LIVEdigitally

I recently had a phone interview with Lou Lenzi, Sr. Vice President, Product Management with Audiovox Accessories and he gave me the statistic that 13 million homes in the US currently use an antenna to receive television signal to their main TV. Then there is another 6 million that use and antenna to receive signal to one or more of their extra TVs. Lenzi explained that people have TVs in the spare bedroom, basement, or out in the garage, all fall into this category. That means that come February 17, 2009, there will be about 13-16 million TVs that will stop working unless some actions are taken. Some of you are saying 13 million plus 6 million is 19 million, but there are some small markets that are not required to kill their analog signal.

For those of you that want answers to every digital TV questions, here are some resources. DTVanswers.com, DTVtransition.org, and here is a video created by CEA that explains everything. For everyone else, here are the basics.

There are 2 different OTA (over the air) TV broadcasts. NTSC (National Television System Committe) and ATSC (Advanced Television Systems Committee). There is no such thing as a HD antenna, all antennas can pick up the ATSC signal, or the NTSC for that matter, it is just that the rabbit ear antennas aren’t able to pick up a strong enough digital signal. Each of the signals need a tuner to correctly interpret the signal for the television.

Everyone that has an older TV with a rabbit ears antenna, will have a couple options. The first is to pony up the money and pay for cable or satellite service on the TV. If you want to keep on receiving free television, your next option is to purchase a newer TV that comes equip with a digital (ATSC) tuner. If you want to keep your old TV, you will need to purchase a converter box that has a digital tuner. With both of these free TV options you will also need to purchase an antenna that is built for the ATSC signal, and is strong enough to receive the signal in your location.

For all of the options above there are some pros and cons. First of all, anytime an antenna is used there is the possibility of what is called “drop off”. Meaning, if the signal drops too low for the tuner to display the TV picture, the picture freezes or skips. There is no fuzzy picture that happens, which is the case when the analog (NTSC) signal is not strong enough. If you don’t have the correct antenna for your location, this problem may occur many times during a show or game, and become very annoying. The big bonus of using an antenna for HDTV is that the OTA signal is uncompressed. So if you receive a clean signal with no drop offs, you will have the potential for the absolute best picture possible, pending your TV display. If you decide to go with cable or satelitte, you will receive a 100% uninterupted signal (unless you have Comcast, but thats another issue all together), but the picture could be highly compressed. You will also be paying a monthly fee, where as with the antenna, HDTV and/or converter box, you will just be paying a one time fee. Finally, most of the indoor antennas are bulky and pretty much the eye sore of you entertainment center. Enter the RCA ANT1500.

Front view of the RCA ANT1500	Front view of the RCA ANT1500 with DVD case for size reference
Top view of the RCA ANT1500 with DVD case for size reference	Back view of the RCA ANT1500 with DVD case for size reference

This new antenna from RCA is a compact, multi-directional, HD optimized antenna. With its small, form factor, you can lay it flat on top of entertainment center, hang it flat on the wall behind your TV, or in theory, stand it upright on a shelf.

Before anyone goes out and purchases an antenna to use with their digital tuner, they should check out AntennaWeb.org. Here you can type in your address to see what channels should be broadcasted in your area, and what type of antenna you should be able to use to receive them. After you find out what antenna you should be able to use, I would purchase one at a retailer with a good return policy, in case the antenna doesn’t work quite as well as you’d like.

I live in an apartment near O’Hare airport creating 2 factors that are big downsides for digital reception. AntennaWeb.org says that I should use a powered multi-directional antenna. I tested this ANT1500 with my ATI HD Wonder card in my PC, and a 24 in widescreen monitor. I loved how small and compact the antenna was, I was able to shove it in the corner, out of the way of all of my A/V gear. I just wish I could have kept the antenna in the corner out of the way, all of the time. In fact, I had to move the antenna between 2 different locations depending on the channel that I wanted to watch. I think if the antenna wasn’t hard wired with a 6 ft. coax cable, I would have been able to attach a longer cable, and find a single location farther than 6 ft away from my tuner, that would be able to receive all of the channels successfully. With the antenna in the correct location in order to get a good signal, I would still have “drop off” about 3-4 times in a 30 min program.

RCA ANT1500 Back Stand

Besides having a hardwired coax cable, the only other design flaw is the “stand” that comes with the antenna. As you can see, there is a C shaped metal attachment that goes into 2 holes at the bottom of back of the antenna. The only thing is that, the cable comes out of the bottom as well. There is no notch or anything for the antenna to safely avoid bending at an awkward angle, making the antenna look like it is ready to fall over. I think the stand should have been thought about better, or just removed from the package altogether.

After reporting my not so awesome reception to AudioVox, they went ahead and sent me a Zenith converter box, saying it should work better than my HD Wonder card. Using the converter box was super easy, I connected the antenna to the box, and RCA cables from the box to my video and audio. The box automatically scanned for channels and was able to display programming details. Again, I had the exact same problems, needing to move the antenna between the 2 different locations, and 3-4 “drop offs” per 30 min program. My apartment might be one of the worst scenarios when it comes to digital reception.

If you live in a location where a non-powered multi-directional antenna will receive most of your channels, I highly recommend this antenna. Its small form factor is a huge plus in the world of antennas, because most of them are so darn ugly, and HUGE. Example A, B, C, D and E. Again, I would recommend trying the antenna out in your setup before you throw away your receipt.

I know some of you might be saying, with all this hassle of signal, and “drop off” why would I even want to bother with this whole HD antenna deal? As mentioned before, the two positives are no monthly payments, and uncompressed HD quality. But the real question is, whether or not either of those two are worth it, if your signal drops out every so often, especially during the big game. If you can receive a 100% free, crystal clear signal, with limited “drop offs”, I would say it is, for sure worth it. This digital transition, can be as costly or as not so costly as you want it to be. Hopefully this information can help you make the best decisions.

I had a great “off-the-grid” weekend camping and was reflecting on living life a little less tech-y, thought it would be a good idea to put together thoughts on using technology more greenly (is that a word? doubtful). Over the past year I’ve spent a chunk of time looking into how to change my habits to use less energy, be less wasteful, and I’m a big believer that we can all cut back or think about our impact a little more. So in easy-to-read-everybody-loves-a-list format…

1. Don’t Need? Don’t Buy! There’s no easier way to live sustainably than to consume less goods. The process of creating a product takes so much energy and resources that this is your #1 way to help the world. An alternate suggestion here is buying used/recycled/refurbished products (you’ll save a lot of money this way as well). As my colleague Pip Coburn says, there’s a lot more “wanting” in life than there is “needing”.
2. Unplug them at night. Ever notice how your power transformers (the big black bricks) are warm, even if your device is off? Everything uses a trickle amount of power just by being plugged in. It might take you a few extra seconds here and there, but try unplugging your gadgets, or switching off your power strips at night.
3. Print in draft mode. Not only are printer cartridges pricey, the materials used are very costly in terms of resources. Unless you are printing a “keeper”, you should be printing in draft/low-quality mode (virtually all printers have this setting).
4. Turn off your displays! While LCDs and plasmas have the earthly benefit of using less materials to produce relative to CRT screens, they also seem to stay on a lot more. Unfortunately, displays use more power than virtually anything else in your home, and the more you can leave them off, the better. This has a second benefit in that it’ll extend the lifespan of your display, which brings us back to point #1 above.
5. Remove batteries from infrequently used devices. Got a remote control you never use? Take the battery out, as they’ll basically self-destruct after time. Yank the batteries out, tape them to the remote, and you’ll be all set.
6. Buy rechargeable stuff. Even better than #5 above, try to avoid buying things that don’t have built-in rechargeable batteries. Or, buy rechargeable batteries and stop buying one-time use options. I use Eneloops from Sanyo myself.
7. Shut down PCs! If you’re on Windows, both Standby and Hibernate are better than leaving a PC on overnight, even if it adds 1-5 minutes to your morning (shameless plug: unless you use a Splashtop-powered computer). If you are on a Mac, there’s simply no excuse for leaving it on overnight.
8. Lower brightness settings. As I’ve mentioned earlier, screens (TV, laptop, etc) use more power than almost any other gadget/technology you’ll own.  Lowered brightness settings mean less power used mean longer life mean overall less consumption of resources.
9. Turn down the volume. This is the audio version of lowered brightness.  In comparison, this is a small blip compared to the screens, but more juice is more juice.  Also, you’ll probably annoy less neighbors and keep your ears working properly a bit longer in life.
10. TV or Laptop, not both. The stats are showing that along with the ~8.5 hours a TV is on during the day, about ~40% of that time is spent with members of the household using a computer.  While watching TV.  Now maybe it’s just my eyes, but I can’t see both screens simultaneously.  Not only that, focusing on one activity at a time will probably be a fairly calming experience anyway, so do yourself (and the world) a favor by turning off the screen you aren’t really paying attention to.
11. Charge only when needed. I can say with a lot of certainty that you don’t own a single product which truly requires an overnight charge.  Not only will you save some power, you’ll probably extend the life of your battery, as many devices still tend to overcharge, and drain the longevity of use.
12. Check power consumption prior to buying. Philips won the overall Best of CES award this past year with their eco-friendly plasma, and while it’s still a big power-hog, it’s less of a power-hog than the rest.  If you are ultimately indifferent to the gadget you are getting, do a quick power consumption check (clearly labeled on all packaging) before buying.
13. Monitor your use. Nothing feels better about a new project than learning you are doing it right. Check your power bill to get a sense of your current consumption, then start looking for differences.  In a bit of an oxymoronic move, you could buy this gadget to monitor electrical use. Well, maybe you can find it used, right?
14. Support sustainable brands. REI sells solar-powered chargers. IKEA may start selling solar cells. D-Link has a “green” router. There are more and more companies jumping on the “green” bandwagon (hence the watchdog site) and much of it is just marketing hype. But some of it is real, and you should buy products from companies that use better production technologies, ship less goods across the country/world, and use sustainable/recycled materials in their products. Your checkbook is the best possible way to voice your opinion!

As always, this isn’t the “complete list” and I’d love to see some suggestions in the comments to enhance it.  Also, check out the “green gadgets” column at Inhabitat for more tracking of the topic. Or, for funsies, you can read this post from The Onion.

My two posts last year on CES (1 and 2) had a lot of great comments and I got good feedback from colleagues long after the show. So I’m back again with a new version for ‘08. Some of the content is recycled, some is brand spankin’ new.

1. Wear comfortable shoes. It was #1 last year and is again. Even if you are the guy wearing the $6500 suit (come on!), put on your Adidas or Reeboks or whatever to go with it. Few will notice, and if anyone questions, saying “yeah, I decided it’s smarter to be comfortable than look pretty at CES” probably trumps any kind of rebuttal. It’s a BIG show and you’ll end up walking a few miles every day. Freebie bonus tip: while walking the show floor, try to walk on the booths as they tend to have better padding than the walkways between booths.
2. Bring Purel and some chapstick. Wash before eating, because CES 2008 is also International Germfest 2008. Also, Vegas is in the middle of a desert, so having chapstick (and some moisturizer) will help. Bonus: if you have a overly dry hotel room, leave the bathtub 1/4 full of water overnight, you’ll feel better in the morning.
3. Go counter the traffic flow. Day one will have the North and Central Halls buzzing. Head to the South Hall or Sands (do NOT miss the Sands!). If you are there through all four days, don’t even walk into the North/Central halls until Wednesday. The worst thing that can happen is you won’t get your hands on some crappy t-shirt you’ll never wear. Which brings me to
4. Discriminate on swag. Do you really want a Panasonic pen, or a Sony plastic bag, or a brochure from TiVo? Really? My wife has actually forbidden me from bringing home anything we won’t actually use, unless it’s a gift. New for 2008: I’m not allowed to bring mints home anymore either!
5. Don’t harass booth workers. They all have jobs to do (booth babes included), and just because they are there doesn’t mean they are the right person for you to give your 30 minute lecture as to why you are unhappy with your DVD player. It’s also not fair to beat up on some marketing guy who doesn’t have a uber-techie-detail question (although if they don’t help find you the right person, well, then they’ve asked for it). Also, if you see 12 people from CNN trying to set up a video shoot, you should probably realize you’ve become a lower priority, try to grab a business card and head out rather than wait for that awkward moment…
6. Don’t hide your badge. First, it’s just a nuisance. Second, people like me train all our booth staffers to ask people like you who you are. Third, good booth staffers will treat you the same as anyone else, although they might just filter you to the right person. If you are an important member of the press or a senior guy at a huge company, well odds are you shouldn’t be talking to the 23 year old QA person who was roped into coming to CES to help with some booth shifts. Flip side comment here: if you are working the booth and someone comes up that is a competitor, don’t be rude or glib. Treat them the same as any random booth visitor. It’s just stupid to tell them they can’t see something or take pictures, when any random schmo can do exactly that.
7. Plan ahead. If you have not registered for the show, you aren’t getting in (this happened to a commentor here last year). If you forget your badge, you are paying a fee to get it back. Pick up your badge at one o fthe non-primary locations (Sands, hotels, Hilton, etc). Traveling between any two destinations could easily take an hour, even as early as 8am (my calendar has 45 minutes of travel time between every two meetings, even if they are close to each other).
8. Need Connections? Figure it out ahead of time. Every year it gets better, but every year it’s still bad. Internet connectivity is unreliable anywhere in the convention center. Even the press room’s Internet service went down last year. If you MUST be online for a call/meeting/briefing/WoW session, have a place in mind to do it. I recommend either your own hotel room, or if you are a blogger, the PodTech BlogHaus (which is a lot out of the way, but supposedly has awesome connectivity).
9. Use SMS to coordinate. Last year’s CES was where I mastered the T9 10-key texting interface on my phone. You have to yell and scream to be heard on a phone call from the show floor, but texting works great. Even at night at the various industry parties we were still texting to find each other. If your cell phone plan doesn’t have texting, or you have waited to really try it out, now’s the time.
10. Bring business cards. I would say roughly 97% of the people that I’ve met at CES over the years who don’t have cards regret not having them. Maybe it seems cool now not to carry them. Maybe you think they are so 1990s. The truth is, there’s almost no reason not to carry cards, and even looking at it from a potential loss vs potential gain perspective says: carry the darn things! And Moo cards don’t count, people.
11. Pack lightly. My recommendation is to walk the floor with either nothing or a near-empty backpack. Forget shoulder straps, you’ll be aching by the end of the day. Bring nothing you do not need during the day. Also, try to dump your bag prior to dinner, so you can spend the night on the town without having to remember anything later. What happens in Vegas…
12. Check the live coverage. Engadget puts up a post every 3.8 seconds during CES (this is not a fact, I am just guessing). Make sure you tap into theirs (or Gizmodos or your own favorite gadget blog) during the course of the show. They might find something you hadn’t heard of before, and you might miss it otherwise.
13. Lower your expectations. If memory serves, the last time a company introduced something that was genuinely new and interesting at CES was Moxi, about 6 years ago (which was about the last time they were really interesting, unfortunately). The show is rarely the place where a company will launch newly innovative products, although it is a great place to see the ones that were announced in the past. Expect bigger/flashier screens, cameras, etc, but don’t expect something new and amazing. Heck, one of the top CE analysts in the country isn’t even going!

That’s it folks, 13 tips for maximizing your CES experience. Have a great show!

Updated: I decided to put some tips for people whose job is to work the booths over on my company blog. Check em out!

I’ve seen lots of Top 10 lists on the subject, and I’ve decided to try a different format for my own prognostications. Instead of by rank, I’ll do a list by industry.  Also, I have way more than 10 predictions to make.

TV Technology

• Every major cable company will increase it’s rates by more than 3%. Nobody will complain, and our government will (again) fail to protect us from them.
• A resolution above 1080p starts appearing in demos and labs, I’d predict a bump up into the 4000 vertical lines space.
• Bluray and HD-DVD continue to duke it out while consumers continue to not care.
• One of Hulu, Joost, etc get integrated into the Xbox 360 and/or PS3.
• Google launches “Android for Set-Top Boxes” but gains little traction in the foreseeable future.
• Anyone who is not a telephone company that tries to launch an IP-streaming set top device has a very rough year.
• Despite near-constant predictions of their demise, TiVo makes it through another year, possibly getting acquired (by DirecTV, Comcast, Netflix, Blockbuster, or someone out of the blue like Amazon or eBay).

Portable Devices That Are Not Cell Phones

• Zune 3.0 launches. It’s very very good. Further, iPod’s market share dips, although they still have an increase in overall unit sales (in other words: the pie gets bigger faster than their sales do). That said, a new iPod is even more betterer than all previous versions, making everyone who recently bought a prior generation a wee bit annoyed, but gosh that Steve Jobs is so charming they just don’t care. After all, that’s technology!
• At least two major camera vendors introduce integrated wifi cameras, but no more than one uses an open service, the rest have some proprietary, closed, annoying-to-use system. Ideally one of them buys Eye-fi.
• Digital picture frames continue to grow in market share, but still don’t “tip” into the mainstream.
• More companies introduce e-book readers despite general malaise in the category. Kindle II is launched with mild improvements.

Enterprise Services

• I have no clue, I don’t follow the space. Hello, this is a consumer tech blog!

Computers

• Apple’s new laptops will include an ultramobile, a tablet, and a “desktop replacement” OR a “gaming model” (they may combine the first two). Enhancements will include a card reader, 3G access as a built-in option, and new gestures. Market share continues to climb.
• Microsoft continues to spin about how amazing Vista is. Michael Gartenberg’s observations are probably the most poignant as to why it isn’t.
• Asus or Dell acquires or merges with one of HP, Acer, Toshiba, or other “meh” PC maker.
• Sony continues to make subpar Vaio laptops. And for the last time (I think) in 2007: don’t buy the Sony Vaio VGN-SZ4xx series laptops, they are just plain terrible. I’ve now had the chance to voice my discontent directly to the Vaio PR team (at Ruder Finn) who have yet to write me back on the topic.
• Nobody makes my awesome dual-screen laptop concept, thus leaving me the opportunity to make zillions one day.

Social Networking

• Facebook continues to get backlash from the media and tech community, meanwhile its user base continues to skyrocket. Further, they hire another 1000 people, yet only make modest improvements to the site itself. I’d add a 33% chance that they “pull a Netscape” and go after the desktop or the browser or some other place they really don’t belong.
• Randomly pick some names from the huge list of other social networking sites and some of them merge.
• Adults who didn’t grow up with social networking services experience burnout of being bitten by zombies after a few months, and many stop checking in four times per day. Those who went to school during the Facebook era continue to complain about all the old fogies (like me) polluting their sacred resting ground. They also continue to put radically inappropriate pictures of themselves online, blissfully unaware of the interviewing process.

Mobile Tech

• A few Android-powered phones ship, but not as many as the tech community would like to see. Again showing why the Razr can utterly dominate the market despite a closed architecture and terrible user interface.
• Apple launches the iPhone 3G, the iPhone nano, and the iPhonePro. Ok, I’m not 100% sure on the third, but I am betting on the first two. Also, one of these new phones comes unlocked OR on a carrier other than AT&T.
• Some major lawsuit occurs between a carrier and either a cable company or a broadcaster, all about mobile video rights. All parties involved appear as nothing but greedy to outsiders.
• Something new comes out in the phone space that’s more astounding than the iPhone. It’s possibly: uber-small, has a radically better battery life, does something funky like synchs with the Wii, or works with all US carriers.

Gaming

• With lots of stealth, a new console comes to market. It might only be a moderate shift from a prior model, or possibly be a whole new entrant.
• Rock Band 2 and 3, and Guitar Heros 4, 5, 6, and “Eddie Van Halen” editions come out, however nobody licenses the Harmonix engine to make “Jazz Trio”.
• Someone comes up with a really impressively new concept for the Wii. Good odds, however, that they wrap it inside a crappy game.
• More really amazing HD gaming occurs, continuing to drive HD adoption faster than the meager channels the cable companies try to placate us with, despite the fact that they raise prices again. Did I already say that?

Web Services/Misc

• A wide swath of “Web 2.0″ companies will go dark, primarily out of an inability to either figure out a business model for their product, or an inability to successfully market their service outside of the Bay Area.  They will quickly be forgotten and replaced by new ones with even goofier sounding names like Froobooloo.com.
• No major Wimax deployments occur.
• The digital transition date looms, starts creating a lot of media hype a la Year2000 mania.
• RFID continues to be a fun topic for the media, but all that happens is Walmart continues to make small vendors spend loads of money for the privelege of selling there.
• Bloggers fret about not being recognized as “press”, yet continue to spend too much time/energy gossiping about other bloggers, an activity the general public remains disinterested in and doesn’t give extra respect/credibility for.  This circular logic is baffling, I know.
• We lose even more rights to big media, because few Americans are willing to take even the tiniest steps to do anything about it.  PLEASE PROVE ME WRONG (start here)!
• I still don’t Twitter.

See you in 366 days to see how I scored!

My friend Avi made a great guide last year, here’s the one for 2007 (sorry for posting so late!):

Once again I am going to try to avoid recommending obvious stuff like TVs, cellphones, or MP3 players – if you have someone who wants one, you know that, they know that, you don’t need me to tell you that a 50” plasma TV is a great gift. And if you’re a reader of this site, you don’t need me to tell you which laptop to avoid.

Top Five for 2007

1.    Monster Power Outlets to Go (4 and 6 outlet versions launched late last year, the 3 outlet version is new for 2007). $15 - $25.
This is the perfect stocking stuffer for the road warrior – a tiny portable power strip. Typically you get to the hotel room and discover the lamp has just one outlet, but you’ve got more than one thing that needs power. Plug in your Power Outlets to Go and you’re all set. Another great use for this thing is at airports. Instead of wandering around searching in vain for a free outlet near a chair, find whoever is sitting next to an outlet and sit down next to them and share the power. The plug head lights up to let you know the power is active – solving another issue at airports, where most outlets were designed for vacuum cleaners, and may be turned off during the day – now you know before taking out the rest of your gear. The even smaller 3 outlet version is new for this year and has become a permanent part of my travel bag.

2.    PowerSquid power multipliers ($15) and surge protectors ($25 - $80)
I test gadgets and I have tons and tons and tons of power adapters. Each power adapter has been designed specifically to make it impossible to place next to any other power adapter on your power strip. I’m convinced product designers do this on purpose, though I haven’t figured out why yet; perhaps there’s some evolutionary advantage to crowding out the other gadgets at the power source). I discovered that people who don’t test lots of gadgets have this problem too, and PowerSquid has the solution: a line of power strips and surge suppressors that look like a creature from the deep or Japanese manga. There’s a base and then a bunch of tentacles of different lengths that you can plug even the largest power bricks into. I recommended these here last year; the Calamari edition is new and adds basic noise filtering to the surge suppression. Any of them are a godsend to those with multiple power adapters of varying sizes.

3.    Logitech VX nano ($69)
Another great gift for the road warrior, this time in the $60 - $70 range, the Logitech VX nano is a travel mouse with a super tiny USB transmitter that can stay put in your laptop at all times. This means you can leave the adapter in and close your laptop, put the laptop in a bag, take it out later, and go again without having to wait for drivers to load, or figuring out which side of the little USB thingie is up when you insert it over and over again. Of course, you can also hide the transmitter inside the mouse itself. The VX nano features Logitech’s “engine” – the same technology in Logitech’s bigger, more expensive MX Revolution mouse - that changes the way the scroll wheel works depending on what application you’re in. You can use free spin for zipping smoothly up and down Word documents or web pages, and the traditional ratchet-click mode which is better for things like moving cell by cell through a spreadsheet. It takes regular batteries which can be replaced at the hotel gift shop, though I’ve been using my VX nano a lot over several months and haven’t burned through the first set yet. I had no problem getting it to work flawlessly with both PCs and Macs and with a few limitations on Linux (Xandros distribution; the basic functionality works, but none of Logitech’s fancy software tricks).

4.    Apple Personal Internet Tablet / Phoneless iPhone (aka, iPod
touch)
Ever watch TV and get into an argument over whether the actress you’re watching on Heroes once played a disappearing high school student on Buffy? You too? Well, you can save your marriage by finding the answers to these questions on the web site IMDB if you just had a WiFi web tablet on your couch. You could also read the morning paper online while eating breakfast. Or get directions to your meeting later that day.

Apple sells a nifty touchscreen gadget that does this for the low price of $299, and it’s called the Apple Personal Internet Tablet. OK, fine, it’s the iPod touch (this is where the “mostly” in “mostly non-obvious gift guide” comes in). Apple is marketing the touch for its main use, playing music, but it makes a handy web tablet, too. There are other Internet devices that are more appropriate for the technically inclined. For example, Nokia has the $399 N800 and $479 N810 Internet tablet that are Linux based, and Archos sells the $299 605 WiFi that you can add a web browser to for another $30. Both have Flash support, which the iPod touch and iPhone lack, and the Nokia has a webcam and Skype client for free VoIP calling. However, for a simple experience, the iPod touch can’t be beat, and I often find that browsing blogs in particular is easier on the iPod touch than on the others. The iPod touch is also perfect for anyone who wants to buy an iPhone but is stuck on a Verizon Wireless family plan – it’s basically an iPhone without the phone.

5.    Shure SE530 Sound Isolating Earphones ($499)
I test tons of headphones and recommended its predecessor in last year’s guide (the e500, which has the same three driver arrangement). I’ve yet to find anything better, and Shure has improved it this time around with new foam earpieces and an excellent optional iPhone accessory that takes advantage of its modular cord system and Shure’s microphone expertise. The iPhone accessory also works nicely on other musicphones with 3.5mm jacks, so if you’re one of the few Nokia N95 users in the U.S. – or one of the millions in Europe – Shure has you covered, too.

There are two ways to block out noise – cancel it or muffle it. Canceling noise (by sending inverse sound waves to cancel out the noise) adds bulk because you need a battery to power the electronics, and it usually negatively affects sound quality at least somewhat. The other way is to physically block it, and that’s what Shure’s in-ear headphones do. Shure has an entire line of sound isolating earphones derived from the getups that professional musicians wear on tour. The middle of their line is where the best values can be found, but the best headphones are able to pull out detail from music you’ve never heard before. Truth be told, that quality alone is not unique to Shure, and top notch headphones from others, notably Etymotic, manage this feat as well for hundreds of dollars less. Where the Shure SE530’s are unique is their astonishing ability to make badly compressed MP3 files sound better, not worse. Most super-revealing headphones expose every flaw, while these are smooth, yet detailed. I don’t know how they do it. No question, at Five. Hundred. Dollars. these are very expensive, and will almost definitely cost more than the MP3 player you use them with. I suggest you consider the headphones a long term investment – you may want to upgrade your MP3 player every year, but you can keep the same headphones. Shure makes this easy by using a modular cord system so that they can be used with optional accessories for the iPhone (which is an extension with a Shure microphone built in), or for letting some noise – and that nice flight attendant’s question – back in (Shure’s “Push to Hear” gadget). Different cord lengths also allow use at the belt or on an arm band with just the right amount of slack. Also new this year across Shure’s line are sculpted foam inserts, which Shure’s product manager told me were based on my feedback (I’m sure he says that to all the analysts). These inserts combine the best properties of foam (best sound blocking) and soft rubber (easy insertion and comfort). Still, this gift isn’t for everyone – no matter how comfortable they are, some people don’t like things that go in the ear canal. That’s too bad, because these are some exorbitantly priced headphones that are actually worth the money.

Honorable mentions for the Home Theater fan:

*    Netflix Gift Subscription ($20 and up)
You know, you really don’t want to get in the middle of a format war – it gets messy. Right now it’s still too early to call a winner between Blu-ray and HD-DVD, with some Hollywood studios supporting one format and some supporting the other. The neutral party in the war is Netflix, which rents both. You set up your movie queue online, and Netflix mails discs to you. In fact, you can tell Netflix what kind of high def disc player you have, and it will automatically put that version of the movie in your queue. Netflix is happy to sell you a gift subscription and this is an incredibly easy recommendation.

*    Dale and Thomas popcorn sampler ($15 and up)
What goes better with movies than popcorn? Dale & Thomas sells gourmet popcorn with flavors not found in Orville Redenbacher, such as white chocolate peanut butter drizzlecorn. They have stores in Times Square in New York City and in Hollywood, but they’ll also mail popcorn samplers anywhere around the country, and I can attest that it arrives fresh. I can also attest that it won’t be around for very long after arriving, because this stuff is delicious.  I should also warn you that it will completely destroy any diet you might be on, but at least it is certified kosher, so you can safely send it to any Orthodox Jews who keep kosher or Muslims who observe halal.

What I want to recommend, but can’t, at least not yet:

*    Asus eee PC ($399 for 512MB RAM, 4 GB flash drive configuration)
The Asus eee is an incredibly small subnotebook with a small price to match – usually size and price have an inverse relationship. The eee weighs less than 2 lbs., and passes the shoulder test with flying colors – I walked around with it all evening at a trade show and forgot I had it. Even the power supply is small and light, so there’s no question whether you should take it along in case you find an open outlet (just take it). Fast flash memory takes the place of a hard drive, and the unit feels solid, not cheap. It is not a speed demon, but can handle basic web browsing and document creation tasks without feeling slow. Upgrading the RAM is straightforward and inexpensive, but opening the hatch to do so inexplicably voids the warranty. The keyboard is definitely too small for easy touch typing, though I should note that I am editing this guide on it, so it is possible. Just budget for some hand massages to ward off carpal tunnel syndrome, and don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Where the eee falls short is on storage, screen size, and OS. The 800 x 480 screen needs to be scrolled vertically to see entire dialog boxes. 4 GB of flash storage is enough for the OS and either applications or storage, but not both. An 8 GB SDHC card from Kingston solved the storage problem temporarily, but starting with 8 or 16 GB on the main drive would be better. Of course, the Xandros Linux distribution doesn’t make it easy to add any of your own applications, so perhaps the notion is that the eee is intended primarily for web surfing, and the minimal storage is by design. In any case, I found the version of Linux included on the eee to be beautiful, and easy to use, and extremely constraining. The Office-like suite’s idiosyncrasies drove me crazy, and there aren’t enough drivers or software for Xandros – a Kensington USB video hub wouldn’t work, nor would the Maxtor OneTouch backup software for an external hard drive. The eee is Windows XP compatible, and I quickly decided that the Microsoft tax is well worth paying in my case. Versions of the eee with more storage, a bigger screen, and XP preloaded are on Asus’ roadmap, so while I cannot recommend the eee PC just yet, I hope to be able to in the future.

*    SmartShopper Grocery List Organizer ($129)
This is a great gadget you’ll find in catalogs like Brookstone that aims to do one thing and do it really well. In this case, that would be organizing shopping lists. This would seem to be a frivolous overpriced gadget for gadget lovers, but it’s actually a useful overpriced gadget for gadget lovers, or at least it would be if it worked properly.
It sits on your refrigerator door thanks to a powerful magnet which means that you always know where it is. You talk to it, it recognizes what you said, which means that anyone in the household can add things, even if they can’t write or can’t write legibly. The Smartshopper adds it to the list, and when it comes time to shop, it has an itty-bitty printer inside that prints out an itemized shopping list which makes shopping much, much easier. All the dairy items are grouped together, all the produce, etc. It’s a great concept and great fun.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t actually work that well. Voice recognition is hit or miss - and nearly always “miss” if there’s any background noise, like children whining that you don’t have whatever it is you need to add to the shopping list. There are not nearly enough entries in the database, and many of the entries are generic, when you may be trying to request specific brands. You can – and you will have to – add entries to the database, but it can be a pain because there is no keyboard, and, quite frankly, you may find that you need to add half of what you shop for. If there is more than one member of the household using the device, user-defined entries also lead to the hilarious speech recognition problem of pitch. Let’s say my wife added “Dale & Thomas popcorn.” If I say, “Dale and Thomas popcorn” in my usual voice, it will not recognize it. If, however, I raise my voice up a couple of octaves, and say it again in falsetto, “Dale and Thomas popcorn” chances of recognition roughly double. I’m sure there’s a great drinking game you could play with a list of common grocery items and the SmartShopper, but that’s not quite what its manufacturer intended. I’ve been assured that future versions of the gadget will improve the database and speech recognition, and I will hold off recommending it until then.

Happy Holidays,

Avi Greengart
Research Director, Mobile Devices
Current Analysis

About Avi: At Current Analysis I focus on testing mobile devices and advising clients how competitive they are in the market. None of the products I’m recommending here come from clients, and I do not own stock in any of the companies. I do not pay for review units, and while most devices I test get sent back (whether the companies want them back or not – I need to get them out of my house), I have kept some of the items listed below for… lets call it a long term loan.

UPDATED: now that we are on the home stretch of the “last 5″ I’ve decided to give this a little revision. Some of the activities aren’t really relevant if you are keeping up with the series, but I’ll leave them in there for “classic” episodes.  Newly added items are in italics.

Heroes is my favorite show on TV right now (with Arrested Development reruns as a second runner-up).  I think the writing is overall very good (some cheesiness here and there), ditto on the acting (ditto), and utterly enjoy the storyline.  Everything about it is, in my opinion, fun to watch.  I also like NBC’s embracement of the Internet for the show (which is apparently poised to grow tomorrow) which includes:

• Every episode, streamable, for free. A+++ for this one.
• Some interactive games (a little 2003, but not too shabby).
• The Hiro Blog.
• Generally encouraging bloggers (especially this one).

Even though there are a couple already (here and here), I decided none of them really addressed all the magic of the show.  So, here’s my Official Heroes Drinking Game (which is, of course, unofficial, other than by my own standards).  Incidentally, I’ve tried to make this fairly spoiler-free for those of you who are waiting to watch the season via Netflix (which is ridiculous because of the free streaming from NBC, but, whatever).  Also, I’m using character names only, if you aren’t familiar with them all, here’s a list of all characters (warning, link may contain spoilers).

Take ONE drink when…

• Niki sees her reflection wink back at her
• Niki looks all panic-stricken (reserve yourself to no more than twice per episode)
• Nathan talks down to Peter
• Simone adds utterly no value to a scene
• Hiro uses a lot of comical gestures and sound effects to complement his English
• Claire breaks a bone (or vital organ) in a way that makes you a bit squeamish
• Matt gets really confused about his power
• Ando makes a comment regarding giving up or going home
• Anyone’s eyes get all glossed over
• Mr. Bennet takes off his glasses, wipes them (or his brow), then puts them back on
• Mohinder makes a reference to something being impossible, stupid, crazy, etc
• Someone’s head gets cut open
• The Haitian guy shows up, and the episode fades to commercial within 5 seconds
• Two Heroes’ paths cross coincidentally
• A dead person comes back to life.  Drink again if it is revealed that that formerly dead person is actually still dead
• Claude snarls menacingly
• Ted gets all sweaty (take a second drink if he subsequently doesn’t even use his power)
• NBC shows a spoiler during a commercial break of another show, and you aren’t able to grab your remote and pause/mute/change the channel in time.  Drink again if you curse the network out loud as a result.
• Sylar fools someone and you sit there yelling at the screen “he’s the bad guy, he’s the bad guy!”
• You get a glimpse of one of Isaac’s paintings and it shows something extra-cool (this is another ’subjective’ ones)
• Linderman shows signs that he’s probably a grade-A crazy

Take TWO drinks when…

• Hiro raises his arms to the sky in an expression of joy
• Claire runs unnecessarily
• D.L. doesn’t use his ability, but clearly could/should
• A Hero uses their power in a way that makes you clap, cheer, or get otherwise giddy
• Peter figures anything important out
• Sylar shows how much of a badass he is
• A “good” Hero turns out to be “bad” (and vice versa)
• Thompson makes it through an entire scene smiling
• Someone should really just give Candice a punch, because it would really solve some problems, but yet doesn’t
• Hana gets more than 3 minutes of screen time in an episode

Chug it when…

• They find the sword
• The writers use Mohinder’s dad (Dr. Suresh) to explain a key plotline
• A character is revealed to be a Hero and it was a genuine surprise (judgment call, but I trust ya)
• A major character gets killed
• NBC comes up with a key catchphrase to get new viewers involved
• Any Hero dons a spandex uniform (and you must finish all the drinks around if that uniform sports a big X in the middle)
• Someone (not you, of course) radically underestimates Sylar
• An actor who is/was famous on another geeky TV series (or movie) makes a guest appearance
• Two heroes make out.  Chug it again if it turns out many episodes later they’re somehow related.
• The writers introduce a Hero with a very average power, such as “slightly longer limbs than normal people” or “eerily aware of the exact humidity of the local region” or “can summon and control all the nearby butterflies”

Enjoy.  If I’ve missed anything, add it as a comment below!  Please enjoy Heroes responsibly (a.k.a. watch every episode, try to skip the “next week on Heroes” bit). Also, congrats to the producers, writers, crew, etc for a second season renewal already!

I live in the San Francisco Bay Area.  If there was a country called “Hightechistan” this is it’s capital.  There is so much technology innovation surrounding you here it’s effectively impossible to stay ahead of everything going on.   While it’s true that much of the innovation is Web-based or infrastructure services (such as the demos at the Web 2.0 Expo being held this week, which you won’t see me blog about any more than this due to them not giving me a press pass.  Although I may blog about exactly that once more, we’ll see) there’s also new gadgets and gizmos coming out fairly frequently.

Sometimes, gadget makers seem to build model after model, leaving consumers in a bit of a lurch to determine which one is right for them. In the past two years, NETGEAR’s introduced two different Skypephones, the original (but first) not-so-memorably named SPH101 and this year’s similarly named followup SPH200D model.  With my fun role as their “guest blogger” I have had the chance to use both for the past couple of weeks.  In an interesting twist, there actually is a reason to have two different models on the market at the same time, as they serve two different purposes!  In a nutshell:

• If you want a Skype Phone that you can use at home or carry around with you and use WiFi networks, you want the SPH101.
• If you want a Skype Phone to use only when at home, and would enjoy the convenience of using only a single handset for both Skype and regular phone services, you want the SPH200D.

Over on the NETGEAR blog (nope, still no RSS), I put up a post that explains the difference between the two models.  If you are in the market for a Skype phone and want to know about their units, take a read.

At home, both my wife and I are using the units.  She has the DECT phone (which doubles as a home phone as well), and I’m using the Skype-only SPH101 handset.  I haven’t really put them through the paces yet, but some quick thoughts and observations:

Pros: easy to use, setup/configuration worked well right out of the box, the handsets feel nice and are lightweight, bright LCD screens, lots of advanced options for geeks like me, sound quality generally good enough

Cons: poor-to-bad battery life, sound quality occasionally dips into unacceptable range

More photos on Flickr. SPH101 on Amazon. SPH200D on Amazon.

The answering machine is more than 35 years old, and voicemail’s been around over 25 years.  Before I even dig in to the topic I’m writing about, I still get a kick out of messages that start with “Hi, I’m unable to get to the phone, but if you wait for the tone…” Are there really people out there on the other end thinking, “Wow, when did Bob get this magical system that answers the phone when he’s not around? That’s NEAT!“  So maybe we can all “jump into the 80s” and tighten up our greetings a tad?

As many people know, most voicemail systems allow the caller to skip over the greeting and jump straight into leaving a message.  If you know this, you probably also know that between the 4 major US carriers, there are three completely different voicemail systems.  Furthermore, you probably don’t remember which of your friends are on which carrier (unless you only have 2 friends).  So even if you do remember than the * key skips for Verizon customers, you get a little hesitant to push it since it goes into “enter PIN” mode for Cingular (er, AT&T?) and you aren’t quite sure if Jimbo is still IN your network or not.

So I’ve got my handy-dandy little system that actually works all the time, and it works like this:

• Step One: Get a box.  Push 1. If your friend is on Sprint (or possibly Verizon, but not always), this skips the greeting and you are done, skip to End.  IF you hear a message that says “One is not a valid option” skip to Step Three below, otherwise continue to Step Two.
• Step Two: Push *.  If your friend is on Verizon, you’ll hear the beep, and can leave your message. Skip ahead to the end now.
• Step Three: Push #.  This works for both Cingular and T-Mobile subscribers, and you’re all set to go.
• End: Go ahead and leave that message (which, ideally speaking, really only says something like “Hi, it’s Freddy, I’ll be available for that meeting after 2pm, call me back” and not something like “Hello there Gregory, it’s Marjorie Simpson calling you back from the voicemail you left me earlier today.  Regarding the meeting, I will be able to join at 2pm, but only for about 45 minutes and then I have to jump onto the call with the guy from Amazon, and that’s gonna go another hour or two, but then I’m freed up again.  Also, I did want to let you know that I got your email regarding the shipping confusion, and let me explain to you in detail what I meant…“). 

Hope this helps!

ps - By the way, one other little voicemail etiquette thought while I’m at it:  if you are leaving your phone number for someone, leave it s-l-o-w-l-y!  Assume that while you say the area code they are just fetching a pen.  And these damn wrong number dialers.  What the hell do we do about them?

While I am probably not at the utter cutting edge of every bit of news out there, I do tend to stay slightly ahead of the curve when it comes to news in technology.  I’ve noticeed recently that quite a few of my friends and peers ask me how I keep up.  As I tell them, I don’t really spend that much time reading, it’s more that I’ve found a great combination of sources to use and reuse multiple times per day.  Here are my 4 sources, and a bit on when/how/why I use them.

My.Yahoo.  If they had a membership card, mine’d probably say “Member Since 1999.”  I’ve configured my page to show me sports scores & news, entertainment headlines, and more importantly, a variety of “traditional journalist” tech sources, specifically including the AP and Reuters tech feeds and some industry-specific topics such as “peripherals.”  I end up on my My Yahoo! page (that sounds odd) no fewer than a dozen times a day, and I also use it as my primary source for non-tech news.  I know there are more “powerful” options like Pageflakes and Netvibes, but My Yahoo works, it’s reliable, it’s fast to load, and it’s convenient.  It has the added bonus of being integrated into a variety of services I use already.

Techmeme (pronounced “tek-meem”) is my second-most used site of the day, and I use it to keep abreast of active/current technology topics.  Odds are quite good that if something is going on in the high-tech world, it hits the front page of Techmeme within an hour.  I’m there multiple times per day, and it’s probably the single best way to keep my virtual finger on the pseudo-pulse of the artifical heart in the technology world.  If I had but a single complaint with the site is my inability to filter out topics that I don’t personally care about (e.g. “Second Life”), but my eyes seem to do a good job of that on their own.  I also applaud Gabe Rivera (the creator of Techmeme, with whom I spent some time chatting at the IBD Network DealMaker Media event last week), as he built the site himself!

Next up is Bloglines, the first of two different blog/RSS readers I use regularly.  I use Bloglines specifically because there are certain authors whom I want to read above all else, regardless of topic, and I find this is the best way to follow them.  I know there are other methods of following feeds, but this is my favorite way to consume individual writer’s content on a regular basis.  By the way, my absolute top blog reads are (in no order): Michael Gartenberg, Dave Zatz, Jason Calacanis, Mathew Ingram, Thomas Hawk, and Fred Wilson.  I read quite a few others as well, and subscribe to almost a hundred blogs total, but something about the quality of content and the quantity of content makes them the easiest to follow (I like 0-2 posts per day per blogger).  I hit Bloglines about three times a day.

Last, but not least, is Google Reader, which I use once every day or two to look for interesting topics by other bloggers I like, but who may be either too prolific or focus on other domains from my most-needed content.  This lets me scan through sites I really enjoy (like Engadget, GigaOm, Scoble, etc) where I may look for specific topics, but just can’t read all the content they put out.  The Google Reader interface is really well-suited for scanning through headlines, and I’ve even added Techmeme as a source to it, just in case I find something through that means instead.

So there you have it, 4 great sites to keep up with the latest news in technology.  Use them right, and you’re basically assured to be on top of what’s going on. 

As a bit of an aside, the most important “advice” I’ll impart is this: make sure you combine your blogosphere intake with traditional journalists.  I just read this great piece by Dan Farber looking back on a decade of blogging, and I couldn’t agree more with the comments regarding citizen journalism.  Like everything in life, I try to avoid the utter extremes: the bloggers have a lot to say, but aren’t always right, and same thing goes for professional journalists.