[MobileRatty] tag: podcast

Gadget Lab Podcast #44: TiVo's HD XL, The Peek, and Another Apple Lawsuit

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 13:39:03 +0000

In this week's Gadget Lab Podcast, Dylan Tweney, Daniel Dumas, and Brian Chen talk about the newest TiVo on the block, the 1-terabyte HD XL. With 150 hours of HD content and THX certified audio, the player packs heat, but it might be a bit too pricey for regular folks. Not only that, but the massive capacity might create a wacked-out zombie, or two.

In addition, they review a strange little email-only device called the Peek. The main impression: The device is too simple for its own good, especially since every other gadget with email can also do other things. Tech-friendly grandmas would be embarrassed walking around with it.

Finally, they'll discuss the most recent lawsuit against Apple, brought on by a retired Chicken of the Sea executive (no joke). The suit states that Apple's advertising claims are not only misleading, but also false and improper for such a high-rising gadget.

Thanks for listening to the weekly podcast. If you'd like to subscribe to the feed, point your feed reader or podcast downloader to the Gadget Lab podcast RSS feed. The audio player widget above requires Quicktime (you can download it at Apple's page here).

If you prefer, you can also download the MP3 file for this episode with this link: Gadget Lab Podcast #44 MP3. Check out the previous forty-three Gadget Lab podcasts after the jump.

The Wired Gadget Lab Podcast #43: Nikon D90, Palm Treo Pro, Final iPhone 3G Survey Results

The Wired Gadget Lab Podcast #42: Palm Treo Pro, The iPhone 3G Study, and Lenovo's U110 Notebook

The Wired Gadget Lab Podcast # 41: The Micro Four Thirds Photo System, Tiny Tumbleweed Houses, and the MSI Wind Mini-notebook

Gadget Lab Podcast #40: Nokia E71, New T-Mobile Sidekick, and the WinePod Wine-maker

The Wired Gadget Lab Podcast #39: Hidden Stun Guns in Bikes, Dr. Dre's Headphones, and Nokia's Mobile Platform

The Wired Gadget Lab Podcast #38: Atomic Watches, The HP 2133 Mini Notebook, and iPhone 3G Bugs

The Wired Gadget Lab Podcast #37: iPhone 3G Launch, GammaTech Durabook, and the Openmoko Neo Freerunner

The Wired Gadget Lab Podcast #36: Wired's Summer Test, JVC Everio Camcorder, and Asus' U2E Ultralight

The Wired Gadget Lab Podcast #35: 3D Holograms, The Image Fulgurator, and New Phone Reviews

The Wired Gadget Lab Podcast #34: Samsung Instinct, Toshiba's Portege R500, and the Nikon D60 DSLR

Gadget Lab Podcast #33: iPhone 3G, POV Racing Toy Cars, and the Polaroid Pogo Printer

The Wired Gadget Lab Podcast #32: Mini-notebook Smackdown, Olympic Speedsuits, and the Eye-Fi Catches a Thief

The Wired Gadget Lab Podcast #31: Dell's Mini Laptop, Nokia N96, and Fake GPS Art

The Wired Gadget Lab Podcast #30: The OLPC 2.0, iPhone 2.0, and Roku Netflix Player

The Wired Gadget Lab Podcast #29: The Lowdown on the iPhone 2.0, The Flip 2 Camera Gets Tested, and The Week's Best Reviews

The Wired Gadget Lab Podcast #28: Maker Faire, Samsung Glyde and Olympus E-420

The Wired Gadget Lab Podcast #27: Psystar, T-Mobile 3-G, and AT&T TV

The Wired Gadget Lab Podcast #26: The Optimus Maximus Keyboard is Released, Asus Ships a Boosted Eee PC, and The Science of Walking Barefoot

The Wired Gadget Lab Podcast #25: The Latest on the Psystar Apple 'Hackintosh' Story, Hybrid Cameras, and Rumors of a 24-megapixel Nikon!

The Wired Gadget Lab Podcast #24: Bold Predictions for the 3G iPhone, the Week's Top Reviews, and Crazy Paintball Tanks

The Wired Gadget Lab Podcast #23: The 2008 CTIA Conference, Product Naming Trends, and Beckham's Tacky Gadget

The Wired Gadget Lab Podcast #22: Motorola's Split, The Sony Crapware Saga, and More

The Wired Gadget Lab Podcast #21: The Wireless Spectrum Auction, HTC's Googlephone, and Evil Keyboards

The Wired Gadget Lab Podcast #20: Exploding Batteries, Lost Gadgets, and the Week's Best Reviews

(For links to podcasts episodes #1-19, hit the link for #20, above.)

The Wired Gadget Lab Podcast #40: Nokia E71, New T-Mobile Sidekick, and the WinePod Wine-maker

Peter Rojas and Ryan Block introduce gdgt, gdgt weekly

Thu, 04 Sep 2008 09:00:00 +0000

Filed under: Meta

If you've been wondering what former editor-in-chief (but current editor-at-large) Ryan Block has been up to since he left the site, wonder no more! He and Engadget founder Peter Rojas have just soft-launched their latest foray into the world of gadgets, fittingly (and simply) named... gdgt. Right now they're just getting off the ground, but they've got a new podcast up, and we expect some great content to follow. It should be noted that Peter and Ryan have reached out to various voices in the tech community (yours truly included, along with Gizmodo editor Brian Lam) to advise and input on the new property, which should provide for spirited mashups about all the technology you know (or don't know yet) and love. Hit the read link to check it all out!

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Podcasts become more popular, says Pew

Mon, 01 Sep 2008 08:02:20 +0000

The Pew Internet and American Life Project has been undertaking research into US Internet habits for a few years now, and according to its latest information, podcasts are increasing in popularity, with 19% of web users downloading them (but more of those are men than women: 22% versus 16%).

I've been partaking of podcasts since 2005, so I'm actually surprised the number isn't higher: they are are so much more convenient than radio (or TV, in the case of video podcasts), the content is often more original and you don't often have to put up with ads. In fact, having an iPod, a Tivo (okay, a poor woman's Tivo alternative) and a love of DVD box sets has meant that the idea of sitting down to watch or listen to a particular program at a time specified by the broadcaster has become almost unheard of for me these days.

If you've never given podcasts a try, why not let this survey spur you on? Head over to Podcast Pickle or Podcast Alley (where around 43,000 podcasts are listed) to find out more.

Via The Guardian.

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Gadget Lab Video Blog: The Motorola Z10 Gives Us a Serious Case of The Bends

Fri, 29 Aug 2008 14:11:10 +0000

No, it didn't give us the same decompression sickness found among deep sea divers who rapidly ascend to the surface. Nor does it resemble what is possibly one of Radiohead's best albums (you heard me Kid A fans).

In the 8th episode of the Gadget Lab Video Podcast, Steven Leckart and Danny Dumas discuss the merits of Motorola's newest video-centric (it shoots at 30 fps!) handset, the Z10. Yes, the kick flip design is one of the most innovative forms we've seen in a cell phone to date, but that still doesn't cover up a clunky OS that seems like it was conceived almost as an afterthought.

Make sure to read Steven's full review right here.

Can't see the video above? Check it out here at dedicated online video site.

Of course you can also watch all of our previous videos at Wired's own channel on YouTube.

The Gadget Lab Video Blog is created by Annaliza Savage (producer), Niall McKay (camera), and Michael Lennon (editor).

Gadget Lab Podcast #43: Nikon D90, Palm Treo Pro, Final iPhone 3G Survey Results

Fri, 29 Aug 2008 12:48:08 +0000

In this week's Gadget Lab Podcast, Dylan Tweney, Daniel Dumas, and Brian Chen talk about the first big-time DSLR camera with HD video recording capabilities, the Nikon D90. With eye-Fi geolocation compatibility and new image transfer options, the D90 is one of the most hotly anticipated gadgets of late 2008.

In addition, they review the new Palm Treo Pro, and go over the final reports from the Gadget Lab's iPhone 3G survey. The final tally reports that Europeans have the fastest speeds, American have the most dropped calls, and 3G towers are being overloaded all over the country.

Finally, they pass on some rumors of a Nokia WiMax phone, and Brian goes trolling for a date with a certain Apple worker.

If you prefer, you can also download the MP3 file for this episode with this link: Gadget Lab Podcast #42 MP3. Check out the previous forty-two Gadget Lab podcasts after the jump.

The Wired Gadget Lab Podcast #42: Palm Treo Pro, The iPhone 3G Study, and Lenovo's U110 Notebook

The Wired Gadget Lab Podcast # 41: The Micro Four Thirds Photo System, Tiny Tumbleweed Houses, and the MSI Wind Mini-notebook

Gadget Lab Podcast #40: Nokia E71, New T-Mobile Sidekick, and the WinePod Wine-maker

The Wired Gadget Lab Podcast #39: Hidden Stun Guns in Bikes, Dr. Dre's Headphones, and Nokia's Mobile Platform

The Wired Gadget Lab Podcast #38: Atomic Watches, The HP 2133 Mini Notebook, and iPhone 3G Bugs

The Wired Gadget Lab Podcast #37: iPhone 3G Launch, GammaTech Durabook, and the Openmoko Neo Freerunner

The Wired Gadget Lab Podcast #36: Wired's Summer Test, JVC Everio Camcorder, and Asus' U2E Ultralight

The Wired Gadget Lab Podcast #35: 3D Holograms, The Image Fulgurator, and New Phone Reviews

The Wired Gadget Lab Podcast #34: Samsung Instinct, Toshiba's Portege R500, and the Nikon D60 DSLR

Gadget Lab Podcast #33: iPhone 3G, POV Racing Toy Cars, and the Polaroid Pogo Printer

The Wired Gadget Lab Podcast #32: Mini-notebook Smackdown, Olympic Speedsuits, and the Eye-Fi Catches a Thief

The Wired Gadget Lab Podcast #31: Dell's Mini Laptop, Nokia N96, and Fake GPS Art

The Wired Gadget Lab Podcast #30: The OLPC 2.0, iPhone 2.0, and Roku Netflix Player

The Wired Gadget Lab Podcast #29: The Lowdown on the iPhone 2.0, The Flip 2 Camera Gets Tested, and The Week's Best Reviews

The Wired Gadget Lab Podcast #28: Maker Faire, Samsung Glyde and Olympus E-420

The Wired Gadget Lab Podcast #27: Psystar, T-Mobile 3-G, and AT&T TV

The Wired Gadget Lab Podcast #26: The Optimus Maximus Keyboard is Released, Asus Ships a Boosted Eee PC, and The Science of Walking Barefoot

The Wired Gadget Lab Podcast #25: The Latest on the Psystar Apple 'Hackintosh' Story, Hybrid Cameras, and Rumors of a 24-megapixel Nikon!

The Wired Gadget Lab Podcast #24: Bold Predictions for the 3G iPhone, the Week's Top Reviews, and Crazy Paintball Tanks

The Wired Gadget Lab Podcast #23: The 2008 CTIA Conference, Product Naming Trends, and Beckham's Tacky Gadget

The Wired Gadget Lab Podcast #22: Motorola's Split, The Sony Crapware Saga, and More

The Wired Gadget Lab Podcast #21: The Wireless Spectrum Auction, HTC's Googlephone, and Evil Keyboards

The Wired Gadget Lab Podcast #20: Exploding Batteries, Lost Gadgets, and the Week's Best Reviews

(For links to podcasts episodes #1-19, hit the link for #20, above.)

The Wired Gadget Lab Podcast #40: Nokia E71, New T-Mobile Sidekick, and the WinePod Wine-maker

Violent Comic iPhone App Murderdrome Banned From App Store, Authors Want a Rating System [IPhone Apps]

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 05:45:00 +0000

When the guys at Infurious Comics created Murderdrome (Death Race without the cars, looks like) and submitted it to the App Store as a free download, Apple told them that it did not "satisfy their 'community standards.'" Apparently, a super-cartoony depiction of someone getting decapitated and having his head used as a handball was enough to ban the app from the store for being too "adult." And now, the comic's creators want something that makes a lot sense—a content rating system for iPhone apps.

While it may not make sense to rate every calculator app or variation on Breakout with an "ok for all ages" badge, as App devlopers continue to evolve what the definition of an iPhone app is (here, an 8-panel, episodic comic), for Apple to effectively censor content with their shadowy app approval process is not going to make a lot of people happy. Gadget Lab makes a great point that there are a ton of adult themed podcast floating around in the iTunes store, also free—why can't an iPhone comic be a bit more risque? [Infurious Comics, Tech Radar, Gadget Lab via CNET]

Bioglass Secrets Revealed With NMR

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 04:00:04 +0000

At the University of Warwick scientists are using nuclear magnetic resonance to understand how Bioglass, a substance developed over 40 years ago to help regrow bone tissue, actually works. Here's a university produced podcast discussing the research with physics professor Mark Smith, a leader of the research project.

Press release: Bones get mended with high tech glass-of-milk-a-day

Download (MP3 format, 8:16, 8.0 MB)

Apple Bans Murderdrome Comic Book from iTunes

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 01:03:12 +0000

Yesterday's post on iPhone comicbooks drew some great points in the comments. But it was an email sent to me by artist Paul Jason Holden that made me realize why comics won't succeed on the iPhone, and why the App Store's "quality control" is just a euphemism for "censorship".

Holden and writer Al Ewing (both 2000AD alumni) put together a comic book designed from the start to work on the iPhone's small screen, complete with "making-of" videos. They submitted it to the App Store (as a free download) and Apple refused to take it. Why? Holden:

Unfortunately, Apple have decided the content does not satisfy their 'community standards'

And this, reader, is the problem. Apple can do what it likes with the App Store. After all, big magazine stores don't sell pornography (although, ironically, the little mom and pop stores take up the slack, as it were). You can choose. But Apple controls the whole market for iPhone apps -- you have no choice in where you buy. So Apple censoring content based on questions of taste rather than simply vetting it for safety is a big deal.

If you get anything else from the iTunes Store – video, music, podcasts – it can be marked as explicit. Podcasters can throw pretty much anything up on iTunes and it will stay there, ready for responsible adults to make their own decisions on what to download. So why the difference with applications? If the guys had released this as a free PDF podcast, all would have been fine. But by making it an application, Apple feels it can step in and either be an arbiter of taste or just nanny its users, neither of which is a good thing.

Still, if you want to check out the comic, a rather violent story called Murderdrome, you can grab it in jpeg form from the artists' site, Infurious Comics.

Murderdrome - KILLER APP [Infurious. Thanks, Paul!]

'Digital comic' iPhone app banned [Tech Radar]

A Light And Portable Headset From Sennheiser

Tue, 26 Aug 2008 08:00:00 +0000

I was pretty excited to finally get the Sennheiser Pc121 In-Ear Mono-Aural Headset in the mail last week. Personally I had been looking for a small footprint headset I could use for Skype conversations, and this looks like a winner.

The headset came in a retail package, which I can’t stand because you have to use a blow torch to open it, and I just want to get to the device. To my surprise, the packaging just opened right up, a big win in my view.

This PC 121 model only has audio plugs (one green and one pink), and fortunately my laptop had the correct receptors. The package didn’t include an adapter from audio connector to USB, however I have an adapter from a Plantronics headset, and it seemed to work just fine. I would suggest Sennheiser include this simple inexpensive adapter with the headset, because not all laptops have audio connectors, but almost all come with a USB adapter.

A couple of things really excited me about this headset. The first thing was the over the ear clip like a cell phone wireless headset. No bulky over the head brackets and big ear pieces. Next was the very long wiring. This allowed me to move around while talking.

The big test would be whether the headset was recognized by Skype. That seemed to work with no problem. I could hear really well, and talking with this headset was comfortable most of the time.

Figuring a good test would be using the headset for my podcast, The CouchCast, I plugged it in and recorded the show. Here is a link to the show. The podcast is recorded live, and usually over Skype. In the past I’ve used a Logitech headset, and a Sony headset. But both of these are large and not very mobile.

The unit is light, small, has inline volume and mute controls, and the ASUS EeePC seemed to recognize the device with no problems. The boom mic is movable up and down, allowing you to adjust for comfort and clarity.

I tested the headset in several scenarios, and on several machines with Linux, Windows and Mac operating systems. All of the tests worked well, and none of the machines had any problems recognizing the device.

The only issue I had using this device, was the ear piece staying in place, at least in my ear. I couldn’t get it to stay put, even with the foam cover. It seemed the piece that goes over the ear either kept moving and pulling the piece out, or it simply would not stay in my ear. I spent most of the time holding it so I could hear and talk. Your experience may differ, and again, it could just be my ear, but I have several other devices similar to this and I have no problems keeping it in place.

It’s a great headset, and I really like that it’s small, and easily fits in my computer bag, which is what I have been looking for. This product easily meets my needs. I would recommend the headset to anyone looking for a small, light, portable device, that is easy to use and works on most platforms.

Digium Headquarters Tour

Tue, 26 Aug 2008 06:36:47 +0000

During my tour of Digium's headquarters in Huntsville, Alabama I snapped quite a few photos that I thought I'd share. I'll just share a few here, but if you want to see them all, go check out the online photo album I created specifically for Digium:
http://blog.tmcnet.com/blog/tom-keating/photos/digium/

Be sure to check my other photo albums as well:
http://blog.tmcnet.com/blog/tom-keating/photos/

The new Digium headquarters is very impressive. I couldn't help but be in awe of what Mark Spencer created. Obviously, there is money to be made in open source, and seeing the fruits of Mark's and his team's labor in this state-of-the-art building was proof of that. I can't help but reminisce back to my November 2001 column titled "In Search Of A Linux-Based PBX" where I listed several "young" Linux-based PBX solutions. One such solution I discovered was Asterisk. Check out what I wrote back in November 2001 to see how far Asterisk has come:

As my search continued, I stumbled upon a company called Asterisk. According to their Web site, Asterisk is an open source PBX and general telephony toolkit that runs on the Linux operating system. Asterisk provides a set of APIs that essentially make it a type of middleware between Internet and telephony channels like VoIP, voice over frame relay, etc., and telephony and Internet applications like voice mail, phone directories, call parking, and so forth. Asterisk supports a flexible and extensible channel API, allowing any number of real hardware or software interfaces. It is purported to support ISDN, PRI, T1, and POTS through an Adtran Atlas. The Quicknet Internet PhoneJack and Quicknet Internet LineJack are both supported. Plans to support Lucent-based Winmodems also in the works. This product is not a turnkey out-of-the-box Linux-based PBX, and its still under development, but it does have several telephony functions working, such as call bridging, call transfer, call parking, and rudimentary voice mail. Check them out.

There was no Digium telephony cards back then. It ran on Adtran hardware and some Quicknet PhoneJack cards. Who knew that Asterisk would explode and become the dominant Linux-based IP-PBX solution?

Well, there is no better proof on how far Asterisk and Digium have come than to see their brand new building. Check out these photos:

Front side of the building

Digium front lobby - Nice cafe to get your morning caffeine fix (coffee) before you head off to do some Asterisk coding.

This is the Asterisk logo in the center of Digium's headquarters on the 1st floor taken from the 2nd or 3rd floor above. Doesn't this remind you of the Star Trek Enterprise's warp core? (Seen below from a side view. Couldn't find a top-view image which would be more similar)

I count 6 fans and at least 4 heat sinks. Now that is some serious coolage! This might be the AA350 I snapped but not sure.

This is Rotary Dial Phone with an Ethernet Jack making it the world's only rotary IP phone! It was in one of the Digium offices I passed by.

Digium has many Collaboration Rooms. This is just one of them. Note the (almost) floor-to-ceiling whiteboard for plenty of collaboration space.

Just a shot of the hallway with the cabling system overhead. Hmm, I only see like 7 cables. What sort of magical networking is Digium doing that they only need 7 cables in a company of 150 people?

Digium has several Collaboration Rooms. Note the orange chairs to match the orange Asterisk logo.

Don't zoom in on the whiteboard. It contains top secret Digium information on how they plan on taking over the open source telephony world. Oh wait, they're already doing that.

Can't call yourself a software company without a foosball gaming table! Though I did notice Digium's vending machines only sold Dr. Pepper and not Diet Coke. Sacrilege I say!

Digium's training class room. Each student gets their own PC to install & configure Asterisk.

Digium and TMC having dinner
Left-to-right clockwise: Steve Sokol, John Todd, Russell Bryant, Dave Rodriguez (TMC), Greg Galitzine (TMC), Jane Brooks, Tom Keating (TMC), Bill Miller

There are several other pictures in the Digium photo album. Go check them out.

Tags: Alabama, Asterisk, Bill Miller, Dave Rodriguez, Digium, Greg Galitzine, Huntsville, IP-PBX, Jane Brooks, John Todd, linux, Mark Spencer, Russell Bryant, Steve Sokol, Tom Keating, voip

Related Entries

Digium podcast of Mark Spencer's new role - Jan 30, 2007
Digium - The Showstopper! - May 18, 2007
Leslie Conway Joins Digium - Jul 11, 2008
Awesome Adtran & Digium article - Jul 08, 2008
Interview With Asterisk Founder, Mark Spencer - Jun 26, 2008
Shoretel Rumors - May 01, 2008
Rev B of Astfin's BRI (ISDN) Asterisk Appliance Arrives - Apr 29, 2008
PhoneFromHere.com & Digium Ink 5 Year Deal - Apr 09, 2008
Digium reaches 1 million download milestone - Dec 19, 2007
Astfin announces Asterisk Appliance based on Blackfin - Oct 30, 2007

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