Gadgetell | Tech News, Reviews, and Interesting Things

It was a while ago when Microsoft Chairman, Bill Gates, announced that he was going to be leaving his post at the software monopoly company, but I just found this great clip that I had to share.

You know what, I’m going to watch it again too. Oh crap, program crashed time to reboot, scratch that idea.

Perplex City creator’s, MindCandy, are prepping for the world’s largest alternate reality game (ARG) live event ever - The San Francisco Connection. Set to take place in San Francisco, CA on August 12, 2006, the event will have thousands scouring the city streets, taking part in a high-tech treasure hunt.

Up to 1000 players and spectators will take part on-site, along with thousands more online. The main puzzle will involve real-time RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) tracking – something never done before, making it the most impressive and high-tech puzzle ever. Using special chips embedded within objects, RFID allows for a variety of games by tracking the chips within a specific area. The day’s activities will be ‘in-game’ - in other words, participants will influence a vitally important part of the Perplex City story.

There will be hundreds of puzzles for players to solve as they take to the streets. For instance, following a trail of puzzles might direct players to the Transamerica building, where they would need to find how many entrances it has in order to move on; other examples of puzzles will range from images and riddles to finding stale technology (where can one find a floppy drive these days?).

The event will begin and end at the Palace of Fine Arts Theatre in San Francisco, and will run from 10:30am to approximately 4pm. It is open to everyone (if under 16, please bring a parent or guardian). Those planning to attend are asked to sign up beforehand at www.perplexcity.com (under ‘live events’), as there are a limited number of player spaces available. Players are encouraged to bring a car, bike, or another mode of transit if available (although it isn’t necessary) and a good map of San Francisco.

About Perplex City
Read [Perplex City]

Who doesn’t love Chocolate? Why not head over to Verizon and purchase the long awaited LG VX8500, Chocolate phone. This is one part MP3 player, one part phone, and 100% sweetness. The models final specs include the black lacquer finish (see our hands-on Peep Show here), 1.3 megapixel camera, 210 min talk time, 38 hours standby, 3.53 oz, Bluetooth stereo capable, V-Cast, music player with support for MP3 and WMA files, VZ Navigator capable, touch sensitive navigation keys, voice recognition, EVDO Broadband Access connect (use the handset as a modem for your laptop), a microSD or TransFlash memory card slot, and a video camera with up to a 1 hour recording.

The phone will see with a new 2 ear contract for $149.99 (and $100 more for a 1 year contract). You can also pay $199.99 and get the music bundle kit (necessary to copy your own tunes to the phone), a leather case, and car charger or for $249.99 you get everything listed plus a 2 GB microSD card--a great deal!

So don’t wait, go indulge yourself in chocolate.

Besides our Peep Show, read on to see a pic of the RAZR and Chocolate phone compared.

Ben Q’s Bluetooth speaker weighs in at just 9.5 ounces and measures 1.6 inches thick. I’m unsure of what kind of amplification you’re bound to get on that tiny thing. Yet it promisies that it’s:

Separate bass- and stereo-upgrading features give you extra fine sound quality, which you’ll especially appreciate if you are using the speaker to facilitate a conference call.

However the wireless (due to bluetooth) and compact capabilities may be worth it for some.

Via [MobileMag]

We all know that Microsoft has confirmed its plans to create Zune, a hardware/software rival to Apple’s market leading products iPod and iTunes.  But did we know how truly committed they are?  According to News.com, Robbie Bach, president of the Entertainment and Devices Division at Microsoft stated that they think of Zune in hundreds of millions of dollars of investments.  In addition to jump-starting the Zune, the company has also confirmed that they will continue supporting their existing PlaysForSure format even after Zune is released.  I can’t tell if this is a smart business decision or if they’re shooting themselves in the foot.  In the meantime, check out the bizarre Flash animation on Microsoft’s ComingZune.com.

Read [News.com]

Lately it seems like laptop batteries have gone wild with both Dell and Apple computers having issues.  Now Apple has officially issued a “worldwide battery exchange program for certain rechargeable batteries that were sold for use with 15-inch MacBook Pro computer systems from February 2006 through May 2006.” It’s great that they’ve taken corrective action to keep their customers happy, but a little more testing before the quick April release probably could have prevented it.  The affected batteries have the model number A1175 and a 12-digit serial number that ends with U7SA, U7SB or U7SC.  If you have this defective battery, head over to the exchange program’s website and fill out the form on the right side.  You will be asked for your battery’s serial number and shipping information.  Apple will send you a replacement battery free of charge and a prepaid shipping label so they can properly dispose of your current battery.

15-inch MacBook Pro Battery Exchange Program

Via [digg]

After much hype surrounding PalmSource’s ALP (operating system) for the Treo, it looks like Palm has decided to pull out of the co-development agreement.  According to Palm’s annual report, “PalmSource did not timely meet certain of the milestones under the co-development agreement, relieving us of our obligation to make minimum royalty payments under the license agreement after calendar year 2006.” This shouldn’t put too much of a damper on the relationship between the two companies since they’re already in “negotiations with PalmSource to expand our development and distribution rights to the current version of the Palm OS.” Sounds a little like Palm’s looking to begin development of the OS on their own, leaving PalmSource in the dust.

Read [Clieuk]
Via [Engadget]

Back at Pepcom Digital Experience, we got a good hands on with Shure’s new E Series Sound Isolating Earphones.  They look like any old pair of earbuds, but oh, they’re so much more.  The E500PTH has “Triple Hi-Definition Drivers,” meaning 1 tweeter and 2 woofers, and what the company is calling “Push-To-Hear Control,” which allows you to adjust the level of outside noise you hear.  It utilizes the VoicePort which is essentially a microphone that lets you hear things around you while you’re enjoying the isolation of the headphones.  If you’re familiar with Shure’s premium products, you already know that these are quite expensive.  They’re now available at your favorite electronics store for $549.

Read [Shure]

Running out of storage on your computer can get annoying.  Having way too much storage on your computer is fantastic.  That’s why Granite Digital, a manufacturer of SATA, FireWire, and SCSI storage solutions has announced that they’ve begun shipping a SATA Dual Drive Internal Mounting Kit for the G5 Mac.  If you’re looking to pack on the gigs, the kit is capable of handling 1.5 Terabytes of storage (JBOD, RAID 1, or RAID 0 configurations).  The old and new model G5s are both compatible with the device using the two different kits that are being offered.  The will set you back $99 and is available via the company’s website.

View the Product page.

Read [Press Release]

I can’t spell. Many other writers out there don’t spell that well either or have many typos. TextTrust has compiled a list of the most commonly misspelled words it has found on the 17 million web pages it has spell checked over the past year.

Incorrect — Correct
1. Independant — Independent


2. Accomodation— Accommodation


3. Definately — Definitely


4. Recieve — Receive


5. Opportunites — Opportunities


6. Thier — Their


7. Occured — Occurred


8. Infomation — Information


9. Offical — Official


10. Acitives — Activities

TextTrust combines its spell checking software with human editors that check the web sites of its clients for spelling errors.

“Software programs can only do so much to identify misspelled words,” said Rostenne.  “Human editors can use their common sense and powers of reason to detect other spelling errors. The editors are what sets TextTrust apart and makes our service even more valuable.”

TextTrust wants to make sure that organizations never again receive the “I found a spelling error on your web site” email.  The company offers various levels of service from a one-time review of your web site to weekly service. A free trial is offered at its web site, www.TextTrust.com and the cost of its service begins at less than $30. Hmm, maybe we should check them out…ehh-noep not neded.

Read [WebBlogWire]