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| Got a Moxi HD DVR, not that impressed so far Posted: 19 Apr 2009 07:35 AM PDT
I finally received and installed a Moxi HD DVR after some shipping issues with Fedex . I have to say though, I'm not that impressed two days in. The company screams on the official website that the Moxi is superior to TiVo in almost every way - seriously, it does - but besides the pretty eye-candy GUI, I wouldn't call everything superior. The Moxi has some sweet extra features that TiVo doesn't, but I feel like the core functionality of watching and recording television isn't all that better. Click through for more initial thoughts and unboxing pics. I have two TiVo HD boxes in my house. I like 'em. The interface is outdated, but it works well. Big props to the Moxi as it looks so much better in HD than the TiVo. That is probably 'cause the interface was designed this decade rather than during the Clinton administration.
However, the GUI doesn't take advantage of an HDTVs real estate properly when surfing the channels. The layout is a vertical bar, which fits great in a SDTV but leaves a lot of unused space that could show more info on an HDTV. This complaint could be that I cannot stand the vertical channel bar and its limited info. TiVo offers a similar guide layout, but also allows for a grid type display, which shows future events on numerous stations simultaneously.
There are some cool features built into the Moxi. Superticker I found to be convenient. It displays a small ticker at the bottom of the TV that is easily navigated for sports, weather, and news info without taking away too much from the TV program. The Flickr support is superb as was the Moxi HD setup which only took a few minutes. The TiVo HD XL is still hooked up to the TV and is just one click away on the remote, but I'll give this Moxi box a fair chance before coming to any solid conclusions. So far I have to say that I'm not as impressed as I thought I would be. Original post: Got a Moxi HD DVR, not that impressed so far |
| OCZ outs its first Mini-PCIe SSDs in 16GB / 32GB capacities Posted: 19 Apr 2009 07:35 AM PDT  Just as Buffalo did in December of last year, OCZ Technology is busting out a duo of netbook / notebook-ready SSDs in 16GB and 32GB capacities. Obviously aimed at the smaller, more low-cost machines, the company’s first ever Mini-PCIe solid state drives are a so-called “affordable flash-based storage option to significantly increase the capacity for netbooks.” The pair will be available in SATA and PATA interfaces, which will deliver read speeds of up to 110MB/sec and write speeds as high as 51MB/sec (or 45MB/sec [read] and 35MB/sec [write] for the PATA versions). Regrettably, there’s no mention of price, but you can bet these will come packed in a specced-out version of the firm’s Neutrino. Originally posted here: |
| Old School Computer Band Rocks Bohemian Rhapsody [Music] Posted: 19 Apr 2009 07:00 AM PDT
I can’t think of a more old school, geeky tribute to Queen than a band comprised of an Atari 800XL, 8-inch floppy disk, 3.5-in hard drive and HP Scanjet 3C. The composer, YouTube user bd594, says what you hear is 100% pure, straight from the machines themselves—no effects or sampling were used. In the case of the Scanjet, the “vocals” were recorded in four separate parts using the one machine. The aforementioned Atari 800XL is tickling the ivory on lead piano/organ, while a plucky Texas Instruments Ti-99/4a shreds on lead guitar. Rounding out the bunch are the floppy drive on bass and the hard drive clanging cymbals. On a related note, Scanjet symphonies seem to be in the air right now. Must be spring. [YouTube via Matrxisynth - Thanks, Matrix] Here is the original: |
| Chrysler’s Peapod EV lets iPod double as ignition key Posted: 19 Apr 2009 06:31 AM PDT
That unassuming iPod dock we saw in Chrysler GEM’s Peapod prototype? Turns out it’s got a pretty interesting little trick, allowing your iPhone / iPod double as the ignition key. According to the EV’s brochure, the company’s got an app that makes all the magic work, and if you wish to start your car in an old-school manner, keys are still a viable option. Sure, it’s not the first example of car-phone integration we’ve come across, it’s a welcome addition to the oddly-shaped neighborhood whip that’s going beyond concept phase into production this October. See the rest here: |
| Pre’s webOS: They like it! They really like it! Posted: 19 Apr 2009 05:40 AM PDT
Developers who have been shown Palm’s new WebOS say that it is great. What does that mean for Palm? It means more devs will look to Palm as an OS of choice over WinMo and, potentially, Android as the Pre hits stores and amazes us all with its amazingness. Writes NetworkWorld:
Like the iPhone before it, webOS depends on open web-based programming tricks to create apps. Hopefully, unlike the iPhone, developers won’t want more power than is available. Jailbreaking was the primary reason iPhone’s web-based progamming toolkit was abandoned but this looks considerably more interesting. Read more here: |
| The Nikon D5000 available for pre-order via Amazon Posted: 19 Apr 2009 05:10 AM PDT If you're the type that simply must have the latest gadget the day it comes our - you know who you are - then head on over to Amazon to pre-order the articulating screen-equipped and HD video shooting Nikon D5000. Only the kit is available for purchase, but we hear the 18-55mm F.3.5-5.6G VR lens isn't that bad anyway. $849. Here is the original post: |
| Velocity Micro’s Atom N270-packing NoteMagix M10 coming this month for $380 Posted: 19 Apr 2009 04:46 AM PDT  Largely under the radar since its CES debut — and even then there wasn’t much to say, frankly — Velocity Micro’s 10.2-inch NoteMagix M10 is on sale with an April 30 estimated ship date. Base price is $380, and color notwithstanding (it comes in red, blue, and black), the only customization option really is a DVD writer for $70. What you do get, however, is the usual spec list that comes along with a 1.6GHz Intel Atom N270 processor, along with the pleasant surprise of a 6-cell battery. The big question now is if there’s really enough here to divert attention from any of the other, more dominant brands in this hyper-saturated netbook market. [Via PC Launches] Read more: |
| More Ways To Shorten Those URLs: UnHub And Lnk.by Posted: 19 Apr 2009 04:19 AM PDT
URL shortening services are a dime a dozen, and despite wishes for them to vanish (with good reason) they're here to stay and more popular than ever given the abundance of social services that thrive on short messages and links. TinyURL and bit.ly appear to be the more popular of the bunch, but we're seeing other services use their own custom URL shortening services at an increasing rate. To name but a few, Digg uses its top domain for the DiggBar and associated links, Posterous uses post.ly to trim down links when they distribute them to other networks and Twitter toolbox HootSuite uses ow.ly. The latest startup to add a URL shortening feature to its service is UnHub, which we covered last month. Paste any URL after unhub.com and if you're registered for the service, you'll get a custom short URL you can use to distribute links to articles and such. On top of the linked website will be an iframe (yes, yet another one) where you can view the number of Diggs, bookmarks on Delicious, and redirects on bit.ly. You can also tweet, e-mail or share the link on a plethora of third-party services right from the toolbar. It's also personalized, so people can jump to your own UnHub profile from the persistent bar, or straight to the source link. For an example, go to http://unhub.com/pC16. Another one that just surfaced (in alpha mode) is Lnk.by, which adds a twist to URL shortening in the sense that you can pick a short URL that suits what you're linking to i.e. it brings some context to what you're sharing. You can share music files using Lstn.in, videos with Wach.it, photos with Seee.it and articles with Read.im. Other than that, there's nothing really noteworthy about the service, apart from the fact it comes with an API and a toolbar bookmarklet, and that it was built by an Endemol executive with a friend in just one weekend. Feel to shorten the URL for this article with both services and tell us which one you prefer (or why you hate URL shortening services). Information provided by CrunchBase Crunch Network: CrunchBase the free database of technology companies, people, and investors More here: |
| UK Tech Icons Launch Seed Fund To Bridge The Gap For European Startups Posted: 19 Apr 2009 02:50 AM PDT
Two icons of the UK's tech startup world are joining forces to create a new fund to address the so-called 'equity gap' in Europe. European Founders Capital (EFC) is being led by Michael Birch, co-founder of Bebo, and Brent Hoberman, who set up the dotcom bubble era Lastminute.com but is better known more recently for being a serial angel investor and co-founder of MyDeco. EFC will have an initial $29.5m (£20m) of seed funding but is aiming for $74m (£50m) in total. The idea is to increase the availability of early-stage funding in Europe, which historically lags behind the US, and has led to a gap between early stage and Series A funding. Europe's seed funding eco-system has never matched Silicon Valley's in part because the business angel environment for technology is undeveloped and because European VCs have historically not reached much lower than Series A rounds, unless in syndication with other parties. Crunch Network: CrunchGear drool over the sexiest new gadgets and hardware. More here: |
| New Pre Classic emulator video shows off 3D gaming prowess Posted: 19 Apr 2009 02:01 AM PDT
The last time we saw the Pre’s Classic Palm OS emulator in action, we had a few lingering questions in our mind, chief among them being how well can it game? From the looks of this latest video, released by Motion Apps to answer that very question, pretty well so far. In addition to confirming sound support for the latest build, we also get a brief glimpse of the software handling 3D driver GTS World Racer. Of course, seeing this makes us even more curious about the gaming potential for the native webOS, but alas, we’re in the cold there. In the meantime, check out some classic 3D racing in the video after the break.
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