Filed under: Home Entertainment

Sanyo R227 WiFi radio headed to the US originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 04 Dec 2008 15:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Consumers and journalists are beating the Storm to a bloody pulp, with very few defending Research In Motion's response to the popular iPhone. 

The most vicious review on the Storm comes from New York Times columnist David Pogue. He ripped the Storm to oblivion last week, calling it the "BlackBerry Dud." And on Thursday he published some reader responses that couldn't agree with him more.

"Having tried the Storm on two different days to make sure it was really as bad as it seemed the first time, I too find it unbelievable that these are for sale," a reader wrote to Pogue. "Verizon should just box all these Storms up and send them to Toys R Us, who can sell them in the Brainteaser section, right next to the Rubik's Cubes."

Verizon and RIM unleashed the Storm on Nov. 21. Sporting a 4-inch touchscreen, the handset is Verizon's attempt to compete with Apple's phenomenally successful iPhone. The resonating complaints about the Storm suggest the handset is not going to pose a threat to Steve Jobs' revolutionary phone.

Wired.com's Danny Dumas wasn't too pleased with the Storm, either: His major complaint was the operating system is a piece of garbage that doesn't do justice to "a piece of hardware this gorgeous."

And a quick Twitter search doesn't display much love for the Storm.

"Coworker just got a new Blackberry Storm," tweets Jeff Casemier. "It is a wonky P.O.S. Just F.Y.I."   

The complaints are likely only to get worse and more widespread: The phone's only two weeks old, and Verizon says the Storm is selling as fast as bacon-wrapped hot dogs outside a bar.

We're eager to hear what Gadget Lab readers have to say. Any of you out there with a Storm? How's it treating you? Let us know in the comments below.

See Also:

• Showdown: BlackBerry Storm VS. iPhone 3G
• Hands On With The BlackBerry Storm
• BlackBerry Storm Hits Vodafone
• Review: RIM BlackBerry Storm

Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.com

Are You a Geek?: 1,000 Ways to Find Out - $8

Let’s face it–we all do geeky things, from checking e-mail obsessively to playing video games to tripping over our own feet. But here’s your chance to find out just how much of a geek you really are. With 1,000 questions for every area of your life–from childhood to lifestyle to entertainment to sex (you met your wife in a Web chat room–3 points), Are You a Geek? helps measure your precise geek quotient. From challenging intelligence quizzes to testing your dating compatibility with “Geekline,” Are You a Geek? lets you in on the secrets that separate the geeks from the grown-ups. Or the nerdmeisters from everyone else…

The Are You a Geek?: 1,000 Ways to Find Out is available from Amazon for $8.

The Sneaky Book for Girls - $9.99

Let’s face it: girls are sneaky. And they have one advantage to being sneaky over boys - they are girls. Girls out there, you know what we mean: your brains are just smarter or something. We want to help ramp up your sneakiness quotient even more, and this book is it. The Sneaky Book for Girls provides complete how-to instructions and diagrams for sneaky gadgets, survival skills, communication codes, science projects, as well as having profiles of more than a dozen famous women. It also explores recycling and conservation techniques.

The The Sneaky Book for Girls is available from Think Geek for $9.99.

The Sneaky Book for Boys - $9.99

A bit like the sneaky book for girls but err for boys .

The The Sneaky Book for Boys is available from Think Geek for $9.99.

It’s a Guy Thing: Awesome Innovations from the Underdeveloped Male Mind - $11.16

Man may have invented the wheel, but it was a Guy who first looked at an ordinary pogo stick and realized it would be greatly improved by the addition of a combustible-gas-powered engine; a Guy who invented a high-five simulator so he’d never be left hanging again; a Guy who dared to dream of airbag boxer shorts to protect that which he holds most dear.

It’s not difficult to imagine these bold inventors reclining in front of their TVs (or Victrolas), one hand resting halfway down their boxers, the other holding a beer, when inspiration struck! Unfortunately, what they envisioned as the next lightbulb was, in actuality, the first toilet lounger.

The It’s a Guy Thing: Awesome Innovations from the Underdeveloped Male Mind is available from Amazon for $11.16.

The Google Story - $11.20

The strength of the book comes from its command of many small details, and its focus on the human side of the Google story, as opposed to the merely academic one. Some may prefer a dryer, more analytic approach to Google’s impact on the Internet, like The Search or books that tilt more heavily towards bits and bytes on the spectrum between technology and business, like The Singularity is Near. Those wanting to understand the motivations and personal growth of founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin and CEO Eric Schmidt, however, will enjoy this book. Vise and Malseed interviewed over 150 people, including numerous Google employees, Wall Street analysts, Stanford professors, venture capitalists, even Larry Page’s Cub Scout leader, and their comprehensiveness shows.

The The Google Story is available from Amazon for $11.20.

Gadget Nation: A Journey Through the Eccentric World of Invention - $13.57

Greenberg, a writer and “innovation insider” who works the quirky device beat, looks into a number of those “why didn’t I think of that” (and “why did anyone think of that”) products in this colorful, fully illustrated guide. From the incredible (bird diapers) to the practical (mom’s third arm, a flexible bottle-holding device that attaches to car seats) to the ingenious (the slanket, a blanket with sleeves) to the goofy (a kitchen utensil for turning a hot dog into an octopus), Greenberg profiles odd products and the oddballs behind them, dutifully chronicling the ups and downs of inventor-dom. Though the products are interesting, the real story is in the arduous trip from garage to store shelf, a long, expensive and risky enterprise. Greenberg finds inventors in all stages of the process, many of whom face the chilling prospect of losing hundreds of thousands of dollars.

The Gadget Nation: A Journey Through the Eccentric World of Invention is available from Amazon for $13.57.

Backyard Ballistics - $14.99

Ordinary folks can construct 13 awesome ballistic devices in their garage or basement workshops using inexpensive household or hardware store materials and this step-by-step guide. Clear instructions, diagrams, and photographs show how to build projects ranging from the simple, to the more complex, to the offbeat. Learn how to annoy your neighbors and amaze your friends by building such things as: a match-powered rocket, a tennis ball mortar, and a pneumatic missile.

The Backyard Ballistics is available from Think Geek for $14.99.

Inside Steve’s Brain - $16.29

“Throughout his storied Silicon Valley career, Apple CEO and Pixar Studios founder Steve Jobs has been labeled, among other things, an egomaniac, a Zen Buddhist, a business mastermind, a sociopath and a music mogul. Blogger, author and Wired News editor Kahney, who has chronicled Apple in previous books (The Cult of Mac), attempts to plumb the depths of Jobs’s prodigious mind in this engrossing biography. The author devotes much time to the sensational aspects of Jobs’ life, including his demeaning and ferocious interactions with employees, his relentless high-mindedness and fanatical attention to detail, clearly demonstrating how his tyrannical and perfectionist impulses have have shaped the award-winning designs and consumer-friendly products that have made Apple a juggernaut. Though it doesn’t penetrate the Mac man’s psyche too deeply, and sections on tangential figures like Apple design guru Jonathan Ive and Apple Store visionary Ron Johnson can meander, those searching for a telling portrait of Jobs’s management style and its impact on Apple will not be left wanting.”

The Inside Steve’s Brain is available from Amazon for $16.29.

The Darwin Awards - $25

The Darwin Award Box Set is a collection of people who did sometimes stupid, yet funny things to die. There are the classic Darwin Awards such as the person who decided to make a neckless out of live amunition and others who did not die, but were injured doing stupid stuff, such as the guy that tied 45 Navy ballons to a lawn chair and sailed up to about 20,000 feet.

All in all a funny look at some stupid people.

The The Darwin Awards is available from Amazon for $25.

Kindle: Amazon’s Wireless Reading Device - $359

Thanks to electronic paper, a revolutionary new display technology, reading Kindle’s screen is as sharp and natural as reading ink on paper—and nothing like the strain and glare of a computer screen. Kindle is also easy on the fingertips. It never becomes hot and is designed for ambidextrous use so both “lefties” and “righties” can read comfortably at any angle for long periods of time.

The Kindle: Amazon’s Wireless Reading Device is available from Amazon for $359.

Stuff You'll Never Own
Panasonic 103-Inch TV
The biggest production HDTV in the world, this 103-inch diagonal plasma is coincidentally the largest set we could fit into Reed Annex.

Sony 11-Inch OLED TV
OLED technology will power all flat-screen TVs in the future, but the beautiful, high-contrast wafer-thin screens are still excruciatingly expensive—in this case $230 per diagonal inch, or $2500 for the set.

Draganfly X6 RC Helicopter
A carbon-fiber remote-controlled helicopter designed to be stable in 18mph winds or even if some of its motors die. It's GPS enabled and can be armed with a high definition camcorder or night vision. And it looks like a Terminator.

Optimus Maximus Keyboard
A keyboard with little OLED screens under each key, which can be programmed to display whatever character, picture or animation and trigger any keystrokes you want.

Carbon Butterfly RC Plane
This remote-controlled airplane is lighter than a piece of notebook paper because of lightweight balsa, carbon fiber and Swiss-made gears.

Au Infobar2
Despite it lacking a lengthy feature list, the Infobar2 is the most beautiful phone from Japan's AU company and I think maybe the most beautiful in the world. On Loan from Gizmodo Japan and Au.

Red One Movie Camera
A digital movie-making revolution and a future-proof modular platform, the 10-lb. digital video camera shoots pristine 4K-resolution movies with its 12-million-pixel "ultra high def" sensor.

Stuff You Might Convince Your Mom To Buy You
Yamaha YSP-4000 Surround Sound Bar
This soundbar is a 5 channel surround sound system that uses cold war submarine sonar tech to bounce beams of audio against walls and to your ears from different angles.

Amazon Kindle Ebook Reader
The first wireless E-Ink ebook reader with a cellular connection, so you can buy and download books without the need for a computer. It bests the paperback but can't be safely read in the bathtub.

Pentax W60 Waterproof Camera
I've had many happy times in Hawaii with this camera. It's my favorite because it works to 30 feet and yet is small enough to pocket without causing a bulge.

Yamaha Tenori-On Music Maker
A revolutionary rethinking of the music keyboard, this 16x16 pad of light-up keys interprets a player's finger strokes and performs a light and sound show in response.

USB Heated Gloves
Thanko's Gloves use the power from a computer's USB ports to warm your fingers on cold winter mornings.

USB Neck Tie
Thanko's USB powered neck ties have a built in fan for hot office afternoons.

USB Wrist Charger
If it has a plug, Thanko's battery-loaded bracelet will charge it.

Gundam Robot Slippers
They make giant robot stomping noises when you walk. Only in Japan, in more ways than one.

Wicked Lasers Torch
Currently pending Guinness records for being the most powerful flashlight of its kind, the 4100 lumen Torch can easily set paper on fire.

Blendtec Blender
We don't know if Blendtec makes the best blenders, but if they can shred bananas the way they can shred gadgets on their famous YouTube videos, we're sold.

Casio Exilim EX-F1 Super-Slow-Motion Camera
The first consumer-grade camera to deliver 1200-frames-per-second slow-mo, it can also shoot 60 full-resolution stills per second.

Chumby
It's an internet machine disguised as a pillow. I use it to check the snow report, play internet radio, tell the time, check the surf and read the news, but it can run hundreds of additional widgets.

Aiptek V10 PMP Pico Projector
Battery-powered mini projector plays movies from an SD card, using an LED to project a picture up to 50" on the wall without burning your hand. One day, all cellphones will have these.

WildCharge Charging Station
A charging matt that uses nubs on a matt instead of wires to charge your devices.

Philips LivingColors Lighting System
These lamps can display 16 million unique colors, controlled by a remote with a color wheel. What can we say? We love pretty lights.

The Original LED Watches
These Tokyo LED watches were the original inspiration for all other Japan streetwear timepieces.

Tenmetsu Tokyo Flash Watch
Tokyoflash's Tenmetsu watch is one of the cleanest designed of their collection, and has never been seen before the Gizmodo Gallery.

Lego Death Star
This Lego diorama includes 3800 pieces, 21 minifigs and is one of the biggest sets ever made. It's also the only one that can destroy entire brick planets at will.

Godzilla Beer Pourer
This Japanese gadget looses a Godzilla roar when you lock in a can and serve beer from its mouth.

Stuff You'd Have To Make Yourself
Ben Heck Custom Atari VCSp
Almost a decade ago, Ben Heckendorn sparked an entire underground scene of custom, hand-built game consoles when he deconstructed the classic Atari 2600, transforming it into the Atari VCSp, complete with built-in screen, sound amplifier, battery power, and aluminum frame. On loan via Ryan Block, gdgt.

Jonah's Slot Machine
This web 1.0 bubble art project checked for short URLs and if you land on an available address, you've hit the jackpot.

Make's Phil Torrone and His Laser Etcher
Yes, our friend Phil from MAKE Magazine is showing up with his laser etching device to brand custom images onto any and every surface.

Back To the Future-Modded DeLorean
Roads? Where we're going, we don't need roads. Oh wait, yeah we do—this mod is pre-Mr. Fusion.

NES Bong
A Nintendo controller modified into a contraption for smoking tobacco and only tobacco. On loan from some stoner.

PC Running Mac OS X Using Hackintosh
We're partial to Macs at Gizmodo, but there's plenty of nice PC hardware that we'd love to run Mac OS on, like this MSI Wind Nettop that uses Hackintosh to get it done. On Loan from Brian X. Chen of WIRED.com

Limor's Wave Bubble Radio Jammer
An open source radio wave jammer that will disable connections like those from Wi-Fi, GPS, cellular and RF. Illegal. Small enough to hide in a pack of cigarettes.

TV B Gone
This pocket sized remote spams IR power codes of common TVs to shut off different makes and models. Not recommended for trade shows. Trust me.

The Stuff of History
Apple Phone Prototype
In the early 80's, Frog Design and Apple collaborated on this phone prototype with electronic check payment and a stylus for use on the monochrome screen.

Apple Tablet Prototype
From Frog and Apple's "Snow White" design language comes this tablet, looking very much like a cousin of the IIc.

Apple 20th Anniversary MacintoshUnveiled at MacWorld on Jan. 7, 1997, Apple called it "the most beautiful thing we've ever built." Both historical and ahead of its time, you can see the Mac's past, present and possibly future.

Sony's First Walkman
The TPS-L2 Walkman did not record and was panned by the press before its release in Japan in 1979. Right before becoming a huge success. On loan from Sony Tokyo Archives.

First Sony Digital Mavica Cam
This 1988 electronic camera paved the way for modern digital cameras. It wrote to a floppy disk and had a TV output cable.

Blickensderfer Portable Typewriter
George Blickensderfer's portable typewriters, introduced around 1892, were advertised as "The Five-Pound Secretary." The Model 6, first sold in 1906, offered an aluminum framework, at that time a relatively expensive and rare metal. On loan from Christopher Bonanos.

Polaroid Land Camera, Model 95
In the fall of 1947, the chemist Edwin Land brought a few dozen new cameras and a pile of film to Boston's Jordan Marsh department store, to demonstrate the instant-photography system he'd developed.

Bell Labs Briefcase Phone
First used in 1984 as an early example of a transportable cell phone (most other cell phones were car only phones). On Loan from the AT&T Archives and History Center.

Bell Labs Picturephone
The first Picturephone test system, built in 1956, was crude—it transmitted an image only once every two seconds. But by 1964 a complete experimental system, the "Mod 1," had been developed and was
displayed at the New York World's Fair, paired to a model at Disneyland. On Loan from the AT&T Archives and History Center.

Dyson G-Force Bagless Vacuum
James Dyson invented a bagless vacuum, which no one would manufacture because it would kill bag sales. It was picked up in Japan in 1983, though, and James used the proceeds to launch a company that today builds the world's suckiest vacs.

Sony Aibo ERS-111
Sony's first revision of their 1st generation robot pet was able to learn and grow from having puppy-like logic to dog-like logic. They were too unsophisticated to run or seem very lifelike, but they paved the way for true robotic toys like the Pleo dinosaur.

First Cameraphone Prototype
Philippe Kahn built the first cameraphone in 1997 out of a digital camera, a laptop and a Motorola handset with some clever software. To date, well over a billion cameraphones have been sold. You do the math.

[Links above wrangled by intern Erica—Thanks Erica!!! And thanks to our host REED ANNEX and our benefactor gizmine.com]

Gizmodo Gallery
Reed Annex
151 Orchard Street
New York, NY 10002

Gizmodo Gallery Reader Meetup
The reader meetup takes place across the street from the Gallery, at a place called The Annex (not to be confused with REED ANNEX where the gallery is hosted.) The address is 152 Orchard Street and we'll be there at 9 PM SHARP on Friday December 5th.

Gallery Dates:
December 4th-7th

Times:
12/4 Thursday
12-8

12/5 Friday
12-8

12/6 Saturday
11-8

12/7 Sunday
11-4

[Read more about our Gizmodo Gallery here and see what else we'll be playing with at the event.]

Amazing - we never thought the day would come so soon where a new generation of cyborg insects are able to be remote controlled, thanks to implants wired into their nerves. These insects will definitely find a place in any reconnaisance mission, and this technology has already been extended to include a variety of other animals including rats, pigeons and sharks. The whole idea behind this is not to reinvent the wheel - instead, find a way to manipulate what is already in its most optimized form out here. Pretty chilling though, knowing that such technology could possibly be transported and applied onto humans in the future. The zombies of the 21st century, so to speak, without having to resort to voodoo rituals.

Permalink: Cyborg Animal Could Spy On You from Ubergizmo (US, FR) | Good deals | Hot: Storm Review

Roku engineers have acknowledged the problem, and are said to be looking into it. At this point they a directing blame at Netflix claiming that recent changes to the content distribution network (CDN) may have contributed to the problem, but the lack of complaints on other Netflix compatible devices like the Xbox 360 and the Samsung BD-P2500 / BD-2550 Blu-ray players make this defense unlikely.

Apparently, the problem is serious enough that some are experiencing quality drops of 50% or more with extremely low connection speeds. Just how widespread this problem is remains to be seen, so I have to ask: if you own a Roku, have you noticed any quality issues lately? [Roku Forum via Wired]

Said to be the first laptop computer, The GRiD compass was designed in 1979 by Bill Moggridge. In its day, the 320x200 display, bubble RAM and integrated 1200 bps modem made it the province of only the most spendy outfits: Nasa and the U.S. Military, and not so much you or I.

It's one of several fascinating items at Royal Pingdom's gallery of vintage computer hardware. I would like an ugly netbook just like it, with a miniature but clacky IBM-style keyboard.

Gallery of Historical PC Hardware [Royal Pingdom via Wired: Gadget Lab]

Navigon's dashboard-mounted GPS unit has a lot to recommend it, including a whizzy 3-D display and street views that show photos of actual road signs, making it easier to find your way around. But as reviewer Rachel Ciricola discovers, this $600 navigation gadget has a big drawback: It's slooooow.

The 3-D view might just be enough to distract you from the 8100T's many minor annoyances. For instance, if you plan on turning the unit off between trips, you'd better know where you are going — at least for some of the ride. Every time we restarted, it took a good 3 to 10 miles for the GPS to sync up with its respective satellites. You could be halfway to Albuquerque by the time it warms up.

$600   •   navigonusa.com

For more on the 8100T, read our full writeup on the Wired Reviews site:

Navigon 8100T | Wired.com Product Reviews