September 14, 2005, 5:07 PM PDT
3G for San Francisco
Posted by: Kent German

Verizon Wireless has finally added the San Francisco Bay Area to its 3G EV-DO network. Area residents can now make full use of the carrier's 3G cell phones and access the accompanying multimedia V Cast network. We admit we've been pretty miffed the past few months about San Franciscans having to miss out on EV-DO, so all we can say now is it's about time. Verizon's 3G network will range from San Francisco down to San Jose and across to the East Bay. Verizon also initiated broadband coverage in Sacramento and the surrounding area, including the cities of Lincoln, Davis, Elk Grove, and Folsom. Verizon's EV-DO network delivers data speeds of 300Kbps to 500Kbps.

Though T-Mobile is still a couple of years away from full 3G, the carrier's 2.5G EDGE network is now up and running. According to T-Mobile, the EDGE network covers 90 percent of the current GPRS network coverage area. EDGE data speeds are about 90Kbps, compared with the average GPRS data speeds of 30Kbps to 40Kbps.

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September 14, 2005, 11:38 AM PDT
Cowon iAudio M5 and F1--we have them!
Posted by: James Kim

Yesterday, we met with Cowon, who gave us three things: a beta version of its new X5 firmware that enables Janus subscription-based downloads (we'll let you know how it works), a preproduction version of the new 20GB iAudio M5, and the iAudio F1.

The Cowon iAudio M5 is a silver version of the iAudio X5, though without the color screen or the photo and video playback capabilities. It's a tad lighter than the X5, and it's a bit of a backward step, as the monochrome screen is not nearly as vibrant and cool as the X5's. However, it will be more affordable and make a nice fit for those looking for excellent sound quality and recording features. As with the X5, you'll need to use an adapter for line-in recordings.

The Cowon iAudio F1 is a cool little flash-based player that looks like a modded Hot Wheels car. Surprisingly, we've never seen a "car" MP3 player that looked so good. We'll get you more info and videos about these players plus the upcoming Cowon iAudio A2 PVP soon.

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September 14, 2005, 11:26 AM PDT
Apple iTunes 5.0 headaches
Posted by: James Kim

There have been reports of installation problems and general bugginess with the latest version of iTunes 5.0. According to many users in various forums and on the Apple Web site itself, the program has a bug that negatively affects the popular jukebox software, even crashing systems in some cases. We've even heard a claim from a frustrated reader that the installation messed with his computer's DNS settings, and he is now not able to get on to the Net--even after rolling back his PC. I've personally installed and used iTunes 5.0 on one Windows PC and two Macs and haven't had any problems thus far. Apple has admitted an iTunes bug and is working to fix and update the program.

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September 14, 2005, 10:44 AM PDT
Teen sentenced for hacking
Posted by: Robert Vamosi

A 17-year-old from Massachusetts pleaded guilty on Tuesday to breaking into Paris Hilton's cell phone. The youth was sentenced to 11 months detention in a juvenile facility. According to the Washington Post (free registration required), the youth also broke into a wireless Internet provider, AOL, and participated in an attack on the data warehouse LexisNexis earlier this year. I wrote in detail about this attack and described the youth's cohorts in a Security Watch column last May.

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