June 07, 2006, 6:33 PM PDT
2007 Cadillac Escalade AWD first take
Posted by: Kevin Massy

We just got back from our first ride in the 2007 Cadillac Escalade, and while neither my colleague Wayne Cunningham nor I have ever written a rap song between us, we can see the appeal of this most ostentatious of SUVs. With a monstrous 6.2-liter V-8, 22-inch rims, and a front grille that could easily support a neighborhood barbecue, the '07 'Lade comes pimped out straight from the production line. Inside, GM's flagship truck is decked out with an impressive array of comfort and tech options: our test car was equipped with optional touch-screen and voice-activated navigation, a rear-seat DVD entertainment system, a rearview camera, and all manner of comfort settings, including 14-way power front seats, heated front- and second-row seats, and a heated steering wheel. Despite the Escalade's bling, bullyboy exterior (the chrome-trimmed louvres in the front fenders went nicely with my chain necklace and Wayne's D&G Motorola Razr), the cabin is refreshingly refined and well appointed. In stark contrast to the 2006 Range Rover Sport Supercharged, which we found pitifully wanting in the fixtures department, the Escalade welcomed us with soft leather seats, a forest of ebony trim, and a chrome dashboard with "Cadillac" calligraphically engraved above the glove box. The British designers at Land Rover will choke on their cups of Earl Grey to read this, but they should take some tips from GM for their next high-end Range Rover's interior.

An 8-inch dash-mounted LCD touch screen serves as the interface for the Escalade's navigation and audio systems. Directions were easy to program into the nav unit using an onscreen touch pad, and the unit was quick to calculate routes and to refresh when zooming in or out. There appear to be no voice directions for the navigation, however, and some of the routes (and reroutes) suggested to bring us back to the parking garage were a little circuitous, to say the least. Audio quality through the Escalade's Bose 5.1 surround-sound system was crisp right up through high volume (we suspect the sound system will be a key selling point on this car), although the Escalade could do with a few more speakers to ensure uniform sound throughout its cavernous interior. The audio system supports an admirable range of formats, and we were pleased to see ID3 tag information displayed when playing both MP3 and WMA CDs. Our test model also came hooked up to XM Satellite Radio. Another impressive audio feature is a separate stereo head unit built into the rear console, enabling either of the two second-row passengers (rather than a bench, there are two individual seats) to listen to either the current CD or their own choice of satellite/FM/AM radio channel. The lack of any auxiliary-input jack, however, means there is no provision for rear or front passengers to hook up a portable MP3 player.

Other tech high-points included a power tailgate and power "tumble and fold" second-row seats, which automatically stow away at the touch of a button.

Driving this beast is the ultimate exercise in road ownership: the view from the cabin was enough to dwarf a BMW X5, which had the audacity to get in front of us at the stoplight. Step on the (electronically adjustable) gas pedal, and it feels like you have just trodden on the tail of a sleeping dragon; it takes a while to arouse from its slumber, lets out an immense roar, and finally lurches forward as the 403-horsepower V-8 wins out over its 5,665-pound bulk. When awoken, the six-speed automatic power plant has bags of power on tap, and bringing this mass to a stop requires even more effort than getting it moving. Around town, the Escalade felt a little clumsy, but its road-sensing suspension managed to dampen out much of the rubble that passes for San Francisco's roads. The Escalade's engine idles at around 500rpm, which is a pretty low resting heartbeat, but with such a huge power plant, the engine can afford to turn over less frequently. Not that this economy of effort seemed to do much to improve the Escalade's gas mileage: the readout when we got back to the garage from GM's Driver Information Control (DIC) unit informed us that the car was getting an average of 11.5mpg. Not much bang for your buck, but then again, celebrity does have its price.

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• See product information for 2007 Cadillac Escalade 4dr SUV AWD (6.2L 8cyl 6A)
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June 07, 2006, 5:23 PM PDT
Squeezebox beta software adds Rhapsody support
Posted by: John P. Falcone

The Slim Devices Squeezebox can now stream music from the Rhapsody audio service, thanks to the latest beta of the SlimServer software. While longtime Squeezebox fans may remember that Rhapsody was briefly available as an unsupported software plug-in several years ago, this go-around won't require any hacks--Slim now has the blessing of Rhapsody parent RealNetworks. Rhapsody joins Pandora as the second premium audio service available on the Squeezebox.

We'll update our Squeezebox review once we've had a chance to put the beta software through its paces. In the meantime, you can try the SlimServer software yourself--the open-source software project is available as a free multiplatform download from Slim Devices' Web site.

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• See product information for Slim Devices Squeezebox version 3 Wireless (black)
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June 07, 2006, 4:49 PM PDT
Bose announces new QuietComfort 3 noise-canceling headphones
Posted by: David Carnoy

Bose is proving that smaller doesn't necessarily mean less expensive. The company has announced the QuietComfort 3, a new pair of noise-canceling headphones that are significantly smaller than its popular QuietComfort 2 headphones ($299) and feature an on-ear (supra-aural) rather than an over-the-ear (circumaural) design. Bose says that in developing the new, more compact product, it hasn't compromised the sound quality or the effectiveness of the noise reduction. However, you'll have to pay $349 for this engineering feat when it goes on sale in mid-June.

I tried the new headphones at a demo in New York City and was impressed. The earpieces employ a cushy, memory foam that conforms to your ears nicely, and they do a better job than you'd think of passively shutting out noise (on-ear models tend to let in--and leak out--a fair amount of sound). The headphones seem very comfortable, at least in my brief listening test.

The QuietComfort 3s feature the same fold-flat design of the QuietComfort 2s and come with a protective carrying case that's just a little smaller than the one that ships with the larger preceding models. Aside from the more compact earpieces, one of the big differences between the two headphones is the inclusion of a proprietary lithium-ion battery with the new model. That's a nice plus--the battery slips out of the headphones and into a compact travel charger that fits right into a wall socket, obviating the need for annoying wires or cables. Bose says you'll get about 20 hours of battery life before you need to juice up. (Extra batteries will be available for $50 a pop.) The charger also fits snugly in the headphones' carrying case, and you'll be able to purchase additional chargers compatible with international voltage requirements.

Companies such as Sennheiser make noise-canceling headphones that are smaller and cost much less than Bose models. Apparently, the feedback Bose has gotten from consumers is that some people prefer these smaller designs, especially for everyday on-the-go use rather than just airplane travel. In other words, the company hopes to get more people walking around the streets with these headphones. To that end, the company also showed a $40 adapter that lets you use the QC 3s as a stereo headset for multimedia cellphones, such as the Nokia N91 or Palm Treo models.

The older, larger QuietComfort 2s remain available for those who want an over-the-ear design, while the QuietComfort 3s are available to consumers looking for something a little more discreet. Eventually, however, I think the company will have to drop the price on the QuietComfort 3s and QuietComfort 2s to $299 and $249 respectively. Three hundred and fifty bucks just seems like a lot to pay for headphones, even if they do come with a rechargeable battery.

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• See product information for Bose QuietComfort 3
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June 07, 2006, 4:45 PM PDT
Hands-on with the Xbox 360's upgraded Dashboard
Posted by: David Rudden

Microsoft rolled out its first major update for the Xbox 360 system's user-interface Dashboard yesterday, and we've taken a few of the 125 new features for a spin.

The biggest new addition is undoubtedly the download manager. With the previous version of the Dashboard, choosing to download an item monopolized the system's resources, meaning that you couldn't watch or play anything else--you were literally stuck watching the progress meter fill. Thankfully, that problem has been remedied and then some. Not only can you choose to watch a movie or play a game (offline only--online games will pause the download manager), but you can queue as many as six items. While it's a great new feature, keep two things in mind: Firstly, you might want to consider turning off notifications, unless you enjoy having your Geometry Wars session interrupted every 6 seconds with notice that your Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball 2 trailer has finished downloading. Secondly, the ability to download multiple items at one time may lead to temptation to download some of the less appealing trailers and demos. You're going to want to fight that urge--they put that Aeon Flux trailer at the bottom of the list for a reason.

The music and movie playback on the 360 is a little more seamless with this latest upgrade. Your tunes will now play without interruption when you boot up a game or enter most menus, and the choice to play sequential or random tracks from your hard drive, PC, or connected device will stay saved to the system. It's a small tweak, sure, but if you're like me, you were probably starting to get sick and tired of hearing that first song on your playlist every time you restart the system. The 360's DVD player received a new onscreen time display--now with time remaining!!--along with the ability to continue playback from the point at which you left when exiting to the dashboard or starting up a game. One can't help but think some of these additions may be integrated into the system's upcoming HD-DVD adapter. Downloaded movie and game trailers can now be fast forwarded and rewound in the same manner as a DVD, but there were some serious syncing issues when attempting to resume normal play. Thankfully, the addition was pretty superfluous, as most downloadable movie clips fall in the two- to three-minute range. As long as Microsoft tightens hard drive playback before the company starts pimping downloadable episodes of Viva Piñata, everything should be all right.

There were a few more noteworthy tweaks made--the option of booting the system's Dashboard on start-up instead of the inserted disc is a godsend, as lazy gamers such as myself will now escape punishment for leaving that copy of Rumble Roses XX in the tray when younger relatives stop by to play Zuma. Speaking of lazy gamers, the 360 will now change your status to Away if the system is left idle long enough to enable the screensaver. Your online friends will now be able to tell when you're ignoring them and when you're simply too much of a sloth to press the off button. Some future-ready enhancements were made, too. An Xbox Live camera setup option was added, as was the ability to attach a photo to any instant message. Yeah, that's gonna get real inappropriate real fast.

For the complete list of additions, including the enthralling Korean virtual keyboard enhancements, check out the official list from Microsoft.

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• See product information for Microsoft Xbox 360
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June 07, 2006, 4:38 PM PDT
Nokia 6305i arrives
Posted by: Kent German

We just got our hands on the Nokia 6305i, a hot new Verizon Wireless handset. It's an exciting find--by a couple of accounts, at least. Not only is it the first Nokia slider phone we've seen, but it's one of the first mobiles from the company to support EV-DO networks. In all, it's a very attractive but somewhat un-Nokia phone; it looks more like something LG would put out. Although Verizon has yet to announce the phone, we'll have a review in the next couple of days.

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June 07, 2006, 4:33 PM PDT
2007 Toyota Yaris
Posted by: Wayne Cunningham

Toyota's new small-car entrant to the U.S. market, the Yaris, showed up at CNET's doorstep, so I took it for a drive over the wild and woolly streets of San Francisco. I'd recently watched a soccer match on an episode of Top Gear, which was played with the Toyota Aygos, a car very similar to the Yaris, and felt compelled to thrash the car around. In an industrial area down 3rd Street, in the colorfully named neighborhood of Dogpatch, there were plenty of desolate and destroyed roads to test out the Yaris's cornering and low gear response. And it was a lot of fun, more due to the car's very basic nature than to any exceptional performance notes.

The 1.5-liter, four-cylinder engine combined with the five-speed manual transmission in our hatchback test car could make the front-drive wheels chirp, but acceleration isn't impressive. This transmission is designed to move the car through a wide range of speeds and doesn't do much for low-end torque. Second gear takes the car up to 30mph and comfortably holds it there, while third gear runs all the way up to 60mph without much problem. Fourth gear is content at about 55mph, and fifth gear just keeps the fuel consumption low at 80mph.

The small size of the car is conducive to throwing it around but also helps considerably in heavy city traffic, where the smallest gaps will still permit a lane change. I ran it on to the freeway and found it pretty capable. It's maneuverable and fast enough, although acceleration could still be a problem in emergencies. The Yaris's ride comfort is surprisingly good for such a small car--it doesn't exactly float over the bumps, but it dampens them reasonably. Toyota quality is evident throughout the car, from its materials to fit and finish. With the hatchback version, there are rear seats, but legroom is almost nonexistent. However, the rear seats easily fold down, creating quite a bit of cargo space. There's a sedan version if you have more than one friend.

The Yaris sits at the bottom of Toyota's U.S. car lineup, and electronics are minimal. Navigation and Bluetooth are not offered, but the upgraded stereo system, part of the $1,290 Power Package, isn't half bad. It comes with an auxiliary input and a CD player that reads MP3s and WMAs. There are only four speakers, but the quality of the audio is OK at moderate volume levels. Turn it up, and the separation disappears, while distortion enters the picture. I found the control layout decent, with easy folder navigation and ID3-tagging information in the single-line display. A text button cycles through the tags on any particular track, displaying song title, artist, and album.

The Yaris's safety equipment is pretty minimal. It does have front air bags and side-impact door beams, but that's about the extent of it. After one skid made clear the lack of antilock brakes, I figured the traction control was also out of the question. At a base price of $10,950, you wouldn't expect traction control, but when you find yourself spinning off the road on some rainy night, you might think an upgrade to a Scion would have been wise.

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• See product information for 2007 Toyota Yaris 2dr Hatchback (1.5L 4cyl 5M)
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June 07, 2006, 2:41 PM PDT
Nvidia unveils PureVideo HD
Posted by: Dan Ackerman

Video card giant Nvidia has been calling its collection of hardware and software solutions for video image quality PureVideo for a while now. So when the company added support for HD-DVD and Blu-ray content, it made sense to call the resulting product PureVideo HD.

Announced this afternoon, PureVideo HD is platform agnostic, supporting both HD-DVD and Blu-ray, and tackles some of the thornier issues involved with the new technologies, from content protection to lack of CPU headroom for decoding hi-def discs.

According to a briefing Nvidia held today, future GeForce 7000-series cards (and currently, the GeForce 7950 GX2 and the GeForce 7600 GT) will be able to play Blu-ray and HD-DVD content at full resolution, thanks to onboard HDCP support and built-in hardware acceleration (even the fastest CPUs can't handle 1080p content streaming from an optical drive at 30fps). We've got one of those 7600 GT boards in our brand-new Blu-ray Sony VAIO RC310G.

PureVideo HD-compatible versions of playback programs such as PowerDVD and InterVideo's WinDVD are expected soon, creating a secure data chain, from the next-gen drive to the video card to the playback software.

Nvidia plans to get FAQs up about PureVideo HD in the coming days. Some preliminary info is available here and here.

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June 07, 2006, 2:37 PM PDT
MLB says Slingbox steals our national pastime
Posted by: Molly Wood

Major League Baseball, second only to the NFL in its success at greedily limiting distribution of its product; charging giant sums of money for any and all rebroadcasting; and aggravating fans nationwide with seemingly arbitrary, money-motivated TV blackouts, is now making noises about how it thinks Slingbox is helping users steal baseball. George Kliavkoff, executive vice president of business for MLB Advanced Media, got into a tiff with Rich Buchanan, Sling Media's vice president of marketing, insisting that a cable subscriber who uses Slingbox to watch a Giants game while on the road to Chicago would actually be taking money from the mouths of Chicago cable affiliates (who probably aren't going to air it anyway). Did you follow that? No? Well, let me break it down for you. It's asinine, and you should just watch Segway polo on CNET.

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June 07, 2006, 1:41 PM PDT
Etsy: craft shopping goes Web 2.0
Posted by: Rafe Needleman

The Web is full of great online shops. eBay is the garage sale of the universe. Amazon is a giant department store. And there are tons of focused shopping sites selling everything from underwear to auto parts. But for the most part, they're all old-school.

If you want a more contemporary shopping experience, try Etsy, a marketplace for handmade goods. Like many of the items that Etsy artists sell on the site, Etsy itself has been crafted with care, love, and a whacked-out aesthetic. Heavily Flash-based, it has unique and fun views into the goods available. For example, there's a "shop by color" function that does just what you'd think (although not all that accurately). The cool thing is that the thumbnail images it displays can be dragged around the screen, which helps you compare items, or even thrown off the screen entirely. There's a similar Flash-based shop-by-location feature, a random item view, and also a hypnotic shop-by-time-added function.

The site pushes the current state of the art in commerce and interactivity. Soon to come on Etsy are social shopping features that will let you browse online in real time with your friends--you'll be able to see their cursors on your screen alongside yours. Useful? I don't know. But if the feature is as well crafted as the other lenses into the Etsy store, it will be a lot of fun.

I like founder Robert Kalin's philosophy: "We're throwing things out there that aren't 100 percent useful, but they get people to use the site." It's like good recreational shopping in the physical world--an experience that's about more than just finding and spending.

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June 07, 2006, 10:24 AM PDT
Which MP3 player or PVP has the best picture quality?
Posted by: James Kim

As MP3 players have morphed into portable media gadgets with photo and video support (see the latest iPod and the Creative Zen Vision:M), our definition of performance has changed as well. Instead of focusing on audio quality and, to a lesser degree, battery life, we now need to consider the quality of the displays.

Of course, these displays usually don't get any bigger than 4-inches diagonal (some are even as small as 1 inch), so we take image quality with a grain of salt. Still, some devices have better displays than others, and there are ways to experiment with them, just as we test televisions and computer monitors.

CNET is proud to present such a test in our latest feature, entitled "MP3 and portable video player picture-quality shoot-out," written by Dr. Ray Soneira, president of DisplayMate Technologies. Dr. Soneira utilizes the widely adopted DisplayMate video diagnostics software to test the image and video quality of six popular MP3 players and PVPs. In addition to the testing methodology and surprising results, the feature includes tips on how to optimize your display, as well as test images and links to software that will let you try out your own device.

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