Picture of the Day: The iPhone Cometh

Seeing as how it’s iPhone week, Mari and I are required to mention the revolution at least once per day… When visiting the Cingular AT&T earlier today I snapped this pic of an iPhone display. On my Windows Mobile device. ;)

That Gnawing New Gadget Urge

I woke up this morning wanting something new. I have a bunch of unopened stuff just waiting for review, but I’m not feeling those items. And I know the iPhone will be here in a few days, but $600 is not an impulse buy (and it doesn’t have a keyboard or stylus). I need a … Read more

Dave Does NYC (Phones)

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I spent the majority of the week in NYC meeting with a variety of good people. (That’s Kevin Tofel, Mari, Brad Linder, Dan Dorato, and I above.) On my journey, I came across several new and upcoming phones. Here’s my 60 second review:

HTC Touch
Nice form factor, though I’m still not sold on the idea of a phone without physical buttons. The fingertip touch-sensitive shell HTC has overlayed on Windows Mobile is attractive and efficient for basic tasks like calling contacts, but once you drill down to things like composing email you’re back to using the stylus.

LG PRADA
Also forgoing physical keypad, the touchscreen phone looks sharp both inside and out. Instead of a virtual QWERTY keyboard, the PRADA displays traditional phone keys and uses predictive text entry. Smart decision given portrait screen orientation and finger size. The PRADA name comes at a cost.

Blackberry Curve
Nice size and clearly delineated keys, unlike the 8800. This particular model didn’t show the sluggishness I experienced with another model a few weeks ago. I didn’t use the camera, though I like the idea of having one around for spontaneous moments. Too bad they couldn’t also squeeze in the 8800’s GPS.

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Do you listen to podcasts?

podcast.gifOver on my LinkedIn network, an interesting question was posed: How often do you listen to podcasts? The author limited his query to non-work-related and non-NPR content. Here’s my response:

I rarely listen to podcasts. So interesting followup questions might be: Where/when/how do people listen? I find I can’t concentrate on a podcast while working on my computer and I don’t listen through my iPod or TV when relaxing.

Generally speaking, I’m more visually oriented and prefer reading or watching video over a purely audio broadcast. If I still regularly commuted (via subway), I might listen to podcasts more frequently. Though I’d just as likely watch some DVRed video clip on my mobile instead.

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YouTube Gets Mobile

Without any fanfare, Google quietly launched YouTube Mobile. The web page is slimmed down for your portable, and video selections are streamed 3GP. Interesting to see YouTube move beyond Flash as their sole video format. (H.264 coming to AppleTV.)

So far, I haven’t had very good luck with the mobile offering… On a Treo 700p, clicking a YouTube vid brought up a blank web page. On a 700w, Windows Media Player launched with an error. Brian Lam over on Gizmodo had better luck on a 755 and Helio Ocean (above).

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Archos Preps TV Plus Media Extender

Two media extender announcements in one week! Can it get any better than that? ;) Archos joins DivX in by releasing details on TV Plus. Engadget had some hands on time with the prototype and reports Archos will offer DVR functionality including an IR blaster to control that cable box, in addition to typical media … Read more

SanDisk To Incorporate DivX Support

The DivX news just keeps on coming… As they work on expanding their ecosystem, SanDisk has announced DivX support  – including web video site Stage6. I think it’s safe to say SanDisk will beef up their portable Sansa media players, and perhaps will be one of vendors to brand the upcoming DivX media extender, later … Read more

Eye-Fi: WiFi SD Card For Digital Cameras

CNET reports that this fall Eye-Fi will launch a Wi-Fi enabled SD card for digital cameras. Their $100, possibly 2GB, SD card will retain the form factor of traditional cards and only use battery power when transmitting photos. Eye-Fi hopes to have about a dozen online photo sharing sites signed up by launch. It’s an … Read more