TechToyz: The Intersection of Technology and Life

Blackrimglasses

I found a cool blog the other day. Ethan Kaplan has a blog called Blackrimglasses . Ethan is running a series of tech overviews of "his world" of technology. I though I was a geek with great toys. I'm an amateur compared to him. I'm learning from his overviews. Take a look:

Part 1: The Environment

• Part 2: The Applications

• Part 3: Communications

Wireless Web Access Device

I stopped by the Datawind booth at CES and studied the PocketSurfer . It's a wireless web access device that uses your bluetooth enabled phone and GPRS data services to surf the Net.

I almost bought one of these devices. I usually use a smartphone that has Internet access, but right now I am using an unlocked Razr. This would be a great way to get web access. It was light, easy to read and was amazingly fast. If I don't go back to a smartphone soon, I might have to order one of these.

Zap!

There were these funny looking electric cars running around at CES. They were pretty strange looking, but sort of got me interested in finding out more about them. They were from Zap! who makes several varieties of electric cars, scooters, bikes, etc.

Naked Conversations

Robert Scoble's new book has hit the streets. Naked Conversations is getting great reviews. My copy is on order. Take a look at it.....

Google Earth...On the Mac

Finally, Google Earth is available for the Mac platform. I downloaded it and did a test run. So far, it seems to work as well on my Powerbook as it does on my Dell laptop. Better late than never.

Bacon Brothers at CES

The Bacon Brothers, Kevin and Michael, were in the XM radio booth at CES. XM seemed to take a more low-key approach to entertainment this year. I think the crowds around their booth the last couple of years irritated the companies around them.

The Bacon Brothers did an acoustic set that was outstanding. They sounded great, answered some questions and signed autographs. I have a couple of their songs on my iPod that I bought from Apple's iTunes Store. When I get back, I'm going to grab their new CD. It sounds like it will be a very good CD.

Pepper Pad....Again?

Last year, I stopped by and looked at the Pepper Pad while at CES. Based on the info at the booth, I was pretty excited about it. It sure looked like a great "multi-function" device. The excitement turned to disappointed at the timeliness of availability and the cost.

I stopped by their booth again this year to see the Pepper Pad Plus. I really had a difficult time getting any definitive  info from the "Pepper Pad guy". The most I could pull from him was that it will "have 802.11g support and most of the other changes are fixes to bugs". He indicated the cost would be $899 again, but I could get the current version from Amazon for $749, plus a $50 rebate from them.

Hmm...Why would I buy the "buggy" version? Other sites are reporting other enhancements, but there are not any firm ideas as to availability.  This could be a very good product if it cost less and was actually available somewhere. I think a $399 price point would really make the Pepper Pad Plus fly off the shelves. For $899, I can have a decent Intel or Apple laptop now days.

On the flight back, I read an article in PCMagazine by Jim Louderback that was negative about the Pepper Pad. Now, Pepper Pad responds.

What Happens in Vegas.....

Naw. So my buddy from Wisconsin and I needed a bio break at CES on Thursday morning.  I wasn't sure I saw what I thought I saw. I checked with my buddy and yeah, we saw the same thing:

A guy was standing at the urinal with one hand you know where and the other held an Egg McMuffin from McDonald's. The guy was eating breakfast while taking a leak. That's just nasty....

Treo 700w from Palm

The Palm Treo 700w was announced on the first day of CES. I have a couple of the Treo 600's. Overall, I like them but they have a few quirks. The UI on the 600 is somewhat slow and it not very easy to navigate. The Treo 700w seems to have addressed most of my issues with the 600.

In your hand, it feels very solid. The Windows OS platform was very easy to navigate and was responsive. I have been looking at the HTC Wizard platform devices as my next phone toy. I might have to give the 700w a little more thought.

Right now, it is only available from Verizon. The cost is $399ish with all the normal contract issues. I don't think there will be a GSM 700 available for around 6 months.

Is it VHS vs. BetaMax Again?

Well, the High Definition DVD battle appears to still be going strong. HD DVD in one corner and Blu-Ray in the other corner. I watched HD DVD movie trailers in the Toshiba booth .

WOW. The quality was amazing. I love my HD TV and hate to watch SD content, but I rarely watch DVD's on it. HD DVD's might make me change my mind about watching movies. It really was an incredible picture.

Sony ( Yes, the evil DRM issue company) had the Blu-Ray on display. It also looked amazing. It looks like a number of companies will have their equipment on the street by March or April. Price points for the DVD's players seemed to be in the $400-$500 price range.