SONY LAUNCHES A NEW LINE OF WALKMAN, YOU CAN ADD A VERY UGLY
PHYSICAL KEYBOARD TO THE IPHONE AND HOW TO MAKE VOICE CALLS OVER
TWITTER. IT'S THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 17TH. I'M NATALI DEL CONTE AND IT'S
TIME TO GET LOADED.
[*]
SONY LAUNCHED A NEW LINE OF WALKMAN. IS IT WALKMEN IF IT IS PLURAL?
I'M GOING TO GO WITH WALKMANS. ANYWAY, THE NEW MUSIC PLAYERS HAVE A
2.8-INCH OLED SCREEN, MEASURE 7.2 MILIMETERS THICK AND COME IN BLACK
AND BROWN. BROWN? DIDN'T THEY LEARN THE LESSON FROM THE BROWN
ZUNE? GROSS! THEY GOME IN 16, 32, AND 64 GIGS AND COST BETWEEN $263 AND
$439. SONY CLAIMS THAT THEY HAVE 12 HOURS OF BATTERY LIFE. THEY WILL
LAUNCH IN JAPAN ON OCTOBER 31ST.
[*]
I WOULD LIKE TO DRAW YOUR ATTENTION TO SOME GADGETS THAT I THINK
ARE PRETTY RIDICULOUS. FIRST OFF, THE ITWINGE. IT ADDS A PHYSICAL
KEYBOARD TO THE IPHONE. FOR AN EXTRA $30, YOU CAN SLIDE THIS INTO THE
IPHONE CHARGING PORT AND HAVE A FULL KEYBOARD, ALTHOUGH YOU'RE
REALLY BRINGING THE UGLY TO THE IPHONE WITH THIS ACCESSORY. ANOTHER
SILLY GADGET IS THIS COMBINATION MOUSE/MICROPHONE/SPEAKER. I GUESS
IT HELPS YOU MAKE SKYPE CALLS ON THE GO BUT HOW CAN YOU FOLLOW THE
MICROPHONE WHILE YOU'RE MOVING THE MOUSE? AND WON'T YOU LOOK LIKE
A CRAZY PERSON TALKING INTO A MOUSE?
[*]
HERE IS SOMETHING NOT QUITE SO RIDICULOUS: THE NEW VERBATIM EASY
RIDER. IT IS A MOUSE THAT ADJUSTS ITS SIZE BASED ON THE SIZE OF YOUR
HAND. YOU JUST ROLL A BUTTON ON THE BOTTOM AND IT GETS BIGGER OR
SMALLER. SO SIMPLE, YET SO USEFUL. IT COSTS BETWEEN $20 AND $35,
DEPENDING ON THE WIRELESS TECHNOLOGY YOU CHOOSE. IT COMES OUT IN
OCTOBER.
[*]
ZOHO HAS LAUNCHED A NEW PORTAL FOR TEACHERS TO MAKE LEARNING MORE
FUN. IT IS CALLED TOON-DOO-SPACES. IT IS BASED ON ZOHO'S TOON-DOO, A
CARTOON CREATOR. ZOHO FOUND THAT TEACHERS WERE USING THIS PROGRAM
TO CREATE FUN LEARNING TOOLS FOR THEIR CLASSROOMS. TOON-DOO-SPACES
IS A COMBINATION OF THOSE EFFORTS WHERE YOU CAN GO TO SEE PROJECTS
THAT HAVE ALREADY WORKED FOR OTHER LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS. YOU
CAN HAVE A TOON-DOO-SPACE LANDING PAGE FOR JUST YOUR SCHOOL WHERE
STUDENTS CAN PLAY WITH THE GAMES AND EDUCATORS CAN CUSTOMIZE,
MODERATE, AND MONITOR ALL OF THAT ACTIVITY. TO EXPLORE FOR YOURSELF,
VISIT TOONDOOSPACES.COM
[*]
GOOGLE HAS ACQUIRED RE-CAPTCHA, A COMPANY THAT MAKES THOSE WEIRD
LOOKING WORDS THAT YOU SEE WHEN YOU TRY TO SUBMIT SOMETHING OVER
THE INTERNET. CAPTCHA STANDS FOR COMPLETELY AUTOMATIC PUBLIC
TURING TEST TO TELL COMPUTERS AND HUMANS APART. THEY ARE DESIGNED
TO TELL IF THE PERSON SUBMITTING SOMETHING IS A REAL HUMAN BEING OR A
COMPUTER BOT. RECAPTCHA HAS A TECHNOLOGY THAT CAN SCAN IMAGES AND
MAKE THEM INTO TEXT AND WORDS. THIS WILL HELP GOOGLE'S BOOK PROJECT
ALONG SO THAT SCANNED BOOKS AREN'T IMAGE FILES BUT RATHER REAL
WORDS THAT YOU CAN USE, SEARCH, COPY, PASTE, WHATEVER. IT WILL BE
INTERESTED HOW GOOGLE LEARNS TO READ THE INTERNET EVEN BETTER AS A
RESULT OF THIS ACQUISITION.
[*]
IF YOU WORK UP AN APPETITE WHILE PLAYING YOUR PLAYSTATION, YOU CAN
ORDER PIZZA ON THE CONSOLE WITHOUT LEAVING THE COMFORTS OF YOUR
COUCH. A NEW PAPA JOHN'S ORDERING ICON IS NOW ON THE PS3 MAIN STARTUP
PAGE. IF YOU CLICK ON IT, IT WILL BRING YOU TO THE PLAYSTATION VERSION OF
THE RESTAURANT'S SITE AND, WELL, YOU KNOW WHAT TO DO FROM THERE.
[*]
ANSWER THE PHONE. IT'S TWITTER CALLING. A NEW SERVICE CALLED JAJAH
WILL LET TWITTER USERS MAKE A TWO-WAY VOICE CALL. ALL YOU WOULD DO
IS TYPE IN @CALL @USERNAME. IN THEORY YOU CAN TYPE THIS INTO ANY
TWITTER CLIENT AND IT WILL INITIATE A CALL WITH THE PHONE NUMBER YOU
HAVE ASSIGNED TO YOUR USER NAME. YOU CAN KEEP THAT NUMBER PRIVATE
SO YOUR TWITTER CALLER MAY NEVER KNOW HOW TO REACH YOU DIRECTLY.
CALLS ARE LIMITED TO TWO MINUTES, WHICH I GUESS IS THE EQUIVALENT OF A
140-CHARACTER TWEET. THE SERVICE IS IN BETA AND I HAVE TO SAY, I FIND IT
SLIGHTLY PERPLEXING. INTERESTING. BUT PERPLEXING.
[*]
THOSE ARE ALL OF YOUR HEADLINES FOR TODAY AND THAT WRAPS UP YOUR
WEEK OF GETTING LOADED. BEFOER I GO, I WANT TO WISH A HAPPY BIRTHDAY
TO ADRIAN, Sonexay (SUN SAI), MICHAEL, AND MATT. HAVE A GOOD WEEKEND
EVERYONE. I'LL SEE YOU ON MONDAY. I'M NATALI DEL CONTE WITH CNET TV
AND YOU'VE JUST BEEN LOADED.
