May 22, 2006, 7:57 PM PDT
USB goes wireless too
Posted by: Dong Van Ngo

Remember that time you brought home a brand-new printer, all excited, only to realize that you needed to take another trip to the store for a USB cable before you could connect it to your computer? In the near future, that will never happen--no, not because printer vendors have gone through a change of heart and started shipping their products with the USB cables.

Making a big buzz at WinHEC this year is a new technology called Wireless USB (WUSB), which has been under development for about three years and is slated for release later this year. As the name suggests, it's the current USB technology without the need for a USB cable. WUSB can operate at full USB 2.0 speed (480Mbps) within a 10-foot range--longer than the length of most standard USB cables--and up to 110Mbsp within a 30-foot range. At first, computers and legacy peripherals may be upgraded to WUSB with add-in cards and hubs. Going forward, most computers and devices will have this technology built in, just like USB 2.0 today.

Fully backward compatible with wired USB, WUSB can connect a peripheral device to only one host at a time. It operates on the Ultra-wideband Common Radio Platform to ensure consistency and reduce interference with existing wireless platforms such as Wi-Fi. WUSB is expected to be implemented very quickly, thanks to broad industry support by the WiMedia Alliance, an open-industry trade association consisting of more than 200 companies. Microsoft is one of them, so Windows Vista will fully support WUSB.

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May 22, 2006, 3:13 PM PDT
Blowing the lid off of lending
Posted by: Rafe Needleman

The Web is becoming more than a community of content and ideas: it's becoming a financial community as well. The latest example of this is Prosper, the site for peer-to-peer lending.

If you need to borrow money, Prosper lets you make your case to the community of lenders. Just like getting a traditional loan, you'll have to give up some financial details and allow the system to run a check on you. But unlike a bank loan, you're also able to make a personal appeal to Prosper users. You select the maximum rate you're willing to pay and see if anyone bites.

If you want to lend to Prosper users, you get to select the stories and credit risks that appeal to you. You can easily spread your lending stake among dozens of borrowers, reducing your risk. Launching tonight is an enhanced version of the "standing order" feature, which lets you automatically disperse loan funds to borrowers that meet your criteria.

Currently, Prosper is being used a lot by people who can't get good loans from traditional lenders, mostly for debt consolidation. If more people start using it for loans on things such as vacations and education, it could begin to have an impact on many parts of the finance industry, from how people finance major purchases to how they invest for their retirement.

There's a good story about Prosper on Salon.

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May 22, 2006, 3:01 PM PDT
Two new Pentax dSLRs mark end of *ist D name
Posted by: Philip Ryan

Pentax has just announced two new dSLRs, including the company's first dSLR with image stabilization. In homage to the 30th anniversary of the company's legendary K1000, the new cameras will be named K100D and K110D. Both will include 6.1-megapixel CCD sensors, 11-point autofocus, 2.5-inch 210,000-pixel LCD screens, top shutter speeds of 1/4,000 second, and sensitivity up to ISO 3,200. Additonally, they can capture bursts of up to 5 highest-quality JPEGs at up to 2.8 frames per second. The K100D will also include Pentax's shake-reduction system, which detects camera movement and shift the camera's sensor to compensate.

Like their unfortunately named *ist D cousins, the K100D and K110D will accept a wide array of Pentax K-mount lenses, as well as screw-mount and 645- or 67-system lenses with K-mount adapters. Both new cameras record images onto SD cards and can be set to automatically create a new folder each day, to help organize your photos on your card.

The Pentax K100D will hit stores first, in July at a suggested price of $699.95 when sold as a kit with the Pentax SMC 18mm-to-55mm zoom lens or $619.95 for the body only. The K110D will follow in August for a suggested price of $599.95 with the same kit lens or $519.95 for the body only. In addition to the two dSLRs, Pentax has introduced a new limited-edition lens: the smc Pentax DA 21mm f.3.2 AL, which will ship to stores in July for a suggested price of $549.95 and sport a pancakelike design similar to the company's smc P-DA 40mm f/2.8 Limited.

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May 22, 2006, 1:54 PM PDT
Wired News publishes AT&T's NSA-leak papers
Posted by: Molly Wood

Wow, way to one-up the blogs, Wired News! The site (not the magazine) went ahead and published the full text of sealed documents from a whistle-blower who says AT&T turned over domestic phone records to the NSA without a record. So far, no one's actually read the documents, but now that they're on the Internet, we've all linked to them like crazy.

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May 22, 2006, 1:06 PM PDT
RIAA vs. XM
Posted by: Jasmine France

There appears to be no limit to the scope of targets upon which the RIAA will sic its hounds of hell...er, I mean lawyers. Last Tuesday, the RIAA filed suit against XM Satellite Radio over the Pioneer Inno, a new portable device that lets users record songs broadcast over XM. Here's the thing, though: once you record music onto the device, you can't get it off. Not only that, I had a chance to use the Inno recently, and while it's a superbly designed device with an excellent UI, the sound quality is certainly less than that of the 192Kbps downloads offered by most online music stores now, and it doesn't even come close to CD quality (though it's better than FM). What we're talking about here is a high-tech radio recorder, albeit one with TiVo-like recording capabilities.

So what's the big deal? It's not illegal for consumers to record AM or FM broadcasts, and it's not like Inno users even have the option of using the recordings for anything other than personal enjoyment. It seems to me that this is yet another move by the RIAA to ensure that its executives' overstuffed pocketbooks don't lose any padding, either by forcing XM to pay for "an appropriate distribution license" or by suing the pants off the company. What I wouldn't give to serve on that jury. While we all wait for that to happen (wait...was that a pig I just saw fly by the window?), head over to WNYC's Soundcheck Web page to hear the pretrial debate between Steve Marks (general counsel for the RIAA) and Chance Patterson (vice president of corporate affairs at XM Satellite Radio). Then come back here and tell me what you think.

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May 22, 2006, 11:56 AM PDT
The Ricoh Caplio R40: tiny bit big zoom; not for Americans
Posted by: Will Greenwald

We don't often write about Ricoh cameras because, well, they're not actually sold on this side of the Atlantic. This time, Ricoh's 6-megapixel Caplio R40 and R4 caught our eyes with zoom strengths we've yet to see in ultracompact cameras. The R40 and R4, respectively, sport 5.7X and 7.1X optical zoom lens in inch-thick, business card-size bodies that weigh less than 5 ounces without battery and media. The R40's lens is equivalent to 28mm to 160mm, and the R4's lens is equivalent to 28mm to 200mm, giving both cameras a wide shot as well as strong zoom capacity. On paper, they're among the strongest zooms we've seen in cameras their size, edged out only by the significantly narrower, 10X-lensed Kodak EasyShare V610.

Unfortunately, Ricoh doesn't yet sell its digital cameras in the United States. If you plan on visiting England any time soon, the R4 can be yours for as little as $470. The Caplio R40 will be released in June, though we don't yet know how much it will cost. If you have a real need for a high-zoom, wide-angle ultracompact and a couple hunded extra pounds sterling in your pocket, maybe a hop across the pond is a good choice for you. Otherwise, you'll have to make due with domestically available ultracompacts such as the EasyShare V610 or the smaller-zooming Casio Exilim EX-Z850 or Sony Cyber Shot DSC-T30.

Source: Gizmodo

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May 22, 2006, 10:48 AM PDT
Dell unveils new laser printers and a printer management solution
Posted by: Felisa Yang

Dell announced today five new additions to its family of laser printers--both color and monochrome--as well as a new printer manager for larger work groups.

The new color lasers are the 3010cn and the 5110cn, which feature the ColorTrack 2 control tools, letting network administrators control user access to save money. Admins can define color printing rights at the group or individual level, set print volume limitations, and track usage via a Web browser. The 3010cn is network-ready, prints black-and-white at 25 pages per minute (ppm), and starts at $379. The 5110cn has built-in duplexing, prints black-and-white at 40ppm and color at 35ppm, and starts at less than $1,000. The 3010cn is geared for SMBs, while the 5110cn is a larger work group machine.

The 5210n and 5310n are monochrome laser printers designed for large work groups and offer built-in networking and expansion options. The 5210n is wireless ready and starts at $899. The 5310n prints up to 50ppm and starts at $999. Finally, the 1815dn is a mono multifunction laser for SMBs. It comes with built-in duplexing and starts at $429.

Dell's new OpenManage Print Manager is a free utility that allows office managers to remotely troubleshoot and manage a fleet of printers. Users can configure the tool to provide a variety of information and statistics, such as consumption rates, hardware problems, and printer configurations. It requires a dedicated serving PC and can manage many third-party machines.

The 3010cn and 5310n are available now in the United States. The 5210n will be available in the States on May 25, while the OpenManage Print Manager, the 5110cn, and the 1815dn will be available in June.

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May 22, 2006, 10:02 AM PDT
Eventful bypasses concert producers
Posted by: Rafe Needleman

There are an increasing number of tools to help you organize your time: Google recently joined Yahoo in the online calendar space, and there are dozens of other calendaring tools as well (in addition to Outlook and other popular PC-based tools). Have some free time? There are also event databases to help you find events you might want to attend.

But what about the events you want to go to that haven't yet been scheduled? How do you get your favorite act to come to your town?

One of the event database companies, EVDB, is adding an interesting feature to its Eventful directory of events: Event Demand. The tool lets anybody start a "demand" for a performer or group in their metro area. Eventful collects the count of people who are interested. It's essentially an online petition system.

Like any petition, the trick is to make sure people see it. So the site will generate HTML code for each demand that you can stick in your e-mail or on your Web page. Popular kids on MySpace who put demands on their pages could become junior Bill Grahams. (But without the riches: there's no way, yet, for the originator of an event to collect a piece of the action when an event is booked.)

EVDB will contact artists with growing demands to let them know what their fan base is up to.

The Eventful demand system is still new, and right now the system is overwhelmed by a collection of demands to hear former Star Trek actor Wil Wheaton speak. But don't let that put you off. This tool is an interesting way to bring democracy to the performance business. Mashed together with a pledge-based funding system such as Fundable, it could become a whole new way for performers and venues to remove some of the financial risk in event planning.

Update 5/26/06: I feel terrible. The above paragraph insults Wil Wheaton, a guy I admire. He and his fans are mad at me. You can read the angry commentary here (my apology is about #45).

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May 22, 2006, 9:07 AM PDT
Palm Treo 700p available now from Verizon Wireless
Posted by: Bonnie Cha

The Palm Treo 700p is now available from Verizon Wireless. Pricing is set at $399.99 with a two-year agreement. Calling plans with unlimited data access via Verizon Wireless's BroadbandAccess service start at $79.99 for 450 minutes.

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May 22, 2006, 8:23 AM PDT
Motorola and Verizon officially announce Q
Posted by: Bonnie Cha

At long last, Motorola and Verizon announced today the official availability and pricing of the Motorola Q. The Windows Mobile 5 smart phone will be sold on Verizon Wireless's Web site starting May 31 and in stores on June 5 for $199.99 with a two-year contract and $100 instant rebate. We'll be working hard to have a full review up in the next couple of days, but in the meantime, here are a few highlights:

• Windows Mobile 5 Smartphone Edition
• EV-DO support
• Bluetooth 1.2
• Push e-mail via GoodLink; access to POP3 e-mail accounts, including Yahoo and Hotmail
• "World's thinnest" QWERTY device
• Dual, stereo-quality speakers

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