Other Gadgets (general gadgets)

[NotFromHere]

Originally posted by SlaveNoMore
Anyone have this phone? Pros? Cons?

Also - has anyone purchased a new phone/plan via Amazon? For whatever reason, Amazon is offering much lower prices than buying direct from the carrier.

The guy who sold me my car had one - he loves it. His only issue is with Cingular coverage - which is crap in this area. Unless it's gotten better. Some people have complained that the buttons are hard to use. I guess it depends on how fat your fingers are. Are you still stuck with Cingular? And I guess T-Mobile has one now. I dumped my ATT right after the merger, so I'm not sure about the coverage, but ATT sucked in the city. Sucked hard.

[Penske_Account]

Originally posted by NotFromHere
but ATT sucked in the city. Sucked hard.

But did it swallow?

eta: ooops, wrong board, pardon moi

[NotFromHere]

NEW YORK - Providers of Internet-based phone services may be forced next week to cut off tens of thousands of customers who haven't formally acknowledged that they understand the problems they may encounter dialing 911 in an emergency.

The Federal Communications Commission had set the Monday deadline as an interim safeguard while providers of Internet calling, also known as "VoIP" for Voice over Internet Protocol, rush to comply with an FCC order requiring full emergency 911 capabilities by late November.

Vonage Holdings Corp., the biggest VoIP carrier with more than 800,000 subscribers, told The Associated Press Wednesday that 96 percent of its customer base have responded to the company's notices about 911 risks. But that still means as many as 31,000 accounts would need to be shut off as early as Tuesday.



Vonage et al

[NotFromHere]

LONDON - Ten years of using a mobile phone results in no increased risk of a tumor in the nerve connecting the ear to the brain, researchers said on Tuesday.

But amid public concern about a possible link, the scientists who conducted the largest study so far on the subject said they could not rule out a higher risk over a longer period.

“The results of our study suggest there is no substantial risk in the first decade after starting use,” said Anthony Swerdlow of the Institute of Cancer Research.

“Whether there are longer-term risks remains unknown, reflecting the fact that this is a relatively recent technology.”

I anticipate next week's research showing an actual link to tumors.

link

[NotFromHere]

Apple fuels buzz of mystery iPod
Special announcement set for next week

Analysts' speculation on what Apple might unveil next week revolved around two potential products: a long-awaited cell phone from Motorola that plays iTunes music and an iPod that plays video.

The phone was announced earlier, but details have been lacking on what it looks like and how it will work with Apple's online music.
"I don't think we're going to see a video iPod from Apple," said Michael Gartenberg, an analyst at Jupiter Research. "They're still adamant about the notion of portable video: lack of content, poor viewing experience and long download times."

He thinks Apple and Motorola will finally unveil the promised iTunes- enabled cell phone and perhaps a revamped line of iPods.

Wall Street analyst Gene Munster also thinks next week's event will be about the Motorola phone. In fact, he believes that after next week's event, Apple will unveil, at Macworld in Paris on Sept. 20, new versions of the iPod Shuffle and perhaps a new iPod Mini that uses flash memory rather than a hard drive.

The Mini, which comes in five colors, has been the most popular iPod. Apple's color-screen iPod Photo has been a flop, he said.

Word on the street is that it's going to be a release of a larger version of the Ipod shuffle with a larger flash memory. For a secret release, though, there sure is a lot of information about it.

[NotFromHere]

Travelers, hotel guests and visitors to fast-food restaurants now can use vending machines to buy electronic gadgets and other items that cost as much as $500.

Companies that are offering these services are hoping that U.S. consumers, increasingly conditioned by the Web to buy big-ticket items without a person present, won't hesitate to pay vending machines for items that cost 500 times as much as a bag of chips. It is also a gamble that the U.S. market is ready for a form of automated retailing that is commonplace in Japan and other countries, where consumers can readily purchase everything from fresh bags of rice to cellphone accessories via vending machines.

In one significant bet, Zoom Systems, a San Francisco start-up, plans to add more than 100 locations by the end of the year to its existing system of 165 high-end vending machines that sell expensive Bose headphones, iPods and wireless laptop cards. The machines are in airports, hotels and grocery stores. Zoom says it plans to be in a total of about 3,000 locations within the next two years, including office campuses and universities around the country.

[pony_trekker]

Holy moly, I just might have to totally gadget freak out on this one.

[NotFromHere]

Originally posted by pony_trekker


Holy moly, I just might have to totally gadget freak out on this one.

Dude, you need to provide details. $249. Not bad. The new Motorola Rokr phone holds up to 100 songs, which can be downloaded from a computer using a USB cable. The phone uses the iTunes software to play and organize songs and has a special button on the keypad marked by iTunes-style green music notes.

In addition..The Nano models are one-third the size of the colorful iPod Minis, which had been Apple's best selling model.

"The iPod Nano is the biggest revolution since the original iPod," Jobs said. Like the iPod Shuffle, the Nano uses solid state flash memory, compared to the iPod Mini and the regular iPods that use a small hard drive to store songs. Apple priced a 4-GB model, which holds up to 1,000 songs, at $249 and a 2-GB, 500-song model at $199.
Both have color screens and click wheels, come in either black or white and are thinner than a pencil.

[robustpuppy]

I can't seem to download the new version of iTunes. It always stops in the middle. Is there any way I can check to see what's getting in the way? Could it be my firewall? I've tried it both with IE and with Mozilla and the problem is the same. Could it be my wireless? I might have an ethernet cable lying around somewhere.

[Mmmm, Burger (C.J.)]

Originally posted by robustpuppy
I can't seem to download the new version of iTunes. It always stops in the middle. Is there any way I can check to see what's getting in the way? Could it be my firewall? I've tried it both with IE and with Mozilla and the problem is the same. Could it be my wireless? I might have an ethernet cable lying around somewhere.

Wait a day-probabaly the server is overwhelmed. Besides, it's better to let someone else tell Apple it crashed your machine.

[pony_trekker]

Originally posted by robustpuppy
I can't seem to download the new version of iTunes. It always stops in the middle. Is there any way I can check to see what's getting in the way? Could it be my firewall? I've tried it both with IE and with Mozilla and the problem is the same. Could it be my wireless? I might have an ethernet cable lying around somewhere.

Prolly the firewall.

[andViolins]

Originally posted by NotFromHere
In addition..The Nano models are one-third the size of the colorful iPod Minis, which had been Apple's best selling model.

"The iPod Nano is the biggest revolution since the original iPod," Jobs said. Like the iPod Shuffle, the Nano uses solid state flash memory, compared to the iPod Mini and the regular iPods that use a small hard drive to store songs. Apple priced a 4-GB model, which holds up to 1,000 songs, at $249 and a 2-GB, 500-song model at $199.
Both have color screens and click wheels, come in either black or white and are thinner than a pencil.

OK, so the Nano looks really cool and all:



But why kill off your best selling iPod when you announce it? I understand that they are, in essence, two products going after the same market share, but when you have something that works, why change it? Seems like a New Coke kind of move to me.

aV

[Mmmm, Burger (C.J.)]

Originally posted by andViolins


But why kill off your best selling iPod when you announce it? I understand that they are, in essence, two products going after the same market share, but when you have something that works, why change it? Seems like a New Coke kind of move to me.

aV

If they had colors, instead of black and white, would you say the same thing? It's a mini, with a different name, more features (e.g., color screen), and fewer colors. Can't say I disagree about dropping the colors, but how many people bought the mini because it was pink? I would guess not so many.

[bold_n_brazen]

Originally posted by Mmmm, Burger (C.J.)
If they had colors, instead of black and white, would you say the same thing? It's a mini, with a different name, more features (e.g., color screen), and fewer colors. Can't say I disagree about dropping the colors, but how many people bought the mini because it was pink? I would guess not so many.

Ahem. I love my pink mini. (Somehow, that sounds really geeky and really dirty all at the same time.)

[andViolins]

Originally posted by Mmmm, Burger (C.J.)
If they had colors, instead of black and white, would you say the same thing? It's a mini, with a different name, more features (e.g., color screen), and fewer colors. Can't say I disagree about dropping the colors, but how many people bought the mini because it was pink? I would guess not so many.

From what I understand, the earphone jack for the Nano is on the bottom of the device. Not sure how I would like that. Believe me, I like the bells and whistles that are on the Nano, but as B 'n B points out, consumers like certain products for lots of different reasons. Color is certainly not an unreasonable factor in the decision.

New Coke beat Classic Coke in every single blind taste test that market researchers did before the roll out.

aV