Microsoft has, against all odds and probably their own better judgment, decided to create a branded clothing line as part of their new ad campaign. The t-shirts have sort of an Urban Outfitters feel, only without the requisite irritating irony, and feature a few designs contributed by dapper rapper Common.
It’s Saturday. The hung over day after our Giz Gallery reader meetup, which went on late into the night with some Pizza and Xbox on the 103 inch TV with Giz Alum Benny Goldman doing his best Biggie Smalls karaoke. (Uh, if anyone got photos of any of last night’s debauchery, could you email them to me? I forgot to take photos.) Chris and I are just finishing sweeping the floors and we’re ready to have more guests look at our wonderful and weird collection of gadgets. It’s all to help buy Toys for Tots. If you’re in NYC, you have to come down. If not to see the big TV and say hello, then at least to see our special events that are happening today and today only.
With Comcast upping its speeds to 50Mbps in a few markets, Verizon’s gotta roll out a big, round number to compete, so they’ve announced, and then hedged, the upcoming rollout of 100Mbps FiOS service, starting hopefully in 2009.
The Wall Street Journal investigated the mafia-like tactics of major electronics manufacturers in maintaining higher pricing. Makers like Panasonic, Samsung, and Klipsch hire offices of internet tough guys to track down discount sellers and punish those filthy capitalists for sullying their brand perception with affordable prices.
The Android Dev Phone 1, a totally unlocked G1, is available to “developers” for only $US399 after paying a small setup fee. Just register as a developer over at the Android Market and the phone is yours.
Sure, Windows Mobile 7 is a year away, but while Steve Ballmer was busy talking smack about Android, he did manage to confirm that Windows Mobile 6.5, which Motorola leaked, is real.
Those traffic loop sensors embedded at stop lights to detect the presence of a car have always provided fodder for vehicular snake oil vendors: I’ve seen products promising to eliminate red lights ONCE AND FOR ALL by ingeniously fooling a mysterious (but gullible, apparently) system hidden below the pavement. While false promises abound, this patent for bicycles seems to be more on the legit side, and could result in more carefree whizzing through intersections than previously allowed.
Me and you, we may trash talk consoles based upon their overall sales. But developers and manufacturers also care about something else. It’s called the “attachment rate,” or how many games an owner of a particular console is likely to buy. After 23 months on the market, the PS3 and Wii were in a deadlock with 5.3 and 5.5 games sold per system, respectively. During the same time, the Xbox 360 was at 6.6 games per system (and now, at 36 months, that number is up to 8.1).
At the behest of Sony Ericsson, the newest, dumbest megapixel war is officially upon us — and this time it’s in mobile phones. In an ambitious presentation about the future of handset technology, the company made a point of throwing out a target for 12-20MP for it’s phone cameras, along with the capability to record HD video, to be met in 2012. We’ve seen that compact HD video recording is attractive and plausible, but years of relentless digital camera advertising has taught us that tons of megapixels does not a decent camera make.
Until this week, tapping and shaking accounted for the whole of the questionable “iPhone as an instrument” experience. Now it’s gone too far. The SMule Ocarina app recognises the roar of you blowing into the iPhone’s mic and converts it to the moderately mellifluous sounds of a digital Ocarina. It comes with presets, exhibited here on video. The above preset: Zelda’s Overland Theme. Below: Robert Plant’s and Jimmy Page’s Greatest Indignity. [SMule via BBG]
