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!