I tend to agree with Jason Cross’s contention that Microsoft’s browser would benefit from a reboot, not an update, and I like his proposals for doing so. (For the record, though, Ford is still flogging the Taurus–in fact, it tried to do away with it and then brought it back. Which is a sobering case study in how hard it is to reboot a venerable, pervasive brand.)
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TechBite: CES Finds, a Personal Radar Gun, Epson’s All-in-One, and a Better Download Manager
CES: Winners and Losers
I spent three days at the not-as-big-as-before Consumer Electronics Show. I ignored the behemoth booths — Microsoft, Panasonic, Casio — and focused on the smaller, more interesting companies along the edge of the exhibit floor. I spotted some innovative products:
- A smartphone app that turns off e-mail and texting features if the speed of your vehicle exceeds five miles per hour.
- Lexmark’s multifunction printer that has something very appealing: Lexmark ink cartridges for under $5.
- Fashionable 3D eyeglasses for when you can afford a 3D plasma screen.
- Something to bring your electronic gadget back to life if you drop it in water.
- A video camera the size of a flash drive with two hours of recording time.
I have lots more, including a report on Terk’s Hi-Def internal and external antennas and a new-style rechargeable battery. Below is my first blurb about a portable radar device; more next week.
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Wii Gets Netflix. What’s Next?
My heartfelt congratulations to those who have a Wii in their living room, and nothing else that connects to the Internet. With nary an Xbox 360, Playstation 3, Roku box, connected HDTV or Blu-ray player, these poor souls will finally be able to watch Netflix’s streaming movie catalog from the television, starting this spring. Sure, it’s hobbled by the Wii’s 480p playback, and makes you insert a disc beforehand akin to the Playstation 3, but it’s better than nothing.
Drawbacks aside, I refuse to believe that this is it for the Wii. There must be more in store on the multimedia front, because a selection of old and B movies isn’t going to cut it. Netflix streaming is incomplete when it’s not supported by on-demand video or some other kind of catalog.
That’s why Roku is no longer just a Netflix player, and why Nintendo’s console competitors offer so much more as well. You can buy and rent movies and TV shows through Xbox Live and the Playstation Network. Xbox Live Gold subscribers can listen to endless music playlists with Last.fm. And of course, the Xbox 360 and PS3 play DVDs and Blu-ray discs, respectively.
The Wii’s addition of Netflix makes the console seem lopsided. It’s no longer strictly a gaming device, but a box of entertainment (I know, the Wii has news and weather channels, but that’s just information). And that entertainment section has to grow.
My prediction? The Wii’s video channel, which debuted in Japan last year, is not too far off. It has Hollywood movies. It has pay-per-view content from Warner and Disney, among others. It should be ready to roll by now. Dream scenario: Those Netflix discs will arrive along with a console update bearing a video store and some more Web channels, but maybe those poor Wii owners will pick up a more capable set-top box by then.
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GoToMyPC…or Mac
Back when I had a “work PC” and a “home PC,” I swore by Citrix Online’s GoToMyPC remote-control service. I used it frequently to run business-related apps I didn’t have at home, and sometimes to snag files I’d forgotten to bring home. It certainly wasn’t my only remote-control option, nor the cheapest, but it scored extremely high for simplicity and rock-solid reliability.
When I started using Macs as well as Windows boxes, however, I used GoToMyPC less frequently. It had a Java client that let me control a PC from a Mac, but it was nowhere near as good as the native Windows app, and there wasn’t any way to control a Mac at all.
Citrix is remedying the situation today with the first version of GoToMyPC with full Mac support. It’s not a separate OS X version–which is why it’s not called GoToMyMac–but an upgrade to the standard one that works with Macs as well as Windows. For the first time, you can control a Mac from another Mac, a Windows PC from a Mac, or a Mac from a Windows PC. Or, as before, a PC from a PC.
Mac remote control is far from a breakthrough: GoToMyPC archrival LogMeIn already has it in its free and for-pay versions, and OS X even has a version built in, in the form of its Screen Sharing feature. And Citrix hasn’t yet implemented all the features available for Windows-to-Windows usage. But it’s still a welcome addition to a service that’s worth the bucks if you’ve got serious, ongoing need for remote access. GoToMyPC pricing remains the same: It’s $19.95 a month to control one computer, or $29.95 to control two. There are discounts for annual subscriptions, and a 30-day free trial offer.
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More on Google and China
The day’s big tech news continues to be Google’s statement about its discovery of cyberattacks on its systems targeting Chinese human rights workers, and its decision to terminate the censored version of Google in China as a response. Secretary of State Clinton says she looks to the Chinese government for an explanation, and will have more to say on the matter. And James Fallows, who knows more about China than most of us ever will, has some smart–but gloomy–things to say about the matter.
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Webcast Reminder
Quick reminder: I’m guest-tweeting a Webcast interview with James Surowiecki, author of the excellent book The Wisdom of Crowds, today at 1pm ET…
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Exactly Right, Google. Exactly Right
For as long as western companies have been doing business in China–under Chinese laws–there’s been a fundamental question that’s been a subject of immense controversy: Are they helping to make China more free, or are they helping the Chinese government prevent more freedom?
Until now, Google has been one of a number of U.S. Web companies that has willingly provided a censored version of its services in China as a prerequisite of doing business there. It’s maintained that providing the Chinese people with access to some information is better than denying them access to Google entirely, and its Chinese search engine has carried a disclaimer that some links are suppressed.
But now that’s changing. In a fascinating blog post, Google has disclosed that it discovered a sophisticated hacker attack on its systems in mid-December. Its investigation revealed that the target was the accounts of Chinese human rights activists, and that the attack encompassed other large companies. It further found that the Gmail accounts of Chinese human rights activists had been breached through such means as malware installed on their computers.
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NBA Jam, Then and Now
It was only a matter of time, I suppose, but EA Sports has announced that it will revive NBA Jam, the classic two-on-two basketball game from the mid-1990s, as a Wii exclusive. Very little is known about the game, but as I pondered the possibilities, it struck me how the hallmarks of NBA Jam are no longer anything special. They’re either taken for granted or relics of a bygone gaming era. Is it really possible to re-capture the magic of NBA Jam when so much has changed? You be the judge:
Voice Acting: Part of NBA Jam’s novelty was its color commentary. Voices in video games were still rare in the mid-1990s, especially on home consoles, and part of NBA Jam’s charm was just how lo-fi everything sounded. It’s hard to envision “boomshakalaka!” in crystal clear audio.
Cheat Codes and Easter Eggs: Back in the day, cheat codes had a mythical status — the 30 lives code in Contra, the blood code in Mortal Kombat for Sega Genesis — and NBA Jam was chock full of them. My favorites? Big Head Mode and the unlockable character of George Clinton, a.k.a. P-Funk. Nowadays, cheats are earned and unlocked through in-game accomplishments, if they’re in the game at all.
Saved Games: The ability to record your stats on a game cartridge came into fashion during the 16-bit era, but plenty of cartridges still lacked this feature. Nonetheless, I won’t lament the ubiquity of saved games now.
Licensing: According to this fascinating ESPN interview with NBA Jam creator Mark Turmell, Midway had to plead with the NBA to license actual basketball players, teams and logos because the league was wary about associating with arcades. Back then, it was rare to see a game with both players and teams, but a sports game wouldn’t be caught dead without both now.
Sports Fantasy: The genius of NBA Jam is the way it stripped down and pumped up basketball’s bare essentials, but I think it also came along at the right time, when a realistic depiction of sports wasn’t entirely possible yet. Can NBA Jam still capture the hearts of people who’ve become spoiled by NBA Live and NBA 2K?
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Realtor.com Comes to the iPhone
A year and a half ago, I bought a house. Doing the deal was the culmination of a year of shopping–during which I did almost all my research at home spending nearly every weekend tooling round the San Francisco area with a stack of open-house listings I’d printed out. I took notes on my Windows Mobile phone, and I think I occasionally pulled up listings on its marginal Web browser, but it wasn’t much help. (I can’t remember how many times I’d stumble across an open house, go in, and only then discover that the property exceeded my budget by 200% or thereabouts.)
That all happened in the pre-iPhone apps era, which now seems like it was a very long time ago. Today, there are scads of real-estate applications for the iPhone, including one that was released today by Realtor.com, the site run by the National Association of Realtors. Realtor.com is really late to the game–apps from rivals such as Trulia and Zillow began to pop up almost as soon as Apple permitted third-party apps in mid-2008. But its program is nicely done, with the ability to browse detailed listings for homes and open houses, do searches based on criteria such as price and number of bedrooms, view photos, use GPS to find nearby listings, rate houses and take notes about them, and share information with an agent. And Realtor.com says it has more listings than anyone else–four million of ’em–which makes sense given who’s behind the site.
The Realtor.com app is, of course, free. Playing around it with it almost leaves me wishing that I was in the market for a house again.
After the jump, a few screenshots.
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Is Windows Mobile 7 Delayed Again or Not?
Microsoft has truly been blindsided by the success of the iPhone and now the Android platform. This could not be more evident by the repeated delays in bringing the OS to market, and now some reports are indicating we may be waiting even longer. According to a report on tech news site Bright Side of News, any release could be pushed back to 2011. If true, it would mean a two-year delay from Microsoft’s initially announced release date.
The delay has a lot to do with the success of Android. Manufacturers and developers are still falling head over heels for the OS, leaving little room for Microsoft to maneuver. Devices that originally were pegged to run WM7 will now be Android based. Manufacturers were apparently telling BSN at CES that the delay was real, and the strategy was to employ Google’s mobile OS to remain competitive in the market.
If true, it certainly spells nothing but trouble for Microsoft. Already failing in the digital music category with the Zune, it now stands to lose the smartphone segment as well to a surging Google and already dominant Apple. A delay just cannot happen.
It seems as if there may be disagreement in the Microsoft press ranks, however. ZDNet’s Mary Jo Foley — who definitely has more credibility in predicting Microsoft’s moves I’d think — seemed to suggest in a January 7 post that it was all systems go to see WM7 at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona next month. Microsoft would talk about the platform as well as My Phone — it’s upcoming answer to MobileMe — there, with development details at MIX10 in Las Vegas the following month.
She pointed to comments by Microsoft Entertainment and Devices Division President Robbie Bach at CES last week which did say Microsoft would be discussing WM7 in Barcelona.
So who do we believe? It’s hard to be sure. Microsoft must get this release right to stay competitive in the mobile space. But at the same time, I’d find it hard to believe they would risk failure by leaving the ship date for WM7 to slip once again.