CES 2006: Sharp Dual-View Display

January 25, 2006 in Tech/Gadgets

Sharp has given me a head-scratcher with a new technology they showed off at CES this year called the dual-view display.  Basically, it’s a flat-panel display that shows two different images depending on your viewpoint.  It works similarly to those little plastic cartoon "action" cards you used to find in boxes of Cracker Jacks.  While it’s a interesting concept, actual usability in the real-world remains a question.  Sharp seems to think that there may be a use on airplanes seatbacks and in airports.  The idea in the airport is that from one angle you would see arrivals and the other angle you would see departures.

My guess is that we will not see this technology used for either of these purposes.  Instead, I think there is a much more reasonable market in the world of marketing and advertising.  For instance, if you’re standing in the Gap in the jeans section, maybe there would be a visible ad for a sale on jeans.  On the same screen, from the other side of the store, you would see an image of someone wearing the new, regular-priced, line of sweaters.  In other words, I can see a use for subtle communication in marketing, but I think the average person would be pretty confused about these screens displaying important information in an airport setting.  I also imagine that with the dropping prices of flat-panels, we may never see this technology in the real world.  Thanks anyway Sharp!  Image credit: Gizmodo

CES 2006: Sony Reader

January 17, 2006 in Tech/Gadgets

The Sony Reader is a product that I have been awaiting for years.  Similar units have been available for a while in Japan.  The Reader is about the size and weight of a medium-sized paperback book.  It unit can hold approximately 80 "novel-sized" eBooks as well as Adobe PDF documents an even JPEG images and displays them on a crystal clear "e-ink" display which is supposedly incredible to look at.  The goal is to make the display as legible and readable as a regular piece of paper.  Amazingly, the Sony Reader only uses battery power when a page is "turned."  Sony estimates that one full charge will turn about 7,500 pages.  In the meantime, the "e-ink" just sits there waiting to be read.  No idea on release date, but definitely this year.  It will probably be priced somewhere between $300 and $400.

I think there is a huge market for portable document readers like the Sony Reader.  Forget about throwing in an operating system, a mouse and keyboard, color display, sound, handwriting recognition, and all the other crap we try to fit into notebook computers these days.  What we really need is a digital way to duplicate simple white paper with simple black typeface and images.  This Sony Reader is phase one.  It is the device which will usher in the true age of eBooks, a concept we have only flirted with until now.

To be honest, I’m more excited about the ushering in of the eBook era than this actual product.  In the same way that the mp3 battle is being fought in the digital music realm, the fight for eBooks is now upon us.  Will Sony reign or will Apple, with it’s proven success in the downloadable media market and expertise in software like iTunes, eventually take over.  Can you imagine the styling and functionality of an Apple-designed eBook reader?  I can’t wait for this battle.  [via]

CES 2006

January 17, 2006 in Tech/Gadgets

The Consumer Electronics Show has been over for more than a week now, but it’s taken me a long time to pour over the thousands of blog posts and news articles documenting the hundreds upon hundreds of new products on display this year.  Rather than inundate everyone with a laundry list of items that you can easily find on amazing blogs like Engadget and Gizmodo and tech magazine sites like CNet, I am going the minimalist route.  In the next three posts, I will present the three products from this year’s CES that I feel will have the most impact in the consumer electronics industry over the next few years.

Blow Me

January 14, 2006 in Gaming

I love this shirt.  Who can forget the days of hyperventilating on your favorite Nintendo game to get the dust out for one more game?  Buy it here.  [via]

Alive and Well

January 14, 2006 in Site News

Just in case anybody was wondering, I’m alive and well.  It was an exceptionally busy retail season for me at work in December.  I’ve spent the first couple weeks of January recovering and absorbing all that went on at the CES and Macworld conferences.  More to come soon.  Stay tuned.

So much for being the Microsoft CEO!

December 7, 2005 in Gaming

For all you people out there going crazy trying to get your hands on an Xbox 360, I thought you’d enjoy knowing that Steve Ballmer’s kids haven’t even gotten theirs yet.  [via]

XBox 360 without HD?

December 1, 2005 in Gaming

As bullish as I have been about the new XBox 360, I’ve been telling myself to wait a while to purchase one.  Aside from the isolated complaints about units overheating and the obvious fact that down the road they will become less expensive, my main gripe has been that I do not yet own a high-definition TV.  It seems to me that the most obvious way to see an improvement in performance from the original XBox to the XBox 360 would be to utilize the high-definition output of 720p that the new machine provides.  Would it be worth it to simply hook it up to a standard television?  This article does a good job comparing images from both machines of the same game titles at a resolution of 480p.  It should fairly closely resemble the image you would see on a standard television.

To my surprise, several of the XBox 360 versions look considerably better.  The difference is mainly noticeable in texture detail.  The difference on titles like "King Kong" and "Gun" is pretty astounding.  As far as sports games go, EA Sports’ titles also display significant improvement.  So maybe I will end up getting one before I get my hands on an HDTV.  Now the problem becomes finding one.  [via]

Get Rich or Die Shrayen!

November 30, 2005 in Music, Random Notes

Either you think this is the greatest Bat Mitzvah party ever…or you think that this Jewish American Princess and her dad are busy creating a whole new level of stereotype for us Jews to overcome.  These Long Islanders are out of their minds…and we all know that the question of someone trying to top this isn’t a matter of if, but when.

As much as I love to hate on this crap though, I’m sure those guests had an experience they’ll never forget…until the Cohens from down the street hire U2 and Bruce Springsteen for little Rachel’s big day.  I just think it sucks that they may not remember Elizabeth as much as they remember Steven Tyler’s big mouth.  Just for the record, if anybody wants to throw me a second Bar Mitzvah party, I want live performances by Pharrell, Jack Johnson, and Green Day.  By the way, I looked up the meaning of "Shrayen" in the Yiddish Dictionary Online so you wouldn’t have to.  It means "shout, cry out, or yell."  …I didn’t come up with the title though…credit for the title and photo goes to tabloidbaby.  Thanks.  [via]

My First Mac Post

November 20, 2005 in Random Notes, Tech/Gadgets

This is my first blogpost using a Macintosh computer.  I must say, the main reason I haven’t posted in the past several days is because I’ve been having so much fun getting to know this beautiful machine.  Unfortunately, it’s not mine.  It’s my mom’s new computer.  I am house-sitting for her for a week and I happened to time it with her purchase of a brand-spanking new iMac G5 17" system.  (wink wink)  The photo was taken with Photo Booth, a new fun application that comes with all iMacs to take advantage of the built-in iSight camera.

I have definitely enjoyed the challenge of learning Mac OS X.  It is not intuitive at all, however, after using Windows for the past decade.  Still, as most of my readers know, I pick up this stuff pretty quickly and I haven’t had any trouble getting it to do what I’ve asked.  I think the main problem that I have is that certain functions seem almost too simple to be true.  I inherently keep doubting that I’m doing things correctly because there are so few steps involved.

So far only one thing has crashed on me.  I was running Firefox and it locked up and closed a couple days ago.  This is acceptable since the Firefox browser is always a bit of a "work-in-progress" anyway.  Otherwise, this Mac has done everything flawlessly.  As I write, I’m transitioning from the odd first few days into becoming a true user and a fan.  I would be very surprised if my next computer, which I plan on getting within the next 6 to 8 months, is not a Mac.

Original iPod Reactions

November 9, 2005 in Tech/Gadgets

I got a chuckle going back in time and skimming over this message board on Macrumors.com from over 4 years ago after the announcement of the original iPod.  Quite a few people thought it was too expensive and that it wouldn’t sell, but a few bright people realized even then that it was a totally revolutionary product.  [via]