Technology posts

This week, after teasing it with a countdown, Sony America announced the release of their Android smartphone, the Xperia X10. In years gone by, Sony’s ‘entrance’ into a new market would be cause for celebration. For decades, Sony’s name meant slick design and cutting edge tech. This should be a big deal. The Xperia X10, though? I’ve played with the phone for a few weeks now, and it’s pretty great. It’s thin and the screen is incredible. But, beyond also having a clunky Sony Ericsson skin, the device is also running Android 1.6. Yep. In August 2010, Sony are releasing a phone that is three steps behind…

The ink on the Palm purchase paperwork is barely dry, and there’s been nothing but problems over at HP. First, CEO Mark Hurd announces that HP didn’t buy Palm to get into the smartphone business. Then, CEO Mark Hurd announces that actually, they might have bought Palm to remain in the smartphone market. Kind of. As if all that wasn’t bad enough, then CEO Mark Hurd gets ousted from HP for questionable expense practices and liaisons with a soft core porn actress. If this all sounds a little bit “Days Uf Our Lives”, the latest news is a little more down to earth. Larry Ellison, Oracle CEO and general silicon…

And now, for the coolest thing you’ll see in music today. A clear sheet of glass, a midi controller, and a projector are all you need to turn internet-faring music enthusiasts into jealous whiners. Hell, I’m whining as we speak. But I don’t think I can be blamed. The Töken multitouch system is simply rad. All that’s really known is that it uses a rear projector to provide the visuals, it’s constructed by a guy named Rodrigo, and the DJ in the video is Pablo Martin. Beyond that, your guess is as good as ours. But damn, if it isn’t totally wicked mondo, nothing is….

After an unusual amount of buildup, Research in Motion finally revealed its latest Blackberry this week. The Torch, as it has been named, is a touchscreen-keyboard combo that also ships with Blackberry’s new OS 6. In many ways, it represents a significant move forward for the Blackberry, and in certain areas – social integration, universal search, a webkit-based browser – the Torch on par with the other two players, the iPhone and Android. But, for good reason, the response from the tech press has thus far been lukewarm. Many reviews have called the phone out for lacking any imagination, not to…

The Internet is a beautiful place. Filled with almost limitless information on any topic imaginable, chances to connect with huge groups of people that have the same love for dressing up as animals that you have and now, a site just for virgins. Youandmearepure.com was made by Lety and Jose Colin and is not meant for geeks who simply haven’t had sex ‘yet’ but for those who wish to save themselves for marriage. Here’s a quote from the couple: “We are still happily married despite that we entered marriage intimately inexperienced. But like everything in life it takes learning and we have been having…

Have you ever tried finding yourself in Google Street View? I have a friend who’s found himself twice. Both times he was pretty blurry, but there was no question. Twice. Six billion people. Found himself twice. What are the odds? If you’re going to go hunting though, you’d better hurry – Arturo Flores, a computer science grad student from UC San Diego, is working on a system that may one day render Google Street View one gigantic ghost town. No pedestrians at all. Flores says that situations such as my friend are exactly the problem that spurred his project – though Google goes to the trouble of blurring…

As of next year, almost any cellphone will work with almost any charger. (In Europe)…

You may or may not have heard of the Nintendo 3DS. You may or may not have heard that one of the manufacturers rumoured to be supplying the 3DS with its 3D screen is Sharp. Seriously, though, if you haven’t heard these things, you’re completely out of the loop and, frankly, have got to get your act together. But anyway, yeah, Sharp: makers of personal 3D tech. As it turns out, the 3DS isn’t the only device on the horizon. A Sharp representative has confirmed that the company – famous for its… I dunno, Sharp makes calculators? They also make TVs. They’re famous for that, right? I dunno, I have a 27-inch…

Hey, eyes on the road, hero, do you want to get us killed? Sadly, current navigation technology leaves us little choice but to devote considerable time to a separate screen if we want visuals to accompany the sexy female computervoice (or Snoop Dogg, or Mr. T, or Gary Busey, or whatever you have installed… Gary Busey is frankly still pretty soothing). But lo! Check this out. Combining two geek staples – that is, glasses and LEDs – engineers at the University of Electro-Communication  in Japan (swear to Odin that’s a real place) have developed a system that… well, by all rights, feels like it…

Despite Microsoft’s occasional troubles – whether the embarrassment that was the Kin or the fact that their tablet efforts may repeat their mistakes – one thing MS is clearly doing right is Windows 7. Case in point: Windows 7 has already eclipsed Windows Vista in market share. With 14.5% market share, it has taken only 9 months to reach a number that Vista took 21 months to reach. So, make a good, stable, pretty operating system  that everyone likes and is available on inexpensive machines, and people will buy it in droves? Who knew, right? Windows 7′s growth also seems to be coming at the expense…