Monday, October 29, 2007
Music
Zune Album Art Goes High Rez
11:53PM Mark Wilson | With no announcements or fanfare, Zune Marketplace appears to be improving the resolution of their album art. Users are noting that new albums looks better, while numerous old albums are momentarily dropping from the service only to be replaced by bigger, more beautiful versions—all available for free re-download. One Zune owner reports that their 1680×1050 monitor was filled by one of these new covers, meaning that the Zune’s 320×240 screen should be fairly pleased with the situation—right along with Zune owners. [zunerama via crunchgear] More »
Phones
Vid: T-Mobile HTC Shadow’s 5-Way and Wheel UI
11:53PM Brian Lam | The just-announced Shadow runs on Windows Mobile, but it’s somewhat forgivable given the nice UI that HTC and TMO added this UI on top of the sludge. Scrolling the wheel navigates you through the submenu, while clicking up and down on the 5-way. There’s media playback on the home page that supports music and album art (but no video). And photos are viewable from the top menu, too. I think this is one of the first WM devices I’d be able to live with. More »
Home
Wastebasket Facilitates Hands-Free Toilet Reading
11:37PM Charlie White | Who knew a minor variation in the shape of the top of an ordinary trash can could be so useful? There’s usually a trashcan next the toilet, so Snowtone Design figured it might be nice to put that receptacle to use during the times you’re not throwing stuff in it. Just drag it around in front of you as you’re doing your business and all of a sudden you have a hands-free reading assistant. [Snowtone] More »
Software
iPhone Apps Back With A Single Click (Yes, This is the Moment We’ve Been Waiting For)
11:24PM Gizmodo US Edition | Easily installed iPhone apps are back on version 1.1.1. If you point your iPhone/Touch browser to jailbreakme.com, click “install AppSnapp”, it’ll use the TIFF exploit to jailbreak your phone and install Installer.app. Our test notes include the following: —Before you start, I’d probably switch to Wi-Fi and turn off the auto-screen lock (set it to never under general in the preferences). This takes a few minutes, and you probably don’t want your screen going dark while this happens. —The magic’ll run in the background, eventually kicking you back to the lock screen. When you return, you should have an installer.app icon on your menu. —This worked for Benny and Blam. The process is kind of scary if you think about it. With a click in Safari, a program with root access has been dropped on your iPhone, with full access to all your data. If you’re not feeling brave, you may want to wait awhile to see how this shakes out. But I do see an iPhone Dev Team affiliation, and TUAW supports it, so I’d say we’re looking good. AppSnapp includes some other features as well, such as a patch for the TIFF exploit, which they claim will leave you with a safer iPhone after you install the program than a regular phone running 1.1.1. More updates and impressions as they come along, let us know your success/horror stories with this in the comments. [jailbreakme via TUAW] More »
Computers
Leopard Drivers Hint at Low- or Mid-Priced Santa Rosa MacBooks
11:05PM Mark Wilson | While we know that Apple will eventually roll the Intel Santa Rosa chipset down through all of its laptops, there are surely a faithful few who feel their weekly pilgrimages to the Apple Store aren’t being properly appreciated by Lord Jobs. But new Leopard driver evidence nearly proves that Apple does have Santa Rosa MacBooks (and Mac Minis) in their sights. Some software enthusiasts found a full set of GMA X3100 drivers within Leopard’s files, which are essentially for a Santa Rosa chipset with integrated graphics. (The currently available Santa Rosa MacBook Pros actually use separate graphics cards.) But even more interesting than the driver itself was the date when it was added. Tacked on to the OS on just October 11th, this seems like a last minute inclusion by Apple. Maybe this means nothing, or maybe this means that we’ll be seeing a Santa Rosa MacBook refresh sooner as opposed to later. Seeing as the first Santa Rosa laptops hit in May, and MacBook Pros with the chipset appeared in June, it’s about damn time this update makes its way to Apple’s low-end lineup. [electronista] More »
Entertainment
Burn-Your-Favorite-Cult-Classic DVD Kiosk Coming To Walgreens
10:34PM Wilson Rothman | New ideas are needed to keep the tumbleweeds from blowing through the Walgreens photo department, and the latest is a burn-your-own-DVD kiosk, specializing in the rare and out-of-print. We were the first to report on the DVD Copy Control Association voting to approve the “DVD Download” CSS format. But many of you complained that it would require special blank discs, and would still cost the same as a download for your iPod. In this case, Walgreens would supply the special discs and Sonic burning software, and in about 15 minutes, ordinary people would get their own copies of “older and more niche content selections” that don’t pay to produce down at the DVD factory. [Reuters] More »
Screens
New Sharp Aquos Line Includes World’s First 22- and 26-Inch 1080p LCDs
10:29PM Wilson Rothman | Sharp unveiled three new TVs, a 22″, 26″ and 32″ in its P series. While all three are 1080p, these are the first 22″ and 26″ 1080p LCDs to hit the market. Of course, you’re probably saying your computer monitor can handle 1080p, which is probably why one of the main features of these sets is a “PC input jack”—DVI-D, presumably—and picture-in-picture for catching shows while working on the computer. While they are still in Japan only, there’s a good chance we’ll start seeing 1080p sets this small in the US too, now that Sharp has broken the size barrier. [Akihabara News] More »
Gadgets
USB Blender Alarm Clock Mixes Worst of Eras
10:17PM Mark Wilson | The USB Blender Alarm Clock was designed as the ultimate throwback gadget. Celebrating the the disco revolution by playing your favourite 70’s jingles, co-workers will marvel at your sense of history. But the really acute among them will recognise that since USB gadgets are sort of the alarm clock gadgets (80s) of the new millennium, a USB alarm clock is your ultimate superfluous gadget stereotype. As for that blender…when Wednesday finally rolls around at the office, frozen cocktails can be a necessity. Oh, why the hell are we even trying to explain why they made this thing? It’s not meant to make sense… we hope. [brando] More »
Phones
Apple Gets $831 for Every iPhone Sold Thanks to AT&T Payments
10:13PM Adam Frucci | We already knew that the iPhone was making Apple money by the barrelload, but we didn’t know exactly how much. Well, uh, you’d better sit down. According to the Financial Accounting Standards Board, Apple receives a whopping $18 per month from AT&T for each iPhone customer. That adds up to $432 for each two-year contract, or, including the price of the phone, $831 per iPhone. Yes, Apple is making more than twice the retail price of the iPhone for every one sold. With cost analysis’s putting the price of iPhone components at around $250, that means that Apple is pulling in around $580 in profit on each iPhone. Yeah, I know, they need to pay their designers and their advertisers and their rent and all the business overhead that comes with running a gigantic electronics company, but the fact of the matter is that Apple is pulling in over the full price of their iPhone in profit with each one sold. Now we know why they went with that five-year exclusive deal with AT&T, eh? It’s basically a five-year contract with a money-printing machine. [NY Times via New Launches] More »
Phones
