Particle Debris (week ending 5/29) Burial, Reversal and Arresting Gear

May 29th, 2009 at 3:07 PM - Blogs by John Martellaro

I saw on Tuesday that Galen Gruman at Infoworld thinks the BlackBerry is now the Lotus Notes of the mobile world. I like that. Whenever you see business people saying they love their BlackBerry and the iPhone is a toy, you just know they're over-compensating. Mr. Gruman spent a month with both and discovered, guess what, the iPhone rocks and it's time to bury the BlackBerry. R.I.P.

Have you been frustrated with how long it takes your Blu-ray player to load? CNET/Australia compared loading times for four popular players, including the PS3. The times are probably constrained by the cost of the components in these typical consumer systems.

Last week, I chided Apple for its silly reaction to the iPhone app Eucalyptus. I wasn't alone, and the result was a happy reversal of Apple's stand. Now you can get Eucalyptus book reader and download books from the Gutenberg site. We covered the news on Tuesday. I was charmed and amused by Mr. Chaffin's poignant use of the word "threat" in reference to the Kama Sutra.

If you follow my work, you know that one of the things I specialize in is HDTV and related technologies. Mid-week, I found this delightful introduction to HDTV terminology, written by someone who can explain technical stuff in a very approachable way. You'll have fun being educated by "The Definitive Guide to Video Processing." Sound too geeky? It isn't. Trust me.

Thursday: Just when you thought your HDTV system was in good shape, the industry is throwing out a new wrinkle. We're all pretty much using HDMI version 1.3 right now, especially anything bought in 2008 or later. Now the consortium that defines the HDMI protocol is planning to introduce HDMI 1.4 later this year, according to BusinessWeek. The new cables include an Ethernet channel for TCP/IP. The new HDMI 1.4 cables will support new video equipment that will go on sale later this year.

You just knew the new HDTVs would soon have direct Ethernet connections. I expect some needlessly complicated converter boxes will be introduced by the the usual companies, Gefen, etc., to bring older systems up to date -- but with extra expense and clutter. Which I will gladly explain how to use. Thankfully, my work is never done.

Also on Thursday: Remember when Hulu yanked its service from Boxee? Now, we know a little more about what Hulu is up to. Listen to Hulu CEO Jeff Zucker and see if you can figure out how the man can speak with forked tongue.

A few years ago, Bill Gates predicted that the e-mail spam problem would be essentially solved. That prediction didn't pan out. Instead, the best way, it appears, to escape spam is to take the conversation elsewhere -- where spammers can't play. Twitter is one solution. Google may be coming up with the ultimate solution, however. The company has asked the question: "What would e-mail look like if it were invented today?" So they went and did it with a new product, now in beta, called "Wave." If you'd like to find out more about hosted conversations, watch Google's introduction to Wave.

Say good night spammers.

Remember Guy Kawasaki? Evangelist for Apple turned entrepreneur? As I write this, he's on a Navy plane, Carrier Onboard Delivery (COD), on his way to the U.S.S. Nimitz aircraft carrier. The pilot warned them that "the landing will be fairly violent." Even so, I'd sign up in a heat beat. Here's a photo from the cabin.

Technical Word of the Week (TWoW)

Terminological Inexactitude (n.) A lie. Source: NHL color commentator Daryl Reaugh during game 4, Hurricanes vs. Penguins.

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