It looks like SandDisk is not messing around to get its Sansa players out on the market. The flash memory manufacturer presented in fact the Sansa Connect MP3 player over this year’s CES, and it received a lot of positive feedback.

The new player comes with a 2,2 inch TFT color screen, an internal speaker and flash memory instead of hard disks. The really innovative feature, however, is the Wi-Fi connectivity. The Sansa will be able to connect to the Internet from any open wireless hotspot, creating a myriad of new opportunities. Read the rest of this entry »

If you were paying attention to all the hype building up to the Apple iPhone announcement on Tuesday, then you might recall the little snag concerning who actually owns the “iPhone” name.

Even though Apple unveiled the iPhone in San Francisco this week, Linksys, a division of Cisco Systems Inc., announced a product called the iPhone on December 18th, 2006. The Linksys iPhone is a Web-enabled telephone handset capable of making calls over the Internet using voice over Internet protocol (VOIP).

So how can two different companies lay claim to the “iPhone” name? That’s the problem… they can’t.

Linksys, actually owns the “iPhone” trademark because of a Cisco acquisition. A company called Infogear registered the “iPhone” name in 1996. Then Cisco then absorbed the “iPhone” trademark when it acquired Infogear in the year 2000.

So what happens now? It’s all up to the lawyers. Cisco filed a lawsuit against Apple yesterday in the U.S. District Court in San Francisco. Basically Cisco and Apple need to reach a settlement or Apple will have to call their iPhone something different like iChat Mobile.

According to the NY Post, Cisco thought it had reached a deal with Apple. The two companies were reportedly engaged in heated talks over the “iPhone” name the past few weeks leading up to the Apple iPhone announcement.

“We sent them final terms on Monday, but we never got approval back,” Cisco spokesman John Noh told The Post. “We’re very open to sharing the trademark. We made that clear. But then they went ahead and used the name without our permission.”

Apple has been trying to get the iPhone name away from Cisco since 2001 when they first released the iPod. Will Apple finally be successful? They obviously have something up their sleeve or they wouldn’t have halted talks with Cisco and just announced the iPhone this week. It will be interesting to see what happens these next few months.

Apple plans on releasing the iPhone in June 2007.

digg story | methodshop

The LucasArts franchise gains yet another prodcut with this R2D2 styled DVD projector from Nikko Electronics. It may not be able to project holograms but it is a DVD player, projector and remote controlled robot!

The feature list is:

• LCoS PRojector projecting up to 80″ wide
• iPod dock
• DVD Player (with remote styled after millenium falcon)
• Memory card slot for photo slideshows
• Movement and sound of the whole unit via remote control
• Built in speakers
• FM Transmitter broadcasts audio on up to 7 frequencies

Honestly, I don’t know if this isn’t a case of “form over function”. It’s certainly cool but I’m not sure how practical it is! Still, if you’re a Star Wars collector this is something you’re going to want.

Gizmodo have video of it in action - sweet!

Nobody has really done wireless headphones right. In a best case scenario, the adapter is built right into your device and all you have to do is pop tiny wireless buds into your ears. We’re still not there yet, at least not on most devices, but there are some decent accessories on the horizon that will give you wireless audio, one being Kleer’s new Wireless iPod Nano Adapter.
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OK, it was a trick question. Everything in this picture hides a speaker of some sort, from satellite to subwoofer. Unfortunately when I took the photo there was nobody around to ask and no brochures in evidence, but from the big sign I’m guessing that these are from Audiovox. (someone correct me if I’m wrong!)

I’ve been looking for a wireless solution for transmitting HD quality movies to my (soon to own) plasma. I’ve been out of luck so far but I did come across the rather cool PC2TV device. Read the rest of this entry »

Every once in a while a revolutionary product comes along that changes everything. Apple, a company known for innovation, has been very fortunate in this regard. In 1984 they introduced the world to the first Macintosh and changed personal computing forever. Then in 2001 Apple introduced the first iPod and redefined the music industry.

Today Apple introduced 3 revolutionary products: widescreen iPod, mobile phone, and internet communicator. But there’s a catch… these revolutionary products aren’t 3 separate devices. They are all rolled into one product called the iPhone ($499 4GB, $599 8GB).

The iPhone (GSM+EDGE) has a touchscreen interface with multitouch capabilities. That means you can use multiple fingers at the same time. How can such a small device have an advanced multitouch interface? The iPhone runs the Macintosh operating system OS X. How did Apple fit an entire operating system into a tiny phone? I don’t know. Magic?

The iPhone syncs to your computer just like your iPod. All your media (music, videos, podcasts, etc.) as well as contacts, email amd calendars will sync to your iPhone. You can even add any any IMAP or POP email account. Yahoo users will like this next perk. Yahoo is giving all iPhone owners free IMAP email. You normally have to pay extra for this feature.

Web browsing on a mobile phone was probably one of the worst user experiences you’ve ever encountered. Well those days are over. The iPhone uses the Safari browser and can smoothly navigate complicated sites like Google Maps.

And if all this iPhone business wasn’t enough, Steve Jobs also announed Apple TV ($299) - a way to enjoy your media on your big screen TV. Anything you put into iTunes (content from iTunes, DVDs you’ve ripped, videos from YouTube, etc.) can be wirelessly transmitted to your Apple TV box.

The Apple TV has 802.11 WiFi (b, g + n) and will automatically sync from your PC.

More Apple TV specs:

• 40GB HD
• 720p HD video
• componet
• RCA
• USB 2.0
• ethernet
• WiFi
• HDMI

digg story | methodshop

Too many rumors swirling, buckle down and get ready!!!! It’s already 9:10 AM pacific!

Here’s MACWORLD 2007!!

We’ll be all text, since I’m nowhere near the keynote!!! (ok, I’m in Marin)

Feed data thanks to MacRumors and Engadget.com

Everyone drinks deeply the apple juice (cool aid reference). Steve’s in black per usual. Here it comes.

general discussion of Intel changeover and transition on the software side, (boorrring, show me the money!)

only talking Mac today (read, No new iPods, at least that’s what he says so far).

Then he chats up iTunes and says TV shows are coming as downloads, (is that new?)

This is going to get long, so follow the jump and refresh (hit F5) that if you want to play along at home.

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