Sep
04
Holler if you’re glad to see the Crave vodcast back in action. We’ll have more Crave goodness for you coming next week.
The Crave video podcast is back! This week we learn about Transformer phones, Brian Tong’s creepy dating habits, and Jessica Dolcourt’s skill at the mobile version of Guitar Hero.
Aug
31
But Palm’s new CEO, a former executive at Apple’s
iPhone music player division who replaced former CEO Ed Colligan earlier this month, thinks the company is on the right track with the Pre.
Rubinstein said he was confident that the company would meet demand for the new device.
Palm has been banking on the Pre to help it revive its ailing smartphone business. But the company faces stiff competition from others, such as iPhone maker Apple and BlackBerry maker Research In Motion.
CEO Jon Rubinstein said Thursday during the company’s earnings conference call that sales of the
Palm Pre, which hit the market on June 6, have been “strong and growing.”
(Credit:
Sprint Nextel)
One thing that might hold back adoption of the Palm Pre is the fact that only a handful of applications are yet available for the phone. But Palm executives said on the call that they are working to get more apps out to users. That said, the market research firm Medialets reports that Pre users have already downloaded over a million applications so far.
Palm announced big losses for its fiscal fourth quarter, the last quarter before its hot new smartphone hit the market, but executives see the Pre as the key to its turnaround.
Palm Pre
While it’s unlikely the Pre will catch up to Apple’s iPhone anytime soon, analysts are predicting a heavy volume of sales. Some say that the company could sell about 100,000 handsets in July and 200,000 in August.
“The launch of Palm WebOS and Palm Pre was a major milestone in Palm’s transformation; we have now officially reentered the race,” Rubinstein said in a statement. “We have more to accomplish, but the groundwork is laid for a very promising future here at Palm.”
That’s the good news for Palm, which on Thursday reported a dismal fiscal fourth quarter, which ended May 30. For the quarter, Palm reported a loss of $91.5 million, or 78 cents a share, compared with a year-earlier loss of $41.1 million, or 40 cents a share. Revenue fell 71 percent to $86.8 million.
He didn’t give exact sales figures for the device, which has a touch screen and uses a new operating system call WebOS, but he added that he “couldn’t be happier with our launch.” Analysts estimated that between 50,000 and 100,000 Pres were sold in the first few days that the device was available. The phone is exclusively available on Sprint Nextel’s network.
Aug
30
Whenever you type an address into an Internet browser, that address is instantly resolved into the site’s numerical Internet address by a DNS server located somewhere in the world. On Tuesday, Symantec announced that online criminals have started to remotely redirect your home network router’s DNS server so that whenever you type in a financial institution or other trusted site, your browser will instead be redirected to a bogus or phishing Web site.
If choosing a router password intimidates you, Ramzan also points out that if you ever do forget your new password, you can always do a hard reset on the box in the future (something a remote hacker can’t do) and choose a new password later.
Last year, researchers at Symantec and the University of Indiana reported that remotely changing a home router’s DNS server was theoretically possible. The theoretical attack used Javascript on a specially crafted Web page, and affected only wireless routers. The attack in use today uses e-mail, and it can affect non-wireless routers as well.
The best way to prevent becoming a victim is to change your network router’s default password. Default router passwords are not a secret and are available on the Internet, so if you haven’t ever changed your network router’s password, now is a good time. Syamntec’s Ramzan further recommends performing a hard reset of your router first, just in case you are already compromised.
The practice, called pharming, usually attacks the DNS servers directly, but this latest attack brings it all home (if you are using broadband connectivity). Fortunately, the routers and institutions affected by this current attack are limited to one country, Mexico, but Symantec warns that word of this real-world attack could bring similar attacks elsewhere.
According to a blog by Zulfikar Ramzan, a researcher at Symantec, “the attackers embedded the malicious code inside an e-mail that claimed it had an e-card waiting for you at the Web site gusanito.com. Unfortunately the e-mail also contained an HTML IMG tag that resulted in an HTTP GET request being made to a router (the make of which is a popular router model in Mexico). The GET request modified the router’s DNS settings so that the URL for a popular Mexico-based banking site (as well as other related domains) would be mapped to an attacker’s Web site.”
Aug
30
For example, “taste blasters,” or people who showcase their musical taste through their ringtones, ranked above individuals who talk on the phone in restaurants (aka “chow chatters”). In my opinion, the latter is a far bigger breach of basic etiquette. Also, the study cited “spinal tappers,” or people who use a loud speakerphone, as more annoying as those insufferable fools who block a checkout or takeaway line while yakking on their phone. Again, I’d choose the latter as the more obnoxious.
The most amusing practice came in at no. 10 on the list. It was “can conversationalists,” or talkers who insist on having that all-important conversation in a public restroom. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, that’s just gross. The two practices that I didn’t expect to be on the list were “walk ‘n scrollers,” or people who scroll through their contacts list while walking through a public place, and “free samplers,” or users who test each of their phone’s ringtones with the volume turned up high (I admit I’ve been guilty of both). When I think about it, those do sound pretty annoying but I’d be more inclined to put driving with a cell phone, using a cell phone in a theater or at the gym, and obsessive Bluetooth users on the list.
SpinVox does offer suggestions for remedying each of the behaviors, but I’ve become more resigned to believe that annoying cell phone habits will never disappear completely. Still, I’d love to hear your comments on which cell phone practices you think are the worst.
SpinVox, a London-based company that offers voice mail-to-text conversion technology, doesn’t hide the fact that cell phones can be downright irritating at times. Today the company released the results of a poll of the most annoying cell phone practices as chosen by SpinVox users. Though most of the results aren’t particularly surprising–loud talkers topped the list–a few of the practices I never would have thought of as annoying.
Aug
26
DoReMi Fantasy: Milon’s DokiDoki Adventure (1996, Super Nintendo, 900
Wii points): DoReMi Fantasy is the platforming sequel to Milon’s Secret Castle. Rescue your kidnapped friend with a bubble shooter gun as your only weapon–good luck with that.
Puyo Puyo 2: Tsuu (1994, Sega Genesis, 900 Wii points): Puyo Puyo 2: Tsuu is a head-to-head puzzle game where you must form same colored puyos in a chain or shape. Also an import from Japan, this title will cost an extra 100 Wii points.
I’m not going to lie, I’ve never heard of either of these two import games that just got released on the Virtual Console. If I haven’t heard of them, odds are you haven’t either–but here they are, ready for your downloading pleasure.
Aug
26
This comes in the wake of a report that Dell will phase out its XPS game PC line in favor of Alienware systems.
It will also sport an Asus high-end motherboard based on the AMD 790FX chipset, Diana said.
Overall, Alienware is seeing respectable demand for AMD-based systems. “AMD is a good entry point,” according to Diana.
Alienware is already offering a relatively high-end system for less than $3,000 with a quad-core Phenom X4 9850 (2.5GHz) “Black Edition” (Black Edition indicates that the processor can be overclocked) and two ATI Radeon HD 3870 X2 graphics boards (each with two 3870 graphics chips).
Dell’s Alienware unit is slated to put AMD-ATI front and center. The Dell subsidiary will bring out a relatively low-cost game PC with dual ATI graphics chips within the next two weeks.
“It’s not your granddaddy’s AMD system. We’re talking top-of-the-line quad core,” he said.
The $1,699 system–cheap by game PC standards–will come with 4GB (DDR2 800MHz) memory, a quad-core 9550 (2.2GHz) Phenom X4 processor, and a 3870 X2 board with two ATI HD 3870 graphics chips, said Marc Diana, Alienware product marketing manager for desktops. The system will ship within 48 hours, he said.
(Credit:
Alienware)
Alienware will ship a system with 4GB of memory, two ATI graphics chips, and a quad-core AMD processor for less than $1,700, dirt cheap in the gaming PC world.
And in the laptop gaming space, Intel-Nvidia rules too. Currently, Alienware offers no AMD-based gaming laptops, though this may change in the future when AMD brings out its Puma mobile platform later this quarter.
Systems configured with a quad-core processor and dual graphics chips are typically well over $2,000.
Diana concedes that AMD will not take the performance crown–this goes to Intel. And in graphics, Nvidia typically performs better in games than ATI, he said. “(Nvidia is) able to refine their drivers more for the most popular games,” he said.
Alienware recently began selling a gaming laptop, the Area-51 m17x, with two Nvidia GeForce 8800M GTX graphics chips and the Intel Core 2 Extreme processor, starting at about $3,200.
This not the sentiment at all game PC makers, however. Falcon Northwest is seeing virtually no demand for AMD-based systems, according to a spokesperson at that company. Falcon Northwest sells Intel-based systems almost exclusively. The company attributes this to the fact that customers are spending big bucks for its systems and that they will invariably opt for higher-performing Intel chips.
Aug
24
“It is…a defendant’s responsibility to respond to discovery, obey court orders, and avoid dilatory tactics,” the court wrote in its order. “Taking all of the above factors into account, a default is appropriate. The court finds that Wallace’s noncompliance is due to willfulness, fault, or bad faith…Wallace has had every opportunity to avoid the sanction of default. (He) has never provided any explanation for his behavior to the court.”
If he did, he was wrong. MySpace has won a legal judgment against Wallace after he failed numerous times to turn over documents or even to show up for court, according to records obtained by CNET News.com.
Each time, MySpace waited and each time Wallace failed to comply. Early on, Wallace informed MySpace he was having a hard time finding legal counsel. Soon after, he said he couldn’t comply because he was unaware of his court dates; he wasn’t accepting mail or signing for packages and that’s why he missed receiving notifications.
By now, Wallace should know his way around a courtroom.
He has been sued by the Federal Trade Commission and companies such as AOL and Concentric Network Corp. In May 2006, Wallace and his company Smartbot.net were ordered by a federal court to turn over $4,089,500.
In March of last year, MySpace filed suit against Wallace alleging he launched a phishing scam to fraudulently access MySpace profiles. Wallace was also accused of spamming thousands of MySpace users with unwanted advertisements and luring them to his Web sites.
The court did not accept his reasons as a valid excuse, but continued to give him chances to comply. Nothing worked. After Wallace continuously failed to appear or respond to filing deadlines, the court issued a default judgment against Wallace.
To say Wallace, who could not be reached for comment, failed to mount a vigorous defense would be an understatement.
CNET News.com’s Declan McCullagh contributed to this report.
According to records filed on April 15 with U.S. District Court in the Central District of California, Wallace was ordered numerous times to turn over documents requested by MySpace and provide a deposition. A MySpace representative did not respond to an interview request.
Sanford Wallace, the so-called spam king, has often been accused of sending annoying messages that are typically ignored by the recipient. Perhaps he considered a series of court orders as something he could blow off.
Aug
22
“Sorry! Due to the overwhelming popularity of the new T-Mobile G1, upgrades are temporarily unavailable. Please try again later,” the T-Mobile pre-order page told people who tried to sign up for the phone on Saturday, according to the Android Guys blog.
The G1 phone, built by HTC, was announced Tuesday and goes on sale October 22. The price is $179.99 for those who sign up for a two-year contract with T-Moble.
T-Mobile G1, the first phone powered by Google’s Android software
It looks like T-Mobile customers trying to get one of the initial models of the first phones powered by Google’s Android operating system will have to wait a bit longer.
(Credit:
T-Mobile)
Aug
22
Dell’s Alienware unit is slated to put AMD-ATI front and center. The Dell subsidiary will bring out a relatively low-cost game PC with dual ATI graphics chips within the next two weeks.
Alienware is already offering a relatively high-end system for less than $3,000 with a quad-core Phenom X4 9850 (2.5GHz) “Black Edition” (Black Edition indicates that the processor can be overclocked) and two ATI Radeon HD 3870 X2 graphics boards (each with two 3870 graphics chips).
This comes in the wake of a report that Dell will phase out its XPS game PC line in favor of Alienware systems.
Systems configured with a quad-core processor and dual graphics chips are typically well over $2,000.
(Credit:
Alienware)
And in the laptop gaming space, Intel-Nvidia rules too. Currently, Alienware offers no AMD-based gaming laptops, though this may change in the future when AMD brings out its Puma mobile platform later this quarter.
Diana concedes that AMD will not take the performance crown–this goes to Intel. And in graphics, Nvidia typically performs better in games than ATI, he said. “(Nvidia is) able to refine their drivers more for the most popular games,” he said.
This not the sentiment at all game PC makers, however. Falcon Northwest is seeing virtually no demand for AMD-based systems, according to a spokesperson at that company. Falcon Northwest sells Intel-based systems almost exclusively. The company attributes this to the fact that customers are spending big bucks for its systems and that they will invariably opt for higher-performing Intel chips.
Alienware recently began selling a gaming laptop, the Area-51 m17x, with two Nvidia GeForce 8800M GTX graphics chips and the Intel Core 2 Extreme processor, starting at about $3,200.
“It’s not your granddaddy’s AMD system. We’re talking top-of-the-line quad core,” he said.
The $1,699 system–cheap by game PC standards–will come with 4GB (DDR2 800MHz) memory, a quad-core 9550 (2.2GHz) Phenom X4 processor, and a 3870 X2 board with two ATI HD 3870 graphics chips, said Marc Diana, Alienware product marketing manager for desktops. The system will ship within 48 hours, he said.
Overall, Alienware is seeing respectable demand for AMD-based systems. “AMD is a good entry point,” according to Diana.
It will also sport an Asus high-end motherboard based on the AMD 790FX chipset, Diana said.
Alienware will ship a system with 4GB of memory, two ATI graphics chips, and a quad-core AMD processor for less than $1,700, dirt cheap in the gaming PC world.
Aug
22
(Credit:
CNET Networks/Corinne Schulze)
(Credit:
Creative)
MP3 Mailbox Monday is a recurring feature where I answer a selection of questions about MP3 players and accessories, such as headphones, speakers, and music services and software. Check back often to see if the advice presented here might be of some use to you, or send your questions directly to me. (Note: We never include last names, but if you prefer to remain completely anonymous, please state as much in your e-mail.)
Q: I just saw this device while wandering around the Creative Web site, the Creative Zen X-Fi, and I’m absolutely just drooling right now! What can you tell me about it’s release date, and when can we expect a review on it?–John, via e-mail
Q: Can you tell me the best way to recycle used headphones? Are there hazardous or difficult materials (e.g. magnets, rubber coating on the wires or at the plug) that one needs to be aware of?–John, via e-mail
(Credit:
Creative)
A: That’s an excellent question. While I’m not sure exactly what the hazardous waste quotient is with headphones, it’s best to recycle them just like any other electronics. The EPA has a Web site with some good resources on how to recycle electronics based on your location.
It’s always tough to come back from vacation, especially on a Monday, which is already a day of dread in its own right. So much to catch up on. So. Much. E-MAIL. But, on this Monday, there is a bright spot, which is that I received plenty of compelling questions and comments for this column during my absence, and I appreciate every one of them. This week, I’ve decided to focus on a couple of relatively simple items because (a) my brain is still out of the office and (b) I think the simplest tidbits can be the most useful at times. So, here you have it: how to recycle your old gadgets; and what’s the deal with the new Creative Zen players?
A: Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to get my hands on a review sample of the X-Fi yet–despite my various efforts, which have included, but are not limited to, begging, pleading, nagging, and veiled hostility. I do know that the player is–or at least was, as of this posting–available and in stock on Creative’s U.S. Web site, which means the release date has come and gone. I’m happy to report that we were finally able to secure a meeting with Creative this week and should receive an X-Fi, as well as the new Zen Mozaic. Check back later this week for the reviews. In the meantime, whet your appetite with the specs laid out below.