The Smidgen

Yeah ... looks real comfortable alright ...

Oh Japan, how I love you and your crazy sh*t.  See that thing on the left there with the suit precariously balanced on it?  Yeah, that’s Honda’s answer to the Segway.  A self propelled, self balancing, 3.7mph traveling unicycle that moves in the direction you lean.  Tightrope not included.

The U3-X weighs in at just under 22lbs and though it’s just “a proposal” right now, it’s designed with the elderly as a first thought, world takeover a close second (like all of Japan’s robots).  The wheel is actually comprised of many tiny motor-controlled wheels that allow it to swerve around in any direction when you lean that way.

I’m not really sure how the less mobile and coordinated elderly (you know, the ones that need a device to move them around) would fair with something like this but hey, that’s not the point, the point is it’s cool and weird right?  Right!?  Want to see some more pictures (you know you do), check out the Daily Mail article.

Sony has been in the eReader business for a while now but with the recent success of Amazon’s Kindle devices, Sony has redoubled it’s efforts in order to push themselves back into this market.

In a surprising (for Sony) move in the right direction they have abandoned their proprietary eBook format, BeBB, for the EPUB standard that was established in 2007, the very format that the Kindle does not support.  Supporting the EPUB standard means that any eBook you buy for your Sony touch screen eReader will work on any other eReader that supports the format, which is pretty much all of them save the Kindle.  Standards support is good for consumers who are then free to choose which device they want on features rather than which one supports the format they need, however, since the Kindle has it’s own format and happens to be the most popular reader out there it might all mean nothing to the consumers.

If this all sounds a tad too familiar then you’re probably thinking about the music industry and it’s digital juggernaut, iTunes.  The world may be happily suckling at Steve Jobs’ teat for their musical fix since his baby is the dominate force in the industry but the few people who want standards on their music so they can take it anywhere are getting crapped on almost daily, and it doesn’t seem like that will end anytime soon.

Will the same thing happen in the eReader world?  Will Amazon become the next Apple and become so large and powerful that they can dictate how the eBook universe will get it’s content however they see fit?  Only time will tell I suppose but in all of this there is something else that’s bothering me …

Sony gave up it’s own proprietary format!?  This is the company that tried to give the world BetaMAX, the MiniDisc, UMD’s and the MemoryStick and for the most part they still insist on using their own formats despite the fact that no one cares about them at all.  I would have thought after the hard won success of BluRay, Sony would try even harder to press their own formats.  Well color me surprised.  I guess this means one of two things, either Sony is actually starting to actually believe what Steve Haber, president of Sony’s Digital Reading Business Division said about the EPUB move:

A world of proprietary formats and DRMs creates silos and limits overall market growth.  Consumers should not have to worry about which device works with which store. With a common format and common content protection solution (DRM), consumers will be able to shop around for the content they want regardless of where they get it or what device they use.

Or what’s more likely, they have gotten a little better at seeing when their own formats are going to fail miserably.  After all they have a lot of experience with that.

Oh this is just good.  Apple has now censored the English dictionary.  The new app “Ninjawords” has finally been released to the app store after a three month waiting and updating period because it contains words that are in every single other dictionary out there.

Apple censored an English dictionary.

A dictionary. A reference book. For words contained in all reasonable dictionaries. For words contained in dictionaries that are used every day in elementary school libraries and classrooms.

Even Walmart, notorious for its censorship of “objectionable” music and movies, neither restricts nor places warning labels on dictionaries. Apple’s App Store review team makes Walmart seem liberal by comparison.

Image from CNET

It appears that CNET has gotten their hands on a full working version of Microsoft’s upcoming spankin’ new Zune HD and they are thoroughly impressed.  Click the link to check out the full details straight from the horse’s mouth or continue reading for my highlights.

The big thing for the new Zune is of course the 3.3 inch capacitive OLED touch screen.  Along with the solid and expensive feeling hardware the glass covered OLED screen is big, bright and beautiful.  It also sports a resolution of 480×272 which may seem odd considering the next feature.

720p HD resolution support for movies that you can rent and download straight from the Zune Marketplace.   The movies will be scaled back to the Zune’s native resolution when viewing on screen, however, if you want to hook it up with a dock you can send the full 720 right onto your big screen.  So much for grabbing a couple of DVD’s and bringing them to a friend’s to watch, just dump them on the Zune and go.

The new Zune uses NVidia’s new Tegra processor which should help to give the Zune plenty of power and better battery life then previous incarnations.  That’s good news considering when you’re using WiFi you can open up the Zune’s new web browser and cruise around.  According to CNET’s Donald Bell

… the Zune’s new Web browser smokes. Not since first using the iPhone have I been this impressed with a mobile Web browser.

Still no flash support on this mobile browser either so forget streaming Pandora but at least you can hit up Facebook and Twitter if you want.

PSP2 Concept. Credit: Joe Thomas and Rocco Devenanzio

The computer gaming industry is certainly no stranger to rumor and one of the most recent, and juicy, involves speculation on the PSP2.  Keep in mind, none of this information has been mentioned or confirmed by Sony.  It’s a rumor, remember?

Anyway, Acclaim developer, David Perry, started this whole thing off with a message he made on his Facebook and Twitter accounts that Kotaku picked up and repeated, and now I will do the same.  His quote,

“I hear Sony FINALLY has the PSP 2. And thank goodness, they’ve removed the stupid battery-sucking UMD disc drive. I’m excited!,”

has people running ragged questioning what Sony will do.  Will they go with an all flash based system, presumably Memory-Stick Pro Duo (Quad Singulo Disco Ipso Facto …), and direct download and if so, how will they support backward compatibility?  Or will this “new” PSP be another revision giving us the PSP-4000 (since we’re on the PSP-3000 now)?

Well you know what, when I see a rumor saying that Sony will can the UMD all I can say is, “no sh*t, it’s way over due.”  Other speculation is that Sony will announce the PSP2 officially at this years E3 in June and if they are planning to release one any time soon, that would be the time to mention it.  Hopefully in June we can lay to rest yet another failed proprietary Sony format (no one is weeping for you MiniDisc).

Ooo ... Shiny

It’s just so pretty.  The up-and-coming Palm Pre, the first phone from Palm to feature their new webOS operating system, has become the object of my obsession.

It’s more than just the looks, however, this new phone has a lot going for it.  With a big, multi-touch screen, a full web browser with page zooming, accelerometers for spacial awareness, and a slide out full qwerty keyboard the Pre is a serious contender to take on the iPhone.  The best thing of all, for me at least, is that it’s not an iPhone.  I give credit where credit is due and there is no arguing that the iPhone is amazing and has really stimulated the smart phone market, the Pre being a prime example, I just can’t bring my self to give Apple money.

But enough of all of that, lets get into some details here.

Feature Summary

I’ve already given a sample of what the Pre has to offer but in addition to that Palm has included a proximity sensor and ambient light detector to round out the spacial awareness set.  Though possibly not available at launch, Adobe has announced that Flash will appear on the webOS platform and it’s developers are working closely with Palm to deliver the best experience possible.  Other features include GPS, WiFi (using 802.11g), stereo Bluetooth, a 3.0 megapixel camera with LED flash and a host of standard phone options. continue reading…

Now that's an LCD

Logitech may have gone completely insane.  Announced for a release in May is the G19 keyboard, an upgrade to the popular G15, the first keyboard to contain an LCD screen on it.  For the most part it has a lot of the same features as the G15, the macro keys and all of that, with the addition of the fully customizable backlight color available on the G13 gamepad and G9 mouse.  There is also a windows button disable switch meaning if you’re in a full screen game you can turn off the windows button so as to avoid accidentally pressing it and minimizing your screen.

Oh and one more thing … it has a friggen 320X240 pixel, color LCD screen.  Yeah, you read that right, the LCD has been upgraded to the size of a cell phone screen and, with the included app, can play youtube video on it … on the friggen keyboard!  Check this review out for the full details if you’re interested but be forewarned, all that coolness will cost you a double-benny … which is a term I just made up for $200.