FocuSoft Tech Blog

LG BL40 caught in the wild, given brief hands-on
MySpace Overtakes Evite On The Event Planning Totem Pole
Google Voice iPhone app rejected, current GV apps lose connection with iTunes
Apple Rejects Official Google Voice iPhone App [Apple]
Fujitsu Begins Shipping First Chips To Support USB 3.0 [USB]
Love Child Of An Accordion And A Thermos Keeps Your Milk Fresh Longer [Household Gadgets]
Sonos CR200 review
All Weather Cellular Camera is an all weather cellular camera
Sonos CR200 Touchscreen Controller Review: Better Than an iPhone [Review]
Verizon Asks Court to Affirm Its Claim to ‘America’s Most Reliable 3G Network’ [Verizon]

LG BL40 caught in the wild, given brief hands-on

Posted: 27 Jul 2009 11:28 PM PDT

We’ll admit, we’re jealous of this Sina Corporation reporter, who appears to have gotten some hands-on time with LG’s very sexy Chocolate BL40 and its 21:9 aspect ratio screen. There isn’t much said here aside from details we already knew and the occasional compliment on its form factor and display, but it is good to see this in the wild and not just in the FCC’s secret lab facilities. Now if only we can get a better idea of its US 3G capabilities…

Filed under: Cellphones

LG BL40 caught in the wild, given brief hands-on originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 28 Jul 2009 01:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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MySpace Overtakes Evite On The Event Planning Totem Pole

Posted: 27 Jul 2009 11:02 PM PDT

MySpace has been taking quite a bit of heat lately for its stalling growth and waves of layoffs, but there are at least a few areas where the site has continued to do well, like MySpace Music, which still sees strong traffic. Now we’ve come across another under-recognized bright spot for MySpace: its Events platform, which has overtaken Evite, the web 1.0 startup that managed to gain a massive following despite a generally poor user experience, in terms of popularity. Evite claims to be the top event planning site on the web, reporting that it sees 25,000 invites per hour, or around 600,000 invitations sent per day. Now we’ve learned from a reliable source that MySpace is besting that by a significant margin, with around 700,000 invitations sent per day.

MySpace has been working to improve its events platform for some time, releasing a new application last March that was built by Slingshot Labs, MySpace’s secretive startup incubator. The new application’s biggest improvement was its integration of MySpace’s social graph — something that the older MySpace events application had largely failed to tap into. Since then the app has seen a number of improvements, including the ability for users to widely distribute (or ‘blast’) invitations to a single event to many of their friends, which has proven useful for the site’s many bands, and likely helped spur growth in the number of invitations sent overall.

Of course, the elephant in the room here is Facebook, which has a massively popular Events feature. But the social network doesn’t publish its stats, and when asked for comment it would only respond that the site sees “2.5 million events created each month”. This says nothing about the number of invitations sent, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it has far more than either MySpace or Evite (to give an idea, Evite says that it only gets 570 thousand events created per month — less than a quarter of what Facebook sees).

e10ed980aeaevent.png MySpace Overtakes Evite On The Event Planning Totem Pole

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MySpace Overtakes Evite On The Event Planning Totem Pole

Google Voice iPhone app rejected, current GV apps lose connection with iTunes

Posted: 27 Jul 2009 10:01 PM PDT

Perhaps the big G spoke too soon when it said its new Google Voice service was coming to iPhone. First, GV Mobile developer Sean Kovacs relays a phone call he had with Apple where he was notified of his app being removed from the iTunes store for duplicating built-in iPhone features — an app that was originally and purportedly approved by Phil Schiller himself. Next out the door was GVdialer, and if you thought that was all bad, now comes word that Google’s official Voice app was flat-out rejected by Cupertino. Now it’s hard to say with certainty who’s to blame for these app rejections, but a good many fingers are pointing to the cellular carriers — and given AT&T’s previous statements about the SlingPlayer app, it’s hard to argue with that. For its part, the company hinted at finding a workaround via web apps, much like they did when Apple gave Latitude a cold shoulder — but doesn’t that feel just a little 2007?

[Via Apple Insider]

Read – Official Google Voice App Blocked from App Store
Read – GV Mobile is getting pulled from App Store
Read – Sean Kovac’s Twitter status on Schiller

Filed under: Cellphones

Google Voice iPhone app rejected, current GV apps lose connection with iTunes originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 28 Jul 2009 00:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple Rejects Official Google Voice iPhone App [Apple]

Posted: 27 Jul 2009 09:34 PM PDT

Now we know why Google Voice apps were only released for BlackBerry and Android. Apple rejected Google’s official Google Voice app when it was submitted for approval six weeks ago. What. The. Shit.

Here’s the quote from the Google spokesperson to TechCrunch:

“We work hard to bring Google applications to a number of mobile platforms, including the iPhone. Apple did not approve the Google Voice application we submitted six weeks ago to the Apple App Store. We will continue to work to bring our services to iPhone users – for example, by taking advantage of advances in mobile browsers.”

This news comes on the heels of Sean Kovacs’ GV Mobile Google Voice app being pulled from the store for “duplicating features.” Even though, TechCrunch relates, Phil Schiller himself personally approved GV Mobile and called Kovacs to apologize when its initial approval was delayed months ago.

TechCrunch suspects, probably correctly, that apps for Google Voice are being rejected at least in part through AT&T’s influence, since Google Voice lets you send free text messages and delivers cut-rate international calls—on top of making phone numbers even more meaningless—making it scary to AT&T in way like Skype VoIP over 3G. Either way, it seems obvious the Google Voice service is being targeted for extinction, at least as a native app on the iPhone.

Google plans to take the same route it was forced to take with Latitude on the iPhone—web app land. It’s an interesting switch for Google and Apple on the app front, actually. Google was noted for getting away with using private APIs in its Google Mobile app to make the voice search command work. Now Apple’s rejected two of its major apps in a row, in a way validating Google’s belief that web apps are the future anyway.

It seems somewhat silly, and a bit of a reach, to insinuate the rejections are signs of brewing hostilities between Apple and Google, but you have to figure if there weren’t any behind the rejections, they’ve at least got to be causing some anxiety by now.

Whatever the reasons, it sucks, and as Jason Kincaid says, what’s really troubling about this rejection is that it appears that “Apple is now actively stifling innovation.” And the whole black box app approval process doesn’t exactly alleviate that sinking feeling either. After all, if Google doesn’t stand a chance, how does anybody else? [TechCrunch]

Apple Rejects Official Google Voice iPhone App [Apple]

Fujitsu Begins Shipping First Chips To Support USB 3.0 [USB]

Posted: 27 Jul 2009 08:30 PM PDT

Following Asus’ announcement that its motherboards will soon feature USB 3.0 ports, Fujitsu’s teasing us by shipping its new USB 3.0-to-Sata bridge chips which will allow for the super-dee-duper speedy data transfers implied by USB 3.0’s official name, SuperSpeed USB.

To give you an idea of what to be excited for: the company estimates that “using USB 3.0, a two-hour HD video could be copied to a 3.5-inch hard disk drive in three to four minutes.” That translates to 5GBps and leaves USB 2.0’s measly 480MBps in the dust. (Note that we might not see the 5GBps speeds initially.)

Fujitsu’s chips are expected to be in PCs next year, which is a bit later than we expect to first see USB 3.0 support. [ZDNET Asia]

Fujitsu Begins Shipping First Chips To Support USB 3.0 [USB]

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Fujitsu Begins Shipping First Chips To Support USB 3.0 [USB]

Love Child Of An Accordion And A Thermos Keeps Your Milk Fresh Longer [Household Gadgets]

Posted: 27 Jul 2009 08:00 PM PDT

Meet Fresh, the amazing Shrinking Milk Jug, who will keep your milk fresh for up to a week longer by eliminating the air void which makes it go bad in the first place.

“Normal milk jugs trap air inside them, which causes the milk to spoil rapidly,” but with its innovative spring frame design, Fresh will eliminate those air pockets and leave you more time to enjoy that tasty white stuff. Fresh is easy to use as it stays on the table and you pour simply by pressing down on the container. (So, no more milk-drenched pants either!) Oh, and it’s reusable, too. [Fresh via treehugger]

Love Child Of An Accordion And A Thermos Keeps Your Milk Fresh Longer [Household Gadgets]

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Love Child Of An Accordion And A Thermos Keeps Your Milk Fresh Longer [Household Gadgets]

Sonos CR200 review

Posted: 27 Jul 2009 08:00 PM PDT

It’s here Sonos fans, finally. The new touch-screen CR200 controller is announced and ready for purchase. After making an appearance at the FCC on its way to being leaked in full, the new CR200 controller for Sonos’ multi-room wireless music system is everything we heard including a 3.5-inch, 640 x 480 pixel (VGA) capacitive touchscreen with on-screen keyboard, beefier processor, and relatively tiny 2.9 x 4.5 x 0.7-inch / 6 ounce footprint with scaled-down charger to match. Those changes make the new CR200 pocketable, faster, and far more useful than the CR100 ever was. Not that the CR100 was a bad device, it wasn’t, but the $399 controller (plus $40 for the charging cradle) was definitely beginning to show its age as the only dedicated handheld controller available since Sonos launched back in January 2005. What really made the CR100 archaic though, was the 2008 release of the free iTunes App Store controller for the iPod touch and iPhone. It was faster, more graphically rich, and offered an on-screen keyboard unlike the CR100.

Fortunately, the price of the CR200 has dropped a bit to $349 / €349 list, a price that now includes the charging cradle. Still, we know what you’re wondering: is it worth it when an iPod touch can be purchased new for $229, or closer to $170 refurbished? Having used the CR200 for a week now, we found that the answer’s not as obvious as you’d think. Click through to find out why.

Continue reading Sonos CR200 review

Filed under: Home Entertainment, Portable Audio, Wireless

Sonos CR200 review originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 27 Jul 2009 22:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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All Weather Cellular Camera is an all weather cellular camera

Posted: 27 Jul 2009 07:06 PM PDT

Looking to bolster your home surveillance setup with something sure to survive power outages, harsh weather conditions and / or zombie invasions? Then you may want to accept no less than this new All Weather Cellular Camera now available from Brickhouse Security, which promises to provide just about everything you’d expect from a surveillance system in an entirely self-contained unit. That includes a PIR body heat-activated nightvision camera (just 1.3-megapixels, but you can’t be too picky in these cases), 50 infrared flash bulbs, a built-in tactical laser to ensure it’s pointing at just the right spot, a CompactFlash card slot to store images in case the cellular network goes down, and a 6V battery that promises to last for four to six weeks (which can be doubled with an optional second battery), to name but a few features. Naturally, none of that comes cheap and, at $599, you may want to consider a second camera to keep an eye on the first.

Filed under: Cellphones, Digital Cameras

All Weather Cellular Camera is an all weather cellular camera originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 27 Jul 2009 21:06:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sonos CR200 Touchscreen Controller Review: Better Than an iPhone [Review]

Posted: 27 Jul 2009 07:00 PM PDT

The next-gen touchscreen Sonos controller is here, and as strange as it seems to say, it’s actually better than the Sonos app for iPhone/iPod Touch for controlling their multi-room music solution wirelessly. But it is expensive.

The CR200 is available by itself for $350 and as part of the Sonos 250 Bundle for $1000. You save a little bit on the bundle since the ZonePlayer 120 and ZonePlayer 90 are $500 and $350, respectively. If you’re not familiar with Sonos, it’s basically a very fancy (and expandable) Airport Express-like unit to get music throughout your house. Our previous review of the last gen ZP80 was good, but the ZP90 and ZP120—this gen—are much better. They’re both capable of streaming music either over your network, or wirelessly through a $100 ZoneBridge unit.

The main competitor to the Sonos controller isn’t actually the last-generation Sonos controller, it’s the free iPhone/iPod Touch app. With an iPod Touch coming in at $230 ($120 less than the CR200), using that to manage your music or internet radio and piping that through different rooms in your house seems like the natural (and cheaper) choice, seeing as the thing also doubles as an iPod Touch when not controlling your rig. Why would someone want to use the CR200? Because it’s good.

Somehow Sonos managed to get the multitouch as responsive and as usable as the iPhone. Scrolling, flicking and even typing are taken directly from Apple’s user interface designs, and thus, should be instantly familiar to just about everyone now. The screen is bright, and the blue theme throughout the controller is classy—unlike the blue iPhone app, which is just slightly tacky looking.

Click for gallery

But that’s not why it’s better. It’s better because it’s got a better user interface. You can arrange songs, adjust volume, configure zones, jump back into the Zones menu, adjust your queue, and do just about everything faster than you can on the iPhone app. Getting where you want to go takes fewer clicks. Sonos decided to put more effort into the CR200 (probably because it’s not free in the app store) in order to drive sales of the controller, and it shows. It’s not as if you can’t do the same things on the iPhone app, you just can’t do them as well or as fast.

The downside to the CR200 is that its battery doesn’t last all that long, so you need to remember to dock it whenever you’re done using it. You can leave it in your living room or your bedroom or wherever and it’ll sync wirelessly to any ZonePlayers or ZoneBridges you have around your house. The range is fantastic, and has no problems penetrating three stories-worth of floors and walls to control music.

Basically, the CR200 controller is exactly what you’d expect from Sonos. The whole full-house music streaming still has that distinct taste of being futuristic, even though the prices are down to somewhat reasonable levels now. Given a few more years for prices to drop and for these things to be integrated at the builder and installer level for new homes, it’ll become as ubiquitous as CAT5 wiring is now.

The Sonos CR200 is great at what it does and it’s super easy to use, but it’s still pretty damn pricey at $350. Sonos knows what kinda customers they’re looking for: people with the extra money to outfit their house, Bill Gates style, with music in every room. No mere Airport Express would be enough for them, they want quality and they’re not afraid to spend a little bit more for it. And that’s the CR200. [Sonos]

Bright, very usable touchscreen

Better UI than the free iPhone/iPod Touch app

Good range, battery life

Costs $350

Sonos CR200 Touchscreen Controller Review: Better Than an iPhone [Review]

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Sonos CR200 Touchscreen Controller Review: Better Than an iPhone [Review]

Verizon Asks Court to Affirm Its Claim to ‘America’s Most Reliable 3G Network’ [Verizon]

Posted: 27 Jul 2009 06:59 PM PDT

Verizon Wireless has asked the U.S. District Court in Manhattan to judge its advertisements claiming “America’s most reliable 3G Network” to be truthful, an assertion that AT&T has disputed.

The point at issue is network speed and how it relates to reliability; Verizon believes that AT&T’s challenge “relies on the incorrect premise that speed is an essential element of the standard for measuring network reliability”, to which AT&T countered: “Verizon’s claim that speed is not a relevant factor to a reliable 3G network is preposterous”. Verizon does not believe the claims of false advertising can be supported, and that the advertisements are “truthful, accurate, and substantiated”. It’s unclear when the court will render a decision, but I don’t see AT&T coming out a winner either way. If Verizon loses, they’ll have to change one or two words in their slogan—a change few will notice. If Verizon should win, the courts will have affirmed Verizon’s their to having “America’s Best 3G Network”. [Reuters]