A friend passed this along to me earlier today – the Martin Jetpack is a real device; works (as the video shows) fairly well, and gives the controller incredible control over their flight. The jetpack is made by the Martin Aircraft Company, a company with a history of experience in flight, so this isn’t your usual crazy-guy’s-garage style of jetpack you’re probably used to seeing videos of. Apparently, the jetpack is even self-righting, so if something happened and you let go of the controls, you wouldn’t crash – it would just right itself and hover in-place.

You could have one, if you want one bad enough! You just have to sit on a 12-month waiting list before you have the opportunity to spend $90,000 to get one!

[ Gearlog :: You, Too, Could Own a Working Jetpack for $90,000 ]

The image above is from a post on the Bits Blog from the New York Times; a lovely infographic detailing who’s suing who in the mobile space right now.

A lot has been made of Apple’s lawsuit against HTC over gestures, but when Nokia sued Apple for something similarly inane, at best I heard silence and at worse I heard cheering to Nokia for taking Apple on. Looking at the infographic, the real answer is that everyone is piling on each other and suing one another for ridiculous reasons, but in the center there, suing everyone likely out of fear of its position in the market is Nokia, the behemoth itself.

So where’s the outrage at Nokia, or any of the other companies throwing its patent weight around?

If anything, this is proof that our patent and intellectual property system badly needs reform.

Many thanks to Kevin Purdy (Lifehacker editor) for posting this on Twitter.

[ NY Times - Bits :: An Explosion of Mobile Patent Lawsuits ]

GelaSkins had an exciting announcement today: they unveiled a new line of iPod, iPhone, and laptop skins based on Marvel Comics superheroes, including Iron Man, Spider Man, and the X-Men! All of the designs are available now in their store in the various shapes and forms they come in, but they were kind enough to provide me some review samples prior to the release for an exclusive over at Gearlog on behalf of PCMag.com.

The snapshot above is one of the images I took of the new iPod Skins, but wait until you see what I did with my iPod, and then what I did to my Macbook Pro using the new designs! Head over to Gearlog to see!

[ Gearlog :: Hands On: GelaSkins Marvel Comics Collection ]

Earlier this week at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, Microsoft took the stage and finally announced a product that people in the mobile space have been waiting for for a long time: Windows Mobile 7, or more appropriately (since Microsoft re-dubbed the product a couple of months ago “Windows Phone,”) Windows Phone 7 Series. Windows Phone 7 will be Microsoft’s new mobile operating system, replacing the aging and unattractive Windows Mobile 6.5 that’s the mainstay of a number of enterprise-class and tech-savvy smartphones currently on the market.

Faced with stiff competition in the smartphone space from companies like Apple and Google, Microsoft was forced to come to the table with something strong or risk falling even father behind in the smartphone space – a slip that likely would have met with their downfall in the mobile marketplace. Microsoft’s Windows Mobile has never been a particularly strong OS, and the bulk of its functionality came from the fact that because it’s a Microsoft product and Exchange is also a Microsoft product, the only competition for it on the corporate side has been RIM’s BlackBerry, which unseated Windows Mobile in a huge way. Now, Windows Mobile looks dated, aged, and reminds us of an era when it’s major competition was the old Palm OS (not to be confused with Palm’s WebOS, which is on its new smartphones.)

Windows Phone 7 on the other hand, looks incredible. It’s been updated, it looks modern, it looks sleek, it’s got integration with your social networks and services, it’s got a stunning touch-screen interface, and it brings in two of Microsoft’s most successful properties to the mobile space: Zune and XBox Live. That’s right – your music and your Windows Phone 7 Series device will sync with Zune marketplace and you can snag your music from there, and your mobile gaming experience will be integrated with XBox Live. This alone proves that Microsoft means business and is rolling up its sleeves in the mobile space again.

But it’ll take more than rolled up sleeves and determination to make people abandon their iPhones and G1s for a Windows Phone 7 device.

Before we dive into why, here’s a hands-on video with Windows Phone 7 by my friend Sascha Segan at PC Magazine, who was out at the Mobile World Congress and got to see a live demo of the new operating system:

Continue reading Spinning Gears :: Thoughts on Windows Phone 7…

Yesterday was the day – the day that everyone has been waiting for for years, the day everyone just knew that Apple was going to unveil their entry into the tablet market. They didn’t dissapoint: Steve Jobs walked on stage an announced the Apple iPad, a 10-inch tablet that Apple claims is their “most advanced technology in an magical and revolutionary device at an unbelievable price.”

Watching the furor leading up to the event was remarkable – people have been crowing about the “upcoming Apple Tablet” for years, and even now searching Google images for “iPad” yields a number of the mockups and designs that have been posted on the Web for years while the rumbling built up to a fever pitch while fans and detractors alike started frothing at the opportunity to get their hands on or similarly detract senselessly any new product line that Apple introduced. They weren’t dissapointed either – watching the reaction from the people who simply expected far more than they ever should have (and subsequently blamed Apple for letting them down) and then watching the reaction from the people who otherwise hated Apple but warmed up to this particular product was an amazing thing to see.

You would have thought people were expecting Apple to unveil a cancer cure if you considered the hype beforehand, and it was natural that a lot of those people were let down. The typical Apple bashing began and the cracks at the name “iPad” are more than justified, but here’s the truth of the matter: the iPad is a solid product for what it is – a giant iPod Touch that stands as Apple’s first volley in to the tablet market.

There are tons of tablets out there – traditional laptops folded into single panel devices that are thick, generally bulky, and only applicable in certain situations (schools, doctors’ offices and hospitals, etc) that clearly consumers aren’t interested in. This trend of the “consumer tablet” has only recently surfaced, and considering what I saw at CES earlier this month, the market will be flooded with tablets of all shapes, sizes, and configurations by year’s end – not just the iPad.

The iPad looks like it could be an interesting netbook replacement: Apple made a point of showing off its media capabilities, a version of iWork that you’ll be able to load onto the iPad to do word processing and spreadsheet management, as well as gaming. Since the iPad is essentially a large iPod Touch (and let’s be clear about that – I don’t say that flippantly, it really is a large iPod Touch. If you love your iPod Touch, you’d love the iPad. If you hate the iPod Touch or iPhone for its limitations, you’ll find those same limitation in the iPad.) it’ll run a modified version of the iPhone OS, for which Apple released the SDK yesterday.

There’ll be tons of apps, no doubt, and tons of games, tons of eBooks, and I imagine that because of its color screen and interface that reading comics and documents on it will be fantastic. I see a lot of people comparing it instinctively to the Kindle or the Nook, which I think is a poor comparison: the iPad is a tablet, not an eReader, and the whole point of the consumer tablet market is that they’re more than just eReaders; they’re simply different classes of product, although all tablets will likely have some eBook reading functionality. One consumes the other, but they’re not the same. Speculation is flying about whether the iPad will put Amazon’s Kindle into its grave, and frankly, I highly doubt it. People who love e-ink displays will stick to the Kindle and the Nook, and people who don’t care about that can swing either way depending on what they really want in a product.

The price is right, with Wifi only models coming in at 16GB for $499, 32GB for $599, and 64GB for $699. Wifi and AT&T 3G will run you 16GB at $629, 32GB at $729, and 64GB at $829. Everyone was expecting a $1000 price point, and Apple beat that pretty well. The wifi version looks most attractive to me personally, but that’s because AT&T is horrible where I live, and I think most people’s experiences with the iPhone being tethered to AT&T may wave them off of the 3G models as well. (which also come with a 2 year contract, mind you, and even though Apple says they’ll be “unlocked,” the 3G radios will make them impossible to use with other GSM carriers like T-Mobile.)

That being said though, criticism of the iPad is more than justified. Since it’s a big iPod Touch (or iPhone, since you’ll be able to get it with AT&T 3G built in at a higher price point), you suffer all of the limitations that the iPhone OS has; meaning no multi-tasking, no background apps, no Flash support, and only apps that are supported by Apple’s walled-garden iTunes App Store.

The iPad also has no video out, no USB or expansion ports, no choice of carriers (it’s AT&T for 3G service or nothing), no camera, and no expandable memory or replaceable battery. The fine folks at PC Mag have an excellent roundup of things that are notably missing from the iPad.

The 30-pin dock connector we all know from our iPods and iPhones will be available though, and it’s likely the iPad isn’t designed to serve as a stand-alone device: it’s supposed to be at least somewhat tethered to a computer for updates, data syncs, and app installs. You’ll likely treat the iPad like an iPod Touch or an iPhone – you only hook it up to a computer as often as you need to based on the way you use it. A number of vendors have already come out with cases and peripherals for the iPad that use the 30-pin dock connector and the new iPhone SDK, although the product itself won’t ship for another 60 days at least.

In any event, the ridiculous furor over the iPad has finally started to dissipate, and the people who love Apple and hate Apple are settling back into their respective camps after another product announcement where they all tried to claim impartiality in their criticism or support. Even so, the iPad looks like it could be a strong product as long as the price stays right and the app support is there. There are some serious and notable weaknesses though, ones that Apple’s competitors in the tablet space are likely already scrambling to take full advantage of.

Regardless, hands-on impressions of the iPad confirm that it is what Apple is good at: a solid, attractive, easy-to-use, and powerful piece of consumer electronics. It will likely sell well, but if anything the most exciting thing about the iPad is that it sets the stage for even stronger products in the future. I’m more excited about what an iPad v2 or v3 could bring to the table than the iPad itself.

[ Apple :: iPad ]

One of the booths I was drawn to because of their personable and interesting press releases was Otterbox; mobile phone case manufacturers extraordinaire. Don’t get me wrong, there were dozens, if not hundreds, of mobile phone and mp3 player case manufacturers at CES this year, but Otterbox has been known to make really well designed and high-quality mobile phone cases.

So when Otterbox sent out a press release stating they’d be releasing a new line of cases on Friday the 8th, I perked up and listened. I happened past one of their booths on Friday afternoon and spoke to a rep there who clued me in that Otterbox had some big plans for mobile phones that have made waves in the industry lately but don’t have cases from Otterbox. (we were talking about the Motorola Droid, which I own, but he couldn’t give specifics in advance of the announcement)

Sure enough, Friday night Otterbox unveiled the Tandem series of Palm Pre cases, a dual-body case that fits the Palm Pre quite snugly, makes it feel comfortable and protected, but doesn’t stop the Pre from sliding open so you can use the keyboard or type on it. Otterbox also announced some new cases for its existing supported products, namely the iPhone/iPod Touch, Blackberry phones, and a variety of HP, HTC, and Samsung mobile phones, but the Tandem made waves.

Saturday I stopped by a different Otterbox booth and managed to speak to a rep who owns a Palm Pre and had a Tandem case on it, and the rubberized feel made the device feel solid in your hand and less likely that it would slide out of wet or sweaty fingers, but the case didn’t hinder the slider action for the Pre whatsoever. The Tandem comes in two pieces; one shell for the back of your Pre and one shell for the front that fits around the edges of the case so you can continue to use the screen without issue. It really is remarkable.

Now then, if Otterbox would hurry up and release a case for my Motorola Droid, I’ll be a happy geek!

[ Otterbox :: Tandem Series for the Palm Pre ]

I was actually really eager to pop by the HD Radio booth at CES, and was really impressed with some of the things the folks working behind the scenes on pushing HD Radio further into the mainstream marketplace. The after-market head units and radios for cars that were on display surprised me not just by the variety and the technology available in them, but also by the sheer number. There are tons of bedside radios, iPod and MP3 player docks, and portable audio players that support HD Radio, far far more than I thought were at all available.

The other amazing news from CES is that there are a host of auto manufacturers that are lined up with the HD Digital Radio Alliance and ready to begin offering in-unit stock stereo units that support HD Radio, either standard or as an upgradable option. This is the real key for the HD Radio Alliance – this and educating the public on exactly what HD Radio is. (hint, it’s not “High Definition,” it’s “Hybrid Digital.”) As soon as people wind up having HD Radio tuners in their cars and on their music players and next to their beds without really knowing that they have them, and then start using them, they won’t know how they lived without them.

In relatively well populated areas (like mine, in the Washington DC metro area) we have a ton of HD Radio stations, especially from colleges and universities that play great music selections, and public radio stations that may play their top-rated programming on their main over-the-air channel but will play some more in-depth or alternative content on their HD channels. Chances are you have HD Radio channels in your area that you’d probably love if you could tune to them – you just need the right tuner, and the HD Digital Radio Alliance is working to make sure one is in your next car or included with your next portable music player (The Zune HD, for example, has an HD Radio tuner built-in!)

It’s still a grey area whether or not people have a handle on what HD Radio really is, and it was the big thing I was thinking while I walked around the HD Radio booth at CES, checking out some of the new vehicles that will land on auto sales lots with HD Radio tuners built-in. The technology is out there, the stations and the content is out there too – the real uphill battle will be educating people. I really stress this point because even as I was leaving the HD Radio booth, I overheard two people also heading out of the booth talking to each other about HD Radio: one was explaining to the other what HD Radio was, and was completely incorrect. The Alliance has a pretty steep learning curve to overcome.

[ HD Digital Radio Alliance ]

Aside from being pretty sexy and shiny and curved to fit perfectly on your lap while you’re sitting on the couch, Microsoft’s new Arc Keyboard is designed to be portable and let you work wherever you may roam. Whether you have a laptop and you want a relatively portable external keyboard that you can rest on your lap, or if you’re looking for a keyboard that may not have a ton of bells and whistles but still want one that’ll look nice on the coffee table, the Arc Keyboard may be up your alley.

The Arc Keyboard was released at CES 2010 this past week, and I had the opportunity to play with one at the Microsoft booth. It’s surprisingly tiny and light, and only about 12.2 inches wide by 6 inches tall. It’s not available yet, but is expected to hit store shelves at the end of February for $59.95 USD.

[ Microsoft :: Arc Keyboard ]

That’s right – later this very day I’ll be hopping on a flight to gorgeous Las Vegas to be part of the masses at the 2010 Consumer Electronics Show, along with the rest of the technocrati, tech journalists, bloggers, podcasters, and other industry folks!

From what I’ve heard, the show is incredibly huge and massive and way more to take in, even in a couple of days, but I’ll do my best and hopefully I’ll be blogging from the show floor! In the interim, if there’s anything you guys are particularly interested in hearing about from the show floor, whether it be new mobile phones, 3D HDTV, new gaming peripherals, or something else, give me a shout in the comments! Let me know and I’ll keep an eye out for shiny hotness!

I give Verizon a ton of flak, and sometimes it’s deserved (read: Verizon Calls (read: Whines) for Broadband Incentives (read: Public Handouts)) but sometimes they do something that proves they actually are pretty vested in broadband expansion and investment in telecommunications infrastructure.

For example, today Verizon sent out a press release announcing they had conducted a “world’s first” 10 gigabit-per-second down to the home connection using their fiber network. Now this doesn’t mean that FIOS customers should expect the tested 10 gigabit download/2.4 gigabit upload speeds in their houses anytime soon; the connector technology used in the test isn’t exactly widespread, but it’s proof that the limiting factor on fiber is really the connector types on either end of the fiber connection – something that companies who have invested in 10 Gig connectivity in their datacenters can tell you straightaway.

Even so, this is a pretty groundbreaking test, and it may be a harbinger that we may see an uptick in telecommunications investment in the coming years – if Verizon does something like this, their competition from other telecommunications companies, namely Comcast, will also have to pick up the slack and roll out newer high-speed technologies to more areas of the country. That kind of competition – and its investment – can only be good for everyone.

[ Verizon Conducts World's First 10 Gigabit-per-Second Fiber-to-the-Premises Field Test ]