November 22nd, 2009

A Chrome OS Video Tour

Posted by Jason Perlow @ 8:53 pm

Categories: Free operating systems, General, Google, Linux, Networking, Open Source, Web Technology

Tags:

Fresh off the Interwebs, here’s a Tech Broiler video tour of the latest build of Chrome OS.

Also See: Chrome OS, Some Early Preview Videos

Have you tested the latest Chromium OS developer code yet? Talk Back and Let Me Know.

November 22nd, 2009

Stupid DROID Tricks, Volume 1

Posted by Jason Perlow @ 1:12 pm

Categories: Desktop, General, Google, Linux, Personal Technology, Web Technology

Tags: Google Android, Shortcut, Photograph, DROID, Widgets, Power Control Widget, Mobile Operating Systems, Smart Phones, Corporate Communications, Consumer Electronics

Android 2.0 on the Verizon DROID Smartphone is indeed sophisticated, but for a new user can also be daunting or even overwhelming.

The Google Android 2.0 OS built into the Motorola/Verizon DROID is by far one of the most sophisticated smartphone UIs I have ever seen — and with that UI comes additional complexity which may confuse some users.

Also Read: My First Week with DROID

Since a lot of my friends and family tend to follow my lead on the gadgets and technology I use, I’ve had a few of them ping me on the DROID and how to get the most out of it. Here’s my first installment in what I think will be a series of Tips and Tricks posts related to Android.

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November 19th, 2009

Messing around with the DROID camera

Posted by Jason Perlow @ 5:25 pm

Categories: General, Google, Personal Technology

Tags: Photograph, Firmware, Camera, Jason Perlow

As you may be aware, one of the earliest complaints from new DROID owners is that the camera under performed when compared with other smartphone cameras, such as the iPhone’s or the BlackBerry Bold’s, particularly as it related to sharpness and focus.

Apparently, it has been discovered that this problem was related to a strange firmware bug that only manifests itself during a specific time cycle. Currently the bug will not manifest itself again until December 11, 2009, at which time Verizon and Motrola is expected to provide an over-the-air software fix.

With Firmware Bug Affecting Servomotor Focus

Here’s a Lobster Cantonese I tried to take a photo of. Note the issues with focusing sharpness.

Similarly a Chinese pork noodle soup didn’t come up very sharp.

With Servomotor Focusing Properly

When the focus bug was in effect, I was unable to take closeups of objects and get sharp definition. Here’s a closeup photo of my bottle of antiperspirant in my hotel room in Baltimore. You can see how sharp the text looks.

Here’s a Clams with Shrimp and Pork a la Alentejana taken at Seabra’s Marisqueira Portuguese restaurant in Newark, New Jersey. This is with the DROID flash. Much better results than with the lobster photo only a few days before.

Here’s a pretty plate from a sushi buffet restaurant in Wayne, New Jersey. Taken without flash, using incandescent light filter settings.

DROID still-life: A fruit basket in my kitchen.

Watermelon Radish with Parsnips.

Tonight’s dinner — Shrimp Pasta with Cauliflower and Roasted Parsnips. Taken with flash.

Here’s a video I took of the Acela Express approaching the Baltimore Penn Station Amtrak terminal.

Are you feeling better about the DROID’s camera now that it has been demonstrated that the focusing issues were a result of a to-be-fixed firmware bug? Talk Back and Let Me Know.

November 19th, 2009

Chrome OS: Some Early Preview Videos

Posted by Jason Perlow @ 10:29 am

Categories: Business, Desktop, General, Google, Linux, Open Source, Personal Technology, Software Infrastructure, Web Technology

Tags: Jason Perlow, Video, Corporate Communications, Open Source, Marketing

Today Google released a number of early introduction/preview videos regarding their upcoming Chrome OS. (UPDATED: Demo from November 18 at Google Headquarters added)

While the software does not currently appear to be in an easily installable state, requiring developers to build their own Chrome OS environments for the time being, the OS does look quite promising and Google’s “Stateless” objective where all user data resides in the cloud reflects an extremely modern concept in OS design.

What is Chrome OS?:

Chrome OS Fast Boot:

Chrome OS Security:

User Interface Concept Video for Chrome OS:

Chromium OS and Open Source:

Live Chrome OS Demo from Google Headquarters

Do these videos provide encouragement or interest in Google’s stateless, cloud-based OS offering? Talk Back and Let Me know.

November 15th, 2009

My First Week With DROID

Posted by Jason Perlow @ 2:04 pm

Categories: Business, General, Google, Linux, Open Source, Personal Technology, Web Technology

Tags: Facebook, Google Gmail, Smart Phone, RIM BlackBerry, Camera, Motorola DROID, Android 2.0, Handhelds, E-mail Providers, Microsoft Windows 7

The Verizon/Motorola DROID is by far the most powerful and versatile smartphone I have yet encountered. My first week with the device was one of geeky joy, adapting to the learning curve of the Android OS as a former BlackBerry user, and understanding the device’s limitations and quirks that come with being an early adopter.

Updated 11/16/09: As many of you know, I became a Verizon Wireless customer on November 6, on the launch day of the Motorola DROID. I had extremely high expectations of the new Android 2.0-based smartphone given the many reviews/previews that had appeared on the Internet, and from extremely positive feedback from my colleagues that this indeed was the device that would fit my needs. I had gone without a smartphone device for just over a month, having terminated my BlackBerry AT&T contract and now was ready to try something new.

Click on the “Read the rest of this entry” link below for more.

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November 10th, 2009

Cool New Google Maps Feature: New Jersey Wormholes!

Posted by Jason Perlow @ 7:32 pm

Categories: General, Google, Web Technology

Tags: Google Inc., IKEA, New Jersey, Google Maps, Whole Foods, Blogging, Internet, Jason Perlow

In Google Maps, Try to drive to Whole Foods in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, and you’ll be teleported 11 miles to the west to IKEA in Paramus, New Jersey. AWESOME, right?

Last week, ZDNet iGeneration blogger Zack Whittaker wrote about Argleton, the English town in Google Maps that doesn’t exist. I thought that was pretty cool, but now I’ve found something even cooler — a rip in the Space/Time continuum in Google Maps. You know, like in Star Trek.

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November 9th, 2009

Please Feel Free to Send Me Your Therapist's Bill

Posted by Jason Perlow @ 9:38 pm

Categories: General, Web Technology

Tags: Therapist, Jason Perlow

The JibJab guys and OfficeMax are back with the “Elf Yourself” video e-Holiday cards, this time with new Hip-Hop, Disco and Country Music elf dances as well as the “Traditional”. Simply allow the site to authorize with your FaceBook account, choose a profile picture, and let the twisted JibJab folks do all the work.

Sorry, no Chanukah Gnomes.

October 29th, 2009

My Top Scary Technology Trends

Posted by Jason Perlow @ 7:44 pm

Categories: Business, General, Hardware Infrastructure, Networking, Personal Technology, Security, Server, Software Infrastructure, Web Technology

Tags: Digital Media, Phone, Mobile, Information Technology, Smart Phone, E-books, E-mail, Smart Phones, Cellular Phones, Handhelds

Yes, it’s that spooky time of year again, and our “fearless” editors have asked upon the ZDNet contributors to come up with “Scary Tech”, the technologies that are so frightening, they’ll make you evacuate from multiple “interfaces”.

Halloween. All Hallows Eve. Dia de los Muertos. Whatever you call it in your culture, Halloween is a day that for many people evokes images of ghouls, the undead, vampires, witches, werewolves, ghosts and goblins — creatures of fantasy that are meant to scare young children. Although I’ve often been emotionally compared to a child, none of these things frighten me.

However, there are some things, at least in the world of technology, that really do scare the living crap out of me. While there isn’t one particular item that makes me turn completely ice cold with fear this Halloween, there are a number of trends that definitely have been keeping me up at night lately.

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October 25th, 2009

It never works right when you demo Windows 7 on Japanese TV

Posted by Jason Perlow @ 1:57 pm

Categories: Desktop, General, Microsoft

Tags:

It’s always awful when you try to demo something to a large audience and then it fails miserably.

I found this video on Jason Calacanis‘ Mahalo.com site, a snippet of a Windows 7 demonstration on a segment of “Tokudane” on Fuji TV, a show roughly analogous to the “Today” or “Good Morning America” show in the United States. While clearly the SONY touchscreen PC had some driver issues, and it would be hard to point the blame directly at Windows 7, it’s still painfully hilarious to watch.

[EDIT: Apparently, they eventually got it right. :)]

And for more comic relief, check out CheapAssGamer’s utterly stomach-churning video review of the Windows 7 Whopper, also only sold in Japan. I love the guy’s quote “I’m just glad it wasn’t Windows 95″. Hey, it could be worse, it could have been a Windows 2000 burger.

October 19th, 2009

What's next after SpamWaves, WavePorn?

Posted by Jason Perlow @ 9:19 pm

Categories: Business, General, Google, Networking, Personal Technology, Web Technology

Tags: Google Inc., Obviously Wave Etiquette, Public Relations, E-mail, Marketing, Corporate Communications, Online Communications, Jason Perlow

No sooner than a week after using Google Wave did I get my first unsolicited Spam Wave.

First, there was e-mail spam. Then there was spam forum posts and spam talkbacks. And then spam Twitters.

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