April 17, 2006, 5:07 PM PDT
Windows Media Player 11 coming soon?
Posted by: Molly Wood

We saw Windows Media Player 11 at CES this year, and forgive me for saying that it looked cool. Like, you know, iTunes cool. So if it is indeed going to show up soon for Windows Vista, it could be the impetus that a girl like me, carrying a nearly worn-to-death old iPod Mini, might need to jump ship to one of those snazzy little SanDisk Sansa e270 jobbies. Word has it that the new software, which will go hand in hand with the Microsoft- and MTV-developed Urge subscription and download music service, could make an appearance before the end of June. Unlike its loose-lipped approach to Origami buzz, Microsoft so far hasn't said much at all about WMP 11--meaning that WMP 11, unlike Origami, has a chance to actually exceed expectations.

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April 17, 2006, 4:21 PM PDT
iTunes back on Moto Rokr E2?
Posted by: Kent German

You'll remember that during CES, we reported that the Motorola Rokr E2 (the update to the poorly received Rokr E1 "iTunes phone") would make a big change from its predecessor. Although the Rokr E2 will have a digital music player, Motorola said support for Apple's popular music service was dumped in favor of a generic Moto player. Yet, according to MobileTracker, iTunes is mentioned in the Rokr E2's preliminary user manual filed with the FCC. In regard to the handset's airplane mode, the manual says, "You can use the phone's iTunes music player and other noncalling features in airplane mode." Curiously, however, that's the only reference to iTunes in the entire manual. It's a strange development indeed, so stay tuned for more news. The Rokr E2 should be available by July, though no carrier is set at the moment.

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April 17, 2006, 4:12 PM PDT
Samsung SCH-A990 wins FCC approval
Posted by: Kent German

Phone Scoop was poking around the FCC Web site and found the government agency has approved the Samsung SCH-A990. The phone, which eventually is headed to Verizon, will feature a twisting display, a 3.2-megapixel camera, Bluetooth, a TransFlash card slot, an color external screen, and an internal antenna. Exact details, pricing, and a firm availability date are still under wraps.

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April 17, 2006, 2:38 PM PDT
Inside the jaws that eat your e-waste
Posted by: Elsa Wenzel

Last week I witnessed what happens to old PCs when they die--and get properly recycled. At a tour of HP's recycling center outside of Sacramento, California, computers, printers, monitors, and more get crunched into confetti that can be sorted and used to make other products.

The 200,000-square-foot factory is silent when the shredders aren't shrieking. Skylights beam down on orderly rows of cardboard boxes holding all manner of office electronics, which local workers pull apart and sort by hand: cords, CRTs with copper strips, circuit boards, aluminum, and the like. Some stuff, such as photocopiers, enters the shredding machines intact.

Each of the three shredders looks larger than my house. Once the engines begin to chomp and churn at deafening levels, conveyer belts lap up the old parts, then whisk them into the clutches of brick-size metal teeth. Next, four-inch strips get ground into cornflake-size chunks that are separated through a series of magnets and filters, then spat out separately. Start to finish, a PC spends between three days to three weeks here before it's completely taken apart.

I spotted no fine dust on surfaces and breathed easily, maybe because the plant changes its air filters a dozen times an hour, sending the metallic powder lining the filters to a refinery. Wooden shipping pallets that bring in new goods also get reused.

The facility is expensive to operate, in part due to the need to protect workers from sharp parts and toxicants during their eight-hour shifts. Yet HP managers say that keeping the pair of "e-cycling" plants in the United States is more efficient than sending waste abroad for disassembly where labor costs are lower and protections more lenient (the same can't be said of the final fate of products made and sold in developing countries). The company's recycling efforts apparently break even.

Questions about how to get rid of obsolete products are the company's most common customer service call. Consumers are often suspicious of recycling programs, given the piecemeal municipal efforts for household glass and paper, as well as dozens of conflicting state rules and the lack of national rules for e-waste disposal. And makers of electronics can't get enough recycled plastic to use in their new products. Because proper disposal of electronics is still the exception rather than the rule, most of the otherwise reclaimable parts lay wasted in landfills.

Disposing of old gizmos should be so simple that it motivates you to move junk out of the closet. HP's take-back program asks you for up to $34 to pick up a box of digital duds from your doorstep. Unfortunately, even with a $5 coupon toward a new purchase, HP's fee might discourage people who don't find the doorstep pickup enough of a draw. Find other options in our "Trash your old tech" feature and be sure to delete your data before you donate.

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April 17, 2006, 2:19 PM PDT
File under cool: Monome MIDI interface
Posted by: James Kim

I happen to love and appreciate music hardware (such as the JoMoX XBase09) and software (such as Ableton's Live), so I was immediately attracted to the Monome 40h MIDI control interface. Designed and produced by "a group of people creating versatile hardware interfaces that emphasize user adaptability," the Monome is a simple device with a grid of 8-by-8 buttons (green when activated) that can be programmed to trigger a variety of audio and video functions or scripts. I've seen my share of MIDI controllers, but this beautifully minimal object behaves in many nontraditional ways. Just check out the video. A 16-by-16 version is in the works.

You can check out the Monome and many other cool inventions in person at Maker Faire, which is happening this weekend in San Mateo, California.

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April 17, 2006, 1:04 PM PDT
Can't get enough of the Scion Fuse?
Posted by: Wayne Cunningham

Toyota released a video documentary about the design work that went into the Scion Fuse concept it debuted at the New York Auto Show. The first 30 seconds of the video display good views of the car, with its various LEDs lighting up. After that, it gets a bit more technical, with the designers talking about going from initial sketches to the completed car. Fans of Monster Garage and behind-the-scenes DVD features will appreciate it. Click here to view the Scion Fuse video.

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April 17, 2006, 11:16 AM PDT
Treo 700p: closer and closer?
Posted by: Molly Wood

In Treo rumors of the day, Gadgets on the Go is reporting that not only is the Treo 700p (the Palm OS version of the so-far ill-received 700w) due at the end of May or early June, it'll cost $399 with a two-year contract, and it'll be available through Sprint. With, yes, EV-DO speeds. And frankly, in the absence of any sort of Motorola Q whatsoever and my increasing disinterest in the Windows Mobile OS (clunk, clunk, click, click), I think this might be my new gadget-to-covet du jour.

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April 17, 2006, 10:24 AM PDT
For those about to rock again
Posted by: Will Greenwald

It might pale compared to speculated announcements about the PlayStation 3 and the Nintendo Revolution, but Red Octane will be rocking fairly hard by announcing Guitar Hero II at E3. The first Guitar Hero took the PlayStation 2 by storm with its guitar controller and an excellent soundtrack. While no tracks have been announced yet, we do know that Guitar Hero II will let gamers play lead, rhythm, or bass guitar on the original Guitar Hero controller and will feature new venues and playlists for gamers to rock out to.

We'll get more details at E3. In the meantime, however, I'm going to throw up the metal horns.

\m/ >.< \m/

Rock on.

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