CES and Macworld
Sprint About to Release a 3G/4G Portable WiFi Hotspot? (UPDATE: It’s Official)
Jan 4th
The Sprint Overdrive 4G hotspot shown in a Sprint online ad
With CES only 2 days away, the news and rumors flying out of Vegas are crazy.
Among the older ones is that Sprint is releasing a 3G/4G portable WiFi hotspot — basically a 4G-capable version similar to the MiFi 2200 we saw last year. For those unfamiliar with the MiFi, it takes the 3G/4G Sprint signal and turns it into a WiFi network, where any other device with the ability to connect to WiFi (iTouch, Zune HD, laptop– heck even iPhones) can get internet connection. In other words, let’s say you got your iTouch or laptop and want to get an update on the Jets-Bengals game this Saturday, but you don’t have any WiFi networks to connect to. With this new device attached, all you got to do is turn it on and you’ve got all the latest updates streaming down to you on Sprint’s fast 3G and really fast 4G network (think speeds close to the ones you get on your home broadband network, and much faster than the current 3G networks).
The device, called the Sprint Overdrive, does all that and is also quite compact, so it should be no problem for you to carry this in your pocket. Other specs on the device are said to include a microSD card slot (perhaps for sharing files over your portable network), support for location services (like a GPS), and has an 100 150 foot range (which is definitely not bad for such a small device).
Now while Sprint hasn’t yet confirmed any of this, some of their 4G ads online just so happen to be showing this off (that’s how we were tipped off on it), and going to sprint.com/overdrive takes you too a Coming Soon page, so an announcement and official details (like price and release date) can’t be too far off now.
UPDATE (1/06): With CES now really starting to get underway, Sprint has come out and made this official. Updated specs include sharing your 3G/4G connection with up to 5 WiFi devices– like the MiFi– a built in GPS, and support for up to a 16 GB microSD card which can be used as shared storage over your network. The Overdrive will be available online and in Sprint and Best Buy stores starting January 10th for $99.99 after a $50 mail in rebate and a new 2 year contract (with a $59.99 a month 3G/4G data plan).
CES 2010– Everything You Need To Know, Right Here
Jan 2nd
Happy New Year! Yes, we are finally into the first decade of the 2000′s. Along with the new year comes the upcoming annual Consumer Electronics Show, which showcases a lot of the new tech you’ll see next year.
Among categories in which we expect particular development, smarter, even more powerful smartphones, faster, better computers (particularly netbooks), 3D TV’s (just a lot of 3D in general), eBooks, tablets (especially Apple, if you’ve been following any news), and 4G.
4G, which is the next step in cell phone networking, with even faster, higher-quality connection, is anticipated to be launched by Sprint in the US very shortly–with the inclusion of more modems and a some new 4G-capable phones–and Verizon is said to begin the rollout of their 4G network this year as well.
So stay tuned, CES kicks off January 6th and runs through the 10th, and we’ll be relaying to you everything about the latest, coolest tech out there.
(Oh, and for all those wondering about Macworld– Apple isn’t participating in it this year, but don’t worry, word is that they got a January announcement of their own planned for later this month…)
CES Roundup – Netbooks
Jan 16th
Dell’s Inspiron Mini 10 (Pic from Laptop Mag)
Well our finals are finally over, so it’s time for us to get back to “work”. A lot of things happened at CES, and we hope to give you info on the best netbooks, laptops and desktops (aka. regular computers), cell phones, as well as some general cool things we saw happen.
Let’s start with netbooks, and boy were there A LOT of these. HP, Dell, Asus (the guys who really started the netbook frenzy with their Eee PC line), and a bunch of other companies all came out with some new stuff, so read on for some of the best you should look to see in 2009!
Sony’s P Series Announced
Jan 8th
Remember a few weeks back we wrote about Sony’s new netbook? Well they’ve finally been confirmed– the Sony P Series.
Just in case you missed it, here are some exciting features of the P Series:
- The P Series will be the lightest netbook around, tipping the scales at about 1.4 pounds! Oh, and it fits into a regular mailing envelope– take that MacBook Air!
- The LED backlit screen has a 1,600 x 768 resolution, which is one of the best out there for netooks and just stunning.
- Wi-Fi and Bluetooth
- A battery that boasts 4 hours of work time, which could be 8 if you decide to go with the optional high capacity battery.
- Just in case, it also comes with built-in GPS
- Webcam
- A one touch button for access to Sony’s Xross Media Bar interface for your movies and music and internet browsing, which you can start up without going into full Windows (this is known as a “instant on OS”, as your computer goes on in much quicker time than it would to load the regular OS).
Just a small note, this netbook will not include a trackpad but instead have a small track ball in the middle of the keyboard which can be used like a mouse.
The P Series will ship sometime in early February in the very creative colors of garnet red, emerald green, onyx black, crystal white and black hues for $900 and up (way too much for a netbook in my mind– heck, you could get 2 fairly decent netbooks for the price of one of these things!), depending on your specs.
So do you think it was worth the wait? Let your voice be heard in the comments.
Info and pix from Engadget.com
First Look: iTunes Store on iPhone over 3G
Jan 7th
Apple today unleashed the restrictions on the iPhone’s wireless iTunes Music Store, letting you finally download songs over 3G! So me being crazy to try this out, took out my iPhone 3G and put this to the test.
I gotta say it works as advertised; I was able to download a 4 minute song in about 1 minute, and my 3G wasn’t even going at its normal speeds! (I think this has something to do with AT&T’s data/internet network going down earlier yesterday morning on the east coast, and it hasn’t fully recovered as of this writing). Anyways, the quality of the songs are the exact same as the ones on your computer’s iTunes, and the mobile iTunes Store even started selling the new DRM free tracks – which you can also download today.
All the songs you downloaded get transferred to your regular iTunes on the computer the next time you sync and go to File–> Transfer Purchases from “____’s iPhone”, so don’t worry about losing your newly bought tracks
Another pretty important thing worth mentioning here is that the pricing on the iPhone’s iTunes store remains the same. Unlike other carriers’ music downloading services (we’re looking at you Verizon, and AT&T with your non-iPhone phones’ $1.99 pricing per song), you’re not paying more than the standard .99 cents to download a song.
Oh, and for all you original iPhone owners: don’t worry, this works over EDGE as well, but I would recommend sticking to Wi-Fi for your downloads, as you may not have enough time to sit and wait for your song to download (downloading over EDGE is that slow).
iTunes Music Store over 3G on my iPhone 3G. Click on pic for bigger version.
(The song, by the way, is “If Today Was Your Last Day” by Nickelback, and the download is paused so I could take the pic- not because of 3G problems 
)
I still was hoping (wishing really) that Apple did more for the iPhone today (please, all I want is: a landscape keyboard like in Safari for texting, syncing with more than one computers like a regular iPod, a lil video recording, and some picture messaging. Honestly Apple, is that so much to ask?). But all in all, the “new” iTunes Store over 3G is great, and gives the iPhone yet another edge over the competition as both a music player and phone.
What you think of the new iTunes Store- both the iPhone’s new ability to download over 3G and the new DRM free songs? How the iPhone 3G’s wireless iTunes Store working for you? Let us know in the comments.
Best new Tech from CES: Video Games
Feb 18th
There were a lot of new video games and related materials announced at CES, here are the interesting ones that we saw.
For the heavy computer gamer: If you are a heavy computer gamer then CES was a good week for you. Three of the top gaming computer makers announced pretty cool new products. We’ll start this list with Alienware who announced a very nice new gaming computer screen. This is not the average screen you have at your home computer, rather its a monster curved gaming screen. This screen has a resolution 2880 x 900 (for those who don’t know what that means, let’s just say it will play you video games in very nice quality), and is over 3 feet wide. It is not out yet but is listed for the second half of this year for price unknown as of now (start saving now- this will most likely cost a lot).
Alienware curved gaming screen
New tech from CES: Mp3 Players
Feb 9th
There were many new Mp3 Players announced at CES, and here are some of the interesting ones that we saw.
From iRiver: iRiver announced several new products including the Clix+, B20, and W7. The Clix+ is an update on the original Clix. It’s features include the original styler of navigation of menus by clicking the screen up, down, right and left to move the respective direction. It also has the same 2.2 inch screen, video player, ability to play Flash based games, voice recorder, and an FM tuner. The big changes here is the slimming down of the size, and lowering the price to $149 for 4 GB and $199 for 8 GB. The B20 is also a update on the Clix, but this Mp3 player’s updates focus more on features than design. Its design is the same as the original Clix, but the features include an FM tuner, video player, a micro SD card slot for adding memory, white or black color choices, and a TV tuner wen the product is released in Europe (it is not known whether the tuner will be there in a different form when its released in the US). Just like the Clix+, the price for the B20 is $149 for a 4 GB model.The W7 is a completely new Mp3 player that includes several cool features, that were so cool that they earned the W7 the Cnet Best of CES Award for Mp3 players. Those include a 3 inch touch screen, FM tuner, electronic dictionary, micro SD slot for adding more memory, video player, ability to play Flash games, and something completely new for a Mp3 player: GPS capability. The GPS isn’t included, but can be bought as a car mount which would enable the GPS. It is available in 4 GB and 8 GB, but the price is unknown for when it comes to the US.
iRiver B20, Clix+, and W7 More >
New tech from CES: Cell Phones
Jan 23rd
There were many new cell phones announced at CES from many companies, but here are some of the more interesting ones that we saw.
From Motorola: The Z10 and Rokr E8. The Z10, in terms of looks, looks like many simple slider phones, but it is actually very different. This phone slides out to, in a way, look like a banana in terms of shape (see picture below for better idea). It is also loaded with features like a 3.2 megapixel camera with flash, ability to record movies in regular TV quality, a 2.2 inch screen, ability to add a micro SD card to increase the phones memory to 32 GB ( just a note: at this point cards in that high a memory range don’t run cheap), an FM radio, and Motorola’s Crystal Talk technology for better phone conversations. Unfortunately though according to Motorola this phone will not be launching in the US in this particular design, but will be available to purchase unlocked (buying the phone without a contract, this is usually at much higher price because it has no carrier to bring the price down).
The Rokr E8 is another new phone announced by Motorola at CES, and this is a phone that is generating a lot of attention. It is looking so good that Cnet.com gave it one of its Best of CES awards. What makes this phone so cool and different from other phones? For one it is running a completely different keypad. This keypad is not like other phones in that it stays in “phone mood” regardless of what your doing like listening to music, or taking pictures. The Rokr E8′s keypad actually changes from phone to music controls to picture controls based on what your using it for (see pictures below for greater detail). It’s also is promised by Motorola to be a better music player than regular music only devices. Other features on the phone include a 2 inch screen, 2 GB of built in memory with memory card slot to add more, Motorola’s Crystal Talk technology, and a interesting new feature that will let you read text messages while dialing or on a call.
The Z10 and Rokr E8 (in keypad and music controls)
Best new tech from CES
Jan 17th
CES and Macworld are now pretty much done (just like our finals Thank G-d). Many new things were released, from keypad changing cell phones, to a 150 inch TV, to a 3.0 lb Macbook, as well as much more in between, and we’re here to help break down all of the information that you would need to know. Since there is a lot of things that happened at CES that we would like to cover, we plan to break down the posts into 3 sections: cell phones, Mp3 players, and Video Games. Talk to you then.
CES and Macworld- What they mean to you and the future of technology
Jan 6th
During the coming days many of the upcoming products in technology like cell phones, video games, computers, TVs etc. will be announced and unveiled to the world. There are two events that really showcase this, and those are the International CES show, and Apple’s Macworld Expo. Some of the products announced at those events include: Windows Vista, Motorola Razr V3xx for Cingular (now ATT), Verizon V Cast TV, Mac OS X Leopard, iPods, iPhone among many others. We”ll be checking up on a lot of the news going on down there at CES and Macworld from sites like www.engadget.com, www.cnet.com, and www.gizmodo.com as well as others. Since both of us are in “finals mode” right now and can’t post often enough to cover everything, we will try help summarize some of the main announcements and what they mean for you, at the end of the week.
Apple Macworld Logo from 2007 CES Logo 2008
