New twist on audiobook

Like a lot of Americans this weekend I’m enjoying it by the beach where I’ve brought along a summer book. But instead of a paperback, I’m doing my beach reading by listening to it on a new gizmo that bills itself as the world’s first self-playing audiobook.
It’s called the Playaway, an audio player about the size of an iPod mini. It comes with earbuds, a lanyard and runs on a single AAA battery. You can speed up the reader’s voice, adjust volume, move forward or backwards and bookmark the place you left off.
Like throwaway cameras, it’s a one-shot deal. You don’t re-record over it or load other books onto it. If you want another book, buy it. You can listen and relisten to the same “book” as much as you want, though. But that still doesn’t offset the steep cost. And that’s my big criticism of these devices. They’re outrageously costly.
Prices start at $34.99. “The Cell,” the Stephen King novel I’m listening to, costs $49, as do most of the other 44 selections they’re offering.
That’s way, way too much money.

Summer’s hottest new cell phones

Cell phone technology is improving so fast it’s hard to keep track of all the new models that are being released. If you’re ready to upgrade, my NBC-TV piece this week shows four of the hottest new models.

If there’s one thing that these four new devices have in common it’s this: They’re connected…to the Net, your calendar and contacts and your friends. First up… the Blackberry 8700c:
Blackberry sets the standard for e-mail and the bright new screen on this unit makes it the best BlackBerry yet. It runs on its own system but does synchronize contacts and calendar info with desktop computers. My biggest complain is that as a phone, it’s a clunker. You buy this for e-mail… the phone quality will probably disappoint you.
Then there’s the Treo 700w. It runs on the brand new Windows Mobile 5 system… which means it synchronizes perfectly and instantaneously with your computer’s Outlook program. Enter info on the Treo, it shows up on your desktop… and vice versa. Alas, it doesn’t work with Macs.
Motorola’s new Q phone just came out and it’s the slimmest and trimmest full featured Windows Mobile 5 smartphone you’ll find anywhere. The synchronization isn’t as fast as the Treo’s. though, although an update that will fix that is expected anyday now. I found some of the navigation controls on the Q cumbersome but the cool factor of this phone is hard to beat.
Then there’s the T-Mobile Sidekick3, the most anticipated wireless device of the summer. Where the Treo and Q are geared to business users, the SK3 is for consumers, targeting twenty and thirty-somethings particularly. It has lots of Instant Messaging features, great e-mail and Web surfing and hands down, the best keyboard I’ve ever encountered on a smartphone.

Caught on Tape: Comcast tech sleeping?

First it was an AOL tech caught on tape earlier this week for refusing to let a customer cancel an account.
Now, there’s a YouTube video circulating that supossedly shows a Comcast service technician in the Washington, DC area asleep on a customer’s couch as he waits on the phone for over an hour to talk to support back at HQ.
The customer who made the video says he isn’t interested in talking to the media, but on his own blog, claims that after the video started circulating on the Net, he got a call from an apparently apologetic Comcast bigshot who quickly dispatched a team of techs out to fix his problems.
It’s another indication of the power of home video and the Net to get action.

Auto tech: Mirrors that show blind spots

An Ann Arbor company called Driveaware has come up with a new $297 gizmo that automatically moves the side mirrors on a car to show the blind spots whenever you activate the turn signal.

Don’t use cellphones outside in thunderstorms

Experts say outdoor cellphone use in summer storms could make you a target for a lightning strike. The warning is sounded by some Brit doctors - who call the risk a “public health issue.”
They cite a whopping four cases in backing up their warning.

Caught on tape: AOL rep won’t let customer cancel

This has been the stuff of Internet chat room complaints for years but there’s a video floating around the Net that documents, with a slideshow and full transcript, just how difficult it can be to cancel an account with AOL.
AOL has issued an apology and announced that the rep is no longer with the company.
The customer, Vincent Ferrari, was interviewed yesterday on NBC’s Today show and other TV talk programs. He posts full details on his own Web site, though it’s been hit with so much traffic you may have trouble getting through.

This laptop is so hot it burst into flames

Apple’s MacBook laptops may be getting all the buzz these days for speed and efficiency but at a recent trade show in Japan, there was a Dell laptop so hot it suddenly burst into flames. Really. Here’s the story and a pic. Says it even “exploded.”

High tech help to find missing golf balls

My biggest problem with golf is that I keep hooking… and losing golf balls. That's why a new RadarGolf system that uses a tiny radio transmitting chip implanted in the ball is so handy.
Wanna see how well it works?
Click my video below.

Now there’s “Scrapblogging”

It was an inevitable marriage: The merging of the huge scrapbooking craze with online blogging.
That’s the thrust of a site called Scrapblog, which it claims is the Net’s first online scrapbooking service. The site has advanced photo-sharing features, with the capability to add themes, stickers, graphics and blogging.
Visitors do not have to log in or pre-register to view existing Scrapblogs, and users can create up to three free Scrapblogs, each with its own Web address.

Microsoft targets the iPod

Bill Gates may be stepping down from day-to-day work responsibilities (hey, wouldn’t you if you were worth $50 billion?), but Microsoft’s main target these days remains the new century’s most impactful personal technology device: the iPod.
Microsoft says it is committed to developing a rival music player that will give the Windows platform the same boost the iPod did to all things Apple. I interviewed Steve Balmer a year or so ago. He was fresh back from a trip to Asia and was gushing over some new music players he saw in development there. He had that familiar Ballmer gleam in his eye and told me then that the iPod domination wouldn’t last forever, that better devces were coming.
Now, Microsoft has reportedly developed something of its own that it is showing to music producers.
But is it too late? The iPod is an icon now. Can the momentum be shifted to a Microsoft product? I’m skeptical. I know people who have two and three iPods… that’s how much iPods have entwined themselves into our digital lifestyle.

Is Vox a sort of MySpace for grownups?

Vox is a new blogging tool from the people at Six Apart who gave us Typepad and Movable Type. MacMikeNews calls it a MySpace for grownups, with lots of audio and video uploading tools and some strong social networking capabilities.

Don’t fall for dead Osama e-mail scam

Consider this a forewarning word to the wise:
There’s a phony e-mail scam going around (again) that says: “Osama Bin Ladin was found hanged by two CNN journalists early Monday evening. As evidence they took several photos, some of which we have included here. As yet, this information has not hit the headlines due to Bush wanting confirmation of his identity but the journalists have released some early photos over the internet which can be found attached.”
Whatever you do, don’t open the attachment. It’s a virus/worm that will be unleashed on your computer.
This is a new release of an old scam. This time, the sleazeoids behind the hoax are using CNN’s name.
Same thing happened a few years ago with a phony video tape e-mail allegedly sent by soldiers.

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