Month: May 2003

C|Net has got a first look at the Samsung SPH-N270 “Matrix Phone, just like the one in the movie (that is, it LOOKS like the phone in the movie). The tri-band phone for Sprint PCS has a hidden 65,000 color screen behind a pop-up earpiece, plus polyphonic ringtones and “voice tones” (including one by Morpheus) and a bunch of other little software nuggets. Nothing revolutionary though, and no IR, no Bluetooth, and no GPRS. In other words, if you want to spend $500 to contribute to overhyping a movie, go right ahead, but you’ll wish you got a t68i.

HP has announced a new laptop on the way — the X1000, which sports a 15.4″ widescreen TFT, Centrino chipset, 40-80 gig HD, WiFi and Bluetooth, SD card slot, firewire and USB 2.0, optional DVD-RW and 5 hour battery life all packaged in a 6.5lb 1.3″ thick machine. Available in the next couple weeks, with prices starting at just $1200 and going up to $2300. Thanks to gizmodo for the link.

CNet has a review of a new wireless connector that lets you send audio from your PC to your home stereo up to 100 feet away. The RCA Lyra Wireless RD900W is set with a transmitter that plugs into your PC via USB and a receiver that plugs via mini-plug (adapter available) to your home stereo, plus a remote control, all operating over 900MHz freq. Cost is just $100. What’s the catch? Well, they’re really limited – – there’s no display, so if you’re in another room, you’re using the remote blind. And why would you need it in the same room as your PC anyway? It’s really nothing that you couldn’t do with a simple FM transmitter. If you ask me, the current crop of DARs is pretty useless. Buy an X-Box with the new audio-networking feature ($40) or hack it yourself instead and you’ll have a lot more fun.

Update: Sorry — vague references to the x-box probably deserved more of a link; Microsoft has announced the impending release of new software for the PC and X-Box that will allow users to transfer music and pictures from PC to X-Box, allowing music playback through home theater, picture slideshows, and what we’ve all been waiting for — KARAOKE! While the X-Box has just an 8 gig hard-drive, it’s still capable of holding thousands of songs in MP3 or WMA format, and some clever hackers have managed to upgrade it. The announcement was made at E3 (a major video game convention) but the release of the software will not happen until September/October, by which time my prediction is that a new version of the X-Box will also be available, perhaps with a larger harddrive. For the full scoop, check C|Net.

TiVo, the company behind the slow-moving PVR revolution, has debuted a new service that doesn’t require monthly fees. The company’s hoping that without the fees, more people will be inclined to buy PVRs and will decide later to upgrade. The service, officially known as TiVo Basic, allows pausing of TV shows and VCR-like scheduling of programs from the 3-day program guide, but doesn’t do the much touted “favorites” function like the full TiVo service.

TiVo Basic already has some manufacturers supporting the idea — PVR and combo DVD/PVR units are in the works from Toshiba and Sony, with more likely to follow. This is good news for consumers, but bad news for TiVo, in my opinion. Massive video storage and being able to pause TV, as well as being able to burn via computer or other device, are the services that most appeal to consumers. Until now, almost all these functions were tied to a monthly fee, but with that gone most users will get what they need for free and will have little incentive to upgrade.