Wireless Tech Chat

Hello readers, taking a break for a few days. Any questions, comments or concerns, write below or email.

From CNET:Jabra introduced two new devices today at CTIA 2009, and neither of them are traditional mono-Bluetooth headsets. They are the Jabra HALO stereo headset and the Jabra SP200 speakerphone.

The Jabra HALO stereo headset uses stereo Bluetooth or A2DP to stream music wirelessly from a stereo Bluetooth-compatible handset or MP3 player. It also has a wired option if your device only has a 3.5-mm headset jack and no Bluetooth. Like other stereo headsets, you can also use the HALO to make and receive calls; the music will fade out whenever there are incoming calls, for example. It boasts Zirene Power Bass for better audio quality and Noise Blackout for background-noise reduction

The HALO represents a more grown-up headset, answering users’ cries for a more discrete Bluetooth experience: the status LEDs are hidden on the inside of the headband, and the controls are zero-profile touch sensitive.

Sound quality seemed reasonable - as much as we could tell from the noisy show floor - but we’ll need to spend more time with the Jabra HALO to see if the company’s inclusion of Zirene Power Bass makes a significant difference. Still, they’re comfortable and flexible: a 3.5mm input and supplied cable means you can still use the HALO headset with non-Bluetooth mediaplayers. It’ll go on sale on May 1st, with an MRSP of $129.99.

If anyone has this or is contemplating getting a pair, would love to hear from you. Send your comments via comment button or email above.

IPEVO’s Kaleido R7 wireless digital photo frame — which we first caught sight of at CES — is now officially available, for all those out there who were waiting expectantly. If you’ve already forgotten, the 7-inch frames (800 x 480 resolution) has 512MB of memory plus an SD card slot, and it’s just dying to sync up with your PC, Mac, or your cell phone to obtain your precious, precious memories for display.

Combining form and function, the Kaleido R7 features a raised ‘floating’ display mounted on a special bi-directional hinge with orientation sensors allowing the 7-inch screen to rotate and tilt for optimal viewing in landscape or portrait positions. The backlit, 800 x 480 resolution screen offers auto-rotation and smart-zoom / fill-in options, to enhance the viewing experience. Furthermore, the front-facing touchpad control base and included remote control provide for easy and convenient information and menu navigation.

IPEVO’s marketing executive Caroline introduces me to an LCD picture frame that does more than just show great photos, the IPEVO’s Kaleido R7

The Kaleido R7 comes as a 7-inch, 800 x 480 LCD display, with 512MB internal memory as well as an SD card slot. This glossy looking networked picture frame comes in both wired ($169?) and wifi ($199) versions, auto-senses landscape/portrait modes, and grabs online content through RSS feeds, including photos from Flickr and Picasa. Best of all, it runs a bunch of Internet widgets which elegantly displays all kinds of information, from weather to blogs. There’s even an Eyestage iPhone app for syncing and controlling the picture frame.

For the hardcore geeks out there, you could use the Kaleido R7 as an “ambient display”, to keep track of things that matter to you without clogging up your regular computer display.

Avaak’s new multi-camera wireless video system

The technology — originally funded by DARPA and developed by the company for the military — uses a mesh network (dubbed FrameMesh) to allow up to 50 cameras to communicate with a single base station. The premise is simple, you connect the included base to your router, then switch on as many of the cameras as you like; each one feeds its signal back home, then straight to your account on the company’s servers where you can monitor the videos remotely. Once the video hits the page (the cameras stay off until you’re actually watching something), you can record, or share them via Facebook, Flickr, etc. The cameras themselves are tiny things, and each one perches on a magnetized base where they can be adjusted to almost any position. The basic kit will run you $299, which includes the base station and two cameras, and each additional camera is $99.

Consumer Market
The Vue Personal Video Network is unlike any other video offering the world has ever seen. With its innovative combination of real-time video imaging and Web connectivity, Vue lets consumers and commercial users view live video wherever they want, whenever they want. Vue’s unprecedented flexibility makes it ideal for any number of applications and markets.

The Vue personal video network
The Vue Personal Video Network combines the latest advances in digital imaging, ultra low-power RF communication, proprietary antenna technology and full-mesh wireless networking to bring next generation imaging capabilities to consumers.

A New Focus for Home Video
Low-cost miniature battery-powered wire-free video cameras form a robust network that provides vital real-time imaging to keep an eye on a home or vacation getaway.

No Cable, No Wires, No Holes, No Hassles
A Vue network is brilliantly easy to setup. Forget about drilling holes in walls, running dedicated cabling or configuring complex wireless networks. Vue wire-free cameras install in one minute with two-sided adhesive. Just turn on a camera and it automatically finds the network. Log-in to your my.VueZone.com account and you’re in business.

The Avaak Advantage
The Avaak Vue system and FrameMesh technology combines the latest advances in digital imaging, ultra low-power RF communication, proprietary antenna technology and flexible wire-free networking to bring next generation video capture capabilities to the home monitoring market.

Wireless industry ready to interface with Facebook, MySpace and Bebo

Everybody at this week’s Mobile World Congress in Barcelona wanted to be the new best friend of the social networks.

From the world’s biggest phone maker, Nokia, to tiny Irish semiconductor start-up Movidia, delegates to the wireless industry’s biggest annual gathering couldn’t stop talking about Facebook, MySpace and Bebo.

The majority of visits to such online communities are still made by people sitting at a computer telling their friends where they are and how they are feeling, exchanging opinions on their favorite movies and music or uploading videos.

Buzz
Behind the buzz is a telecoms industry that has finally brought together the network speed and capacity and the gadgets to make capturing and sharing pictures or video on the run a fun thing to do rather than a tedious and frustrating experience.

Movidia, armed with $14 million of venture capital funding, has built a processor that allows users to do sophisticated video post-production on their phones, which it will soon release to phone makers for testing.

Mobile carrier Orange, the main brand of France Telecom, is tempting customers with special pricing that offers unlimited access to sites such as Facebook and MySpace — but meters all other data use.

And of course MySpace itself — created to sell advertising, not just for fun — is confident of profiting from new opportunities to sell ads based on features unique to mobile, like knowing where members are, if they choose to opt in.

Sounds interesting.

Cloud computing may have overtaken SOA as the trendy technology term du jour, but the two concepts can be paired to bolster service deployments, industry experts say. With cloud computing, enterprises can access services hosted on third-party servers over the Internet. In SOA, enterprises use integrated application services in a more lightweight fashion than traditional application platforms.

Recently, analyst Anne Thomas Manes of the Burton Group wrote a controversial “obituary” for SOA, panning the acronym, while still endorsing the need for service-oriented architecture. SOA, she said, was survived by “offspring,” including cloud computing, BPM, mashups, and SaaS.

Where SOA and the cloud connect
“Certainly, the SOA conversation is starting to shift to the cloud,” says Steven Martin, senior director for developer platform technology at Microsoft. “The cloud is a logical hosting environment for services,” he says. “Service orientation is a way to build applications, whereas ‘cloud’ refers to the infrastructure as well as the delivery model for that application.”

“SOA is an architectural style for building applications, loosely coupled, allowing composition,” says Jerry Cuomo, CTO of IBM’s WebSphere business. “Can we build a datacenter infrastructure on SOA principles? Yes, and that’s the cloud, so it’s a service-oriented infrastructure,” he adds. “It’s taking that architectural principle of SOA and applying it to an infrastructure.”

Adopting SOA can prepare an enterprise for cloud computing, says Tim Hall, director of SOA products for Hewlett-Packard’s software group, by showing what challenges an organization faces internally in supporting service components — challenges that using cloud services will exacerbate. The service orientation in SOA and the cloud make for similarities, he says, such as both concepts requiring a governance layer and a strong understanding of processes

And being launched by Britney Spears!

MobileCrunch has lots of photos of the Helio Ocean 2 for Virgin Mobile, which we last saw in a spy shot a few months back. It’s definitely real now.

They don’t have many details, but you can head over to see lots and lots of photos of it in the open and splayed positions.

The House voted Wednesday against a plan to delay a nationwide transition to digital television by four months to June 12.

House Republicans succeeded in scuttling a bill to delay the transition, which is scheduled for Feb. 17, less than two days after the Senate unanimously passed the plan.

The defeat is a setback for the Obama administration and Democrats on Capitol Hill, who fear too many Americans are not ready for the switchover.

The Nielsen Co. estimates more than 6.5 million U.S. households that rely on analog television sets to pick up over-the-air broadcast signals could see their TV sets go dark next month if the transition is not postponed.

Yet Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John D. Rockefeller, D-W.Va., author of the bill to postpone the switchover, said a delay is the only way to ensure that millions of Americans don’t see their television screens go dark next month.

“The outgoing Bush administration grossly mismanaged the digital television transition and consumers are confused, households are not prepared, and the coupon program for converter boxes is broken,” Rockefeller said in a statement after the House vote.

Gene Kimmelman, vice president for federal policy at the Consumers Union, which has been lobbying for a delay, said he hopes House Democrats will bring the bill up again for a regular floor vote, which would only require majority support to pass.

Although my tablet isn’t powerful for Windows 7, this is looking more like the perfect OS for those lower powered computers. And it’s from Microsoft?

Gizmodo and The Road to Know Where have all the tips, hints and links you could ever want regarding Windows 7.

If you were one of the millions who downloaded Microsoft’s new operating system and are wondering what to do with it, there are some suggestions in the two blue links above.

Gizmodo has Installation advice and a features analysis, such as:

(Note: The beta is free for anyone to download until Saturday, January 24, so hurry!)
• How to Download and Install Windows 7 Beta
• How To Install Win 7 on Macs with Boot Camp
• Understanding the Windows 7 Beta Agreement Fine Print

Windows 7 Feature Analysis:
• Why the Windows 7 Taskbar Beats the Mac OS X Dock
• Why It’s Smart To Go 64-Bit With Windows 7
• Windows 7 Runs Better Than Vista On Netbooks
• Why Windows 7 Will Beat Vista Overall

and many more links and tips.

The Road to Know Where has quite a few Microsoft hints and tips as well:

FREE Windows 7 Beta Test-Drive!
Consumer Electronics Show (CES) - Steve Balmer: “I’m thrilled to announce the availability of the Windows 7 beta, which is on track to deliver simplicity and reliability,” Ballmer said. “Windows 7 and Windows Live are part of an incredible pipeline of consumer technology that is making it easier than ever for people to communicate, share and get more done.” (MSDN Recommended: ISO Image Software)
–> Download Windows 7 Beta (unlimited downloads through January 24th)
Release Documents for this Beta Release of Windows 7
“How to” Install Windows 7 Beta with Virtual PC 2007
Installing Windows 7 using a USB Stick
Installing Windows 7 on a Macintosh

Utilities:

Remote Server Administration Tools enables IT administrators to manage roles and features that are installed on computers that are running Windows Server 2003 or Windows Server 2008, from a remote computer that is running Windows 7. This feature is comparable in functionality to the Remote Server Administration Tools for Windows Vista.
Windows Automated Installation Kit (Windows AIK) helps install, customize, and deploy the Microsoft Windows 7 beta family of operating systems. (Documentation: Windows AIK Guide)
ZoomIt is screen zoom and annotation tool for technical presentations that include application demonstrations. ZoomIt runs unobtrusively in the tray and activates with customizable hotkeys to zoom in on an area of the screen, move around while zoomed, and draw on the zoomed image.

CNN.com’s LIVE feed with facebook tested the Internet’s ability.

The internet was buzzing and humming along, more or less, with multiple live feeds of one of the worlds most watched events.

The Inauguration’s live feeds didn’t bring the servers and internet crashing down amid computer parts and monitors. Sure, it was slow, jerky and stopped occasionally, but there were millions and millions watching from all around the world.

Comments were pouring in on facebook from places such as Bangladesh, Iran, Mexico, Japan and many more exotic and out of the way places on earth. The whole entire world was waiting for a change in Washington DC, and they got it.

Cell phone service was spotty as well, according to one CNN article on the event.

In anticipation of record-breaking crowds and huge spikes in wireless traffic, carriers added new radio channels to augment existing cell sites, trucked in portable cell-phone towers, boosted wireless capacity at downtown hotels and added staff.

Carriers also have expanded what they call their backhaul systems, which carry wireless traffic from cell phone towers to the land-line network through which those calls are actually routed.

Reports surfaced this week that the U.S. Secret Service might disable or limit cell phone service on Inauguration Day to preserve bandwidth for emergency government users. But a Secret Service spokesman told The Washington Post that the agency has neither the capacity nor the plans to do so.

If you were watching and celebrating and had the opportunity to call, video, send pictures and files, I’d love to hear from you.

These eight bad tech habits are a reminder of just common courtesy in today’s world.

Bad habits are harder to break than than a bad habit. Especially when they involve your shiny shiny new electronic toy. I know, I have several myself. SO, without further rambling, here they are:

1. Watching your iPhone (or blackberry or palm pre or…) on your first date. Or while out with your wife or girlfriend/significant other. For some reason, the person we’re with is aggravated we’re paying more attention to the wonderful little device in our hot little hands than hearing them talk. On and on. Well, suck it up, bud and put the toy away and concentrate on the hot body in the chair across from you.

2. Stop taking embarrassing pictures of yourself and your buddies with your wonderful little device thats in your hot little hands. Just because you *have* the ability to take 10 mp pictures 110 frames a second then Eye-Fi them directly to facebook, doesn’t mean you should. Your or his/their jobs could be over.

3. You know not to drink and drive, how about not texting and driving? Texting and driving has been shown to be the same as drinking and driving. Your reflexes and attention are impaired.

4. So, you’re surfing on your killer phone while driving your date to the restaurant. You come across a funny post on youtube and discover no one else has commented. What do you do? Be the first and write “FIRST, DUDE!” No. That just proves you have no life. Say something intelligent like “Your video reminds me of Faust.” Even if it is something embarrassing.

5. Please stop sending and forwarding “New virus will wipe out your memory….and cause your computer to go blank”. If you question the truth about a warning, head on over to Snopes.

6. Also, if you’re chatting and you come across something you dont’ understand, Google it yourself. You’re not so helpless and lazy that you have to ask the other person ten times in a row to look something up for you. Not that it’s happend to me. Ten times in a row.

7. If you absolutely cannot put your iPhone (or Blackberry or Palm…) down for one hour while you have dinner with your date, do not answer it. If you do answer it, it isn’t necessary to treat everyone within 200 feet to your conversation. You may not be aware, but you’re yelling. Yes, about that embarrassing picture you took of your buddy and posted on youtube. He’s saying something about Faust. Or at least that’s what your date is hoping.

8. Apparantly there was somthing called Rickroll that was funny to pull on your friends. I just watched it. Please stop.

According to Engadget:

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Grabbing a laptop with a built-in Blu-ray drive isn’t at all difficult; finding one that’s reasonably affordable, however, is. Starting today, users looking to pick up a new BD-equipped lappie can get their kicks for under nine bills, as the base model Inspiron 1525 can be fitted with a Blu-ray combo drive (and the requisite 1.83GHz Core 2 Duo T5550 processor) for the low, low price of $879. Kicking things up to a Blu-ray burner will tack on another $200, and given the 1,280 x 800 screen resolution, we get the idea you’ll be utilizing that HDMI output in order to enjoy the 1080p capabilities (if it’ll even reach above 720p). Still, the aforesaid configuration is pretty lacking in most respects (1GB of RAM, 80GB HDD, and a woefully underwhelming GMA X3100 graphics accelerator), but hey, at least you’ll have Blu-ray! Grab yours now if you’re situated in Canada, Europe or the US of A.

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Now that the high definition wars are over, one thing you should know is that Dell has already taken the advantage and stepped forward to releasing laptops equipped with Blu-Ray players for less than 1 k. I believe the specific kind of model for this is the lightweight Inspiron 1525

IMPORTANT: This is not the real full high definition quality. These in-built players only display 720 progressive. Real definition, as we all know it, is 1080 progressive. While you’re not going to realize the difference on y our 15 inch laptop, those of us with bigger screens definitely will, maybe not me, but some other HD DVD suck-up.

Well, good for you! I love how there are these types of people out there, ya know, the ones that will do absolutely anything to suck up to their most beloved company or product. Not to say that they are materialistic, but if you love something this much, then its probably a better idea to maybe find a job or something, lol. Besides, you’re probably spending too much time on it already.

Or it just could be a publicity stunt to get some attention… ? Switched says…

“We can’t say we’d follow in this guy’s footsteps for any amount of money, but boy, does it make for fantastic drama. Shortly after the famed Zune Guy (you know, that cat with a trio of Zune-inspired tattoos?) decided to legally change his name to “Microsoft Zune,” the plan was put on hiatus after hearing that it cost a whopping $500 to get a name swap.

It turns out that the fellow will only need $150 to have it done, so needless to say the mission is back on in a big way. Unfortunately, there still stands a chance of the aforesaid name being denied, so he’s posted up a poll in order to let the general public give him a list of backups. Personally, we’re feelin’ McZunin.” [from Switched]

Technorati Tags: Man Legally Changing His Name to ‘Microsoft Zune’

Ever want to play your SNES when you feel that the XBOX and the PS3 [ and of course the Wii ] are not enough for your video gaming needs? Well, here you have it, play your SNES games just like the old times [ Ya know, when your video games came in a wooden box, and thats exactly where you played them ] [NAW, it was never like this... quite phishing with me... ]

Engadget:
“Sure, we’ve already got a wooden SNES, but sometimes we want to get a little rustic on some original SMB, and that’s where Parker Dillmann’s wooden NES comes in handy. Built around the guts of a Yobo NES clone and a 3.5-inch LCD, Dillmann did some major custom woodworking to get this rig going, and he says he’s already got ideas for his next case. ”

ENOUGH SAID

Technorati Tags: Wooden portable NES, Gaming Style