testing
Software
Windows 7 Benchmark Results ‘Very Promising’
5:37AM Wilson Rothman | Adrian Kingsley-Hughes at ZDNet tested pre-beta Windows 7 release 6956 against Vista RTM and Vista SP1. Win 7’s snappy boot time and dominance in other tests suggest that a good OS is on the way. More »
Phones
A Visual Look at the Nokia Damage Test Labs
6:00AM Adrian Covert | I’ve long suspected that the best job ever would be to work in product stress testing—because you basically get paid to break shit all day. Nokia sent over a bunch of info detailing how their test centres operate, leaving me fully convinced this would indeed be my dream gig. Not only do they run over 200 mechanical tests on these things, but where else could you play with a bunch of machines that bend, bake, humidify, spray, poke and drop phones? (And yeah, that phone in the picture above just got poked a million times…literally.) galleryPost('nokiatestlabs3', 4, ''); More »
Gadgets
Inside Consumer Reports’ Electronics Testing Lab
2:00AM John Mahoney | You probably only read Consumer Reports if a) you are at your grandparents house or b) you are a grandparent yourself. But that’s too bad, because tucked quietly away in the NYC suburb of Yonkers lies one of the biggest and best electronics testing labs money can buy. And what goes on here at Consumer Reports main test facility probably puts most other tech pubs to shame. More »
Gadgets
A Look Inside the Consumer Reports Gadget Testing Dungeons
7:21PM John Herrman | BoingBoing Gadgets took a field trip to tour some of Consumer Reports’ electronics testing facilities, where they found a perfect physical manifestation of everything that the magazine feels like: middle-aged men giving droll, monotone speeches about methodology in a series of depressing rooms, each containing a minimalist, utilitarian testing apparatus. And mannequins. While it’s interesting to see what bizarre contraptions they’ve contrived to test gadgets, it’s hard not to notice how dated and bloated the whole system feels. Check out the full video tour at the source link. [BBG] More »
Software
Microsoft Tells Hardware Manufacturers to Start Testing Windows 7 ASAP Or Face Sweat of Ballmer
5:33AM Jason Chen | Everyone knows how much of a bunglefart the “Certified for Windows Vista” sticker was in determining whether computers worked OK or completely lousily with Vista. Microsoft doesn’t want to repeat this, which is why they’re telling hardware manufacturers to start testing their products with Windows 7 as soon as the first beta is out, unless they don’t want to qualify for Microsoft’s new Windows 7 compatibility sticker. Microsoft’s going to check up on them too, making sure companies’ current Windows Vista submission “include a complete CPK with test logs from Windows 7.” [Information Week] More »
Peripherals
Inkjet Ink Test: Manufacturer Brand vs. Cheapo Store Ink
8:20AM Jason Chen | Trusted Reviews has a big investigation on inkjet printers and inkjet ink, and their year-long study comparing fading between more expensive manufacturer brand vs. the cheaper crappy brand shows that you get what you pay for. Over three months, the differences between the two were negligible, with pages only fading slightly (but noticeably) in quality. More »
Home
4:04PM Nick Broughall | Gizmodian Rhett has pointed us in the direction of TiVo’s website again to show us that TiVo are once again looking for Beta Testers. Looks like I didn’t make the grade from the first intake, then. I checked and it still seems to be pretty active, so if you’re keen, fill in the form and keep us informed on what it’s like.
It doesn’t really seem like Seven’s going to pull the plug on it if they’re still asking for Beta testers, either. Hopefully we’ll even see both in the near future.
[TiVo – Thanks Rhett!]
More »
Update: TiVo Looking For Beta Testers Again?
4:04PM Nick Broughall | Gizmodian Rhett has pointed us in the direction of TiVo’s website again to show us that TiVo are once again looking for Beta Testers. Looks like I didn’t make the grade from the first intake, then. I checked and it still seems to be pretty active, so if you’re keen, fill in the form and keep us informed on what it’s like.
It doesn’t really seem like Seven’s going to pull the plug on it if they’re still asking for Beta testers, either. Hopefully we’ll even see both in the near future.
[TiVo – Thanks Rhett!]
More »
Computers
New Macbook Pro Review (Verdict: Penryn + LEDs = Efficiency)
11:00AM Gizmodo US Edition | The new Macbook Pro is not much of a bump up from its predecessors, but it is a step in the right direction. The addition of Multi-Touch is a great new feature, even on a touchpad that’s smaller than the one on the Air. However, the Penryn-powered processor in this MBP is running at roughly the same speed as the last generation’s chips, GHz to GHz, and give no good reason to upgrade from machines that are less than a year old. The most interesting point here is the boost in efficiency the now-pervasive LED backlighting and 45nm Penryn chips bring to the MacBook Pro, which together give an hour extra battery life over older models with CCFL screens and 65nm CPU technology. That makes this the most efficient Macbook Pro yet.
Science
Scientists Date Corpses by Looking into Their Eyes
4:10AM Addy Dugdale | A team of Danish researchers has discovered a way of dating dead bodies via the corpse’s eye using a nuclear particle accelerator. The procedure, which measures the amount of a carbon isotope in the eye lens, has been made possible because of atomic weapons testing half a century ago. The technique only works for people born after 1950 and will only be valid until levels of the carbon isotype have returned to normal—probably 100 years. Here’s how it works. More »
Entertainment
3:53PM Nick Broughall | We’re not sure what to expect with TiVo when it launches in Australia. Sure, we love the idea of being to record all your favourite shows, have Season Pass do all the hard work for you and watch the latest episode of Neighbours Heroes whenever we feel like it in glorious Hi-Def. But the whole Channel 7 thing makes us concerned that we’ll just be stuck in this never-ending loop of Kochy and that O’Keefe guy telling progressively worse jokes to an audience of drugged up middle-aged housewives.
That’s why we’ve registered to become Beta testers for the service. Sure, we probably won’t be selected, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t. All you need to do is answer a bunch of questions, sign an NDA and sell your soul agree to do weekly homework assignments.
But hurry! We’ve already filled out our second survey to try and win the TiVo lottery ticket, and we don’t think this entertainment gravy train will be waiting for long.
UPDATE: Ok, so as some of the commenters have pointed out (thanks guys!), TiVo have actually stopped accepting applications for beta testers. There may be a second round though, so check back frequently for the latest updates…
[TiVo Beta testing]
More »
UPDATED: Get TiVo Early — Beta Testers Wanted
3:53PM Nick Broughall | We’re not sure what to expect with TiVo when it launches in Australia. Sure, we love the idea of being to record all your favourite shows, have Season Pass do all the hard work for you and watch the latest episode of Neighbours Heroes whenever we feel like it in glorious Hi-Def. But the whole Channel 7 thing makes us concerned that we’ll just be stuck in this never-ending loop of Kochy and that O’Keefe guy telling progressively worse jokes to an audience of drugged up middle-aged housewives.
That’s why we’ve registered to become Beta testers for the service. Sure, we probably won’t be selected, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t. All you need to do is answer a bunch of questions, sign an NDA and sell your soul agree to do weekly homework assignments.
But hurry! We’ve already filled out our second survey to try and win the TiVo lottery ticket, and we don’t think this entertainment gravy train will be waiting for long.
UPDATE: Ok, so as some of the commenters have pointed out (thanks guys!), TiVo have actually stopped accepting applications for beta testers. There may be a second round though, so check back frequently for the latest updates…
[TiVo Beta testing]
More » 
