Archive | May, 2011
Sony Shows It’s Sorry
The official PlayStation Network blog has news of what Sony’s going to offer PSN fans by way of apology for the weeks-long outage and security breach: free games, movie rentals, service extensions, and more.
An iPhone Battery Case That’s Also a Universal Power Pack for Portable Gadgets
16. May 2011
My first impulse is to compare Third Rail Mobility’s new Smart Battery and Slim Case to Mophie‘s Juice Pack, the best-known name in iPhone battery cases.Third Rail’s system does, indeed, provide an alternative way to extend an iPhone 4′s battery life. But this clever system goes way beyond that. I tried a review unit provided by the company.
The case itself looks pretty much like any nice two-piece snap-on black iPhone 4 case, except:
- The section below the dock connector is a bit taller than usual and sports a Micro USB connector;
- There’s an area on the back with electrical contacts.
The contacts on the case’s back are there because you can connect the battery there like a backpack. It’s a 1250 MaH unit, so it should come close to doubling the standard life of the iPhone’s own 1420 MaH battery. You can simply use the phone with the battery in place–it looks a little strange, but I found it comfortable enough in the hand–or attach the battery only when you need it, such as when the iPhone’s own battery is about to croak.
AIM AV: Absurdly Simple Video Chat
16. May 2011
AV by AIM, the Web-based video chat service that TechCrunch wrote about when it was supposed to be an AOL secret, is now public. And it’s worth checking out. The service’s defining feature is how exceptionally easy it is to get going–you don’t need an account, and you don’t need any information about or from the people–there can be up to four of you–who you want to chat with. All you do is send them a bit.ly-like short URL that AV provides when you initiate a chat. They click on it, and you’re all in the same room.
(The biggest complication that I and one of my fellow chatters had was that AV requires a more recent version of Flash than the one we had.)
How’s the quality? Well, when I checked it out with two pals, we agreed that it’s “good enough.” Picture quality was not bad at all, but it was occasionally a bit out of sync with the audio. (I was on crummy hotel Wi-Fi, which probably didn’t help.) When we tried chatting using Apple’s iChat, the IM client built into OS X, we found that the video didn’t look as nice, but was better synchronized with the audio.
Since AV uses Flash, we wondered if that meant it would work on Android devices that support Flash. It doesn’t–or at least didn’t work on Acer’s Iconia Tab when one of my friends tried.
AV is free and doesn’t carry ads, and for now, at least, it really doesn’t have very much to do with AIM. You can send the short URL via AIM, and the whole thing probably works best if you’re IM buddies with whoever you want to chat with in the first place, since you need an alternative means of communication to arrange the AV session. It’s not going to replace more ambitious approaches to video communications, but it is fun.
Check Out TWiT
16. May 2011
I had fun being a guest (along with Shira Lazar) on this week’s This Week in Tech with Leo Laporte.
What the Heck is Going on With Virgin America’s Computers?
16. May 2011
Virgin America is my favorite airline. Actually, it may be my favorite company, period, at least among large ones that I give money to on a regular basis. It’s a tech-savvy airline for tech-savvy people, with Wi-Fi on every flight, power in every row, and an at-seat entertainment and information system with umpteen features (my favorite: the ability to order a Diet Coke at any time). Just as important, Virgin also has employees that live up to the concept of the Friendly Skies in a way that a certain other airline I used to fly a lot doesn’t match.
Usually, the Virgin Web site is part of what I like about it–it’s nicely designed and makes buying tickets and checking in pretty painless. But at the moment, the site is down. The notice alerting visitors to that fact has a timestamp of 5pm on Sunday night; as far as I can tell, though, it’s been suffering from nagging problems for days now. It’s been nearly a week since I started trying to book a trip to San Diego, and I’ve failed to finish the task every time–the site keeps choking before I get a confirmation. And the price of the tickets in question have gone up in the interim.
Windows? OS X? Linux? Booooooooring!
15. May 2011
Some people define “PC” as “an x86 computer running Microsoft Windows.” Me, I’ve always preferred a far looser definition–even in the days when Windows’ market share seemed to be heading for 99.99999999%.
So I’m tickled by the latest piece by our chronicler of the odd and arcane, Benj Edwards. He’s found a dozen extant PC operating systems that aren’t from Microsoft, Apple, or the Linux community–all extreme underdogs, and all fascinating. (They include modern versions of OS/2, Be, and other OSes of days past, as well as all-new efforts.) I may never run any of them, but I’m glad they exist.
View “The Secret World of Alternative Operating Systems” slideshow.
The Secret World of Alternative Operating Systems
15. May 2011
When it comes to desktop operating systems, there are three obvious choices: Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux. But a whole world of alternative OSes lies below the mainstream radar.
These little-known products are actively or recently developed, and some folks actually use them to get things done. Here are twelve of these strange beasts, all of which run on modern x86-based PC hardware, and many of which can be downloaded for free. Impressively, none of them are based on Linux.
PlayStation Network: The Restoration Begins
14. May 2011
Here’s Kazuo Hirai, president of Sony Computer Entertainment, announcing that the PlayStation Network is on its way back online after its amazing, amazingly lengthy outage:
Seems like he struck the right tone: apologetic and acknowledging that Sony has to rebuild trust, and with a minimum of self-pity over the fact that the problem stemmed from an illegal hacker attack.
Sony isn’t just flipping a switch that will put things back to normal: it’s rolling out the restoration region by region, state by state, and city by city. It’s also requiring PSN users to install a firmware upgrade and (understandably) change their password to get back online. Some parts of the PSN and Qriocity services, such as the PlayStation Store, aren’t part of the initial reboot. And Sony is going to offer a “Welcome Back” package but hasn’t announced the details.
Given the story thus far–Sony initially said that the PSN would be down for a day or two and then said that the restoration that’s only now happening would commence back in early May–I suspect that many PSN fans won’t assume anything until they see the network working for themselves. Even then, the enormity of the security breach means that this saga is far from over.
If you see the PSN working properly with your own eyeballs, let us know.
PlayStation Network Outage: Now It’s the Worst One Ever, Right?
14. May 2011
(Update: Sony says the PlayStation Network is on its way back to full service.)
Back on April 26th, when Sony’s PlayStation Network outage was less than a week old and we didn’t yet know how bad the security breach was, I said it might be the worst outage ever. Some commenters argued that I was exaggerating, pointing out that the 2007 Xbox Live outage was, at that point, longer.
Okay, it’s close to three weeks later. The PlayStation Network outage continues, it involves the leakage of personal data, and we don’t know when it’ll end. Anyone want to argue that it’s not the single worst fiasco of this type ever?
For kicks, I decided to see how it compared to other well-known service interruptions that impacted millions of people and which lasted for at least a couple of hours. Here’s a chart…
Netflix: Savior of TV Shows?
13. May 2011
It’ll be a while before Netflix’s first original TV series, House of Cards, is ready to stream, but in the meantime, the company may find a new niche by saving TV shows from cancellation.
Following the news that NBC is cancelling The Event, Deadline reported that Netflix considered picking up the serial drama. It wouldn’t be unheard of; in an interview with All Things Digital last week, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings said he could see the company paying networks to keep shows alive, provided they were popular with Netflix streaming subscribers.
Cisco to Flip Users: Scram!
13. May 2011
How abruptly did Cisco kill the beloved, very popular Flip camcorder? It moved so suddenly that there are still street ads up for the thing, or at least were as of a couple of weeks ago. Some Flip dealers don’t seem to be aware that it’s a dead gadget walking. Heck, it remains the best-selling camcorder on Amazon. Cisco itself will even still happily sell you a Flip.
But the company seems to be in a rush to leave its Flip days behind it. The New York Times is reporting that as of yesterday, videos uploaded to FlipShare, the Flip’s video-sharing service, will expire after thirty days. That apparently includes videos already on the service, which means that anyone who uploaded videos to FlipShare that aren’t disposable needs to find a new home for them.
Triple the Kinect Games? That’s Weak, Microsoft
13. May 2011
Microsoft is making what sounds like a lofty promise for Kinect: By year-end, the number of available games for the Xbox 360 motion sensor will triple.
But given that six months after launch, Kinect’s existing lineup stands at a mere 26 games, Microsoft promise isn’t that bold. Hitting 78 games should be cakewalk, and it’s sad to see the revolutionary controller get such little support from developers and publishers.
Netflix Comes to Android, But Not Really
12. May 2011
As promised, Netflix is finally available on Android devices — but not all of them.
Right now, the Netflix app for Android only supports five phones running Android 2.2 or higher: HTC’s Incredible, Nexus One, Evo 4G and G2; and Samsung’s Nexus S. According to Android Police, Samsung’s Tab 10.1 is also covered, but Motorola’s Xoom is not. What’s important to note is that Netflix support is tied to specific devices, not to any particular version of Android.
No, Comcast Wasn’t Blocking Pirate Bay
12. May 2011
The blogosphere was aflutter early this morning as a multitude of reports began to appear on Comcast subscribers’ troubles in accessing popular torrent site The Pirate Bay. Was this throttling redux? Had the company again put BitTorrent in its sights?
Not so fast there. Comcast’s network management policies do not allow for blocking, and the company blocks based on excessive bandwidth consumption rather than a particular protocol. I know a lot of you out there won’t believe that, but its the reasoning they’re giving.
In other words, Comcast did not block The Pirate Bay. Period.
Chromebooks by Subscription
12. May 2011
Engadget’s Darren Murph has lots more details about Google’s plan to let businesses and schools rent Chromebooks for a monthly fee.
Facebook Starts Whisper Campaign Against Google, Gets Caught
12. May 2011
How could Facebook (a smart company) and Burson Marsteller (a smart PR agency) not have figured out that attempting to plant anti-Google stories in the media–without disclosing Facebook’s involvement–was a lousy idea?
For the past few days, a mystery has been unfolding in Silicon Valley. Somebody, it seems, hired Burson-Marsteller, a top public-relations firm, to pitch anti-Google stories to newspapers, urging them to investigate claims that Google was invading people’s privacy. Burson even offered to help an influential blogger write a Google-bashing op-ed, which it promised it could place in outlets like The Washington Post, Politico, and The Huffington Post.
The plot backfired when the blogger turned down Burson’s offer and posted the emails that Burson had sent him. It got worse when USA Today broke a story accusing Burson of spreading a “whisper campaign” about Google “on behalf of an unnamed client.”
But who was the mysterious unnamed client? While fingers pointed at Apple and Microsoft, The Daily Beast discovered that it’s a company nobody suspected—Facebook.
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16. May 2011
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