problems most Americans face with computers. The average American spends 12 hours per month dealing with and trying to fix computer problems.

"As computers become increasingly pervasive in our lives, our relationships with them can begin to seem almost as important as a relationship with a significant other. When problems then occur with the computer, it often leaves people feeling frustrated or helpless," said tele-therapist Dr. Robi Ludwig in a press release by support.com, which commissioned the survey.

Computer addiction is a recently new field of study for psychology and has even sparked new detox facilities in other countries, like China. Others are more skeptical about the problem. In a 2005 Stanford report on Internet addiction, one researcher noted, "The Internet is an environment. You can't be addicted to the environment."

Read all about it here, courtesy of tgdaily.com

The Micro PCs: How Useful Are They?
Do good things come in small packages?

The Micro PC

I remember my first business trip with a laptop computer. At the beginning of the trip, I was excited about what I would be able to do with it. There’s a little known fact, though: laptops get heavier as a trip progresses. By the end of the trip, I felt like I was hauling an anchor around. I quickly began to look for more portable computers.

Many of us still search for the impossible dream: a full-blown computer that’s small enough to carry everywhere. Some manufacturers have tried to realize that dream with miniaturized solutions – sub-notebooks, Windows CE devices, and even handhelds – that let you get by without the size and weight of a laptop. Unfortunately, they have all had severe compromises in screen resolution, computing power, or compatibility with desktop OS software.

Today’s new portable PCs are not equipped with Windows CE or the Palm OS, and they’re not lame, stripped-down shadows of a PC. They are full-featured, so-called “tiny” or “micro” PCs, usually running Windows XP or Windows XP Tablet Edition, with 1 GHz+ processors, hard drives, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.0, USB connectivity, and more. These new devices include gadgets such as the new Sony VAIO UX280P Micro PC, the Samsung Q1, and the OQO, with more on the way. These types of devices have also been featured at [H] Consumer with the VIA Origami UMPC. At the time, the Origami was called an "ultra mobile PC."

Once you could only buy these tiny computers from vendors who imported them from Japan, where “small” is the most important feature of the device. Now we’re starting to see higher distribution with more support in the U.S.

My first hands-on impression of these computers was that they are, indeed, astoundingly small. For example, the above-mentioned Sony is 5.91”(W) x 3.74”(H) x 1.27-1.50”(D). And, yet, it’s not quite small enough to fit in my pocket. In particular, it is too thick for most people’s jean pockets – even if the jeans are on the baggy side. So the only ways to carry this new, compact technology are to keep it in hand or stowed in a briefcase. Or you can shell out even more cash for a custom carrying case.

In basketball, a player is sometimes labeled as a “tweener,” which means they are too big to play as a guard, but too small to play as a forward. Similarly, these new tiny PCs are difficult to classify: too large to carry like a handheld, but not powerful enough to replace a normal laptop. By trying to merge these two concepts, the tiny PCs are hoping to forge their own place in the landscape.

Their screens typically have a resolution that can support the width of Web pages. The Sony has a 1024 x 600 screen, which is amazing for how small it is (4.5”). Although this, of course, makes the pixels quite small, you can zoom in, and you almost have to. The Q1 and OQO both have 800 x 480 screens – just big enough to see the top half or quarter of most Web pages at full width.

And if there is a real advantage to the micro-PC, it’s the Internet. With free Wi-Fi becoming more widely supported in metropolitan areas, you can access the Web and email on the go. The Sony also includes a WAN connection to Cingular’s EDGE Network. And with Bluetooth capabilities, any of these computers can use a Bluetooth-equipped mobile phone as a modem to connect wherever there is cell phone access. The Sony even has two built-in cameras: one for video conferencing and one for taking pictures.

Read all about it here, courtesy of hardocp.com

20 Questions and Answers about Win Vista's DRM (Digital Rights Management)
Ready or not here it is....

A conversation has cropped up since the recent publication of a paper scrutinizing how Windows handles digital rights management, especially for HD video. I've since looped back with Dave Marsh, a Lead Program Manager responsible for Windows' handling of video, to learn from him the implications involved and to learn to what extent the paper's assertions are accurate. The following is an article Dave has put together to address the misconceptions in the paper, followed by answers to what we expect will be the most frequent questions in the minds of our customers. Leave us a comment to let us know what you think. -- Nick

Over the holidays, a paper was distributed that raised questions about the content protection features in Windows Vista. The paper draws sharp conclusions about the implications of those features for our customers. As one of the Lead Program Managers for the technologies in question, I would like to share our views on these questions.

Windows Vista includes content protection infrastructure specifically designed to help ensure that protected commercial audiovisual content, such as newly released HD-DVD or Blu-Ray discs, can be enjoyed on Windows Vista PCs. In many cases this content has policies associated with its use that must be enforced by playback devices. The policies associated with such content are applicable to all types of devices including Windows Vista PCs, computers running non-Windows operating systems, and standalone consumer electronics devices such as DVD players. If the policies required protections that Windows Vista couldn't support, then the content would not be able to play at all on Windows Vista PCs. Clearly that isn't a good scenario for consumers who are looking to enjoy great next generation content experiences on their PCs.

Associating usage policies with commercial content is not new to Windows Vista, or to the industry. In fact, much of the functionality discussed in the paper has been part of previous versions of Windows, and hasn’t resulted in significant consumer problems – as evidenced by the widespread consumer use of digital media in Windows XP. For example:

• Standard definition DVD playback has required selective use of Macrovision ACP on analog television outputs since it was introduced in the 1990s. DVD playback on and in Windows has always supported this.
• The ability to restrict audio outputs (e.g., S/PDIF) for certain types of content has been available since Windows Millennium Edition (ME) and has been available in all subsequent versions of Windows.
• The Certified Output Protection Protocol (COPP) was released over 2 years ago for Windows XP, and provides applications with the ability to detect output types and enable certain protections on video outputs such as HDCP, CGMS-A, and Macrovision ACP.

It's important to emphasize that while Windows Vista has the necessary infrastructure to support commercial content scenarios, this infrastructure is designed to minimize impact on other types of content and other activities on the same PC. For example, if a user were viewing medical imagery concurrently with playback of video which required image constraint, only the commercial video would be constrained -- not the medical image or other things on the user's desktop. Similarly, if someone was listening to commercial audio content while viewing medical imagery, none of the video protection mechanisms would be activated and the displayed images would again be unaffected.

Contrary to claims made in the paper, the content protection mechanisms do not make Windows Vista PCs less reliable than they would be otherwise -- if anything they will have the opposite effect, for example because they will lead to better driver quality control.

The paper implies that Microsoft decides which protections should be active at any given time. This is not the case. The content protection infrastructure in Windows Vista provides a range of à la carte options that allows applications playing back protected content to properly enable the protections required by the policies established for such content by the content owner or service provider. In this way, the PC functions the same as any other consumer electronics device.

With that introduction, here are the top twenty questions, and answers, that aim to address some of the other points raised in the paper.

Read all about it here, courtesy of windowsvistablog.com.

-Eric

Vista: Worthy, Largely Unexciting says "expert"
All I need to know is how do you define "worthy"...


P Successor Doesn't Break
New Ground on Ease of Use,
But It's Best Windows Yet
January 18, 2007; Page B1

A new version of Microsoft Windows, the world's most popular and important computer operating system, will finally arrive for consumers on Jan. 30. It has taken the giant software maker more than five years to replace Windows XP with this new version, called Windows Vista -- an eternity by computer-industry reckoning. Many of the boldest plans for Vista were discarded in that lengthy process, and what's left is a worthy, but largely unexciting, product.

ista is much prettier than previous versions of Windows. Its icons look better, windows have translucent borders, and items in the taskbar and in folders can display little previews of what they contain. Security is supposedly vastly better; there are some new free, included programs; and fast, universal search is now built in. There are hundreds of other, smaller, improvements and additions throughout the system, including parental controls and even a slicker version of Solitaire.

After months of testing Vista on multiple computers, new and old, I believe it is the best version of Windows that Microsoft has produced. However, while navigation has been improved, Vista isn't a breakthrough in ease of use. Overall, it works pretty much the same way as Windows XP. Windows hasn't been given nearly as radical an overhaul as Microsoft just applied to its other big product, Office.

Read all about it here, courtesy of WSJ.com

iPod Sales Up 50%
M$'s Zune has no sway over the iPod

The company reported first-quarter profit of $1 billion as iPod sales increased by 50 percent compared with the same period a year ago, Apple said in a press release Wednesday.

Revenue was $7.1 billion, up about 25 percent from the previous year's first quarter of $5.7 billion. Earnings per share were $1.14, up sharply from the previous year's earnings per share of 65 cents, for Apple's first fiscal quarter ending on December 30.

"Our fiscal year 2007 is off to a tremendous start," Peter Oppenheimer, Apple's chief financial officer, said on a conference call following the company's earnings release.

The results far outdid analyst expectations as tallied by Thomson First Call. The projection was for revenue of $6.4 billion and earnings per share of 78 cents.

Apple provided conservative guidance for its second quarter, however. It said it expects revenue of $4.8 billion to $4.9 billion, and earnings per share of 54 cents to 56 cents. Both ranges are below what analysts were projecting going into the current quarter.

The device has been around for five years, but iPod sales are still going strong, Apple reported. Just over 21 million iPods were purchased during the quarter, compared with 14 million during the previous year's holiday season. Revenue from iPods increased just 18 percent, however, from $2.9 billion to $.4 billion. Revenue from the iTunes Store was up 29 percent.

Read all about it here, courtesy of CNET.com.

-Eric

XFX 8800 GTX XXX Edition Graphics Card Review
More than a mouthfull to say, and packs a big punch too.

Today we are looking at XFX's overclocked edition of the GeForce 8800 GTX, the XXX. If you thought the standard GTX was fast you haven’t seen anything yet. Armed with an additional 55MHz core and 200MHz memory speeds, you can practically hear the card begging you for more.

XFX was the first company to release their overclocked 8800's and they are certain to have your mouth watering. What's more is they also have an 8800 GTS XXX running at 550MHz core and 1.8GHz, dialed up a full 50MHz and 200MHz respectively. However, we're focusing solely on the big dog 8800 GTX XXX and a no holds barred gaming experience. Just like a sexy bartender you'd like to get triple X with serving up free Corona's as fast as you can drink them, it's everything you could dream of.

Unfortunately though the Corona’s are the only thing you’re getting for free, at about $635 from your favorite e-tailer this might be the most expensive XXX show you’ve ever paid for. The XFX 8800 GTX in overclocked form justifies the higher price with, of course, higher performance. The XXX edition picks up where NVIDIA’s standard 8800 GTX dropped off, upping the core speed of the reference model from 575MHz to 630MHz and memory speed from 1.8GHz to a full 2GHz. It comes with the same blistering performance in DirectX 9 gaming and full compliance with Microsoft’s imminent release of DirectX 10 which will deliver the ultimate 3D experience. The same 768MB of memory with a 384-bit bus lives under that sleek black heat sink, which still occupies two slots. Fan speeds do not seem to have changed at all, the XXX edition is still extremely quiet in both 2D and 3D operation; however, those three slots at the end are pumping a lot of heat into the rest of your PCI and PCI-E cards. Gone are those awesome looking black PCB’s, the standard green boards are the only option at this time. The DVI ports on the card are both Dual Link, supporting up to 2560x1600 resolution, so you can drive both of those massive 30” LCD’s without any worries.

Read all about it here, courtesy of legitreviews.com.

-Eric

The BEST products of 2006
according to IGN...

It's that time of year again. Grab a snifter of your favorite brandy (or, for those of you not old enough, a glass of your favorite chocolaty drink -- we suggest warm Ovaltine), take a seat in that comfy recliner (yes, the one that seems to gently caress your supple buttocks in the way that makes you uncomfortably comfortable) and relax by the fire as we take you on a journey through the year that was 2006.

Like we say at IGN, "another 12 months, another 1,200 reviews." Yes, a lot of games, movies, CDs and comics have crossed our desks this year, and we've done our best to evaluate as many of them as we can to tell you what we think is worth your hard-earned buck. 2006 was a busy year with the release of two new gaming systems -- Sony's PS3 and Nintendo's Wii -- as well as the dawning of two new video platforms: HD-DVD and Blu-ray. Although this is a transition year both for videogames and the entertainment industry, we were certainly treated to some great games, movies, and CDs throughout 2006


Read all about it here, courtesy of ign.com.

-Eric

Cisco's iPhone Trademark Battle with Apple
The big boys square to see who keeps the name "iPhone".

My guess is Steve Job's with be sending Mark Chandler some make nice money and a early Christmas present. Then strangely enough it will be announced the lawsuit was all a big mix up and misunderstanding. Ummmm, yeah riiiiggghtttt....

UPDATE on Cisco's iPhone Trademark

Commentary from Mark Chandler, Cisco's SVP and General Counsel, on Apple's infringement of Cisco's iPhone trademark.

Today’s announcement from Cisco regarding our suit with Apple over our iPhone trademark has spurred a lot of interesting questions. Most importantly, this is not a suit against Apple’s innovation, their modern design, or their cool phone. It is not a suit about money or royalties. This is a suit about trademark infringement.

Cisco owns the iPhone trademark. We have since 2000, when we bought a company called Infogear Technology, which had developed a product that combined web access and telephone. Infogear’s registrations for the mark date to 1996, before iMacs and iPods were even glimmers in Apple’s eye. We shipped and/or supported that iPhone product for years. We have been shipping new, updated iPhone products since last spring, and had a formal launch late last year. Apple knows this; they approached us about the iPhone trademark as far back as 2001, and have approached us several times over the past year.

For the last few weeks, we have been in serious discussions with Apple over how the two companies could work together and share the iPhone trademark. We genuinely believed that we were going to be able to reach an agreement and Apple’s communications with us suggested they supported that goal. We negotiated in good faith with every intention to reach a reasonable agreement with Apple by which we would share the iPhone brand.

Read all about it here, courtesy of blogs.cisco.com.

-Eric

CES 2007: John Carmack And Todd Hollenshead Speak
The gaming "gods" have some interesting stuff to say about the gaming landscape. Carmack not warming up to Vista....

Carmack: It’s a tough thing for Microsoft, where, essentially, Windows XP was a just fine operating system. Before that, there were horrible problems with Windows. But once they got there, it did everything an operating system is supposed to do. Nothing is going to help a new game by going to a new operating system. There were some clear wins going from Windows 95 to Windows XP for games, but there really aren’t any for Vista. They’re artificially doing that by tying DX10 so close it, which is really nothing about the OS. It’s a hardware-interface spec. It’s an artificial thing that they’re doing there. They’re really grasping at straws for reasons to upgrade the operating system. I suspect I could run XP for a great many more years without having a problem with it.


Read all about it here, courtesy of gameinformer.com

-Eric

Apple lowers the boom - announces iPhone and Apple TV
It's been rumored, and now it's official at Macworld Keynote 2007

Tuesday January 09, 2007 03:14 PM

Posted by arn

Apple kicked off Macworld with a keynote address from Steve Jobs at Macworld San Francisco.

Apple announced the following items today:

- iPhone
- Apple TV
- Apple Computer, Inc is now Apple, Inc
- 802.11n capable Airport Extremes

A transcript and keynote photos from our live coverage are still available.

Read all about it here, courtesy of macrumors.com.

Eric

The best gaming console of 2006
Xbox360 named the "best" in '06

The Best Of 2006 @ [H] Console

Welcome to [H] Console’s first annual year end “Best Of” awards. We have picked what we feel are the best of the best for the year 2006. This last year was, without a doubt, an extremely eventful year in the console industry.

Best Of 2006

Welcome to [H] Console’s first annual year end “Best Of” awards. We have picked what we feel are the best of the best for the year 2006. This last year was, without a doubt, an extremely eventful year in the console industry. With the release of all three next-gen consoles we can finally ditch the term “next-gen” for a few years. We saw spectacular worldwide launches and equally spectacular stumbles. We were witness to countless product releases, product revisions and even a few recalls. So sit back and enjoy our take on what we believe to be the Best Of 2006.

The following products, in our opinion, were the best in their class for the year 2006. Obviously, the list is subjective and based solely on the opinions of our editors but we feel that, on the whole, we have selected the products most worthy of your time, consideration, and hard earned money.

---

Best Console

Microsoft Xbox 360: Whether or not you are a fan of Microsoft, you have to admit that the company has been on a roll this year. While it is true that they have basically run unopposed for the entire year, thanks to the whopping 12 month head start they had on the competition, it is what they have done with that lead that earned them the top spot on the list:

• Addressed 2005 Launch Console Hardware Issues
• Extended The Warranty To One Year
• Fine Tuned Xbox Live
• Added Background Downloading
• Added 1080p Support
• Launched The Xbox 360 Video Marketplace
• Xbox Live Vision
• Xbox 360 Wireless Headset
• HD-DVD Add-On Drive
• 10 Million Units Shipped

Microsoft is not without its flaws. The company has had a number of very high profile flubs in its first year, like high rate of failure among launch consoles, updates that bricked consoles and the video marketplace choking on launch day under heavy strain. But the fact of the matter is that each problem has been remedied and MS is now firing on all cylinders. New features and products are rolled out regularly and having A-list games like Oblivion, Dead Rising and Gears of War all to themselves hasn’t hurt either.

To be brutally honest, the one year head start has allowed Microsoft to turn Xbox Live into “the” online system to beat, release blockbuster games like Gears Of War and completely dominating 2006...making it the console to beat.

Unfortunately for both the Wii and the PS3, both systems arrived far too late in the year to really challenge Microsoft for the “Best Console” award. Although the PS3 is having a difficult time right now, the Wii is off to an amazing start but both consoles, 5 weeks after launch, are almost impossible to find at your local retailer right now. With that said, we can’t wait to see what 2007 brings!

Read all about it here, courtesy of hardocp.com

Eric

New "iPhone" may be phone and pc
Apple readies itself for it's next great product since iPod...

SAN FRANCISCO: For functions from e-mail and instant messaging to mobile MySpace and ESPN, computer users are increasingly turning to the "fourth screen" — the one on their cellphones — which is evolving to adopt more characteristics of the three previous generations of screens: movie, television and computer.

That shift may well be underscored on Tuesday when Steven Jobs, the chief executive of Apple Computer, is expected to unveil an Apple phone representing his company's new mobile communications strategy — highlighted by a device that may include Jobs-inspired refinements like a sleek ceramic case and a transparent touch screen.

Industry executives and competitors say that Apple has developed the first of the next generation of devices that are closer to personal computers in pocket form, meaning that they will easily handle music, entertainment, productivity tasks and communications on cellular and other wireless networks.

But while Apple quickly dominated the music-player category after it introduced the iPod in 2001, its challenge with a phone would be far more difficult.

While Apple was early to portable digital music, it would be distinctly late in entering the world of Internet- connected digital hand-helds. Arrayed against it are giants including Nokia, Motorola, Sony Ericsson and Microsoft, in addition to entrenched hand-held companies like Palm and Research In Motion.

Also waiting to enter the fray are powerful Internet companies like Google, which cannot afford to be cut off from users who now rely on them in the desktop computing world.

"Apple is about to touch off a nuclear war," said Paul Mercer, a software designer and president of Iventor, a designer of software for hand-helds based in Palo Alto, California. "The Nokias and the Motorolas will have to respond."

Read all about it here, courtesy of iht.com.

Eric

RIAA files court papers admitting 70 cents per song is "in the correct range"

RIAA changes it's "tune" on cost per song...weird...

Ironically, as the RIAA battles on in its supposed struggle to keep its 70-cents-per-download wholesale price "confidential", in UMG v. Lindor, it has publicly filed court papers admitting that the 70-cents-per-download price is "in the correct range" (See Richard Gabriel Letter, Exhibit A, 7th page) and that "the actual numbers are in the range that you have suggested [approximately 70 cents per download]" (Richard Gabriel Letter, Exhibit A, 6th page):

Read all about it here courtesy of recordingindustryvspeople.blogspot.com

Eric

World’s first 2000W ATX Power Supply Unit
I told you that small nuclear reactor to power pc's was going to happen

f you guys thought a 1000W PSU was impressive, you’ll really want to see the Ultra X3 Modular 2000W that will be unveiled at CES in just a few days. Here’s a clip from the press release from Ultra:

Ultra Products, a global leader in technology solutions, today announces that it will unveil the world’s first 2000W ATX Power Supply Unit for the PC at next week’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. The Ultra X3 Modular 2000W PSU has a footprint similar to some competitors’ 1000W units (just 10.25 inches) and is 80% efficient under typical loads.

Read all about it here courtesy of hardocp.com

Eric

Top 11 Things Geeks Did on New Years
The sad part is, I think I did most of these on New Years...

Things Geeks Did on New Year's Eve
11.	Kissed their WoW avatar at midnight.
10.	Watched the BIOS date change years.
9.	Hoped for a Y2K+7 bug.
8.	Too busy playing nethack to notice.
7.	Listened to Auld Lang Syne on their iPod.
6.	Popped open a bottle of caffeinated champagne.
5.	Updated their New Year's Resolution database to reflect the passing year.
4.	Defragmented their hard drives.
3.	Stayed up for 24 hours to wish all their online friends in different time zones a Happy New Year at the appropriate hour.
2.	Had to come in to work to upgrade and reboot servers all night long.
1.	Nothing. Real Klingons don't celebrate puny holidays like New Year's Eve.

Read all about it here courtesy of BBspot.com

Eric

Apple facing several lawsuits
Not a good way to start a new year...

Amid the options imbroglio, Apple is also facing several federal lawsuits it disclosed in its delayed regulatory filing Friday with the Securities and Exchange Administration, the Associated Press is reporting.

One of those suits targets the copy-protection system we all know and bemoan that keeps iTunes music and video from playing on rival media players and also keeps content purchased elsewhere from being easily playable on iPods, according to a Saturday AP story. The suit alleges the company "created an illegal monopoly by tying" iTunes content to its market-leading iPods, the story said. The suit was filed in July and the court denied Apple's motion for dismissal on December 20, the story said.

Another lawsuit mentioned in the story "alleges that the logic board of Apple's iBook G4 fails at an abnormally high rate." And another filed by PhatRat Technology alleges patent infringement on a Nike-iPod product, the story said.

Read all about it here courtesy of news.com.

Eric