• Cool Tool: StrollAway on Cool Tools: "... Once we got this hook, rather than just parking our stroller in the kitchen or dining room, we created a set, out-of-the-way place to store it. And since it's off the floor, that gives us more space to fill up with more baby stuff. The hook is strong (we have a Quinny Buzz stroller, which weighs abouts 15 lbs.). It doesn't require drilling or mounting into anything, since it hangs over the top a door....." Great idea.
• SightSpeed Goes Mainstream with Dell Video Chat « on Web Worker Daily: "... The SightSpeed software installed easily on my Mac, and the video conversation with Mr. Csathy was crisp, smooth and effortless as compared to any I’ve tried with Skype. He had a fancy headset, but I was just using the MacBook Pro’s built-in speakers and microphone. For once, video conferencing felt approachable to me beyond Apple iChat...." This article has a good screen cap of the theme that Dell applied to SightSpeed's software. [ Found out about the Dell / SightSpeed deal from friend Andy Abramson ]
• Access And Share Files With Box.net on The Apple Phone Show: "I have tried several online file store and share solutions since getting my iPhone almost a year ago now. Box.net seems to be the one application that has endured time. I like using it to store and share my most important files and collaborate on work. I’m still getting used to moving my workflow entirely online. I am used to have files that I can access stored locally on all of my devices. But, times they are ‘a changing. The reason I think I have continued using this service and have let others fall by the wayside is because the interface is so simple...." I have to try this.
• iPhone as Pedometer on Inside iPhone: "A short while ago, I discovered that Wii Fit could be used to track my progress as I walked on a treadmill. Wii Fit has a game where you jog in place in front of your TV to travel through a virtual landscape. Instead of bouncing up and down on the floor, I put my wiimote in my pocket, hopped on the treadmill and had a much better virtual exercise experience. And of course this got me thinking: if the wii can track movement, why can't the iPhone do the same?" Cool idea. Interesting execution.

Posted by Dave Aiello at 4:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Many of you know that I officiate college ice hockey, so you probably won't be surprised at my interest in a few video clips taken from interviews with four NHL Officials selected to officiate the Stanley Cup Finals:

These interviews were made available by ESPN on a website called ESPN Video.

I've never seen NHL referees and linesmen interviewed in this manner before. I think it's great because it shows the officials are human beings, just like the players.

Posted by Dave Aiello at 12:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Operation Gadget Films is pleased to present Jimmy's Snowy Day starring my two-year-old son Jimmy Aiello in his streaming video debut. This short film (2 minutes and 40 seconds) was shot on February 22, 2008, near our home in Newtown, PA.

This movie was shot with a Nokia N95 mobile phone, one of the best small standard-definition video cameras I've ever seen. It produces 640x480 video at 30 frames per second, which makes it great for home movies like this. I received this phone courtesy of the Nokia Blogger Relations program. This is the first movie I've ever shot with it that I've shown to the public.

I edited the movie using iPhoto '08, part of the Apple iLife '08 package that I got for free when I bought my MacBook Pro in March. It took me a while to start making movies using iMovie '08, but I now have an large amount of video from the Nokia N95 and this is the third finished movie that I've produced.

Continue reading "Debut of "Jimmy's Snowy Day," a Short Film Shot on the Nokia N95 and Edited with iMovie '08" »

Posted by Dave Aiello at 9:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Here's a music video that's making the rounds of web sites I read:

The movement away from Windows and toward the Mac is still in it's early stages, so lots of people haven't seen all of these Mac applications before. My question is, does it make more sense as a music video or an ad for Leopard?

Posted by Dave Aiello at 8:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The BlueLounge SpaceStation is a desk organizer for laptop users that acts as a USB hub for all peripheral devices.

BlueLounge SpaceStation [ Photo courtesy of the manufacturer. ]

The photo I've chosen shows the bottom of the SpaceStation. The rubber feet set the SpaceStation 5mm above the surface of the desk. This allows the USB cables to pass underneath the organizer where they can be coiled and connected to the USB hub.

Posted by Dave Aiello at 1:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

• How to link Twitter to Facebook - A Twitter Tutorial on AJVayerchuck.com: A concise explanation of how to install the Twitter app within Facebook and allow it to update your Facebook status.
• Clutter War II: Attack of the Giant Baby on 43Folders: "...you might be able to guess where my head is right now. Yep. It’s on clutter, and on what I need to do to get my face back into Peter Walsh’s excellent de-cluttering book as a means for regaining domestic sanity and striding toward the possibility of a life without tripping, piling, or losing what’s left of my sleep-deprived mind."
• Hi-Res YouTube Hacks on O'Reilly Digital Media: A great little article that covers why YouTube rocks for casual video sharing and how to force YouTube playback to the highest resolution possible.
• LCD Scrub cleans those stubborn stains from your screen on TUAW: "While LCD screens aren't nearly as likely to run into image persistence issues as older CRTs, they aren't immune to damage, as developer Daniel Sandler... learned to his dismay a year ago. After his flat-panel got munged by green static overnight, he whipped up a pattern-shifting screensaver to repair the burned-in pixels (based on Apple's recommendation of leaving an all-white image over the affected areas). Whaddaya know, it worked.... "
• Mac 101: Zoom and pan images in Quick Look on TUAW: "Is your laptop not among those that can do Multi-touch? Don't feel badly, you can replicate those great features!" I didn't know you could do zooming and panning in Quick Look.
• Media Center: Roll a Mac Mini Media Center with Leopard on Lifehacker: "We've talked about building a Mac mini media center and other ways to pimp your mini in the past, but blogger Jon Hicks revisits the Mac mini media center with a focus on using it with Leopard and EyeTV (a Mac DVR solution). While Apple TV is doing its best to justify a place in your living room, it still doesn't time-shift television, and many Mac enthusiasts still find that the Mac mini still outdoes Apple's latest media center offering."

Posted by Dave Aiello at 12:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The Wall Street Journal Business Technology Blog reports that Apple spent $844 million on research and development in 2007, significantly less than competitors Microsoft, IBM, H-P, Sun, and AMD. This is interesting because everybody and their brother has been touting Apple as a uniquely innovative company.

I think Apple succeeds so prolifically because it is especially focused on innovation in its core competencies. Lots of its competitors invest in research that doesn't make the same impact on their product lines as Apple's research does on Apple's products.

I think people have a tendency to criticize Apple for the wrong reasons. A lot of people complained about Apple delaying the release of OS X Leopard, and waiting until recently to release the iPhone SDK. Could they have shipped those products faster if they hired more engineers?

Posted by Dave Aiello at 10:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

• Holy Saturday on Wikipedia: Lots of names exist for the day before Easter. I had no idea that so much thought had been put into this day over the years. Sorry if you consider this a sacrilege.
• Sk*rt: "Digg for Chicks" on How to Change the World (blog.GuyKawasaki.com): "I love Sk*rt. You can think of it as "Digg for chicks" (in the words of QueenofSpain), and it features the user-selected stories in topic such as Arts & Entertainment, Design & Crafts, Family & Parenting, and Food & Home."
• View higher quality videos on YouTube on MacOSXhints: "Many people are using a trick to view any YouTube video in high-quality -- simply append &fmt=18 to the end of the URL. This is a job for AppleScript! Here are two simple versions; the first, for for OmniWeb... and the second, for Safari...."
• Lemnis Pharox LED Bulb on CoolTools: "I have been dutifully buying the various LED bulbs being marketed as home incandescent replacements for a year or two. Up until now, all have had that weird, blue flickery LED light, and all have been expensive. The Lemnis Pharox is the first one that actually delivers as a home bulb replacement. It sips electricity pulling down a mere 4 watts, will last for 35 years, and replaces the light of a 40 watt incandescent."
• Adventures in Rechargeable Batteries on CodingHorror: "I've been a rechargeable battery user for years. It seems the frugal thing to do in the long run, and it's also healthier for the planet when we aren't discarding mountains of single-use batteries into landfills." Author Jeff Atwood provides a lot of tips on getting the most out of modern rechargeable batteries. [ via LifeHacker ]
• PimpMySafari.com, recommended by Merlin Mann on MacBreak Weekly. This is the reference site for all plugins and bookmarklets for the Safari web browser.
• First Look: Safari 3.1 adds speed and HTML 5 features on Computerworld: "With the 3.1 release, Safari has become the fastest browser you can use. If that isn't enough reason to make a switch, its strong adherence to Web standards and rapid adoption of new technologies might make you think again."

Posted by Dave Aiello at 7:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The first book I bought to try to get new ideas on how I could better leverage my iPhone as a multimedia Swiss Army Knife was iPhone Fully Loaded by Andy Ihnatko. I have been really impressed by this book because it has some really excellent tips and techniques that go beyond many of the ideas I've seen discussed on iPhone-related blogs and websites.

Andy Ihnatko is a freelance journalist who writes a technology column in The Chicago Sun Times and appears regularly on The Early Show on CBS. He hit my radar screen through his regular gigs on The Apple Phone Show and MacBreak Weekly podcasts. Some of the concepts he discussed on those programs, such as using Smart Playlists to fill your iPhone with a constant amount of music that you like but haven't listened to recently (mentioned previously on Operation Gadget), and using Handbrake to convert chapters of DVDs that you own to clips that are playable on your iPhone, are prominently featured in this book. However, there are a lot more ideas that go far deeper into Mac and PC technology to pull together content that you have access to, package it in a form that's storable on your iPhone or iPod touch, and get it transferred on to your device.

There are also ideas that didn't appeal to me personally, but were interesting to read about from a general knowledge perspective. Andy is a big fan of comic books, so he includes an entire chapter on finding comics on the Internet and transmogrifying for your iPhone. He also talks about extensively about electronics and software that can be used to record radio programs for later playback on your iPhone. I used to listen to a great deal of radio myself, so this is interesting to me, but podcasts have largely replaced my radio listening habit since I got my iPhone, and I can barely keep up with the podcasts that I'm subscribed to now.

There are a number of other good iPhone-related books, such as The iPhone Pocket Guide by Chris Breen of MacWorld Magazine, but few are as jam-packed with ideas for filling your iPhone with content as iPhone Fully Loaded. This book always seems to be sitting near my MacBook Pro, and I think it will stay there for some time.

Posted by Dave Aiello at 5:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

• RPI Plays Princeton tonight in the 31st Annual Big Red Freakout. RPI needs the win. In other news, the White beat the Red in the Alumni Game 9-8.
• Kipkay's Video Tips & Tricks on Instructables: "Here are 5 easy and cheap tricks for anyone who uses a camcorder. Total cost for all 5 is under $10!" [ via Lifehacker ]
• New Devices and Applications on the Wi-Fi Front on Web Worker Daily: "While many Mac-based users already have next-generation, draft 802.11n Wi-Fi technology in their homes (because they use Apple’s Airport Extreme routers) lots of other folks still use slower 802.11g Wi-Fi. This year is when official certification of 802.11n Wi-Fi is supposed to arrive, and the month of January brought some product announcements that point to what the widespread arrival of 802.11n technology might mean...."
• Review of the Nike Amp+ iPod Control Watch: "... the Amp+ isn't designed to be an all-around running or fitness watch. It's specifically designed for runners who already have the Nike + iPod kit. Similar to the Timex iControl we recently reviewed, the Nike Amp+ is a remote control for your iPod Nano, however unlike the Timex, the Nike Amp+ uses the existing Nike + iPod gadget that plugs into your iPod, so you're actually adding the iPod remote control to the Nike iPod system." [ via TUAW ]
• Crazy Apple Rumors on Hiatus on TUAW: CrazyAppleRumors.com is a site I just found out about recently. It's articles are what you might read in The Onion if they covered Apple more aggressively. Sorry to see it go dark.

Posted by Dave Aiello at 4:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Earlier this week MacRumors reported that Apple had released the "Pole Position Remix" game for the iPhone. This is a remake of the classic Namco video game Pole Position that I played more than anyone else as a kid.

The last time I talked about Pole Position on Operation Gadget was three years ago when I picked up a copy of an inexpensive TV game called Namco II: Ms. PacMan and 5 TV Games. I loved that game. I hope that Apple releases "Pole Position Remix" for the iPhone after the iPhone Software Development Kit comes out next month.

Posted by Dave Aiello at 10:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I expected to be wowed by Steve Jobs' 2008 MacWorld Expo Keynote a lot more than I actually was. However, I was doing other things while the event was going on (real work), and the products that I was most interested in (mainstream Mac laptops) didn't get addressed in this keynote at all.

Bummer for me. I could have bought my MacBook Pro two weeks ago if I had known that the Penryn upgrade wasn't immediately forthcoming.

Here are my comments on the other aspects of the keynote:

• iTunes Movie Rentals / AppleTV Take 2: Clearly the announcement with the most business disruption potential. I agree with one of the commentators on MacBreak Weekly who suggested that Apple is making a play to be the digital media hub in the house, usurping services like Netflix, as well as Television services providers such as Comcast and Verizon FiOS.
• MacBook Air: This is a machine aimed at people who travel a lot or who want a portable machine that is a shadow of their desktop Mac. I could see some very well off Mac users owning the big iMac and a MacBook Air. The MacBook Air is incredibly thin. It's hard to believe a machine with a laptop-like display and keyboard could be any thinner than this and still be usable.

• Time Capsule: This is an interesting extension to the AirPort wireless base station line. Time Capsule is an AirPort Extreme with a 500G or 1T hard disk in it, functioning as Network Attached Storage (NAS).

  My first reaction was, "Bummer. Kathleen just bought me the AirPort Extreme." But then I realized that I would prefer NAS that used RAID 1 or RAID 5 storage anyway. It also costs more than we want to spend on network appliances at this point.



• iPhone 1.1.3 Update: There's some good stuff here. I loaded it on my iPhone already. The cell tower triangulation in the Maps application works pretty well. That feature makes the iPhone version of RinkAtlas viable. Expect an announcement from me on that front soon.

Posted by Dave Aiello at 1:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (1)

I grew up in Denville, New Jersey, a small town about forty miles west of New York City. On Christmas Eve, WPIX, television channel 11 in New York City aired a program they simply called "The Yule Log". This program was a three hour film loop showing a crackling fire in a fireplace. The soundtrack consisted of a number of "easy-listening" Christmas tunes played in rotation. I found this program on TV one Christmas in the late 1970s or early 1980s, enjoyed watching it, and looked for it again the next year.

My interest in seeing The Yule Log on TV became such a cliche in my family that I eventually received a VHS tape of a similar yule log program as a gag Christmas gift. I think I got this gift during one Christmas in the early 1990s, around the time that Wikipedia says that WPIX stopped airing the program.

A lot of other people in the New York Metropolitan Area and elsewhere apparently considered the program their Christmas tradition as well. An illustration of the strength of the fan base for the program is TheYuleLog.com.

WPIX reinstated the program for Christmas 2001 and it's been on the air each year ever since.

The other day I was listening to one of the TWiT podcasts (either TWiT 123 or MacBreak Weekly 68). The podcast mentioned iYule.TV, a video production formatted for the iPhone and a number of other video-capable media players. For $5 to $10 dollars, you can purchase a copy of a 30-minute video of a yule log complete with an original musical score by Geoff Smith. Portions of the proceeds from the sales of the iYule.TV video will go to charity.

My reaction to hearing about iYule.TV (and before I heard that some of the producers' proceeds will be donated to charity) was, "Why didn't I think of this?" I felt like this was a guaranteed money-maker, just from the novelty of being able to view it on the iPhone or the iPod Touch.

In the course of researching this article, I learned that WPIX has produced a version of their presentation of The Yule Log formatted for the Video iPod. They call it The Portable Yule Log.

I'm going to download The Portable Yule Log from WPIX and see if it measures up to my memories. More on this later.

Update: The Portable Yule Log video clip is only two minutes long and it contains no Christmas music, so it's not a personal copy of the original WPIX broadcast. If I have time, I will subscribe to iYule and see what that's like.

Posted by Dave Aiello at 11:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I'm glad to hear that Apple sold its one millionth iPhone today. I think the $200 price cut will put holiday sales on the trajectory where Apple needs them to be in order to achieve the goal of 10 million iPhones in the first year on the market.

Posted by Dave Aiello at 12:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Wow. I had no idea that Apple was planning to announce a $200 price cut on the 8-Gigabyte iPhone to $399.

Since the media event ended, I've read a number of comments on technology blogs about how much the price of previous "hot phones" dropped in the first 90 days. The example I have heard most is the RAZR. The price of that phone dropped significantly, but I doubt it fell $200 after the phone had been on the market for 69 days.

Having said this, I have gotten so much value out of my iPhone since I bought it and learned so much about developing for it that it was worth the $200 premium to me.

I think that Apple is going to sell huge numbers of the iPod Touch (an 8 or 16G device with the same form factor as the iPhone, but without the mobile phone capability) for the holidays. The iPhone and the iPod Touch are going to destroy any previous notion we had of the Mobile Internet experience. I'm looking forward to seeing what comes next.

Posted by Dave Aiello at 4:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

PVRblog pointed out that NBC has decided to pull its programming out of iTunes and move it to Amazon.com Unbox, a fairly new service from Amazon.com that competes with iTunes for video download sales. I think this is a mistake on NBC Universal's part, and it has little to do with the fact that I own an iPhone.

One of the things that entertainment companies should realize is that the device choices that early adopters make will have a big impact on entertainment companies' download sales in the short term. I know that I am a lot more likely to buy video content from iTunes now than I was before I got my iPhone. There are hundreds of thousands of people who bought an iPhone since June 29 who probably feel the same way.

What compelling device will drive new customers to Amazon.com to purchase videos from Unbox?

The list of portable devices that are compatible with Amazon.com Unbox is uninspiring. The most compelling device that's compatible with Unbox is not portable. It's TiVo.

I am a big TiVo fan and a long time user, and I buy a lot of stuff from Amazon.com, but I don't have the capability to play Unbox videos on my unit. (It's a DirecTV-based TiVo, so it doesn't have the Internet networking features of the pure TiVo units that make Unbox available.) Since most of U.S. households don't have TiVo units compatible with Unbox either, I think NBC has limited significantly reduced its potential audience for video download sales.

In a broader sense, I don't see how the Unbox service creates sales momentum for itself based on exclusive content deals alone.

It's possible that NBC's strategic error will become more apparent after Apple announces its new line of iPods this afternoon.

Posted by Dave Aiello at 7:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Every year or two, the hockey organizations for whom I officiate go through rule change cycles. USA Hockey, the major organizing body of amateur ice hockey in the United States, is changing their rules this year. The National Collegiate Athletic Association changes their ice hockey rules every year. Even organizations like The National Hockey League have annual or semi-annual rule changes.

Each of these organizations produce rule change videos which are designed to help players, coaches, and officials understand the new rules. They also help to explain any new rule interpretations, which have been as important as the actual rule changes over the past two or three years.

Before I got my iPhone, I would wait until an officiating seminar to see the rule change videos for these organizations. If I was really ambitious, I'd stream the rule changes from the USA Hockey or NCAA hockey websites, if they made the videos available there. This year, I have an iPhone and I want to be able to watch the videos more frequently, so I get up to speed on the new rules faster. It only makes sense for me to get the videos and convert them to an iPhone-appropriate format so I can watch them anytime I have a few minutes to kill.

I haven't found the USA Hockey rule change video on their website yet, so I don't know which formats they have already produced. I'm hoping to get a DVD sent directly to me. The NCAA Hockey Rule Change Video is available on their website in WMV format. I don't think that the WMV video format is supported out-of-the-box by my iPhone.

I'll probably end up getting a package like Cucusoft iPhone Video Converter + DVD to iPhone Suite or Video Vault for the iPod, both of which claim to convert a bunch of other video formats to MPEG4.

I'm just at the beginning of my research into this, but I wanted to mention the work I'm doing up front in case anyone wants to provide any suggestions. In any case I'll follow up with an explanation of how I get the videos on to my iPhone and whether they look good once I get them there.

Posted by Dave Aiello at 11:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

It was possible to buy either iPhone model last night in Central New Jersey.

My iPhone moments after I purchased it at the
Freehold, NJ Apple Store on June 29. See more
photos of my iPhone in my Flickr photostream.

I bought mine at the Apple Store at the Freehold Raceway Mall in Freehold, NJ about 7:45pm. The Apple Store appeared to have plenty of stock at that time. That didn't surprise me because I had read that the 140+ Apple Stores around the country would be staying open until midnight. Why would Apple bother doing that if they thought that they would sell out at most of their locations?

First Stop: A Sold Out AT&T Store

Before I went to the Apple in Freehold, I drove to the AT&T Store in West Windsor, NJ. This is a small store that I thought might not attract a huge line. I have no idea how many people were in line before 6:00pm, but when I arrived there at approximately 6:25, the store was already sold out.

What blew my mind was the number of people who stayed in line after the store manager announced that they were sold out. (I had just arrived when he made this announcement.) He told the people in line that they were welcome to stay and his staff would take orders from them. Many of the people were staying in their place in the line when I hit the road for Freehold.

Continue reading "I Got My iPhone Yesterday, Maybe It Will Work Today" »

Posted by Dave Aiello at 11:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (1)

Beginning with Thanksgiving, Kathleen and I have been using a Nokia N93 mobile phone to shoot DVD-quality video at family get togethers. People are shocked when they see the quality of the movies we can make with this phone.

Conversations with some of our more gadget-savvy friends sometimes continue with the question, "But what else can that phone do?" After I say, "You mean you want more than a great phone that doubles as an incredibly compact digital video camera?", I tell them about how the N93 is the ultimate entertainment device for my son Jimmy.

Jimmy is our seven month old son. He likes to listen to songs from the CD Walt Disney Records : Children's Favorite Songs, Volume 1. These are songs like "I've Been Working On The Railroad" and "Old MacDonald".

The Nokia N93 and most of the other Nokia N-Series multimedia phones I've tested have extremely high-quality speakers built into them. The Nokia Music Player application and the speaker on the N93 allow me to play Jimmy's tunes, wherever we are, at a moments notice. I play his songs for him on the N93 when we are taking walks with his stroller or with him in the BabyBjorn baby carrier. I turn on his music when we're in the car and he doesn't like any of the songs currently playing on the radio. I play the music for him sometimes when we are shopping in home improvement stores like Lowe's or BJ's Wholesale Club.

Like every other gadget freak in the universe, I have an iPod and I have the right accessories for it. The problems with using the iPod in this case are:

• I need accessories to play music that someone else can hear, and I often need different accessories depending on the situation.
• I can't imagine using earphones with a child under age five or six.
• I don't want to have to put an iPod and several accessories into the baby bag that I carry when I'm out with Jimmy by myself or with Kathleen.

This makes the Nokia N93 or any of the N-Series phones the best music player I've found for use with babies and other young children. It's significantly more practical for me than an iPod in this case, or even a portable CD player with built-in speakers. I never would have imagined that I would be recommending a solution like this until I got a Nokia N-Series phone and tried it.

Technorati Tags: Nokia N93, N-Series, MP3, multimedia handsets, mobile phones

Posted by Dave Aiello at 11:04 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (1)

Verne Gay of Newsday.com wrote a column called How iTunes saved 'The Office' that I've been meaning to point out. Kathleen has fallen in love with The Office in the past few months, but if there's truth to what Verne Gay is saying, the program wouldn't have lasted on NBC's schedule without strong sell-through on iTunes.

The column quotes Angela Bromstead, President of NBC Universal Television Studio as saying:

I'm not sure that we'd still have the show on the air. The network had only ordered so many episodes, but when it went on iTunes and really started taking off, that gave us another way to see the true potential other than just Nielsen. It just kind of happened at a great time.

The article goes on to point out that expected iTunes success is probably going to save 30 Rock for oblivion.

I guess this indicates that the most effective way to support a niche show that you love is to get an iPod and buy episodes, not to write letters to network management.

Technorati Tags: The Office, 30 Rock, NBC, iTunes

Posted by Dave Aiello at 9:38 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The Nokia N93 produces DVD-quality video, has a
terrific MP3 player, and includes wireless
broadband and WiFi capability. It's great for people
who want a phone that can be used in relatively
serious video production. [ Photo: Dave Aiello ]
[ Check out my Nokia N93 photo set on Flickr. ]

A friend who works with Nokia chose me to be in the Nokia N-Series blogger program and has been sending me high end phones of all shapes and sizes for several months. The latest phone I've received is the Nokia N93, which I like to think of as the Swiss Army Knife of GSM / UMTS Multimedia Phones.

The N93 folds and unfolds in many different ways. Depending on which way you choose to hold it, it can be a video camera, a still image digital camera, an MP3 player, a wireless Internet access device, and a video phone. And I forgot to mention-- it can also be a plain old voice-oriented mobile phone.

The N93 has every feature I can think of for a state-of-the-art multimedia device:

• DVD-quality video with a 30 frame per second recording rate.
• 3.2-Megapixel primary camera with a 3x optical zoom and a Carl Zeiss glass lens. (0.3-Megapixel secondary camera for video calls.)
• 2.4-inch high definition color display.
• Adobe Premier Elements 2.0 video editing software.

On top of all of that it's a mobile phone with Bluetooth and WiFi. About all its missing is a full alphanumeric keyboard.

There are way too many features and dimensions to the Nokia N93 to cover in one article. I'm planning to do a small series of articles that will appear here on Operation Gadget, including as many samples of photos and videos as I think are necessary to demonstrate the features of this incredible device.

Technorati Tags: Nokia N93, N-Series, Adobe Premier Elements, UMTS, Bluetooth, WiFi, multimedia handsets, mobile phones

Posted by Dave Aiello at 3:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Martin O'Donnell pointed out an article in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer stating that Microsoft's Zune player won't play content bought through services compatible with the Windows Media "PlaysForSure" initiative. That means Napster, Yahoo! Music Unlimited, MTV Urge, and RealNetworks Rhapsody, among others.

Martin called this a "shafting" for Microsoft's PlaysForSure partners, and I have to agree with him. Bryan Lee of Microsoft reportedly said that Zune would maintain a "peaceful co-existence" with the PlaysForSure partners. For sure, dude.

Is there any wonder why Dell got out of the music player business when it did?

Posted by Dave Aiello at 9:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The other day, my brother Scott Aiello tipped me off to a device that can be used as a convenient one-stop place to charge all of your handheld devices. It's called the Personal Electronics Power Station and it's available from several vendors on Amazon.com.

The Personal Electronics Power Station is an outlet strip with a special housing that allows you to clamp your handheld devices to its body using adjustible dividers. The body has an internal space where the plug ends of your handhelds' charging cables go. When not in use, the Personal Electronics Powerstation sits on top of a table or a bookshelf with your charging cables neatly organized.

Some of the comments I've read about this unit say that the internal plugs for the charging cables are two-pronged only and that adapters won't fit inside. That's a fair point, so watch out for that. Another common complaint is that the Personal Electronics Power Station doesn't support USB. How many of your handhelds charge only through USB connections? I can't think of any of my devices that have this problem.

Technorati Tags: Personal Electronics Power Station, electronic gadgets.

Posted by Dave Aiello at 11:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Nike and Apple team up to create
a running computer that consists of
a pair of shoes, a motion sensor, and
an iPod nano.
[ Photo: Apple Computer, Inc. ]

On my son's birthday, Nike and Apple announced a collaboration that will initially allow a pair of Nike running shoes to talk wirelessly to an iPod nano. Over the long run they hope to expand the product line to include more products that bring fitness and entertainment together.

I would have loved to be there for this announcement because it was held in New York and because Lance Armstrong and elite marathoner Paula Radcliffe participated. I wondered how long it would take for Lance Armstrong's involvement in the New York Marathon to result in a marketing opportunity for one of his long-time sponsors. I guess this is the first.

What's cool about the Nike+iPod Sport Kit is that it will only cost $29. Nike and Apple both have other high margin products to sell you if you like the idea of using your iPod as a running computer.

Converting the nano into a running computer is a radical departure from the approach that Polar and Adidas are taking to equipment integration, and a lot of pretty serious runners could be swayed by it.

Technorati Tags: iPod nano, Nike iPod, running computer, fitness gadgets, Lance Armstrong.

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On Monday, Paid Content reported that the NBA struck a deal with iTunes to provide next-day highlight packages to subscribers paying fees between $1.99 and $8.99, depending on the packages selected. I think this is a brilliant move to keep fans in touch with games that they may have missed, and I hope that other leagues will quickly develop similar offerings.

When I first read about this my immediate reaction was, why isn't the NHL doing this? This is a league that is trying to connect with a larger fanbase, but has many extremely loyal fans who have a voracious appetite for game coverage and highlights. Why didn't they think of and implement something like the NBA's Follow Your Team highlight package option? Why don't they strike a deal with the CBC so Americans can see Coach's Corner and Satellite Hotstove?

Everybody who reads Operation Gadget knows how much I love professional cycling. OLN can't afford to produce daily coverage of the Giro d'Italia because the audience is too small. They're streaming live coverage of the Monday through Saturday stages over the Internet for a one-time subscription charge of $19.99. I bet they would realize more revenue from a deal with iTunes showing daily stage highlights.

Regarding more mainstream sports, Major League Baseball has the smarts and the infrastructure to take advantage of a deal like this today. The NFL should do make a deal like this at least to promote their NFL Network that will begin game broadcasts in November.

Technorati Tags: NBA, iTunes, NHL, pro cycling, OLN, MLB, Major League Baseball, NFL.

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A page one article in today's Wall Street Journal discusses the technological threats that are developing to the television industry's business model. One example given in the article is that Major League Baseball's MLB.tv video streaming service collected $265 million from 1.3 million subscribers last year, but still blocked subscribers from watching coverage of their own local teams over the Internet. The reason they did this is because any decrease in the likely audience for a game broadcast over a local cable or over-the-air channel reduces the amount that these affiliates are willing to pay for transmission rights.

The article goes on to point out that The Slingbox (a device that allows you to stream content from your television to your PC and other devices via the Internet) and the Video iPod are considered important new threats to the television industry's business model because of the ability they give owners to place-shift their viewing. Place-shifting is potentially a bigger threat to the television industry than time-shifting because place-shifting seems to reduce the viewer's reliance on a local television station. So, if you choose to buy episodes of Lost from the iTunes Music Store, the local ABC affiliate in your city would probably say that you've decreased the value of that episode to them and their local advertisers.

A lot of people think of themselves as the broadcaster's customer when they watch a television program, but this isn't the case. Access to viewers is a service that broadcasters deliver to their advertising customers.

A year and a half ago, Operation Gadget reported on the battle between the National Football League and TiVo over TiVo-to-Go. Back then, TiVo-to-Go was considered a potential piracy threat because the service was designed to allow up to 10 "affiliated devices" to receive stored content from the TiVo DVR. The thought was that the affiliated devices might not all be owned by people in the same family.

That debate took place before Apple shipped iPods with the ability to play back good-quality video. Now that the TV industry is sensitized to the notion of place-shifting, the loss of program value to the local affiliate would probably considered a bigger issue. [ Subscription required to read many articles in The Wall Street Journal. ]

Technorati Tags: Slingbox, MLB.tv, Lost, Video iPod, iTunes Music Store, TiVo

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Last Saturday, Scott Shalom, Bill Maurer, and I officiated a men's college ice hockey game between Drexel University and Villanova University in Philadelphia. I thought it would be interesting to see how Nokia N90 video clips of a hockey game would turn out, so I lent the camera phone to my friend Shane Hanlon who was at the game to evaluate our on-ice performance.

Before the game began, I gave Shane a 90-second explanation of how to shoot video with the N90. I showed him how to open the camera so it went into video camera mode, how to start and stop recording, and how to zoom in and out using the Carl Zeiss Optics Tessar 2.95/5.5 lens. Shane gave the N90 back to me with three video clips of the game on it. I decided to publish two of them as-is. I'm not publishing the third clip because it's very short and doesn't really show anything. It's pretty clear that Shane was just getting used to the camera at that point.

When you look at these two video clips, you'll probably ask, "Why is the camera focusing on the officials and not the play?" It's because Shane is there to watch the officials. He spent a lot more of his time taking notes than playing with the N90.

Drexel vs Villanova, December 10, 2005, 1 minute 09 seconds.

The point I'm trying to make by publishing these clips, however, is that the Nokia N90 is very easy to use and does a surprisingly good job of capturing the action in one of the fastest sports commonly played in the Northern Hemisphere. The lighting conditions inside the Class of '23 Ice Arena at The University of Pennsylvania in Philadephia are not very good, yet you can easily see the action and identify individual players and officials on the ice.

Drexel vs Villanova, December 10, 2005, 3 minutes 24 seconds.

Remember, these videos were shot with a palm-sized Nokia N90 mobile phone, not some dedicated video camera. These video clips are displayed at 246 x 210 pixel resolution here on Operation Gadget, but they are recorded at 352 x 288, so the image you see when playing the video directly off your PC with a media player is approximately twice this size.

Technorati Tags: Nokia N90, N-Series, Nokia, N90, hockey

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A friend of mine told me that Rush Limbaugh has been raving about the Sony Cybershot DSC-N1 digital camera. Apparently, he got one from a national sponsor that is a computer retailer, and he was struck by the high resolution and the 3-inch touch-sensitive screen on the back of the camera.

I did some research into the camera and found that it has a pretty unique design. The DSC-N1 is supposed to be both a digital camera and a portable photo viewer. In spite of the small size, the Cybershot N1 can shoot an 8.1-Megapixel image that's optically zoomed up to 3x. It's also designed to allow you to organize your photos into albums so you can play slide shows of your recent photos. To me this means that it's unlikely that a DSC-N1 user would also have a Video iPod, but I doubt that most DSC-N1 or Video iPod users would push the limits of either machine for storing and showing off photos.

The DSC-N1 has very few controls other than the touch screen. This is probably a good thing in the minds of people who like to take their camera out of a pocket and snap a picture immediately. It would take getting used to for a lot of veteran camera users. On the other hand, on-screen menu navigation can be quick once you get used to it, thanks to the large screen and absence of buttons. The N1 also comes with on-board photo editing tools, including tools for simple line drawing and cartooning. So, the Cybershot DSC-N1 actually has more UI features than could easily be represented in physical switches and dials.

Another potential issue I see with the DSC-N1 is that it requires Memory Stick Pro add-on memory, such as the 1-Gigabyte Memory Stick Pro. The price of this memory has come down a lot, but it's still more expensive than widely-used SD cards.

More good information about the Sony Cybershot DSC-N1 is available on The Digital Photography Blog.

Technorati Tags: digital cameras, Sony Cybershot DSC-N1, Video iPod, Christmas gifts, Hanukkah gifts

Posted by Dave Aiello at 1:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Cingular BroadbandConnect HSDPA
3G Service is rolling out in 16 U.S. metro
areas. [ Image: Cingular Wireless ]

Cingular Wireless announced yesterday that it launched BroadbandConnect, a third-generation high speed wireless data network using HSDPA (High Speed Downlink Packet Access) technology. According to the Cingular 3G Network Press Release:

Cingular BroadbandConnect is a super-charged enhancement to the company’s nationwide EDGE network, the nation’s largest wireless high-speed data network. When coupled with a compatible device and service plan, the service provides average mobile data connections between 400-700Kbps (kilobits per second) on the downlink and bursts to more than a megabit per second.

Cingular is offering unlimited 3G data service for $59.99 per month with a qualifying voice plan.

BroadbandConnect is deployed initially in the following metropolitan areas:

• Austin
• Baltimore
• Boston
• Chicago
• Dallas
• Houston
• Las Vegas
• Phoenix
• Portland, OR
• Salt Lake City
• San Diego
• San Francisco / San Jose
• Seattle / Tacoma
• Washington D.C.

Unfortunately New York and Philadelphia didn't make it in the first round, so I won't be able to use my Nokia N90 to test it immediately.

Technorati Tags: Cingular, Broadband Connect, 3G, HSDPA, Nokia N90

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I4U.com reported yesterday that Vodaphone is offering a global mobile TV service including content from HBO and Eurosport. Vodaphone's press release specifies the following programming:

• "Sex and the City" and "Six Feet Under" from HBO
• Eurosport
• MTV
• Specially edited for mobile, Seasons 1-4 of "24", featuring Kiefer Sutherland, from Twentieth Century Fox Television
• UEFA Champions League (European soccer)
• Discovery

I recently received a Nokia N90 mobile phone for review purposes. It supports 3G mobile service, to which I don't have access because Cingular has not yet rolled out 3G in my area. If I had 3G service, I'd love to try what Vodaphone is offering and I think the N90 would be a great device on which to try it.

Technorati Tags: Vodaphone, Vodaphone Live!, 3G, Sex and The City, Six Feet Under, HBO, Eurosport, MTV, 24, UEFA Champions League, Discovery Channel

Posted by Dave Aiello at 12:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Marketwatch.com reports that NBC Universal will make 300 episodes of 16 TV programs available via iTunes. NBC Universal and Apple said that certain content from NBC, USA Network, and the Sci-Fi Channel will be available for $1.99 per episode. Shows that are involved in this deal include:

• Law & Order
• The Office
• Surface
• The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
• Late Night with Conan O'Brian
• Alfred Hitchcock Presents
• Dragnet
• Adam-12
• Knight Rider

It's interesting that NBC has included a vintage show from the 1950s, 60s, 70s, and 80s to its iTunes video distribution deal. Look for more appeals to vintage TV fans in the future.

Technorati Tags: Video iPod, NBC, Universal Television

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One of the hottest stories I've ever written for Operation Gadget is What Alternatives to Garage Band Exist on Windows?. I originally wrote this article in March 2004 and I've updated it at least three times because of feedback from our readers.

I just added a professional level audio editing tools discussion to this article where I discuss:

• Adobe Audition 1.5
• Sony Soundforge 8 and
• Steinberg Wavelab 6

I like Adobe Audition best of the three because of it's integration with other Adobe tools and the wealth of third party documentation and training materials. Check out the full discussion and let me know what you think.

Technorati Tags: Garage Band, podcasting, Windows audio software, Adobe Audition, Sony Sound Forge, Steinberg Wavelab

Posted by Dave Aiello at 11:33 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Belkin Kickstand Case for 5G iPod is
available in black or white. [ Photo: Belkin
Corporation ]

I just noticed that Belkin has shipped the Kickstand Case for 5G iPod. It's a really innovative design that doubles as a Video iPod case and a stand. You simply flip the upper half of the leather case down and it will prop up the Video iPod so you can have a hands-free viewing experience. Why didn't I think of that?

Belkin makes it in black and white, although it may be tough to get either one before Christmas and Hanukkah. Good luck finding it-- it's not even available at Amazon.com yet.

When I visited the Apple Store in King of Prussia on Sunday I didn't see a case that I would buy for my own new Video iPod. I think the Belkin Kickstand Case is the case I'd buy if I had to buy one today. [ Kudos to PopGadget for scooping the gadget blogosphere again. ]

Technorati Tags: Video iPod, iPod, iPod accessories, Belkin Kickstand Case, Christmas gifts, Hanukkah gifts

Posted by Dave Aiello at 3:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Earlier today, Rush Limbaugh announced on his syndicated radio show that two music videos from Sgt. Clay Smith are available in iPod Video format exclusively on RushLimbaugh.com. The music videos videos were discussed on Rush Limbaugh's program on November 23 when Limbaugh replayed a call he took during a podcast that he refers to as The Fourth Hour. The caller, Sgt. Clay Smith of the U.S. military, called in from a U.S. base somewhere in the United Kingdom. The songs, called The Ones and Wings of Freedom were written by Clay Smith with music by Mark Salatin and video by M.R. Rodwell.

Whether you agree with Rush Limbaugh's politics or not, this is another indication that third parties are producing content for the iPod with Video Playback and that tons of content will be made available in this format in the near future.

The Rush Limbaugh Show has pushed the envelope of subscription podcasting for quite some time. The service called Rush 24/7, which began as a way to monetize live audio streaming of the program, has now evolved into a podcasting delivery program. They are extending the service on December 12 to support regular video podcasting as well.

Technorati Tags: Rush Limbaugh, Video iPod, iPod music videos, podcasting, video podcasting

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On Sunday, Kathleen and I trekked out to the Apple Store at The Plaza at King of Prussia in the western suburbs of Philadelphia. We had some business to do there and were curious to see the Fifth Generation iPods, since neither of us had held one in our hands before.

I was surprised at how different the 30 Gigabyte iPod with Video Playback felt in my hand than previous iPods. Most of my iPod usage experience comes from the 10-Gigabyte iPod that I gave my wife for Christmas two years ago.

The new iPods are almost exactly the same height and width, but they are about half as thick. The 30-Gigabyte model is 0.43 inches deep, while Kathleen's 10-Gigabyte iPod is 0.78 inches. The 60-Gigabyte model is 0.55 inches deep. The Fifth Generation iPods we looked at on Sunday weigh in at 4.8 or 5.5 ounces, compared to 6.5 ounces for my wife's iPod.

I thought the new iPods were wider than the old ones, but that's probably because the screen are 2.5-inch diagonal color screens while the older iPods are 2-inch diagonal in the same space. The resolution of the new screens is roughly twice as good: 320x240 color, while the old ones are 160 x 128 black and white.

We compared the black and white models of the iPod with video playback, to see which one we preferred. Kathleen felt that the black model had better contast when we were watching movie trailers and music videos that had been preloaded on the Apple Store demo units. I wasn't sure. My concern was which one would show more scratches if I bought it. I think this is less of a concern with units shipping today than those shipped immediately after these models were announced,

I want to make a couple of comments about traffic in our local Apple Store. I was surprised at how easy it was for us to spend time playing with the Video iPods. Most people in the store seemed to be engaged in two other tasks:

1. Standing in line to buy iPods as gifts for friends or relatives. Those people were generally on a mission and didn't do any playing with merchandise.
2. Looking for iPod accessories to purchase. The area stocked with iPod cases, aftermarket earphone, and external speakers was quite crowded and people were spending a lot of time there. We got away from that part of the store as fast as we could.

The demographics of the two groups was also quite different. The first group was generally parents, grandparents, and young adults with plenty of disposable income. The second group was considerably younger.

Technorati Tags: Video iPod, iPod, iPod accessories, Christmas gifts, Hanukkah gifts

Posted by Dave Aiello at 12:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (1)

Many media organizations reported that TiVo announced that the ability to transfer recorded programming from TiVo Series 2 digital video recorders to iPods with Video Playback and PlayStation Portable handheld devices. I emphasize that this capability will be available from TiVo Series 2 DVRs such as the TiVo TCD540040 Series2 40-Hour or TiVo TCD540080 Series2 80-Hour units and not the DirecTV TiVo DVR that I have at my house. Bummer for us.

According to an article that appeared in The Wall Street Journal, recording formats used by TiVo and the iPod differ, so the TiVo Home Media Option will have to be extended to support this conversion and a Windows-compatible PC will be required. As a result, the process is expected to be an overnight synchronization rather than an immeidate transfer.

TiVo is trying to demonstrate the value of a subscription to their digital video recorder service. The Home Media Option that was announced with great fanfare in mid-2003 had little appeal for me, but this feature is far more interesting. I don't need to remind you that I said video playback is going to be a very hot feature of portable media players in 2006, do I? [ Paid subscription required to read many articles from The Wall Street Journal ]

Technorati Tags: TiVo, iPod, PSP, PlayStation Portable

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The Wall Street Journal reported in its Monday edition that Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network will make some of their shows available on-demand for $2.99 per episode. According to the article:

The episodes will be tailored to work exclusively on toy maker Hasbro Inc.'s VuGo portable media player, a kind of video iPod for kids that began appearing on store shelves in recent weeks and sells for about $100 at discount retailers.

In an earlier article, I said that I put an iPod with video playback on my Amazon.com Wish List because I concluded that "video playback is going to be a very hot feature of portable media players in 2006". This deal between Viacom, Time Warner, and Hasbro is another indicator of the willingness of media companies to offer content for use on portable media players.

I think some of these initiatives will prove that there's a market for inexpensive content delivered on-demand. This will result in the availability of a wider variety of content, which will be its own demand driver. Whether lots of parents will pay $2.99 per episode for the right to download SpongeBob SquarePants episodes to their child's VuGo Multimedia System remains to be seen. { Subscription required to read most articles in The Wall Street Journal. ]

Technorati Tags: VuGo, Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network, SpongeBob SquarePants, Hanukkah gifts, Christmas gifts

Posted by Dave Aiello at 12:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (1)

I put a 60-Gigabyte iPod on my Amazon.com Wishlist for my upcoming birthday and the holiday season. Up to now, I haven't been able to decide whether to choose an iPod with video playback capability or an iPod nano, but I decided that video playback is going to be a very hot feature of portable media players in 2006. I think the 30-Gigabyte and 60-Gigabyte iPods on sale today are a great way to get out ahead of the adaptation curve.

If you've read Operation Gadget for a while, you know that I bought my wife Kathleen a 10-Gigabyte iPod for Christmas 2003. She is a real music fan, so it made more sense for her to have one than for me. The biggest user of her iPod has been me, however, because she was a pediatric resident when she got the iPod. Until she finished residency in June, the nature of her work and her schedule severely limited her ability to listen.

I'm looking for a new iPod for myself because I don't feel that the 10-Gigabyte iPod has the capacity to accomodate both of our tastes in music, and I'd like to take advantage of the new photo viewing, podcast listening, and video playback features of the iPod platform.

The iPod nano has a lot going for it at this point. It's far and away the portable audio player with the biggest "wow factor". I don't even care that the iPod nano is prone to scratching. The thing that concerns me about the nano is that I don't want to be left without the video playback feature if I'm getting my own iPod. As the main writer on Operation Gadget, I have to stay current with the trends in the portable media market, and having an iPod with video playback capability would certainly make this easier.

Other buyers must confront the trade-offs between size/weight, cost, performance of flash memory versus hard disk, and video playback capability. These are highly personal decisions, in my opinion.

When I told Kathleen that I put a $400 iPod on my wish list, she said, "A lot of relatives probably won't buy something that expensive as a gift for you." That's true, but by saying which iPod I want, I open the door to people to buy accessories for it which more reasonably priced. In addition to the iPod, I added:

• Apple iPod Universal Dock
• iTunes $15 Prepaid Cards

I could also add a pair of after-market earphones like the ones I mentioned in "What Reasonably Priced Earphones Can I Use to Replace My iPod Earbuds?" or "Shure E4c Sound Isolating Earphones Win Editors' Choice from CNET", but I'm not that much of an earphone connoisseur yet.

One of the things that's going to be a challenge is how to choose a case for your 5th Generation iPod before Christmas and Hanukkah. There just aren't many choices, and many of those that have already been released aren't widely available. One design I like is the Tough Skin from Speck Products, which appears to be available direct from the manufacturer now, but hasn't appeared on Amazon.com. Belkin is coming out with 5G versions of its 4G cases, but I haven't seen them available for purchase yet.

I really enjoyed reading Video iPod, iPod nano, iPod accessories, Christmas gifts, Hanukkah gifts

Posted by Dave Aiello at 10:49 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (1)