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Will rising electricity prices scuttle the electric car? Find free shipping deals on Amazon, eBay and hundreds more sites Apple is beta testing iPhone 2.1 software Coffee Tech: What can an $11,000 coffee machine do for Starbucks brews? CVS launches online drug management tool Houston builds online permitting and licensing system Judge orders Nintendo to stop selling controllers or pay up iPhone availabilty at Dallas-area Apple stores for today -- Thursday, July 24 Facebook wants to reduce application spam Can a voice-recognition program illustrate how people save money in a weak economy? Categories
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July 25, 2008
The hype around electric cars continues to grow, but just as the first wave of electric vehicles are reaching the market, they could crash head-on into soaring electricity prices. For example, Autoblog Green reports that GM is going to coordinate with electric utilities to make sure the infrastructure is in place to support Volt owners plugging in every night to recharge. And The Register has a neat article on the super-cool Electric Lightning from Lightning Car Co. coming as soon as next year that will address one of the main problems of electric vehicles like the Volt: long recharge times. Instead of a slow-charging lithium-ion battery, the Lightning will use new lithium-titanate batteries, which can be 80 percent charged in just two or three minutes, and fully charged in about ten minutes. Those are all great developments on the technology front. But electric cars could be crippled by the same thing that's making gasoline cars so burdensome: the soaring cost of fuel.  Comments (2) Leave comment
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| E-mail entryThe entry "Will rising electricity prices scuttle the electric car?" is tagged: electric car , electricity , price
Shipping costs can eat up a lot of the money you save by shopping online. They also seem morally wrong (to me, at least) since Amazon started offering free shipping on most products. Fortunately, a lot of stores put out coupon codes and other tools for getting free shipping deals. You can find hundreds of those deals rounded up at a site called FreeShippingOn. You can also use the site to search Amazon and eBay -- but only for items that come with free shipping. Comments (0) Leave comment
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| E-mail entryThe entry "Find free shipping deals on Amazon, eBay and hundreds more sites" is tagged: amazon , eBay , freeshippingon , shipping July 24, 2008The release apparently reached developers today. This is not the software designed to fix the bugs that have made 2.0 so unstable. That will come sooner in a 2.0.1 release that's currently being tested. The 2.1 release, according to Gear Live, will enable big improvements to the iPhone 3G's GPS: A few new things we are seeing in this version of the software is the addition of a bunch of Core Location features that track the direction you are heading, and the speed you are traveling. Looks like we might see a turn-by-turn GPS app after all on the iPhone 3G. An AppleInsider report also says the new software will bring "push" features that Apple promised earlier this summer: Announced at the Worldwide Developers Conference, the feature lets third-party native programs receive data such as alerts or new messages without actively running. The measure saves processing power without interrupting some apps that depend on constant access to the Internet. Comments (1) Leave comment
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| E-mail entryThe entry "Apple is beta testing iPhone 2.1 software" is tagged: apple , AT&T , iphone 3G
Coffee enthusiasts say that an $11,000 machine made in Seattle makes astonishingly good coffee because it lets brewers precisely control the amount of coffee, the temperature of the water and the length of brewing time. The CEO of Starbucks was so impressed with the machine that he bought the company that made it so that Starbucks -- and virtually no other company -- could use its incredible technology to reinvigorate its struggling stores. A great story in Wired explains why the $11,000 machine -- dubbed the Clover -- might have been great for independent cafes but is wasted on Starbucks: Great brewing technology doesn't matter much if you use medicore water and terrible, over-roasted beans. A few days after my cupping room challenge, I'm standing in line at a hilltop Starbucks in Seattle's Queen Anne neighborhood -- one of Clover's beta sites. I do a taste test: a cup of Clover coffee versus brewed coffee. A young barista tells me they're out of the first two specialty coffees I request and suggests instead Starbucks' everyday blend, called Pike Place. During brewing, the barista stirs the grounds into the Clover with a clunky rubber spatula -- not a metal whisk -- and pours the concoction into a crummy paper cup. I smell, I sip, I inhale. I can't tell which cup of coffee is which -- and neither is anything special. Is it the beans? My palate? After a few minutes, I finally pick it out: This coffee tastes a little bit like hype. Comments (0) Leave comment
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| E-mail entryThe entry "Coffee Tech: What can an $11,000 coffee machine do for Starbucks brews?" is tagged: clover , coffee , Starbucks
Ideally, Web-based health tools probably shouldn't be tied to any care giver or insurance company. Such ties will stop the tools from performing at least one valuable function -- comparing the value and quality offered by different care givers and insurers -- and they make it much harder to move your information if you cut your ties to the company that sponsors a tool you use. That said, if you're already a CVS customer and have no particular desire for an online tool that helps you find better prices at Wal-Mart or some other pharmacy, the new CVS prescription manager looks pretty useful. Key prescription management features of the new CVS.com include: Those are all pretty handy features. Better still, CVS says it will soon make its site compatible with both Google Health and Microsoft HealthVault. Comments (0) Leave comment
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| E-mail entryThe entry "CVS launches online drug management tool" is tagged: cvs , google health , health , healthvault
It's easy to question whether society benefits when governments require people to get a permit or license to engage in nearly every activity. Why, for example, do most places require people get a license before they can cut hair or put a shed in the back yard? But if governments are going to require licenses for such things, they can at least make it relatively easy for qualified people who cough up the requisite fees to acquire such licenses. The city of Houston apparently agrees with this philosophy because it's upgrading its Web site such that citizens can get nearly any license or permit at any hour of day without setting foot in a government office. Houston signed a contract back in May with GovPartner, a company that builds such e-permitting systems and reports speedy progress on the Houston project: Working in record time, the GovPartner team completed Phase 1 by migrating the City from its old mainframe system to the advanced, 100% .NET web-based CommunityDevelopmentPartner system. By July, the migration was complete, customizations were added to fit Houston's specific processes and staff were trained. Comments (0) Leave comment
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| E-mail entryThe entry "Houston builds online permitting and licensing system" is tagged: e-government , Houston , licences , permits
A federal judge in Lufkin has given Nintendo of America an ultimatum: stop selling three types of Wii and Gamecube controllers that infringe on a Tyler company's patents, or put a portion of sales in escrow to keep the devices on store shelves. U.S. District Judge Ron Clark also ordered Nintendo to pay $21 million in damages and $2 million in prejudgment interest to Anascape Ltd., which says it developed motion technology that's a part of the controllers. Read the judge's full decision here. Judge Clark's ruling affects the nationwide sale of the Wii Classic controller, along with the wired Gamecube controller and the wireless WaveBird controller. Nintendo will likely appeal the ruling in the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C. and post bonds in place of the damage and escrow orders, says Anascape lawyer Doug Cawley, of Dallas-based McKool Smith. Anascape, founded by Tyler inventor Brad Armstrong, does not manufacture any products, but may make its own third-party controllers for the Wii and other video game systems, Cawley says. Wednesday's decision is the culmination of a nearly two-year legal battle that initially included Microsoft as defendant alongside Nintendo. Microsoft, which sells the Xbox 360, settled with Anascape. A federal jury ruled in favor of Anascape over Nintendo in May. Comments (15) Leave comment
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| E-mail entryThe entry "Judge orders Nintendo to stop selling controllers or pay up" is tagged: gamecube , nintendo , patent , wii
For folks who don't want to wait a few weeks, as I recommend you do, here's the scoop from local Apple stores as of 10:30 Thursday. Quick take: The only phones in the area right now are white 16GB models at NorthPark, and there's a 2.5 hour line of people waiting for them. The other stores say they may -- or may not -- get more today.
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| E-mail entryThe entry "iPhone availabilty at Dallas-area Apple stores for today -- Thursday, July 24" is tagged: apple , AT&T , iphone 3G Having just cleaned up the somewhat cluttered look of its site, Facebook said during its developer conference yesterday that it plans to impose some order on third-party applications. From now on, the company will invite developers to submit their applications to something called the Facebook Verification Program, which will see if they meet several criteria for good citizenship. Developers don't have to participate in the process, but applications that get "verified" will be able to advertise that fact, sort of like a cleaning product advertising its Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval. The company will also take an extra step to draw attention to those applications it considers really extraordinary. It introduced its Great Applications program yesterday and bestowed the award on two applications, a music sharing program from iLike and a charity application called Causes. Hopefully, these two programs will reduce the amount of sheep thrown on Facebook and increase the incentive for developers to come up with useful applications. If not, a report from IDG News suggests that CEO Mark Zuckerberg will take more aggressive steps. "We haven't done enough to reward the good applications or punish the applications that have just been abusive," he told a crowded hall of developers in San Francisco's South of Market district. "We're going to have to find a way to ensure the applications that provide the most long-term value are the ones that are succeeding." Here's hoping he succeeds. Comments (0) Leave comment
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| E-mail entryThe entry "Facebook wants to reduce application spam" is tagged: applications , facebook , social networks July 23, 2008
Perhaps it can. V-Enable, a company that provides 411 services for Alltel and Richardson-based MetroPCS, examined 20,000 queries and published the most requested numbers by category. TechCruch blogger Kalley Nye takes a look at the results, compares them to earlier surveys and argues that America's changing use of 411 says a lot about how people are tightening their belts. For example, names like Olive Garden and Red Lobster used to make the restaurant list. But the current Top 10 reads as follows. Nye finds a lot more examples of spending cutbacks suggested by 411 requests, and they're all interesting. One thing I'll add: Aside from illustrating that Americans want cheap food, the restaurant list also illustrates how frequently people use the information service on their mobile phones to get an address rather than a number. People call pizza places to order deliveries, of course, and they could conceivably call the Denny's to ask if there's a wait. But there's no reason of any kind to call a McDonald's, a Burger King, a Wendy's, a Taco Bell or a Starbucks. Comments (0) Leave comment
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| E-mail entryThe entry "Can a voice-recognition program illustrate how people save money in a weak economy?" is tagged: 411 , downturn , economy , fast food , information , recession , voice recognition
Nearly a year after purchasing the video-download firm Movielink, Dallas-based Blockbuster Inc. has integrated the service into its Web site and invited 500 customers to test it. Blockbuster selected these "beta testers" from the ranks of its Total Access members, both to thank them for their business and to mine their suggestions for improvements. The test will expand next week and keep expanding until the formal launch of blockbuster.com Movielink, sometime in August. Blockbuster's Web-based video service will differ considerably from that of arch-rival Netflix Inc. -- which charges flat fees for unlimited access to 10,000 older titles. Blockbuster will charge $2 and up for movie rentals and $8 and up for movie purchases. Titles will be available for purchase when they come out on DVD and available for rental when they hit video-on-demand services. Though technically possible to watch downloaded films on a TV, it's tricky. Most people will prefer to watch on their PCs (Movielink won't work on Macs) until Blockbuster creates a shortcut to the TV. Users can store purchased titles on their hard drives but they can't burn them onto DVDs. Comments (5) Leave comment
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| E-mail entryThe entry "Blockbuster begins Movieline video-download beta testing" is tagged: Blockbuster , movielink , netflix , video download
Most critics consider Samsung's 81 Series of LCD HDTVs to be the best currently available, but that will probably change next month, when the company begins selling its next-generation sets. Like its predecessor, the new Series 9 sets will use LED backlights, but this latest generation will be able to turn on and off fast enough to provide much better black levels. Actually, the Samsung press release seems to claim the new sets will produce true blacks: As Samsung's second generation LCD HDTV to use advanced LED SmartLighting with local dimming technology, the Series 9 LCD HDTV is able to achieve dramatic contrast levels and express "actual black levels" by completely shutting off a pixel's light source, eliminating the grayish black picture plaguing many LCD HDTVs. Conversely, groups of pixels can be locally controlled to produce more light increasing the brightness of the Series 9's picture when necessary. "Actual black" is probably hyperbole. LCD sets have always trailed plasma sets in that department and even plasma can't produce true blacks yet (though Pioneer is expected to pull it off with next year's models.) That said, a substantial improvement in black levels would really help any LCD set, so this may be a big improvement. Judging from the press release, I don't see any other areas of major improvement, but I'll be curious to see the reviews start rolling in. Suggested pricing is currently $3,199 for the 46-inch model and $4,199 for the 55-inch model, but you should be able to find them at substantial discounts before then. If you're looking to buy a high-end TV before August, I'd recommend you check out the new line of Kuro TVs from Pioneer. Many reviewers think they're the best TVs in the world right now, and the prices are about in line with top-of-the-line LCDs. The 60-inch model is currently selling for $3,950 on Amazon and the 50-inch model goes for $2,940. Comments (0) Leave comment
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| E-mail entryThe entry "Samsung unveils new flagship line of LCD HDTVs" is tagged: hdtv , LCD , LED , plasma , samsung
For folks who don't want to wait a few weeks, as I recommend you do, here's the scoop from local Apple stores as of noon Wednesday. Quick take: Three of the four stores have them today, but the 45 minute line in Southlake is about a third as long as what you'll find in Willow Bend and NorthPark. I guess people don't want to wait outside.
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| E-mail entryThe entry "iPhone availabilty at Dallas-area Apple stores for today -- Wednesday, July 23" is tagged: apple , AT&T , iphone 3G |
The running costs for fuelling an elect
"I can't imagine too many folks are des
This is a false concern many have. The
When will it be available ? Thanks.
TEXT is not data!!!! That is why it is
Hurray for the little guy!!! Without t
geeze. if anyone who created a "new thi
The patent office no longer requires b
Dave, do you have any idea how many com
Yea, that bird is already in the air an