I just picked one up at Target today; wow, it's got an incredibly nice screen, and Twisted Metal rocks as always. But immediately I've got some slight complaints:
No AAC audio support for music files? The hardware can clearly do this, as it can decode AAC audio in the context of an MPEG-4 file. This seems like straight peevishness on Sony's part to cut out iTunes AAC users. On the other hand, I knew I should have probably ripped all those CDs as.mp3.
To get the unit into "USB Disk" mode, the user has to go to System Settings and put the unit into USB Connection mode. This seems overly complex. It might be better if the PSP just automatically opened a connection when it sensed a USB cable present -- that would open up all sorts of cool auto-sync possibilities i.e. the iPod.
But these are minor complaints. This unit rocks, the UI is well thought out, and the MPEG-4 video playback (which is what I was mainly interested in) is gorgeous. Nice job, Sony!
For Mac OS X, I tried the two major Mac PSP sync apps, iPSP and PSPWare.
After testing the two, I preferred PSPWare -- and immediately paid the US$10 to register. It synced up my iTunes mp3 playlists and iPhoto libraries easily, and has a dead-simple movie conversion and sync function.
This is really cool from a UI perspective, but not entirely new. A couple years ago people were doing interesting things with tilt sensors for Palm devices. Also see: Nintendo's new WarioWare game for GameBoy advance, which has a rotational sensor built-in to the cartridge. Also, Sony has done research in this area as well.
VHS won out over Beta for one simple reason: time.
VHS won out over Beta for one simple reason:porn.
There was more porn available on VHS than there was on Beta (I hear -- I was too young at the time to know for sure). Porn always, always, always drives mass technology adoption.
That article is poorly written with a sensationalist title -- but not inherently rascist. At the base of it, he's advocating equal pay for equal work regardless of race, not calling black people lazy.
I honestly believe that if Tivo wants to win they should allow shell access to the box and release development APIs so people can write their own Tivo applications
After that, it would be nice if our government funded an open-source "TurboTax" replacement. I find it annoying that expensive commercial software is required to make sense of our tax laws and forms.
This, for the most part, exists already and works great. The only difference between the eyeHome and what you describe is that instead of 802.11g, the eyeHome has an ethernet port -- so you essentially bring your own internet connection.
With all of the consoles (PS2, Gamecube, and X-Box) having ethernet ports, it makes sense to put a hub next to your TV anyhow... but it would be nice if some sort of A/V bridge could act as that, too.
In an interview with Nikkei Business Sony Computer Entertainment President Ken Kutaragi admitted that the square button (one of the four primary buttons typically used for actions along with triangle, circle and 'X') on the PSP is less responsive than the others. This is a result of the design and "something which users and game software developers will have to adapt to."
At fault is the location of the button right next to the edge of the display. It is too close to put the button's switch directly underneath it, so instead it has been located off to the right. This results in the reduced sensitivity of the button and in extreme cases the button sticking. Although Kutaragi stated that about 4800 units have been returned for this behavior, he insisted that it was not a design mistake and that the location was precisely according to specification.
I imagine that we're only two or three years away from a system where small comsumer electronics devices can be aquired by putting links to a Ponzi scheme in all of your public correspondence. This will be the sum culmination of all human achievement.
~jeff
old news -- this would be a better story today
on
Apple Releases Mac Mini
·
· Score: 0, Offtopic
Apple's latest iTunes update, which takes the jukebox software to version 4.7.1, breaks the anti-DRM utility Hymn, it has emerged....
Hymn strips away the DRM rights management data, space for which is incorporated into the AAC audio format Apple uses for ITMS. Apple also uses other elements within the file structure to identify protected AAC tracks, and it's one or more of these that appears to have been added to iTunes 4.7.1's list of checks.
reputable industry source nor a respected figure in the IT industry
Like Paul Thurott or John Devorak?
There are increaingly fewer "reputable industry sources" or "respected figures in the IT industry". Just because something's on a blog (as onerous as that term is) doesn't mean it's not valid.
That would be the most awesome "switcher" move -- PC users could use their existing VGA monitor, USB keyboard and mouse, and the mac would just sit under the monitor or desk. Eventually the PC user uses less and less of the PC and more and more of the mac...
Ah, the NW-HD3; so easy to remember. I can hear it now:
"Mom and Dad, I really really want a Sony NW-HD3 this holiday season!"
Never mind sending Mom and Dad to the mall with that kind of information just invites holiday disappointment. The real problem is that Sony makes ten trillion different pieces of consumer electronics, all of which are named just as idiotically. KD-36XS955, HDR-FX1, DSC-F828 -- these are all real products I pulled off the Sony website. Do you have any clue what they are?
Contrast this with the branding Apple pulled off after Jobs returned: they went from having a confusing line of Performa 5200s, Performa 6300s, PowerMac 7200s, Powermac 8500s, PowerBook 1800s (etc. etc. the list goes on) to having three easily explainable product lines: iMacs, PowerMacs and PowerBooks and now iBooks and iPods. Easy. "Mom and Dad, I want an iPod". Done.
Granted this creates another set of problems (for tech support and repair shops especially) but overall the effect dramatically reduces consumer confusion dramatically. Why can't Sony and other electronics manufacturers learn from this lesson?
Also, from a technical standpoint, the great thing about print is that you can pause, rewind and fast-forward whenever you want. With a thick black sharpie, you can even ad-block.
From the other end, it sounds like I'm inside a cardboard box
This makes total sense, and is even possibly by design, because after shelling out $599 for a cell phone, a cardboard box is probably going to be most Treo 650 owners new residential address.
I've eagerly watched Thunderbird shape up quite a bit on the way to version 1.0 -- all the developers involved deserve a great deal of credit for what they've accomplished. Thunderbird has come a long, long way in the past three months thanks to an inspiring collection of effort, and I'd like to wholeheartedly thank them for all the hard work and dedication. These folks have created a really great email client, and I can't wait to switch my user base over to it.
It would be really cool to have automatic virtual directories. I have my email sorted into subfolder by email address. I have rules set up to put emails into folders. Why not have this be automatic?
Saved Search Folders is exactly, precisely what you want, and it's in Thunderbird right now. It's an insanely great feature.
Slashdot Mirror
I just picked one up at Target today; wow, it's got an incredibly nice screen, and Twisted Metal rocks as always. But immediately I've got some slight complaints:
No AAC audio support for music files? The hardware can clearly do this, as it can decode AAC audio in the context of an MPEG-4 file. This seems like straight peevishness on Sony's part to cut out iTunes AAC users. On the other hand, I knew I should have probably ripped all those CDs as
To get the unit into "USB Disk" mode, the user has to go to System Settings and put the unit into USB Connection mode. This seems overly complex. It might be better if the PSP just automatically opened a connection when it sensed a USB cable present -- that would open up all sorts of cool auto-sync possibilities i.e. the iPod.
But these are minor complaints. This unit rocks, the UI is well thought out, and the MPEG-4 video playback (which is what I was mainly interested in) is gorgeous. Nice job, Sony!
~jeff
For Mac OS X, I tried the two major Mac PSP sync apps, iPSP and PSPWare.
After testing the two, I preferred PSPWare -- and immediately paid the US$10 to register. It synced up my iTunes mp3 playlists and iPhoto libraries easily, and has a dead-simple movie conversion and sync function.
Very elegant software, nice work.
~jeff
This is really cool from a UI perspective, but not entirely new. A couple years ago people were doing interesting things with tilt sensors for Palm devices. Also see: Nintendo's new WarioWare game for GameBoy advance, which has a rotational sensor built-in to the cartridge. Also, Sony has done research in this area as well.
~jeff
I hope that the Beeb does the right thing for those of us across the pond (USA).
Given the method you (and me too) used to watch this episode, it really doesn't matter if they do or not, right?
~jeff
Looks like I picked the right week to quit sniffing glue!
~Steve McCrosky
VHS won out over Beta for one simple reason: time.
VHS won out over Beta for one simple reason:porn.
There was more porn available on VHS than there was on Beta (I hear -- I was too young at the time to know for sure). Porn always, always, always drives mass technology adoption.
~jeff
Incidentally, Copernic 1.5 beta now supports Mozilla Thunderbirds email and contacts and Firefox history and bookmarks
As does Google Desktop 1.0. Nice work Google! Now get crackin' on that Mac OS X version...
~jeff
That article is poorly written with a sensationalist title -- but not inherently rascist. At the base of it, he's advocating equal pay for equal work regardless of race, not calling black people lazy.
~jeff
I honestly believe that if Tivo wants to win they should allow shell access to the box and release development APIs so people can write their own Tivo applications
HME Development Challenge
I'm not sure about shell access, I know it was relatively easy on the series 1 Tivos but I'm not sure about the series 2 models...
~jeff
After that, it would be nice if our government funded an open-source "TurboTax" replacement. I find it annoying that expensive commercial software is required to make sense of our tax laws and forms.
~jeff
This, for the most part, exists already and works great. The only difference between the eyeHome and what you describe is that instead of 802.11g, the eyeHome has an ethernet port -- so you essentially bring your own internet connection.
With all of the consoles (PS2, Gamecube, and X-Box) having ethernet ports, it makes sense to put a hub next to your TV anyhow... but it would be nice if some sort of A/V bridge could act as that, too.
~jeff
It would be nice it they did. From:
http://cgw.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3137897
~jeff
I imagine that we're only two or three years away from a system where small comsumer electronics devices can be aquired by putting links to a Ponzi scheme in all of your public correspondence. This will be the sum culmination of all human achievement.
~jeff
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/01/13/apple_bre
Apple's latest iTunes update, which takes the jukebox software to version 4.7.1, breaks the anti-DRM utility Hymn, it has emerged.
Hymn strips away the DRM rights management data, space for which is incorporated into the AAC audio format Apple uses for ITMS. Apple also uses other elements within the file structure to identify protected AAC tracks, and it's one or more of these that appears to have been added to iTunes 4.7.1's list of checks.
~jeff
This could then be implemented in about 1MB ram, and you would get so much more speed!
Yeah, and floppy disks? Seriously, they should have put a Serial ATA hard drive in there. Way faster and way more capacity.
~jeff
reputable industry source nor a respected figure in the IT industry
Like Paul Thurott or John Devorak?
There are increaingly fewer "reputable industry sources" or "respected figures in the IT industry". Just because something's on a blog (as onerous as that term is) doesn't mean it's not valid.
~jeff
That would be the most awesome "switcher" move -- PC users could use their existing VGA monitor, USB keyboard and mouse, and the mac would just sit under the monitor or desk. Eventually the PC user uses less and less of the PC and more and more of the mac...
~jeff
Sorry, but this time Microsoft wins.
Right, because products marked version "0.2RC1" are usually indicative of the quality of the final 1.0 product.
Thunderbird got miles better between versions 0.7 to 1.0 alone, and is still getting better -- it's far too early to call anything.
~jeff
Ah, the NW-HD3; so easy to remember. I can hear it now:
"Mom and Dad, I really really want a Sony NW-HD3 this holiday season!"
Never mind sending Mom and Dad to the mall with that kind of information just invites holiday disappointment. The real problem is that Sony makes ten trillion different pieces of consumer electronics, all of which are named just as idiotically. KD-36XS955, HDR-FX1, DSC-F828 -- these are all real products I pulled off the Sony website. Do you have any clue what they are?
Contrast this with the branding Apple pulled off after Jobs returned: they went from having a confusing line of Performa 5200s, Performa 6300s, PowerMac 7200s, Powermac 8500s, PowerBook 1800s (etc. etc. the list goes on) to having three easily explainable product lines: iMacs, PowerMacs and PowerBooks and now iBooks and iPods. Easy. "Mom and Dad, I want an iPod". Done.
Granted this creates another set of problems (for tech support and repair shops especially) but overall the effect dramatically reduces consumer confusion dramatically. Why can't Sony and other electronics manufacturers learn from this lesson?
~jeff
Print media is much better than television
Also, from a technical standpoint, the great thing about print is that you can pause, rewind and fast-forward whenever you want. With a thick black sharpie, you can even ad-block.
~jeff
From the other end, it sounds like I'm inside a cardboard box
This makes total sense, and is even possibly by design, because after shelling out $599 for a cell phone, a cardboard box is probably going to be most Treo 650 owners new residential address.
~jeff
I'd say everybody who uses Windows, pays for it, but maybe not with money...
~jeff
Then it sounds like you're a candidate for "Grouped by Sort", which is a dumb name for a cool feature:
1) sort your mail by sender.
2) hit "G". Now all your mail is arranged in little collapsed subgroups depending on the sender/email address.
This doesn't use folders per se, so I agree that it's not exactly, precisely what you want, but the end result is similar.
~jeff
I've eagerly watched Thunderbird shape up quite a bit on the way to version 1.0 -- all the developers involved deserve a great deal of credit for what they've accomplished. Thunderbird has come a long, long way in the past three months thanks to an inspiring collection of effort, and I'd like to wholeheartedly thank them for all the hard work and dedication. These folks have created a really great email client, and I can't wait to switch my user base over to it.
~jeff
It would be really cool to have automatic virtual directories. I have my email sorted into subfolder by email address. I have rules set up to put emails into folders. Why not have this be automatic?
Saved Search Folders is exactly, precisely what you want, and it's in Thunderbird right now. It's an insanely great feature.
~jeff