Taking the plunge...

Anyone there? Okay, Cletus, I write this for you.

After pulling the trigger, dealing with Paypal's Customer Service and actually coming across someone with a sense of intelligence, and finally getting through, I made the purchase that I've probably spent too many hours debating.

I've got a Kindle 3 coming. I've thought long and hard about it, and well, basically I consider it an early birthday gift. But moving past the rationalizing, why the Kindle?

I really debated this. Truly. Kindle or Nook. Back and forth. I really wanted to like the Nook more. Truly, but honestly, the tipping point was with (in order) the battery life, how it handles PDF files, and landscape ability.

This is gonna be a short entry, as I've just ordered it. More to come in a few weeks.

The TECHniMertiverse is open again...

Minority Report meets Avatar...

It's finally becoming a reality.

We've all read about touchscreen hardware on phones, computers and other applications, but they all relied on actually touching the screen.

Even my students are getting excited about the possibilities that exist with this tech.

Basically, Evoluce has developed the touchscreen concept beyond having to touch it. Within half a meter, you can interact with the screen with multiple touches/inputs.

My concept here? Combine this with the semi-transparent LCD screen, make a big honkin' tablet that'll flip up and have a centralized media center.

Obviously, the appications could be developed for hospitals, military, schools, and pretty much where something has to be displayed and changed on a regular basis.

I like it!

Shazam!

Adios Lala...

Oh lala...why did you have to leave?

In case you didn't know, lala.com is leaving at the end of the month. I got the email offering the simple confirmation and reassuring me that my cloud music purchases would be protected (in various ways). While I didn't invest as heavily in the collection as my brother, I did have a few.

Pandora.com will remain a favorite of mine, offering customized "channels" of your favorite artists. Grooveshark.com is another, but not quite as limiting as Pandora. While I like being able to go to any song that is available (just like at home), I didn't like how The Beatles weren't available.

This is sad news in that Apple is looking at "protecting" it's investment, perhaps venturing into the realm of an on-line store (as opposed to having the separate app iTunes run). I don't blame them; I will simply miss the Google results for music that offers you the opportunity to listen to the song right off the search results page.

So go ahead and Google your favorite artist or song. Enjoy clicking on those results, becuase while Pandora may move in right now, lala's interface is quite nice and will be sorely missed.

For you lala, I dedicate this next song...

Sony Reader starts the Avalanche

And so it has begun...

Having taken a few weeks away from my usual geeking out on tech news (thanks a lot, TAKS!), I just found out about the price drop on Sony's entry level eReader.

They dropped the price a while back, and now it's pretty much settled in to a ~$150 USD range. Quite nice.

Will this bring about more price drops? Because, quite honestly, for a truly niche device, I can't see folks dropping more that a Ben Franklin (that's $100 USD) one one. Look around at other niche devices. MP3 players, cell phones (maybe not so niche), tennis shoes, even point-and-shoot cameras. Entry level items of these nature fall into that single bill price range.

Sure, the iPod is a bit more, but not much. You could go for the iPod shuffle for even less, that that only supports my theory here. Cell phones have it right, and I think that's the future for the model of eReader business.

Remember those Columbia or BMG music offers? 8 albums/cassettes/CDs with the promise to buy X more in the next year or two? Yeah, that's it. Cell phones do it with a locked in contract. Sign a contract, get a bad ass reader (not just an entry level, but one with 3G or touchscreen...) and agree to buy twelve books in the next two years. Everyone wins, wouldn't they? Maybe book a month? Who knows?

I'll continue watching these trends and wait a bit more, as my tablet is still holding up.

Kris, take note: eBooks are here and aren't going away...

You can't make this stuff up...

Unless you've been under a rock for the last few days, chances are you've heard a little bit of what's been happening with Apple, Gizmondo, and the latest iPhone.

But in case you didn't, here's the gist:

1. Apple employee goes to pub with prototype iPhone 4.
2. iPhone gets "left".
3. Someone finds said phone.
4. Said someone sells iPhone to Gizmondo for $5K.
5. Gizmondo publishes exclusive articles.
6. Apple discovers, wants phone back.
7. Gizmondo acquiesces.

So, not much, right? Well, check out Gizmondo's side of the story here.

Funniest about this? My wife asked me if I heard about this. Yeah, right...

Cloud Printing

I just got done reading an interesting article about Google's Cloud Printing project.

Definitely interesting, especially for those of you with smart phones and laptops not connected to printers and such.

Idea is pretty simple: Have an item you want to print, send it to the cloud. The cloud, in it's mightiness, connects to the established printer (secure and all, right?). Item is printed, and everyone smiles.

It's still in the works within the Chromium project, but I don't see this taking too terribly long. Security is probably the most important aspect here. Once that is clarified, it'll be a real nice and convenient aspect to cloud computing.

Shazam!

Joo Joo Blues, II

Damn you, JooJoo!

I knew you weren't going to do it, but I didn't want to believe it. I had hoped that you would put up a good fight, and you tripped walking up to the ring.

As you can tell by the picture, the only "advantage" is the size of the screen. Of course, this added size makes for a heavy lady. At nearly 50% heavier than the iPad, the Joojoo just doesn't do those certain things right.

engadget reports that as these two are now available, you can check them out yourself. Personally, at this point, it's pretty much a done deal. Sure, the Joojoo would probably beat the pants off of my M275, but that machine is nearly six years old. My machine works for what I want, but there is definite room for improvement.

We'll see what happens. The current scuttlebutt conspiracy theory is that Apple wanted to jump on the eReader/tablet bandwagon, had the iPhone/iTouch and super-sized it. I don't blame them; it works, so why not?

But do you want a super sized iTouch? Rhetorical, but...do you?

Shazam!

JooJoo Blues

In what I had hoped would be a better than decent review, the JooJoo failed to leave a strong positive impression.

Engadget's Paul Miller has the video walk-thru and write up.

I took the time to really listen to what Miller has to say, but some of what he's doing is a bit clumsy. I don't know if that's him or the actual pad.

Hardware-wise, the JooJoo is "quite speedy thanks to its 1.6GHz Intel Atom N270 processor, 1GB of RAM and 4GB solid state drive". SSD is quite nice, but even better is the reported 7 second start up. Rock and roll! But...2.5 hour battery life under normal usage with web surfing? Damn...

As for the interface, Miller makes this look quite clumsy. Again, without putting my hands on it, it would seem unclear if this is Miller making a first attempt, or if the interface is dramatically different (or wonky) when compared to Apple's iTouch/iPhone interface. Personally, give it a few weeks and then make a judgement there, especially after the learning curve.

As for the software, it's obvious that there are some issues, mainly little stuff. Sure it does Flash, but even then, it will attempt to "cheat" the process. Check the video; it'll explain how Youtube videos will utilize the file's original format. It's little stuff here folks. Little stuff that ends up annoying you to no end and simply pissing you off.

In the end, I was left with a feeling of "shoulda woulda coulda". Hopefully, this is something that can be addressed through some software upgrades or maybe even a substitute OS. As you can tell from earlier posts, I was rooting for this one.

Note, the key word is "was".

Comments? Bring 'em!

Shazam!

eReaders: Stock Trends?

My brother turned my onto a short article over at Benzinga that discussed briefly the current trend with eReaders and some quick long term projections.

Personally, I can see this happening. I'm hyped about this technology not only as a consumer, but the potential to students and teachers everywhere. eBooks and eReaders can easily address this while avoiding much of the problems with "just laptops", but I'll save that for another day.

Check out Sam Subramanian's article here.

Best thing in the article? The real purty picture of the Skiff. Eye candy...

Shazam!

Not an iPad post...

So the iPad got released. Good news maybe?

I should be nice, as Apple makes a really nice product. Just read that Apple holds 91% share of the premium PC market. That's not shabby. Of course, that really indicates the kind of people who mainly buy the product: rich folks.

Before you get peeved, simmer down there. Not just rich folks buy Apple computers, but given the choice between a $599 PC and a $1199 Apple computer for the typical computer user, which do you think most would buy? Other analogies don't quite work: homes and cars can be resold, houses are financed, and TV prices vary as much simply within a brand.

So what's the deal with the prices? I'm not rich by any means, nor does my profession dictate that I have an Apple computer. Would it be nice? I think so, but in the end, my hobbies wouldn't be justified in spending the extra monies towards it.

So as the iPad is released, what's a humble wage earner to do to take part in the tablet revolution? Well, a few weeks ago, CrunchGear.com posted an article about seven alternatives to the iPad; today a follow up with seven more alternatives were posted. And that brings us to here, allowing you my faithful readers, to hear my wonderful take on all of this hullabaloo.

[Shameless plug alert!] A while back, I started a brief series about eBooks in general and simply raised the question about them in the world of physical books. Personally, I've been using a tablet laptop for my eReading. Yes, it's heavy and is slow to get going, but overall it does the job fine.

As I read today's article by Matt Burns, I thought about what I had written and what I've read about the iPad. Surprisingly enough, I can't find enough out there about good alternatives to the iPad. Hell, I had great difficulty finding a suitable alternative for the iPod; it honestly does not exist at the moment. But for the iPad? It's waaay to early to say that it will be the best. I remember the hype surrounding the MacBook Air upon it's release, but now...

And that's the point. Apple, to quote a really good writer, is "full of sound and fury" but not always perfect. Personally, the one that I think has the potential to do well is the Neofonie WePad. Of course, you can find a more specific comparison here. Another that has a bit less potential (but still my fave here...) is the Joojoo.

Will it beat it? Too early to tell. Fact is, ask me in six months. By that point, the fanboys will have made up their minds about the iPad, griped about the issues, and other manufacturers will have taken note and addressed it.

And that's where the rubber meets the road. Not the initial buyers. Not fanboys who clamor for the latest gadgets. It's the suburban mother of two with a million things going on who doesn't have the time to relearn the wheel. I'll probably be in line about a week just before her, but that's just me taking my time, doing my research, and saving my money.

Which tablet do you think will come out on top? Will it just be hyped sales or real deal performance?

Shazam!

Catch the Square Wave!

So, let's state the obvious: Technology doesn't always mean moving electrons and light shows.

Doing my usual tech reading, I came across this. As the website describes it:

A very cool concept from industrial design student Andrew Kim. Not only is the simplified branding fantastic, the square bottle is beautiful, and a smart use of space.

Obviously, the image is small, but click to view in better detail. Better yet, check it out at TheDieline.com.

Shazam!

TECHniMertiverse having issues!

Well, if you visited in the last few days (and most of you haven't, according to the counter), then you would have noticed that the layout was weirded out some.

That's right; the TECHnimertiverse was having some technical issues.

It doesn't help that my HTML skillz are lacking, so I think that's where the issues arose from.

It's corrected for now!

Shazam!

Kindle Apps for Tablets, oh my!

I really like my Gateway M275 laptop, especially since it only cost my $50, in lieu of a true eBook reader (namely Kindle, Sony Reader or the Nook). But software-wise, I've had to somewhat settle on a few things.

Lately, I've been using Sony's Reader software. Honestly, it's quite nice with working with most formats. I do wish that it would do a few more things with the PDF format, but it works well nonetheless.

For magazines, I've been using Zinio. Not bad, but leaves something to be desired.

And for .lit files, there's good ol' Microsoft Reader. Like a rusted old tractor, it may not be pretty, but it works.

But just announced was that the Kindle software will soon be available for all tablets, including the iPad.

While not having much experience with the Kindle, this basically opens up the entire Amazon library. That is so much better than say Microsoft's Reader store, and honestly, I hope the interface is better than Sony Reader software.

Let's keep our fingers crossed, shall we?

Google's Privacy Issues

A few weeks ago, a good friend of mine got really tired and frustrated with Google. His concerns were basically a frustration of some of the interface, but alluded to the issues of privacy. He basically told me, "*%^$ it; I just won't use it."

And that's perhaps the best way to look at it. In light of the privacy issues that have arisen since the release of Google Buzz, there have been a backlash on the whole privacy issue.

I won't really go into the slimy details, but basically, folks had some issues with privacy, or lack thereof, as a result of the then mandatory institution of Buzz.

There have been changes made since then, but some folks haven't been appeased.

Personally, I kinda like this guy's take on the whole business of it.

If you don't like it, don't use it. Not easier done than said, especially considering how nice Gmail works better than say Hotmail or Yahoo. While MSN Skydrive has everyone beat right now with overall storage space of 25 GB free (Google Docs only offers 1 GB, but the option of upgrading for $20/year for an addition 20 GB, with more upwards prices and options), Google's unified interface allows mulitple programs to be seamlessly integrated and accessed in a most easy fashion. Simply put, Google's got perhaps the best product out there. And it's free. They even offer a plan for businesses to get involved. Just recently, they've adapted their interface to allow easier exchange. As you can tell, I'm a fan (not a fanboy, just an enthusiastic fan).

I've read a legitimate complain regarding Google Buzz (prior to the changes) that basically involved her ex husband (evil stalker guy) and she's right. She likes Gmail, and doesn't want to stop using it, but simply put, it's a pain in the arse to make that transition, especially if it's just a temporary fix. Folks don't want to stop using Gmail, but give us the option to avoid such quandaries such as those created with the launch of Buzz.

Not much of an easy answer but at least Google has made options available to its users, solving most of the issues created with Buzz. Of course, there are those that are adamant about Google tracking users habits and such. All of that provides for a free Google experience. Worth it? Not sure, yet...

Comments? Questions? Both are always welcome here.

Shazam!

The TECHniMertiverse is now open...

Welcome those of you that make your way here.

As you may well be aware of, I am the author of The Mertiverse, and even though it was dubbed that because of the various topics, I found that I was really spreading myself thin, and as such, this was born.

The TECHniMertiverse is hopefully to become a sibling of The Mertiverse, in that it will be a variety type blog, but the intended focus is technology and all that it encompasses. Usually, this will be things that are in my little world, but not without bigger or worldly ramifications.

I hope you find things that you like here. Comments about the topics are always welcome!