It’s pretty decent for a little over a $100. The shutter lag is probably going to annoying over time, but for now, this is good enough. What’s even better? My wife bought me a camera case to keep the old Canon safe last Christmas, but the camera was too bulky to fit. The camera case has been sitting here all this time. This camera fits the camera case, so booyah.
Can you imagine? 11 months later, we finally have a use for this camera case. My wife can now stop being mad at me for trashing the receipt back in January (without trying to fit the camera), and thereby preventing us from exchanging it.
I visited the AT&T store today to see a man about a phone. My phone, actually. I had them take a look, but their unsophisticated eye told me the phone was toast. Unfortunately, AT&T doesn’t offer repair services like Verizon Wireless does, so I was assed out of options. The way our life is, my wife and I are a tag team, and not being able to reach each other is a no-win scenario. If I’m in a bind, she has to pick up the kids, etc. Too bad we don’t do those push-to-talk “BEEP. Go for Joel!” family wireless plans.
There was no point in waiting, so I opted to go for the BlackBerry Bold smartphone. It has a number of improvements over the Curve 8300:
a sharp LCD TFT display
great multimedia performance
HSDPA 3G
an updated BB OS
Wi-Fi
improved email (HTML!)
The biggest problem was using an American Express gift card, which we tried to use last week at Amazon.com, but it didn’t go through. I spent a good 45 mins at the store, repeatedly on the phone with American Express representative “Ivan” (who incidentally was so sitting in a call center in India, and so wasn’t named “Ivan”.) We tried and tried, but we couldn’t get the transaction to go. AMEX kept reporting that the balance was zero, and the AT&T sales rep blockheads couldn’t find the right merchant ID. In the end, the AMEX rep couldn’t remove the temporary block on the card account, so I couldn’t use the gift card. I would have to wait 7-10 business days for the block to be removed. Sigh. Well, whatever. I still needed the phone.
So, hassles aside, I’m the proud owner of the BlackBerry Bold. I tell you, the Curve lasted me about 1.5 years, which fits my average. Every cell phone has lasted just under a year before disintegrating into dust in my very hands. AT&T’s policy allows upgrades/renewals every 18 months, so this is about right for me.
I downloaded and installed Media Mall’s PlayOn Digital Media Server software for my PC. It’s a neat little media server that runs on your PC, and allows you to stream internet video from your PC to your PS3, Xbox 360, and other devices that support DLNA. You can stream video from YouTube, Hulu, CBS, Netflix, CNN, ESPN, and they added Amazon’s VOD service last week.
It was extremely easy to set up. Downloaded and installed on my PC, inputted the IDs and passwords for some accounts like Netflix, and the PS3 picked up my PC right away. I haven’t tried everything out, but the quality is standard definition, which for the moment is completely fine by me. I’m curious how it looks on HDTV, but I suppose if you have a decent TV, it’s going to upscale for you. As long as your PC fits the minimum specs, and you use ethernet or 802.11g or higher, you should be set.
PlayOn Media Server on PS3
I think Hulu is especially groovy. I thought it was good before when it was just SNL reruns and Family Guy. Now you can even watch old time 80’s shows like Airwolf and The Facts of Life. I just watched the pilot episode of Airworlf for fun while blogging! The PlayOn software costs you a one-time $39.99 if you choose to keep it after the 14-day trial, but it’s a done deal for me. Who wouldn’t want to curl up on the couch and watch Alf again?
Argh, something is wrong with my BlackBerry Curve. Last week, the camera component stopped working, and I’ve tried multiple solutions posted online, but have had no success. Starting this past Sunday, the phone has lost connection to the AT&T network, and I can’t get it back. Extremely intermittent connectivity. Yesterday, I would get some success by removing and replacing the battery. It’s been off most of today, as nothing is working at the moment to get it going again.
I’m taking it to the local AT&T store at lunch tomorrow, but if they can’t fix it….. I dunno, man. I wasn’t planning to buy a new phone already. I’m up for an upgrade, according to the contract. Should I just get the BlackBerry Bold tomorrow?
Should I get the Blackberry Bold if all else fails?
Trey Parker and Matt Stone, creators of South Park (can you believe it’s been 12 years now?), created a great looking app for the iPhone, where you could watch free streaming clips, and download other stuff like wallpapers. However, Apple has deemed the content “potentially offensive”, and put a kibosh on the app.
Apple, if people don’t want to watch, they won’t download the application. Don’t be lame.
CNET reviewers recently published their latest “prizefights” between products, the Xbox 360 vs. PlayStation 3. They compared various facets, such as overall design, game library, features, etc. I’ve been heavily weighing the same choices in my own mind for months now, and I was interested to hear who the winner was in this comparison.
Am I ruining the surprise if I tell you the verdict now? They rated the Xbox 360 slightly higher. They rated the Xbox 360 the best gaming machine, and the PS3 a “compelling, do-it-all” machine. I still like the PS3 better. I would have felt a bit more sure of myself if the PS3 won, but I still think it fits my simple needs best.
I think the PS3 comes out on top as having the better hardware between the two. Most in the gamer community are well aware of XBox 360’s infamous “Red Ring of Death”, the ominous console harbinger, which signals that the XBox must be sent away for repairs and will be out of commission for at least a month. The “Red Ring of Death” occurs on a reported 16% of all XBox consoles, according to an article on ShackNews about the XBox 360. According to the article, Microsoft contends that the failure rate is only at 3%.
While the hardware repairs are paid for through Microsoft’s warranty plan, that’s a big potential minus for the 360 in my book. Not only does the PS3 have no major hardware issues, but you get Blu-Ray. The XBox 360 is cheaper but with worse hardware.
I do wish/hope that Sony incorporates Netflix streaming to the PS3 one day. That would be awesome, as you can already watch Hulu and Youtube. What I like about the PS3 is that it is regularly upgraded through firmware updates, so Netflix streaming is still a possibility. That’s just cool.
I tell you, I like my Blackberry Curve a lot, and the iPhone is certainly cool. but there are so many interesting/exciting/amazing/neat concepts coming down the pipeline. See the following demo of the SPB Mobile shell running on an HTC Touch Diamond cell phone. How fantastic is this OS?
I know that I’ve been thinking about the 2008 Panasonic TH-50PZ800U, yet mentally salivating over the Panasonic VIERA TC-P50G10 (I blogged about the soon-to-be-released G10 series back on Jan 23rd), but the step-up V10 series looks even better. The V10 is scheduled to be on sale in June 2009, but there’s no word on pricing as yet. Still the features look pretty nice.
The one-pane-of-glass design marks Panasonic's TC-P50V10
The VIERA V10 series are slim, 2-inch thin plasma HDTVs with built-in tuners. The V10 series offer such cutting edge innovations as Digital Cinema Color(TM) which helps to deliver all movie-essential colors, full THX Display certification, and the VIERA CAST web menu with Amazon Video on Demand services.
Who am I kidding? I already called up Comcast to inquire about HDTV pricing. With the added costs of a Comcast DVR, upgraded services (for the HD channels), and our high-speed Internet, it’s going to bump our monthly bill up another $50.
One day, but not today. I will continue to dream in digital.
Wow, that’s neat. In Masdar City, an “eco-utopia” under development in Abu Dhabi with no real roads. The city is deploying an electric and fully automated taxi system set to shuttle people around the city. That’s pretty neat. Wasn’t the machine city 01 based in the Middle East? Should we be concerned?
