Reporters Notebook

May 8, 2008 | Link This | Email this | Comments (0)

CNN.com is running a story about the popularity of unlocked, and expensive, iPhones in Israel. From the article: 

“Z-Tov sells the 8GB iPhone for about 2,600 NIS, or about $753 U.S. The current market price in the United States is $399. The store clerk says the store pays a 50 percent tax to import iPhones from outside the country. 

But the price doesn't hinder iPhone's popularity here, appealing mostly to young men quick to upgrade their 8GB to a 16GB model as if memory size is a barometer of male bravado.” 

As the owner of a 60GB iPod, which features far more memory than I can use, I take umbrage to the reporter’s “male bravado” theory. 

Also quite interesting is the anecdote provided about halfway thr...Read More

March 4, 2008 | Link This | Email this | Comments (0)

Nike and Apple announced today that they are working with gym equipment manufacturers and health clubs to enable members to plug their iPod Nano into cardio equipment. Workout enthusiasts will reportedly be able to track workouts, set goals and upload the information to a Nike Web site.

I’d like to say this will motivate me to go to the gym … but I won’t.

October 18, 2007 | Link This | Email this | Comments (0)

The 2007 Nobel Prize was given last week to two scientists who are credited with discovering the technology that makes MP3s and MP3 players possible. France's Albert Fert and Germany’s Peter Gruenberg discovered “a physical effect in 1988 [that] has led to sensitive tools for reading the information stored on hard disks. That sensitivity lets the electronics industry use smaller and smaller disks,” CNN reported.

Something tells me the RIAA wasn’t on the voting panel. 

October 8, 2007 | Link This | Email this | Comments (0)

Better Energy Systems recently announced a neat product that’s being geared toward college students and adventure-types: the Solio Hybrid1000, a solar-powered power source. It combines a solar panel with an integrated lithium-ion battery and can be used with handheld CE devices.

For those not-so-sunny days, the $79-Solio can also be plugged into a USB port.

I like the idea of this product, and I think it will go over well with green-conscious students; however, where I went to school, I would have been using the USB port quite a bit.

Check out more batteries and power sources in ...Read More

October 5, 2007 | Link This | Email this | Comments (0)

As filmed on YouTube, an owner of an iPod Touch takes a variety of sharp objects to his new device to demonstrate just how “scratch-resistant” it is. I admit that I cringed when he pulled out the razor blade — I can’t imagine taking a razor to anything I just spent several hundred dollars on. My dinosaur iPod (going on more than two years now) is covered in scratches, and most of them are the result of being shoved in my pocket with a handful of coins.