Bheestie Bags Reverse Water Damage

Topic: Technology News

About a month back I was at a giant party in the woods, camping with a bunch of musicians, artists, and fellow tech nerds. It started to rain, and then it started to pour. After two straight days of rain, even our tents started to give in. People were soaked but, more importantly, iPods and smartphones and all sorts of other PMPs were soaked. If only we'd had some Bheestie Bags then...

Traditionally, you take your sodden piece of tech and set it out to dry for a couple of days. Then you pray for the powers above to have mercy on your poor, innocent PMP. If you're lucky, they will, and you won't have to pay for repairs. If not, your gadget goes off to the shop.

Posted on Fri, 20 Nov 2009 11:59:17 CST | by Robert Evans

Sony To Launch iTunes Competitor

Topic: Technology News

Sony confirmed yesterday that they plan to launch an online media store (BusinessWeek) in order to sell music, movies, and books for use on a variety of products. This new store will be called Sony Online Service, and it will be launched as part of Sony's push to reverse their recent losses with an increase in software content.

This new online store will be a direct competitor to iTunes. Anyone who sells media over the Internet is a competitor to iTunes. The question on everyone's mind is; what will Sony do to differentiate their Online Store from all of the others? How will they compete with iTunes?

Posted on Fri, 20 Nov 2009 11:22:20 CST | by Robert Evans

280-inch Sony 3D LED Display Demonstrated in Japan

Topic: Technology News

3D is the new hot topic for TV makers. New technical advances are showing up and some 3D enabled TVs and other devices are already available on the market for consumers. One major unsolved problem is still the availability of 3D content.
According to TechOn, Sony dazzled crowds at the International Broadcast Equipment Exhibition 2009 in Japan this week with a 280-inch 3D LED display (measuring 6.4x3.4m).
Read more

Posted on Fri, 20 Nov 2009 02:00:00 CST | by Luigi Lugmayr

Chrome OS Developer Chat: Welcome To The Future Of Browsing

Topic: Technology News

Chrome OS developer chat (Engadget's liveblog) shed some interesting light on the upcoming OS. As you may know, Google released the Chromium OS source code to the world today. They stated at the developer's conference that every move they make now will be open.

The launch of the source code today means that, with a little bit of elbow grease and effort, it is now possible to run Chrome OS. While this isn't recommended for normal users, those of us that like to tinker with our machines will finally have a chance.

Posted on Thu, 19 Nov 2009 13:53:29 CST | by Robert Evans

Condé Nast Creating Digital Wired For iTablet

Topic: Technology News

Talk about jumping the gun just a little. Condé Nast, publishers of Wired and seventeen other magazines, are working on porting their nerdiest title to the iTablet. All Things Digital reports that the company intends to have this new version of Wired ready by the middle of next year.

No, before you ask, Condé Nast hasn't been privy to any insider meetings with Apple that have given them proof of the iTablet's existence. They admit openly that the company will not even admit that it has plans for such a device. Despite this, they're chugging along and working with Adobe to create a publishing tool for the new magazine reader format.

Posted on Thu, 19 Nov 2009 09:28:34 CST | by Robert Evans

Microsoft Store Dance Video Is A Planned Viral Marketing Stunt

Topic: Technology News

You might have seen the video of Microsoft Store employees dancing that is really hard to watch because it is so embarrassing. The video got published two days ago and already has close to 250,000 views on Youtube.
I even got a link from a friend today to this video with the subject "PAIN!!!". Well AppleInsider has just published an interesting report that uncovers the source of this video and that it is actually a planned viral marketing campaign. Read more

Posted on Wed, 18 Nov 2009 13:30:13 CST | by Luigi Lugmayr

Google's Chrome OS Event Is Tomorrow

Topic: Technology News

Alright, so we've got good news and bad news. First off, the good news. TechCrunch has been notified that Google is planning a Chrome OS event for Thursday. As in tomorrow Thursday. This event will feature technical info, demos, and a "complete overview" of the new OS. Google didn't say it, but I think it's likely we'll see at least a couple sneak-peeks at some of the Chrome OS devices that are under development too.

Now the bad news. The wording of this announcement makes it unlikely that we'll actually see a Chrome OS launch this week, as was previously rumored. In their notification to TechCrunch, Google stated that their new OS will launch next year. That's a bit of a bummer, but not entirely unexpected. If Chrome OS does launch next year, it will almost certainly hit in Q1.

Posted on Wed, 18 Nov 2009 12:00:53 CST | by Robert Evans

Bing US Market Share Hits 9.9%

Topic: Technology News

Apparently those rumors of Bing declining in September weren't true after all. Microsoft's assault on Google has continued unabated through the Fall and the Bing search engine can now claim almost 10% of the U.S. search market share. (TechCrunch) ComScore reports that Google is also up, gaining .5% share this month, and 2.4% year-over-year.

Bing's growth since its launch in May is impressive, but it shouldn't be seen as a sign that Google is in any trouble. The fledgling 'decision engine' still has yet to nab any market share away from Google. Once more, its monthly gains have come at the expense of Yahoo, who is down 3% this year. Since Yahoo is already promised to Bing, these gains aren't quite as impressive as they sound.

Posted on Tue, 17 Nov 2009 12:25:41 CST | by Robert Evans

The Great iPhone Heist of 2009

Topic: Technology News

Sherlock Holmes is coming out in theaters next month, but where he's really needed right now is Belgium. That's where a cadre of clever criminals have absconded with 3-4,000 iPhones (AppleInsider). Local reports can't seem to agree on exactly how many phones were stolen from a warehouse belonging to CEVA Logistics in the city of Willebroek.

The actual heist sounds like a traditional 'Mission Impossible' type of break-in. The thieves climbed onto the roof and then cut a hole into it, dropped down into the building, and lifted roughly $3 million USD in smartphones. Considering the level of inside knowledge required to pull something like this off, it's likely one of the criminals had inside information.

Posted on Tue, 17 Nov 2009 09:42:36 CST | by Robert Evans

2009 Holiday PC Price-Cuts To Be Less Than 2008?

Topic: Technology News

If you're looking for a great discount on a PC this holiday season, you'll be able to find several. Unfortunately, the cuts in price this year might not be close to what we were getting last year. Digitimes reports that last year, some vendors cut their PC prices by as much as 70-80%. The cuts in 2008 were necessary to clear out flooded inventories.

Fortunately for the vendors, but unfortunately for us, the PC market has recovered nicely since then. Such a massive clearing-out won't be necessary this year, and price cuts aren't likely to be deeper than 30-50%. This holiday season (especially Black Friday) will still be packed with great deals, but we probably won't see prices as low as they were last year.

Posted on Tue, 17 Nov 2009 09:20:03 CST | by Robert Evans

80% Of Customers Won't Pay For News

Topic: Technology News

Today, a Forrester Research report containing some very bad news for Rupert Murdoch was released. Fierce Mobile states that the report showed that 80% of US consumers claimed they would no longer use newspapers and magazines online if the content stops being free. Only 20% said they would agree to pay for premium access.

As you might remember, last week News Corp stated that they intend to pull their content from Google within the next few months. The company, which is headed by Murdoch and is generally seen as the 'leader of the pack' for news media, intends to lead the industry away from Google's 'free' approach.

Posted on Mon, 16 Nov 2009 12:14:52 CST | by Robert Evans