tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57331362024-03-06T22:08:03.433-08:00the swizzle spotPithy observations on the intersection of technology and music, television, movies, sports, culture... and occasionally other stuff.ginswizzlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08930550201245814042noreply@blogger.comBlogger125125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5733136.post-315473903948229962008-09-09T05:26:00.001-07:002008-09-09T06:48:31.492-07:00Because I have surely exceeded my Apple budget for the year and because I hate the feeling of buyer's remorse brought on by obsolescence, here is a list of <a href="http://arstechnica.com/journals/apple.ars/2008/09/02/apple-confirms-september-9-special-event-lets-rock">products I do not want Apple to announce today at the "Let's Rock" event</a>:<div><ul><li>iPhone 3G with 32GB* memory (likelihood: low, too much work has gone into the complex operator subsidy pricing models for the 8GB and 16GB models which are still very, very new)</li><li>iPod nano with 32GB* memory (medium, feasible in similar enclosure at same price)</li><li>$199-249 iPod touch with 32GB* memory (medium, a direct move to phase out iPod classic)</li><li>Apple TV with DVD or Blu-ray drive (low, would kill content sales if they included an optical drive)</li><li>Mac mini with Blu-ray drive and Apple TV software parity (medium, would carry same price as existing models and be positioned as a PC not an Apple TV replacement)</li><li>A faster and cheaper MacBook Air with 2 USB ports, an Ethernet jack and more than 100GB of SSD storage (very low, since today's event is reportedly all about iPod/music/entertainment)</li><li>A <a href="http://macmate.org/?tag=new-macbook-september-2008">significantly redesigned MacBook Pro enclosure</a> at same or lower price/specs ratio (very low, see MBA comment)</li><li>A significantly redesigned MacBook enclosure with discrete graphics card and same or lower price/specs ratio (very low, see MBA comment)</li><li>A <a href="http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/apple-tablet-contest/apple-touchscreen-tablet-contest-winner-and-gallery-326468.php">touch tablet with price/spec ratio similar to current MacBook</a> (medium, the <a href="http://techmeme.com/search/query?q=apple+touch+tablet&wm=false">hottest Apple rumor since the iPhone became real</a> but it's hard to see the value outside certain vertical business applications given how great iPhone and MacBook are)</li><li>Some other breakthrough product that I am too mundane to imagine (medium, always a possibility with Apple)</li></ul>That said, there certainly are some announcements I would welcome:</div><div><ul><li>Apple TV update that supports a useful subset of Dashboard/iPhone widgets and extended storage using Time Capsule and/or external hard drives (medium)</li><li>A 500GB or 1TB external hard drive that's designed to fit under or on top of Apple TV (low)</li><li><a href="http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/08/08/17/fourth_iphone_2_1_beta_takes_out_push_notification_feature.html">iPhone software update 2.1</a>, where 3G connections are fast and reliable and battery life doesn't suck - and hopefully with copy/paste (medium, but probably only if needed to support the next two)</li><li><a href="http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=555798">iTunes 8 software with smarter playlists and store recommendations based on music characteristics</a> (high, very straightforward evolution with too many rumors not to be true)</li><li><a href="http://news.cnet.com/8301-13526_3-10022064-27.html">iTunes music subscription</a> via downloads a la Napster and Rhapsody and/or streaming channels a la Last.fm and Pandora (medium, the only chink in the Apple music strategy relative to competitors)</li><li>Some other breakthrough product that I am too mundane to imagine (medium, always a possibility with Apple)</li></ul>*32GB because that's how much space I need to carry around all my music and photos with enough space left for a good mix of applications, movies, TV shows and podcasts - and any new music that I will acquire before this time next year.</div>ginswizzlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08930550201245814042noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5733136.post-26961391139557817492008-07-24T00:22:00.000-07:002008-07-24T00:37:33.868-07:00I think <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aq5f1CuTkCbM&refer=home">Microsoft just found Jerry Yang his next job</a>...<br /><blockquote>July 23 (Bloomberg) -- Microsoft Corp.'s Kevin Johnson, who oversaw the bid to buy Yahoo! Inc., is leaving, adding to the challenges facing the software maker's Internet unit.<br /><br />The company will conduct a search for a new online-services leader.<br /></blockquote>ginswizzlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08930550201245814042noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5733136.post-82189653970734711212007-08-16T17:19:00.001-07:002007-08-16T17:29:42.343-07:00Uh... I'm <a href="http://news.com.com/Ick%2C+old+married+guys+on+Facebook/2010-1025_3-6202499.html">married and on Facebook</a>, but at least I'm not old. I don't think.<br /><blockquote>"What's up with the 40-and-older crowd on Facebook? From my perspective--as a 17-year-old girl brought up to be hyperaware of my surroundings, especially online--I have to be a little skeptical of the people who are adding me as friends on Facebook."</blockquote>ginswizzlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08930550201245814042noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5733136.post-13438959516959451162007-07-27T01:29:00.001-07:002007-07-27T01:47:55.126-07:00My <a href="http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1639068,00.html">favorite iPhone review</a> so far, if only for this: "The glass touchscreen keyboard is kinda freaky (though if there was ever a moment for an ad campaign to license Sir Mix-A-Lot's "Put 'Em on the Glass," this is it)." Do you not remember <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-83BJqRl-s">this classic from Seattle's x-large rap pioneer</a>!?!ginswizzlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08930550201245814042noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5733136.post-55572589079351691132007-06-06T16:54:00.001-07:002007-06-06T17:02:56.024-07:00<a href="http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/playoffs2007/columns/story?columnist=hollinger_john&page=Finalists1-10">ESPN ranks the 60 NBA Finalists </a>using a simple mathematical formula based on number of wins and margin of victory... the Jordan-led Bulls team from 1996 that won 87 of 100 games is #1, and three other Bulls teams from that era are in the top 7 (#4 - 1991, #5 - 1997, and #7 - 1992).ginswizzlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08930550201245814042noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5733136.post-13423961655184668642007-06-06T01:05:00.000-07:002007-06-06T01:06:04.449-07:00I've never done it, but I've come pretty close once or twice... <a title="855,000 Phones Dropped in UK Toilets Yearly" href="http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/this-stinks/855000-phones-dropped-in-uk-toilets-yearly-265787.php">855,000 Phones Dropped in UK Toilets Yearly</a>.ginswizzlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08930550201245814042noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5733136.post-62075366187464546402007-06-06T01:00:00.000-07:002007-06-06T01:06:24.980-07:00<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0FFkvhoEfX8">iPhone ad parody</a> spoofs <em>2001: A Space Odyssey</em>.ginswizzlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08930550201245814042noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5733136.post-65802173057579841462007-03-25T18:57:00.000-07:002007-06-05T23:31:38.614-07:00I just came across <a href="http://grandcentral.com/">GrandCentral, a free service that gives you one number that rings all your phones</a>. Includes several cool features like transfering ongoing calls from one phone to another, listening to voicemail messages while they're being recorded, setting custom ringback tones, and funnest of all... playing a "disconnected" message to thwart that geek you met at the bar last night.ginswizzlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08930550201245814042noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5733136.post-75894726905816456522007-03-08T20:53:00.000-08:002007-03-08T21:00:15.550-08:00This past Christmas I really wanted to get WiFi-enabled digital picture frames for both sets of grandparents so we could stream pictures of our family's new addition, but after lots of research was unable to find a <a href="http://www.ceiva.com/lmore/pp/pictureplan.jsp">frame that didn't require an expensive service subscription</a>. I ended up scrapping the idea, although I did get <a href="http://www.consumer.philips.com/consumer/catalog/tree/en/gb/consumer/home_entertainment_gr_gb_consumer/digital_photo_display_ca_gb_consumer/ce/_productId_7FF1M4_00_GB_CONSUMER/PhotoFrame+7FF1M4_00?proxybuster=GHALTYCLJBBQBJ0RMRCSHQFHKFSESI5P">this Philips frame without WiFi</a> for my wife to take to work.<br /><br />But things are looking up, as I just discovered this recently launched <a href="http://www.kodak.com/eknec/PageQuerier.jhtml?pq-path=10525&pq-locale=en_US">Kodak EasyShare frame with WiFi</a> that lets you share photos over the Internet for free. And it's only $30 more than I paid for the smaller Philips frame. Shhh, don't tell my parents or in-laws.ginswizzlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08930550201245814042noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5733136.post-76517323474863380382007-03-07T00:06:00.000-08:002007-03-07T00:45:41.971-08:00I'm going to declare this the official first blog post announcing the gamma release of <a href="http://mobile.yahoo.com/go/phones?os=wm">Yahoo! Go 2.0 for Windows Mobile</a>. Yahoo!'s site claims 77 phones supported now - including a handful of Windows Mobile 6 phones and the Lobster (!) - although all the PPCs, landscape SPs, and 6 phones say "coming soon." Yeah!<br /><br />UPDATE: They weren't kidding when they said "coming soon." I just tried to download and install this on a <a href="http://www.samsung.com/sg/products/gsm/gsm/sgh_i320n.asp">Samsung i320N</a> (i.e. the EDGE Blackjack) and Yahoo!'s mobile site wouldn't let me. I agreed to let them send me a text when the phone was supported. Bummer. I guess while I'm waiting I'll download the installer to a portrait SP (I hope I have one with Windows Mobile 5.0), copy it to the i320N and see if I can get it to work that way.ginswizzlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08930550201245814042noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5733136.post-26539297902992487042007-03-06T16:03:00.000-08:002007-03-06T19:06:07.378-08:00I know I'm late in pointing this out and I'm sure you'll think it lame of me to be drooling over this, but Sony is promoting a line of <a href="http://www.sonystyle.com/is-bin/INTERSHOP.enfinity/eCS/Store/en/-/USD/SY_ViewStatic-Start?page=static/promos/casino_royale&DCMP=keyword_search_sse_sony_casinoroyale">007 branded products in conjuntion with the Casino Royale movie</a>. If memory serves, all of these products are used prominently in the movie along with <a href="http://www.sonyericsson.com/spg.jsp?cc=global&amp;amp;lc=en&ver=4001&template=pc3_1_1&zone=ph&lm=pc3_1&prid=6334">limited edition silver Cyber-shot camera phones</a> from Sony Ericsson. Sony is even offering bundles that come packaged in a "sophisticated aluminum attaché case." Sweet!ginswizzlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08930550201245814042noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5733136.post-89542724115976368662007-03-04T00:30:00.000-08:002007-03-04T00:53:19.897-08:00Standalone digital cameras a thing of the past? Maybe not. Enter the <br /><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_single_lens_reflex_cameras#SLR-like_cameras">consumer digital SLR</a>. These cameras won't fit in your pants pocket, but for as little as $300 they give you a terrific 12x optical zoom on top of a typical compact point-and-shoot model's feature set. That's right... 12x. Optical. Zoom. Not the puny 3x you normally get. And most definitely not that fake ass digital zoom stuff used to puff up spec sheets. This is the real deal. So you can finally capture decent quality photos of your favorite band or team - even from the nosebleeds. They're still not going to get you a <a href="http://www.rollingstone.com/photos/">gig with Rolling Stone</a> or a <a href="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/multimedia/photo_gallery/">contract with Sports Illustrated</a>, but if your cameraphone leaves you wanting check out this <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/01/technology/01pogue.html?_r=1&8cir&emc=cir&oref=slogin">consumer digital SLR review by David Pogue</a>. The accompanying slide show does a great job highlighting the pros and cons of this class of cameras.ginswizzlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08930550201245814042noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5733136.post-23749039453744003592007-02-28T21:14:00.000-08:002007-02-28T21:22:48.714-08:00I just took action against <a href="http://maps.live.com/?v=2&cid=2A54792BEA92D42B!279">Seattle winter driving frustration</a> by publishing an annotated map that can be used to track local road conditions when bad weather hits. Read about it on <a href="http://ginswizzle.spaces.live.com/">my other blog</a>.ginswizzlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08930550201245814042noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5733136.post-47379657746841900712007-01-10T00:15:00.000-08:002007-01-10T00:23:08.681-08:00I’m sure you tracked the <a href="http://www.engadget.com/2007/01/09/live-from-macworld-2007-steve-jobs-keynote">keynote</a> minute-by-minute, poured over all the new <a href="http://digg.com/search?s=iphone&submit=Search&section=news&type=both&area=all&age=7&sort=most">analysis and speculation</a>, and signed up to be <a href="http://www.apple.com/iphone/signup/">notified when it’s available</a>, so I’ll spare you a recap of all that. What I want to know is… how will you <a href="http://www.apple.com/iphone/technology/">type on the iPhone while driving</a> with no tactile feedback!?!ginswizzlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08930550201245814042noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5733136.post-1142487100279642092006-03-15T21:31:00.000-08:002006-03-15T21:50:40.953-08:00The new <a href="http://youtube.com/watch?v=dBxcunGc_nA">Nike commercial with kids reenacting signature Jordan moves in modern day playground and gym settings</a> is totally sick. I get a little shiver every time I see it - just like I do any time I see old highlight footage of the real thing. <a href="http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=rovel/060302">Darren Rovell's article on the "Let Your Game Speak" / "2nd Generation" commercial over at ESPN.com</a> is worth the read.ginswizzlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08930550201245814042noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5733136.post-1136620629352250952006-01-06T23:57:00.000-08:002006-01-07T02:44:03.453-08:00It's finally here... <a href="http://www.palm.com/us/products/smartphones/treo700w/">Palm Treo 700w smartphone with Windows Mobile now available from Verizon</a>!! Don't be fooled by the relatively negative reviews by <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/05/technology/circuits/05pogue.html">David Pogue of The New York Times</a> and <a href="http://ptech.wsj.com/archive/ptech-20060105.html">Walt Mossberg of The Wall Street Journal</a>... go into a Verizon Wireless store and check it out for yourself. I'm pretty sure you'll still want one.ginswizzlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08930550201245814042noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5733136.post-1130654600886759022005-10-29T23:43:00.000-07:002005-10-29T23:43:20.936-07:00<a href="http://www.mimoco.com/mimobots.htm">Mimobots</a>... crazy, cute USB Flash drives... from 256MB to 2GB.ginswizzlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08930550201245814042noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5733136.post-1130463030681732132005-10-27T18:30:00.000-07:002005-10-27T18:30:33.816-07:00<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/27/technology/circuits/27pogue.html">Olive Symphony and Musica digital media boxes for your entertainment console</a>. Unfortunately no AAC support, so I'd have to re-rip all my music. Damn you, Apple... why'd I have to drink your Kool-Aid!?!
<br />ginswizzlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08930550201245814042noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5733136.post-1128590200410685072005-10-06T02:16:00.000-07:002005-10-06T02:19:03.400-07:00Now your pooch can ride up front with you... <a href="http://www.gizmodo.com/gadgets/gadgets/honda-wow-car-for-dogs-129283.php">Honda WOW concept car with in-dash dog</a>. But what about tunes? Woof woof. Growl growl. I guess.ginswizzlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08930550201245814042noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5733136.post-1127974269151964362005-09-28T23:11:00.000-07:002005-09-28T23:40:48.363-07:00Seattle's always quirky <a href="http://www.presidentsrock.com/news/archive.php?entry=116">The Presidents of the United States of America make the first phonecam music video</a> for their most recent hit song "Some Postman."<br /><br />Apparently 12 phones were positioned at different angles to capture video of the band performing (at half speed to accomodate the poor recording quality). I think the phone model that's being used is the <a href="http://www.sonyericsson.com/k750/">Sony Ericsson K750 with 2 megapixel camera</a>. After capture, the video was transferred over Bluetooth to a Mac for editing. The music for the video was obviously recorded at a much higher quality than a phone could have captured.<br /><br />Good stuff, definitely worth the 3 1/2 minutes it takes to watch and forward on to your geek friends.ginswizzlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08930550201245814042noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5733136.post-1127959335451815502005-09-28T19:02:00.000-07:002005-09-28T19:02:15.496-07:00ArsTechnica <a href="http://arstechnica.com/reviews/hardware/nano.ars/1">uses then abuses the iPod nano</a>, and discovers that it will keep playing music even if you run it over with a car. In their tests, the display suffers only minor cosmetic damage when put through a series of "moving drops" (to simulate jogging / running / biking / driving) - they had to drop it from 9ft onto a cement sidewalk before it stopped working correctly. That should provide some solace to everyone that's experienced a <a href="http://news.designtechnica.com/article8407.html">cracked or scratched nano display</a>, shouldn't it?
<br />ginswizzlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08930550201245814042noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5733136.post-1127888064775978162005-09-27T23:14:00.000-07:002005-09-27T23:14:24.836-07:00<a href="http://www.engadget.com/entry/1234000847060735/">Rent my DVR</a>... well, not **my** DVR, but someone's.
<br />ginswizzlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08930550201245814042noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5733136.post-1127272538852188532005-09-20T20:15:00.000-07:002005-09-20T20:15:41.483-07:00This looks pretty sweet... <a href="http://www.engadget.com/entry/1234000430059469/">Harman Kardon Bridge iPod dock.</a> Only $100, out for Christmas.ginswizzlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08930550201245814042noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5733136.post-1126148364591788472005-09-07T19:59:00.000-07:002005-09-07T20:23:53.513-07:00Since I'm sure it will be covered ad nauseum by <em>every</em> publication over the next few days, I'll keep my summary of the <a href="http://www.makemedance.com/">new Moto ROKR E1 iTunes phone</a> brief... BORING!!<br /><br />I'll take a <a href="http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebObjects/AppleStore.woa/71807/wo/Ob5PT4xNMEVb2VPsHvcof2YLfGv/0.1.15.1.0.6.9.1.1.3.1.0.3.1.1.0?38,18">4GB black iPod nano</a> please... same $249 price (actually 99 cents cheaper), no two-year service contract, lots more storage (1,000 songs vs. 100).<br /><br />As expected, the <a href="http://www.mobile-review.com/review/motorola-e398-en.shtml">ROKR E1 is just a minor update to the E398</a> - white instead of black plastic and an iTunes button. I've already got an E398... wonder if I can get the iTunes software for it?<br /><br />It seems clear that Moto has several more iTunes models on the horizon. And I wouldn't be surprised if Apple is working with other handset vendors as well. Hope some of those are more revolutionary than this one. I would love to see a Nokia Nseries model that supported iTunes, but I think an Apple / Nokia partnership of this nature is unlikely considering their similar brand aspirations.<br /><br />A couple of specific nits about the ROKR E1...<br /><br />Use of TransFlash memory format sucks. This format is not as widely used, so higher price per MB than miniSD and harder to find. Good thing Cingular seems to be including a 512MB card.<br /><br />Although the <a href="http://www.makemedance.com/index.php?section=tv">ROKR E1 commercials</a> make it appear otherwise, I'm a bit concerned that the product descriptions make it seem like you have to manually pause the music when a call comes in:<br /><ul><br /><li>"Pause music when you need to take a call" - <a href="http://www.makemedance.com/index.php?section=demo">Cingular's site</a></li><br /><li>"You can even pause the music when your phone rings, so you won’t miss any incoming calls" - <a href="http://www.apple.com/itunes/mobile/">Apple's site</a></li><br /></ul><br />This should happen automatically... incoming phone calls trump <em>everything</em> on a phone. Period.ginswizzlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08930550201245814042noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5733136.post-1125791239160467592005-09-03T16:34:00.000-07:002005-09-03T16:47:19.170-07:00Went to <a href="http://www.bumbershoot.com/lineup/friday">Bumbershoot yesterday to see The Donnas and Garbage</a>, and was disappointed to find that they aren't handing out wristbands this year to get into Mainstage concerts in Memorial Stadium. That practice has been an institution for as long as I've been going to the festival. This year, they're handing out tokens instead... same purpose, but not the same experience.ginswizzlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08930550201245814042noreply@blogger.com0