beats

In journalism as in technology, one learns early to K.I.S.S. ass. That is, you Keep It Short and Simple, or end up feeling like an ass. So what's with the convoluted naming convention from some tech vendors? Take, for example, the "Yur.Beat Fusion Stream" from Singapore-based Yuraku. Who needs a lobotomy after that?

Names aside, Yuraku claims this is the world's first portable wireless Internet radio with full multmedia features. And there lies the catch. Want Internet radio? Well, you need a wireless hot spot to connect to. Although once online, you … Read more

Steve Jobs certainly knows how to surprise and saturate. Along with other Applephiles, I was following the live coverage of the latest Apple/iPod/iPhone news via Gizmodo, which couldn't refresh fast enough!

So much to digest, but the main points:

(1) iPhone price drop!? The 8GB iPhone's price fell markedly with this announcement to $399. (Say buh-bye to the 4GB model). Boy, I sure could have used that $200 for the past two months, but it's an inherent risk of being an early adopter. So there is a $100 premium for the phone part of the … Read more

I'm following the special "Beat Goes On" event being put on by Apple this morning in San Francisco's Moscone Center. Here are my first reactions....

Do-it-yourself ringtones for the iPhone. Great idea, but I want to be able to do it with any song in my iTunes library, not just songs I've purchased from iTunes. And only 500,000 songs are approved for this usage. And you have to pay an additional $0.99 per ringtone, in addition to buying the song. Kind of a snooze. I've seen people hack together custom ringtones from … Read more

Sharing music has never been easier, or perhaps sillier, than this.

Asia Vantage, a Hong Kong-based company, has designed a sunglasses case that features a built-in portable speaker. Users can plug their iPod or mobile phone into the case and groove away with friends.

The cases also come with compartments for loose change and credit cards.

The cases, called Shady Beats, are designed to protect sunglasses from getting scratched as they are tucked in next to a NXT, flat-panel speaker, the company said on its Web site. The speaker is powered by two triple-A batteries.

Couldn't find them for … Read more

The link between digital entertainment and exercise seems to be fairly well documented on the Wii alone, so it stands to reason that the combination would be fertile ground for other companies. And when's the last time you saw anyone on a cardio machine at the gym without an MP3 player?

Yamaha has clearly figured that out with its new "BodiBeat," a wearable gadget scheduled for August that it says is "the world's first music player/heart rate monitor that selects and plays songs to match the pace of the user's workout." It … Read more

General Motors seems to be waking up to the idea that there might be something in this whole small-car thing. Unveiling three new minicar global concepts this morning at the 2007 New York International Auto Show, GM's design chief Bob Lutz disclosed the blindingly insightful revelation that "small cars can be cool, bold, stylish, and fun." GM used the first press conference slot of the show to unveil three Korean-designed compact cars: the Chevrolet Groove, Beat, and Trax concepts.

The four-door Groove features an upright front windscreen, flared fenders and a short snout, which according to Chevy, … Read more

Designed to provide jet-setters with independently produced video content about international destinations, GeoBeats is a new travel site with professional-quality movies about subjects from the Finnish delicacy lamprey to social etiquette in Hong Kong. All the videos on the site are hosted and filmed by relative unknowns, but the movies are surprisingly well produced. Split up by topic, the videos attempt to cover basics like public transportation, seasonal festivals, and local culture. The site has launched with only a dozen countries, not as many as competitor TurnHere (see our coverage here). However, there are already more than 100 movies available … Read more