Who cares about FM radio right? But what if the FM radio came in a wooden box that's really, really tiny? The Motz is all that and an MP3 speaker as well.
Still nothing? Well, maybe you can tape it to your hamster so it looks like he's carrying around an '80s style boombox. Of course, it will have to be Korean hamsters only until this thing gets imported to the US. [EarlyShop via Technabob via DVICE]
In today's Remainders, a buncha dreamers: too many people read too much into a fake Apple tablet ad; DARPA, having loved Avatar, casts about for 3D surveillance; a new B&O TV that will cost more than $10,000, and more.
Ad Busters
A few very serious people have been taking this very fake Apple tablet ad very seriously. Why? Who knows. It comes from the very heart of tablet render fakery, nowhereelse.fr. It has USB ports in the back that would necessitate a device twice as thick as the one shown. It looks faker than Heidi Montag. Let's just move along. [YouTube]
War in 3D
DARPA, comprised of some of the more fanciful minds in the Pentagon, is seeking prototypes for "advanced high-resolution 3-D imaging technology" for the next generation of surveillance systems. The push for three dimensions comes as a response to current limitations of video surveillance technologies, specifically their inability to provide viewers with a sense of depth. Current video feeds have been likened to "looking through a soda straw," which definitely does not sound like a very ideal surveillance situation. Still, it's easier to dream in 3D than to make it a reality. If it took the motion picture dictator pictured to the left some twelve years to realize his three-dimensional vision, we don't have high hopes that our bureaucracy will sort this one out any time soon. [Wired]
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
Bang & Olufsen specializes in designing products that everyone wants but no one wants to buy. Why? Because they're prohibitively expensive. We don't expect the BeoVision 10-46, a 46", LED-backlit HDTV with built-in speakers, to be any different. B&O hasn't announced a price yet, but the 40" predecessor went for a cool $10,000. Riiiiiight. [Engadget]
Outer Space, Inter Net
This has been a great week for fans of internet in space. First some astronauts tweeted from the ISS. Now, the Department of Defense is beginning a three month test of a new satellite with a dedicated internet router. The router, launched aboard the Intelsat IS-14 satellite last November, is part of a program by Cisco dubbed IRIS, or Internet Protocol Routing in Space. The satellite and IRIS system make military communications for the U.S. and NATO much more flexible, allowing space-bound data to be rerouted more efficiently and directly. All good and well for the military, but I can't help but wonder when someone's going to launch a satellite that makes my internet faster? Is that wrong of me? Oh well. [PopSci]
There were complaints that the first firmware update fix for flickering iMac screens made no difference, but now there are whispers that a "combination software and driver patch" will come in "roughly three weeks."
The timeline for this fix is based on what customers are reporting they've heard from Apple Care specialists, but let's just hope that it's not only true, but that the fix makes a difference. [Apple Insider]
The BBC plans to premiere The Chimpcam Project, a documentary shot by actual chimpanzees, this week. Get ready for the inevitable Avatar comparisons, and check out this video preview below.
Basically, some researchers encased a camera in a chimp-proof box and gave it to both wild and zoo-bred chimps. Enraptured with the viewfinder, they began tossing it around, taking pictures of whatever shiny object or unexpected movement interested their lemon-sized brains. As a side note, this is also how Michael Bay directs his movies.
It probably won't be that interesting (also like a Michael Bay movie!), especially since the majority of the footage was shot in a zoo enclosure in Edinburgh, but I'll still probably watch it when it premieres this Wednesday. I mean, what else is going on that day, besides the Holy Grail of Tech announcement and the State of the Union? Bring on the monkey-movie! [DiscoBlog via GeekSystem - Video Courtesy Animals Don't Think]
Just because I could never afford this high-end 800 Series Diamond speaker from Bowers & Wilkins doesn't mean I can't enjoy looking at it, and giggling at the phrase "diamond dome tweeter."
The seven new speaker sets are all pricey, so we may as well talk about the flagship 800 Diamond, which is apparently the latest generation of the speakers used at Abbey Road Studios. That doesn't necessarily tell you anything about how they sound, but for $24,000 per pair you should expect a good conversation starter or two thrown in. The bass is "significantly improved," thanks to a new voice coil and bass realignment, and the entire range of new Diamond Series products are outfitted with diamond tweeter technology.
At the low end, the 805 Diamond costs $5,000 per pair, which isn't so terrible, if you're down with the aesthetics. Otherwise, though, this is one of those look-don't-buy, high-end audiophile systems that most of us can listen to in our diamond dome tweeter dreams.
Bowers & Wilkins launches 800 Series Diamond
Closer to true sound
Bowers & Wilkins 800 Series has long provided the benchmark by which all high-end speakers are judged. Five generations of 800 Series have offered an unbeatable combination of outstanding performance, the latest audio technology and stunning aesthetic design. Now the 800 Series Diamond builds on that legacy, with vastly improved performance across the board and for the first time the inclusion of a diamond dome tweeter in every speaker in the seven-model range.
Bowers & Wilkins is proud to announce the launch of the 800 Series Diamond. The first new incarnations of the legendary 800 Series for six years brings Bowers & Wilkins closer to the ultimate ambition of its founder, John Bowers – to create a transducer that truly neither adds to nor subtracts from the original signal.
The 800 Series has long been the world's premier high-end loudspeaker range. Designed for the home, but offering levels of quality such that the most demanding recording and mastering studios in the world choose to use them. Abbey Road Studios in London and Skywalker Sound in California both use Bowers & Wilkins 800 Series.
The already unrivalled levels of performance are boosted by the implementation of Bowers & Wilkins' famous diamond tweeter technology throughout the whole range, including the new 805 Diamond, a speaker that brings diamond tweeters into the range of more discerning listeners than ever before.
Further major advances in audio-critical areas provide the entire range with a dramatic leap forward in terms of audio quality compared to the outgoing 800 Series. The diamond dome tweeter is now a quad-magnet design, which increases efficiency and improves the dynamic range of the top-end performance. A new surround material aids dispersion characteristics, and provides a more stable stereo image while increasing openness.
At the other end of the tonal scale, bass performance has also improved with the introduction of a new dual magnet motor system, which utilizes powerful neodymium magnets. This innovative design improves the linearity of the bass drivers' performance, therefore reducing harmonic distortion.
Serious work has also gone into the small details that combine to make a loudspeaker special. New Bowers & Wilkins-designed oxygen-free-copper speaker terminals and links ensure the signal quality into the speaker is the best possible. All models' crossovers feature a new design of capacitor using a unique silver, gold and oil construction. This component, chosen subjectively by Bowers & Wilkins engineers, in itself provides a dramatic increase in sound quality.
Elsewhere, proprietary Bowers & Wilkins technologies such as Kevlar® FST™ mid-range drivers, Nautilus™ tube-loaded tweeters, Matrix™ enclosures and the unique sphere/tube heads on the two largest speakers in the range, remain as acoustically valid as ever.
800 Series Diamond is fully manufactured in the UK, at Bowers & Wilkins new cabinet factory in Worthing, West Sussex. All seven speakers feature attractive new design touches, and are available in a choice of three finishes: Rosenut, Cherrywood and a stunning new Piano Black gloss.
The 805 Diamond is possibly the most requested speaker that Bowers & Wilkins has never made… until now. This groundbreaking book shelf model sees diamond tweeter technology arrive in the most affordable, real world speaker yet, and brings this level of stunning audio performance into the reach of many discerning listeners for the first time.
The 804 Diamond is the smallest floorstander in the range, and has a similar footprint to the 805 Diamond when placed on the stand. And like the 805 Diamond it too benefits from the implementation of a diamond dome tweeter for the first time.
The 803 Diamond provides people with more conservative taste many of the benefits of the 800 Series Diamond's range-topping models, but in a more traditional floorstanding speaker design. It has a significantly reduced footprint from the speakers above it, and utilizes three 7-inch bass drivers rather than the 802 Diamond's twin 8-inch cones.
The 802 Diamond is the home-friendly version of the 800 Diamond. It offers many of the benefits of the flagship speaker, including the distinctive head unit, but with a reduced footprint for fitting into living environments. A new voice coil and bass realignment means that the 802 Diamond benefits from dramatically improved bass performance.
The 800 Diamond is the flagship of the range, and is the latest incarnation of the speakers used in Abbey Road Studios. This no-compromise performer is better than ever, benefiting from all of the series-wide developments, and featuring significantly improved bass thanks to a new voice coil and bass realignment, which provides fuller, and more consistent bottom end performance.
The new 800 Series Diamond also features two dedicated centre channels for home theatre use. The larger HTM2 Diamond is the perfect partner for the larger speakers in the range. The more compact HTM4 Diamond, which again sees the introduction of diamond tweeter technology in a real world centre speaker, is the perfect partner for systems comprised of 805 or 804 Diamond.
A number of speakers have been removed from the previous 800 Series in this new slimmed down range, including the 801D and any dedicated rear channel speakers; the latter, because customers usually chose 805s over these options.
Bowers & Wilkins 800 Series Diamond is available from February 2010, and priced as follows:
800 Diamond $24,000 per pair
802 Diamond $15,000 per pair
803 Diamond $10,000 per pair
804 Diamond $7,500 per pair
805 Diamond $5,000 per pair
HTM2 Diamond $5,000 each
HTM4 Diamond $2,500 each
To find your nearest Bowers & Wilkins dealer visit http://www.bowers-wilkins.com
This awesome guitar-shaped Bird Electron Ezison 100 iPhone speaker is designed to be used with the many guitar apps in the App Store. How long until we start seeing legit bands use stuff like this on stage?
The Ezison 100 is handmade, and there only 50 of them being made. They've got pegs for a guitar strap, are crafted from plywood and acrylic and look downright adorable. They're $290 each, and for that price you get a speaker that the manufacturer admits "may sound distorted." But who cares, with a shape as charming as this? [Bird Electron via CrunchGear via SlashGear]
Neither Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium nor the Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus holds any sight quite as bizarre as Arthur von Poppel's Nautilus One Man Band Submarine. [Nautilus One Man Band via Dark Roasted Blend]
"Fire. The wheel. Barbers. The moveable printing press. Whiskey. The automobile. The personal computer. Walt Mossberg. The iPhone. And now, finally, the iSlate." Walt Mossbergpuppet issues the first and final word on the Apple Tablet. [Mosspuppet]
Developed by Microsoft and University of California Berkeley, the Pictionaire table uses overhead cameras to make digitize physical objects, allowing you to manipulate real stuff with all the intuitive, touchy-feely goodness you've come to expect of touchscreen tables.
The table, an adapted version of Microsoft Surface, is nearly six feet long and designed to bring collaboration to touchscreen tables, just like Pictionary brought collaboration to drawing, I guess?
Regardless of the silly name, the concept is pretty cool. A DSLR hanging overhead recognizes objects placed on the table by their size and shape. It then photographs that object and feeds the digital copy onto the table, where it can be resized, sorted and spun around intuitively with your fingers.
Pictionaire still looks a little rough around the edges, but by rolling the ability to scan and copy physical objects into touchscreen tables, it brings Microsoft Surface technology in touch with the real world. [New Scientist via Slash Gear]
Researchers at the International Computer Science Institute and UC-San Diego have achieved 100% success rates in filtering spam from a specific botnet. The strategy? Capture the enemy, and make him talk.
A botnet is a computer that's been hijacked to send spam out into the world without its owner's knowledge. By running a captured software bot on a machine and analyzing the contents of 1,000 messages that it sent out, the team was able to decipher what template it was using to vary its missives and elude filters. They then based their filters on that template.
The result? A 100% success rate in blocking emails from that botnet, and—more importantly—no false positives. That is to say, the filter ended up letting every legitimate email through and blocked all of the spam.
The full results of the study will be made public in March, but until then it's good to see that the good guys have a little Jack Bauer in 'em in the escalating spam arms race. [New Scientist]
Apparently Jobs is bullish about this "major new product's" chances. You'd often look for a company to attempt to downplay expectations on a product launch like this, but it's fun to watch Steve pour some fuel on the fire.
COO Tim Cook also gets in on the action with a bit of a taunt during the conference call, when prompted for tablet details:
"I wouldn't want to take away your joy and surprise on Wednesday when you see our latest creation."
Aw, Tim... you're far too kind. [Apple] [Image:Darkpony!]
Apple blew the doors off of Q4, with strong performances from almost every corner. It's their highest revenue and profit ever, but will they say anything else about Wednesday's announcement? Updated live.
Apple sold twice as many iPhones as last year, although that still managed to be below Wall Street expectations. iPod continued its steady decline, with 8% fewer sales than last year, and they managed to get 3.4 million Macs out the door, despite some functionality issues. Revenue was a whopping $15.68 billion.
The actual money part of the results are affected by a change in accounting measures, so we'll find out on the upcoming call just how well they actually did compared to years past. It starts at five, and we'll be updating as it goes.
The call:
So it's a record breaking-quarter even with the accounting change, by almost $3.5 billion.
Response to the new iMac was "very strong," although it's not necessarily positive in some quarters.
The iTunes store now has 11 million songs, 8,000 movies and over 50,000 TV episodes. The app store has over 3 billion (!) downloads to date in 77 countries.
Talking iPhone now, which did well but not as well as analysts had predicted. But then again, analysts just make stuff up anyway. Their average sales price of $620 is something I'm sure they can sleep comfortably with.
Half the Macs sold in stores last quarter went to people who'd never bought a Mac before. This has been a trend for Apple for the last few years, and speaks well for the long-term, assuming they keep those converts in the Mac family.
Now talking accounting... basically, they used to defer iPhone and Apple TV revenue, but now they recognize revenue immediately (including estimated upgrade fees). Not too exciting unless you're an investor or a CPA.
"We are incredibly excited about our new product pipeline." Well, us too!
Q&A:
Q: 44% of iPhone units are on AT&T (globally, presumably). What are the benefits of their being your only US partner, given their problems? (A little Verizon-baiting there)
A: And COO Tim Cook doesn't bite: "First of all, AT&T is a great partner... it's important to remember that they have more mobile broadband user than any other carrier in the world... We have very high confidence that they'll make very significant progress towards fixing [their problems]."
Q: Could you elaborate on which component prices you expect to be up this quarter? (Like um tablet components HMMM?)
A: Tim Cook: We're continuing to see that the market is constrained in D-RAM, and we do expect that to drive prices higher.
Q: Does your guidance include any unannounced products? (Like um tablet products HMMMM?)
A: CFO Peter Oppenheimer won't slip that easy. No comment.
Q: Could you talk more about the iPhone in China? How is that looking into this year?
A: Tim Cook: We've cumulatively activated over 200,000 units since October launch. We're very, very focused on the quality of the point of sale and the customer experience. We'd prefer to move slow because we're building the brand for the long term. I wouldn't want to forecast where sales will go or what we may or may not do from a partner point of view.
Q: Any update on litigation? (Honestly, there's so many people suing Apple right now that a full answer could take us through Wednesday's announcement).
A: Nope! (thank goodness)
Q: What's the deal with the bass ackwards App Store approval process?
A: Tim Cook says it's important to "keep it in perspective." 90% of apps approved in 14 days or less. Porn gets dismissed outright (oh really?) "Most of the rejections are bugs in the code itself, and this is protecting the customer and developer, to a great extent."
Q: Here we go. How big of an impact do you expect your next product to have? As big as iPhone and iPod?
A: Tim Cook doesn't want to ruin the surprise, which itself is not at all surprising. But it is disappointing!
Q: Can you provide more color on the App Store in terms of changes in paid versus free apps?
A: Peter Oppenheimer "doesn't want to share the answers to the question that you asked." Peter Oppenheimer is NO FUN. He does say that Apple is "way ahead" of their competitors.
Q: Can you give an update on long-term strategy re: Lala and Quattro acquisitions?
A: Peter Oppenheimer: "We occasionally acquire small companies from time to time for their technology and talent." Come on, Peter. Just show a little leg, that's all I'm asking.
(Sidenote: Craig Hockenberry notes that with iPod Touch up 55% this quarter, there are now about 77 million devices out there. Yowza).
Q: Can you characterize your changing relationship with Google?
A: Peter Oppenheimer: "We work with Google in some areas and compete with them in others." Where's the fire in the belly, Peter? Doesn't the Nexus One tick you off even just a little?
Some talk about the K-12 market, and we're done! Not nearly as much tablet-baiting as we'd hoped, but that'll just make Wednesday all the sweeter.
Apple Reports First Quarter Results
All-Time Highest Revenue and Profit
New Accounting Standards AdoptedCUPERTINO, California-January 25, 2010-Apple® today announced financial results for its fiscal 2010 first quarter ended December 26, 2009. The Company posted revenue of $15.68 billion and a net quarterly profit of $3.38 billion, or $3.67 per diluted share. These results compare to revenue of $11.88 billion and net quarterly profit of $2.26 billion, or $2.50 per diluted share, in the year-ago quarter. Gross margin was 40.9 percent, up from 37.9 percent in the year-ago quarter. International sales accounted for 58 percent of the quarter's revenue.
Apple sold 3.36 million Macintosh® computers during the quarter, representing a 33 percent unit increase over the year-ago quarter. The Company sold 8.7 million iPhones in the quarter, representing 100 percent unit growth over the year-ago quarter. Apple sold 21 million iPods during the quarter, representing an eight percent unit decline from the year-ago quarter.
During the quarter Apple elected retrospective adoption of the Financial Accounting Standards Board's amended accounting standards* related to certain revenue recognition. Adoption of the new accounting standards significantly changes how the Company accounts for certain items, particularly sales of iPhone® and Apple TV®.
"If you annualize our quarterly revenue, it's surprising that Apple is now a $50+ billion company," said Steve Jobs, Apple's CEO. "The new products we are planning to release this year are very strong, starting this week with a major new product that we're really excited about."
"We are very pleased to have generated $5.8 billion in cash during the quarter," said Peter Oppenheimer, Apple's CFO. "Looking ahead to the second fiscal quarter of 2010, we expect revenue in the range of about $11.0 billion to $11.4 billion and we expect diluted earnings per share in the range of about $2.06 to $2.18."
Apple will provide live streaming of its Q1 2010 financial results conference call utilizing QuickTime®, Apple's standards-based technology for live and on-demand audio and video streaming. The live webcast will begin at 2:00 p.m. PST on January 25, 2010 at http://www.apple.com/quicktime/qtv/earningsq110/ and will also be available for replay for approximately two weeks thereafter.
An amateur special effects creator going by The Faking Hoaxer on YouTube has been uploading some seriously realistic videos of events such as UFO visits and the destruction of the Space Shuttle. They're pretty amazing.
He's got a bunch of videos up on his channel, so be sure to check em all out. [YouTube via BoingBoing]
Unwittingly snapped by a sandwich shop paparazzo, Panera Bread iMac Man took center stage in our corner of the internet for one day in December. More pictures surfaced, but our questions remained unanswered. So we got in touch.
Well, actually, he got in touch with us. Going in, we knew only what we could see: he uses his iMac in Panera Bread; he plays lots of World of Warcraft; he's a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma dressed in a plaid shirt. His photos were viewed by over 100,000 people on our site, and countless more elsewhere. He is Panera Bread iMac Man.
We now know that his name is James, he's a cheery fellow, and he works as an administrator at a large non-profit. Here's what he had to say, when I talked to him over a sandwich at his local Panera Bread. Ok ok ok, my phone. But still!
Why do you bring your iMac to Panera bread? This could also be phrased as, what do you have against laptops?
I've got nothing against laptops! At my age, I appreciate the bigger screen. The same dollars would not have gotten me a laptop with screen that size. I got an iLugger to carry it around; I grew up with the original mac, so I'm used to the weight.
I don't have an internet connection at home, so I use Panera's. At that particular Panera, I can drive my car, park it underground, and walk right up without exposing the iMac to any weather.
Do the people at Panera give you a hard time? Did they accept your computing habits right off the bat, or did it take time?
No, no. What [the photos] don't show, is that all around me are people with computers. There's usually about 50/50 on Macbooks, iBooks, and PCs.
What level is your World of Warcraft character?
I couldn't see from the screen which one that was, but I have three characters—two level 80s, and an, oh, I guess one level 14.
How'd you get into WoW?
The reason I started playing WoW was because of my niece's son, who was 9 years old, was playing at the time. I started playing in self-defense.
Are you enjoying your marginal internet celebrity? How did you find out you'd been snapped and posted online?
I was looking though MacSurfer, and saw the title. I sent the link to my buddies, and I was like, "that damn photo makes me look bald!"
It comes as a shock, though. About six months ago, a guy walked over to me, and he had done a sketch. He asked, "is this OK?" Now I have it framed, sitting on top of my counter.
Thanks for talking to us, James!
Android 2.1 helps you avoid awkward situations by censoring foul language when you use the voice transcription feature. #### that! Here's a quick and dirty work around courtesy of author Neil Gaiman: Add "dot com" after your string of filth.
According to a statement by a Google spokesperson, the original word filtering is "less about sanitizing users' speech and more about making sure curse words don't accidentally appear in transcriptions erroneously." Fair enough, but an option to turn the function off would be nice. In the meantime, you can cheat the system a little by adding a "dot com' as Jason did when he text messaged me earlier. It looks messy, but a bit amusing, too. [Mashable via Neil Gaiman]
Motion blur! It doesn't just ruin photos. It's also something that can be used for artistic effect, when done properly. And for the results of this week's Shooting Challenge, we've got 117 photographers who did just that.
This is my favorite Korg, and I thought this would be pretty cool to capture "In motion!"
I used a Canon Rebel T1I
f/25
20 Second Exposure
18-55mm Lens (shot at 27mm)
ISO 100
Developed in Lightroom2
And my lighting was a small fluorescent tube light, the size you would put in a closet and such... -Marcel Maynard
Camera:Canon EOS REBEL T1i
Lens: 18-55m F/3.5
Exposure:3.2
Aperture:f/22.0
Focal Length:28 mm
ISO Speed:100
Exposure Bias:-1/3 EV
-Shant Meguerdichian
Camera: Canon S90
Shutter Speed: 0.81 sec
Aperture: F/8
Focal Length 6mm
ISO: 80
Exposure Compensation: -0.7 step
-David McGibbon
It's a pun that works on every level. Plus, it will be compatible with kinds of eReaders—not just the Kindle thanks to a WideLip grip. Also features double pivoting arms and 2 LED light source.
[Amazon via The Gadgeteer]
9to5Mac claims that they've talked to a few content publishers (magazines, newspapers), and those publishers are claiming inside knowledge about the device. Most importantly, that it'll be "[nowhere] near $1000, as has been reported elsewhere."
These publishers 9to5Mac talked to didn't actually see any prototypes, but it was described to them as a 10-inch glass screen that's smaller than a Kindle DX, but "with a similar weight." That the software is going to be the "game changer" is nothing new, but Apple's supposedly going around describing the tablet in comparison to the Kindle as the change from black and white TVs to color.
Other interesting bits: current ebook distributors on the App Store now are going to get screwed once Apple's official one hits, and don't expect a lot of content until "mid 2010 at the very earliest." [9to5Mac]
So you always wanted to be a scientist...except you aren't. Never fear! The iMicroscope iPhone app is here. When used with a microscope (surely you've got one of those kicking around?) you can take ultra-precise scientific photos.
Whatever you put on the microscope slide—my hot tip is a slice of watermelon, or a strand of hair—you'll be able to see just fine through the viewfinder of the device. But what if you want a photo of it in all its magnified glory? You download iMicroscope (for $2.99) and take a photo down the eye of the viewfinder, with the app then requiring you to insert the level of magnification you were looking at, for example 40x.
After that, the image is displayed, letting you zoom in and out, with a scale bar down the bottom for reference. You can email the image, or save it to your camera roll—and when you go back to it later, it will auto-format to the magnification you last viewed it in.
Check out the video below for a demo on how it's done, by the suitably nerdy and squeaky-voiced developer. Ahh, scientists. [iMicroscope via Technabob]
AMD has released several new processors in the Athlon and Phenom II lineups and aimed them squarely at budget-minded consumers. The chips have already been benchmarked on several sites, and, overall, they appear to offer good performance for the price.
For benchmark comparisons, check out Hot Hardware, AnandTech, Computer Shopper, Tom's Hardware, Overclocker's Club, and ExtremeTech [AMD via Engadget]
