Archive for February, 2009
Posted on Feb 26, 2009 by Sam Costello at 2:26 am
For a while now I’ve been touting GPSes as potentially great information appliances in cars. After all, they’ve got network connections and screens – what else do you need?
Well, for one thing, if you’re doing to do anything data intensive with them, you need a fast network connection. Most GPSes don’t really have that. Some offer pokey EDGE connections, other have sporty 3G connections, while a few even have WiFi, when there’s an available network.
The new G5W GPS from dmedia does all of those options one better by adding a WiMax connection. WiMax is a wireless broadband standard that offers up to 75 MBit/second connectivity, much faster than 3G’s 14.4 MBit/second rating. The G5W also offers a 5-inch touchscreen and Bluetooth connectivity.
No word on pricing or stateside availability (dmedia seems to be based in Hong Kong), and of course you only get the WiMax benefit where a network is available, but the possibilities for in-car computing using GPSes would truly expand with fatter network pipes serving them.
Posted on Feb 24, 2009 by Sam Costello at 2:26 am
IRiver’s Wave Home information appliance is a pretty great-looking device, don’t you think? It looks to be pretty capable, too.
The device, which sports a 7-inch touchscreen, a speakerphone and handset, camera, and web-connected widgets, will likely be offered at under $400 by VOIP carriers, according to Gizmodo. Expect to buy this one through carriers, not as a standalone device.
The Wave Home also supports multimedia content, making it not only a phone, but also a radio, MP3 player, and digital picture frame – in other words, a true information appliance.
I’ll be curious to see how two aspects of the device play out:
- How they integrate the photos and web-delivered information features
- Whether consumers embrace it. It seems almost too futuristic in its design to be a hit (though I love the look).
Posted on Feb 22, 2009 by Sam Costello at 2:19 am
Chumby, the lovabale, Internet-connected gadget that’s gotten a lot of good press and developer engagement over the last year or two, has introduced a couple of new models. As far as I can tell, the only thing new in the models is cosmetic – not functionality or features.
At the Chumby store, there are now a pair of limited edition models with new color schemes. There’s also a designer model, handpainted by artist Sara Antoinette Martin.
Both ideas seem pretty neat to me, but I was a little taken aback by the price of the designer model: $599. That’s $400 more than a standard Chumby model.
The designer version is very appealing aesthetically, the package comes with some original art from Martin besides the Chumby itself, and it’s very limited edition. Only five of these handpainted Chumbys were made. Given the limited edition and handcrafted nature of the offering, and that it comes with additional original art, the price seems entirely reasonable to me.
What I wonder, though, is whether this kind of offering will succeed. Part of the appeal of the Chumby, as I understand it, is that it’s a relatively low-cost hardware platform that can have all kinds of software and services layered on top of it. Adding $400 seems to get away from that idea a bit.
Still, I suspect there are at least five people out there that have $600 worth of love for the Chumby.
Posted on Feb 19, 2009 by Sam Costello at 2:14 am
As of Feb. 1, Verizon has ushered the home phone into the Internet age with the debut of its Verizon Hub.
The device, which includes a colorful 7-inch touchscreen, employs a broadband connection, and delivers all kinds of useful information both to the Hub and to your mobile phone. For instance, you can sync your calendar to the Hub and your phone and receive text message alerts for calendar entries, check traffic and weather on the device, and receive spoken turn-by-turn driving directions on your cell phone delivered by the Verizon Hub.
While the device isn’t entirely cheap – you’re looking at around $200 up front and a $35/month subscription – it does sound extremely useful.
With the array of services to marry home data with mobile delivery, I’d hope Verizon would also consider adding photo features to the device. Why not add the ability to send camera-phone photos back to the Hub or stream your photo library from the Hub to your phone?
Also, does this device look a lot like the early interations of the OpenPeak OpenFrame to anyone else? I wonder if there’s any connection here besides a resemblance?
Posted on Feb 17, 2009 by Sam Costello at 2:28 am
I’ve noted here the drive to bring computers to cars in this space a number of times. Some visions of this combination involve the computer arriving in the form of a GPS device. In others, it actually means putting a full-fledged PC into your dash.
Two new car computers offer not just media features but also connections to the web.
The Fujitsu ECLIPSE AVN4430 packs an iPod-compatible, CD/DVD playing, GPS-having, 4.3-inch touchscreen sporting, Bluetooth-aware computer into the dash. The screen can even detach from the dash and be connected to a computer or used as a standalone device.
The ECLIPSE AVN4430 is on sale now for US$850.
The Dashboard Devices ENV line of in-car computers offers a computer for one part of the car and multiple “head” modules that connect to it in another part of the car and display content. In the package you’ll find a WiFi connection, a 7-inch touchscreen, and a PC running Windows XP.
The package can run over $2,000 in some configurations.
What’s most interesting to me about these products is what the screens will be doing when they’re not immediately in use. In that situation, the screens are passive presences in the car and become like digital picture frames in the home. Given that, why not use them to display photos and other web content?
Posted on Feb 14, 2009 by Sam Costello at 2:25 am
It was a staple of the scifi/spy/future-cop genre for decades (starting with Dick Tracy, at least, right?) – the wrist-based communicator. What was once the future is now the present, thanks to LG.
LG has introduced its LG-GD910 information appliance that combines a wristwatch, phone, camera, and 1.43-inch touchscreen LCD into a package small enough to fit comfortably on your wrist. The device offers videoconferencing, a web browser, and a 3G data connection.
Though no one will confuse this display with a luscious 19-inch digital picture frame, the LG-GD910 watch phone is a lot more portable. No word on price yet, but LG has only announced Japanese and European availability. All the junior g-men out there ought to hope this gets to the U.S., too.
I’ll be curious to see whether the device offers any kind of RSS support. If it does, photos and other web-updated content could easily stream right to your wrist.
