Good afternoon, everyone! I got a chance to see 'Star Trek' and wow -- I'm not sure I've ever seen a movie cast so perfectly! Spock and Scottie were the highlights for me, but I could watch James T. Kirk everyday!

Microsoft had its own way of celebrating the newest edition to what is becoming the 'Star Trek' multi-verse! OMG -- I love it when companies do stuff like this! Talk about employee retention!

OK, on to the news...

-Apple has officially backed down from yet another bad decision in its app store -- you can download the now-approved Nine Inch Nails app anytime you'd like.

-AT&T has bought a ton of land owned by Verizon to extend its service area.

-Microsoft confirmed that it's newest operation system, Windows 7, will be available this year. In time for the holiday shopping season, no doubt!

-The Space Shuttle Atlantis is a go for launch today to help repair the Hubble Space Telescope! Now, this news makes me totally psyched -- those images are so beautiful and important to the forwarding of science... I have no joke, this is what I truly think :)

-Having been an archaeologists in a former life (c'mon, how many people can say that?!), I love this story from our parents at USAToday.com on how archaeologists can help us feel better about our lives based on how crappy life was thousands of years ago. Schadenfreude!

-Good news if you live on the planet Earth -- this year's solar-storm forecast is the mildest in 90 years :) Why do we care about solar storms? Because the blasts of radiation let off by the sun during these storms travels wicked fast through space and, when it smashes into the Earth (happens all the time, don't freak), it causes power outages and serious interference.

-The boys over at the Game Hunters blog have me salivating over Bioshock 2 -- the follow-up to what is possibly my favorite video game, like, ever! Long live Rapture, but let's get that Big Sister, Bubbles!

OK, so send me your reviews on 'Star Trek' and I'll share them with the group! :) Until Wednesday, live long and prosper!!

Labels: Apple, ATT, Bioshock 2, Hubble, Nine Inch Nails, Space Shuttle Atlantis, Star Trek, Verizon, Windows 7 beta

Good afternoon -- it's a gorgeous day up here in the North East, so while I lament not being able to properly enjoy it, let's take a look at these headlines...

Have you ever played 'Werewolf'? Apparently it's all the rage along the West Coast where techno-geeks from around Silicon Valley are converging at conferences to play this psycho-whimsical game. Large groups -- often more than one at once -- are deemed the villagers while one unknown person among them is the werewolf. During the 'Night' the werewolf can kill the villagers (who have their eyes closed so they don't know who it is), but during the 'Day' they vote and eliminate on person they think it the werewolf.

Yeah, I've played before, and it can be pretty fun. Of course, when I played, it was with 10 8-year-olds in an acting class based on Harry Potter ... but I'm sure those kids thought they were geeks, too.

In news so sickening and offensive I thought about not mentioning it ... forget it, I can't bring myself to. Needless to say, Apple apologized.

Now, onto better things, Pixar is teaming up with cluster-balloon pilot Jonathan Trappe -- yeah, that weird guy who uses helium balloons attached to an armchair to fly. Pixar is hoping to drum up publicity for it's new film, Up,' about a cranky old man who uses a cloud of balloons to turn his house into a true mobile home .... 4,000 feet high!

President Obama is about to get his new Blackberry that has reportedly been secured by the NSA. They'd better hope the security holds -- Mr. Pres is going to have a bulls eye on his back larger than Redmond! Imagine the bragging rights of the hacker who busts into that account ...

Looking for a good rant for the day? Check out this one arguing how casual gaming is going to overtake and kill hard-core gaming -- or has it already?

I'm going to be gone all next week -- no blog updates!! But check back here May 4 for some full updates, new reviews and lots of snarky commentary :) Have a great week!!

Labels: Apple, balloons, barack obama, BlackBerry, Pixar, shaken baby app, Werewolf

Good morning everyone! I didn't make good on my promise yetserday to post a list of the day's headlines, so here is an emergency dose of Byte-Sized to clear away the pre-holiday jitters and cobwebs!

Huge, industry shaking news out of (who else) Apple today: Book publisher Random House has announced that it is pairing with Apple to offer books on the iPhone and iPod Touch -- effectively turning the ultra-popular device into an e-reader! What this mean for the market? It adds legitimancy to a budding industry lead right now by Amazon.com's Kindle (a fave of this blog) and the Sony e-Reader. But, will it put these two out of business?

I'm excited and scared about the implications of such a partnership... The industry does not have a standard format for digital books at the moment, and it's a totally odd puzzle peice that Apple wants to delve into the battle. Of course, it could also be a brilliant move and a nod toward standardization.

Ehhhhh I'm not sure, but this is the first time I've ever honestly considered buying an iPhone. It's almost too good a proposition to be true -- the internet, an eReader, a phone and an MP3 player? Eek. Of course, there are people wagging their fingers at Apple for making a dumb move. Our own Dee Murray (ecstatic owner of a gen-one Kindle) insists no one will want to read a book off such a tiny screen... I'm not sure if I hope she's right...

OK, so thanks for tuning into today's random Byte-Sized! I'll be back tomorrow with the wrap-up of the Byte-Sized Holiday Gift Guide, where I'll name my gadget of the year!

Just a reminder, we are off the rest of this week after tomorrow, so have a wonderful holiday season!

Labels: Apple, ereader, iPhone, iPod touch, Random House

Good morning, everyone! Today is a double tall mocha day in New England, so wrap your hands around your beverage of choice and let's get to the headlines...

Obviously, the biggest news of the day is out of Apple -- Steve Jobs will not be giving his annual keynote address at the Macword Conference this year. No word on whether this has to do with his illness, but Apple also took the time to announce that this will be the last year the company will even attend Macworld. Something is brewing over at Apple and I don't like the looks of it.

File this one under "Bad idea from the start." Dell has decided, after being the butt of too many India-based customer service jokes and complaints to enumerate, that it will offer customers the 'option' of dealing only with U.S.-based reps. The kicker? It is charging customers $13 a month or $99 a year. Seriously. WTF, Dell -- understandable customer service (no offense) should be free, not a premium. Ridiculous.

A new survey finds that Americans place Internet access above TV and having sex. That's seems like skewed data -- numbers that I don't necessarily agree with. I can understand the pleasure of a nice night at home clicking through the channels in jammies so fluffy and baggy that even thinking the word 'sex' around them seems wrong, but foregoing sex to sit in front of a blinky computer screen? Nope, I'm all set with that. Thoughts? Which would you prefer?

A new device is available that disconnects cell phone service in cars when the engine in running. This is a hot issue, but I can't say that I'm for or against either side. (How's that for a double negative tandem positive?) See, on the one hand, I love chatting in the car. I can hold all my tedious but still important phone conversations, like making appointments and catching up with friends, during my commutes, leaving me able to play with my kids while I'm at home. On the other, my husband can't talk on the phone and drive without missing an exit or driving in the wrong direction for 20 miles. So... a device to stop cell phone service in a car? Eek.


Have a great day, and don't forget to enter the Byte-Sized Holiday Giveaway for a MIMOBOT USB Flash Drive! The response has been great so far, so make sure to get your ballot in! You won't win anything if you don't enter!

Labels: Apple, Byte-Sized Holiday Giveaway, cell phones, customer service, Dell laptop security, Internet and sex, Macworld keynote address, MIMOBOT USB Flash Drive, Steve Jobs

Good morning, everyone! Pop your coffee pod in your office Keurig and settle in for some nice technology bytes...

Sad tidings at Google this year -- the company's annual 'We're so much better than you' holiday party has been cancelled in favor of smaller, more socially responsible get-togethers. According to reports, instead of lavish dining and festivities that include laughing at the escorts the very rich, very geeky employees found through online ads and brought to the party, employees will be spending the early evening volunteering and then touring museums. Did I also mention that there is only one steadfast loser out there searching for a date to his Google mini-shindig? Best get right on that, ladies.

Big Bang Theory is one of my very favorite shows -- who doesn't love Sheldon's razor-sharp monotone and 3/4-length shirts? -- but should you stick around afterwards for the tepidly entertaining How I Met Your Mother? From an acting perspective... only if you adore (as I do) Neil Patrick Harris, whose lone spotlight in the show was eclipsed only by his bra-zilliant turn in Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog. But, onto my tech point, the show offers a whole online aspect I've rarely seen in my surfing. Official sites for Not A Father's Day, TedMosbyIsAJerk.com and Lily's 50 Reasons to Have Sex pop up minutes after airtime and offer loyal viewers another whole facet to the fan experience. Kudos to the show's forward-thinking marketing team. Not so much to its writers...

Apple is quietly suggesting that it's loyalites install anti-virus software onto their precious Macs -- a definite sign of the times. Gone is the arrogant pontificating by Mac users that their computers are 'safe' from malware. I'm not if we should celebrate this day or lament it -- I've never thought Macs were immune to attack, but I do think this may be a ploy within Apple to advertise (whether or not it's true) that it has a close to similar market share as Microsoft. Redmond has been a favorite target for hackers (not the cute, multi-colored hair, chain-wearing ones that we all love) and miscreants for year -- does Apple want some of the attention, too?

Scientists are scrounging up new data on Oetzi -- "the famous, 5,300 year old frozen mummy found in the Alps nearly two decades ago" -- writes PopSci. By analyzing the contents of his stomach, researchers have determined the Iceman ate six different kinds of moss (probably not the sweetly delicious pond scum found the the Naked's Green Machine drinks at the grocery store...). They are also not willing to close the book on his death and are revisiting possible causes.

Quote of the day:
"I'm one scotch and soda away from the cantina scene in Star Wars."
--Barney Stinson (Neil Patrick Harris), How I Met Your Mother

**Coming up: I take the new Flip HD Mino out for its paces against it's rival, the Kodak HD Zi6. Which mini-corder reigns supreme? Hint: The winner is officially my coolest gadget of the year. Tune in Friday to read all about it...

Labels: Apple, Big Bang Theory, Flip Mino HD, Google, How I Met Your Mother, malware, Oetzi the Iceman

As Google's Android operating system hits shelves on the T-Mobile G1 today for $179 with a 2-year service contract, Google has posted, as promised, the source code to Android in at effort to further the technology and boost its acceptance into the mobile field in a way Apple's iPhone hasn't allowed.

(Side note: The iPhone, in a 'stunning' move, says Steve Jobs, now makes up 40% of Apple's revenue -- which could only be surprising if the thing didn't start off costing $400 before Apple chopped the price in half.)

What does this mean? Source code is the actual bits-and-bytes language written by developers that tells a particular computer program what to do. Some companies keep a very tight hold on their source code, rarely letting anyone save for internal developers working it to actually see it, and even then they are only allowed to see parts. Think of it like a famous recipe for Kentucky Fried Chicken or the formula for Coke -- it makes the product special and unique.

These companies feel the code is proprietary and a direct source of their income and revenue -- and they're right. Most notable for it's iron grip is Microsoft, which is constantly attacked for its stance on its source code by open-source developers (who, in my humble opinion, wish they were getting a chunk of the Redmond paycheck). But, that's beside the point.

Anyway, Apple has come under fire recently for not allowing developers to tinker with its source code, and -- in a rare case of me sticking up for Apple -- I think its right to keep a lid on it. Google is taking the open-source approach only because no one else in the large smartphone market has allowed it.

It'll be a tough uphill battle for Google even without giving millions of developers access to Android, and it'll be interesting to see how it plays out for them and affects the Android market share, which, despite widespread reports that the phone is sold out around the U.S., will need more than a good buzz to boost it above RIM's Blackberry and Apple's iPhone in terms of overall sales, staying power and, of course, popularity.

Labels: Android, Apple, Google, iPhone, Microsoft, Open Source, Source Code, T-Mobile G-1

Steve Jobs is full of surprises these days. At Apple's much-hyped press conference yesterday, the Apple chief zigged where analysts thought he would zag and introduced a revamped, rethought version of the MacBook instead of a stripped-down cheaper model.

The biggest move is thought to be the dissing of Intel chips for the graphics brains of chip maker Nvidia -- a telling move in that it shows Apple wants to raise the bar on performance and, possibly, manage capabilities beyond the scope of simply better graphics (which are what Macs are known for and, in my opinion, only marginally good for).

In line with analyst guesses before the event was the introduction of an aluminum 'unibody' for the notebooks, which means a sleeker casing and guts to the machines carved using water jets directly from a solid block of aluminum metal.

In what I think is a stunning omission, Apple has also decided to forego support for Blu-ray discs, presumably because the price of the players is still sky-high. But this lack of support takes out another pillar holding up the infant technology, so keep your eyes on that for further developments.

For complete coverage of the Apple event, visit our friends at CNet -- they've got your back on the whole deal, from the gaming implications of the metal notebooks to side-by-side comparisons with older Mac.

Labels: Apple, Intel, Macbook, Nvidia, Steve Jobs

Stand back, this one is going to be big.

Google's made a big splash on the scene with the announcement of its Android-powered T-Mobile G1 (formerly known at the HTC Dream), which will cost $179 -- a fraction of the venerable iPhone -- and hit shelves Oct. 22. On first glance, it doesn't look that ground-breaking -- but, it "a touch-screen interface, a QWERTY keyboard, Wi-Fi, 3G, GPS, a music player, and support for third-party applications."

Meanwhile, shares in Apple are falling, and some analysts are worried the perennial growth-leader in gadgets and laptops might be hitting a significant bump in the road.

Who will win the phone wars? And, more importantly for me, when will someone release one for Verizon so I don't have to switch cell carriers??

More in full coverage of the T-Mobile G1:

How does the gPhone stack up against its venerable 3G Apple competitor?

What does Google's Android-powered OS look like in action?

Does the G1 already have shortcomings?

Podcasters break down the T-Mobile offering.

What's the genesis of the gPhone?

Labels: Apple, cnet, Google, gphone, iPhone 3g, t-mobile g1

Let's take a peek around the web for this week's top stories, shall we?

I joked about it a few times, but joke no more: Google's gPhone is real. The phone, called Dream from vendor HTS, will debut in Oct., according to reports, and will feature Google's mobile OS Android. Set to cost around $200, much less than the iPhone iterations, this one definitely has Steve Jobs shaking in his arrogant boots.

Oh Bill Gates, how you disappoint me. Jerry Seinfeld? Really? He hit his peak in the early 90s, recently made a bad kids-only-like-it cartoon, and you hire him to help give Microsoft a new image? I'm not surprised the public berated it and you've been forced to drop the not-funny Seinfeld ad campaign after only 2 commercials. Sheesh. Way to get my back after all those compliments. Alas, there is a light -- perhaps the second phase of the $300 M ad campaign, poking fun at Apple and embracing the 'I'm a PC' image, will be better received.

Yikes -- scientists have been forced to shut down the Large Hadron Collider after only a day of use after a massive cooling mechanism failed. Whoever designed that part is SO fired. Thankfully, engineers have got the 17-ton component fixed and the LHC is back online.

Google made some big headlines this week -- in addition to the gPhone thing -- with a controversial UK decision to allow ads from religious groups opposing abortions, a new deal Google signed with GE to develop and promote sustainable energy solutions, and an announcement the company is moving ahead with an advertising deal with Yahoo despite worries form the government.

New games in stores this week include Stars Wars: The Force Unleashed. Finally, Lucas comes out with something awesome that totally lives up to expectations. This will be the hot one, so I hope you have your copy reserved. I will be chilling on the couch 'navigating' it this weekend -- or rocking out to Rock Band 2, which looks very cool and lets you use downloaded songs in tour playlists. It also allows you to form a band online and battle against other online bands. Very cool.

Have a great weekend, everyone -- catch you on the flip side!

Labels: Apple, CERN, Force Unleashed, gates, geek lingo, Google, hts dream, i'm a PC, Large Hadron Collider, microsoft ad campaign, online, Rock Band 2, seinfeld, Star Wars, sustainable energy, Yahoo

We've all laughed at the commercials. Giggled at cuteness of Justin Long. Begrudgingly admitted that Mac had the leg up on PC as a marketing tool.

But no more. Microsoft is biting back, and it's biting back hard. Redmond is launching a new ad campaign aimed not at disparaging its competitor's products, like Apple does, but at reminding people that, while Apple's white branding and spokespeople are alluring, they are still the little fish in a great big pond.

By thanking its current Vista customers -- who number in the hundreds of millions, going on licences alone -- for giving their business to what is clearly the best OS in the wild right now, Microsoft will quietly bully its way to the front of consumers' minds once again, where it belongs.

You see, the commercials are right -- you're either a Mac person or a PC person (and by PC, I, like Apple, mean Microsoft), and I am a fairly outspoken PC person. I have purposely ignored the iPod, the iPhone and the candy-colored bubbles Apple calls computers. I love my Zune and my Dell as much as I love my right-click button.

I hope Microsoft continues to wake up from its marketing stupor and bites the head off Mac, forcing it into a gadget-only niche market reserved for GPS devices and cellphone manufacturers.

Never tickle a sleeping dragon, lest the dragon remind you why it's a dragon in the first place.

Labels: Apple, iPhone 3g, iPod, Mac, Microsoft, PC, Zune