Category: Technology

The Amazon Kindle

I’ll be the first one to admit it… I don’t read for fun nearly as much as I should (or want to).

When Amazon launched the first Kindle in late 2007, I really didn’t take notice.  By the time Generation 2 came out in early 2009 I knew I had to have one.  I was traveling weekly for work and found myself with more downtime in the evening than I normally had when I was at home.  Being limited to a book or magazine in my suitcase was not the preferred option as my preference for subject material changes quite frequently.  It’s not unusual for me to have several books/magazines going at one time.

The clincher for me was the “Whispersync” technology that keeps all of your various reading material synchronized between devices.  By devices I mean not only the Kindle but your PC, Blackberry, iPhone, iPad, Android and iPod Touch.  This feature allows you to purchase and share kindle content among the various electronic devices you use every day.  A prefect example of this in use was when my wife wanted to read a book on the Kindle.  I was able to grab the laptop and continue reading my own book that I had been working on previously.

Whispersync is the feature that pushed me over the edge from “want to need” and convinced me to purchase a Kindle sight unseen.  They were not available in the traditional brick and mortar stores until recently so I read enough positive reviews that I took the plunge.

The Kindle display uses Electronic Ink which is amazing.  After spending all day working on a computer it’s actually refreshing to stare at the Kindle screen.  It looks like ink on paper and works perfectly inside and out.  There is a slight “flash” as the page refreshes as you turn the digital page.  It’s noticeable at first but you end up not even noticing it after a while.  The Kindle only uses power when it’s refreshing the screen or communicating wirelessly.  When it’s “off” there’s actually pictures (screen savers) on the screen.

Speaking of communicating wirelessly, the Gen 2 version I own has a built in AT&T 3G data card in it.  It’s free to use for the life of the device and allows for the wireless sync as well as some basic web browsing via the built in browser.

Battery life with the 3G radio disabled is measured in weeks (2-3), even with daily reading sessions of an hour or more.  With the 3G turned on your battery life drops to 4-5 days.

The new Generation 3 devices have an even better display and a lower cost from the previous generations.  I could go on and on about what a great device the Kindle is.  It only does one thing but it does it very well.

Have a Blackberry & Travel? You Need This App!

The newly released Blackberry Travel App is based on the popular WorldMate app that’s been around for a few years now.  The Blackberry Travel App has been streamlined and a lot of tasks have been automated so you get the information you need when you need it.  Check out the video below for a good overview of the application.  You can download it here.

Wasted Bandwidth?

Last weekend I was deleting a bunch of old Podcasts off the computer & realized I had downloaded hundreds of megabytes of data without ever doing anything with it.  I had never considered Internet bandwidth as a finite resource but, like water, it really is.

Think about how many SPAM emails are never opened.  How many tabs on your browser are  currently not in view (and receiving advertisements).  Streaming audio from an Internet radio station thats playing to an empty room.  This can all add up really fast & it’s really no different than leaving the faucet on and letting the water go down the drain (it’s just not tangible).

With the increasing popularity of NetFlix, and other streaming media services, comes an even bigger demand on available bandwidth.  Can the existing infrastructure hold up much longer given the increasing demand from consumers?

It was not that long ago when people accessed the Internet over a dial-up modem.  Remember when 56Kbps came out?  Then DSL and Cable modems slowly became available with ~3Mb connections (goodbye dial-up!).  Now, in many areas, 20+Mb connections are standard. I get ~18Mb for less than I was paying for 3Mb 5 years ago.

At some point the bandwidth is not going to matter.  The latency and over subscription of the network is going to bring everything to its knees.  Networks are a lot like highways.  The number of lanes controls your “bandwidth” & the speed limit is you “latency”.  You can add all the lanes you want. If you don’t increase the speed limit you’re not going to get there any faster.  The Internet Traffic Report gives a great overview of where things are slowing down (or offline all together) and the current trending of network speeds.

As we all continue to try & be “Green” to Save the Planet, I wonder if we’re going to end up having to do something similar in the near future to Save the Internet…

CALM Act Approved by Congress

Here’s something I thought was already a law!  Congress has just passed the Commercial Advertising Loudness Mitigation (CALM) Act and is senting it to POTUS for his signature.  Once signed into effect, the new legislation will require that all advertisers modulate their volume down so it’s no higher than that of the program you’re watching.  More information at Engadget.

Apple Might Have Missed the Boat

Research in Motion (RIM) acquired The Astonishing Tribe (TAT), a Swedish firm who’s known for their incredible User Interface designs.  This could mean great things for those of us who are loyal Blackberry users.  Only time will tell…  This promotional video just scratches the surface of things we could be seeing in the near future.

Lenovo Q150 IdeaCentre Nettop Computer

On a recent business trip I saw one of these in action & knew I had to have one.  It actually solved a problem I was working on for a few months.

Prior to purchasing the Q150 I had been looking for a way to utilize DLNA technology to stream media (of any type) to the TV/Stereo in the living room.  After spending a lot of time doing the research I found that just about every reasonably priced solution had the same flaw…  Spotty compatibility.  Some players supported formats A-S & others supported H-Z.  Nothing I could find supported A-Z.

Enter the Lenovo Q150 IdeaCentre Nettop Computer.  Since it’s a fully functioning Windows 7 PC you can use it to do anything you would normally use a PC for.  It’s tiny size allows you to fit it into your entertainment stack (or hang on the back of the TV with the included mounting kit).

Highlights:

  • Windows 7 (Home Ultimate)
  • HDMI Out
  • 1.6 GHz Intel Atom D510 Dual Core CPU
  • 2GB DDR2 RAM
  • 500GB HDD
  • 802.11n WiFi
  • NVIDIA ION 512MB GPU
  • OPTIONAL Wireless Keyboard
  • Less than $400!

Notice that the wireless keyboard is OPTIONAL.  This caught me by surprise after I placed my order from Lenovo but I ordered from Amazon ($45) & had it in a few days.  The wireless keyboard is nice but after using it for a few days I would look for an alternative (with backlit keys).

As a Windows 7 Ultimate user I was excited to get the Q150 up and running.  Since my U-Verse head end is in the same cabinet I hard wired the Q15o into the network & fired it up.  Nothing unusual here as it’s just a PC.  Initial setup went without a problem.

The Q150 is pretty snappy when it comes to performance.  Typical boot time is less than a minute & there are very few delays unless you are trying to do too many things at once.  After removing all of the “BloatWare”  (which there was actually very little of) I was left with a lean, mean, media machine.

Something I did not think of is how things would look on a 42″ display running at 1920×1080 resolution.  Text is very small at this resolution and at a viewing distance of 12 feet unusable…  A couple of accessibility tweaks in Windows 7 & we were all set.

I had a few items I wanted to install on the Q150 (Firefox, Shark007 codecs, Microsoft security Essentials) & ran into another issue.  Remote Desktop (RDP) is not supported in Windows 7 home!  I tried a few other tools & was able to connect but the high resolution does not scale very well (or at all) on a 14″ laptop.  I ended up finding a patch online that enables RDP & I was all set.

The primary purpose for this machine is media.  I launched Windows Media Center & after a quick configuration I was ready to go.  By installing the Shark007 Codec pack I can now play just about every known format of media out of Media Center.  I can even use the X Box 360 as an “Extender” and enjoy the benefits of Media Center on another TV in the basement!

Videos look great & the NetFlix plug-in means I can move the Roku to another TV in the house & watch movies there as well.  I’m not terribly thrilled with how Media Center handles my music collection so I think I’ll be running iTunes on the Q150 for the foreseeable future.

Although this was a preliminary review I hope you get an idea of how neat this little PC is.  If you are wanting to bring the Internet to your big screen TV & want the flexibility that a PC can deliver I would recommend checking out the Lenovo Q150 IdeaCentre Nettop Computer.  I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.