The Ultimate Expression of Geek Love

Diamonds may be forever, but are they 133t? Not anymore. greenKarat, en ecologically and socially responsible jeweller, has created a wedding band that appeals to aesthetes, geeks, and the environmentally conscious in one swoop. Made of recycled gold or platinum, these $950 rings are engraved with the text of your choice -- in binary. Here's the description from the GreenKarat website:

"On the Binary rings, there are 5 parallel tracks running around the ring, each track representing a digit in the binary lexicon. The track is engraved for 1 and left blank for 0. In this way, the five lines of engraving which progress around the ring spell out, in combination, your personalized message. Whew! Got it?"

That's a rhetorical question, because if you don't get it, you've got no business buying this ring. But if you do get it and the person you're proposing to gets it, then you're probably destined to be together f0r3v3r -- er, forever.

User Video: The Academy, Nay; CBS, Yea

It's just another day in the user-generated online video world. One media company wants stuff off, another wants stuff on.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences -- AMPAS, the folks who put on the Oscars -- are the latest to demand that YouTube pull user-uploaded clips. Apparently they didn't like the idea of people uploading segments from last Sunday's Academy Awards broadcast. Which, of course, they're legally allowed to do. But I hope they also paid attention the fact that those clips were among the most popular on YouTube this week. Maybe people wanted to see the segments they heard about in their entirety, not just the dribs and drabs on the official Oscar.com site.

Meanwhile, CBS's CSTV Networks is gearing up for March Madness by encouraging b-ball fans to upload their video content onto the community section of their website. That content would include fan tributes and the obligatory trash-talking. (But not too trashy -- clips will be screened before they go live.) The object is to tap into fan enthusiasm, but I wonder what CSTV will do if some of that enthusiasm is expressed with remixed clips from game broadcasts...

Meet the New Paparazzi: You

Here's a technology-related job casualty we weren't expecting. German paparazzo Hans Paul lamented in yesterday's Guardian (free registration required) that the much of the celebrity-snapshot market is being eaten up by everyday people armed with camera phones, who can instantly send their photos to media outlets at the press of a button. Working paparazzi, he says, will now have to rely on their expertise at deliberately getting close to top stars for exclusive shots.

On the one hand, I'm thinking that this means celebrities will now be unable to go anywhere without makeup ever again. On the other hand, I find this an amusing capsule version of what's been plaguing traditional news outlets ever since blogging brought citizen journalism out of the margins.

In a way, though, this kind of works out for the celebrity journalism industry; by becoming more democratic in its image acquisition, it can't help but become more democratic in its reporting. If fewer ordinary people are sending in photos of Lindsay Lohan at a crowded club, then it's an indicator that fewer ordinary people care. Now that's audience feedback.

NBA Hooks Up With YouTube

The National Basketball Association is the latest media entity to sign up with YouTube, making a deal to provide game highlights and create a space for NBA-related user-generated material. The NBA Channel, as it will be called, will debut this month. (Which means, um, today or tomorrow.)

One thing, though: this is a short-term deal. NBA officials admit that this is a means of buying time while they figure out their long-term digital media strategies. They're also negotiating deals with FaceBook, MySpace and Second Life.

Wolverine Unleashes a 160GB Media Player

If you absolutely must have all of your media with you at all times, Wolverine's latest entry in its ESP 5000 series of media players might be what you need. The $549 ESP Model 5160's 160 GB of storage space is enough for an estimate 50,000 songs, 320 hours of video. It also sports a reasonably sized 3.6'' LCD screen.

Much like the Wolverine MVP I wrote about last March, the ESP 5160 is crazy with data I/O and supported formats. Aside from the expected USB 2.0 connection, it can also get its media via its 7-in-1 card reader, and supports NTSC/PAL video out. Supported media formats are JPEG, BMP, TIFF and RAW for graphics; MPEG-1, MPEG-4, Windows Media Video 9 and XviD for video; and MP3, WMA, Ogg, WAV, AAC (MP4) and CD-Audio for audio. Best of all, that's native -- just copy the files over and you're done, no transcoding necessary.

However, it seems that, as with the MVP, Wolverine's description of its device is revealing. On the website they refer to it as a "Multimedia Storage Player" -- implying that its job is more about storage than playback. Melissa Perenson's PC World review of the 5000 series seems to bear this out. Still, right now the ESP 5160 has the capacity and price point to beat.

Ms. Pac-Man Turns 25, Joins iTunes

The round-faced girl with the red bow and the unstoppable appetite turns 25 this year according to Namco (Midway actually released the game in 1981), and she looks like she hasn't aged a day.

She's also still working. Rather than sit around all day and eat energy-pellet bonbons, Ms. Pac-Man is now available as an iPod game on iTunes. For a mere twenty quarters -- okay, $4.99 -- fifth-generation iPod owners can play the game with all the original mazes and interstitial gags. In one concession to the twenty-first century, you have the option to skip the original music and sound effects and listen to music from your iPod library instead. May I suggest Pop Will Eat Itself's "Eat Me, Drink Me, Love Me, Kill Me"?

Germ-Free Keyboards

Studies have shown that the input devices we manhandle daily are crawling with bacteria (though, it should be pointed out, not as many as your average desktop or telephone). As a result, companies have come up with a variety of ways of dealing with these germy peripherals.

Seal Shield has introduced a new line of waterproof keyboards that can be easily cleaned, simply by scrubbing them with soap and water. This feature alone is nothing new, but the company goes a step further by making them dishwasher-safe. Seal Shield products (they also carry mice and USB drives) are being marketed to medical establishments -- where bacteria running amok is a life-threatening concern -- but there's no reason clean freaks at home can't use them.

The PS3 Add-On for Joystick Jockeys

Retro console and arcade game emulation may be all the rage, but you're not really kicking it old school if you're fiddling with a d-pad. PS3 owners can now get some of that mid-'80s eight-way action with Hori's $50 Fighting Stick, which is modeled after the arcade joysticks that are instantly familiar to people who remember they days before Mario got top billing.

Between the eight fire buttons and the controls along the top, it looks like every PS3 controller function is covered, right down to the shoulder buttons. Now if only someone would release Megamania for the PS3.

Have a Ball With This 12-in-1 Speaker

It's not surprising that Brazilians would develop a compact, omnidirectional speaker. Let's face it: If you're going to have blowout parties like Carnaval every year, you might as well make it easier to get the music pumping.

Developed at the University of S?o Paulo, this nicely self-contained system sets twelve speakers as a dodecahedron, pretty much ensuring that everybody within range gets a good earful. It's probably a good size -- I couldn't find any exact measurements -- but no doubt still less of a bother than toting and mounting multiple traditional speakers. The only thing it's missing is an iPod dock.

(Extra nerd points if the first thing you thought when you saw the picture was "saving throw for clipping!" Not that I would think such a thing, of course.)

Your Own Theater Under the Stars

If I didn't live in a rainy hole (and make a writer's salary), I would so be ordering one of these up for my backyard. Cal Spas' Ultimate Outdoor Theater includes practically everything you need in a home-entertainment system: weatherproof 63-inch high-def LCD, killer sound system (two subs, four amps, and surround speaks), DVD/CD system, Sirius radio, and obligatory iPod docking station. (Gaming inputs are included, console is not.)

Plus, while you're watching "Old School" on that sweet 63-incher, you can also be BBQing up some burgers and mixing some margaritas. The Ultimate Outdoor Theater includes a five-burner barbecue island, cocktail station with blender and ice maker, and a martini bar with stools. Or you can just be lazy and relax on one of the three recliners while everyone else does the work.

In fact, if you live somewhere nice, what's the point in going inside ever? You've got a living room, a kitchen, and you've even got nature's bathroom all around you.

Upgrade Your Baby Through Software

Have we really gotten to a point where we're incapable of raising children without computer assistance? Because if that's the case, we might as well surrender to our robot overlords right now and get it over with.

I can't think of any other way to react to the news that there's a new program called Giggles Computer Funtime for Baby designed specifically for children as young as six months old. Each of the two versions of the software features fourteen different games relating to shapes or animals.

That's great and all, but six months old? Have we lost all reason? Whatever happened to letting babies explore the physical world around them and being stimulated not only by images but by touch and smell? Or are we so desperate to raise geniuses that we have to get our kids on the keyboards with prefab activities as soon as possible?

I'm hardly a Luddite when it comes to kids and computers; my son got his first computer when he was about two and a half. But that was because he became curious about computers on his own, and his random mashing of keys on my computer nearly wiped out a lot of work. But I thought VTech's V.Smile Baby Infant Development System, aimed at kids as young as nine months, was pushing it. But six months?

People, please. I'm begging you. Stop.

Update Your Gadgets for the New DST

So you all know about the massive overhaul that's happening to Daylight Savings Time this year. "Spring forward" will be happening three weeks earlier than usual, and "fall back" will be pushed a week. Well, besides changing your clocks on March 11, you may also have to update your gadgets, which are programmed to adjust their clocks based on the original daylight-savings dates.

A few days ago, I had to run an update on my Mac and now Palm has released DST software for its smartphones. If you use your Treo to keep you on schedule, you'll definitely want to run this little update. Click here for instructions on how to update Palm OS devices and here for Palm's Windows Mobile products.

So what about your other devices? Well, apparently your TiVo is already set: An automatic update was supposedly dispatched to DVRs last month. If you use a BlackBerry, you can download a patch from here. And if you rely on a Windows Mobile smartphone, you can get your update here.

Earth Trek's USB Tape Dispenser

There are two reasons for gadget convergence: cluttered pockets and cluttered desktops. While few combinations are truly alarming, I have to admit that Earth Trek's four-port USB 2.0 hub, which also doubles as a tape dispenser, stopped me in my virtual tracks.

What surprised me, I think, is that it actually seems well thought out. The included four-foot extension cable provides plenty of flexibility for desk placement, and each of the four USB ports can rotate 180 degrees for maximum flexibility. It also comes in two sizes, depending on the kinds of tape rolls you use.

So when can we expect the accompanying stapler mouse?

Want a Better Product? Try Piracy

When Napster was public enemy number one, the music industry made the point that downloaded music was often of inferior quality than the original CD -- which was often true. Strange, then, that some TV studios are providing legal downloads via iTunes that fall short.

The story begins with Jeff (I'm sure he has a last name, but I don't know what it is) over on the-ish.com, who noted that when he buys an episode of Lost on iTunes, it has a 4:3 aspect ratio, which is cropped from the 16:9 widescreen image that HDTV viewers see.

It's true that most Lost viewers see the show in 4:3, but that's not really the point. What Jeff points out is that if he wants to see a 16:9 episode of Lost, his only recourse is to get a pirate copy online -- which takes only a few minutes more than buying the show from iTunes.

Jeff has since resolved the issue with Apple, but it makes me wonder why it was an issue in the first place. One could make the case that for a small iPod screen, filling the frame makes sense. But since most of the other TV content on iTunes is presented in its original aspect ratio, why should Lost (or, as it turns out, most ABC content) go the 4:3 route?

Isn't the digital era supposed to be about increased, not decreased choice? I don't understand why the studios don't provide both 4:3 and 16:9 versions of each episode, so that people can choose which version they prefer. It works for the DVD market, so why not here?

Independent Film Channel Bows on iTunes

An old saying about Hollywood is that nobody wants to be first, but everyone wants to be second. Yet when it comes to movies on iTunes, the major players seem to be dragging their feet. It took three months for Paramount to follow Disney's lead and make their films available on Apple's store, and since then, not a peep has been heard from Fox, Sony or Warner.

The independents aren't exactly rushing to iTunes either, but as with other movie-download services, at least they're a bit more spry. The latest to join the iTunes fold is the Independent Film Channel (IFC), whose catalog includes My Big Fat Greek Wedding, Boys Don't Cry and Wordplay. Unfortunately, those films don't number among the initial thirteen that are available; in a nod to this weekend's Independent Spirit Awards, most of them are past and current nominees.

Not that I'm complaining; along with Lionsgate and Funimation's entries to the iTunes universe, it's nice to see more balance to Disney and Paramount's fare.

RIAA Cracks Down on Colleges

Hey college students, listen up. If you are trading music illegally via peer-to-peer file-sharing services like BitTorrent, you should know that the RIAA is watching you.

According to the Associated Press, the RIAA has ramped up its efforts to stop illegal song-trading in colleges by issuing almost three times the number of complaints it did last year. Some schools have been hit with more than 1,000 complaints. Among the top offenders are Ohio University, Purdue University, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, University of Tennessee, and University of South Carolina.

So what are the schools doing about it? Purdue pretty much leaves offenders alone, claiming it's too much hassle to track down students based on the IP number given to them by the RIAA. Michigan State University forces two-time offenders to watch an anti-piracy DVD and may suspend three-timers for a semester. And at University of Massachusetts at Amherst, students receive warnings; if they get hit with a third complaint, they lose their Internet connection and they face the wrath of the dean. (I would hate to be that person's roommate.)

Nintendo: Wii're Number One

The Xbox 360 and the PS3 may have all the fancy toys, but it turns out the coolest kid in the class is the one that's just fun to hang around with. Research firm NPD looked at January's US sales figures and have reported that Nintendo sold 436,000 Wii consoles, while the combined might of Microsoft and Sony moved 538,000 PS3s and Xbox 360s.

Am I surprised? Not really. Nintendo has long stressed more family-friendly fare, which already makes it a no-brainer for parents. And with today's concerns about childhood obesity and physical fitness in general, the Wiimote's health benefits make it even more attractive.

But more than anything else, Nintendo has consistently focused more on fun that features. Their controls have generally been simpler than the competitions', but they've also come up with more intuitive controllers (I'm a fan of the GameCube's DK Bongos) and built highly enjoyable, often infectious games around them.

It's a simple rule, people: come up with a straightforward and compelling feature, and make it appeal to everyday people, rather than the hardcore members of your audience -- say, the longer recording time on a VHS cassette (which had a greater appeal than Beta's superior video quality and compact size) or the simplicity of the iPod (which has greater appeal than more feature-laden MP3 players). And it's not about forsaking the hardcore crowd, either; the Wiimote hacks started pretty much the instant the Wiis were on the shelves. It's just a matter of developers remembering to look beyond their geeky ivory towers once in a while. The sooner the consumer electronics industry learns from the Wii's example, the better.

Gates and Jobs to Share the Stage at D

Steve Jobs and Bill Gates remind me of a pair of grade-school buddies. Half the time they're working together on projects, and the other half they're making fun of each other's taste in cartoons. The people who use their products can sometimes seem like chalk and cheese, with Windows users calling Mac users technology know-nothings and Mac users calling Windows users mindless drones -- or some variation on those themes.

Which is why it should be interesting to see the two of them sharing the stage to talk about the history of the modern computing era at the Wall Street Journal's D: All Things Digital Conference in San Diego at the end of May. Because once you cut through all the Apple/Microsoft partisanship, the fact remains they've both witnessed and shaped the transformation of our digital world for over 20 years in ways beyond our mere mortals.

Aside from a 1991 cover photo for Fortune, I can't think of another time I've seen the two together in the same room in public. (Gates's ominous video appearance at MacWorld in 1997 doesn't count. Neither do TV movies.) So it should be interesting to see how their perspectives have changed, if at all, as they bounce off each other.

(And although I'm platform-agnostic, I'd pay good money to see Jobs ask Gates, "So, Bill, sell those one million Zunes yet?" Yes, it's childish. Sue me.)

Remote Control Co-Inventor Dead at 93

Today I'm mourning the passing of a pioneer. I just discovered that Robert Adler, one of the two men credited with the creation of the remote control while at Zenith, died yesterday of heart failure. He was 93. Adler's remote, called the Zenith Space Command, made its appearance in 1956.

I don't have to explain the importance of the remote, do I? Oh, maybe I do. If you're too young to remember when Meco's disco version of the Star Wars theme topped the charts, then praising Robert Adler is like praising the invention of the wheel -- the thing's so ubiquitous, you barely think about it.

But I remember when my parents got a cable box so that we could get more channels on our 1972 Sony Trinitron. The box came with a remote that could change the channel and turn the cable box on or off -- and that was all. But it was still miraculous, with the ability to switch from Rocky and Bullwinkle to Underdog to Jonny Quest on Sunday mornings especially appreciated. (Hey, why should I have to put down my cereal when I'm in the zone?)

Sometimes it's terrifying just how many things I can now control without ever leaving my chair. Here in the office, I have six remotes within easy reach, plus a few more lost somewhere in the stacks of stuff. (I really have to clean this place.) But I can't say I'm not grateful. Tonight, when I switch from last week's Smallville to this week's Heroes to last night's Robot Chicken without having to budge from the cozy confines of my blanket, I'll raise a glass in Adler's honor.

(Want to read more about the remote control's invention? The official Zenith version of its creation can be found here.)

Do Videogames Help Surgeons?

Ah, I knew that all that Frogger and Space Invaders and Tetris action would come in handy someday. Uh, too bad I'm not a surgeon. According to a study from this month's edition of Archives of Surgery, doctors who played videogames performed better on their laparoscopic surgical skills exams in which they have to insert instruments through a small opening and navigate them through the body using a television screen.

The study looked at the performance of 33 surgeons from New York's prestigious Beth Israel Medical Center. The nine docs who played videogames for a minimum of three hours a week made fewer mistakes and worked faster--scoring 42 percent better-- than the 15 who had never even picked up a controller. The study asserts that videogames may help with "fine motor skills, eye-hand coordination, visual attention, depth perception and computer competency."

Now that I know the truth, perhaps it's time for me to try my hand at Operation again.

Screw YouTube: Viacom Goes with Joost

Ooh, snap. Viacom has snubbed video-sharing kingpin YouTube and has formed a partnership with the Joost service to provide its content online. Last October, Viacom requested that YouTube remove a number of its Comedy Central videos from its site. Earlier this month, Viacom told YouTube to yank more than 100,000 copyrighted clips when the two failed to come to some sort of financial agreement that was palatable to both parties.

Enter upstart Joost, an online video service brought to you by the same guys behind Skype (and still in beta). Instead of using its own central servers, Joost employs peer-to-peer file sharing networks to deliver content. Not much is known about the deal, but in a nutshell, Viacom will be offering up its videos on Joost, including programming from the company's MTV and BET Networks, as well as its Paramount movie studio.

If this interests you, then head on over to Joost and apply to be a member of the site's beta program.

Music Industry Gingerly Going Digital

Well, it's a start. (Wait, how often have I said that?) Facing declining CD sales and that Internet thing the kids are all using, the major music labels are starting -- very slowly -- to look at relinquishing a little control by using file-sharing networks and going a little Web 2.0 with unprotected content.

No, I'm not talking about DRM-free songs. Yesterday's New York Times has an article (free registration required) discussing the ways in which the music industry is taking baby steps toward the digital future. Both RCA Records and Suretone Records (which is distributed by Universal) are planning to release free videos featuring Avril Lavigne, Weezer and Drop Dead Gorgeous (among others) with the full expectation that they'll end up on file-sharing networks -- in fact, that's how Suretone will be releasing their videos to begin with.

As I mentioned yesterday, this goes back to the roots of MTV, in which videos were recognized as being free or nearly free promotional tools for bands, and cultivated as such.

Still, I'm not convinced that Suretone's tactic -- in which the videos will be incomplete and people will have to go to their site to see the rest -- will work all that well. Many people probably won't bother to take the extra step (unless the videos are just that good), and eventually someone will download the complete video and just upload that to the file-sharing networks.

Like I said, baby steps.

YouTube Helps Break Swedish Pop Stars

Even if you haven't heard of the group Peter Bjorn and John, you've probably heard them. Their pop single "Young Folks" has been featured on both Grey's Anatomy and How I Met Your Mother. The indie Swedish trio (three guys named -- wait for it -- Peter, Bjorn and John) have been doing pretty well with the song, which sold 3,000 copies online and debuted at #2 on Billboard's Heatseekers chart. They've also quickly sold out two New York club shows, and will be touring the U.S. this summer.

So why is all this remarkable? Because much of their recent success is being attributed to the animated music video for the single, which has been viewed more than a million times on YouTube.

This ties in with an opinion piece (free registration required) on the MediaGuardian website today, in which Jeff Jarvis says that Viacom, and other companies that demand that their clips be pulled from YouTube, are missing the big picture. While they are well within their rights to request that material they own be pulled, they're also reducing the chance of exposing their shows to people who would otherwise never have seen them. An attitude readjustment is required, he says.

I agree with him. It strikes me as ironic that Jarvis picks Viacom as an example. Viacom now owns MTV, which became a major pop culture force by realizing that music videos were advertisements for the songs they were built on, and then structuring its whole channel around them. YouTube and similar sites change the game because the networks don't control the content, but people don't upload clips unless they find them interesting -- they're willingly and independently providing the "buzz" that every media player desperately seeks. What Viacom and company need to do is harness that buzz and bear in mind the examples of groups like Peter Bjorn and John.

Samsung: Goodbye VGA and DVI, Hello USB

At CeBIT next month, Samsung will be unveiling the SyncMaster 940UX, a 19'' LCD monitor that simplifies connections by chucking the DVI and VGA connectors and instead using everybody's pal, USB. The monitor is due for a May release, initially for Windows XP with Vista drivers to follow later.

The most obvious advantage to a USB monitor is that USB cables are remarkably easy to connect and disconnect, which eliminates one more obstacle for the technophobic. Multiple monitors can also be installed quickly and easily, without the need for a higher-end graphics card.

But Samsung is mum on one important detail: If the graphics are coming out of the USB port, then where is the processing taking place? Odds are it's the CPU, so just how much of a performance hit will you take if you're powering multiple monitors? (Samsung claims a maximum of three for multimedia, five for less intensive purposes.) Hopefully this question, among others, will be answered as CeBIT approaches.

[Merci, Digital World.]

DVR Owners Continue to Watch Ads

Shocking but, apparently, true: DVR owners aren't actually zipping past the commercials when they watch their shows. An article in today's New York Times (free registration required) relates that a recent Neilsen study revealed that DVR owners watch about 2/3 of the ads during their TV shows.

In some cases, it's because many people are watching live TV -- or, I presume, using what I call the "ish" function. ("What time does Lost start?" "Oh, nine-ish.") Even if you start watching 15 minutes after the show starts, you'll quickly catch up to the live broadcast.

Even so, people are watching 40% of the commercials that they could just skip past. I find this quite surprising. Although I sometimes stop when a commercial catches my eye as I fast-forward, I'm usually pretty quick to get back to the show; my wife, more so. One of her most common questions when we're watching live TV is, "Why are we watching commercials?"

The real issue is, how is this going to affect the advertising industry? After all, advertisers have been quaking in fear since the introduction of the TiVo, fearing the end of all they hold dear. This topic takes up most of the Times article, but it fails to address one aspect: As part of their campaign to stave off the ill effects of the TiVo Era, advertisers have been relying more on product placement. If it turns out that traditional ads will work just fine with a little tweaking, would it be too much to ask that they stop distracting me during my shows?

Anime Makes Its iTunes Debut

Japanese animation has finally made it to iTunes. Though some anime companies have made deals with Handheld Entertainment and Google Video, last June's rumour that Toei Animation and Apple were in talks had us wondering when we'd be able to get our anime fix on the big daddy of downloadable movie services.

Not unexpectedly, the first company to get its titles on Apple's service is Funimation, a company that doesn't have anywhere near the staggering catalog of powerhouse ADV Films, but gets most of its titles (like Dragon Ball and Lupin the 3rd) on television -- and thereby into the general public's mind. (If you don't recognize the names, ask the nearest 15-year-old.)

The first titles available are Desert Punk, Samurai 7 and Speed Grapher, with more to come. However, I'm still curious as to how no Studio Ghibli films have made it to iTunes, since Disney distributes their films and Jobs is on the boards of both Disney and Apple...

"Amazing Race" Webisodes to Debut

Networks have been streaming shows on the Web for a while now, but some of them are going further by creating original content that ties into their most popular programs. Case in point: "Elimination Station." This exclusive Web series will debut alongside "The Amazing Race: All-Stars," which will bring back favorite/controversial contestants for a race around the world.

Starting this Sunday, fans of "The Amazing Race" will be getting a little behind-the-scenes action. "Elimination Station" will follow the team that comes in last and gets the ax each episode. You'll get to see what happens to them as they try to deal with their elimination from the game while living in sequester with the other goner couples. We're guessing there should be some good gossipin'.

The Webisodes will be available on CBS's Innertube streaming site at 9 pm PST, right after the show airs on the West coast.

Hollywood Wrestles with DRM-Free Future

Steve Jobs never does anything small, does he? While the music and tech worlds have been buzzing ever since Steve Jobs penned his open letter calling for the music industry to get the DRM monkey off their back, the shockwave has renewed debate within another group that closely monitors the music biz: Hollywood movie makers.

The movie industry has been keeping an eye on developments in the music industry for a long time, and not just because of their corporate coziness. Rightly or wrongly, the music industry has felt threatened by the specter of piracy since the advent of the audio cassette, and have been actively trying to defend itself against the digital era since the introduction of digital audio tape. When the RIAA butted heads against Napster, forward-looking movie execs no doubt realized that with broadband and increasing computer power on the horizon, it was only a matter of time before they had to grapple with the same issues.

And grapple they have, though clumsily for the most part. But while they're still fumbling around in the dark when it comes to downloadable movies, Jobs's letter has them scurrying to try to deal with the situation before it becomes a major problem.

The situation is neatly laid out in today's ">Wall Street Journal, and if there's one thing it makes clear it's that executives are rarely as clueless as they're often made out to be. But it does reveal how single-minded some can be. For example, the article briefly mentions the thorny problem of consumers moving DRM-protected content when upgrading a computer. Some studios feel that there has to be a way to let us move our content from one computer to another; amazingly (but -- sigh -- not surprisingly) some feel that an upgrade "represents a sales opportunity for the same content that was on the older device."

This is the disconnect that is at the heart of the DRM debate. The entertainment industry wants us to respect the idea that intellectual property has value, and therefore should be paid for. But at the same time too many in the industry refuse to respect the idea that when we've paid for something, we own it.

To my mind, the most elegant DRM solution ever is DVD copy protection. If I buy a DVD, I can play it on any DVD player, without having to worry about license keys or any other such absurdity; however, the copy protection is just enough of a pain that it deters 99% of the buying public from knocking off duplicates for their friends. That's just one of the reasons that DVDs took hold of the marketplace so quickly. Hollywood needs to find that same kind of balance for downloadable movies -- and fast.

Google Names Names for Fox

Cue the countdown timer and sound effects -- Google relented to Fox's pressure and gave up their info on "ECOTtotal" and "Jorge Romero," two YouTube users who had uploaded episodes of The Simpsons and 24 to the site. What really irked Fox was that four episodes of 24 were the first of the season -- and they were posted almost a week before they aired.

First, I'd like to know why these two figured that uploading unlicensed material was such a smart idea, considering their personal information was on file. Unless, of course, (a) they included only the barest information necessary, and what Google gave Fox is largely useless, or (b) they had the good sense to provide the personal information of the guy who's been dogging them since, like, the first grade.

There doesn't seem to be much outcry here, probably because the pair were clearly doing something illegal. But where Fox is conspicuously silent is on the matter of where the videos came from in the first place.

The ugly truth that TV and movie companies don't like to face is that most of their properties are pirated from within the industry. (The figure is 77%, according to a 2003 AT&T Labs study.) In the case of the 24 episodes, the explanation seems pretty simple. Fox was releasing the first four episodes on DVD the day after they had all aired; that meant the DVDs were in the hands of distributors at least a week before. So any employee at any distributor could have ripped the DVD and uploaded the videos to YouTube. It's as simple as that.

While Fox has every right to demand that YouTube pull the episodes and pursue the people who uploaded them, they also bear some of the responsibility for the crime in the first place. If the movie and TV industries policed their own systems better, piracy would be a far smaller problem, less time would be wasted, fewer lawyers would have to get involved, and there'd be less likelihood of obnoxious legislation like the DMCA. But it's been shown that the last thing media companies want to do is face reality, so I guess we can all expect more lawsuits and subpoenas in the near future.

A Gaming Mouse That Gives You the Edge

Want a leg up on the Half-Life 2 competition? OCZ Technology's Equalizer Laser Mouse sports high-end features that will let you get your game on.

One helpful feature for people with slow trigger fingers is the Triple Threat button. Conveniently located on top of the mouse right next to the scroll wheel, this button lets you fire three straight shots with one click. The mouse also features six different sensitivity levels (up to 2500), and you can easily cycle through them by clicking another button, located underneath the scroll wheel. The wheel even lights up a different color for each sensitivity setting.

The Equalizer comes in two different sizes, one for desktop and one for mobile. And remember, nobody has to know why you're suddenly awesome.

Sites Minimize Fake User Reviews

Most of us have read an online hotel or restaurant review and questioned its validity. But there's good news: Sites like Priceline and TripAdvisor are actually trying to control phony hotel reviews written by people paid to say nice things.

Sites use different tactics. Priceline.com only lets users submit reviews if the site has on record that they've stayed at that hotel. TripAdvisor employs people who are trained in fraud detection to review each submission for potential fakery. Of course, no system is fail-proof, but at least you can feel confident that much of what you're reading is real.

The Action Jacket Dresses Up the Shuffle

The new iPod Shuffle's clip is convenient, but I wouldn't trust it for anything more involving than a casual stroll. Fitness freaks or other active types who just can't live without their music should consider something like DLO's latest Action Jacket -- a padded neoprene case that protects the Shuffle from sweat (and, for more strenuous workouts, blood and tears as well). Just attach the case to the included armband and you're ready to go.

The $19 Action Jacket includes a clear window through which you can fiddle with the Shuffle's controls, and in a great example of marketing spin DLO says the Action Jacket "looks hot with all the new iPod Shuffle colors" -- which means that it only comes in white.

Forget Ringtones, Here Come... Ringtoons?

The worst thing I can think of for any gadget is the possibility that it might talk back. It's like those old Flintstones cartoons where Fred might use a bird as a record needle, who would turn to the camera and squawk, "It's a living."

(It just occurred to me that there's a reason there's no hip-hop in the Flintstones universe; the Stone Age PETA had turntable scratching outlawed.)

Anyway, Reuters is reporting that Cartoon Network plans to market cartoon voices as ringtones. But wait, it gets better than hearing "Spaaaace Ghoooost!" whenever your buddy calls. The company has developed technology that can have your phone play different sound depending on specific needs. So maybe when your battery is running low, you'd hear Dexter saying, "Computer! Switch to reserve power!" or something.

My guess is that Cartoon Network would sell packages of sounds as themes, much as you find themed system sounds or skins. Honestly, though, as much if a cartoon fan as I am, I don't think I could handle so much animated audio coming from my phone. Just give me the Jonny Quest theme music for my ringtone and I'm happy, thanks.

Samsung's Sweet New Dual-Opening Phone

Samsung's new SCH-u740 looks like it could be a fun distraction during boring business meetings and dry presentations. Launched on Verizon Wireless today, the SCH-u740 features a dual-hinge that lets you open it both vertically (for phone calls) and horizontally (for messaging and Web browsing). And it still retains a rather thin .58-inch profile.

Flipping open the u740 horizontally gives you access to a full-on QWERTY keyboard that you can use for texting, e-mailing, and IMing (AIM, MSN, or Yahoo). The phone also packs a 1.3-megapixel camera, Bluetooth, and microSD slot. It's equipped with V Cast Music and Video, as well as Wireless Sync, which lets you keep your phone's e-mail, contacts, and calendar in sync with your home and work PC.

The u740 is available now from Verizon Wireless and will cost you just $150 provided you sign up for a two-year contract and mail in your $50 rebate.

Get Wet with the iPod Shuffle

Want to take your tunes underwater? SwimMan has taken a regular run-of-the-mill iPod Shuffle and has waterproofed it on the inside so that you don't have to wrestle any sort of giant case or added bulk. It's also added a set of sound-isolating waterproof earphones so you can dunk your entire head below water. And because the Shuffle comes with that handy built-in clip, you can attach it to your swimsuit or goggles.

You can buy just the waterproofed Shuffle for $150, or bundled with the headphones for $250. Unfortunately, SwimMan's waterproofed Shuffle is only usable 10 feet down, so there will be no scuba diving action. Too bad. Imagine swimming with the sharks to the Jaws theme? Creepy.

A Mouse for All Reasons

The R2 Gaming Mouse Mark II's purpose in life is to boost your mad gaming skillz by providing precision control, multiple buttons and extreme customization options.

Rather, that's its purpose now. The first time I ran into this odd-looking mouse was four or five years ago; it was a somewhat more demure red, it didn't have blinking LEDs, and it was being sold as a precision controller for graphic artists and 3D animators.

Somewhere along the line someone must have realized that another group of people could use that kind of control, especially if it looked cooler and had blinking lights. And so we have this gaming mouse, with a shape that makes it easier to make precise movements and rides on ball bearings in order to glide along your desktop. Its seven buttons (three of which are pressure points, rather than actual buttons) are programmable, but not quite the same way as your regular mouse: the $59 R2 Gaming Mouse Mark II comes with the PAL 2.0 programming language, with which you can assign macros and keystrokes, as well as the usual click, double-click, etc. (You can see the mind-boggling array of controls here.)

Best of all, it's a snap to take all of your specific mouse settings and assign them to multiple profiles. So if you're a 3D animator you can indulge your inner gamer (or vice versa) on a whim.

Sundance Shows Indie Shorts for Cells

I have my doubts about squinting at movies and TV on a matchbook-sized cell phone screen, but I'm on board with the idea if it means catching quality short films on my mobile.

The Sundance Institute and the GSM Association are debuting their Global Short Film Project, an initiative to offer bite-sized movies from acclaimed indie directors made exclusively for cell phones. They premiered the initial five short films that will be available for mobiles, including "Los Viajes de King Tiny" about a small dog making it on his own in LA and "A Slip in Time" from Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris, directors of "Little Miss Sunshine." Each film is about three minutes long and 3MB in size.

No mention of pricing, but you will be able to download the films from the project's Website starting Friday.

BlackBerry 8800, for Work and Play

It used to be so clear-cut: you got a BlackBerry if you just couldn't bear to leave work behind -- unless you opted for the Pearl, which packed all that Research in Motion (RIM) goodness into a sleeker package aimed at consumers.

The new BlackBerry 8800 seems to fall somewhere in the middle, and not in that bad make-up-your-mind kind of way. Unlike the Pearl, it has the full keyboard that power thumbmeisters crave and, as a result, a wider body. Like the Pearl, it sports nifty multimedia features and a trackball that looks like, you know, a pearl. There are a couple of other new features as well, like a built-in GPS, a microSD slot and voice-activated dialing.

All of this would be more exciting if the smartphone market weren't getting a little crowded. Between the Moto Q, the Samsung BlackJack, a bucketload of Palm Treos and the forthcoming iPhone, I'm thinking that RIM is going to have to work harder at carving out its space in the market it did so much to shape. (Matthew Broersma at our corporate cousin InfoWorld agrees.) Then again, we may just be approaching a similar situation to that of the cell phone, where a person's selection is largely a matter of personal preference (and carrier).

A Laptop Case You Won't Get Caught Up In

I've tripped over the strap of my laptop bag enough times to know that it can definitely be a hazard. If you're particularly prone to tripping, check out these new SOLO laptop bags with retractable shoulder strap. The Smart Strap is a padded shoulder strap that can retract into the case whenever you aren't using it. It can be found on several of the company's bags, including the $80 Ballistic Nylon Smart Strap Laptop Portfolio, which features an organizer pocket for pens, business cards, and keys, as well as the $179 Leather Smart Strap Rolling Laptop Case, which comes with an organizer pocket, a place to store files and papers, and of course, a set of wheels.

Pedigreed Startup Developing Wi-Fi Player

Some might say that you listen to the Zune you have, not the Zune you want. However, a San Diego startup named Broadband International is working on building the Zune we want -- or, rather, the player many of us hoped the Zune would be.

You might say that Broadband had portable digital audio in its blood, as it was founded by Jim Cady (former president of Rio Digital Audio), Dennis Mudd (former CEO of Musicmatch) and Jonathan Sasse (former CEO of iRiver America), and as such they plan to use their extensive experience to create something that's genuinely innovative. It seems that their device will center around wireless capability; though short on details, the company has said that "traditional USB connections will (only) play a minor role in getting content to your device."

Wi-Fi will also play a role in acquiring music over the air without needing a computer, and it's also expected that there will be some sort of music-sharing scheme -- though how it will improve on the Zune without incurring the wrath of the RIAA remains to be seen.

Whatever the case, the fact remains that Microsoft was the first major company that had a chance to expand on the idea of a wireless music player with the Zune and blew it. While it's always possible that a firmware update will unlock features we have yet to see (or, I suppose, hear) other companies are capitalizing on the notion of wireless music and looking at more exciting possibilities right out of the gate. Details on the Broadband player will be firming up over the next two months as it nears its first release; let's see what they (and Microsoft and Apple) come up with in the meantime.

NBA All-Star Game Goes 3D

With high-def TV, you can see every pore and tattoo on LeBron James' body. But when viewers at the Mandalay Bay Hotel in Las Vegas watch this weekend's NBA All-Star game, they'll actually see LeBron leaping toward them.

According to Variety, Sunday's game will be the first live sports event to be broadcast in 3-dimensional HD. The event will be filmed by five 3D HD cameras, and broadcast in the third dimension in two theaters at the Mandalay Bay. Guests (sorry, invite only) will have to don special eyewear in order to see the picture in 3D. The broadcast is a warm-up: The NBA is also looking at airing an NBA Finals game in 3D HD--and this one would be for paying fans.

As the senior VP of operations and technology for NBA Entertainment told Variety, it's "about as close as you can get to having courtside seats." Somehow, we doubt Jack Nicholson would be jealous.

The DRM Debate Continues

The chorus of voices for and against a DRM-free future for online music is rising -- and more of those voices seem to be on the "for" side, though sometimes cautious.

One such voice is Dave Goldberg, head of Yahoo! Music. You might recall that last Ferbuary we reported that Goldberg suggested selling music tracks online without DRM. Making things easier for consumers, he reasoned, made them more likely to spend money. This time around he's saying the same thing, but he's adding the voice of experience: He says that when Yahoo! sold tracks in the universally supported MP3 format, they sold much better than protected files.

Goldberg's comment has me thinking that maybe there is something MP3.com's Michael Robertson's notion that Steve Jobs should prove his bona fides by, among other things, selling MP3s from the iTunes music store. A number of companies with tracks on iTunes sell the same music elsewhere as unprotected MP3s (Ninja Tune, Matador Records and Play It Again Sam immediately come to mind); since they already have no problem with selling DRM-free music, why not give them the option do so on iTunes? In fact, why not go ahead and advertise the fact at the same time?

Then, when the world doesn't come to an end, we can merrily watch Edgar Bronfman eat his "without logic or merit" comments.

Coming from Apple: Hot-Unpluggable iPods

A recent unveiled Apple patent filing doesn't seem revolutionary, but it fits in with the company's long-standing tradition of smoothing out the bumps along our day-to-day technological ride.

Originally filed in August of 2004, the "Hot Unpluggable Media Storage Device" design extends the USB/FireWire "hot-pluggable" concept so that you can unplug an external device as easily as you can plug it in. The system would enable an external device -- oh, say, an iPod -- to remain connected to a host device (usually a computer) but unmounted until the host actually needs to transmit or receive data.

The upshot is that you'd be able to just unplug your iPod once you've finished loading it up, rather than having to go through the extra step of disconnecting it via software. It may seem like a minor thing, but removing the manual unmounting step makes USB devices that much more consumer-friendly -- and it reduces the chances of the data corruption that can occur when you unplug a USB device without unmounting first. (Something with which, alas, I have a little too much experience.)

Revolutionary? Maybe not so much. Incredibly useful? You bet. Anything that makes technology more day-to-day usable and reduces the chance of accidentally wiping out data is a good thing, in my book.

You can have a look at the patent filing here if you're into that sort of thing.

EMI Considers Losing DRM

Are record labels listening? Earlier, my blogging cohort talked about some of the reactions to Steve Jobs' letter on opening up digital music so that you can listen to any songs you buy anywhere you want any number of times you want to.

Now the Wall Street Journal is reporting that EMI Group, publishers of artists like Coldplay and the Beatles, is contemplating selling DRM-free MP3s (though, ironically, the Beatles is one group you still can't buy digitally). According to sources, EMI is trying to discover how much money retailers would be willing to pay in advance in order to gain the right to sell music sans copy protection. If the numbers are to their liking, the company may relent.

It's no surprise that EMI would be the first major label to express interest in selling open MP3s. EMI has already ventured into the world of DRM-less music. In December, the company released copy-protection-free MP3s from artists Norah Jones and Relient K on Yahoo's music store. An EMI spokesperson told the AP that "the results of those experiments were very positive." Here's hoping it becomes more than just an experiment.

Reactions to Jobs' 'Thoughts on Music'

Sell us our digital music free of digital rights management, and we'll be happy: That's what pundits, bloggers, activists and plain old music fans have been saying for years. But when Steve Jobs, who runs the world's most successful online music store, suggested in an open letter that music companies should sell DRM-free music, people were all over it like writers on a free lunch.

His commentary didn't come out of nowhere, of course. Apple's been taking heat from European countries over the iPod/iTunes continuum for some time now, culminating in Norway recently declaring iTunes illegal under Norwegian law. This letter is Jobs' political and legal response. (If you haven't read the letter, you should. It's a fairly cogent and only slightly spun assessment of the digital music scene, though it makes no mention of the existing outlets that sell DRM-free digital music.)

Here are three reactions to Jobs' letter:

* Norway's Consumer Council feels that Jobs is skirting the issue by pointing the finger at the music companies.

* Warner Music Group chief executive Edgar Bronfman, Jr. said that "The notion that music does not deserve the same protections as software, television, films, video games or other intellectual property, simply because there is an unprotected legacy product available in the physical world, is completely without logic or merit."

* MP3.com founder Michael Robertson thinks that Jobs has to go a step further to prove that he has good intentions behind his lofty words by, among other things, selling MP3s on iTunes and allowing iTunes to work with other music stores.

My take? Jobs is pointing in the right direction: It's the major music companies that demand the DRM that necessitates FairPlay, the iPod/iTunes system (which, he accurately points out, is more liberal than any of the other DRM systems out there). There's a fair bit of non-major-label music out there that's available on iTunes, but also on competing services that sell DRM-free MP3s, sometimes for less.

Bronfman is being disingenuous by saying music "deserves the same protections" as other media. Not just because his family built its initial fortune through bootlegging during Prohibition, but because those other industries point toward the music business when they justify DRM schemes. All the major players point to each other and say, "Well, they have it, so why shouldn't we?" Meanwhile, the number-two digital music store is one that only sells DRM-free music. So maybe there is something to the idea.

The Norwegians are sort of right, though. Prior to the Zune (which isn't available outside of the US as yet), Apple was the only company to have control over a player, store and DRM system -- and happens to be the one that utterly dominates the MP3 player and online music store markets. That's where words like "vertical integration" and "monopoly" get thrown around, and not unjustly. But Jobs is right in that they can't expect Apple to take the full brunt of any penalties when their behavior is governed in no small part by the major labels' intransigence. If Norway really is interested in consumer rights, they have to bring the music industry to the table as well -- and make sure to leave a seat for Microsoft when they roll out the Zune.

More Movies for Multimedia Mavens III

For all of this week's buzz about downloading movies, I'm still pretty wary of the whole thing. These are interesting moves with great potential, but that's pretty much all they are at this point.

My feeling is this: I'm a movie buff. I'm a technological kind of guy. And even if I could use these services (Amazon Unbox doesn't work in Canada, and I'm not sure about Wal-Mart's service) I probably wouldn't. Here are just three reasons why:

* Like most people I know, my computer isn't in the living room. That wipes out the convenience factor for most download services because...

* ...DRM is a pain in the butt. I can buy a DVD and play it on any DVD player in the house, or pop it into my laptop when I go on a trip. If a DVD player dies suddenly I can just get a new one. I don't have to remember to back up licenses.

* Every service has one or two outstanding reasons to recommend it -- Amazon Unbox's TiVo's integration, iTunes' tie-in with the ubiquitous iPod, CinemaNow's download-to-burn (for some movies, anyway) -- but no one's got a killer combo that excites me enough to jump onboard.

So if a movie-loving, technology-using guy like me isn't enthusiastic, why would anyone else be? Especially when you consider these two points:

* In the real world -- and, now that I think of it, the online world -- I generally know where to buy DVDs based on genre. In the movie-downloading world, I often have to go by studio. Disney or Paramount? iTunes. Lionsgate or 20th Century Fox? BitTorrent. I remember studios because I'm a movie fan, but can you tell me where you'd go if you wanted to legally download Chinatown? No peeking.

* It's not simple enough yet. I buy a DVD, I make popcorn, I sit and watch. Done. Anyone can do it. Downloading movies right now is a multi-step process that will most likely faze or outright intimidate many people who would otherwise just get in the car and go to the store.

Analyst Rob Enderle described Wal-Mart's maneuver as a "game changer." It's exactly the right term. All of the last year's developments with Wal-Mart, Amazon, TiVo, CinemaNow, MovieLink, BitTorrent, the Hollywood studios and even the porn and anime industries are just a matter of positioning pieces for when this becomes truly viable. It's all still just a game. Wake me up when it's something close to an industry.

Win a Tech-tastic Toilet

Why leave any minute of the day unused? If you're the lucky winner of the Pimped-Out John, you may be able to check your email, buy tools from Amazon, or play Gears of War, all from the comfort of your bathroom.

Roto-Rooter is holding a contest to give away its Pimped-Out John, a toilet that's equipped with a Gateway eMachines laptop, an Xbox 360, a 20-inch Philips LCD TV, a TiVo Series2, and an iPod with a docking station that also pulls double duty as a toilet paper dispenser. Also included: a USB-powered cup warmer/cooler, a set of pedals for getting some exercise, and a compact fridge with beer tap (which it seems could contribute to more time spent in the bathroom).

According to Roto-Rooter, the company spent about five grand on parts. Sure, that's a lot of money, but think of all those budget projections you can get done. As Roto-Rooter's VP of marketing told Reuters, "The average person spends 11,862 hours in the bathroom, which equals one year, four months and five days in a lifetime... a toilet should be the most wonderful location in your home."

More Movies for Multimedia Mavens II

Aside from Wal-Mart's new venture, Blockbuster has another reason to look over its shoulder. Amazon and TiVo have joined forces to create a new service called Amazon Unbox with TiVo. (It's not exciting, but you can't say it isn't straighforward.)

The premise doesn't get any simpler: If you own a TiVo Series2 or Series3, you can connect it to your home network. Then, when you buy or rent movies through Amazon Unbox, you can have them downloaded straight to your TiVo, so -- gasp -- you can watch from your living room. Essentially, it's the same premise as AppleTV, minus the automatic wireless syncing, but integrated into your TiVo setup.

It's an interesting strategy that seems to buttress two beleaguered services. Amazon Unbox has been criticized for its poky speed (among other things) almost pretty much since the day it was unveiled; TiVo has weathered stiff competition within the market it created, and it's lagged in its plans to meld their software with Comcast set-top boxes. If Amazon and TiVo can pull this off, it's the kind of pairing that stockholders dream of -- something that entices people who use one service to shell out money for the other. If Amazon Unbox with TiVo works with the TiVo ToGo feature, even better.

More Movies for Multimedia Mavens

You've just got to feel for the folks over at Blockbuster. It seems as if the dust has only just settled after Netflix sent them scrambling, and along comes the news that Wal-Mart -- pretty much the largest retailer of DVDs in the USA -- is entering the downloadable movie and TV business.

Funny thing, though: unlike the real world, some of Wal-Mart's pricing is actually a bit higher than their competitors, with a price range of $12.88 to $19.98. What they have in their favor is -- again, surprisingly -- selection. Most movie download services like EZTakes feature lesser-known movies because none of the major studios want to get behind them; others, like CinemaNow, have some support from the major studios, but concentrate on older movies; and then there's Apple, which only has content from Disney and Paramount. In contrast, Wal-Mart will have films from all the major studios. (If they can get smaller, independent studios and distributors on board as well, they'll be pretty darned unbeatable.)

With that kind of support, the usual three-letter caveat applies: DRM. Unless your PC is connected to your TV, you'll be stuck watching movies from your computer's screen or a handheld -- not something I'd be looking forward to for, say, any Lord of the Rings movie. (The last twenty minutes of The Return of the King was hard enough in the cinema.)

Helio Joins the Wireless Music Party

Helio, the first wireless carrier to bring a mobile version of MySpace to cell phones, is throwing its hat into the wireless music-store ring. It just launched Helio Music, its own over-the-air song-buying service.

Helio Music includes songs from all four major labels: Universal, Warner, Sony BMG, and EMI. As with Verizon's V Cast music store, songs cost $1.99 if downloaded over the air, and 99 cents if you buy it from a PC and then load it onto your phone (though you'll have to wait until spring for the launch of Helio Music on PC). Helio says that the music store will initially be offered on its Drift phone, which features stereo Bluetooth support, and should also be available on all future handsets.

One cool feature (provided your friends use Helio--and they like you): The music store works with Helio's Gift & Beg service, which lets you purchase tunes that automatically download to your friend's phone (that's the gift part). If you ain't too proud to beg, you can also request that a friend buy you a song.

Apple and Apple Come Together

What do you know, it looks like they can work it out. Apple Inc. (the technology company, formerly Apple Computer) and Apple Corps Ltd. (the company that handles the Beatles' music) have finally settled their long-running trademark dispute.

The conflict stems from their first clash in 1978, when Apple Corps sued Apple Computer for trademark infringement. (Although the companies' logos have changed over the decades, they've always been apples -- though the technology company's logo has always had a bite taken out of it.) That was settled, with Apple Computer agreeing not to enter the music business. With Apple Computer's every music-related advancement, including of course iTunes and the iPod, the two have butted legal heads.

As of yesterday's legal settlement, Apple Inc. now owns all the "Apple"-related trademarks, with Apple Corps licensing the Apple name and their logo from Apple Inc.

The question now is when the Beatles' music will finally make it to iTunes. Last April it was revealed that the Beatles catalog was being digitally remastered, hinting at the Fab Four's music coming to an iPod near you. Though officially Apple Corps is hemming and hawing, you just know it's gonna happen.

Dance Dance with Your Feet and Hands

Konami is continuing the Dance Dance, uh, Revolution with a version that incorporates the Wii's motion-sensing remote along with standard dance moves. Which means you'll have to learn to move both your feet and your hands at the same time in rhythm. Oh, man.

Dance Dance Revolution Hottest Party for Nintendo Wii will have you not only moving your feet to match the lighted squares on the dance pad, but also wielding the Wii's remote and Nunchuk attachment in concert with onscreen directives. Also unique is a new game mode that will require two players to keep their dance moves in sync. The game is scheduled to come out sometime this year, and it should have a new soundtrack with tunes from the past four decades.

I/O, I/O: Disney Flash Drives

More Disney-branded gadgets from Japan: Later this month, Buffalo will release a trio of USB flash drives modeled after Mickey Mouse, Winnie the Pooh and Stitch, complete with props. Each drive will be limited to a release of 5,000 units.

Given the Disney brand and the limited quantity, the ¥3,980 (about $33) price for a mere 512 MB doesn't seem all that steep. But you know how it is with Disney collectibles -- if you're really into the Mickey Mouse iconography (or you just need to complement your other Disney-themed gear), you'll have to you're not really thinking about the cost-per-megabyte ratio, are you?

[Thanks, Shiny Shiny.]

Where to Give Your Gadgets Away

A lot of the discussion on reusing or recycling technology focuses on computers. But what do you do about cell phones, MP3 players, old game consoles and all the consumables and media they require?

* Cell phones can be donated directly to women's shelters, or dropped off at Best Buy for proper recycling. You can also try asking at the store where you bought the phone.

* If your MP3 player still works, consider passing it on as a gift. A friend of mine is giving her old iPod Nano to her mother, filled with her favorite operas.

* If you have all the manuals and games for your console, take a page from the Child's Play book and make a sick kid smile -- donate it to your local children's hospital. On a similar note, see if you can donate your old videocassettes and DVDs to hospitals or other organizations. Another friend of mine passes his old DVDs on to a local homeless shelter.

* Consumables like printer cartridges and batteries are as much of a problem as other forms of e-waste. In my neck of the woods, Staples reclaims spent inkjet cartrdiges and IKEA reclaims old batteries.

This is just scratching the surface; you'd be surprised at how many ways there are to keep electronics from ending up in landfills or dumps. Governments and organizations the world over are grappling with e-waste issues, especially with the Christmas season recently behind us and Microsoft Vista released to the public. With a little help from everyone, it doesn't have to be such a headache.

Juice Your Gadgets Wirelessly

A battery charger isn't exactly the sexiest device, but if it means eliminating the vast number of random power adapters I have plugged in around my house, I say come hither.

Last month I wrote about the eCoupled charging technology, which Herman Miller is looking to build into its desks. The idea is that you would charge up your gadgets just by laying them down on the surface where you work. The WildCharger is another promising wireless charging technology that can give life to multiple devices at once.

All you do is lay your gadgets down on the WildCharger, and the pad will zap power to them without requiring you to plug them in. (Of course, the device needs to incorporate the WildCharger technology; it's not clear whether it needs to be built-in, or you'll use some sort of adapter.) With 90 watts of power, the $100 WildCharger is capable of juicing laptops and a few other smaller devices at the same time. At 15 watts, the $40 WildCharger Mini is tailored toward charging three or four smaller gadgets, like cell phones and MP3 players. A higher-powered unit is also in the works.

The WildCharger pads are due to see the light of day in the first half of 2007.

Prep Your Digital Goods for Giveaway

Yesterday I wrote that you should give away your old PC or components if you're upgrading to Vista, or for that matter any electronic gadget. But like everything else, a little prep work up front will make life easier for everyone.

First, give your system a quick once-over. Make note of things like memory, storage capacity, and installed components. How many USB ports are there? How many are older 1.x ports? Are all the components working fine, or is something a little twitchy? If you're planning on listing your system somewhere -- even if it's on the local grocery store's bulletin board -- the extra detail will be appreciated by prospective takers. At the very least, it will cut down on the number of times you'll have to answer the same questions. You'll also want to note if you have all the original CDs and manuals.

Second, be sure to wipe the system clean of any data. The new owner really doesn't need to know as much about your personal life as your browser history and documents folder will reveal. This also applies to old MP3 players and flash media.

Third, when it comes time to give the computer away, be clear about how much or how little technical support you'll provide. Trust me on this one.

For more details on prepping your PC for its departure, see Kirk Steers's "Hardware Tips: Make Your Old Computer Ready for Its Next Owner." If you can't find a new home for your old equipment, then see Ben Ames's "Vista Sales Could Boost PC Recycling" and Steve Bass's "Where to Dump Your Old PC."

Next: A few more suggestions for where to drop off your old gadgets and accessories.

Most Home Theater Receivers Don't Do Blu-Ray or HD-DVD

If you're contemplating buying a Blu-Ray or HD-DVD, you may be focusing on the dreamy 1080p picture (some of) the players can provide. But if your receiver is a year old or older, you probably won't be able to pipe a 1080p signal through your receiver, and your receiver may also be incapable of delivering TrueHD and DTS-HD Master audio, the new high-end audio formats offered by (some of) those players.

First, the video issue: A small number of receivers, including a few announced at last month's Consumer Electronics Show, will switch 1080p content from a Blu-Ray or HD-DVD player via an HDMI connection. (A receiver that can ?switch? HMDI has multiple HDMI inputs to which you can connect devices, and at least one HDMI output to which you?d connect your television.) Manufacturers of receivers that offer 1080p capability--not just 1080i--include Denon, Harman Kardon, Onkyo, and Yamaha, among others.

But no receiver you can buy today will decode the 7.1-channel, super-high-bit-rate TrueHD or DTS-HD Master formats, because none offers the proper decoder chips. You will be able to connect a Blu-Ray and HD-DVD player and get some sound through your receiver, because the discs that offer TrueHD or DTS-HD Master tracks will also have lower-quality "core" audio tracks that will play through older equipment.

The complicated part: The HDMI 1.3 specification claims TrueHD and DTS-HD Master capability among its features. But DTS says that you can get DTS-HD Master even if your receiver (and player) have HDMI 1.1 or 1.2 ports. In that case, the player would output an uncompressed multi-channel PCM audio stream to your receiver; here, the player does the decoding instead of the receiver. To go this route, your player must have a DTS-HD Master or TrueHD decoder, and your receiver must be able to accept a multi-channel linear PCM signal.

Another option: If the player has the proper decoders and multi-channel analog outputs, you can connect them to analog inputs on your receiver, which would simply amplify the signal and send it on to your speakers (but boy, that's a lotta cables).

DTS has an excellent primer on this stuff; Dolby has one too.

Sherwood announced the first receiver with HDMI 1.3 at last month's CES; the Newcastle R-972 also features DTS-HD Master and TrueHD support and 1080p video support. It'll even have six HDMI-in ports. But it won't ship until August, and it'll cost $1500. Of the companies I contacted, only Denon would say when it would announce receivers with TrueHD or DTS-HD Master support (later this year). Harman Kardon, Onkyo, and Pioneer would not commit to a timeframe.

Players with TrueHD and DTS-HD Master include the Sony PlayStation 3 (which also has HDMI 1.3). Toshiba's HD-XA1, HD-A1, and HD-A2, support playback of TrueHD and DTS-HD "core", which is a lower-bit-rate version with only 5.1-channel support. Pioneer's $1500 Elite BDP-HD1 Blu-Ray player doesn't even support that: If you insert a disc with DTS-HD or TrueHD tracks on it, the player will output 48-KHz, 5.1-channel output--the same as you'd get from a DVD. Bleh!

With audio, I've heard two conflicting recommendations over the years: One says that you should keep the signal digital as long as possible, and the other says that your best piece of equipment should perform the digita-to-analog decoding. So, in the case of DVD-Audio playback, for example, if you have a killer DVD player (that can decode DVD-A) and a so-so receiver, that you should connect the DVD player to your receiver via analog cables. If your DVD player is so-so and your receiver's the star, connect via digital cables, so that the receiver does the decoding. It may be the same case with TrueHD and DTS-HD Master, but you may be forced to use your player's decoder, at least in the beginning.

The other, more recent recommendation: Don't look for a HDMI 1.3 connection on your next receiver. Instead, look for the features you want--namely, look for Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master support first, because at some point, receivers could come with HDMI 1.3 and not support for those formats.

So, boiling it down: To hear the best possible audio from Blu-Ray or HD-DVD, you'll need the following:

-Content (discs) that use the new audio formats (they're rare, from what I've seen)
-A Blu-Ray or HD-DVD player that will decode TrueHD or DTS-HD Master audio and a receiver with either HDMI 1.1/1.2 or 7.1-channel analog inputs, [or]
-A receiver that will decode TrueHD and DTS-HD Master (it will likely have HDMI 1.3, but look for the audio-format logos on the front of the receiver).

Now who'd like to be the first to say, "No thanks; I'll stick with my 13-inch black-and-white TV"?

Madden NFL Predicts Super Bowl Again

Super Bowl Sunday is nearly upon us, and EA has released its annual prediction based on its Madden NFL 07 videogame simulation. Now last year I was all livid when Madden predicted that the Steelers would beat the Seahawks 24-19. What does a videogame know anyway? Well, as it turned out, the prediction wasn't too far off, as the actual game ended in a 21-10 Steelers victory. (Is it OK to still be bitter?)

This year I'm psyched because Madden NFL is predicting the Colts over the Bears, 38-27. And though I have nothing invested in either team, I'd just rather see the Colts win. Maybe it's NFC spite. Or perhaps it's some leftover animosity over having my neighborhood sports bar overrun with Chicago Bears fans.

Here's how the game is supposed to go down: The Colts will score 10 in the first quarter, and add another TD in the second. The Bears will notch 13 in the second. At halftime, the score will be 17-13. The Colts will outscore the Bears 14-7 in the third, and both teams will add TDs in the fourth. Final score: 38-27. Actually, the game sounds kinda dull, maybe I'll skip it altogether and hit the movies instead. Isn't technology efficient?

Upgrading to Vista? Don't Toss Your PC

We don't usually write about operating systems upgrades on Digital World because, you know, this is where the cool kids hang out. Still, this is the week that Microsoft Vista rolls out, and that means that over the next year or so an awful lot of people will be replacing old computer components, if not replacing entire computers outright -- which in turn means a lot of computers will be put out to the curb.

In case you didn't already know, this is a Bad Thing. Electronic waste (or e-waste) is a growing worldwide problem, and even one more computer component going into a landfill or a trash pile is too many. Here are a couple of suggestions for what you can do with your old PC:

* Use it as a server, or as an auxiliary household computer. (Think of it as insurance: now there'll be no reason to kick you off the computer when you're playing World of Warcraft.)

* If you have a young child, it can become their first computer.

* Call your local school, youth center, women's shelter or any other local grassroots organization and see if they can make use of it.

* Got a far-flung but technologically lacking relative you want to keep in touch with? Give them the computer and a headset, then Skype to your hearts' content.

* Hit your local Craigslist or Freecycle and let people know you have a computer and/or components to give away. They'll be gone in short order.

By the way, all of these tips also apply to old cell phones, gaming consoles and any other assorted electronics you want to get rid of. Tomorrow I'll go into more detail on how to give your old gadgets a proper sendoff.

An Ergonomic Keyboard Add-On

Like many ergonomic peripherals, the MouseTrapper Advance promises to make mousing easier on your wrists. The ?169 ($333) Swedish device slides under your keyboard, acting as a wrist rest, and you navigate the screen using the roller pad.

That's right, it's not an electrostatic touch pad -- there are mechanical rollers under there. I have no idea if that's better or worse, but I do like the idea of having tactile response when using the pad to scroll or double-click.

I also like the idea of being able to use the Mouse Trapper without having to buy a whole new keyboard, but there seems to be a flaw here: If you already have an ergonomic keyboard, it probably already has a wrist rest built in. If it doesn't, then it most likely has a curved base, which will make using the MouseTrapper really awkward. It seems, then, that the MouseTrapper is more for people have kinda sorta hopped on the ergonomics bandwagon.