technology and future gadgets

One month left to catch R2D2 mailboxes

The U.S. Post Office just informed me that those lovely R2D2 mailboxes, mentioned here and here and here on this blog, will be heading overseas after Oct. 25.
Why? “To be used at military installations. I can see it now… ‘Artoo enlists with the Marines’ …. ha,” said Richard Maher, a USPS spokesman.
I was hoping they would be auctioned off. It’d be cool if the Register would splurge and buy one for our headquarters.
So, last chance: If you want to see the R2D2 boxes in person, you can find them in two places in Orange County:
Westminster: 15401 Brookhurst
Irvine: the new Northwood Station, 1 League
In other “Star Wars meets U.S. Post Office” news, 900-year-old Jedi Master Yoda is the stamp of choice, as voted by America. The Postal Service will release a sheet of 20 stamps featuring Yoda on Oct. 25. A kick-off event for the stamp is on the same day at 10 a.m. at Madison Square Garden in New York.
Meanwhile, the Star Wars stamp collection, which has been on sale since spring, will retire on May 25, 2008. The Yoda stamp will retire Oct. 25, 2009.

Disney’s phone service ends not so happily ever after

Another mobile-phone service bites the dust. This time, it’s Disney, which will pull the plug by the end of the year.
I mention this because this was one service reviewed here on The Gadgetress, with help from Nancy Luna and family. We all liked it because it gave parents control over how long and who their kids could talk to. Plus there was a locater feature so parents could see on a computer where in the world their kid was. We gave it a 4-out-5 rating.
The reason for the unhappy ending, according to this AP story, is Disney had “problems getting the phone into large retailers.” Really? Disney had problems? Imagine the little guy who is trying to get a product in a place like Macy’s…
Story goes on to say that because retailers had exclusive deals with other cell-phone carriers, even Disney with its golden touch couldn’t get retailers to budget.
Service will continue to the end of the year. This is a big bummer to anyone who signed on. In exchange for the inconvenience:

• Disney will reimburse customers for handsets and accessories that were purchased through Disney Mobile. More details on this will be available Oct. 8, 2007 at disneymobile.go.com
• Disney will waive early termination fees if customers end their contracts before Dec. 31.
• Disney encourages customers to transfer the phone number to a new carrier before Nov. 30. More details on transferring cell-phone numbers HERE.

D-Link updates its MediaLounge player

More news from the Digital Life event in New York. D-Link, which made the trek from its Fountain Valley headquarters, has updated its MediaLounge MediaPlayer.
Just like older models, the new MediaLounge DSM-750 connects to a TV in the living room, for example, while wirelessly connecting to computers in other rooms to grab video, music and photo files and, as of yesterday, access to 200-plus Internet TV channels.
Today’s updated MediaLounge adds technology to extend Windows Media Center from Windows Vista computers to TV. Extenders began popping up after Microsoft introduced its Windows Media Center for XP. This allowed TV shows recorded on a Media Center computer to be streamed to a TV in another room.

D-Link’s new MediaLounge claims to be capable of streaming high-definition video, thanks to integrating the latest Wi-Fi technology called draft 802.11n. It also includes an HDMI port and a USB 2.0 port to plug in a thumb drive to view photos. The $350 MediaLounge should be available in stores and online in November.

Mac users get new, improved iWOW plug-in for iTUNES

SRS Labs says Mac users can get an even better surround sound experience with its new version of iWOW for iTunes.
In addition to better audio than the original iWOW, SRS says the iWOW 2 has new preset options and allows users to listen to and view movies and videos in surround sound over headphones on iTunes.

You can create and save presets for specific songs, videos and podcasts. A new auto-present, automatically chooses the best iWOW preset based on the information in the music or video. Other presets were created for podcasts, techno and acoustic music. There are three new playback settings for videos.
iWOW 2 requires a Mac running OS X 10.2 or better with iTunes 6 or better. The plug-in can be downloaded directly from SRS Labs and other leading download sites. The plug-in sells for an introductory price of $19.99. Users who have previously bought iWOW 1 can try the new version and upgrade for $11.99.
For more, CLICK HERE. ~Mary Ann Milbourn

Gateway One puts ports on power pack

**New info added 10:21 a.m. to address some comments**
Irvine’s Gateway Inc. is no design star in the computer world. Few companies are. But its latest computer, simply called “One,” is an all-in-one beauty that has folks talking it up on message boards. No wonder:

At a Digital Life press conference in New York this morning, the Irvine company will unveil One, which has been in the works for months.
Gateway has long offered an all-in-one computer, which means all of the computer parts (hard drive, processor, memory, etc…) are fused to the back of the screen. The Gateway Profiles have been out for several years, with minimal success. Pictured on right is the Gateway Profile 6 and the Profile 4.
Gateway’s Glenn Jystad answered a few questions ahead of time. Mainly, what’s so special about this new computer?
Jystad, Gateway’s senior manager in the consumer products division for consumer desktops, points to the power cable as a key difference from everything else out there:

‘Halo’ makes history

True to Microsoft‘s words, Tuesday’s launch of “Halo 3” did indeed become “the biggest day in entertainment history,” ringing in $170 million at cash registers all over the U.S.
That tally eclipsed what until Tuesday was the one-day record for entertainment revenue: The “Spider-Man 3″ movie, which made $151 million on May 6 this year.
So, does this news from Microsoft surprise me? Yes and no. I had little doubt that “Halo 3″ would break the then-record of $125 mil in a day set in 2004 by “Halo 3,” but $170 mil! Wow.
Those are some big numbers. Granted, editions such as the $130 “Legendary” version assuredly helped boost these figures, but it’s impressive considering this game only runs on a still-relatively new console — The Xbox 360, which only turns 2 in November.
This tally is also significant because of its boost for the 360 in its battle as the king of the current generation of consoles. Looks like the rivals have some work to do, especially Sony.
– Matt Degen

Contest alert: Design a t-shirt, win $2,000+

More contests — see Contest category
Big video-game festival coming our way next month. The first-ever “E For All Expo” sounds like an attempt to be what annual E3 game conference used to be but open to the public.
The Expo will have the latest games ready to play, celebrity sightings and competitions. So gamers and fans, mark you calendars for Oct. 18 to 22 at the Los Angeles Convention Center.
And in the meantime… try to win $2,000.
Event organizers have teamed up with Threadless.com for the “Loves Threadless t-shirt design competition, which ends Oct. 1. Competition looks tough though. Check out some of the designs so far:

The challenge: Create a t-shirt design to express what “Power Up & Play” means to the world of video games.
The prize: Free trip for two to the E for All Expo ($400 airfare gift card + lodging), a Nintendo Wii and $2,000.
To enter: Visit www.threadless.com/loves/eforall for details.
Contest ends Oct. 1.

Powerline is back! ZyXEL offers three new gadgets

Using a home’s power lines to network computers never quite went away, but I haven’t heard much about the technology in years.
But apparently, Powerline networking, a.k.a. HomePlug, never went away. It’s still a good way to connect computers when you don’t want to run Ethernet cabling through the walls or opt for wireless. Why? High throughput of up to 200 megabits per second!
Three new products from ZyXEL Communications in Anaheim: NBG318S Powerline Wireless Router (pictured on right and below from the back), PLA450 Powerline Wireless Access Point and the PLA470 Powerline Wireless Switch.

ZyXEL promotes Powerline as a way users can “extend their existing wireless network.” Check out the rest of ZyXEL’s Powerline page — there are some more “coming soon” HomePlug products.

Warning against iHacking

At the end of this week, Apple promises an update for iPhones that includes a wireless iTunes store. And surprise, surprise, the update could result in “irreparable damage” to anyone who has unlocked their iPhone. Who didn’t know this was coming?
The company issued a statement earlier this week warning against hacking your $599 $399 phone to get it to work with other cell phone companies, play SuperMario and more. The statement goes on to say that if you mess with your phone, any damage is not Apple’s fault and the warranty is void. According to this article, the hackers are vowing to persist hacking the phones.
What do you think, is Apple just trying to scare folks away from unlocking phones? Why? Will you hack your iPhone? Why?

D-Link TV: 200+ channels

::UPDATE:: D-Link says service is FREE unless channel already charges, such as Movielink.
I feel like I’ve heard this one before. A company jumps into Internet TV offering dozens — no hundreds — of “channels” for your viewing pleasure. Only the channels are obscure, content is infrequently updated or required spending money on hardware.
Hopefully, Fountain Valley’s D-Link Systems has figured a way to make this work. Today, it announced a new service for its MediaLounge player, a device that connects a TV to the home computer network.
The service offers more than 200 channels of Internet TV to users of its MediaLounge player, a gadget that connects your TV to the Internet.
While watching D-Link’s new “TV” service only works if you buy the $250 DSM-520 MediaLounge, unclear is whether the Internet TV service will cost extra. Just heard back from D-Link. Service is free for most channels, just as they are online. But if they charge online, MediaLounge customers will have to pay up too.

• Tweet
• Share
• Share
• Share
• Share

Sign up here with your email