News for the technical elite....

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Testing a new phone, the Nokia E62

Posted by dmoynihan Tuesday, October 24, 2006 0 comments

Nokiae62_1
Readers, I am testing a new phone, the Nokia E62 from
Cingular.  The Nokia E62 is the 'light' version of the Nokia E61, which eliminates
3G and WiFi from the line up.  In addition to testing the phone itself, I
am also testing Blackberry Connect, which I find has little written about this
fascinating expansion for Blackberry into non-native devices.



So far, my first impressions are very positive, the phone has a great form
factor, and the screen is incredibly crisp.  I was concerned that I might
be facing a steep learning curve adapting to the new menus (to me that is) of
the Symbian Series 60 UI, especially after using Motorola devices for so long,...
but then again I was a long term tester for the Windows based Seimens SX-66,
and the Palm Treo 650… yet so far it seems rather easy and natural to navigate
within the device.



After I have had the phone for a week I will detail my thoughts and experiences
in a review, so expect something new in the pipeline soon!
















Nokia E62 from Cingular
Quad Band, Edge
MiniSD
Qwerty Keyboard
Hi res color screen
Blackberry Connect Software




[Nokia E62] [Nokia E62 from Cingular] [Blackberry Connect]

SXSW tickets via cellphone SMS

Posted by dmoynihan Wednesday, February 22, 2006 2 comments

Sxsw_xx2South By Southwest (SXSW) Austin, Tx., one of the largest film festivals in the U.S., with over 1331 bands playing live across seven days at 58 venues, offered wrist bands early to a lucky few who signed up via cell phone SMS message this evening (Wednesday Night, Febraury 22nd). 



The messages directed the interested to tickets being sold at Waterloo records in downtown Austin.



According to the SXSW official site:


If you are a SXSW Registrant, sign up and receive special notices through the Online Registrant's Directory. SXSW will send you alerts and updates specific to your badge type from last minute schedule changes, special events, breaking news and more. Get the latest lowdown and don't miss a thing!



In addition to an early notice of ticket sales, SXSW SMS, will also will notify you of band schedules, as well as allow you to vote in the Film Festival Audience Award, or vote for your SXSW favorite film.



"To sign up for general updates and alerts about SXSW 2006 just send the text message 'sx add' to '56658' from your mobile phone!"



Click here for more SXSW SMS info! or here for the latest SXSW info!



----
Update: According to those who have recieved the text messages, there will be more wristbands on sale to the public Thursday, February 23rd, at Waterloo Records in Austin, Tx.





Separated at birth?

Posted by dmoynihan Wednesday, February 15, 2006 0 comments


BenQ-Siemens-EF51-music-cellphone.JPGCreative-ZEN-VISION-M-mp3-player.JPG


Via Mobiletracker and Travelizmo respectively.



Apple MVNO rumor

Posted by dmoynihan 0 comments


iphoneI don't like getting into the rumor game, though I have levied my picks at times, but it looks as if there is mounting evidence that Apple may be mounting a consumer push for their own cell phone service (MNVO). Instead of me rehashing what many are saying on the net, I'll let you, the intelligent reader, put the information together for yourselves.


Fuzzy Apple SIM Card Photo's?

MacBook Verizon EVDO card's?

Forbes Reporting Apple MNVO



Here is all the data put together...



The photo above is a mockup from SlashPhone



MobileTracker.net

Posted by dmoynihan 0 comments


logo


Folks, I just thought I would give you an update as to what's going on here at Techarati and LoftyWords.


I realize post have been sparse for the last week, even though there has been quite a bit of cell phone news and breaking loft news to write about. Interestingly, I have been writing about cell phones all week, but not for Techarati.


Two weeks ago I accepted a position over at MobileTracker.net with Jon Gales, as the new News Editor, and as you can imagine with 3GSM going full tilt in Barcelona, there has been an inordinate amount of work!


As I ease into my new role, find the virtual bathroom and water cooler, I will develop the time management skills to write for Techarati and LoftyWords again (hey these are my babies, right...).



Apple announces 1gb Nano

Posted by dmoynihan Tuesday, February 7, 2006 0 comments


Apple Ipod Nano.03Folks, we all saw it coming, Apple has finally taken the wraps off it's Shuffle replacement today.


The iPod Nano 1gb, will be priced at $149.00, and comes in the prerequisite black and white. The existing Shuffles will be marked down to $69 and $99, while they last.


In a separate announcement, Apple has inked a deal with ShowTime Television for a number of shows, bringing the total available TV shows on iTunes to over 50.


http://www.apple.com



Definitive Mythos Home Theatre Speakers

Posted by dmoynihan Tuesday, January 10, 2006 0 comments

Mythosgroup
Modern designed homes and flat panel plasma screen have made the standard big box speakers looking out of place in many homes. Enter stage left - the Mythos Series Home Theatre Speakers are engineered to work together in mix-and-match systems within the Mythos line. You choose the main Left & Right speakers based on your own audio desire, the size of your room or the size of your television. Match it to a Mythos Center Channel Speaker, and then add matching Mythos Speakers as Surround Channels; use the same Mythos Speakers as your mains, or choose a different, more convenient size. Add a SuperCube Subwoofer or two to round out
the system with thrilling bass effects; Mythos is designed to work
  perfectly with SuperCube Subwoofers (highly reccomeded, since they can sound rather tinish without a sub).
Mythos_base



Nokia N80

Posted by dmoynihan 1 comments

Product_image The next big cell phone from Nokia is the new N80.



Here are the facts as I know them today:




                  
               
                  






Shp. Weight2.00 lbs

Band

GSM UMTS/ GSM 850/ GSM 900 / GSM 1800 / GSM 1900 - OEM FACTORY UNLOCKED

Technology

3g/umts, BLUETOOTH, CAMCORDER, CAMERA, COLOR, EDGE, EMS, fm radio, gprs, IM, INFRARED, JAVA, MMS, mp3, PDA, pic book, POLYPHONIC, sd slot, SMARTPHONE, SMS, t9, upnp ready, video play, WAP, wi-fi, XHTML

Design

Slider


Here is what the pros over at celluloco.com have to say:

Nokia N80 N Series 3G/EDGE/Bluetooth/Wi-fi Enabled 


Nokia N80, the first ever handset to enable seamless
home media networking between compatible TVs, audio systems and PCs.
The Nokia N80 reflects and harmonizes work and personal life through
leading on-the-go productivity tools, multimedia entertainment and
mobile photography in a design that communicates success. Weighing only
134 grams, the compact yet feature-rich 3G multimedia device is packed
with performance, providing fast internet access and convenient
intuitive browsing as well as the possibility to send and receive
emails at Wireless LAN (WLAN) speeds.



 


With simple to use yet advanced UPnP (Universal Plug
and Play) technology*, the pioneering Nokia N80 can be used to tap into
the digital home network, acting almost as a remote control, enabling
secure and convenient access to compatible PCs, audio equipment and
TVs.** Consequently, images and video stored on the Nokia N80 or a
compatible PC can be viewed wirelessly on the living room TV, while
listening to music stored on the device through the living room audio
system. Printing is now faster too, as Nokia N80 users can print
wirelessly to any compatible UPnP-enabled home printer or printing
kiosk.


Nokia N80 is the first quadband handset designed to
work on 3G (WCDMA 1900 or 2100), WLAN, EDGE and four GSM bands
(850/900/1800/1900), enabling broadband access from virtually anywhere
on the planet. Incorporating the latest productivity functions in
addition to 3G and EDGE data connectivity, people can use the Nokia N80
at more than 136,000 public WLAN hotspots around the world to access
the internet and send large emails or upload high quality images to an
online service. Additionally, the Nokia N80 supports the new Nokia Web
Browser with Mini Map, featuring a semi-transparent zoomed-out overall
view of the web page, enabling users to intuitively navigate to all
corners as well as see the web site as it was originally designed. With
the experience further heightened by the device's superior high
definition display (352 x 416 pixels, up to 262,144 colors), which
incorporates 90% more pixels than QVGA displays commonly found on
smartphones and PDAs, the Nokia N80 also incorporates MPEG4 AVC
decoding support for high quality video streaming.


With great ergonomics for image capture, the Nokia N80
is also an excellent mobile photography device for capturing,
collecting and sharing moments and memories. In addition to
incorporating a 3 megapixel camera with capture key for fast and stable
camera activation, full-screen landscape capture utilizing the entire
available high definition display, and a dedicated close-up mode
switch, the Nokia N80 also features CIF video capture with inbuilt
video stabilization. Moreover, the Nokia N80 incorporates large
internal memory of up to 40 MB, which can be further expanded with a
hot swap miniSD card of up to 2 GB, allowing users to store up to 1000
high quality images on the device.


Supporting a wide range of digital music formats, the
Nokia N80 boasts a digital music player as well as stereo FM radio and
support for Visual Radio, which provides listeners with a richly
interactive information channel, including information on the song and
artist currently playing. Furthermore, thanks to the integrated UPnP
technology, transferring music between the Nokia N80 and a compatible
PC is easier than ever. Alternatively, users can transfer their
favorite music via USB 2.0 by simply dragging and dropping from a
compatible PC onto the device. As a result of its powerful music
features, the Nokia N80 qualifies as a part of the Nokia XpressMusic
device range. The XpressMusic feature brand makes it easy for consumers
to identify Nokia products that provide a superior mobile music
experience.


To pre-order your phone today click here.


IpdCurrently I know of two iPod docking stations for two brands of home theatre systems, Harmon Kardon and Onkyo.

The Harmon Kardon iPod docking station is a single
connection that provides complete navigation and control of an iPod with the
remote control from a The Bridge-Ready* Harman Kardon receiver, and
charges the battery at the same time. Of course, you can also hear any
track on the iPod through your home entertainment system.


Specifically the dock connector is compatible with AVR 140, AVR 240, AVR 340 and AVR 740. Unfortunatley it is not
compatible with earlier Harman Kardon products, or with other brands of
audio/video equipment.

The Onkyo DS-A1 is now available, and will allow you to
connect your iPod to over 90% of today’s Onkyo receivers, home theater
systems and audio systems. Not only is the DS-A1 compatible with
Dsa1
the
full range of current Onkyo products, from the flagship TX-NR1000 to
the affordable CS-210. It’s also compatible with the majority of Onkyo
products that have been produced over the past decade.



  • iPod Cradle for Onkyo Components and systems


  • Charges iPod


  • RCA Stereo Audio Output


  • Video Output for iPod Photo Slide Show


  • Control your iPod using your Onkyo Remote


 



Posted by dmoynihan 0 comments

Homedoc_dx_hero_lrg_1
The DLO HomeDock Deluxe is an iPod dock that lets you
view and select your iPod's music on your TV screen. The Dock lets you view current song
information and navigate playlists, artists and albums from the sofa.



Looks like I will have to get one!



Here are the facts as I copied them from DLO's web site.



  • Shipping March 2006


  • Easily connect any dockable iPod to your Home Stereo & TV


  • View and navigate iPods music directly on your TV screen


  • Works with ALL Dockable iPods, including iPod nano and Video iPod


  • Plays iPod videos on large screen TV via AV connection or S-Video


  • View picture slideshows with music on your big screen TV


  • Control everything from the sofa with the included 20 Button Remote Control


  • Fully Powers and Charges iPod while in use


  • Includes all necessary cables incl. AC Power Supply and AV Cable


You can visit DLO here for more information.



MacWorld, my absence!

Posted by dmoynihan 0 comments

Intelapple
This is the first time in years that I am not at MacWorld, this sucks!  I'm
betting on a complete line of Intels PowerBooks (a Micro would be
great), and 34", 42", and 50" plasma's from Apple with built in Mac
Mini's,  AirPort, HDMI, etc.