Charge Multiple Gadgets at Once

So many devices, not enough outlets! It's a familiar complaint of the gadget-laden, and while some companies hide power strips in fancy mahogany charging stations, it's not much help if you're hurting for space -- or on the road.

CallPod's $49 ChargePod won't look as nice on your desk, but it gets the job done: plug the hub into a wall outlet, then connect up to six small devices, using adapters as necessary (extra adapter tips sell for $9.95 each).

The ChargePod's 5-6V range limits it to smaller portable devices, but the company is working on a version that will also support laptops.

EMI and Warner's Online Music Video Plans

Two of the Big Four music companies announced different online music video offerings today.

Warner Music is teaming up with Premium TV to offer "online TV sites" that will be organized around artists, genres or labels. Visitors will be able to watch music videos for free, with the sites supported by ad revenue. EMI, who have been all about the online availability of late, have just announced a deal in which their music videos will be made available on YouTube.

Both deals come with a few extras. Warner's videos will include previously unseen footage, and will eventually be available in other languages. Users will have the option to pay to download videos the like. EMI will allow users to use the content of their videos for their own "user generated content."

EMI's deal also comes with a few questions. Like, how does this affect the iTunes deal, in which EMI videos will be available DRM-free, but at a price? What's the benefit between on or the other? Also, how much of their videos can be used for that user-generated content? Are the usable segments predetermined, or can I make that David Bowie/presidential State of the Union address mashup I've longed to do with as much footage as I want?

Sony to Update Its DVDirect Recorder

It wasn't too long ago that I mentioned Sony's VRD-MC3 DVD burner, part of their DVDirect line that makes it push-button simple to take video from a variety of sources or digital still images from flash media and burn it to DVD. If you've been thinking about getting one, you might want to wait a bit -- the ?30,000 (about $247) VRD-MC5 debuts in Japan on August 10 and will, I'm sure, eventually appear over here.

Aside from a slightly curvier appearance, the VRD-MC5's main job is pretty much the same -- Sony has just expanded the type of media it can read, adding AVCHD import capability (via a USB cable) and SDHC support.

Meet Slickr, Venzero's Newest Media Player (Playr?)

Oxford, UK-based Venzero comes up with some great ideas (or at the very least, great designs) for media players, but they still can't seem to get that brand recognition thing happening. (At least, not here in North America. Are there any UK readers who can say otherwise?)

Popularity contests aside, they company has just announced the ? 119 ($160) Slickr, a media player which seems to take a page from the look and feel of iRiver's first and second-generation clix players. At 3.4'' x 2.2'' x .4'' the Slickr is roughly the same size as the clix 2, but its flat, clean face is reminiscent of the first clix.

Just looking at the specs, though, the Slickr seems like it's a great idea but so-so in practical terms. While the screen is a reasonable size for video (2.83''), its supported formats are rather sparse -- it only handles AVI files, with no mention of the MPEG-4 or DivX/XviD. Some might find its 2 GB memory internal memory spare, but it can be expanded via its miniSD slot.

Some features stand out. The Slickr includes an external speaker, and like the company's previous models has a MusicMarker button that allows you to record a clip of a catchy tune you hear on the radio or at a party, then have Venzero identify it for you when you next sync the player.

DRM-Free Music Debuts on iTunes

With one day to spare, Apple fulfilled its promise of releasing DRM-free tracks (courtesy of EMI) on its iTunes stores worldwide in May.

Actually, the service is called iTunes Plus, and it's exactly as advertised: DRM-free, higher-quality tracks sell for $1.29, versus the standard iTunes price of 99 cents. (Don't forget that you can upgrade your existing DRMed EMI tracks by paying the 30-cent difference for each track, or $3 per album.)

To get to iTunes Plus material you have to upgrade to iTunes 7.2. At first iTunes Plus appears as a mini-store within iTunes, but you can set iTunes to display the iTunes Plus version of a track by default whenever possible.

Steve Jobs is quoted as saying, "We expect more than half of the songs on iTunes will be offered in iTunes Plus versions by the end of this year," which strikes me as optimistic -- either he expects another major label to go DRM-free in the coming months, or Apple has been making deals with the independent artists that have DRM-free music available elsewhere, like the folks at Ninja Tune. But right now, it's time to bask in the DRM-free glory.

Are you going to take advantage of iTunes Plus?

A New Kind of Flat Screen: Microsoft's Surface

This is one of those times that I don't mind admitting I was wrong. Despite my ho-humming yesterday, the "top-secret new product" that was announced at midnight is actually pretty darned cool. As Melissa Perenson reported last night, Microsoft Surface is a special screen with "multi-touch" capabilities -- that is, multiple points on the screen can respond to physical user contact simultaneously.

The immediate comparison is to a scene in Minority Report, in which Tom Cruise's character moved images and information around in much the same way as we do today -- except on a stylish, semi-transparent vertical screen, and using his hands instead of a mouse. The technology is currently licensed to four partners, including Starwood Hotels (where it will be used in common areas for information services) and T-Mobile (for in-store comparison shopping). If you check out PC World's photo gallery, you'll see a tabletop Microsoft Surface unit being used to sort photos and music, zoom in on images, search maps, and draw pictures.

By now this should be sounding familiar to regular Digital World readers -- I reported on something quite similar last August: Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories' (MERL) DiamondTouch Table, which I saw and played with at last year's SIGGRAPH conference. And by "quite similar" I mean "conceptually and functionally identical" -- except that the DiamondTouch Table requires that each user sit on a special chair or stand on a specific spot, so that the built-in receiver can transmit a signal that the screen's tiny antennas can pick up. Microsoft's system uses overlapping cameras to detect movement.

An important note for Microsoft bashers and boosters: I'm in no way suggesting that Microsoft or Mitsubishi stole this idea from each other. Nor am I suggesting that one is superior to the other. When MERL demoed the DiamondTouch Table at SIGGRAPH, it was on a wide 42'' screen with a resolution of 2736 x 2048; Microsoft's demo was on a 30'' DLP screen with a 4:3 aspect ratio at 1024 x 768. MERL's technology also allows the system to distinguish between different users touching the screen, something Microsoft's system doesn't do. But Surface also has infrared capabilities, allowing for more kinds of interaction. And, perhaps most important, without having to worry about special receiver chairs or surfaces, Surface's use is much more instinctive -- and since it will be deployed in places where ordinary people are more likely to use it, Surface may well "change the way people interact with technology." It's rare that I say this about Microsoft products, but my hat's off to the Surface developers for living up to the hype.

Microsoft Unveiling in Five Hours

Hey, wow! Word is that Microsoft's Entertainment and Devices division is going to be unveiling a top-secret new product tonight at midnight EST, which will "change the way people interact with technology."

Wait, did I say "Hey, wow?" I meant, "Yawn."

For all I know Microsoft is about to unveil a working personal time machine that runs on jelly beans and sells for $99. But I really can't get too excited over MS hype because they haven't exactly been on a roll lately. There's the Zune (which I've picked on enough lately), the not-so-wow Vista operating system, and the UMPC (which underwhelmed until the new and improved version).

The smart-alecks at Gizmodo rightly point out that the timing is good, as tomorrow Bill Gates and Steve Jobs are having a public tête-à-tête tomorrow at Wall Street Journal's D Conference. Because while the two will likely talk about the last three decades of computing, when it comes to current tech Jobs is walking in armed with major-league cool. I'm sure Gates is hoping this new techno-thingie will let him talk about new Microsoft developments without audience members snickering.

Microsoft Doesn't Quite Sell One Million Zunes

I've been paying attention to the calendar with two music-related deadlines in mind: Apple's DRM-free tracks on iTunes sometime in May, and Microsoft's aim to sell a million Zunes by June. With two days to go for both deadlines and nary a peep from either company, it's anyone's guess as to what's actually happening behind the scenes.

I was kind of surprised late last night when I noticed some buzz that Microsoft had managed to hit its goal, but a little concerned that there was no mention of this feat from Microsoft themselves. Wouldn't TV news be airing clips of Steve Ballmer and J Allard shouting and dancing exuberantly on Redmond rooftops?

In a posting on Apple 2.0, Philip Elmer-DeWitt gives us an explanation: reports that Microsoft sold a million Zunes comes from a quote that Microsoft Entertainment and Devices Division prez Robbie Bach made in a San Francisco Chronicle interview yesterday. However, Elmer-DeWitt also listened to the podcast of the interview, and noticed a discrepancy. Bach was actually prognosticating, saying that they will have sold a million Zunes by the time they finish their fiscal year in June.

So I guess we'll have to wait a little longer to see if those million Zunes sell, and what happens after that.

The Next Generation of Barcodes: QR Codes

It's something of a clich? to say that something or other is "just so 20th century," but in the case of barcodes, it's kinda true. For proof look no further than Japan, which has a history of exporting ideas to us after they've been fully baked into the culture, for good (anime) or ill (I'm still on the fence about karaoke).

QR Codes are essentially two-dimensional bar codes, and they've been in use in Japan for about seven years. As camera-enabled mobile phones became more popular, companies found a nifty application for them: they made QR Code-recognition software available to phone users, who could snap a picture of a QR Code on a product and have more information sent to them instantly. The two great things about QR Code implementation is that companies have found creative uses for placement and the type of information you can get, and that patent holders Denso-Wave have made the spec available to all, which fosters that kind of creativity.

Alan Schulman has written a great article on QR Codes on iMedia Connection, but also points out that Japanese companies aren't the only ones who have been noticing the pixellated squares. Microsoft is planning to launch its High Capacity Color Barcode later this year, which uses the same concept but with, as the name implies, color. And if Microsoft is looking to one-up someone else's idea, you know it's probably a good one.

Chillin' With a Little Help from My USB Port

More than once, I've gotten into such a zone while coding/writing that getting up to eat or drink is out of the question. That means one of my desk drawers is devoted to non-perishable snacks, but I slowly dehydrate until I find a moment to take a break (or the computer crashes -- whichever comes first).

Now I don't have to risk hypotension just because I've got my flow. Brando, those fiendish makers of USB gadgets you didn't know you needed, now carry a $33 USB-powered mini-fridge that keeps your drink chilled to 8.5 degrees Celsius (47.3 degrees Fahrenheit). The good news is that the fridge doesn't fit more than one can -- otherwise I'd lose what little exercise I get while getting new drinks from the kitchen. The bad news is that the mini-fridge doesn't fit the extra-tall cans of Rockstar I've come to depend on. (How do you think I get my flow in the first place?)

Another Way for Cell Phones to Interfere With Driving

And here's something new for our "Unintended Consequences" file. Nissan's 2007 Altima and Infiniti G35 cars both have intelligent keys, or "I-Keys," which allow you to enter and start your car without having to actually put the key into any kind of slot -- just push a button and you're in, then off.

If you're lucky, anyway. The automaker just announced that if your cell phone is within an inch of your I-Key and you happen to receive a call, the phone might "alter the electronic code inside the I-Key." More succinctly, your key gets irreversibly zapped and you find yourself taking the bus, glowering at your 20-something co-workers as they pile into a cheap Yaris and drive off with no trouble.

A new version of the I-Key is coming this fall, so you'll want to be careful where you put your phone for the next few months.

Tangling with AACS's Managed Copy

The folks behind the AACS copy-protection system that lurks under HD DVD and Blu-ray have been saying that they're getting closer to having a workable "managed copy" scheme, which would allow consumers to make legal copies of movies to media centers, portable media players, PCs, and so on. The much-delayed spec now looks like it will be ready by year's end.

In theory, managed copying represents the kind of compromise that's needed in the DRM debate. As a gadget-happy consumer I'd be happiest in a universe free of DRM, but as a content creator I understand the desire to have some degree of control over dissemination. The best DRM, then, is the one that minimizes illegal copying, but is transparent to law-abiding end users -- which is why I like the imperfect copy protection found on DVDs, and the iPod's liberal Fairplay system.

However, reading Melissa Perenson's excellent breakdown of the situation, it became clear that the studios' implementation of managed copying probably won't properly strike that balance. As Melissa writes, "But one thing is clear: Studios won't take a one-size-fits-all approach to managed copy. The options that studios will offer (x number of legal disc backups, x number of transfers to another device) and the cost for those options (transfers could be free or sold on a per-copy basis) will vary, even among titles distributed by the same studio."

Right. So why would I, as a consumer, want to have to keep track of this? That's exactly why I'm irked by DRM in the first place -- I don't want to have to remember the particulars of each title I own. If I buy a song from iTunes, I know exactly how many times I can copy it, regardless of what studio produced it. Even with the Zune's three-days-or-three-plays concession to the music industry makes sense if it's universal. (Actually, it's not quite. But it was a nice theory.)

(One thought here: part of the problem is one of distribution rights, which AACS Licensing Authority spokesperson Michael Ayers mentions in the article. A company may have HD DVD distribution rights, for example, but not PSP distribution rights. Again, I'm of two minds with this. As someone who actually creates media for a living, I understand the value of selling rights individually, rather than as a collection. But as a consumer, this is a major pain. If someone sells me a VHS I can copy it to DVD, even if the seller didn't have DVD distribution rights. But I suppose it'll take a court case to sort that out, and no one wants to go to court.)

The other problem is that, depending on the studios' whims, it may cost extra to move media to other devices. This goes back to something I mentioned earlier, namely that for the longest time, the studios' approach to copyright has been to gradually strip customers of the rights they used to enjoy, then act as if that's what things have always been. In this case, it looks like they're extending that idea to charging you for the privilege of doing what you used to do for free.

Microsoft's "iPod Amnesty Bin" Gaffe

Misplaced hubris is never pretty. A few days ago Rex Sorgatz was visiting "Zune HQ," as he describes it, and he snapped the picture you see here (the full-sized pic is on his Flickr page): an "iPod Amnesty Bin," where -- to all appearances -- people can chuck their iPods, because presumably they've seen the brown Zune light.

It would be worth a chuckle if it weren't for the minor detail that Microsoft's "iPod killer" is in fact being utterly creamed by Apple's player. Sure, Microsoft's being saying since before the Zune launch that their initial goals were modest -- their "million Zunes by June" target makes for less than a tenth the number of iPods sold in a quarter -- but that modesty isn't reflected in their hype, or in cute stunts like these.

Memo to Microsoft: There's an art to trash talk, and part of that art is having the goods to back it up. Maybe your next generation of players will, in fact, bring extra helpings of awesome to the table. But until then, "bite me" signs are embarassingly premature. And maybe a little immature as well.

Apple/EMI Deal Still a Go... We Think

Ever since Apple and EMI announced their deal to sell DRM-free music on iTunes, I've been waiting to hear of a launch date firmer than "in May." After all, there's only a week left in the month. (Yes, I've been counting.)

If you've been paying attention to entertainment industry news, you might have had a little extra anxiety in that regard. EMI has been up for sale, and one of the suitors was none other than Warner Music Group, whose CEO Eddie Bronfman, Jr. is very much against selling digital music without DRM.

It looks like things have worked out: EMI has agreed to be bought out by Terra Firma Capital Group for $4.7 billion, and one analyst has laid out the reasons that he expects the EMI/Apple deal to go through as planned. But don't start cheering just as yet. Word is that Warner might consider offering a juicier counter-offer, or waiting to see if Terra Firma is ready to break EMI up, in which case they'll just buy the parts they want.

Either way, the EMI/Apple deal is apparently good for a year, which means everything's going to work out (for us) no matter who buys EMI. (So you might not want to dawdle when it comes to buying those David Bowie tracks.) Of course, one should never underestimate the willingness of a big company to pay some huge chunk of change in order to keep the DRM-free genie from escaping the bottle.

Get Ready to Rock

The Stones' Paint It Black, Sabotage by the Beastie Boys, Cherub Rock from the Smashing Pumpkins. These are just some of the songs that will be available when Guitar Hero III hits shelves this fall. And the best part? You get the original recordings, not just covers. (Unfortunately, the one I?m looking forward to most--Heart's Barracuda--is still a cover version.)

Activision has announced a few details on the next game in its Guitar Hero franchise. Coming out for all three next-gen consoles, plus the PS2, Guitar Hero III will feature several upgrades, including wireless controllers, removable faceplates, new guitars, bigger and better venues, and an online multiplayer mode that lets you shred off against someone on the other side of the world.

Here's the list of so-far announced master tracks (done by the original artist): Paint It Black (The Rolling Stones), Cherub Rock (Smashing Pumpkins), Sabotage (Beastie Boys), The Metal (Tenacious D), My Name is Jonas (Weezer), Knights of Cydonia (Muse), and Cult of Personality (Living Colour). A few covers have also been announced: Kiss's Rock And Roll All Nite, Alice Cooper's School's Out, Fog Hat's Slow Ride, and Heart's Barracuda.

VoIP Comes to the PSP in the UK

Last August I commented that Sony's mylo communicator looked like a miniature PSP. Now British Telecom (BT) and Sony are working to reverse that, in a way.

In the UK, BT will be making a version of its Softphone VoIP application available for the PSP, enabling owners of the handheld to make calls to other Softphone users as well as mobile phones and landlines from any wireless hotspot. The price (which hasn't yet been determined) will also include a headset.

I'm still of the opinion that the PSP is a great idea (several great ideas, actually) that's been criminally under-exploited. Like Microsoft's Zune, the built-in Wi-Fi alone should be a springboard to much more, and instead there's an astonishing lack of initiative to actually use it. VoIP capability is a start, and I'd certainly like to see a PSP version of Skype over here. But how long do you think it will take for Sony (or anyone else) to act on even that simple idea?

A USB Drive Jack Bauer Would Love

You know what the least believable thing about 24 is? No, not that Jack never uses the bathroom. The plot often hinges on delicate bits of technology that people carry around in their pockets even when there's a good chance they'll be shot at, blown up, thrown into seawater, or flung off of cars.

The next time the fate of the free world is at stake, Jack might want to get a little insurance. Corsair has just released the 4 GB Flash Survivor ($59, pictured) and 8 GB Flash Survivor GT ($129), two USB 2.0 drives that look like they could withstand Jack Bauer-style punishment. The anodized-aluminum drives are both water-resistant up to 200 meters (656 feet) and absorb impacts thanks to rubber moldings and a metal outer tube. Aside from capacity, the only difference with the Flash Survivor GT is that it transfers data faster. (Corsair claims it pumps out data five times faster than other drives.)

Just doing my bit to help out the guys at CTU. If someone would tell me who makes the batteries for his PDA (seriously, Jack's Treo never runs out of power) I'll call it even.

Plan for Summer's Radio Daze

As sweet as FM transmitters are for wirelessly listening to your MP3 player in the car, they can be a bit of a pain for those long road trips. FM transmitters work best in an unused part of the FM spectrum, and that varies depending on where you are. The longer you're driving, the more you're likely to find yourself fiddling with the dial when all you want to do is listen to a little Cat Power.

Like so many other things in life, this can be solved with a little planning. Just in time for summer, Belkin has unveiled my best FM: just type in the cities or zip codes you're planning to pass through, and my best FM will search its database to let you know which frequences are the best to use. The service is free, but works in the US only.

Sonos Goes Cheaper, Gets with Pandora

Sonos, makers of a super-expensive but supposedly rockin' music streaming system, has launched what it calls "the most affordable multi-room music system on the consumer market."

For $999, you'll be able to stream music to two different rooms and use the sweet LCD-equipped remote control to navigate through your tunes. The Sonos Bundle 130 comes with the Controller 100, along with a ZonePlayer 80 and a ZonePlayer 100 (both let you stream wirelessly, but the 100 includes a built-in amplifier).

But especially cool is that all Sonos users can download a software update with Pandora support. You'll get a free 30-day Pandora trial, and after that, the charge is $36 a year (which seems like nothing after shelling out for a $999 system). Listen to any Pandora station you've created (or start a new one) in any room where you have a ZonePlayer, without having to go through a PC. You'll even be able to listen to separate stations in different rooms, as well as rate songs and bookmark faves straight from the Sonos.

In One Ear and Out the Other

The iPod shuffle's diminutive size has inspired many different ways to listen to your music without having to deal with tangled cords. Two I've mentioned here involve putting it on your head, keeping wires to a minimum. Now here's a third that gets right to the point, eliminating wires altogether.

Monster Cable bills their foldable $49 iFreePlay wraparound headphones as "cordless headphones," but not the way you'd think. The shuffle slides into a dock on the left headphone, so you've got access to all of its controls -- and with their slim profile and light weight (they're 1.6 oz) you don't have to look like Lobot.

Broadcast Music from Your Pocket

It's bad enough that some of our gadgets have become small enough that we can easily lose them on a moderately cluttered desk; but even the accessories are continuing to shrink as well.

Griffin Technology's $49 iTrip Pocket is the latest addition to the company's line of iTrip FM transmitters, which allow iPod, PSP and Zune owners to listen to their music tracks via an FM radio, eliminating the need to mess around with cables and fancy adapters. The hook is that the iTrip Pocket is designed to fit with the second-generation iPod nano's design, and is maybe a third of the tiny player's size. (It also works with the first-generation nano and the fourth and fifth generation iPods -- it just won't look as chic.)

Like most FM transmitters worth mentioning, the iTrip Pocket has three frequency presets so that once you find a good setting you can easily reuse it. And just in case you've forgotten where you are on the dial, Griffin's SmartDisplay shows you the current frequency on the iPod screen. It's all quite useful, but now you have to be extra careful not to lose the iTrip Pocket in the change bowl.

DOC Portable Nano Speakers

You know how it goes. You want to listen to podcasts on your iPod nano while doing something mundane like folding the laundry or sorting your 1970s National Geographics -- but you don't want to deal with earbuds. There are plenty of speaker docks on the market, but Brookstone's got one in their catalog that seems just right for an easy pick-up-and-go.

The DOC speaker dock is a single unit that can easily be carried in one hand. All you have to do is slide your second-generation iPod nano into it, and you're in business. As it's powered by 3 AAA batteries, you won't have to deal with pesky cords. I don't know how good it will sound at $39 (though the catalog assures us that it "delivers full, rich sound," in bold type) but that kind of convenience is hard to beat. And the fact that it comes in four of the nano's five available colors? Style bonus.

A Camcorder That Takes to Water

We've been getting a nice dose of underwater digital camera action lately, from the likes of Olympus, Pentax, and Vivitar. But if you don't want to just settle for still images of underwater life, Sanyo has announced what it claims to be the world's first waterproof camcorder.

The Xacti E1 is fully dunkable down to five feet, but only for up to an hour. It records MPEG-4/AVC H.264 video, capturing up to 75 minutes of 640x480, 30fps moving pictures to one gigabyte on an SD card. It also takes 6-megapixel pictures and includes a 5x optical zoom for getting close-ups of that shark, so you can appear braver than you actually are. The 2.5-inch screen flips out and rotates so you can easily see what you're shooting.

The Xacti E1 weighs 8.3 ounces, comes in blue, yellow, and white, and will cost $500 when it hits in mid June. Perfect timing for all those summer pool parties.

Floor Lamp Masks Your Speakers

I'm getting a little tired of tripping over the mess of speaker, cable, and telephone wires that are snaking underneath the various rugs in my house. And there's really no hiding those unsightly surround-sound speakers that my husband insists we need.

The Soundolier Duo kills two problems with one device. Due out this month, the Duo is a wireless speaker that's hidden inside a floor lamp (and it's relatively decent looking). The speaker features volume controls, line in/line out jacks at the base, and a foot switch for controlling the power and dimmer. It can be used on its own, as part of a pair of stereo speakers, or as the rear speakers of a surround-sound setup.

To take advantage of the Duo's wireless features, you need the Maestro, an audio transmitter that hooks up to your audio source (receiver, iPod, DVD player, etc.) and sends the sound wirelessly to the Duo. It can even transmit sound through walls, so the lamp-cum-speakers can be located in a different room from the rest of the system. Maybe there's hope for my living room after all.

Flying the (Gadget-)Friendly Skies

When I'm getting ready to travel, I usually load up my PSP an MP3 player with as much video and audio as they can fit, so that between them and my books I won't run out of things to do. But last Friday I found myself on an Air Canada jet for the first time in years -- and discovered that in-flight entertainment might actually be entertaining for me again, though with some caveats.

Every passenger in coach had a widescreen LCD (it looked like about 7'') above the folding table in the seatback in front of them. The LCD had a touchscreen, which I could use to navigate between movies, pre-recorded TV shows, music (via XM Canada satellite radio) and games. The games weren't working yet -- the in-flight magazine said that features were being added regularly -- but everything else was. I was surprised to discover that the movie selection had enough variety that it actually included movies I wanted to see (something that hasn't happened on a plane since, oh, 1978), and I liked the fact that it was a video-on-demand system -- I could start and stop any time I pleased.

The screen's color and sharpness weren't the best, but they were serviceable. However, that wasn't the biggest problem I had with the movies. When I started Children of Men, I was startled to see a preface that said the movie had been reformatted to fit my screen -- and then the movie started playing in 4:3, wasting 25% of the screen. Huh? Curious, I tried another widescreen movie (Happy Feet), and found that it was still presented in a wide aspect ratio, but letterboxed within a 4:3 box. I repeat: Huh? Please let this be an early-rollout glitch.

In any case, even if I weren't up for their media selections, their seatback center would still be appealing. On the left of the screen is a USB port, and on the right a standard two-prong outlet, both for charging electronic devices. That alone is worth undying gratitude. (And hey, did I mention that this was in coach?)

After a few Web searches I discovered that this is part of an initiative that started last July, called Project XM: Extreme Makeover, which will eventually be available on every plane in the Air Canada fleet. (There were no systems on the flight back, for instance.) The in-flight magazine also specified that the type of VOD system depended on the plane: Airbus 330, 340 and 500 planes use less full-featured versions of the system.

I already like Air Canada, but this system is a welcome upgrade. Still, until they get that widescreen thing sorted out I'll keep packing the PSP.

Get Your HD DVD and Blu-ray on the Cheap

In the year or so that high-definition DVDs have been on the market, it's been an unavoidable fact that the cost of entry was at least $500 for some kind of playback device, the exception being Toshiba's HD-A2 HD DVD player. If you've been holding out for a drop to something a bit more reasonable, your wait might be over.

First off, there's Toshiba's promotion that starts this Sunday, in which the anyone buying an HD-A2 gets an instant in-store rebate, bringing the price to $299. The catch is that the price cut only lasts until June 16. (But during that final week, the company will also take $100 off any HD DVD player.)

A better deal is Pioneer's new internal BDC-2202 drive for your PC (pictured), which not only plays back Blu-ray discs on your computer, it can burn 'em as well -- provided you've got the right camera and editing software. Unlike earlier four-figure drives, the 5X/2X burner (for single and double-layer BD-R discs, respectively) the BDC-2202 is a mere $300. It's not so convenient for watching movies (unless your PC is connected to your HDTV in the living room), but you can considering it the tradeoff for easy high-def moviemaking. Filmmakers, like all creative types, have to suffer for their art.

The Cat You Want to Sic on Your Mouse

The Cat Cable Clip is what it says -- a feline-shaped cable clip with suction cups on the back for easy mounting to a wall, desk or shelving unit. There are plenty of more practical ways of dealing with your cable clutter, but how many have painted-on whiskers? All together now: Awwwwwww.

$3.99 gets you three of the critters. But then if you haven't already recoiled in horror at the cuteness, you've probably got your credit card out already.

Microsoft Aims to Give Zune a Halo Effect

With only 44 days left for Microsoft to reach their goal of selling a million Zunes by June, it seems the company has decided to hedge their bets and bank on the awesome power of tie-in merchandising. On June 15, the company is releasing yet another "special edition" of the Zune, this one designed around their popular Halo series.

The $249 black Halo edition of the Zune will not only be styled so that it looks like something out of the game, it'll come preloaded with Halo content like videos (including a Zune-only episode of Red vs. Blue), audio (three soundtracks), and hundreds of pre-production images.

If after all this Microsoft still can't get over the one-million mark, they've got some serious rethinking to do -- maybe some flash players and real Wi-Fi capability. Oh, they're already working on that? Better hop to it, then.

The Media Server That Travels With You

Propellerheads have known this for years: it doesn't matter how awesome your network is, sometimes it's more efficient to just pick up a floppy/USB drive/disc and walk it over to where it needs to go.

TrekStor has extended the sneakernet concept to media servers with the MovieStation maxi t.u. The German company has, in essence, taken their DataStation maxi t.u external hard drive, put various video controls on the front and various A/V outputs on the back, and thrown in a remote control. Operation seems pretty straightforward: Plug the MovieStation into your computer via USB, copy your media files, then connect the MovieStation to any TV or speaker system.

Capacities range from 250 to 500 GB (with prices from $299 to $399), and the MovieStation plays back MPEG-1/MPEG-2/MPEG-4 (AVI, DivX3/5, XviD) video and MP3/WMA/WAV/Ogg Vorbis audio. In those terms alone it kicks the pants off Apple TV, but the tradeoff is that there's no HDMI video output, just component (for scaling to 720p/1080i) and composite.

The MovieStation includes an on-screen menu for navigating media while connected to a TV, and supports PAL and NTSC. And if you aren't a member of the cult of widescreen (why not? We won't bite), you can zoom in on videos to eliminate letterboxing.

CBS Tries New Internet Video Tack

While networks like ABC are touting the ability to watch their shows on their Website, CBS is abandoning its Innertube site (a site that I've never had much luck with). In fact, the site, which shows programs like "CSI" and "How I Met Your Mother," is apparently doing so miserably that CBS's chief Internet strategist says its URL should be "CBS.com/nobodycomeshere."

So instead of trying to draw audiences to a single destination, the network has decided to share the love by syndicating its programming to a number of different online video sites, including AOL, Joost, and Veoh. The plan also reportedly involves a way to allow social-network users to post CBS clips to their Facebook or MySpace profiles, though details on how that would work have not yet been announced.

The move is a departure from competitors' strategies; ABC is largely invested in its own Website for video while NBC and Fox announced in March that it would be launching a joint video portal.

EMI's Next Stop on the DRM-Free Music Tour: Amazon

With all the hype over the forthcoming availability of DRM-free tracks on iTunes, many seem to have forgotten that EMI's April announcement stated that their music will be available without copy protection at other online outlets as well -- iTunes just happens to be the first.

Today EMI's second dance partner was revealed when Amazon announced that its digital music store will be launching later this year, and that they'll only be selling DRM-free MP3s. Amazon claims that they'll have millions of tracks supplied by 12,000 music labels, but right now the only one they're mentioning is EMI. Given the major labels' current resistance to selling music online without DRM, we can safely assume that's 11,999 indie labels -- perhaps including those that used to make some of their music available for free on the site.

One question that needs to be asked is how much Amazon will be charging for music, and if EMI's tracks will be sold at a premium, as their DRM-free offerings will be on iTunes. Even if they did, Amazon would still represent a better deal, for some: unlike iTunes' AAC, Amazon's MP3-only format guarantees that the tracks will be playable on any device (including many DVD players) and with any software. And I'm still wondering if EMI will eventually make a deal with eMusic, where tracks cost a third of a regular iTunes single.

Microsoft Disses Wii Horsepower, Misses Point

Guys, will you let it go already? In a recent interview, Microsoft?s Entertainment & Devices Division prez Robbie Bach minimizes the appeal of the Nintendo Wii.

"No disrespect, but ... the video graphics on it aren't very strong; the box itself is kind of underpowered; it doesn't play DVDs; there are a lot of down-line components [that] aren't actually that interesting." Don't you just love it when someone says "no disrespect" before going for the jugular?

(Okay, let's be fair here. Bach does say the Wii is a nice machine, and concedes that "in the casual space they're going to do very well," though perhaps a little dismissively.)

Marcus Yam at DailyTech picked up on Bach's claim that even the original Xbox has better graphics capabilities than the Wii, and produced a nice little breakdown of that claim. But I think Yam and Bach are missing the point, which is that Nintendo has done what successful consumer-electronics companies have always done: ignored the piling-on of features, and focused on what the end user will actually like. The PS3 and the Xbox 360 appeal more to serious gamers, but serious gamers make up a minority of the population. Similarly, more people are interested in having a simplified MP3 player (the iPod) versus one that has more bells and whistles (much of everything else), and more people preferred a longer recording time (VHS) to better color and a more compact form factor (Betamax).

It's not that having lots of features or greater speed/power/software support is bad; it's just that there's no point in looking down your nose at the less-endowed platforms when they've clearly connected well with the buying public. More electronics companies need to pay attention to this.

[Thanks, IT Business.]

Watch Grey's on Your Cell Phone

ABC has always been pretty tech-forward, one of the first networks to offer its top-rated shows online and on iTunes. And now it's expanding its watch-our-shows-on-any-medium-at-any-time philosophy by making Desperate Housewives, Grey's Anatomy, Lost, and Ugly Betty available on-demand on Sprint.

To view the video, all you need is one of Sprint's video-capable phones, and its $20 monthly Power Vision TV Pack plan. If you do, you'll be able to watch the last four episodes of each of those programs, along with episodes of Hannah Montana, Nightline, World News with Charles Gibson, and other ABC-affiliated shows. The programs will be available on-demand, as well as on special ABC mobile channels, which will stream continuous scheduled programming all day.

The move comes one month before Apple's iPhone is expected to hit stores. With the iPhone, you'll still have to buy shows and load them from your PC. However, you won't have to deal with the hiccups and lesser video quality that can occur when streaming video over a cell phone network.

Watch New Movies at Home? It'd Cost You

How much would you pay to be able to watch a newly released movie, on the day it opens, from the comfort of home? Comcast is thinking somewhere between $29.95 and $49.95. Which probably leaves most of you gaping at the screen in horror.

According to the LA Times, the president of Comcast has stated that several movie studios are interested in a simultaneous home release at that price. Neither Disney nor Paramount are in talks with Comcast, says the Times, but Universal, 20th Century Fox, and Sony Pictures are remaining mum.

However, theater chains are less than thrilled. Both Regal Entertainment Group and National Amusements Inc. told the LA Times that they would not show any films that were available for simultaneous release in the home. Not only would that eat into their profits, but they claim it would also take something away from the "magic" of going to the theater. And the president of the National Association of Theatre Owners points out that at $30 a movie, people could end up inviting 10 friends over, thus cutting into theater (and therefore studio) profits. Of course, at $30 to $50 a pop, charging an entrance fee is about the only way most of us could even afford to watch a new release at home.

Watch iPod Vids on the Big(ger) Screen

In order to stand out at the ever-growing iPod party, products need to look cool and/or do something special. A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about Altec Lansing's inMotion iMV712, an iPod speaker system with an 8.5-inch screen (which appears to be available now).

If you like the idea of watching your iPod videos on a bigger screen, and you dig that retro look, check out the iMep line of video-enabled boomboxes from Boston Innovative Products. All three models in the line cost $300 and are fully loaded with a 7-inch LCD screen, NTSC TV tuner, AM/FM radio, USB, and memory-card slot (SD, MMC, or MS). The memorably named MP-701-388 comes in black and has a screen on front, while the other two models have flip-up screens and come in either red or black.

LG.Philips Develop Bendy Color E-Paper

Whoa. No sooner does Fujitsu announce an A4-sized e-book than LG.Philips LCD gets all, like, one-uppy. Today LG.Philips announced that they, too, have developed a 4,096-color, A4-sized electronic-paper display -- only theirs is flexible, like dead-tree paper.

(Oh yeah, just a reminder: A4 is 8.27" x 11.69".)

Based on E Ink technology, the LG.Philips display has an impressive 180-degree viewing angle (again, like actual paper) but, as with Fujitsu's FLEPia readers, is a bit slow on the screen refresh. The metal-foil sheets are a scant 300 micrometers thick.

Impressive as all this is, it's not like we're going to see this paper on store shelves anytime soon -- or at least, not before the FLEPia readers' release in October. So for now Fujitsu is still laughing.

RFID's New Enemy: Shoplifting

RFID chips have long been promoted as a means of inventory control, but maybe not exactly this way. Two companies have created a chip that combines two radio-based technologies to help stymie shoplifters.

Right now, NXP Semiconductors and Kestrel Wireless are focusing on DVD theft. Their tiny chip, combining RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) and Kestrel's proprietary RFA (Radio Frequency Activation) technologies, is embedded in the DVD, attached to a thin layer of electro-optic film that renders the disc unreadable. When the DVD is paid for, the chip is activated (presumably using a mechanism similar to today's checkout systems) and the film becomes clear.

The appeal to such a system is that retailers don't have to deal with annoying tags or locked cabinets -- they just have to make it clear that shoplifting is pointless, as the DVDs won't work unless the chips are activated. (Future applications of the chips in other items will rely on some other measure to render them unusable until paid for.) Somewhat refreshingly, the companies admit that their technology isn't hacker-proof, but pose enough of an inconvenience to be a deterrent. Still, I wonder just how long it will take for someone to crack the RFA mechanism and start selling low-cost "DVD-cracking" kits.

New Nokia Phones Nag You to Save Energy

It's already been established that leaving devices on standby or plugged in unnecessarily wastes a lot of power, and mobile-phone maker Nokia has come up with a pretty simple way to help alleviate the problem. Starting with their new 1200, 1208 and 1650 models, Nokia's phones will sound alerts when they've topped up, encouraging people to unplug the chargers from their sockets.

Think that won't make a big difference? Think again. About a year ago, I started turning off four devices that I'd previously left on standby when they weren't in use, stopped charging my gadgets overnight, and implemented a number of other, similar small changes around the house; our electricity bill decreased almost immediately, and has been consistently lower ever since. See, sometimes the little things do count.

I (Heart) My iPod -- or, Um, Maybe Not

Were you planning on getting your grandparents matching iPods for their anniversary? You might want to hold off. A recent study has shown that iPods can cause electrical interference with pacemakers.

Jay Thaker tested 100 people using pacemakers, and discovered that holding an iPod just two inches from their chests generated enough interference to cause the pacemakers to misread the heart's pacing; interference was also observed in a few cases when the iPod was 18 inches away.

More testing would be needed for more definitive answers (testing other music players, determine the range of interference, and so on), but for now I'm enjoying some mild irony. One of the most common visual shortcuts that cartoonists use to say "unmotivated, know-nothing teenager" is to show him or her listening to an iPod; Thaker, who presented his findings at the Heart Rhythm Society annual meeting in Denver, is a 17-year-old high school student.

We're Not Confused -- or Convinced

It's not at all surprising that music executives are skeptical of following EMI's lead in offering DRM-free music online. In their view, if consumers are capable of copying and distributing content, then it stands to reason that they will, without exception -- despite many years of evidence to the contrary.

A bit galling, but not surprising. But in a recent Forbes article, music executives offer up another rationale for not dropping restrictions: doing so might confuse us. Apparently, we have this little problem where there are too many different ways to get music online. Some files are AAC, some are Windows Media, some are MP3. Some are download-to-own, some so long as the subscription money keeps coming in. Some can be transferred to portable players, others can't.

So let me get this straight. The music and computer industries encourage this smorgasbord of digital delivery, but when someone comes along and offers to sell music in such a way that we can just listen anywhere, anytime, the music industry wants to protect us from possibly becoming confused? Hey, we're smart enough not to be confused. We're also smart enough not to be convinced by this insulting rationalization.

[Thanks, Mobile Media News.]

Pioneer Plasmas Get Bolder

Pioneer makes some pretty sweet plasma TVs to begin with, but it's good to see that they're continually striving to make them better. This week the company introduced a new line of plasmas featuring "significantly deeper black levels." How significant? The company claims that the black level is 80 percent darker than in its previous-generation TVs.

With deeper blacks in the picture, other colors appear more vivid and details look sharper. Other improvements include better sound and a new Optimum mode that can take into account the room's lighting conditions, as well as the kind of content that is being broadcast (news, sports, cartoons, etc.), then optimize the picture accordingly.

The line consists of eight models ranging from 42 inches to 60 inches in size. Available next month, you can pick one up for as little as $2,700 and as much as $7,500.

On-Demand Video Prevents Ad-Skipping

As a DVR owner, it's one of the things I fear most: that someday, I won't be able to fast-forward through commercials. (In fact, I already get a little freaked when I'm watching a show in real time, and I hit a commercial.) We're not there yet, but it looks like the waters are being tested.

Cox Communications and ABC have teamed up in an experiment to see if cable subscribers are willing to watch ads in exchange for on-demand access to their favorite shows. The catch? Fast-forwarding will be disabled, so you must watch the commercials. Cox plans to test this model out on a few college football games, as well as four ABC hits: Desperate Housewives, Grey's Anatomy, Lost, and Ugly Betty. According to ABC, there may be fewer ads than what you get during the regular broadcast. Plus, this only affects on-demand shows. If you have a DVR, you can still record these shows and skip through ads.

According to the LA Times, some experts say that within five years, more than 50 percent of homes with TVs will have DVRs. This is one way for networks to see if they can protect their ad revenue; others are testing a fee-based system for on-demand content. Despite how things shake out, one thing is clear: The answer won't be the one that's most convenient for consumers.

Time Warner CEO Dismisses Google, YouTube

"Who the hell wants to hear actors talk?" Harry M. Warner, one of the original movie moguls, said that in 1927. It's usually cited as an example of someone who couldn't see the future impact of a technological breakthrough (in this case, synchronized sound), but he was actually commenting on the importance of music versus chatter on the big screen. That wasn't entirely an aesthetic judgement, either. At the time, Warner was heavily invested in selling music (including sheet music), and film tie-ins were gold. (Ever wonder why their cartoons were called Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies?)

Warner did eventually adapt. In the coming years, the films made at his studio would crackle with memorable dialogue: Casablanca, White Heat, Rope, even Blazing Saddles are just a few. Sheet music sales pretty much disappeared, but now Warner rakes in money with soundtrack CDs.

The lesson here is that at that moment eighty years ago, Harry Warner was so tightly wedded to his current distribution structure he couldn't see that the game was changing even as he spoke.

I wonder if Time Warner's CEO Dick Parsons has thought about that story, because he's busily repeating history. During a panel discussion at the National Cable & Telecommunications Association's Cable Show yesterday, Parsons said, "The notion that somehow the new kids on the block are taking over I think is a false notion. Ten years from now, our companies will be here; I'm not so sure about the new kids on the block." Except that Google and YouTube -- or at the very least, companies like them -- will likely still be around. The bottom line is that everyday people with Internet access find them useful and entertaining. Meanwhile, more people are getting connected and people are getting more connected all the time.

Parsons is echoing Harry Warner because he's failing to take into account what the people who buy his products actually want or do. Harry Warner would have preferred to keep pushing sheet music, but people wanted to hear Bogey's rat-a-tat delivery. Today, YouTube is demonstrating that people want to see cheaply made ad spoofs.

But this isn't specific to Warner, of course. It's endemic to all the major media companies. For evidence, just look at the comments of two of Parsons' co-panelists -- or rather, what they didn't say. Viacom prex and CEO Philippe Dauman referred to copyright protections as "sacrosanct," while conveniently ignoring that companies like his have worked for decades to undermine the aspects of copyright law that benefit the public -- and then act as if the newly skewed laws were, in fact, they way things were all along. Comcast CEO Brian Roberts mused that "what consumers do with all this [broadband] speed is up to the imagination of the entrepreneurs of tomorrow," but didn't mention that when entrepreneurs do find uses for "all this speed," the first thing the old guard does is scream bloody murder.

But hey, Harry Warner eventually followed the money and realized that giving people what they wanted was more sound a strategy than slavishly sticking to existing business practices. Eventually the Parsons and Daumans of the world will come around as well. If not, they might not be around in ten years after all.

Sony Ericsson's Nature-Loving Phone

Has someone on the Sony Ericsson design team been spending time at a yoga retreat? The s500 is "a new phone born out of our design teams' love for the materials and colors found in the natural world."

The slider-designed phone (due out in North America in Q3) comes in Mysterious Green or Spring Yellow. It also features constantly changing desktop and menu themes and external lighting effects that metamorphose as seasons change, the weekend begins, or the sun sets. How Zen.

For such a crunchy phone, it's still packed with some decent tech. There's a 2-megapixel camera, the ability to send pics to a blog straightaway, up to nine hours talk time, and a media player (with Memory Stick Micro slot) that can pump out MP3s and AACs. Unfortunately, this GSM phone only offers EDGE, so it's not fully blazing along at 3G speeds. But really, who needs speed when you've got nature?

Shuffle Case Doubles as Bottle Opener

I love it when convergence works in a practical way. A company called mophie (yes, lower-cased "m") has introduced the Bevy, a clear polycarbonate and stainless steel case that also pulls duty as a keychain, earbud-cable manager, and beer-bottle opener. Having been to one too many barbecues where the one bottle opener keeps getting lost, I am of the thought that you can never have too many of those things in this world.

And the Bevy was designed by a 17-year-old, no less. At Macworld this year, mophie offered attendees the opportunity to draw a concept for anything that would work with one of Apple's latest products. The company put the concepts to a vote, and the winning designs were developed into prototypes.

The Bevy will be available in five colors--green, blue, pink, orange, and silver--and sells for a mere $15. A pretty low price to pay when beer is involved.

Jobs Talks iTunes Pricing, DRM with Labels

Last year, Steve Jobs and the major music labels locked horns over music prices on iTunes. The labels wanted the option of variable (read: higher) prices, while Jobs insisted that uniform prices at the magic just-below-a-dollar number was key to iTunes' success. Jobs got his way, but they agreed to meet again in a year's time for a new round of talks. Which would be, oh, now.

But a lot's happened in a year. European discontent with Apple's dominance in the digital music market peaked with Norway declaring iTunes illegal, which prompted Jobs to write his "Thoughts on Music" open letter, in which he pointed the finger at the music industry. Meanwhile, the music industry saw CD sales continuing to decline, and one of their own broke ranks to offer DRM-free music online, which goes into effect some time this month.

So the thought is that as Apple and the Big Four head back to the negotiating table, some compromise might be required. One thought is that Apple will take their cue from the EMI deal and offer the labels the option to raise prices. The catch: they'd have to drop the DRM. The question is, will a 30% price increase be enough to entice the labels from entering heretofore forbidden territory? How much does EMI have to make before, say, Warner -- whose CEO decried the idea of a DRM-free universe as one "completely without logic or merit" -- decides to loosen restrictions?

Most important of all: are people willing to pay extra for better quality audio and no DRM? Services like MusicGiants already offer high-quality audio tracks for $1.29, and eMusic only sells DRM-free MP3s, but neither rakes in money like iTunes (though eMusic is the #2 online music store). Come to think of it, eMusic's pricing structure actually gives consumers better quality for less -- a basic monthly subscription works out to about 33 cents per song.

Would it be worth it to you to pay extra for a high-quality, DRM-free Macy Gray track? Or is the 99-cent price enough to make you endure DRM?

UK Mobile Phone Owners a Little Less Chatty

I've long imagined that domestic cell phone carriers swooned when reading about UK and European mobile use. All those calls; all that texting! If only we North American consumers could be more like them.

But of course, all good things must come to an end. JD Power's latest annual UK Mobile Telephone Customer Satisfaction Study turned up some interesting results: voice calls in the UK have actually dropped for the first time in a decade. After surveying 2,706 people, researchers found that the average number of weekly calls dropped from 35 to 27 over the last year for people with monthly contracts, and pay-as-you-go customers went from 14 to 10. Text messages stayed flat for pay-as-you-go, but went from 32 weekly messages to 46 for contract customers.

And there's the lesson for North American carriers: growth can only continue for so long, and even if the hoped-for explosion wrought by broadband speeds on mobile networks happens, at some point it's just going to level off as more people get used to the services, or shift laterally as people get acclimatized to the other services available. But then, if the movie and music industries can't seem to understand that, why would the wireless companies?

Xbox to Start Earning Money in '08?

It's nice to see the Xbox start pulling its weight around Microsoft. After years of losing unimaginable amounts of money (unimaginable at least to me; probably couch change to Bill Gates), Microsoft's gaming division is on track to turn a profit in 2008. According to an interview with eWeek, Robbie Bach, president of Microsoft's Entertainment and Devices Division has said: "We'll make money next year and that will be the first time."

As with most game consoles, the profit won't come from sales of the Xbox 360 itself. Bach says they're just trying to break even on that over its lifespan. Instead, the cash will come from game sales, royalties from third-party titles, sales of peripherals like controllers and cameras, and finally, the Xbox Live service, which has about six million subscribers.

WB Television Cozies Up to Joost

Although its launch has had its hiccups, Joost has got people talking and broadcasters thinking about finding new uses for their existing material.

Viacom was the first major broadcaster to ink a deal with Joost, thumbing its nose at YouTube the entire time. Now Warner Bros. Television is getting in on the act with two new channels: WBTV: Sci-Fi Fix will er, air science-fiction shows like Invasion, My Favorite Martian and Max Headroom (don't think this lets you off the hook, WB; I still want a Headroom DVD box set); WBTV: Before They Were Mega Stars will feature old TV shows starring today's celebrities back when they were paying their dues.

I'll admit I'm a little surprised at how quickly a second major media corporation followed Viacom's lead -- I suspect that the lack of the word "download" and the presence of the word "advertisers" had something to do with it. Let's see if anyone else decides they want to play.

A postscript: I've received a few requests for Joost invitations since my post last week. Sure, no problem, but since my inbox is insanely cluttered, I'll ask folks to send their requests to a new address I've created for the occasion: joost@5x5media.com. (Those of you who already e-mailed me, I'll take care of today -- no need to re-send.) In the interest of time management, this offer is only good for the next 48 hours, after which I'll switch off the address and future requests will vanish into nothingness.

Belkin Thinks Pink with Susan G. Komen

I recently commented that pink gadgetry is generally designed to appeal to women, to connect to a certain pop star, or for a link to breast cancer... and about a week later realized that I don't think I've ever seen an instance of the latter.

The good news is that someone has gone and taken up the slack. Belkin has released two iPod Nano accessories -- the Remix Metal case (pictured) and a water-resistant sport armband, both $29 -- that sport the pinkiness. For every one of these sold, Belkin's donating $3 to Susan G. Komen for the Cure. Rather generously, Belkin's minimum donation will be $100,000.

Now that's a good start. Who's next?

Get Cranky With Your Phone, in a Good Way

As the One Laptop Per Child people have discovered, sometimes ideas meant for our less fortunate neighbors have applications here.

Hand-crank-powered flashlights and radios are often found in areas of the world where electricity is kind of an iffy thing (though campers and other outdoorsy types also make use of them). But Japanese company Eco Air has found a good First-World use for the concept: a hand-crank cell-phone charger. Crank the charger for three minutes, and you've got eight minutes of talk-time juice for your phone (the charger comes with adapter tips for different phone types.) It's not only environmentally friendly, it gives you a little aerobic workout. Hey, maybe I should get one of these for my TV remote.

Make No Stones About It: It's Cheap

Got forty bucks in your pocket? Then you've got enough to pick up the Creative Zen Stone. At 2.1-by-1.4-by-0.5 inches, this newly announced MP3 player lacks a screen, radio, and any sort of extras. What it does have is 1GB of storage, up to 10 hours of battery life, and a mere .88 ounces of weight so you don't get bogged down while you work out.

To facilitate its wearability, several accessories are available, including an armband with protective skin, a keychain case, and colored skins equipped with a clip. According to Creative's online store, the Stone is available immediately in black, with blue, red, pink, white, and green (which looks strangely yellow onscreen) to arrive shortly. Hey, it doesn't get much cheaper than that, folks--'cept if it came free with your cereal box.

Free Music from We7, After This Message

People want free stuff. Advertisers want attention. Creators want to get paid for their work. And when we find a balance between those three things, everyone's happy. But We7, a new digital-music initiative backed by Peter Gabriel (among others), might just test where consumers are willing to drawn the line.

We7 is an online service that lets people legally download music tracks for free -- that is, free of charge and free of DRM. However, We7 will use its MediaGraft technology to add a targeted ad to the beginning of each track. (Audio ads will be under 10 seconds.) You get music for free, you're exposed to the ads, the advertisers pays the creators. Everyone's happy.

But do you really want to listen to an ad every time you crank up a song? I sure don't. And while people will have the option of deleting the ad after four weeks, it just seems like extra work. (I presume you'd have to re-download each now-clean track.)

But hey, it's hard to top the free, legal and DRM-free hat trick. The question is, is the advertising obstacle low enough that enough people will be willing to sign on?

[Thanks, Mobile Media News.]

Apple Is Greener Than You Think

Apple has been taking flak about its environmental policies for the last year, with the chorus rising every time Greenpeace released another Green Electronics Guide and placed the company at or near the bottom.

Yesterday Apple CEO Steve Jobs answered his critics with an open letter describing Apple's current environmental policies in some detail, as well as their targets for the future. There's a little hedging here and there -- I'm sure Apple didn't completely switch to LCD displays solely because of environmental concerns -- but overall, it's pretty good stuff, and remarkably clear.

Cynics might argue that, as with his "Thoughts on Music", Jobs is only posting this to stave off further criticism and is covering for shoddy practices. However, I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt here; when I started researching e-waste in Canada at the turn of the millennium, I discovered that it can be hard to get information on policies from companies. At least back then, the issue of electronic waste wasn't as much on the radar as it is now, and the companies that did have detailed information didn't always make it easily accessible. Greenpeace's data primarily came from the various companies' annual reports, so they very well could have missed the information that Jobs is now delivering.

One way or another, though, Greenpeace's Guide forced action, and when the next Guide is released the spotlight will swing to whoever is at the bottom of the list, which will hopefully compel them to clean up or fess up. Whatever Jobs's motive, the end result is all good.

Altec's New Portable Theater

Tired of squinting at your iPod's videos? Altec Lansing's new inMotion iMV712 takes all of that video content you shelled out for and lets you view it on an 8.5-inch LCD. Not huge, but certainly more watchable than the tiny 2.5-inch iPod screen.

Audio specs aren't too shabby either. The system boasts a four-inch sub alongside two three-inch speakers and Altec's Stereo Field Expander tech for widening the sound. The iMV712 also comes with a remote control, auxiliary input for connecting other MP3 players, and RCA connectors so you can hook up another video source, such as a camcorder or VCR.

If you're looking for a way to enlarge all of your iTunes movie and television purchases, you can pick this puppy up sometime this month for $350.

American Air Brings Aboard Media Players

American Airlines is about to get more entertaining. At least, in First and Business Class. Luxury-class passengers flying between New York and California (LA or San Francisco), as well as Miami and San Fran, will each get their own, personal media players preloaded with way more content than could fill a six-hour flight. You'll have your choice of 12 movies; 15 hours of TV, news programs, and music videos; and tons of CDs and audio channels. The device features a 7-inch touchscreen and comes with a set of Bose noise-cancelling 'phones to drown out engine noise, and crying children.

Don't worry, Coach Classers. American also plans to conduct a four-month trial, renting out media players on eight flights between LA and Chicago (sorry, no details on the rental fee). Unfortunately, the specs are a little less impressive. These players only have 4.3-inch screens, along with a choice of five movies and three hours of TV programming. Instead of noise-cancelling earphones, you get a pair of earbuds.

After the trial is over, the airline will evaluate whether or not to bring these media players on board more planes. Just my two cents: I'm much more willing to pay for a little entertainment than a meal (provided the fee is reasonable). Especially if it means I'll have a choice of movies, rather than being subjected to the latest kid-friendly or chick flick. ("The Lake House"? No thanks.)

SlingPlayer Makes its Macintosh Debut

For TV junkies, the Slingbox placeshifting system is several flavors of awesome -- unless you were a Mac owner, in which case you sulked petulantly in the corner. No more.

On Monday, Sling Media announced that Slingbox owners who tote Macs can now watch their TV from the comfort of hotel rooms abroad, just like their PC brethren. The new OS X-compatible SlingPlayer works with the Apple remote control, and in addition to streaming video from your TV/DVD/DVR/cable box/satellite box, also supports video iPods and Apple TV. If you've already got a Slingbox, the software is a free download.

VH1 Launches Retro Music Video Site

Growing up, my parents didn't believe in cable TV, so I missed all of those great '80s MTV and VH1 music videos that all of the kids were talking about at school. Thank goodness for "Friday Night Videos," my only outlet for catching music videos.

The "cool" bus left about 20 years ago, but that doesn't mean I can't try to make up for lost time. Launched this week, VH1Classic.com is dedicated to all things retro. It features thousands of classic music videos from the '70s, '80s, and '90s, along with concerts and other programming from the channel, such as "Hanging With" and "VH1 Rock Honors." You'll find playlists organized by decade, as well as based around certain themes, such as Southern Rock or One-Hit Wonders. (It practically brought a tear to my eye to watch A-Ha's "Take On Me" video after all this time.)

The site also gives classic-music fans the opportunity to comment on and talk about musical topics that are near and dear to our hearts. And to complete the nostalgia tour, you can even play retro games, such as Spy Hunter and Defender.

The Sounds of Summer

It's just about time to start thinking about outdoor eating, drinking and being merry, but with your music collection all digital, using a boom box for musical ambience is just so passé. Unless you like being referred to as "charmingly retro," you might want to consider these two options.

The ?99 ($197) Solar Wireless Speaker (pictured) is what it says -- a single unit powered by a solar panel (what, you were going to use it on a cloudy day?) that you can place anywhere within 150 feet of the transmitter to which you connect your audio player. It gets points for convenience -- do you really want to walk over to the speaker every time someone has a request? -- but I have to wonder why, when they were handing out solar panels, they didn't put one on the transmitter as well. As it is, you're going to have to put the transmitter near an outlet or a car adapter, which kind of limits your roaming potential for picnics.

On the other hand, if you figure you'll spend most of your time tending to sizzling meats and vegetables, there's always -- I swear I'm not making this up, I'm not that deranged -- George Foreman's $149 iGrill, which combines an electric grill/roaster with a 10-watt speaker and amplifier. The tagline "knockout tunes and knockout the fat" pretty much says it all.

Survey Says: Few Ready to Buy iPhone

Unless you've been living in the hills for the last four months without the influence of television, newspapers, or the Internet, you all know about the iPhone. But are you actually going to buy one?

Well, if you're like a majority of respondents to a recent Markitecture survey, the answer is no. The market-research firm asked 1,300 people whether they had heard of the iPhone, and whether they would buy one. While 77 percent said they knew about the iPhone, 66 percent of those people said there was no chance they'd actually purchase one. And only 6 percent expressed a desire to own one. But according to Markitecture, 6 percent may not be as piddling as it sounds. As the firm points out, the ubiquitous Motorola RAZR had about 6 percent of the market at its zenith.

So what did people list as the big deterrent? Price, of course. At $499 or $599, the iPhone costs quite a bit more than most people (myself included) are willing to spend on a cell phone (granted, it pretty much includes an iPod as well). This was followed closely by carrier and contract issues, meaning people who either don't want to or can't convert to AT&T, the phone's exclusive carrier.

Purple RAZR, All Around

When it comes to fashionably-hued gadgets, the girl-friendly color of choice is usually pink -- either referencing pop stars or just because it's cute. But some women -- okay, my wife -- lament the lack of options, especially since their preferred color is the more regal purple.

Props, then, to Motorola, who are launching a limited-edition purple RAZR V3i, available unlocked through their store for Mother's Day for $239. (If Mom's current provider is giving her grief, you can also get her the phone with a new service plan as well.)

Sinatra Channel Debuts on Sirius

Now here's a good reason to fork over $13 a month for Sirius: an entire channel dedicated to the music of Sinatra and that time period. Launched a little over a week ago, Siriusly Sinatra is being produced by the singer's family and will feature both popular and rare recordings, concerts, and other tunes that are reminiscent of that time. The station, which can be found on Channel 75, will also include The Nancy Sinatra Show and The Chairman's Hour, which will be hosted by Sinatra himself using archival material. Sinatra and Stern--ah, it goes together like peanut butter and chocolate, doesn't it?

Joost Is Good to Go

Joost, the online TV service founded by Skype and Kazaa founders Janus Friis and Niklas Zennstr?m, officially launched today. It's official for two reasons: First, the 32 advertising companies (including heavy hitters like Coca-Cola, Sony and United Airlines) start their campaigns this month. Second, beta testers can now invite as many people to join as they like. (You can't just, you know, sign up.)

I've been playing with Joost on and off for the last few weeks, and I have to say I'm more excited about where it will be as opposed to where it currently is. The available shows for us Canucks covers a reasonable range, including animation, science-fiction, concert videos, music videos, documentaries and more. Given that the U.S. currently gets even more (the States has the most programming right now), I expect most Digital World readers won't be complaining about content.

However, I have to take issue with Joost's claim that their service is "broadcast-quality." As with its cousin Skype, Joost's quality varies every time you use it. The music video for Basement Jaxx's "Good Luck" was pretty crisp the first time I watched it -- I'd call it almost-but-not-quite broadcast quality -- but subsequent viewings were iffy at best, with frequent mosaic effects. And until Joost works with Apple TV or some other PC-to-TV box, I don't imagine many people will be willing to watch entire documentaries or even half-hour anime episodes.

Still, I can't complain about the lack of ad breaks (advertising appears at the beginning of each episode, then disappears, though you sometimes have the option to click on a button for interactive material), and the fact that you've got all the advantages of a TiVo without actually having to have (or program) a TiVo is pretty nice. I won't be spending much time on Joost right now, but by the end of the year, who knows?