Have a look at that sweet piece up above and just imagine your mail being carted around inside. Go ahead, we'll wait. If Chrysler has its druthers (and stays afloat long enough to make good on its good intentions), it'll soon be producing a fleet of all-electric Town and Country minivans for the United States Postal Service. The automaker has voiced its plans to apply for a federal grant in order to get things moving, though it will be looking to utility companies Duke Energy and ConEd to make it all come together. If all goes well, the vans produced will have a range of around 40 miles, though it's expected that they will have a gasoline-powered motor on board in case that last overnight package requires just a few more miles. 'Course, there's no guarantee that the application will result in a grant, but for all those who appreciate comedy, we can only hope it flies though in record time.
We've seen plenty of speculation on this date, but thanks to a quick email from Microsoft reps -- and a handy post on the Windows Blog -- we now have confirmation. According to the cats and kittens in Redmond, the Windows 7 RC will be officially available to MSDN and TechNet subscribers on April 30th, and will be made publicly available on May 5th. End transmission... and bust out the champagne.
We've been down this path countless times, but rumors are once again heating up that Apple and Verizon are actively discussing the possibility of creating an iPhone to work on Big Red's airwaves, according to USA Today's infamous "people familiar with the situation." The juicy gossip claims that discussions kicked off a few months ago when Steve was still running the day-to-day show out in Cupertino, but that the conversation has continued in his absence -- and they'd like to get a product on the shelves next year, likely much to AT&T's chagrin. The article claims that this would be a CDMA product, but given that Verizon boss Ivan Seidenberg himself ruled out a CDMA iPhone and opened the door for an LTE one, we're inclined to believe that the carrier would like to see this product help inaugurate the first slivers of its commercial 4G network in 2010. Since AT&T (along with the rest of the world) is moving toward LTE, an LTE-powered iPhone is a forgone conclusion -- it's really just a question of when Apple will make it happen and whether Verizon will be able to seal the deal.
The sheer depth of Final Cut Pro features can intimidate new users. Apple's plan was to take the video editing world by storm with their professional editing app. In order to shake Avid from its high horse, Apple had to cram an unbelievable amount of features in there.
We'e assembled ten features that will help you master FCP and create the next great movie.
1. Keep Organized
Video files are large, and Final Cut Pro generates a lot of information using these files. If you are not careful, your hard drive will be full and you will need a CSI team to clear out all the capture and render files that have exploded across your system. To help keep David Caruso away from your computer and all its bits, watch the video below to learn how to keep your FCP files organized.
Best March Quarter Revenue and Earnings in Apple History
CUPERTINO, California—April 22, 2009—Apple® today announced financial results for its fiscal 2009 second quarter ended March 28, 2009. The Company posted revenue of $8.16 billion and a net quarterly profit of $1.21 billion, or $1.33 per diluted share. These results compare to revenue of $7.51 billion and net quarterly profit of $1.05 billion, or $1.16 per diluted share, in the year-ago quarter. Gross margin was 36.4 percent, up from 32.9 percent in the year-ago quarter. International sales accounted for 46 percent of the quarter’s revenue.
In accordance with the subscription accounting treatment required by GAAP, the Company recognizes revenue and cost of goods sold for iPhone™ and Apple TV® over their estimated economic lives. Adjusting GAAP sales and product costs to eliminate the impact of subscription accounting, the corresponding non-GAAP measures* for the quarter are $9.06 billion of “Adjusted Sales” and $1.66 billion of “Adjusted Net Income.”
Apple sold 2.22 million Macintosh® computers during the quarter, representing a three percent unit decline from the year-ago quarter. The Company sold 11.01 million iPods during the quarter, representing three percent unit growth over the year-ago quarter. Quarterly iPhone units sold were 3.79 million representing 123 percent unit growth over the year-ago quarter.
“We are extremely pleased to report the best non-holiday quarter revenue and earnings in our history,” said Peter Oppenheimer, Apple’s CFO. “Apple’s financial condition remains very robust, with almost $29 billion in cash and marketable securities on our balance sheet. Looking ahead to the third fiscal quarter of 2009, we expect revenue in the range of about $7.7 billion to $7.9 billion and we expect diluted earnings per share in the range of about $.95 to $1.00.”
Apple will provide live streaming of its Q2 2009 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. PDT on April 22, 2009 at www.apple.com/quicktime/qtv/earningsq209/ and will also be available for replay for approximately two weeks thereafter.
The gadget: Viliv S5, a computer that fits in your palm, packing all the Atom processor power of the latest netbooks along with GPS.
The price: $599 (configured with 4.8" WSVGA display, 60gb HD, Intel Atom 1.33GHz CPU, free spare battery, car kit and pouch)
The verdict: The S5 is a good value, but you may not like it anyway.
At .92lbs, the Viliv is a bit hefty in your hands even though it's 1.5lbs lighter than most netbooks (it's sitting on an Asus Eee 1000HE here). Still, the Viliv kept surprising me with its speed. Loaded with the same processor as the Vaio P, the system doesn't actually run XP faster than any Atom-based, but to see installation bars and downloads move so quickly on such a tiny device is always a bit of a mindfrak.
The resistive touchscreen has passable color, brightness and contrast—luckily, it's also ridiculously accurate. Yeah, the buttons and icons are as minuscule as you'd expect, but I never had a hard time, say, hitting the "X" to close a window (with my precision "nail" tool, of course)...unless my browser was full screen. Then my finger just never fit in the corner properly. For when you need extreme precision, the four-way thumbstick doubles as a mouse, or you can use the bundled "Cube" interface for larger icons (which is fine for a skin, but you'll need to tinker in the real XP sooner or later).
As for the keyboard, it pops up with a conveniently placed button on the right. Pressing keys offers a satisfying moment of haptic feedback. It works about 90% of the time, but however the keyboard skin was designed, your finger press sometimes goes through the keyboard and hits a link or something that's on your screen. It can make typing a simple phrase quite taxing as you unintentionally swap text boxes.
The GPS? It works, but you'll need to supply your own nav software (an additional cost). The battery? It's rated at 6 hours, but we received four hours (and two minutes) when tested with nonstop WMV playback (Wi-Fi on with the screen at medium brightness). Since many manufacturers claim battery life that's double actual testing, I considered four hours to be decent.
The USB, headphone and Multi I/O ports are enough in a device of this size, because between them, you could plug in a keyboard, monitor (with adapter) and speakers. In this respect, the Viliv could make for an extremely portable home-to-office computer.
Here's the issue: I just don't like MIDs. I hate them, really. If I want to use something small, I'll use a smartphone. If I want to use something slightly bigger, that's netbook/laptop territory. The MID, in my mind, is a failed idea of the future still stuck in the 90s. It's a computer that neither fits in your pocket nor serves as your main computer. So if you hate MIDs, the Viliv S5 won't do anything to change that.
But for a MID, I must say, I liked the Viliv. If you are the type of person who can stand the 4.8-inch screen and is looking for their GPS to do a little more, then it might interest you. And at $599, it's sort of the netbook of MIDs—a whole lot cheaper than what you can get from Sony or the soon defunct OQO.
Apple has been found guilty of willfully infringing on a "predictive snooping" patent awarded to Opti Inc. in 2002. The company has been ordered to pay just over $19 million in compensation, despite its attempts to have the patent thrown out.
Apple has been ordered to pay $19 million to Opti Inc., a technology company based up the road in Palo Alto, for patent infringement. The verdict came out of Patent Lawsuit Valley (also known as the US District Court for the Eastern District of Texas in Marshall) late Thursday, where a jury found that Apple had "willfully" infringed on Opti's patent for "Predictive snooping."
The patent—its full name is "Predictive snooping of cache memory for master-initiated accesses"—describes a method to more efficiently transfer data among the CPU, memory, and "other devices." The patent was issued to Opti in June of 2002, and the company filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Apple in January of 2007 (which we briefly mentioned in a Friday Apple links post that week).
Apple had acknowledged that it used similar technology, but argued unsuccessfully that the patent should be declared invalid due to prior art and obviousness. Much to Apple's dismay, the jury didn't buy it. They ended up rejecting Apple's claims and found the company guilty of willful patent infringement, awarding Opti $19,009,728 as a "reasonable royalty for infringement." We sincerely hope some lawyer uses that extra $8 to buy a nice coffee or something.
With close close to $30 billion in the bank, $19 million isn't likely to hurt Apple very much in the overall picture. However, cases like this remind us of why Apple seems to be a popular target for patent infringement suits. It's a large, well-loved company that has tons of cash. If it's not careful with those patent searches when developing new technology, the company could continue to find itself shelling out—or being forced to change its products.
Someone asked that question when the tiny shuffle came out, so we tried it. Well, we didn't, but we found someone who did: The very sweet sword-swallower Heather Holiday, from the Coney Island Circus.
Heather is a professional sword swallower. Someone with no gag reflex—or better said, trained to suppress it while swallowing 36-inch long solid steel swords down her throat. No tricks, no smoke and mirrors. She's the real deal. I saw her swallow an entire—and very large—soup spoon with my own eyes in a second. She didn't even blinked. She gobbled it down like I eat maple-syrup-bathed buttermilk pancakes.
Needless to say, she had the right credentials to try our test: Swallow the tiny, 1.8 x 0.7 x 0.3-inch iPod shuffle and then take it out again, after we have listened to a couple of songs thanks to the in-cable remote control—which is a bad idea for regular use, but it's great to play songs when someone has the iPod down the esophagus.
Unfortunately, as you will see in the video, she wasn't able to do it for a number of reasons. First, the iPod shuffle is way too light. Apart from controlling your gag reflex, her technique for swallowing swords use the force of gravity to pull them down. She also uses her esophagus muscles to control how fast it gets in her body, but the gravity is what pull downs the sword. With the iPod shuffle—which is only 0.38 ounces or 10.7 grams—this was impossible. The iPod just hanged there and had to be pushed with her hand or a large object—like a spoon—to get into the entry of her throat. However, from there it was not possible to make it go down.
Heather thinks she can do it with more training—or maybe pushing it with something larger—so she took the iPod with her and will be back when she can do it. Until then, here's the answer to the question: No, you can't swallow the iPod shuffle, even if it's small enough to get it in. If the iPod shuffle is sword-swallower proof, it's certainly child- and moron-proof.
Here's something gross: I was given the world's largest Cheeto. So of course I had to eat it over the Optimus Maximus keyboard. Don't try this at home.
Because I am the token shameless jackass of the Gizmodo crew, I was the first person that came to mind when Rothman was offered a chance at the "World's Largest Cheeto." This one-of-a-kind object is more buoy than snack, with the middle completely unseasoned by cheese and tasting basically exactly like styrofoam.
But I persevered. It was stale and horrible. I will never eat Cheetos again. But hey, who am I to turn down a challenge of this magnitude?
Also, sorry for ruining your keyboard, Art Lebedev. It was in the name of science.
There is nothing wrong with offering a feature-packed product, but it is possible to take things a little too far. The following gadgets definitely illustrate convergence at its worst.
It's a gun! No, it's a knife! Actually it's a gun AND a knife. That's right - the G.R.A.D .22 caliber gun knife is two kills in one.
A coffee mug that doubles as a mouse? It's almost a good idea.
Traffic jams just got a whole lot more entertaining with these rims that feature a built-in LCD screen. Then again, motorists trying to catch up on the Today show while driving next to you on the highway may be the reason for the traffic jam in the first place.
What song goes best with electrocuting a mugger? Find out with this leopard skin Taser with built-in 1GB mp3 player.
The Rong Zun 758 Razor is a GSM phone with a decent feature set - like dual SIM card slots, a 2.6-inch touchscreen, 3-megapixel camera, MP3/MP4 player, FM radio, GPRS, Bluetooth connectivity and a microSD slot. However, the record goes off the track with the addition of a working shaver hidden under a cover on the bottom.
Bring some high-tech to your Oktoberfest with a pair of lederhosen that features a built-in set of mp3 controls. Also available in a stylish hunting jacket.
This is actually a pretty cool product, but the last thing our chubby society needs is one device that can make hot dogs, pop popcorn, boil eggs and warm buns at the same time.
The latest product from world renowned over-the-top toilet maker Toto makes each trip to the bathroom like a physical at the doctor's office. It features a weight scale, a BMI indicator, a blood sugar and blood pressure monitor as well as urine temperature measurement and analysis to help women keep track of menstruation cycles. Plus the whole thing can be networked to your PC via Wi-Fi.
Imagine what MacGyver could have done with a Swiss Army knife that has 85 distinct functions.
China is one country where the whole anti-smoking movement has yet to take hold. Perhaps that is why a company would invest the resources in developing a cellphone with a bult-in cigarette holder.
Acer's announcing a ton of new gear right now (we're live at the event in a New Jersey IMAX theater, of all places) and the hottest new products so far are the new Aspire Timeline laptops. Hard specs are a little light at the moment, but what we do know sounds pretty great: 13.3, 14.1 and 15.6-inch LED-backlit 16:9 screens in a one-inch thick chassis, Intel ULV processors, multitouch touchpads, HDMI and S/PDIF out, and eight hours of battery life -- 10 hours with an SSD. The real killer is pricing, however: $699 to $899. Ouch -- poor Adamo. We're still at the event, but we'll be trying to get as much info on these as we can, stay tuned.
Update: We got some more detailed specs, and things are still looking good -- like, built-in WiMAX good. The processors will be ULV Core 2 Duos, and the 13.3-inch model will weigh 3.5 pounds while the 15.6-incher will tip in at 5.3 pounds. RAM is DDR3 and drives top out at 500GB spinners and 64GB SSD. We're angling for clock speeds, we'll let you know when we go hands-on
Uh. Looks like something is happening -- big time -- in Zune land. We present what might possibly be your first look at, yes... the Zune HD. In the gallery below, you can see images from what appears to be a forthcoming marketing campaign for Microsoft's new PMP. We don't have any word on specs right now, though we've got a sneaking suspicion this will have an HD display.
Update: Based on discussions with sources, it's looking very likely that the device in these images is -- in fact -- a new Zune on its way to market.
We know you've been losing sleep just wondering how on earth General Motors plans to get OnStar users to keep on using once their free year is up, but apparently someone up top has been doing a bit more than just mulling. Gearlive received quite the interesting survey from OnStar this week, with a paragraph clearly explaining how Twitter integration would work should it come to the in-car alert / communication system. Essentially, the system could be programmed to read back tweets directed at you and convert your voice to text in order to upload new tweets. Envision this: you tweet that you're headed to Forks, Washington, and you ask your thousands of followers to name a good place to buy garlic. Magical, no?
While you and I try to eat our plastic-wrapped dinner in cattle class, first class passengers in Swiss International's flights would be able to chat up passengers and invite them to their table for two.
The new design—which will debut in their new A330 airplanes—is quite a change from traditional my-cabin-is-my-oyster first class designs. According to the airline, it's more "architectural" which goes with the "design language of the brand." According to Paul Estoppey, senior manager and head of cabin interior development for Swiss International:
Our product drive is primarily intended to [lots of corpospeak here] I think that in the context of the current economic climate there may be opportunities for [blah blah blah. blah] while at the same time maintaining very high levels of comfort.
Quick translation: "New seat for rich people. The rest of you please keep eating your cardboard chicken."
