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Comcast Caps Will Stifle Internet Video
Tweet Share on Facebook August 29, 2008 Comment (22)Having announced it will cap monthly Internet downloads, Comcast is reassuring its broadband customers that few of them will be affected. Fewer than 1 percent now exceed the monthly cap of 250 gigabytes, the company says.
It does look hard to reach the cap, according to Comcast's estimates. It involves millions or at least tens of thousands of the E-mails, songs, and photos that most all of us download every day.
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Gadget Makers Learning to Lose the Install CD
Tweet Share on Facebook August 29, 2008 Comment (2)A trick is emerging that makes life a little easier with new tech. Gadgets are arriving without installation CDs.
I first saw it in a product called the Tornado. Plug it into a USB port, and it loads its own software for syncing computers. Now I've seen the same thing with two newer products: the ZvBox for Web video and the Palm Treo Pro. Plug them into a USB port and they load their software, after a few mouse clicks.
There's no CD to lose, scratch—or throw across the room in a fit of frustration.
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Audio: Problems for Apple
Tweet Share on Facebook August 29, 2008 CommentOver the weekend, I spoke with WTOP about the recent spate of problems for Apple. You can listen here, or subscribe to the weekly podcast through
iTunes or 
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It Still Takes Smarts to Snag a Wii
Tweet Share on Facebook August 28, 2008 CommentI finally jumped into the "Find a Wii" game, and iTrackr came through. Despite reports (mine included) that the Wii shortage is easing, it's still tough to actually get one.
Hoping to shop from the comfort of home, I'd been using Wiialerts. The site specializes in Web stores and repeatedly alerted me to available Wiis, but I could not snag one. So I went back to iTrackr, which emphasizes brick-and-mortar stores and can hunt a number of products. I queried about a Wii, and it told me a local Gamestop store had them.
A quick trip out and I had a Wii, at the suggested retail price of $249.99.
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Google Now Suggests the Search You Want
Tweet Share on Facebook August 28, 2008 Comment (1)Starting the other day, I sorta noticed that related words and phrases would cascade below the Google box when I started typing a search. It took me a little while to recognize something new was afoot.
Google has indeed gotten a bit smarter, and more convenient. As explained by Jennifer Liu in the Official Google Blog, the search site has launched what it calls Google Suggest. The feature graduated this week from Google's labs.
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Treo Pro is Palm's Best Handset Yet, for Business
Tweet Share on Facebook August 27, 2008 Comment (3)Palm's new Treo Pro is the company's best smartphone yet—at least in shape, size, and capability. Too bad it isn't for consumers, at least not yet.
The Pro hits that sweet spot in size between the Centro and the Treo, two popular Palm handsets. The Centro is Palm's small smartphone for consumers, with attractive, smooth lines, and a sleek feel. The Pro bows to its Treo heritage by being bigger than the Centro, giving it a larger screen and a more comfortable keyboard, and packing in capability like GPS, WiFi, and compatibility with overseas networks.
But the Pro is still small enough to fit comfortably in a pocket. And it retains the smooth lines and stylish look of the Centro.
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The WB's Web Offering Goes Live Today
Tweet Share on Facebook August 27, 2008 CommentWith today's official launch of the TheWB.com., anyone longing for old WB shows can now stream them. The site offers full episodes of numerous network favorites, including "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," "Everwood," and "The O.C."
The site amounts to Warner Brothers' answer to other Web video offerings. The studio also added other shows, including "Friends." Suggesting that "the next great network won't be televised," Warner also commissioned new shows for the site.
The content is fun and entertaining, but the site is cluttered, busy, and, in a brief test this morning, somewhat buggy. Maybe the hectic look, along with social networking tools like mashups, will help draw the 16-to-34-year-olds who were the core market for the old TV network.
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Labor Day Shoppers Get More Web 2.0 Treatment
Tweet Share on Facebook August 27, 2008 Comment (2)Back-to-school shoppers this Labor Day weekend are playing the role of guinea pigs for traditional retailers trying to get cool with the Web's social networking. Some are experimenting with chat rooms, virtual worlds, and interactive video, reports JupiterResearch.
Sears, for example, recently launched a virtual showroom at Zwinky.com that reportedly drew about 750,000 visitors in its first couple of weeks.
JCPenney launched DorkDodge, a game where collegebound women get to experience the geeky guys they'll meet on campus. The game plays off a marketing campaign the retail chain created that showed teens how "to get that look," Jupiter notes. At the end of the game is a link to a JCPenney page on Facebook.
But rather than actually selling something, retailers can mostly hope to build brand awareness, says Jupiter's David Schatsky. So far, he says, "social media has shown little direct impact on actual online retail sales."
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BlueAnt Bluetooth Headset Responds to Voice Commands
Tweet Share on Facebook August 26, 2008 Comment (3)The V1 from BlueAnt ($130) is the first headset to respond to voice commands, and it does a good job within its limits.
The headset is limited to a list of voice commands, such as dialing up to 8 numbers programmed into your handset's speed dials. Just push the V1's main button, and a charming man's voice will prompt you to "Say a command." A command of "Dial speed dial 8" results in just that.
Voice-response systems have their own limits. The device isn't smart enough to know when you want to start talking to it, so it requires a quick push to its main button. And to end a call, you need to fumble for the phone, or trust that the other person has hung up (although the V1 eventually confirms "Call terminated").
The V1 shines most, frankly, in managing itself. Other Bluetooth headsets require multiple button pushes and counting LED flashes to know what's happening—if the headset is ready to link with a cellphone, for example. With the V1, the command is "Pair mode." The headset voice not only responds that it is ready to connect to a phone, it talks you through the process with the handset itself.
In fact, when you first turn on the V1, don't bother with the manual. Just stick it on your ear, and the V1 walks through setting itself up and connecting to a cellphone. Nice. It at least works better than following the manual, which frustrated me.
The voice-response system, called BlueGenie and made by a company called Sensory, is surprisingly accurate for such a small device. It's better than the voice system in my Blackberry phone. I can access the phone's voice prompts, by the way, with a command through the V1.
The V1 also goes through a training session, which trains you and not the headset, and is set in its ways. You learn, for example, that you can't interrupt the headset—it must finish its prompt before you can dictate a command.
Incoming calls, by the way, get announced with the number they're coming from. Picking up is as easy as "Answer," and "Ignore" throws them to voice mail.
Sound quality is good on the V1, with calls sounding as clear as on any headset I've tried. BlueAnt has a reputation for making good Bluetooth headsets, and it has pushed the edge with the V1's voice system.
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Adobe’s Newest Offering Links to Software and Web Sharing
Tweet Share on Facebook August 26, 2008 CommentAdobe Systems has announced new desktop versions of its consumer photo- and video-editing software, with new features that remove distracting elements in photos and automate video editing. But the most interesting feature is that the programs will link to new online services and mobile phones.
When they arrive in September, the new versions of Photoshop Elements and Premier Elements will enable automatic backup to a storage and sharing site, to be called Photoshop.com. Free membership will come with a few gigabytes of storage, and $50 a year will buy 20 GB.
Syncing will work both ways. The software enables groups of photos to be arranged in albums that can be automatically synced to the online site. Changes made online likewise get sent to the desktop album.
Adobe is also demonstrating how some mobile phones will be able to upload photos to the Photoshop site, with similar syncing ability.
It's about time that Adobe got in gear—the company's been slow with its online and mobile efforts, points out Jessica Dolcourt at the Webware blog. And the folks at ReadWriteWeb are even tougher, saying it's too little, too late.
