Monday, July 28, 2008

XM and Sirius Merge good?


As most of you know, XM and Sirius Satellite Radio are merging. Well, almost... only a few more hoops to jump through. XM and Sirius plan to put out a radio within 9 months that will play XM and Sirius as well as guarantee a 12.95/mo cap for the next three years at least.

What does this mean for us? Well us loyal sirius customers will be able to keep our programming; but here's what I want: I want to be able to add an XM radio to my existing account for only 6/mo.. that same deal currently offered for customers with multiple Sirius or XM radios.. but never before one of each!

Just something to think about :-)

Sunday, July 27, 2008

Amazon's E-Book may replace Newsweek Magazine Print


Imagine this:
Wake up on Sunday morning, your coffee is automatically brewed, your TV has recorded your local news, and your Amazon Kindle player has downloaded your latest Newsweek newspaper and is ready to be read.

That's right, maybe the last newspaper you have to purchase is around the corner. Over wifi (let's face it if you don't have wifi in your home by now... skip this article), you can download your paper and even soon books (surely from amazon.com) to your new player and read them at home.

I think the key to this project being successful is making it as tangible as possible and make the reading easy on the eyes. I don't know why people don't just get a computer for their news but hey, i guess it's nice to pick up a paper in the morning and hold it in your hands...

Link: http://www.newsweek.com/id/70983

Sony OLED Technology Looking Promising


What is this? OLED is Organic Light-emitting Diode technology. Many vendors are beginning to market their device: Sony, Samsung, and LG to start. Sony, however, has launched a 27-inch version that is 3mm thick and can do 1Million:1 contrast ratio in 1080p! This will definitely change the way displays can be used.
Check out the video yourself: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FTEt5o_jt30


Also, Laser TV (using lasers as the backlight) is said to be 30-40% cheaper than plasma and show twice the color spectrum.
Check it out here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EbRT_9AOt9Q

And yet again, 3D TV (currently by samsung) may be a new way to watch 3D movies in your own home.
Check out the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJdIOcYWjoI

Check it out! Very great technology on the horizon awaiting a cheaper way to mass produce and a consumer base to buy them.

Saturday, July 26, 2008

Sprint Touch OEM WM6.1 Update released and on my phone (review)

Windows Mobile 6.1 for HTC Touch Review
Me: Tech/Power user
ROM: Stock OEM Sprint ROM Windows Mobile 6.1 (3.03.651.4-6/30/08)

Stock Additions:
1. Added Functionality for GPS hardware to use in Windows Live Search
2. Huge upgrade to Windows Live Search! Added speach recognition, GPS mapping, Movies, Gas Prices to the already kick ass program features.
3. Upgraded OnDemand and renamed to Pocket Express
4. Sprint added Opera Mobile 8.65 to their OEM ROM. While this browser is far better than Pocket IE 6 (even with the added zoom feature from 6.1), it is still no comparison to the new Opera Mobile 9.5 that they are beta testing now. It does not support double-tap zoom in and out.
5. Windows Mobile 6.1 added threaded text messaging. This is cool. Now when i go to my text inbox, i can see each 'conversation' and when I click on a person's conversation I can see the entire text chain (sent and received) as an instant messenger screen. Very cool IMO!

Custom Installed Programs/Hacks:
1. Opera 9.1 build 1184 (modified for htc touch) (pre beta release) - this version of Opera Mobile allows double-tap for zoom in and zoom out, has a new easy to use interface that leaves most of the window to browsing! It's truly as close as you can get to safari. I am looking forward to the 9.5 edition once it's fully released!
2. S2U2 (slide to unlock) - iphone-like phone locking program.
3. sMMs - Send picture mail (sprint's version of MMS) from my phone. This feature is not built in to Sprint's Windows Mobile phones.
4. HTC Streaming Media Player - Removed by Sprint.. added back by me. This program plays youtube and other browser incompatible streaming media sources automatically and takes you back to the browser when done.
5. HTC Touch Diamond keyboard set. This includes the same keyboards as the OEM Rom (keypad, touch keyboard, and Qwerty keyboard). This set of keyboards is designed to look sharp and fit the touch diamond look.
6. HTC Touch Diamond dialer. This is the phone program made over to look like the Touch Diamond's sharp dialer interface.
7. TCPMP. This is a media player that can play compressed movies that I put on there.

Overall:
Love this phone! Great for people who don't like to be 'stuck in the box' with their phone. On the other hand, it's easy to crash and mess up your phone by installing incompatible apps and hacking the settings. Still, I definitely like this update... looking forward to windows mobile 7.

Monday, July 14, 2008

Xbox owners will soon be able to watch movies streamed through game consoles to their TVs, thanks to a deal Microsoft has landed with online rental service Netflix



This is awesome... I have both! :-)



Here's the link: http://ping.fm/Id4gk