I got a very interesting note from Apple in my inbox this week.  It appears as though the Boot Camp that many of us know and love will be expiring at the end of the year. If you're running Boot Camp under Tiger and use the Windows side of things for anything really real, then you may be a bit of a pickle. 

Begin e-Mail from Apple:

Dear Boot Camp enthusiast:

We hope you've enjoyed the opportunity to preview an exciting new feature of

Mac OS X Leopard.

With the introduction of Leopard, the Boot Camp Beta program has ended. The Boot Camp Beta software

will expire on December 31, and Apple won't offer further updates of Boot Camp Beta for Mac OS X Tiger.

If you'd like to continue using Boot Camp, Apple invites you to upgrade to Mac OS X Leopard.

Learn more.

Thank you for your participation in the Boot Camp Beta program.

===============================================================================

End e-Mail from Apple.

I honestly don't know if you won't be able to boot into your Windows partition or not on 1/1/08; but the sense that I get from the e-mail message I've included below, indicates that you will likely be out of luck...which kinda sucks. In order to keep using Boot Camp at all with either Windows XP or Vista, you will need to spend $129 bucks and upgrade to Leopard. How many people this effects and to what degree has yet to be seen, but it would have completely killed me if not for one interesting issue: I'm writing a review of Leopard for Gear Diary (http://www.geardiary.com) with Mitchell Oke, and I was fortunate enough to have Apple send me a copy of the OS to enable the review. (Thank you very much, Apple!!)

So, the long and the short of it kids is that you have 31 days or so to get it together and get your copy of Leopard before your Windows partition craps out on you. Don't walk, run... The OS in and of itself, is well worth the upgrade; but more on that when we post the actual review!

"This is based purely on anecdotal evidence at the moment, but it appears that AT&T and Samsung are quietly recalling some original BlackJacks. The recall seems to only affect handsets that were manufactured between November 2006 and February 2007, and it seems to be due to some sort of antenna issue. Apparently certain internal antenna components have been wearing rather strangely over time, leading to a loose and disengaged antenna..."

I just saw this here at the office (I have BGR pulled down via RSS in Outlook...) and got very disappointed after I popped the battery out of my BJ and saw my manufacture date of 06.12.

If you take a look at this posting over at the AT&T Forums, you'll get the straight poop on

• How to id if your unit is effected, and
• The phone number to call to get remediation

I've already got a refurbed unit, so I don't know how this is going to effect me.  I'll keep everyone posted.

I usually don't post things like this as a blog entry or on the front page of any site, but I've been having a couple of problems and I really would appreciate some help. I recently switched back to the Treo 750 from the Blackjack I on a lark. It has been a while since I used a PPC (as opposed to a Smartphone), and I thought...eh, what the heck.

Anyway, I also installed the new HTC Home Page plug-in and it really looks nice on my Treo. I installed the 6-tab version (I couldn't find the 5-tab version) on it, and am having a couple of problems with the device that I haven't had before using the plug-in.

Picture courtesy of mobilegadgetnews.com

1. Ring tones (or even vibrate as a ring tone) don't work with the plug-in installed.  Most calls come in completely silent, and I usually miss them.
2. The device vibrates out of nowhere on its own every 10 minutes or so (my pop3 mail check interval), even if no new mail is downloaded.
3. Calls I place don't use the standard WM5/6 call screens. There is usually no visual evidence that I am placing a call.

If anyone has any ideas on how to resolve these issues, knows of a forum posting on these (or any other issues with the plug-in), or knows of a version that was released after beginning to mid October 2007, please comment back or shoot me a note.

PDAdb.net | The Best PDA Database Ever

PDAdb.net The World's largest, most comprehensive and most accurate online PDA Database. New or old, large or small, smart or simple, stylish or practical. PDA specs, PDA Phone specs, PNA specs, Smartphone specs and other handheld/pocket-sized mobile devices. Anything what you search for you can find here.

Recently, pocketnow.com undertook the construction of a new utility site to help users find the right device for them.  The result, PDAdb.net, is one of the most comprehensive device databases available on the Internet. If you're in the market for a device, or if you're just curious to know what device has what specs, this is the best place to find the information. Brandon Miniman has been working very hard to help motivate the staff at pocketnow to gather information. I know I have helped pull some specs together for devices in the early part of this year; but the credit and the life of the site are strictly (and all) Brandon.

With all the hub-bub around the new iPods and Zunes, I had been searching for something to make my older 60GB 5G iPod Video new and exciting again. I wanted something that would be fun, and bring some zip back to the device, and be way cool, especially since I wasn't going to be buying a new iPod any time soon.  My 5G player is in decent shape and since I've been watching a lot of vide on it lately (more on that in a minute), I was looking for something that would make that experience a little better. Enter the myvu Solo Edition for iPod.  Let's see if it gave me the better experience I was looking for...

The myvu personal media viewer is a big screen viewer for your 5th Generation iPod Video.  You connect the dongle to the connector port on your iPod, set your iPod's video out setting to "on," and then find your video on your iPod and play it. The video then shows up in the glasses.  I've been looking all over the web site for a screen size equivalence; but I can't find one. The device also doesn't come with any real documentation other than a getting started guide showing you how to connect the device and to get the video to show through it. However, I would put the virtual screen size close to 25-27" It also appears to be a 4:3 screen size ratio and not a 16:9 wide screen (While the box says, "big screen viewing," it also doesn't specify viewing aspect ratios, nor does the web site...)

Using the Device
Over the last 6 or so weeks, I've been making a lot of trips back and forth to Denver for work. The flight is 2.5 hours one way, and I've been flying United.  They have the best offering of non-stops to Denver out of O'Hare.  My trips usually start at 3am for a 6am flight going out to Denver, so the only thing I watch the trip out is the inside of my eyelids.  The trip back, however, is a different story, and where the myvu comes in.

The device is a special set of "glasses" that plug into your iPod.  The device requires that you set your iPod's video out feature to on so it can pump the content to its screen, and through its earbuds.  You can see pictures of me modeling the myvu, below.

I just figured out who I look like - Gilbert from Revenge of the Nerds... Near the end of the flick, when they do that big musical number and finally kick Alpha Beta's butt...Sad, but true...

The right side of the myvu with the noise reduction ear buds in my ears.

The lefts side of the myvu... that long cable, is what connects the myvu to your iPod. The picture of the full device, above, is very misleading. That cable stretches to my knees, and I'm 5' 11" tall!

For those of you that wear glasses and need them to see something that sits fairly close to your face, the myvu also sports a prescription lens snap-in. The lenses are $99US, and come with a protective case. I made due without the lenses...

The cable has this control pad in the middle.  The D-Pad at the top has brightness controls at the top and bottom and contrast controls at the left and right.  The bottom button allows you to turn the volume up and down.

I have watched about 3 full movies and a couple of episodes of Star Trek Voyager through these things. The overall experience is pretty good. The movie fills your field of vision and the sound is good enough to bring you right there. I had two problems with the device:

1. The power for the device I reviewed is pulled from your iPod. This means that given your average movie lasts 90-120 minutes, and battery life on the 5th Generation iPod is short enough without adding to the power drain, you may have trouble given the current state of your iPod's battery. I was able to get through the entire Transformers movie, however, and its near 2.5 hours long. This wasn't a show stopper for me, however, because the only other option is to put a battery in either the glasses or in the D-Pad, adding bulk to either or both. Looking at myvu's web site, now indicates that they have solved this problem and have a version of the solo that includes a batter that lasts for 4 hours.
2. The earbuds become painful to wear after a while.  The earbuds are noise reducing, which means that they fit tightly in your ears. myvu does give you the option to change the earbuds out; but I couldn't find any that really fit my ears well.  After a while (like about 60 minutes into a movie), they started to become painful to wear.

Conclusion
The myvu solo is a decent product.  The version with the rechargeable battery should be even better. If you watch a lot of video, you might like these things. Despite the problem with the earbuds, I know this is going to continue to be a huge winner for me.  No more boring flights back from Denver!! (and I don't have to deal with any screaming babies while I watch my movie, either!) The $199.95 price tag may be a bit high for some; but they will make a truly awesome Holiday gift!

MSRP: $199.95
What I liked: Big screen viewing of my movies on my iPod.  Noise reducing sound.
What needs improvement: The earbuds got painful to wear after about 60 minutes. The viewer's arms also tended to grip my head a little too hard and those became painful after about 120 minutes.

Sometimes, I need to have white noise playing in the background in order to be able to concentrate. This can take the form of music (CD, MP3's etc), radio (Internet or other), or the TV. Sometimes, the simple sound of the air circulating in the room that I'm in can be deafening, and just too loud.  I need to fill the air with something other than, well... the air.

Recently here in Chicago, we had a very bad rainstorm come through. My sump pump decided to die the day AFTER the storm when a lot of the water absorbed by the ground decided to continue to run off.  My house is the last on the street, and a corner lot.  I am at the bottom of a slight incline, and I get run-off water from about 4-5 houses to the west of me.  During this past Spring, my sump pump kicked out about 5-10 gallons of water every 15-20 minutes...it ran ALL the time. 

The day after this last storm, we got some water in our basement. Not a lot, but enough to ruin the carpet and to spur my wife and I to move my home office upstairs, out of the basement and into the "living room."  So long 25" TV in the basement...Hello....wall. Great. Just great...and with the start of the football season, I'm basically screwed, right?  WRONG!

Enter Hauppauge's WinTV-HVR 950 Hybrid TV Stick!  The WinTV-HVR 950 models 1139 and 1136 (here on out, called the 950) are USB 2.0 devices. Its an analog AND HD-TV TV tuner that works with both Windows Vista and XP SP2 (MacOSX users need to use model 01145, which includes Elgato's EyeTV Lite, so you can watch and record analog and ATSC digital TV on your Mac.) I was given model 1139 to review.

I've been using Hauppauge products for almost 7 years now. I have a WinTV Go board that I've got stuck in my Dell C600 Extended Docking station (the kind that accepts 2 ISA compatible computer cards).  In Nashville, I had a cable connection close to my office desk, and I had an extra splitter and cable go right to the card. having all of my basic cable channels right on my computer screen. Watching Monday Night Football on a 17" ViewSonic LCD was way cool.

While I am not doing that with this setup (the 15.4" screen on my MacBook Pro is MUCH better), I thought I would still have a problem with a cable connection until I noticed that the 950 comes with its own antenna (the cable and long, black stick thing you see above).  The antenna works for both analog and digital TV stations!  A better picture of the actual antenna can be seen below.

Since reception depends on antenna placement, sticking this in the right stairway wrung is very important. Its a good thing that my desk is now positioned right next to the stairway on the main floor of our house instead of in the basement where it used to be.  Otherwise, I'd have a bit more trouble with reception than I've got right now; but I'm getting ahead of myself... Let's start from the top, shall we..?

Installation
Installing the system was easy.  Simply connect the 950 to a USB 2.0 port, insert the CD, and that's it. Please note, that you MUST have a USB 2.0 port to use the 950. A USB 1.1 port will NOT work according to the documentation. 

The following are the system requirements for the 950:

• Minimum processor recommended:
  • 2.2 GHz P4 or 1.8 GHz Centrino or equivalent (minimum).
  • 2.8 GHz processor for analog TV recording with MPEG-2 (minimum).
• Microsoft® Windows® Vista (all versions), Windows XP, XP Pro or Windows XP Media Center Edition, with Service Pack 2. Also compatible with Vista Media Center.
• Graphics with 64MB of memory (minimum).
• USB 2.0 port (will not work with USB 1.1).
• CD-ROM drive (for Software installation).

The following is included in the box:

• WinTV-HVR-950 USB 2.0 TV stick with cable TV or ATSC antenna connection.
• USB extension cable.
• Portable antenna*.
• Software on CD-ROM (incl. manual).
• Quick Installation Guide

My MacBook Pro more than covers all the requirements. In fact, it really surpasses them. The only thing that could really improve my Windows Performance Index is a faster drive; but that's a different story, and I digress.

The installation process gives you the option of turning on graphic acceleration for the 950; but I've noticed that even with twice the video memory, that may not have been a great idea.  The installation process defaults it to off. Some of the channels that I have access to via the antenna don't display very well, and the TV display actually freezes (though the rest of the display and the PC are fine). I've been trying to trouble shoot the problem with no success so far. I can't seem to find where to modify this in the application, and the manual has nothing on it at all.   It might be my inexperience with Vista, but you would think that if Hauppauge offers you the option to turn it on, they would offer you the option to turn it off, too.  Not so much... Unfortunately, I've got a lot of choppy video on my system, and I don't know why... Could be I need more RAM, could be a number of things. I have no idea, as this is Vista and not XP, and I'm still a bit of a newbie here.

Adding Channels
The biggest thing here is that the 950 will display digital content in HD as well as regular analog channels. If you've used Hauppauge products before, then the process is pretty much the same here as it is with their other products. You start the Channel Manager and let is scan for channels. Once it finds them, it adds them to your available channel list, and you can watch content.

With Channel Manager, you can add and subtract channels from your suite, can manage signal sources (antenna, cable, etc.) and the devices you have pulling TV signals in. Again, if you've used Hauppauge products before, then you're used to WinTV and its components.   This was pretty much what I have seen before and I was very familiar with it.

I have Comcast digital cable pumped into the house, and I know there are a lot of digital channels that they are NOT pulling in that are available through antenna.  For example, TUBE, ION, IONLife and qubo.  I have NOT seen them in the Comcast lineup here in Chicago-land. If I could have pushed a cable connection across the house so that I could hook it to the 950, I would have gotten a LOT more channels, but this is the best that I could do with the included antenna. Which presents a problem.

The 950 is a USB device that hooks directly to your computer. The antenna included with the device easily hooks to it and doesn't put any pressure on the port. Coax cable is MUCH more rigid than the antenna's wire, and even on my older WinTVGo PCI card, put a lot of stress on the device it was connected to.  I would hate to see a USB port on my MacBook Pro get damaged because a coax cable tweaks it to one side. Hauppauge does offer an iUSB extension cable that acts as a tail connector on the 950 (like the USB cable of a mouse) so that your USB port doesn't get stretched or tweaked.  I honestly think that they need to include this cable as part of the package and not just offer it as an accessory.  I would also like to see a Bluetooth 2.0 dongle that supports up to 300 foot connection between the actual 950 and a dongle you hang off your cable connection near your TV/Cable box. That way you could plop this thing on your cable box and have it shoot a signal back to your PC.

Watching TV
Watching TV on the 950 was really cool. The antenna was able to pull in both analog as well as digital channels and I was able to see both on my MBP.  Of course, due to me using an antenna instead of my cable box, I was met with varying levels of clarity and snow, but the overall experience wasn't bad.

Analog TV.  This is actually Fox32 in Chicago.  This wasn't the actual Devo music video, "Whip it!" Its a commercial that uses the song and part of the video. I forget what it was for...a car ad, I think.  Anyway, as you can see, the picture is a bit on the snowy side. This was also the best analog picture that I could get at the time of the screen shot.

Digital TV. Now this is what I'm talking about!  Crisp. Clear; and definitely HD.  I forget what channel this was; but who cares!  Look at this!!  And if you think this was good, you should have seen this stuff full screen on my MBP!  15.4" of wide screen HD TV...now THAT was awesome!

Conclusion
All in all, this is not a bad little gadget. I had seen this in the store before and had walked right by it because I had my WinTVGo card and for logistical reasons.  I'm still not 100% certain how I am going to be able to hook my cable box to the 950 in my house, but once I get that figured out, I should be good to go.  You can find the WinTV-HVR 950 in just about any consumer electronics/computer store.

MSRP: $119.00
What I liked: Digital and analog TV capabilities on my MacBook Pro
What needs improvement: Connection to your PC may cause stress on a USB port when using coax cable.

Earlier this year I took a look at the ETEN Glofiish M700 over a pocketnow.com. The device was, as always, an improvement for ETEN over their previous devices, but didn't really send me. They released a Windows Mobile 6 Professional upgrade for it, and it did make things a bit better on the OS side, but the device itself didn't change.

I got a couple of press releases from ETEN a few days ago and am excited to say that they have released their X800 device.  The X800 is an update to their X500 series device.  The big calling here is the support for 3G/HSDPA and its VGA screen.  With ETEN's continued incremental improvements to their devices AND the inclusion of 3G wireless speeds AND a VGA screen, this should be a formidable device.

I am currently trying to secure a sample for review here on the site. Wish us luck!!

"E-TEN Information Systems is proud to announce that the award-winning Glofiish X800 Pocket PC Phone has begun shipping worldwide. Highlights of the X800 include 3.5G high-speed connectivity, a pixel-sharp high-resolution VGA display and a new powerful mobile shell that make this the most advanced Glofiish device to date.

E-TEN's next-generation Glofiish X800 Pocket PC Phone has begun shipping to channel partners around the globe. The X800 is E-TEN's first handset to support 3.5G HSDPA connectivity for high-speed downloads delivering new and improved online services including faster more enjoyable surfing and email, streaming audio and video downloads, VoIP and instant messaging, and video calling.

The X800 was first previewed earlier in the year at CeBIT where it drew considerable interest from show-goers and the media. The handset was next seen at Computex where it was again warmly received and earned a Best of Computex Award. Since that time E-TEN has continued to refine the X800 package and the device now includes E-TEN's new mobile shell, an easy-to-customize interface that lets users display all of their most important information on a single screen.
The new mobile shell enables features including, photo speed dial, weather forecasts and world time to be displayed and accessed from the Windows MobileToday Screen offering powerful new opportunities for users to streamline their mobile experience.

Measuring just 113.5 x 60 x 15.8mm the Glofiish X800 includes a high-resolution 2.8-inch VGA (640x480) display and GPS connectivity.
The Glofiish X800 is based on the Window Mobile6 platform and is available in several languages. Pricing and availability is subject to regional variation but the X800 can be expected to available in key markets within a few weeks."

My buddy Chris Leckness over at MobilitySite has a really cool slideshow of a number of comparison pics of the new AT&T Q9 Global, some of its accessories and a number of other devices.  Its well worth the 3-5 minutes to view, especially if you're interested in the device.

Honestly, I just purchased my Blackjack earlier this year, and while I am very happy with it, the new Q9 is really calling to me. If I hadn't just had a baby, AND if it wasn't near Christmas, AND if I weren't already on a budget, I'd seriously think about trying to pick one up.  The device looks super hot, and isn't much bigger than some of the other devices its compared with.

I never thought I would be this interested in a WM Standard device, but I definitely want one of these!