Archive for: July 10, 2009

By Evan Ackerman What with all of the, uh, legally purchased music and movies and games that I download buy, I fill up my hard drives once a year or so. Rather than buying a bunch of external drives, I just buy new bare drives, and swap ‘em out. There are any number of mildly convenient ways ( like this, for example ) to access a bare drive after you’ve eviscerated it out of your computer, but none of them are as convenient as just having a USB interface on the drive itself. Now, this particular drive (a 1.8″ drive designed for mobile hardware) doesn’t have any interface besides the native USB, and this is obviously not acceptable for laptop or desktop use. But I don’t see why adding a a standard USB option to most internal drives wouldn’t be possible, and it would make accessing old data much, much easier as well as more robust. Plus, it’s likely that USB as an interface standard is going to be around way longer than PATA/IDE or SATA. This may not matter much right now, but it will in the future, by which time nobody will remember what all of those little tiny pins are supposed to plug into and you’ll just have to forget about recovering your (now vintage) porn stash. VIA [ Engadget ]

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Samsung HD Includes On-Board USB Interface

Take a loot at this photo . Makes me wonder how it actually works. Where’s that cable connecting to the iPhone to the freeLoader coming from? Ah well. Matters not. It’s a cool piece of solar power technology. The FreeLoader is a portable solar charger that allows you to charge your gadgets when you’re away from the nearest wall socket. The device works as a pure solar power charger via its solar panels or you can also charge the battery by simply plugging it into a USB port allowing you to use it immediately after a quick charge. Of course, it takes longer to charge using the sun’s energy — roughly 8 hours. Here is a complete list of devices that work with the FreeLoader: * Nokia phones old 3.5mm jack and the new 2mm jack * LG Chocolate, LG shine and Prada phones * Samsung A288 and D800 current series phones * Sony Ericsson K750 and K800i current series phones * Nintendo DS Lite * iPod (compatible with most iPod devices including iPhone and iPhone 3G) * 4mm jack for Sony PSP, Tom Tom, most digital cameras, PDAs, 2-way radios * Mini USB for Motorola, Blackberry, Qtec, Smartphone, iMate, most digital cameras and Bluetooth headsets * USB female for PDAs, mp3 players, most digital cameras and most devices which can be charged through USB The solar powered FreeLoader is available for SD $49.99. [image courtesy of ThinkGeek ] Post from: Cellphone9

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FreeLoader Solar Charger at USD $49.99

Sprint Nextel is requiring manufacturers to provide Wi-Fi capabilities in its smartphones, including a version of the BlackBerry Tour that will be released next year. Jeff Clemow, director of business product marketing for Sprint, said the company “is embracing Wi-Fi in all its major devices going forward.” However, no time line was given for manufacturers to comply. The Tour is being launched by Sprint this weekend, with support for CDMA and GSM networks. Industry observers have noted that the anticipated device does not support Wi-Fi. No specific release date for Sprint’s new, Wi-Fi-enabled Tour has been given. ‘Changed Their Tune About Wi-Fi’ Other BlackBerrys, including the Bold for AT&T, do offer Wi-Fi, and AT&T, Verizon Wireless, and T-Mobile USA have been aggressive about offering Wi-Fi. As an example, there are reports that Verizon has privately instructed its device manufacturers that Wi-Fi has to be included in all major smartphones. Avi Greengart, an analyst with industry research firm Current Analysis, said there is “no question” that carriers have “changed their tune about Wi-Fi.” At one time, he noted, it was seen as a competitor to 3G, but now some carriers have taken the position that Wi-Fi helps to off-load traffic from their 3G networks. Consumers, he said, “prefer choice.” Greengart said 3G offers consumers widespread coverage, while Wi-Fi can offer faster access. But, he noted, Wi-Fi can “also provide coverage where there is no 3G, and vice versa.” At this point, he said, many consumers “want both, particularly for high-end devices” such as the BlackBerry Tour. WiMAX Next? The move to offer Wi-Fi more widely is part of several new initiatives from Sprint to position itself in the fast-moving wireless market. Some industry observers have suggested that Sprint, whose partner Clearwire is building a a high-speed WiMAX network, may soon begin ...

Apple’s App Store has reached its one-year milestone. The Cupertino, Calif.-based company one year ago launched the online store for its iPhone and iPod touch and has had great success offering users applications that do everything from calculate nutritional information to games that shoot cartoons out of volcanoes. The question on many peoples’ minds remains how to gauge the App Store’s success. “I can confirm more than 50,000 apps are available for download on the App Store and that over one billion apps have been downloaded since launch,” said Simon Pope, an Apple spokesperson. While the number of apps downloaded isn’t something to ignore, Apple, which receives 30 percent of revenue from each app sold, has never revealed what the profits are from the popular store. Because Apple has remained tight-lipped about profits and the cost to maintain the App Store, it’s not clear if it has been a financial success for Apple. Apple’s Bruises Not all has been perfect in the 12 months since the store’s launch. Developers have complained that Apple doesn’t like competition and has blocked any app that might compete with its own iPhone programs. They have also criticized Apple for being too rigid when it comes to deciding what is offensive. Developers have further complained about the app-approval process, which is often described as controlling, confusing and slow. As a result, some developers have accepted Apple’s terms in order to continue to develop for the store, while others have boycotted Apple’s gatekeeper ways by developing for others. “About 90 percent of apps are low-quality and unacceptable, and apps have been free as opposed to having fees,” said Robert Enderle, principal analyst at Enderle Group. In the year since its launch, the App Store has had to face competition from others. “The Apple app store has ...

Microsoft’s Bing search engine overtook Yahoo in the United States on Thursday, according to StatCounter. The last time Bing overtook Yahoo on a single day was on June 4, shortly after its launch, the Dublin-based Web analytics firm said. Bing grabbed 12.9 percent of the U.S. market versus Yahoo’s 10.15 percent share, but both are still well behind market leader Google at 74.99 percent, reported StatCounter, which bases its research on an analysis of 1.316 billion search-engine referring clicks — including 336 million from the U.S. “While (Bing’s) lead over Yahoo may not last into next week, our data suggests that it is slowly but surely closing the gap,” said StatCounter CEO Aodhan Cullen. At Google’s Expense StatCounter reported earlier this month that Bing helped Microsoft increase its share of the U.S. search market by one percentage point during June. Overall, Microsoft held an 8.23 percent share last month, trailing far behind Google (78.48 percent) and Yahoo (11.04 percent). Cullen said the latest data indicate Bing’s success is coming at Google’s expense. “We can see that Bing is gaining very slowly, but it is gaining, and the data is almost a mirror image in that when Bing goes up, Google goes down and vice versa,” Cullen said. “But Yahoo remains very steady — it’s not losing any share.” Other recent reports suggest that Google users in particular seem to be looking for a viable alternative to the current search-engine market leader. “In the first week following the announcement of brand Bing — but still before the official June 1 launch — 97 percent of visitors to Bing.com overlapped with Google, compared with only 37 percent and two percent overlap with Yahoo and AOL, respectively,” said Taylor Holsinger at Web analytics firm Compete.com. “During launch week, the dramatically larger overlap of ...

(Credit: Snaefell project) We’ve heard of sidecars, but this just takes the cake, er, car for literally having a side car. While the end result looks rather like an unfortunate mashup in a mishap, it’s still a headturner for its fiery red bodywork and odd coupling of car …

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Bike with a side car, or car with a side bike?

By Andrew Liszewski We’ve written about Thought Out’s unique accessories for the iPhone before, but this time they’ve got something particularly useful for photographers and videographers who’ve decided the 3GS is adequate enough for their needs. (Yeah, I don’t get it either.) The PED3-TriPhone and PED3-TriPhone-FORM are a couple of rotating mounts that allow you to connect your iPhone to a tripod or other stabilizing devices. And while the PED3-TriPhone mount ($28) is designed to work with a naked iPhone, the PED3-TriPhone-FORM ($32) will actually accommodate one in a protective case. [ Thought Out PED3-TriPhone and PED3-TriPhone-FORM ] VIA [ iLounge ]

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Thought Out’s PED3-TriPhone And PED3-TriPhone-FORM Adds A Tripod Mount To Your iPhone

I like to get advice from friends on all sorts of things, and love to give it even more. In the past few years, instant messaging, e-mail and Twitter have sped up the process, but there’s still room for improvement. The creators of a free Web service called Aardvark think they have the solution. Aardvark lets you ask questions that get routed to friends and friends of friends. The goal is to quickly deliver specific answers on everything from apartments to zoos. Aardvark is far from the first relayer of online advice. For example, Yahoo Answers and LinkedIn let users give each other guidance. The recently launched Hunch.com uses software to offer people answers on a number of preselected topics. But Aardvark is counting on setting itself apart with a combination of software (which analyzes and classifies queries) and trusted hardware (people who sign up to ask and respond to questions within a relatively confined social circle). While the service has a ways to go, it’s fun, clever and helpful. You can sign up through Aardvark’s main site, vark.com (aardvark.im also works), though you currently must have a Facebook account, because that’s how Aardvark knows who your friends are. Once that’s done, there are many ways to use Aardvark: On its main site, via instant messaging services like Google Talk and AIM, over e-mail or through Twitter. I primarily tested Aardvark through Google Talk, which runs on my computer and smart phone. When I was off-line, Aardvark shot me answers by e-mail. You can also set your account so it will e-mail you questions when you’re not online. Initially, I was skeptical about the quality of answers I would receive, partly because I didn’t have many friends using the service. But the network effect is powerful: By including friends, friends ...

For the past 15 years, Microsoft’s master business plan seems to have been, “Wait until somebody else has a hit. Then copy it.” I know that sounds mean, but come on — the list of commercial hits/Microsoft wannabes is as long as your arm. You would think Microsoft would feel a little sheepish after awhile. And now we have yet another me-too effort. It’s something called Bing, and it’s the latest iteration of Microsoft’s multiyear attempt to imitate Google. The name, presumably, is supposed to evoke the sound of a winning game-show bell. The cynics online, however, joke that Bing is an acronym for, “But it’s not Google.” Here’s the shocker, though: In many ways, Bing is better. That’s quite a statement, of course — almost heresy. But check it out yourself. It’s easy to compare the two, thanks to sites like bing-vs-google.com. Here, you are shown search results from both Bing and Google, side-by-side, on a split screen. At first, Bing is pretty much Google: a Search box; a menu that offers to complete what you are typing; and inconspicuous links to Images, Videos, News, Shopping and Maps. Once you hit Enter, however, you can’t help noticing Bing’s more concerted effort to get you answers faster. For starters, how’s this for a dream feature? Point to any search result without clicking; a pop-up balloon shows you the first few paragraphs of text on it. Without leaving the results list, you know whether it’s going to be helpful. Here’s another example. On Google, search results usually appear as a long list of blue text links. Occasionally, a photo appears, too. Or, if your search clearly has only one informational answer — weather, stock price, sports scores, street address — you get that answer right at the top: a five-day weather ...

Do you sometimes feel yourself slipping into an organizational abyss? You get behind in your e-mail, overlook a few appointments, forget your mom’s birthday and neglect to pick up milk on the way home? A couple years ago, I fell into such a state, and because I have long believed in the redemptive powers of technology, there was only one thing to do: I bought an iPhone. I was hoping the phone would function as a poor man’s personal assistant — that it would constantly remind me of what I had to do next and would always be happy to take down anything urgent I had to say. In truth, it took some time for the iPhone to work its way into my life. Even though modern smartphones can be tricked out with thousands of add-on applications, only a few of them prove truly useful in helping you get organized. Here’s a roundup of the best applications to keep your life running smoothly. To-Do Lists There are many to-do list applications available for the iPhone: Which program you should choose depends on how you already work. Some of the best task-management applications — including Things, by Cultured Code, and the Omni Group’s OmniFocus — are designed to be used with their very good Mac counterparts. My favorite stand-alone organizational application is reQall. ReQall really does turn your iPhone into a personal assistant — you dictate all your to-dos, reminders, appointments and other ephemera, and it translates your commands into actionable tasks. If you are not a fan of dictation, I would suggest taking a look at Remember the Milk, a to-do application that distinguishes itself from others with its extensive operations on the Internet cloud. R.T.M. syncs with lots of different calendar programs, including those from Microsoft, Apple, and Google, ...

The iTunes App Store is one year old this week, and Apple is celebrating by promoting some of its favorite apps and games. The company’s promotion isn’t modest: Light a candle and cue the music. OK, forgive us for sounding like doting parents, but we’re just so … Originally posted at iPhone Atlas

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Apple iTunes App Store turns one

FretSurfer helps novice guitarists hone their note recognition skills. Guitarists are typically a pretty hesitant bunch when it comes to adopting new tech. In fact, most guitarists I know spend their time lusting after vintage guitars and vacuum tube amps–casting disdainful sneers at anything that looks as though it were …

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Top 5 iPhone guitar tools