i Phone BUY

…

You can now archive apps on your MicroSD card.

(Credit: RIM/BlackBerry)

One of my biggest complaints when BlackBerry App World debuted this past April at CTIA 2009 was that applications installed to Flash memory, giving you no option to store more apps on a microSD card. On Friday, RIM, …

Originally posted at The Download Blog

Samsung Galaxy

(Credit: Samsung)

Believe it our not, government bureaucracy can be exciting. If you don’t believe me, then look at the Federal Communications Commission over the last few days. Most of the time the cell phones passing through the agency’s gates aren’t terribly exciting, but you …

If you’re itching to try Google Voice, but haven’t received one of the coveted private beta invites, a Menlo Park, Calif., company called 3jam is offering an alternative.

This week, 3jam announced an open beta of its new voice forwarding and transcription service that bears a striking resemblance …

Originally posted at The Download Blog

On today’s show, it’s the last day of the Becks Beer sponsorship, so we end on a high note. Joining us in the studio again is Caroline McCarthy, bringing her wit and charm, and we’ve also got Timothy Geiseinheimer, who always has something clever to say. So apparently, CNET broke during today’s live stream, which is why some people are getting 404 error pages when they visit our website. Today’s Audio Draft Sponsored by Becks Beer in Conjunction with Last.fm, a Subsidiary of CBS Corporation 5000 XP GTS, is a rising European pop-rock star, Paolo Nutini.

(Credit: MuffinDeluxe/Last.fm)

After featuring mostly Indie bands, we’re going to bring in some pop from across the pond. Paolo Nutini has a suprisingly sultry yet mature voice for a boy of only 22 years old! Trust us, you’ll get knocked off your feet when you hear a dulcet voice come out of what seems to be a skinny Scottish kid. On today’s show we feature two songs from his album Sunnyside Up. The first is “Coming Up Easy”, which is a nice tune about waking up in the morning to your significant other. Rounding out the show, we finish with “Candy”, a slow-going song about getting some “sweets” from your lover before they leave. Yes, Paolo Nutini is “geting-down” music.

The Semi-Weekly Audio Draft has become so popular that we’re going to list our previous picks so you can find the great, new musicians we’re featuring here on The 404:

• Paolo Nutini
• Koufax
• Why
• Priscilla Ahn
• Mayer Hawthorne
• The Hold Steady
• Grizzly Bear
• Matt Pond PA
• The Twilight and the Sound

On top of some great music, we’ve also got some great stories on today’s show. At the top of the show, we discover the coolest invention ever: the dissolvable bikini! We wonder why it took so long to create this! All this is courtesy of Tim Geiseinheimer’s German descendants. It might be something you should give your date if you live in New York City! According to Forbes.com, NYC is the best place to live for singles. Caroline really disagrees, but that probably has to do with the fact that women in their 20s outnumber guys by a heavy margin. Wilson loves this, but bemoans the fact that a lot of these ladies are always trying to find the next best one.

In more technology-related news, AT&T and Barnes & Nobles have announced free Wi-Fi in their coffee shops. Sounds like a great idea at first because we’ve all hated paying $12.95 for an hour of Internet access, but imagine all the startups and college students crowding what used to be a nice place for conversation. Also, Twitter and Facebook are coming to Xbox 360, while we don’t really have any interest in Twittering while we’re playing Resident Evil 5, we kind of hope we can hook up with other gamers through Facebook Connect. Finally, there is a movement that we can all jump on! David Pogue’s campaign to bring back the “BEEP”, rather than the freakin’ 15-second long voicemail message that we all love to hate. If we can call you from our phone, we know how to leave you a message!

EPISODE 394

Listen now:

Download
today’s podcast

Subscribe in iTunes audio | Suscribe to iTunes (video) | Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS Video

Video coming soon, check back later today!

…

Originally posted at The 404

(Credit: Roku)

For this week’s installment of the weekly Crave giveaway, we’ve got a nifty little black box: The Roku Digital Media Player, which streams video from Netflix and Amazon.

I reviewed the thing and here’s the bottom line on it:

“The one-two punch of Amazon and …

The PRS-300 has a 5-inch screen, while the larger PRS-700 is a 6-inch model.

(Credit: Sony)

A couple of days ago I posted an item on how I’d heard whispers of a new Sony digital reader potentially hitting the market in August. Well, now some images and details of …

The Mintpad.

(Credit: Donald Bell/CNET Networks)

The Mintpass Mintpad is a cute, little, portable media player by way of Korea, offering loads of features in a space about as large as a Post-It pad. Behind its responsive 2.8-inch touch-screen display you’ll find extensive file support (MP3, FLAC, WAV, WMA, OGG, DivX, XviD, MPEG-4, WMV), a Wi-Fi-enabled Internet browser (with Flash support), photo viewer, microSD memory expansion, voice recording, a beautiful vector-based drawing program (cooler than it sounds, folks)–plus, there’s 1.3 megapixel camera on the back that can record video or stills.

In short: the Mintpad is pretty dang cool. It’s also import-only at the moment, with a 4GB model selling for around $150.

That said, even though I found the Mintpad to be a fun distraction to my week, I’m not sure I would wholeheartedly recommend it over a similar product like the Cowon D2+ or Iriver Clix. The Mintpad may have twice the features of the competition, but many of those features just don’t seem practical for everyday use–especially considering that the built-in stylus is pretty much a required tool for navigation. …

(Credit: Dong Ngo/CNET)

Apple published Thursday a support article cautioning users about jailbreaking the iPhone (as well as other Apple handheld audio devices).

Unlike the company’s recent filing to U.S. Copyright Office that suggested that jailbreaking the iPhone might pose a national threat and be the cause of AT&T’s unreliable service, the article states that “customers who have installed software that makes these modifications have encountered numerous problems in the operation of their hacked iPhone.”

This means that if you get your iPhone jailbroken, for example, you will cause yourself, not others, problems. This is such a relief for me.

The problems that Apple mentioned include:

• Device and application instability: Frequent and unexpected crashes of the device, crashes and freezes of built-in apps and third-party apps, and loss of data
• Unreliable voice and data: Dropped calls, slow or unreliable data connections, and delayed or inaccurate location data
• Disruption of services: Services such as Visual Voice mail, YouTube, Weather, Stocks as well as push-based third party applications have been disrupted or no longer work on the device
• Compromised security: Security compromises have been introduced by the modifications that could allow hackers to steal personal information, damage the device, attack the wireless network, or introduce malicious software or viruses
• Shortened battery life: The hacked software has caused an accelerated battery drain that shortens the operation of an iPhone or iPod Touch on a single battery charge
• Inability to apply future software updates: Some unauthorized modifications have caused damage to the iPhone OS that is not repairable

…

Originally posted at iPhone Atlas

Sphere: Related Content

Sherpa learns your taste over time and suggest results closest to your location.

(Credit: Taylor Wimberly)

Sherpa is a new location-based service from Geodelic that was set to launch with the T-Mobile MyTouch 3G on August 5. Luckily, however, the app got an early release to the Android Market and …

Originally posted at Android Atlas

LG BL40

(Credit: LG)

We’ve already told you that LG is releasing a new Chocolate phone in Europe under the BL40 moniker, and on Thursday LG decided to make it official. Indeed, the LG BL40 is skinny and long, much like a universal remote, and it has a stunning 4-inch display with the 21:9 wide-screen ratio we’d heard rumors about. The high-definition “Real VGA” LCD supports a 800×345 pixel resolution and boasts a cinema-like experience in your hand. LG also says that it has a Dual Screen UI that can display two different types of content at the same time. The screen is made out of a curved, tempered glass. Of course, this is strictly a Europe/Asia product (LG has yet to release a GSM Chocolate to a U.S. carrier), but perhaps we can get a slightly different version of it here courtesy of Verizon. We’ll see. In the meantime, you can drool over these official pictures of the LG BL40. It’ll be out by the third quarter of this year. More photos after the break.

…

(Credit: Mark Brooks/Natali Del Conte)

Today we’re graced by the presence of an actual superhero. Yes, Natali Del Conte has been transformed into the marginally intimidating geek hero “Motherboard.” Neither a mother nor a board, Motherboard was sent to this planet to fight crime with her magic gadgets. Too bad she must recharge every night on her magnetic induction bed. Find out the etymology behind our new superfriend and her trusty sidekick Green Show Boy, aka Mark Licea, by listening in!

Also on the show, we discuss the fallout from the Horizon Realty escapade and why the Wii has stopped selling so well.

Finally, we talk about Peter Jackson’s latest complaint: the fact that Hollywood has run out of original stories. OK Mr. Jackson, we’ll give you District 9, but we’re pretty sure both King Kong and The Lord of the Rings may have been other people’s ideas.

EPISODE 393

Listen now:

Download
today’s podcast

Subscribe in iTunes audio | Suscribe to iTunes (video) | Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS Video

…

Originally posted at The 404

Yes, yes. "Arvale: Journey of Illusion" was exactly what I was looking for…

(Credit: Eric Franklin/CNET)

Ever had trouble finding a particular app at the iPhone App Store? Who hasn’t? A couple weeks ago I spent like 10 minutes trying to find a game a friend …

Originally posted at iPhone Atlas

Update, July 30, 10:28 a.m. PDT: The Wall Street Journal has now added a correction to its story: “Correction: It is not clear whether Apple will attend the 2010 Consumer Electronics Show. This post previously stated that Apple would attend.”

We’ve heard lots of speculation about the …

Originally posted at News - Apple