September 12, 2006, 11:57 PM PDT
Hands-on with the Moto Rizr and Krzr
Posted by: Kent German

We spent some time with the new Motorola Krzr and Rizr models. As this is the first time we've seen the phones in person, we were eager to get a closer look. Styled in a very appealing blue, the Krzr is far sharper than the Razr, and we like the narrower form factor. (From what we hear, female users thought the Razr was too wide.) The glass front is interesting, though it attracts more fingerprints than a crime scene. Motorola promises the glass will stand up to cracking and scratches, and indeed the phone feels quite solid in the hand.

The Rizr is also quite attractive, and the slider form factor is a nice change for Motorola. The navigation array and keypad buttons have a bit of texture, which makes it easier to dial by feel than previous Razr and Slvr models. We have a feeling we'll see carrier announcements soon, so stay tuned.

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September 12, 2006, 11:52 PM PDT
LG VX3450 announced for Verizon Wireless
Posted by: Kent German

Verizon Wireless customers can now pick up the LG VX3450. A simple handset inside and out, the VX3450 is built for making calls, with a feature set limited to a full duplex speakerphone, a voice memo recorder, polyphonic ring tones, basic organizer applications, and text messaging. Despite its simplicity, however, the VX3450 is attractive. Specifically, I like the blue coloring and the curved shape. The phone is $29.99 or free with service.

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September 12, 2006, 11:45 PM PDT
Sanyo introduces MM-8400 for Sprint
Posted by: Kent German

Sprint today announced the Sanyo MM-8400. The latest in the company's 8000 series, the MM-8400 is styled similar to other Sanyos, with a large speaker grille on the front flap that sits above the external display. The phone is available in electric blue, powder white, and midnight black, but in a move toward personalization, users can customize the MM-8400 with changeable "facemasks" that snap directly onto the front flap of the phone. Different from changeable faceplates, the facemasks are not needed to complete the exterior of the phone but are simple add-on accessories. Each MM-8400 will come with one facemask, but more are available for purchase. And for even more personalization, the handset comes with the Sprint Themes interface.

Features are on the high-end side and range from EV-DO capability and support for Sprint Power Vision, full Bluetooth, a speakerphone, a digital music player, a Micro SD card slot, a digital music player, and a 1.3-megapixel camera. The MM-8400 is $279 or $99 with service rebates.

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September 12, 2006, 6:11 PM PDT
Samsung Nimbus for Alltel
Posted by: Nicole Lee

Amidst the cell phone excitement at CTIA in Los Angeles, Samsung slipped out a sleeper slider on Alltel. The U420, or the Nimbus, is the first Alltel phone to feature Axcess technology, which will let users surf the net, download XM radio content, ring tones, games, and more. As far as features go though, the offerings are pretty standard: a VGA camera with flash, Bluetooth, speakerphone, voice dialing, text and picture messaging, picture caller ID, and basic PIM functions. You can currently get not one but two of them for $49.99 for a 2-year plan.

Source: Alltel via Mobile Whack

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September 12, 2006, 2:12 PM PDT
Xdrive is back
Posted by: Rafe Needleman

AOL acquired online storage company Xdrive a little more than a year ago. Since then, the Xdrive service has suffered from some decay. I tried using it a few months ago and found the software buggy and the Web site too slow to use. In the space Xdrive left in the market, other online storage and backup companies sprouted--many offering for free what Xdrive once charged for.

But now Xdrive is back, with not only updated software (both for your PC and on the Xdrive site) but with a new pricing plan: free. You can get 5GB of Xdrive space for nothing. 50GB will cost you $100 a year. Either way, you get a virtual hard drive on your PC (extremely handy), access to files on your account from any Web-connected computer, and a backup application. You can also flag files for sharing, which makes Xdrive a competitor to file-transfer products such as AllPeers and YouSendIt.

The team at Download.com checked out the new Xdrive and gave it five stars. Xdrive has burned me in the past, but I've always liked the service's (theoretical) integration between the PC-based application and the online service. It looks like it's worth a try again.

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September 12, 2006, 2:06 PM PDT
Samsung SGH-T719 closer to launch on T-Mobile
Posted by: Bonnie Cha

The Samsung SGH-T719 has been listed on T-Mobile's Web site for some weeks now, with only the teaser of "Coming Soon." Well, we just met with the T-Mobile team, and it looks like the BlackBerry Connect-enabled phone could be available by the end of the month. They didn't have details on specific release dates or pricing, but we're encouraged by the news. Check out our original blog on the T719 for more information about the phone.

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September 12, 2006, 1:49 PM PDT
Apple previews iTV network digital media player
Posted by: John P. Falcone

In the first quarter of 2007, Apple is set to debut a digital media player that can stream movies, music, and photos from networked PCs and Macs. In an unusual move, Apple CEO Steve Jobs provided a detailed preview of the product at his "Showtime" press conference, which also saw the announcement of new iPods, iPod Nanos, and the launch of full-length movie availability on iTunes. Dubbed iTV, the Apple digital media device will retail for $299 when it hits stores next year.

While the "iTV" moniker is just a temporary code name, the product's features were laid out in fairly explicit detail. Like other network digital media boxes, the iTV will stream video, photos, and audio from networked PCs--and perhaps straight off the Internet--so they can be enjoyed on a big-screen living room TV and home audio system. Unlike all of the previous competitors, however, the iTV will start out with several huge advantages: it will offer seamless integration with movies, TV shows, and music purchased from Apple's iTunes Store. Additional media content on the PC--such as digital photos, video and audio podcasts, MP3 audio, and, presumably, downloaded video files--should be able to be streamed as well.

The box itself looks like a thinner version of the Mac Mini--from a distance, it could easily be mistaken for a Netgear or Belkin network router. It interfaces with home networks via built-in Ethernet and 802.11 wireless and has an impressive bevy of audio/video connections: HDMI and component-video outputs, as well as analog stereo and optical digital audio out. The dearth of S-Video and composite outputs imply that the iTV will be aimed squarely at HDTV sets, while the digital audio output will enable full surround sound when connected to an A/V receiver. Finally, a single rear-panel USB jack is present as well, and Jobs was mum as to how it would be employed--but iPod connectivity is definitely a fair bet.

The little white box may be slick, but it's what users will see on the screen that's really important. Based on the previews at Jobs's press conference, the iTV's onscreen display and navigation looks just as polished and intuitive as that of the iPod, albeit optimized for the larger real estate of a big-screen HDTV--and with plenty of animated eye candy thrown in. The onstage demo had Jobs easily jumping in and out of menus and listings for movies, podcasts, music, and photos, just as simply as one would with the iPod--think Front Row, but with a lot more options. What's more, all of the iTV's onscreen navigation is handled with the same ultrasimple six-button remote that ships with current Macs.

As always, it's tough to judge an unreleased product based simply on a demo--especially a demonstration run by Apple's eminently enthusiastic and persuasive head honcho. That said, the iTV is easily one of the most promising developments in the network-media category that we've seen to date. Competing products have been hobbled by a combination of a lousy interface (nonintuitive, hard to navigate, and/or just plain ugly onscreen menus), underwhelming feature set (HD streaming and HDMI output are still comparatively rare), and lack of content. And it's that last point that may very well be Apple's ace in the hole. The company's iTunes store has been the leading online retailer for music and TV shows, and it's a fair bet that movies will be a popular offering as well. When the question, "Is it compatible with all the songs (or TV shows or movies) I've purchased from iTunes?" is asked, every other network media device has to answer "no;" Apple's iTV will be the first to respond with an enthusiastic "yes."

We'll have more information on the Apple iTV as soon as it becomes available, and a full hands-on review once it's released in 2007.

UPDATE: For a more detailed examination of the iTV--including its long list of unanswered questions--check out our follow-up blog, iTV: Promise and peril.

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September 12, 2006, 1:39 PM PDT
AMD, meet the Dell Dimension. Dell Dimension, AMD
Posted by: Rich Brown

It's been what, 10 years since AMD's K5 desktop chip came onto the market? In all that time, Dell has turned up its nose at Intel's main rival in the consumer desktop game. Until today, that is. In addition to updating the Dimension E510 midtower to the Core 2 Duo-based Dimension E520, Dell also added Dimension E521 and Dimension C521 models to its mainstream consumer desktop family. The latter two are special because they come with AMD Sempron, Athlon 64, and dual-core Athlon 64 X2 processors in them.

The Dimension E521 is a standard midtower design (as is the E520); the C521 is a sort of small-form-factor wannabe that's a bit larger than Dell's XPS 210, also announced today. All three new systems come with Windows Media Center 2005 and a combination of optical drives, hard drives, and graphics cards that make them solid middle-of-the-road PCs. They all go on sale tomorrow, and prices for the Dimension E520 start at $719, the E521 starts at $329, and the C521 starts at $359.

Given the current state of the processor market, we're not surprised that Dell relegated AMD's chips to the budget end of the spectrum. The Dimension E520 and, as of today, the entire XPS line all have Intel Core 2 Duo chips in them (Pentium D is still an option if you must), giving them the performance edge. But AMD still has the advantage in performance and cost at the lower end of the CPU spectrum. If you're wondering why Dell finally decided to go with AMD after all this time, one theory we've heard is that Dell wasn't happy about Intel working with Apple, and thus crossed the AMD line. If that's true, we expect it's only part of the story. And regardless, the deal is done.

And if you're wondering what they look like, you can try Dell's online photo bank. We couldn't get the Dimension C521's link to work at the time of posting, but perhaps Dell will fix it soon.

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September 12, 2006, 1:21 PM PDT
Design Steve Jobs's next wardrobe
Posted by: Rafe Needleman

For today's Apple iPod and iTunes announcements, Steve Jobs wore, not his typical black turtleneck, but a button-down brown shirt. But listen, Steve, as long as you're bringing colors back to the Nano line, how about adding a bit more hue to your own wardrobe? Here's a tip: Use GeekCulture.com's Flash-based Steve Jobs Dress-up game. (It's an old link, but it deserves another look.)

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September 12, 2006, 12:46 PM PDT
Apple's iTunes 7 adds many new features, including movies
Posted by: James Kim

Three new iPods were announced this morning in San Francisco (get the first takes here), and at first glance, they look great from design, features, and price perspectives. But it's the latest version of iTunes that steals the show, or should I say, the movie? iTunes 7 introduces, among a laundry list of new features, movies from Disney, Miramax Films, Touchstone Pictures, and a handful of other Disney-related studios. While other major studios are missing (presumably because they aren't seeing eye to eye with Apple's pricing scheme), the overall value of both iTunes' movie section and iTunes itself has been upgraded.

First off, movies such as A Bug's Life and Good Will Hunting (over 75 at launch-- kind of measly) are available today at a resolution of 640x480, an appreciable increase from the original iTunes TV show offerings of 320x240. TV shows are available at this increased resolution, as well. This means that content downloaded will actually be watchable on a computer or a TV screen. The previous 320x240 made for either annoying small screen viewing or artifact-ridden full screens.

Now back to the iTunes application itself. The iTunes 7 interface been upgraded not only to represent movies in the new "iTunes Store," but new interface, management, and graphical features have been implemented as well to increase both utility and wow-factor. Among the upgrades:

A reorganized Source section
This is the main navigation area on the left-hand column where, in iTunes 6, content genres and playlists spilled down in a semiorganized fashion. Now it's organized into distinct sections, such as Library (Music, Movies, TV Shows, Podcasts, Audiobooks, Radio), Store (iTunes Store, Purchased), Devices (these will be your various iPods or other portable devices), Shared, and Playlists. It's feels scientific. Better organization, yes, but you'll still have to scroll down, as the headers add several lines to the list.

Automatic album art retrieval
Though we've already seen utilities that can do this, iTunes will now add album art from its catalog to tracks you've added to your collection without album art. In other words, your artless-MP3s will most likely have album art once they've gone through the iTunes ringer, and that will make your music collection feel complete. We'll let you know how well this feature works in our full review, but so far it seems it didn't do a good job on my MP3 collection.

New content-view options
This one is rad. In addition to the plain-vanilla listing of your tracks and movies, you get two additional views. First option: A simple list grouped with large album art; we've seen this before in Windows Media Player, so it's not original, but it's definitely an improvement. The second option, dubbed Cover Flow, displays a big window for a "virtual shelf" of album art or movie covers. You can scroll through and watch the graphics whiz by, or select one with a mouse. Down below, the content associated to the graphic appears. The realistic graphics give music an additional dimension. Very useful, very cool, and very Apple.

Device management
Now you can manage your iPod settings within the iTunes interface rather than opening up a new preference window to do the same. Also, you're now allowed to move songs off the iPod as long as the recipient computer is authorized to listen to or view the content. This stuff just rings of user-friendliness.

Download manager
This is a Source option that appears when you purchase content. Basically, it lists your selections along with a progress meter, and it's very useful if you want to reorder the queue to get the song or movie you want quicker.

Gapless playback
Yipeee! Many music fanatics (especially those who like dance music) now can enjoy their music without annoying gaps. I think this is a valuable feature that should be implemented more throughout the MP3 world. The new iPods boast the same feature, which, by the way, was found in the old Rio Karma and in the current Archos 04 series of PVPs.

General interface tweaks plus games
If you look in the iTunes Store, you'll notice that graphics, text, and organization of content is more refined. Also, you'll notice that the iTunes Store now sells games for $4.99--these are definitely better than the old stock games, and they work only on the iPod (not the Nano).

Now if there's an early complaint, we'd love to see movies available at higher than 640x480; these are after all, movies that we're buying for nearly the same price as a DVD. And of course, we'd like to see a better selection of movies, though we have a feeling that we'll see them soon. We'll have a full review of iTunes 7 soon. In the meantime, check out iTunes 7 for yourself by downloading the application for free.

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