2008 July 23 | tech gadget update

Jul 23 2008

Windows Live Messenger for BlackBerry now available

Posted by: admin in Mobile Gadget

Back in Might, Microsoft and RIM announced a partnership to bring Windows Live services to the BlackBerry platform “sometime this summer”.

The first goods from that partnership are on the table, with the release of Windows Live Messenger for BlackBerry. All of back-and-forth communication works through BlackBerry’s push technology, so chat lag should be minimal. The client has just about everything you might anticipate, with support for chat logs, emoticons, file transfer, buddy pictures, group chats, and customized status messages.

With that, the only thing missing from the package is Windows Live Hotmail. As it was announced under the same “summer” umbrella, we’ll probably see it sometime within the next few weeks.

[Via Ars via Messenger Stuff]

Jul 23 2008

Even more distractions for drivers: A touchscreen steering wheel

Posted by: admin in Life Gadgets

Spanish car-tech newcomer IFR Automotive has created a whole slew of distractions by allowing for the driver to control a whole host of functions. Not happy with the pitch, roll or yaw of your car? IFR wants to help. With the ‘Unidrive’ system, you can also change the parameters for the rev limit, valve timing, […]

Spanish car-tech newcomer IFR Automotive has created a whole slew of distractions by allowing for the driver to control a whole host of functions. Not happy with the pitch, roll or yaw of your car? IFR wants to help. With the ‘Unidrive’ system, you can also change the parameters for the rev limit, valve timing, power output, steering assistance, ABS, noise valve, brake balance, ride height, traction and stability controls.

Currently being displayed at The British Motor Show, the tech was placed into the company’s ‘Aspid’ demonstrator car. IFR hopes to see the Unidrive system worked into mass produced cars at the design stage.

That has got to be a bad idea. Even the execution sounds iffy. Just placing a touchscreen in the steering wheel is conceptually unsound. The tactility of physical buttons is one long-tested feature to keep the drivers eyes on the road. I lost a sweet 1964 Dodge Dart slant-6 in a collision years ago. The car was totaled and the quote that’s left ringing in my ears was the driver of the other automobile, (who happened to be a cop) whom upon emerging, said, “It’s these damn computers!”

Keep your eyes on the road, people.

Via [crunchgear]

Jul 23 2008

AT&T Posts Good 2Q Numbers

Posted by: admin in Mobile Gadget

AT&T’s second quarter numbers are in this day, and the company has meet Wall Street’s expectations. The company saw its profits increase 30%, despite a slowing down of the U.S. economy. In the past few months AT&T’s stock has been driven down because of a feared recession, but today’s news sent the company’s shares up $1.08, to sell at $32.90 in morning trading.

AT&T has seen a loss of landline subscribers and is having trouble signing up new customers to it broadband service. Only 46,000 new customers were added, a number which disappointed analysts. But the company did add 170,000 new subscribers to its Television service U-verse, which now has a base of 549,000 customers.

The company is expecting large numbers from Apple’s second generation iPhone, which is exclusively carried by AT&T in the United States. Sales of the new iPhone were nearly double those of the first iPhone model in the first 12 days the device was available. Because the iPhone didn’t go on sale until July 11, it isn’t part of the second quarter numbers. But AT&T did say that 40% of the buyers were new to the company, which should help third quarter numbers.

AT&T is still the largest U.S. wireless company, with 72.8 million subscribers but the number two company, Verizon Wireless, is a close second with 68.7 million customers.

Jul 23 2008

Voice Candy!

Posted by: admin in Video

This is a cool app for mac

Jul 23 2008

AT&T Posts Good 2Q Numbers

Posted by: admin in Mobile Gadget

AT&Tâ€™s second quarter numbers are in today, and the company has meet Wall Streetâ€™s expectations. The company saw its profits increase 30%, despite a slowing down of the U.S. economy. In the past few months AT&Tâ€™s stock has been driven down because of a feared recession, but todayâ€™s news sent the companyâ€™s shares up $1.08, to sell at $32.90 in morning trading.

AT&T has seen a loss of landline subscribers and is having trouble signing up new customers to it broadband service. Only 46,000 new customers were added, a number which disappointed analysts. But the company did add 170,000 new subscribers to its TV service U-verse, which now has a base of 549,000 customers.

The company is expecting huge numbers from Appleâ€™s second generation iPhone, which is exclusively carried by AT&T in the United Says. Sales of the new iPhone were almost double those of the first iPhone model in the first 12 days the device was available. Because the iPhone didnâ€™t go on sale until July 11, it isnâ€™t part of the second quarter numbers. But AT&T did state that 40% of the buyers were new to the company, which should help third quarter numbers.

AT&T is still the largest U.S. wireless company, with 72.8 million subscribers but the number two company, Verizon Wireless, is a close second with 68.7 million customers.

Jul 23 2008

NewTek to Produce and Web Stream AFL’s ArenaBowl XXII Coverage

Posted by: admin in Mobile Gadget

The Arena Football League (AFL) has chosen NewTek’s TriCaster technology to produce and web stream this year’s Virgin Mobile ArenaBowl XXII coverage. The event takes place in New Orleans on July 24-27. If you’re an AFL fan but don’t like jazz or already have a closet full of beads, you can experience 11 events from seven locations via ArenaFootball.com and ArenaBowl.com. Coverage includes the following:

• LIVE from ArenaBowl XXII Weekend Daily Reports
• ArenaBowl XXII Children Zone Concert featuring Jordan Pruitt
• Virgin Mobile ArenaBowl XXII Pre-Game Show on SIRIUS
• Virgin Mobile ArenaBowl XXII Post-Game Press Conference
• This Week in the AFL on SIRIUS
• Daily American and National Conference Reports
• The Wolfe’s Den presented by Miller Lite

If baseball is too slow for you and you need to take the edge off before 100 yard football season starts, be sure to follow this year’s Virgin Mobile ArenaBowl XXII weekend in all its detail.

Jul 23 2008

Hitachi Drops Acid, Explains Terabyte Hard Drives In Crazy Cartoon [Great Moment

Posted by: admin in General Gadgets News

It’s always great when companies break out of their stodgy PR molds and just go for it—remember those fantastic tokusatsu Norton Fighter ads? Here we’ve Hitachi, no strangers to the out-of-the-box viral video, ushering us all into the “Tera Era,” a magical wonderland of smiling flowers, speaking bytes, hard disk actuator suns, and catchy Schoolhouse Rock jingles. The juxtaposition of traditional PR-speak on their YouTube page which looks like a clown threw up all over it (”This astounding collision of Capacity, Content and Culture”) and this video, which is just another kind of PR-speak, is still pretty amazing. Check out the original “Get Perpendicular” spot for comparison below.

[YouTube]

Via [Gizmodo]