March 4th, 2008
Recession buster: The perfect $25,000 consumer electronics device
My initial reaction to hearing about SE2 Labs‘ ITC One all-in-one media room device was to think about that Robin Williams line about cocaine being god’s way of telling you that you have too much money. 
If you actually have $25,000 to plop down for an all-in-one unit that incorporates (among other things) an Xbox 360, a Wii, an HD-DVR, an iPod dock, a pre-amp processor, and top-of-the-line cooling and cabling components, somebody’s probably trying to tell you something. Well actually, maybe I’m just trying to tell you that I’m a little bit jealous.
But if you are one of the lucky few who can afford one of these custom-built numbers, you will be happy to know that the list of options has improved a bit since its announcement last fall - say buh-bye to that Xbox 360 HD DVD drive (even though it’s still in the photo), and hello Blu-ray drive (though interestingly, there doesn’t appear to be an option for a PS3). Hmmm, I guess this makes it official, the format war really is over now, huh?
If you haven’t checked this thing, it’s actually pretty impressive, although clearly the person who wrote the press release describing the console as measuring a “mere” 17 5/8 inches wide by 23 7/8 inches high by 22 inches deep, has never been in my living room.
(Thanks to Mike Yamamoto at Crave for making sure I didn’t miss out on this one.)
February 26th, 2008
And now for a sexy notebook that businesses can actually use
While Apple has received a not-unreasonable amount of buzz for its MacBook Air, even folks like the Wall Street Journal’s Walt Mossberg, who is typically quite the Apple fanman, were forced to acknowledge that while sexy, it wasn’t necessarily practical for business use.
Well, Lenovo’s new ThinkPad X300, which hit retail today, tries to bridge the gap between form and function, and while there’s no question that the MacBook Air will turn a lot more heads, Lenovo should have a winner on its hands - provided folks don’t mind spending north of $2500 for a notebook.
First off, the Lenovo addresses the two biggest omissions of the MBA - it has an Ethernet port, and a DVD drive. And for all we talk about people moving to streaming video, the fact is, I can’t remember the last time I took a cross-country flight without someone watching a DVD near me. The biggest ding (other than the price) is the fact that the only storage option - at least for now - is a 64GB solid state drive (which of course is a big reason the X300 is as expensive as it is). While 64GB of storage will be plenty for many business folks on the go, it’s clearly going to be too small for some of you - though you could always supplement it with portable storage - or your iPod — if push came to shove.
And, yes, the X300 also fits in an interoffice envelope, even though at .73 to .92 inches thick, it’s clearly larger than the MBA (which comes in at .16 to .76 inches thick). Both systems are right around three pounds, and both have 13.3-inch displays. [The folks at Engadget have a nifty head-to-head chart.]
Speaking of new notebooks, I also want to take a moment to introduce the latest member of ZDNet’s product blogs team, John Morris. John, a former executive editor of our sister site, CNET.com, is now a technology analyst for a private investment firm. In addition to his PC-focused blog, John’s also covering the stuff inside the box in another blog for ZDNet, The Core Truth. You can read John’s take on the buzz leading up to the X300 launch here.
February 21st, 2008
What format war? Just convert your HD DVDs to Blu-ray
Our friends over at Wired have started a how-to wiki, explaining how to convert one’s HD DVDs to Blu-ray - provided you have a Blu-ray burner on hand, and don’t mind breaking a law or two (since you’ll need to remove the DRM from your HD DVDs before you can do anything else with the content).
I can’t speak to whether or not the process actually works - though it sounds entirely plausible - as I don’t have a Blu-ray burner on hand (and as I mentioned earlier in the week, have no plans to get a player anytime soon either).
[The short version of the process - connect your player to your PC, remove DRM and copy the files to your hard disc, convert audio and video to Blu-ray-friendly format, burn. An alternative option is to use an HD capture card, then burn.]
And while this is hardly legal advice, I don’t have a personal ethical issue with removing DRM from my own HD DVDs so I can watch them on a Blu-ray player. In my opinion, any legal lapse on that front pales in comparison to the metaphysical comeuppance that the HD DVD and Blu-ray camps have coming to them for putting consumers in this position in the first place.
So why my hesitation? Even if you have all the required hardware and software, you’re still looking at anywhere from $15 (25GB) to $45 (50GB) a pop for blank Blu-ray media. Factor in all of the time — and likely agita — that conversions will take, and it just doesn’t seem like a great trade-off. And even if your goal is simply to stick it to the man, Sony’s still going to get their licensing cut of the blank Blu-ray discs you’re buying.
So if it’s an intellectual exercise - go for it. Otherwise, if it were me, I would just suck it up, and buy my movies again - or better yet, wait until they’re all available via download.
February 19th, 2008
Ding, dong, HD DVD is dead
Wow, that didn’t take long. In just over six weeks HD DVD went from underdog to dead dog, with Toshiba making it official today - it will no longer “develop, manufacture and market HD DVD players and recorders.”
The announcement means that Universal, Paramount and DreamWorks Animation - the remaining will be freed up to produce Blu-ray discs, bringing this ridiculous saga to an end.
For those of us who got lured in by the late 2007 price cuts and bought HD DVD players, well, no need to start licking our wounds just yet. First of all, as many have noted, it’s still a mighty fine upconverting DVD player. And if you are willing to do a bit of work, depending on where you bought your player, you may still be able to take advantage of price adjustments (or even return policies).
After the Warner Brothers bombshell at CES, I had decided to return mine to Amazon, and to make the jump to Blu-ray. But then a few things happened. One, Toshiba slashed their prices in half, and Amazon gave me back close to $100, meaning my Toshiba HD-A3 player, with something like 15 free HD DVDs, cost me just over $100. Two, when I started looking at Blu-ray players, I just couldn’t find a player I actually wanted. Even if I could suck up a $400 price tag, the only player that is actually compatible with Profile 2.0 (which is a fancy way of saying network-capable, which should become the Blu-ray standard later this year) is the PlayStation3, and I really didn’t want another game console in the middle of my home theater. So yes, you have it correct - in order to get a high-definition DVD player that had the functionality of my current Toshiba HD DVD player, I would either need to spend $400 on a PS3, or wait until later this year.
Instead, I’m going to continue using my Toshiba player, and hope that by the time I’m ready for my next move, streaming HD content will be in bountiful supply.
February 12th, 2008
One reason for HD DVD owners to forgive Netflix
If a recent Netflix survey is a harbinger of things to come (or more accurately, a blog post about a recent Netflix survey is to be believed), Xbox 360 owners may be able to download TV shows and movies directly to their consoles. If this comes to pass, it will make yesterday’s announcement that the company was abandoning HD DVDs a bit more palatable to those of us who bet the wrong horse in the format race.
The survey also suggests that the company is looking at rolling the service out for the PS3 as well, though given the fact that PS3 owners already backed the right horse – thanks to the console’s Blu-ray compatibility – it will simply be the cherry on the sundae for them (hey, look at that – two metaphors for the price of one).
Best of all, the survey allegedly says the new service will be free for Netflix subscribers, though they’ll will need to fork over $3 for a special disc.
I have a call into Netflix and will update this if/when I get any type of official response.
(Seanbajuice via Engadget)
February 11th, 2008
Microsoft buys a mobile sidekick
Microsoft finally found someone willing to take its money. The company announced today that it was buying Danger Inc. - better known as the creators of the T-Mobile Sidekick. (Danger had filed for an IPO in December, but given the market, it’s not a shock they went the acquisition route instead.)
While the press release talks up Danger’s “young and enthusiastic” and “socially inclined” customer base, interestingly, it doesn’t once refer to the Sidekick by name (nor for that matter, does it mention “hiptop” which is Danger’s own brand name for the device).
It would seem like adding a Sidekick-like product to the Windows Mobile line-up makes a lot of sense for Microsoft. What is wholly unclear to me is how they will pull off a product that’s as graceful, fun, and easy-to-use as the Sidekick (this its popularity with the high school and college sets), on the Windows Mobile platform - which at least to date, has clearly been engineered with the business audience in mind.
Now if Microsoft can get Danger founder Andy Rubin on board too, that could make things really interesting. But I think Rubin might have his hands full right now.
February 6th, 2008
Disconnect of the day: $499 iPod meets economic slowdown
Look, I would be the first to admit that the thought of a 32GB iPod Touch has me drooling, but the $499 price tag dries my mouth out faster than that saliva-sucking doohicky they have at the dentist’s office. Then again, I had a hard enough time coughing up nearly $400 for a 16GB model a few months back.
Between a $499 iPod and a $3,098 MacBook Air (if you want the solid-state drive), makes you wonder if Apple is starting to get delusional about just how loyal their fanbase is. Either that, or all this talk of a recession is entirely overblown.
Would you fork over $499 for a portable audio/video player? If not, what’s your limit? Tell us in Talkback.
February 5th, 2008
Verizon: Want our Triple Play? Sorry, can’t have it
As I wrote about last week, I just made the decision to switch our phone (from Verizon to Time Warner Cable) and TV services (from Time Warner Cable to DIRECTV). My ideal solution would have been to sign up for Verizon’s FIOS service for everything, but alas, FIOS TV service isn’t yet available in New York City, and according to Verizon’s website, my building isn’t DSL-capable, much less FIOS-friendly.
So imagine my surprise last night to come home to an automated call from Verizon telling me they were sorry to see me go, and that I should call them to find out about a triple play offering for Verizon TV, telephone, and high speed Internet service.
Well, I just got off the phone with them, and not shockingly learned that their automated “please don’t leave us” calls are entirely cookie cutter, and don’t in any way reflect what services are actually available to individual consumers (impressive, huh?). And after checking, I was informed that even though FIOS TV and Internet weren’t options, she would possibly be able to offer to sell me a different triple play of phone service, along with DIRECTV and Verizon DSL.
But not so fast… In fact, she went on to tell me, DSL isn’t offered in my neighborhood either (shocker!), so maybe I would be interested in a double play of DIRECTV and Verizon phone service.
Well, sure, I said, “In fact, I just signed up for DIRECTV anyway, so can you tell me what my package savings would be.” She asked me what package I had, I gave her the low-down, and at that point, she told me that my package from DIRECTV was better than anything she could offer me…
…But maybe, just maybe, I would be interested in a Verizon Single Play - which is apparently what they call phone service these days. Who knew? And ironically, this ended up being the highlight of my call (which probably means I’ve buried the lead in this here blog post, but bear with me).
She proceeded to offer me the exact same service that I currently pay $41.99 for a month for today (before taxes), for $19.99 a month. She went on to tell me (unsolicited) that while officially this plan would be good for 12 months, that Verizon would be happy to extend it for as long as I remained with them, as long as I called to ask for it.
Truth be told, I was a bit apprehensive about moving to Time Warner Cable’s VoIP phone service in the first place, so I was open to being persuaded to stick around. Call me old fashioned, but I like the idea of having telephone service even if my power - or cable service - were to drop out. And while cell phones would most likely provide us with all the back-up we needed, I couldn’t help but remember how hard it was to make or receive cell calls on 9/11, which was needless to say, a rather unsettling thought.
At this point, I told the Verizon rep that while I was intrigued, I was more than a little irritated by the fact that the only way I was able to find out about a 50-percent rate cut was to cancel my service. Her reply: “Better late than never.”
Sensing that Verizon may in fact want me more than I wanted them, I figured I would see how far I could push them. “So,” I said to them, “Time Warner is offering me my first three months free, what can you do about that.” At that point, I was given two options - a $50 service credit, or a $75 American Express gift card.
And with that, I took my gift card, my $20 rate plan, and cancelled my switch to Time Warner Digital Phone service.
Have you been offered any good bribes to stay with your phone or cable company? Give your fellow readers your best tips and advice in Talkback.
February 1st, 2008
You had me at “Get the hell out of bed and turn off the friggin’ alarm already”
In what has to be the surest sign yet that companies will stop at nothing to come up with gifts that can be deemed “Valentine’s Day-friendly,” Nanda, creators of the Clocky mobile alarm clock, has announced a new raspberry-colored version of it’s little objet de torture. (And of course, only available “while supplies last.”)
For those of you unfamiliar with Clocky, it’s an alarm clock with wheels. Once the alarm goes off, it hops off your nightstand, and races around the room - while still ringing of course - until you can hunt it down and turn it off — or bash it with your slippers.
Go ahead, buy one for your loved one… And just so you’re ready on February 15, here’s a convenient list of state-by-state divorce statutes.
(Thanks to my colleagues at CNET.com’s Crave blog for making sure I could keep ZDNet readers informed of this critical breaking gadget development.)
January 29th, 2008
So long Time Warner Cable, hello DIRECTV
With a move pending in two weeks, my wife and I had to confront a bunch of issues - renovating the new apartment, finding movers, and of course the most important one of all - deciding whether or not to stick with Time Warner Cable, or make the jump to satellite.
Because we’re old school, we still have Verizon for phone, which is another $60 or so a month, so for TV, broadband, and telephone, we’re paying about $200 a month.
So before simply making the call to Time Warner to simply transfer our service to our new address, I thought it would be a good time to see what the other options were. And while I liked the idea of a single bill for all of our services, I had more interest in getting good service, and good value - if that meant two or three bills a month, then so be it.
First up was Verizon, but not only is our Brooklyn, NY neighborhood still not wired for FIOS, we can’t even get DSL - pathetic.
My next call was to DIRECTV. Now sure, I’ve read George Ou’s recent posts about the poor image quality of their “HD-lite” service, but I still wanted to see what they were offering. [Until now, I had avoided satellite because I liked the idea of video-on-demand, and because I couldn’t imagine life without NY1, a local all-news station that’s exclusively on Time Warner Cable only available through Time Warner Cable and Cablevision. In reality, we hardly ever use VOD, and as for NY1 — well, life always has trade-offs, and I can always stream the audio from their website if I get really desperate.] The bottom line: For our first 12 months, we could pay $49.99 a month for virtually every station we receive today (it would go up to $69.99 a month after the first 12 months). On top of that, we would need to buy a $99 HD-DVR ($199, plus a $100 rebate), which at least on the surface, appears to blow away our current Scientific Atlanta box from Time Warner. HBO (and virtually every other premium movie channel) would be free for the first three months, while Showtime would remain free for the first year. As a new customer, installation would be free, and last, but certainly not least, DIRECTV offers more than 90 channels in HD.
Of course, DIRECTV doesn’t offer Internet service or phone directly, so if we decided to make the switch to satellite we needed to figure out those pieces of the puzzle. Fortunately, we were able to qualify as a new customer with Time Warner for phone and Internet, so we can get 12 months of Road Runner service for $29.99 a month, plus Time Warner’s digital phone service for roughly $40 a month (with the first three months free).
So, the bottom line: A combination of DIRECTV for television, plus Time Warner for Internet and phone, would cost (not including taxes, or the $99 HD DVR box) roughly:
- First three months: $80
- Months nine though 12: $135
- Year two: $165
So, concerns about HD quality aside, we’re taking the plunge and welcoming DIRECTV and Time Warner Digital Phone to our lives. Our new world begins February 9, and within a few days of that, I’ll weigh back in whether or not we’re seeing a major drop-offs in HD quality with DIRECTV. Of course, if we’ve backed the wrong horse with DIRECTV, we’re screwed - customers who buy the HD-DVR box are signing up for a two-year commitment. But it’s hard to imagine Verizon will have FIOS - with FIOS TV - ready before, say, 2020, so I’m not that concerned.
Josh Taylor is director of CNET Networks Business' technology sites – ZDNet and TechRepublic. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.
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Recent Entries
- Recession buster: The perfect $25,000 consumer electronics device
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- What format war? Just convert your HD DVDs to Blu-ray
- Ding, dong, HD DVD is dead
- One reason for HD DVD owners to forgive Netflix
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- What format war? Just convert your HD DVDs to Blu-ray
- And now for a sexy notebook that businesses can actually use
- Ding, dong, HD DVD is dead
- One reason for HD DVD owners to forgive Netflix
- Disconnect of the day: $499 iPod meets economic slowdown
- Verizon: Want our Triple Play? Sorry, can't have it
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