Gadgetell | Tech News, Reviews, and Interesting Things

An interesting news week always brings some insane thoughts into the light of day.  This week saw Microsoft hinting at bringing Natal not just to Xbox but to Windows, LG jumping on the apps wagon, Blockbuster to sell netbooks, and our very own Iyaz outdoes me on Interuptech, Gagetell’s new weekly show.

Project Natal to bring crazy gestures to work?

Project Natal was conceived to give users control using just their bodies, no controllers, keyboards, or cables necessary.  The project was originally intended as a gaming control much like the Wii.  But now, Project Natal has jumped the rails and looks to be rolling into Windows-ville. 

According to our Shawn Ingram, “In a recent interview with CNET, Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates mentioned that both the Xbox and Windows divisions in Microsoft have latched onto the idea of Project Natal.  The technology will allow for easy file management in Windows, moving files just by moving them around with your hand. “

Fact: It will not be as cool as Tom Cruise in Minority Report.  You’ll look like you are swatting flies to your cube-farm mates.
Fact: This will become the bane of existence to folks like me who talk with our hands.  Can you imagine giving a presentation (where observers believe Natal would be great to advance slides) and getting animated only to have your slides jumping around like they just snorted a Pixie stick?  Instant anarchy.

There are a lot of users who have yet to master the mouse.  Now you wish to give them control using their arms?  Keep dreamin’ Bill.

Shove it up your Apps.

As Apple celebrated its one year anniversary of its App Store with over a billion or so served, LG wants everyone to know that it, too, will join the party.  LG is casually late to everything it seems these days.  Our Natesh Sood says, “LG plans to launch its LG Application Store with 1,400 apps to start and 100 of which will be sold at no cost.  “

Contrast this story to what Google is saying today: web apps are the wave of the future.  The thinking is many of the apps we use today could be made better with real-time data.  By using web apps that are drawing from the net, they are always up-to-date.  Then, the apps become device unspecific as they get run through a browser.  Is that too hopeful a picture for wireless broadband speeds?  Perhaps, for today.

But LG bringing their own apps to the game seems like a late attempt to stay current.  Where is the drive for apps on an LG platform?  Will they open it up to developers with an SDK?  Would anyone care?  I am not sold on the idea.

Blockbuster believes it is the hub for your mobile computing needs.  Huh?

Really Blockbuster?  With your bins of yesteryear’s B movies marked down at just $2.99, you are going to convince shoppers to impulse buy a netbook?  Your staff has trouble recommending me a new thriller, much less a piece of hardware.  But you’ve got bigger issues than that.

Our Shawn Ingram theorizes: “Netbooks are probably the easiest way for a company to promote its online services, like Blockbuster is doing.”  OK, but netbook screens are notoriously small (for a reason).  How can you promote a good online experience through the limit of a small screen?  Someone didn’t think this one all the way through and the guy or gal that piped up at the last board meeting with, “Hey, why don’t we sell more expensive stuff?” is going to look real silly in a few months.

Getting shown up on Interruptech.

This week I battled Iyaz on the big tech issues in a new weekly show called “Interuptech.”  Your time is limited so our time to talk about stuff is limited as well; this show cuts the BS and gets down to business quick and easy.  Iyaz and I differed on many points last week and I was pretty sure I came out on top in each argument.

So how does Iyaz compensate?  Editing.  Hear me now, kids: the future will be owned by those that edit well.  Editing is the next plastics.

By combining the funniest things he said, the worst laughing noises I made and degrading my video quality to make me seem as if I was remoting in from Venus, Iyaz made himself look sharp.  Too sharp.  Try as you might you are still hampered by one thing, Mr. Editor: you edit Gadgetell.  Zing!