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BlueOrganizer Upgrades (3.2)

by drdrew on February 12, 2007 in bdtsp, news, reviews, technology with 1 Comment

We’ve talked about AdaptiveBlue‘s BlueOrganizer for some time now. I caught them out at DEMOfall last year, and their Firefox/Flock extension is so full of features, it’s impossible to talk about them all here. You really have to give it a try.

At its simplest, BlueOrganizer allows you to bookmark/rate/share things online. Podcasts, Movies or CD’s on Amazon, or websites. Basically everything on the net becomes an item that you can organize and share. One great application is to create a wish list. When you add an item, you can say that you “want it”, and now with the new upgrade, you can easily create a flash widget to put on your MySpace or Blog and allow people to click them and such.

Seems pretty simple eh? Well there’s more to it. Right click on any link to bring up the “BlueMenu” which lets you dig further into a subject or item.

Seriously, you really just have to give it a try to see all of the features. Everything is gathered offline so you can track your stuff even when you have no interwebs.

Check it out and share your widgets with us:

http://www.adaptiveblue.com/

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The Wii Browser (powered by Opera Software)

by drdrew on February 10, 2007 in bdtsp, reviews, technology with 3 Comments

So Nintendo released the Wii and so far it has been a great success! I had the privilege to try out the Wii when I went to Opera HQ last week. I played some games and used the Wii browser (powered by Opera Software). If I was honest, it took some getting used to! I’m not used to so much motion when playing a video game and I was quite concious of what an idiot I looked! It was obvious though that the people at the Opera offices had got used to the commotion as they didn’t seem to even notice.

Once I had worn myself out, I moved on to the browser. Now this I liked! It would be a lot easier if there was some kind of keyboard hardware as opposed to the on-screen keyboard though. I have never been a fan of on-screen keyboards on devices, however on gaming machines such as the DS Lite, there isn’t much choice and you do eventually get used to using them.

The Browser itself is surprisingly advanced. There isn’t a great deal that’s different from using a normal browser. It has an impressive zoom in, zoom out feature which I had a lot of fun with. The Wii browser also supports flash, Ajax and CSS.

You can currently use the free beta until the endof June 2007, the final version should be available at the end of March 2007. After June 2007, the price will be 500 Wii Points (about $5).

_Leila

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Drew gets a Wii, Loses his Damn Mind

by drdrew on February 5, 2007 in bdtsp, reviews with 1 Comment

Ok, seriously. I was cautious about the Nintendo Wii. I thought, “Oh, just a fad”, “Just another video game console”. Boy was I wrong.

I used to be a heavy heavy gamer. I’m talking hours and hours of Madden. I’m talking hours and hours of Castlevania. I always wanted to be a video game developer, that was my dream. Eventually, I got so busy that I didn’t have time to enjoy video games anymore, didn’t have the time to spend on them. A few years ago I bought an Atari 2600 (jr edition, just like I had when I was a kid). I feverishly bought every Atari game I could. The old games were awesome, they were fun, and they were simple. Surely, no video game system could ever replicate that experience. Wrong again.

The Nintendo Wii is revolutionary. The graphics aren’t astounding, they’re nothing that makes you drop your jaw. But the gaming experience itself? Amazing. I broke down and got a Wii on Saturday. I found someone here in Seattle on Craigslist selling one. Did I overpay? Sure. But I had heard so many conflicting stories about the Wii, I had to try it for myself. Alisa was very supportive as I went back on forth with “To Wii or Not to Wii”. Finally, she just said “Get it already!!!!” So I did.

Wii Sports could be the only game I ever get and I would be happy. Addictive? Yes. Fun? Oh Yeah. Is my arm sore? Fuck yeah. Bowling is beyond addictive. I suck at Golf, but it’s fun as hell. On Saturday we played for 6 hours, Sunday 5 more hours. The following video will scare you. But if you have a Wii, you’ll understand. More video reviews later.

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Leila says “iPhone has drawbacks”

by Leila on January 25, 2007 in apple, bdtsp, iphone, reviews, tech show, tech tips with 2 Comments

The much anticipated iphone was unveiled earlier this month at the MacWorld Expo in San Fransisco. Currently restricted to Cingular customers only, the iphone is proving to be extremely popular and has left a lot of people on other networks disappointed. But what is it about the the iphone that’s really got people counting down the days, hours and minutes to it’s release.

After revolutionising how we listen to music, Apple have taken it one step further and have created a phone of the future. The iPhone combines quad band mobile phone technology,  widescreen ipod with touch screen controls and a “breakthrough” internet communications device.

Measuring  115 x 61 x11.6mm, the phone is slim, sleek and bursting with technology! Connection is real easy with this phone. For me, Bluetooth is essential so I can send my pictures to my laptop easily and quickly. But it also comes with wi-fi and EDGE , so there are plenty of choices. The iPhone  also boasts a desktop class email allowing you to keep in touch on the move, web browser for quality mobile internet and you’ll never get lost with Google maps which is almost a must on most phones in today’s market. It really is the ideal phone for keeping in touch and staying connected.

If that wasn’t enough for you, the widescreen iPod might attract you. With touch screen controls and a choice of 4 or 8 gig of store, you can carry your entire music collection in your phone , in your pocket. I don’t know about any other girls out there, but it definitely saves on the handbag space! The iPhone is also compatible with iPod accessories such as car docking stations and speakers, which means no need to rush out and upgrade your current iPod accessories.

Other features include a 2 mega-pixel camera, a minimum requirement in my opinion. Phone photography has come along way in the past year or two and anything less would be a major disappointment. The Multi touch display with qwerty keyboard is an interesting choice – I can’t comment on the usability of this, but being the first of it’s kind, I’m sure it would take some getting used to. Touch screens seem to be the way of the future and I am sure other companies will follow suit. Time to start practising the tapping. The iPhone also comes with an optimized MAC OS X operating system, pdf viewer and widgets (mini applications).

Sounds great right?  Maybe… but as with all technology, it has it’s drawbacks. As I mentioned before, the iPhone is only available on the Cingular network and this will be the case for the next two years. Bad news for the games also, currently, the iPhone doesn’t come with any games. I would expect this to change fairly quickly though as the current iPods come with standard games. Are you one of those people who likes to catch embarrassing moments on video? Well you may have to wait for a while. The iPhone only takes still pictures at the moment. I don’t think it will be long before they upgrade the camera to include the video feature though, as most standard camera phones do. As there is no video, there is also no 3G technology at the moment either.  One frequently highlighted drawback is that the wi-fi and Bluetooth do not have syncing capabilities with calendars or email, which may prove to be a problem for the busy exec. For the moment, if you want to have your appointments on your iPhone and computer, it will be a case of entering the details twice over.

But overall, the iPhone seems to be a big hit. I am certainly looking forward to it’s release and I am sure sales will speak for themselves. Priced at about the $500 -$600 mark (depending on how much store you choose), they aren’t cheap, but you will certainly be the envy of all your friends.

Best Damn Phone – the iPhone Killer

by drdrew on January 15, 2007 in bdtsp, news, reviews, tech tips with 3 Comments

Steve Jobs’ Apple iPhone has nothing on the Best Damn Phone.

Can’t wait to get your iPhone? No worries, get the Best Damn Phone and start showing off to your friends and colleagues.

digg it

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Babes of CES 2007 – Courtesy of Thomas Hawk

by drdrew on January 13, 2007 in bdtsp, news, reviews with No comments

The man is brilliant.  His photography cannot be beaten.  The Best Damn Tech Show bows down to you Mr. Hawk.

The Babes of CES 2007PoseLa La in black and whiteTemptationAll Made UpAutographSharp

Check out the Babes of CES 2007 Gallery.

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Applegasm Keynote Summary

by flemo on January 9, 2007 in apple, reviews, technology with 4 Comments

AppleSo it’s no secret that I loves me macs. Todays keynote address has left me pretty giddy. Here’s a brief summary…

iTunes Store
Jobsy reminded us how popular iTunes is with additional TV Shows and movies. He announced a partnership with Paramount.

Zune
Speaking candidly on the newest iPod competitor, th Zune Jobsy simply stated that the Zune could only manage a 2% market share.

AppleTV
Previously dubbed the iTV, Jobsy announced that this product will go by the name AppleTV. With some impressive specs including built-in wireless, HDMI, 720p HD video, 40GB hard drive, Intel, and network capabilities for up to 5 computers. He demonstrated the product, revealing an iTunes interface, connectivity with a MacBook and a nice price point of $299. Look for it in Feb.

iPhone
Jobsy hyped this one big time, “This is the day I’ve been looking forward to for two and a half years. Every once in a while a revolutionary product comes along that changes everything.”
Apparently Apple is reinventing the phone. Using multitouch, running OSX, iTunes sync, Wifi, Bluetooth…you name it, it seems to have it, they’re teaming up with Cingular and are looking towards grabbing a 1% market share in 2008.

Apple Inc.
Jobsy finished off by announcing that they’re changing their name from Apple Computers Inc. to Apple Inc. after realising the immense popularity of their peripheral products like the iPod (and plan on doing the same with the iPhone). John Mayer joined him on stage to finish the keynote with a couple of songs that one assumes will be DRM-enabled.

Jobsy never fails to disappoint. I’m sure they’ll have the keynote up soon enough on the Apple website. Phew, was it good for you?

_flemo.

Pandora and BDTSP

by drdrew on November 3, 2006 in bdtsp, Interviews, news, podcasting, reviews, technology with 4 Comments
Pandora and BDTSP, originally uploaded by bestdamntech.

Tonight, Tim Westergren (founder and CSO of Pandora.com) hung out with the Best Damn Tech Show, Period. and taped next weeks show. I won’t give anything away, but be sure to check out next weeks show on Tuesday. Tim came along with Michele, who also works for Pandora and they were awesome.

After the taping, we went on over to the Upenn bookstore in Philly for a town hall style meeting. There was an awesome turnout, and Tim did a great job talking about the roots of Pandora and the Music Genome project.

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