May 08, 2006, 4:29 PM PDT
Origami is in the house
Posted by: Rafe Needleman

We finally got our own "Origami" ultramobile PC. This one is an Eo v7110 from TabletKiosk, a manufacturer that sells primarily to corporate integrators (and direct via its Web site). We just dropped the machine off at our Labs, so full benchmarks and a review will post this week. I had a chance to work with it for a few minutes before I gave it up.

It's a nice machine. The control layout is sensible and the learning curve is very short. I've never used a UMPC before today, and I was up to speed with it in minutes. The screen is touch sensitive, so you can thumb-type on it using two rounded half-keyboards (one under each thumb), although the pressure required to register on the screen was a little high, making typing tiring. Microsoft's Windows XP tablet interface also comes with a very nice full-screen menu system that's reminiscent of the Windows Media Center variant.

The TabletKiosk representative we met with pitched this machine as useful for two main groups: First, "vertical" applications such as health care, industry, and the military. As a portable console into business and custom applications, it makes a lot of sense. It's much lighter than a full-size tablet PC, and it runs standard Windows programs.

The other proposed customer set was the consumer: business travelers, cooks in their kitchens, and so forth. For this group, this platform strikes me as a bad choice. It's too small to be used comfortably for intensive work, its battery isn't robust enough to last through a single two-hour movie, and with an $899 starting price, it's way too expensive to be a kitchen appliance. However, as a car PC, it's a great option, and TabletKiosk does make a mobile mounting solution.

At the platform's current state of development, a UMPC might be just what's needed in some vertical and business environments. But even though it's a neat engineering feat, it's too heavy, too expensive, and has too-poor battery life to make a good choice for a consumer or a small-business user. We'll have more to say on the product, and the platform, after we test it.

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May 08, 2006, 1:46 PM PDT
Keep time with 1time
Posted by: Rafe Needleman

Here's another in the continuing progression of clever, focused Web 2.0 business apps: 1time, a tool to help you keep track of billable time. Like invoicing, keeping track of hours is one of those necessary but dreary requirements of running a small services business.

1time is easy to understand, although a bit modal to use. By that I mean you have to make sure you're in the right section and logged in the right way to do what you want. For example, if you're in admin view, you can see a nice overview of your projects and clients, but you can't enter hours. You have to switch to employee view to do so. If you're a one-person shop, that's a needless distinction.

Also, timekeeping is one of those areas that can't really be isolated from other recordkeeping and accounting functions. Time-sheets generate invoices and also form the basis of payroll, and 1time--at least so far--does not integrate with either of these functions. The service is still young, though, so I'll look forward to partnerships with other companies, such as Blinksale [blog post], and for the developers to layer in additional features.

Found on: e-Hub

1time
http://www.1time.ie/
Category: Business
Developer: Jeebers
Stage: Open beta
Cost: Free for now

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May 08, 2006, 1:24 PM PDT
FBI: ID theft not a high priority
Posted by: Robert Vamosi

Although fighting cybercrime ranks among the top three priorities for the FBI (right behind terrorism and espionage), the crime of ID theft itself ranks low within that cybercrime mandate, falling into fourth place behind computer intrusion, child pornography, and intellectual rights violations. As a result, Special Agent D. Christopher Sadowski, speaking at this week's SymantecVision conference in San Francisco, says the bureau opened only 49 new ID theft investigations in 2005, up from 40 the previous year. Overall losses as a result of reported ID theft or Internet fraud, however, remain high: roughly $57 billion in 2005, up from $55 billion in 2004, although the number of victims has declined to 8.9 million in 2005, down from 9.4 million in 2004. That suggests that phishers and scam artists are getting better at targeting high-profit victims. Special Agent Sadowski, who sometimes works the call duty desk at the FBI, says that many of the victims of ID theft or Internet fraud he's spoken with can often seek assistance from e-commerce or e-auction sites themselves; only a few warrant federal attention. As for arrests related to ID theft or Internet fraud, Sadowski says the FBI assisted in only 11 arrests in 2005, up from only 4 in 2004. ID thefts tend to originate in foreign countries-- Sadowski singled out Nigeria as an example--and he says that by the time the FBI obtains the necessary memos of understandings or works the various paperwork requirements through the U.S. State Department, local police in those countries have already arrested the perpetrators under investigation.

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May 08, 2006, 1:17 PM PDT
Apple takes down Apple (Corps)
Posted by: Molly Wood

Proving that, once again, a little technicality goes a long way, Apple Computer triumphed over Apple Corps in the latest round of their ongoing trademark-infringement boxing match. London's High Court ruled that Apple's use of its logo on the iTunes Music Store has nothing to do with the music actually being sold at the store--and accepted Apple's argument that the music it's selling in digital form isn't actually music. It's data. Now, if you'll excuse me, I've fixed up a playlist with my favorite data jams, and I've gotta hit the gym.

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May 08, 2006, 1:09 PM PDT
Treo 700p: I'm sorry, HOW much?
Posted by: Molly Wood

So, the latest in the Treo 700p rumor watch (it's for when you're not watching the Motorola Q or the Nokia E61) is, per Engadget, that the new, Palm-based version of the Treo 700 will set you back just shy of $700 with no contract and $529.99 with a two-year deal. OK, I'm going to assume they're floating these prices as a little market test, just to see how folks react, so let me summarize the most likely responses to that sort of price tag: oh, hell no!

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May 08, 2006, 12:11 PM PDT
Buy ecoconscious gasoline
Posted by: Wayne Cunningham

The Better World Handbook Web site has a chart of the most environmentally sound gas-station companies. Although some would argue that companies selling gas can't be ecoconscious, the Better World Handbook site compiled data from 20 sources and graded major gas-station companies on an A-through-F scale. Take a look at the chart here.

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May 08, 2006, 10:54 AM PDT
Shooters for Web 2.0
Posted by: Rafe Needleman

E3 will be an orgy of high-end games and purpose-built gaming hardware, but an alternate action gaming platform is just beginning to get traction: your Web browser. While hundreds of non-action-oriented games--card and puzzle games, for example--run in a browser, action games have, to date, needed their own application. No more. There's a not-bad shooter demo out there called Phosphor. It's a Flash application that runs in a browser. Users don't have to install anything; it's downloaded as needed from the host site.

Phosphor isn't as rich as Half-Life or Far Cry, but it's a smooth experience, and it's set up for network team play. Which is good, since the game world is too small for a satisfying single-player experience (although the in-game bots are pretty competitive).

With network-delivered games, there are two big advantages: First, new levels can be delivered as needed, over the Web, making the typical download process for a game nearly invisible. Second, since the game runs directly in a browser, you can play anywhere. Like at work. You didn't hear it from me.

Phosphor
Category: Game
Developer: Rasterwerks
Stage: Open beta
Cost: Free
Special recognition: Technical Achievement

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May 08, 2006, 9:08 AM PDT
Best wishes to Wishlistr
Posted by: Rafe Needleman

Many commerce sites and a lot of product review sites have a function that lets you save products you think you want in a "wish list." (This includes CNET--see our Want It feature.) For people getting married, we know of this list as the registry. Sites such as Crate and Barrel, BabyCenter, and Amazon let you set up gift registries or wish lists for any event. The problem is that these registries are for products available on those stores only. If you want to create a list of products or services from around the Web, you've got to do it another way.

Here's one way: Use the new Web 2.0 site Wishlistr. This simple site lets you collect things you want, from physical products to intangibles, into one universal registry you can share with your friends. Practically, Wishlistr is not much different from a bookmarking engine such as Del.icio.us, and it even has a simple "bookmarklet" that you can install in your browser's toolbar to make collecting items easier.

It's a handy tool to collect wanted items for yourself, and it would not be a bad idea to send the Wishlistr link to people for whom you have a hard time finding gifts. (Mother, I hope you are reading this.)

Store-based registries, though, have big advantages to both gift givers and getters: Purchases made via those registries are easy (the recipient's address is already on record), and they're tracked, so people won't mistakenly buy an item that somebody else already has. For Wishlistr to work best as a gift helper, it's going to need deeper integration into the multitude of registries on store sites. Since the goal of any store is to sell items by whatever means possible, it would make sense for online stores to partner with Wishlistr to make this happen.

However, since Wishlistr doesn't use any radical or even (as far as I can tell) protectable technology, I would not be surprised to see Wishlistr competitors popping up, and with them, a profusion of "add to my list" buttons on all the store sites that are trying to make it as easy as possible for potential buyers to save links back to their items. I'm going to keep an eye out for that.

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May 08, 2006, 9:01 AM PDT
Sony DPP-FP35 and DPP-FP55 photo printers
Posted by: Will Greenwald

Sony has announced two new, tiny 4x6-inch photo printers, the DPP-FP35 and the DPP-FP55. These small, dye-sub printers sport 2-inch color LCDs; PictBridge compatibility for printing straight from cameras; and SuperCoat 2 laminate (with compatible Sony paper) to protects prints from smudging, water, and heat. The DPP-FP55 ships in July and will retail for about $150, and the DPP-FP35 ships in September with a estimated price of $100.

Source: PhotographyBlog via Engadget

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May 08, 2006, 8:31 AM PDT
Is the right to record TV in jeopardy?
Posted by: David Katzmaier

The last few days have seen a flurry of TiVo- and DVR-related stories and statistics, including the launch of special commercials on TiVo, but the most interesting article concerned the impact of those TiVo users not watching commercials. The New York Times piece, entitled "Someone has to pay for TV--but who?," begins by mentioning an earlier patent application by Philips for a TV system that would force watchers to pay for the privilege of skipping ads but ends on an even more ominous note for DVR users. The author brings up the point that the basic right to record copyrighted TV programming, as upheld by the 1984 "fair use" decision in Sony Corporation v. Universal City Studios over Sony's Betamax VCR, is the trickiest legal issue posed by widespread DVR adoption. After reading it, I can't help but wonder whether fair use as described in that decision, which was reached before anyone had any idea that recording TV (and skipping ads) would be so easy and so popular, is in jeopardy today.

It's no secret that DVR owners skip ads. The Times quotes a TiVo executive who says 70 percent of TiVo owners fast-forward through commercials. A study by ad buyer Magna Global cited in TV Week puts the figure at 75 percent; a recent Nielsen release implied 99 percent during certain prime-time favorites; and a more recent study by Jupiter Research says 53 percent of DVR users skip ads and mentions that could amount to $8 billion in lost ad revenue.

Whatever the numbers, it seems certain that DVRs are bad news for advertisers who hope to reach eyeballs. And when entrenched business models such as our glorious "commercials pay for free TV" system start to break down, the companies who lose money usually fight back with lobbying that can turn into legislation. What do you think?

More sources: News.com, eHomeUpgrade, The Wall Street Journal, Lost Remote

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