New year’s resolution: do more live coverage

Listeners of our show heard it first, but on the latest gdgt weekly we announced gdgt live, which is where we’ll be doing live coverage of the big press events. The page is up now if you want to get the schedule for next week’s Apple, Microsoft, and Palm keynotes!

As for the rest of gdgt’s launch, we’re still working long hours behind the scenes, but we mentioned on the show that we’ll be trying to get it out in Q1. I wish we could be more exact, but as we close in on things we’ll have a little better idea of when that’s going to be. Happy new year!

Apple’s new in-ear headphones: comparison, impressions, and FAQ

Turns out a lot of people seem to be pretty interested in Apple’s new in-ear headphones — myself included. It’s not too hard to understand why, either; despite the fact that Apple arguably has more of its headphones in more ears than anyone else these days, none of them are very good. I’ve never met a pair of Apple headphones I liked, let alone a pair that properly fit my ears. Apple headphones have been, largely, an engineering afterthought.

About four years ago they tried their hand at a pair of alien-looking in-ear buds that never really took off, but this time they’re back with a dual-driver design at an intriguingly low price-point. The brief run-down on these new $80 phones:

• Well, for starters, they’re the first pair of Apple headphones that have ever fit and stayed in my ears. So that’s a great start.
• Besides fitting well, I found them to be surprisingly comfortable; Apple headphones do not like my ears
• Despite not officially supporting the iPhone, the inline remote supports all functions (mic, call end, track play/pause/skip, etc.), except volume.
• My hearing is fairly degraded, but in my testing, they sounded really good — way out of their price range. Having two drivers makes a big difference.
• The two piece plastic case they come in is pretty bad and not very user friendly. I can’t imagine many people will make use of it.

Comparison and FAQ after the break. (A few pictures also posted to my Flickr stream.) More…

DEI Worldwide: the hypocritical scumbags astroturfing for Motorola

Lots of gadget sites are up in arms over Motorola’s astroturfing their next garbage cellphone, and for good reason. For those not familiar, astroturfing is the practice of sending out paid product marketers — primarily onto the web and into the blogosphere — to anonymously communicate with audiences as though they’re consumers / fans / whatever. It’s one of the most base and (typically) transparent means of trying to drum up “word of mouth” support.

What companies rarely realize, however, is that astroturfing is a myth, one which I’ve never heard of working to do anything except unravel companies’ reputations (see: Sony, Wal-Mart, and many, many more). Astroturfing is a concept that’s easily sold to gullible businesses (like Motorola) who are desperate for new, out-of-the-box ways to “engage with consumers” (i.e. get people to buy their products). But the truth is this: quality will always out. The internet itself has done more to ensure people are well informed than any single consumer advocacy group, and any idea that might spread virally is inherently too worthy and kinetic to funnel from a small, clumsy, group of phony commenter-consumer-bloggers.

Someone should let the folks over at DEI Worldwide, Inc., know this though, as they’re the ones behind Motorola’s assault. The IPs associated with the comments (and numerous others) came from 64.60.150.178, an address belonging to DEI, a marketing company which specializes in “engaging consumers online,” and which counts among its clients — you guessed it — Motorola.

Now, are you ready for the real kicker in all this? Remember how I mentioned Wal-Mart, which was astroturfed by PR mega-firm Edelman back in 2006? At the time, the Word of Mouth Marketing Association (WOMMA) issued a release, stating:

“the lack of disclosure… is a violation of WOMMA’s Code of Ethics, which requires honesty and full disclosure in all marketer-sponsored communications. … Such transgressions… are of grave concern to WOMMA, which has led the fight for high ethical standards in word of mouth marketing and social media. Our Ethics Code sets clear guidelines for disclosure by marketers.”

That’s certainly an interesting position, considering the fact that DEI Worldwide’s CEO, David Reis, is a power-player in the marketing world and one of the co-founders of WOMMA. I’ll let that sink in for a minute.

Surely in the spirit of honesty and full disclosure, Reis appears to have posted his personal contact information online, should you have any misgivings about companies misleading consumers in their marketing efforts. (Reis also claims to be a black belt, so if you spot me with a black eye, you know who did it!)

Nerd wish list 2008

My list of (largely) simple, yet unrealized or otherwise infeasible stuff that I’d really love to give and receive this holiday season. Stuff which I suspect would lift many a nerdy spirit in these crazy, bleak days.

10. An anti-glare option — or at least a 3rd party coating — for the new MacBooks and MacBook Pros.
9. A robot that hangs up my shirts and coats. That’s all it has to do.
8. Apple opens up and lets devs access all the great, juicy private APIs that make their default applications so amazing.
7. Native multi-touch for the G1. And a 3.5mm headphone jack, while we’re at it.
6. A travel mouse that is large enough to feel comfortable, yet uses Bluetooth (and not 2.4GHz RF). I’ve tried many, been satisfied with none. I think Microsoft’s Arc might be getting close, though.
5. Apple’s quietly delayed new in-ear headphones. They might suck, but I’m curious to try them out. Especially since supposedly the iPhone isn’t supported (WTF?).
4. An industry-wide PR-do-not-call list.
3. Chrome for OS X and Linux.
2. To finally show people gdgt. (Soon!)
1. Tesla Model S. I’d take a Roadster, though — who wouldn’t?

New MacBook Pro: now with 20% less battery power

Apple touted some pretty decent battery life numbers at the new MacBook / MacBook Pro press event this week: up to five hours on the Pro with discrete graphics off, and four hours with it on (both surely assuming ideal low-power conditions). One of the things that didn’t come up at the presser, however, was that new MacBook Pro batteries actually have just under 20% less energy than their predecessors. While both kinds of MBP batteries are 10.8v, the old ones are rated at 5600mAh / 60Wh, while the new ones are rated at 4700mAh / 50Wh. (MacBook numbers updated below.)

I’d estimate that the integrated NVIDIA chipset and ever more behind-the-scenes power-saving techniques are why Apple is claiming such solid life despite killing a fifth of the machine’s energy supply — but a 20% reduction is still no small number. It also means that as your new MBP’s battery degrades, you’ll have a smaller pool of potential energy to rely on, meaning you could wind up having to replace your battery more often (although that’s a little conjectural, at this point).

But as some are now postulating, one technique Apple may now be employing to save power is making use of the machine’s GPU(s) to accelerate video playback. We already know that the new MacBooks have a different build of OS X than older gen machines (9F2114), but one thing I also noticed is that Quicktime, the engine behind Apple’s video encodes and decodes, was also revved in the new machines, now clocked in at 7.5.5 995.23.3 up from the last machines’ 990.7. With a little luck, perhaps video encodes will finally be hardware accelerated, too. (Will have to test that one later!)

Update: Matt at Gizmodo mentions that the numbers add up, when comparing the extra 20% battery life you get in new models using the integrated GPU vs. that same five hours claimed in old models using discrete graphics. Also, new MacBooks have also decreased battery capacity (as expected), from 55Wh in last-gen models to 45Wh.

Is right now really the moment for Apple to launch new laptops?

Next week I’ll be with Josh at Apple’s new laptop event in Cupertino, and I’ll be up front about it: I’m pretty stoked. I’ve been holding off on buying until the next major MacBook or Pro revision — which I thought would come in January at Macworld — but this is clearly it. (Granted, there’s no knowing how long it’ll be until the new laptops ship after next week’s announcements.)

Now look, laptops are a big deal. For most users, laptops more often than not represent one of the most expensive devices they own, TV aside — but unlike a TV, most people are apt to replacing their laptop every couple of years. And when it comes to product cycles for laptops, a couple of years is sometimes how long it can take to get one out the door: next week’s new machines probably got started shortly after the Air, likely in 2006 or even 2005. In other words, these machines got started well before we knew things would be headed as far south as they’ve gone.

So now that we’re neck deep in the worst financial crisis in decades, now that consumer spending is nosediving, now that hoarding is displacing buying, now that even high-flying VCs are getting nervous and battening down the hatches, I have to wonder: is this really the right moment for Apple to launch new laptops?

Probably not. Granted, there’s no turning back on a launch planned years ago, and people will always need computers (as long as the lights don’t go out, anyway). But the interesting thing is that Apple has an important new shot to make here: this is the most opportune possible moment for them to take on the booming netbook / lower-cost laptop market, a segment that will only balloon in size in the years to come as consumer spending continues to hemorrhage. The $2,000 pro market won’t go away entirely — but it certainly won’t be a growth area as larger numbers of buyers are starting to worry more about foreclosure and eviction than whether or not they can upsell for the ExpressCard slot and extra three inches of screen. Guess we’ll see next though; and hey, if nothing else, at least we can set all the doom and gloom aside for a few minutes while we geek out on Steve’s dog and pony show.

A day with the T-Mobile G1

Okay, I’m way late in getting my hands on a T-Mobile G1 (the crew in NY got to check it out eons ago), but I did get to spend a day with one all to myself, and by popular Twitter demand, here are some (very) brief impressions.

Hardware

• A lot smaller than I thought it’d be. Looks great in person.
• Solid feeling, smooth, springy hinge; the device’s matte soft-touch finish is quite nice; entire back panel lifts off to replace the battery/SIM.
• No 3.5mm headphone jack is freaking annoying, and possibly the likeliest dealbreaker. It’s just unacceptable at this point. T-Mobile only makes this worse by not bundling an ExtUSB -> 3.5mm adapter, and HTC adds insult to injury by placing one of those annoying attached rubber covers on the USB port, too.
• Keyboard lacks definition (read: the keys are a little too flush), but it’s still very tactile, and (obviously) way easier to type on than an iPhone. The Leno chin doesn’t get in my way, although some who’ve used it certainly feel otherwise.
• Screen looks great, extremely responsive capacitive touch. It doesn’t feel plasticy or cheap at all.
• 3G reception is great in SF. Was getting 550Kbps+ speeds. (By comparison, my iPhone 3G usually does 650Kbps here.)
• MicroSDHC is hot. Worked great with an 8GB card. You should be able to buy a G1 + a 16GB card for less than a 16GB iPhone.

Software

• Everything is a lot snappier than I expected. Animations and transitions weren’t as fleshed out as I might have liked, but nothing lagged. After Android and iPhone, it’s impossible not to see Windows Mobile and even S60 as doggish.
• Setup is a freaking breeze, the default apps are solid. I did notice one oddity, though: even though the phone knows your Google ID, if you visit a Google app through the browser (like Reader) it doesn’t automatically log you in. Huh?
• Browser is pretty unexciting. It’s definitely second only to mobile Safari, but isn’t really anywhere near. The view modes, re-flowing, and general usability is weak all around. Look for alternatives once the Marketplace launches, because I’m just not feeling this browser.
• Maps app is great; compass mode (where street view moves with your real world motion) is out of this world. There’s nothing out there like it right now.
• Didn’t download too much from Marketplace, but what I did get was pretty impressive. It should be, though, considering that right now the only apps available are the ones that won Google’s dev challenge.
• Lack of multi-touch is annoying, but it doesn’t really ruin any experiences. I’ll miss it, but I’ll live. (Hey, you have to make sacrifices on the iPhone, too!)

If you want more, I highly suggest my man Paul’s writeup on E, he really digs in. As for me, I’m definitely, definitely excited about the G1. With a few key apps (which I’ll soon write about / unofficially request the dev community build), this could be the device that lures me from the iPhone 3G. Don’t expect everyone to be swayed, though, the G1 is certainly skewed towards the nerds right now, and doesn’t have much to compete with the iPhone’s copious sex appeal.

Oh, and big ups to my pal who hooked me up with the handset — you know who you are!

Apple protesters don disgruntled iPhone costume

Over the past few months there have been a number of protesters spotted at various local Apple store locations, but I have to give it up to these guys (MTD Drywall, from Gilroy, I believe). Not only did they go to the effort of building out a full-on disgruntled union-protest iPhone costume (with near-accurately placed “proximity sensor” eye-hole), they also came up with the snappy phrase, “No service… for workers!” Clever. Full size version over at my Flickr stream.

T-Mobile G1 / Android bits you may not have caught

Just a few bits on today’s monumental T-Mobile G1 / Android / HTC Googlephone / funnererest handset evar announcement that may have gone under the radar.

• T-Mobile claims G1s will be SIM-locked (no surprise). But hey, the software platform is completely open source; I can’t wait to see how they think they’ll protect against that.
• T-Mobile claims you can’t use the device as a tethered data modem. But again, the whole OS — networking stack, app layer, radio interfaces, etc. — is open. Try and stop us.
• Since T-Mobile’s US 3G network is 1700MHz-based, and the device only supports 1700 and 2100MHz bands, that means there could be it’s unlikely that future G1 versions would support 1900MHz (which is what AT&T’s 3G network requires). So we can probably count out an unlocked import unit for the time being.
• HTC claims better 3G talk time compared to the iPhone 3G: 350 minutes 3G talk time (vs. 300 minutes). 2G talk time is apparently much worse though, 406 minutes to the iPhone’s supposed 600.
• It supports microSDHC — meaning you’re not capped at 4GB of storage. When 16 and 32GB cards show up, you can drop those in and keep growing your device, whereas your iPhone will stay static.
• They didn’t include a 3.5mm headphone jack — they’re using HTC’s combo USB / audio jack (ExtUSB), which requires an adapter. Bunk.
• Sync is done all over the air, and through Google services. It’s still unclear how many of these services you can elect not to use (i.e. can one have a contact list that ISN’T synced to their Gmail account?).
• We knew that the device has a capacitive touchscreen (like the iPhone), but not how they solved the problem of copy/paste, which has plagued Apple. Turns out they half-assed it, or so I understand. Seems that you can only copy/paste data in fields. If you’re on a web page, for example, you can’t select a string of text in a paragraph. The search continues for someone to commit to chasing down the fat-finger-touchscreen copy/paste unicorn.
• Although its browser runs on Webkit and some of the Chrome code base, they’re not officially dubbing it Chrome, or Chrome Mobile, or anything like that. Head Android Andy Rubin said it’s fair to think of it as “Chrome light,” though — just don’t call it that. Yet.

CBSi / CNET cuts CTO, SVP, and more than a dozen other jobs

Looks like CNET / CBSi is making some more cutbacks after all; granted, with an acquisition as large as theirs ($1.2b, hundreds of employees), there were bound to be some redundancies, despite the company’s claims there would be “very few.” After CNET laid off 120+ employees earlier this year in preparation for its eventual sale to CBS, I’ve learned CBS Interactive (which represents CNET and CBS’s other online properties) also supposedly laid off top executives CTO Mark Kortekaas and SVP Dan Smith, in addition to 15 New York-based positions in accounting / finance.

I’ve also heard rumblings that CBSi COO Steve Snyder and CEO Quincy Smith may not make it through the year in their current executive positions, but that sounds a bit more speculative at this point. Of course, neither CNET nor Kortekaas would officially confirm or comment on anything for me — nor can I say with certainty whether those let go are only part of a larger number of employees being laid off. Either way, definitely a bummer for all those involved.