When I think GE, I think washer/dryer, I think fridge. Turns out this enormous company makes about everything under the sun that’s even remotely electronic. I’m a DSLR guy, but stuff like touchscreen LCDs and built-in GPS receptors could tempt even the most skeptical old-schooler. Here are the facts for the $250 E1050, for example:
10 megapixels, 28mm equivalent lens, 5x optical zoom, 3″ touchscreen LCD, up to 3200 ISO, records and plays back hi-def movies (details lacking here)
It’s got face, smile, and blink detection, GPS tagging, in-camera panorama stitching, and electronic image stabilization (optical is usually better but they’ve worked out some of the bugs in EIS). Sounds cool.
The “article” is basically a press release, but whatever.
GE Cameras Score Big Features: Smile and Blink Detection, Better Optics, HDTV, GPS, and More [Business Wire]
I know I’d never buy this doodad, but maybe some crazed DS fanboy might. I think the speakers are adequate enough and it’s the perfect size. For some reason Gametech thinks differently and wants you to fatten up that DS Lite with the Sound Shell. It also acts as a case and has a built-in stand, so that’s worth something. Not sure how much louder the sound will be, though. It retails for about $30, but it’s only in Japan.
Impress [via DS Fanboy]
After months of speculation EA’s CEO John Riccitiello confirmed today at the end of the Q3 conf call that Rock Band will be coming to the Wii. No word on when and for how much, but rest assured that it’s coming.
Rock Band Confirmed for Wii [IGN]
We’re coming up to Valentine’s Day, 2008, and here I am again without a date. Ok, not true, I have two dates, but it’s not like that. Ok, it is if I’m lucky. Anyway, the point is, there are these shirts, see, and when you and your signif are wearing them, and you come within hugging distance (which is a scientific constant, like 1AU), the half-filled pixelated hearts fill all the way up, because you’re in love!
Actually, with my luck, even if I had a girlfriend, we’d each only find ourselves wearing these on dedicated Arguing Days. Sucks to be me.
8-Bit Dynamic Light Shirt [Think Geek]
A source at Intel has revealed that Windows PCs will soon be using the much-lauded MacBook Air processor that Apple forced Intel to make practically at gunpoint. This isn’t really surprising; it’s understandable that Intel would let Apple have the glory of the unveil, but it’s a valuable technology and I’ve heard from reliable sources that Intel likes money. So don’t be surprised to see a “As featured on the MacBook Air!” sticker on that Dell or Acer or whatever the kids are buying these days.
Windows PC makers to use MacBook Air chips [PC Advisor]
It’s been a while since my last Orientation, but we’ve all been traveling around for various events and such over the last month so it’s been a little hectic. To get things back on track, we’re going to talk about High-Definition Multimedia Interface, better known as HDMI. The Super Bowl is coming up as well as March Madness and some of you just got a brand new HDTV for the holidays so let’s try and get the best out of the whole deal. Sound good?
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[UPDATE - I put the chat room over on the side, just to see what, if anything, will happen if our readers can talk to each other. Lawsuits here we come!]
We talked about Meebo quite a while ago. They’re essentially a web-based IM client that supports a number of protocols including AIM and MSN. Well, they’ve just started offering embeddded rooms for websites like the one above. We’re going to hide this one here in case we need it for keynotes or breaking news but feel free to idle in it like it was 1998. While this isn’t very new or special, you can, potentially, place this same chatroom on your homepage and constantly be in contact with the CG team at any time, day or night. How about them apples?
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Bad: A tornado comes and destroys your home. Worse: Comcast wants to charge you $2000 for the five, nine-year old cable boxes that got destroyed.
That’s what happened to a Wheatland, Wisconsin resident, and Comcast is standing its ground.
The cable operator says that the victim will have to get reimbursement from her insurance company to pay the bill. The insurers, however, are only willing to pay the depreciated value of the five boxes and cable modem, even though Comcast is asking for the original price.
I’ve had a similar situation with Comcast: an ancient cable box of mine was destroyed at a party, and they wanted me to pay $500 for it before I could get a new one. The thing wasn’t worth that much new. So, I went to the Goodwills and was able to replace it for about $10. Me, 1; Comcast, 0.
But really, should Comcast expect full value on equipment nearly a decade old? We think not.
Cable TV bills with a twist [Kenosha News]
He could be looking up your info!
There’s a database out there with your name on it. (In it, but on it sounded better.) Intelius collects information like your cellphone number, how much your house worth and so forth and then stuffs it all into a database. This information is gathered from public records. The database can be used by anyone, provided they pony up at least $8, though the most in-depth report costs $50. Privacy advocates and the people who love them aren’t too keen on the database, saying it’s an invasion of privacy. Verizon Wireless doesn’t like it either and says it’s prepared to go to litigation to prevent its customers’ numbers from getting out.
I did a quick search on our well-muscled leader John Biggs and found out some interesting things. Did you know his middle name begins with a “D” and he once lived in Farifax, Virginia? I didn’t pay for the rest of the report because I’m poor and live in Queens, but you’re all more than welcome to try it out for yourself. Search for yourself, search for your friends, search for celebrities. Have fun!
Cell phone directory rings alarm bells [MSNBC]
Intelius
Are we looking at HTC’s next GUI? Could be! It might be called “Manila” too. Doesn’t it give you goose bumps? Oh really? It didn’t give me goose bumps either. I just said that because I figured there was something wrong with my feelings again.
Here’s some more info from the::unwired,
I have zero information if this screenshots are legit or just a simple PhotoShop result but according to Swiss Windows Mobile fan-site “Mobile-Devices.ch”, bellow you see some screenshots of HTC’s upcoming/next TouchFLO GUI which is code-named “Manila”.
No further information given so it’s not clear if it is real (really from HTC), an HTC development environment or really HTC “TouchFLO 2.0″; also Mobile-Devices.ch hasn’t mentioned where they got the information from but from what you can see from the screenshots, it could be real indeed.
So there you have it. Grains of salt and all that good stuff.
LEAK: Is this a new HTC TouchFLO GUI called Manila? [the::unwired]
Text messages are both annoying and expensive. Lawsuits are both annoying and expensive. Put the two together and you’ve got yourself a “Risky Business” party.
A lawsuit was filed in Washington state arguing that T-Mobile should let customers turn off text messaging altogether. As it is, T-Mo’s customers have to pay for text messages they don’t want—things like daily jokes and horoscopes. (Never mind that you have to sign up for these services in the first place.) Hence, lawsuit. Yay.
I used to get unwanted text messages a few years ago. Somehow my number found its way onto some “party promoter” list and I was getting messages like every night. “Yo come out to this crazy party on Ludlow mad crazy yo.”
No. Thank you.
Eventually I texted back in a threatening manner—”please stop sending these”—and never got another message again. I’m a walking Sesame Street episode.
Class action nails T-Mobile USA over texting services [RCR Wireless News]
The US Governemnt is staging a terrorist-like War Game, called “Cyber Storm”, to simulate an attack against our country’s infrastructure, ala Die Hard 4. Attacks would be carried out against transportation and utilities, using hijackers, hackers, and bloggers.
Wait, what?
Apparently Homeland Security is worried that us troublesome bloggers will reveal vital gas lines or something in the case of an attack, so we’re a threat. Watch out for bloggers!
We can spout all kinds of stuff that the Terrorists can use to blow you up. We’re dangerous!
This is such crap.
U.S. Mock Disaster Drill: Trains, Planes and Bloggers [News Factor]
The big auction is in full swing, and the anonymous bids are flowing in. After two weeks of bidding, the FCC is set to receive more than $12 billion for the various blocks of spectrum, with the valuable C block bringing in $4.7b of that with the most recent bid.
Breaking the reserve means that the restrictions Google suggested — making the spectrum open to outside devices and applications — are now in effect. People were afraid when the FCC adopted this idea, with the condition that the reserve was met, would dampen interest in the spectrum block. But as it stands, they’re making a killing on it although we won’t know who’s dropping the bills until it’s all over. It’s so exciting!
Large block in 700MHz auction exceeds reserve price of $4.6 billion [InfoWorld]
You love Guitar Hero 3, admit it. It’s so much fun, especially after a few Sparks with your friends. But if you’re like me, you don’t have the game. You get to play when you go to your friend’s houses. But man, I really want my own axe, so I was glad when it was recently announced that Activision would be releasing controllers by themselves, that you could buy ala carte, and they’re coming in March.
The Wii version, in Wii White, will be $59, while the PS3 and 360 versions will be $69. And yes, that’s Slash on the box, worth the price right there.
Guitar Hero 3 Standalone Guitars Priced, Dated, Pictured [Primotech]
Looks like Crackberry addicts on the AT&T network are experiencing some major outages and not receiving their precious e-mails. It appears that the majority of problems are in the Midwest around Chicago. I asked my roommate if her Curve was working and she said it was all good. Anyone care to share?
The Super Bowl is upon us and basketball fans are getting ready for Super Sunday. Charlie White over at DVICE posted a fairly thorough examination of HDTVs that you might want to look at before then, especially if you still have an old Sony Bravia from 2001.
Take a gander and then head down to Best Buy with your knew-found knowledge. You don’t have to thank us. Just enjoy your sport-watching!
We pick the best HDTV for your Super Bowl party [DVICE]
I’m a fan of Logitech’s Harmony line of universal remote controls. I’ve got a pretty awesome home-theater set-up in my apartment, and thus I need a capable control center, and it does the job nicely.
When I first discovered the remotes, I was excited: a learning remote with USB? What will they think of next?
Enter the tvCompass SR 1500 Digital Media Remote. As the long title suggests, this thing is big business. Taking the controls and tasks of a universal a step further, the SR 1500 includes WiFi, it connects wirelessly to your home network to download device updates and auto-configures for your system.
But that’s not all it does. It has a WAP browser for the mobile Web (no, really), built-in TV Guide app, PayPal (no, really), and runs Windows.
I’m not sure who this amazing thing is aimed at, as I can’t imagine a home theater with many more components than what I have. That being said, I’m so curious about this device, it’s driving me a little silly. We’ll try to get our hands on one and let you know how it goes.
tvCompass [Product Page]
Don’t get me wrong here. Having more capacity is always a plus, but 16GB of space?! I can barely fill up my 8GB SDHC and Kingston comes out with a 16GB Class 4 SDHC memory card. What does Class 4 mean? Well, the minimum data transfer rate on this is 4MB/s. Not too shabby. That’s about all you really need to know, too. It retails for $231.
The LowKey Stand is a USB hub/keyboard cozy for those of you who feel that keyboards should be hidden away like your dirty, dirty pee-parts. The $59.99 stand complements the iMac’s staid design and is completely self-powered via USB 2.0. It’s shipping February 15, just after I refuse to let anyone touch me on Valentine’s Day. Not even my mom.
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