July 13, 2005, 6:30 PM PDT
Finally, a networked sprinkler timer
Posted by: Brian Cooley

In my natural quest to put every device in my life on the network, I've spent years frustrated in the garden. There was simply no such thing as a network sprinkler timer, mostly just goofy Playskool-inspired gadgets such as my Rain Bird PC-506 that use a proprietary set of knobs, buttons, and a cryptic LCD clearly designed by the same folks who do VCR interfaces.

So I was happier than a raccoon in a fig tree when my normally futile Googling for something IP-enabled actually delivered pay dirt last week in the form of the Ware 1000 network-connected sprinkler timer.

It's literally a black box with terminals for your sprinkler wires and an Ethernet jack. No knobs, no buttons. You control and program the thing by hitting its IP address in a browser, which loads a sophisticated Web interface from its built-in server. Building or changing a watering schedule is done via Web forms and fields, not knobs and buttons. It's a true network device, not some kludge of X10 modules and a serial port that is merely "computer controlled."

At $400 a pop, the Ware Brothers can forget about mass-market penetration, but this is a breakthrough product for the kind of people who dig CNET and their garden.

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July 13, 2005, 4:24 PM PDT
iPod Shuffle in the car
Posted by: Jasmine France

Yesterday, Digital Lifestyle Outfitters announced the TransPod for the iPod Shuffle ($59.99). While FM transmitters aren't the ideal way to listen to your MP3 player through your car stereo, I have to admit I'm digging the design of this TransPod--it's fabulously compact, and it charges the Shuffle while you use it. Plus, it lets you tune in to any FM station and features a digital display and four preset slots. DLO's site says that you can even use it to charge other devices, such as cell phones and PDAs, though I'm not clear on how that works. All in all, this option seems great for MP3-ing your vehicle, since it fluidly incorporates the device into the car and is tiny enough to keep everything out of the way.

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July 13, 2005, 3:44 PM PDT
Sprint and Nextel get friendly
Posted by: Kent German

Odd couple Sprint and Nextel moved closer to a proposed merger today when shareholders for both carriers approved the move. Although the target completion date is the third quarter of this year, the union still has to win approval from the feds and in some states. If they get the go-ahead, the combined company will be called Sprint Nextel, and it will be the third-largest carrier in the country. Sprint will be the lead brand for the majority of products, while Nextel's yellow and black color scheme will predominate over Sprint's red and white. Beyond that, however, it's still uncertain how the whole thing will affect services and phone selection.

Even though the cell phone world seems to have warmed to the merger, I still think it's a bit weird. Besides operating totally separate cellular networks--Nextel has its proprietary iDEN, and Sprint uses CDMA--the two carriers have vastly different images. While Sprint attracts a broad range of customers, Nextel has long depended on a loyal base of businesspeople that love push-to-talk functionality. Plus, Nextel's bulky mobiles are a sharp contrast to Sprint's long line of silver flip phones. But on a more important note, I just don't buy the notion that the merger will benefit customers by giving them more choices. With this marriage, the number of major carriers in the United States would drop to just four--that is, if T-Mobile isn't gobbled up as well. It all seems like fewer choices to me.

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July 13, 2005, 12:56 PM PDT
Microsoft debuts entertainment-specific input devices
Posted by: Lara Luepke

Tuesday, Microsoft announced two entertainment-specific input devices, the Remote Keyboard for Windows XP Media Center Edition and the Wireless Optical Desktop 5000 keyboard and mouse set with Microsoft Design Image Standard 2006.

The Remote Keyboard is a three-in-one unit that combines remote keyboard and mouse capabilities, making it easier to turn up the volume and point and click without moving from your couch--it has a 30-foot range. It looks pretty sleek, and if it truly replaces our clumsy coffee-table clutter, we're all for it.

The Wireless Optical Desktop 5000 pairs a keyboard and mouse with Microsoft Digital Image Standard 2006 software. This package is intended for photo enthusiasts, and the keyboard features dedicated buttons for zooming and common editing tasks. Take away the software, and this desktop set looks a lot like the other sets we've seen from Microsoft: the Microsoft Optical Desktop with Fingerprint Reader and the Microsoft Optical Desktop Elite for Bluetooth.

Both the Wireless Optical Desktop 5000 and the Remote Keyboard will hit the market in September and cost $105 each.

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July 13, 2005, 11:59 AM PDT
Three more years of analog TV
Posted by: David Katzmaier

Nobody really thought that Congress would end up enforcing the 2006 turn-off deadline for analog television broadcasts, but now it's semiofficial: the new blackout date will be 2009, according to proposed legislation. At the end of 2008, so the story goes, all TV broadcasters will turn off their over-the-air analog transmissions and leave the spectrum free to be auctioned off--although a good portion will supposedly be used for emergency broadcasts and homeland security. The head of the National Association of Broadcasters is happy about the date, but issues remain. The biggest is that current analog TV receivers will require special converter boxes to receive the new digital broadcasts, and consumer groups are urging Uncle Sam to subsidize the boxes. Seeing that the government will net an estimated $10 billion from the spectrum auction, I don't think that's too much to ask.

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July 13, 2005, 10:03 AM PDT
Actual Heisman Trophy not included
Posted by: Robert Dubbin

Don't panic: you didn't buy a game from 15 years ago. Contrary to tradition, and perhaps because last year's best college player is still NCAA-eligible, EA Sports chose 1991 Heisman trophy winner Desmond Howard to grace the cover of NCAA Football 06. But the game's unconventional poster boy (poster man?) has a deliberate purpose: EA is using Howard, possibly one of the most iconic Heisman winners of the last two decades, to promote a new single-player Heisman mode that lets you create your own player from scratch and control him throughout his career.

Of course, EA really didn't need to go through the trouble. Heisman mode is just a sanctioned and slightly more detailed version of the thing that people have been doing forever in sports games: namely, creating themselves as players and selfishly pumping all of their stats up to high heaven. Gamers who couldn't huff their way to a 5.5 40 delight in using their juiced-up avatars to catch 10 touchdowns per game and return every kick for a score, to the point that winning a mere Heisman trophy would actually denigrate their Herculean accomplishments.

That, my friends, is what sports video games are and have always been about: scratching the itches of participatory longing that inevitably accompany sports fandom. It's the rare supporter who doesn't secretly wish they could be on the field themselves, making circus catches and generally running roughshod over the competition. Not even real players are immune: my freshman-year college roommate was the kicker on our football team and took solace in drilling field goal after virtual field goal, as himself, hours after missing last-minute kicks and losing actual games. There are also those people who've been out of college for over a year now and can't cope with the fact that everyone on the team they grew up with is now younger than they are. Not that I'm projecting.

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