The Gadget 411 – Gadget Reviews & Tech News

From: http://mikeniles.tumblr.com/

A friend of mine contacted me asking to help him upscale iPhone 3GS video from iPhones for the news station he works at.

Read the full story

Popularity: 2% [?]

Apple’s new baby is the iPhone 3GS.
S is for Speed. It’s processor is super fast so you can do everything fasterrrrr.

The new hardware:
fasst
3mp autofocus camera
Video. 30fps and VGA. You can also do some slight editing on the iPhone 3GS.
Voice command
Compass
Nike+ integration
And of course, the 3.0 OS upgrade.
Also, keeping existing iPhone 3G on the market for $99.
The 16 and 32 both come in black and white. How much?
16GB- from $199
32GB- from $299
Comin atcha June 19.

You can pre-order it now, of course:
iPhone 3GS at the Apple store

I will have a full post on the WWDC soon enough, but I know this is what you guys really wanted to hear.

Big Props to Ryan Block and Peter Rojas of gdgt.com for doing awesome job live blogging!

Popularity: 2% [?]

 

SlingPlayer Mobile

Good news for iPhone owners who are looking for the “entire home TV experience”.   It appears that sometime in quarter one Sling Media is submitting the SlingPlayer Mobile for certification. So hopefully soon you will have the ability to view content streaming from your Sling Box.  The press release below explains this as well as a SlingPlayer for Mac HD.  As a person who enjoys this functionality from my Dell Axim, I have really been looking forward to this on the iPhone.  There is nothing like sitting on my patio at home and watching the Tigers blow a late inning lead.   Read the release and let me know what you think.  For more information about Sling Media, check them out at www.slingmedia.com.

 

 

Sling Media to Demonstrate SlingPlayer Mobile for iPhone and Slingbox HD Streaming on the Mac at Macworld

 

 

San Francisco – Macworld – January 6, 2009 – Sling Media, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of EchoStar Corporation (NASDAQ: SATS), is demonstrating a version of SlingPlayer Mobile for iPhone being developed for the iTunes store at this year’s Macworld. Sling Media will deliver a version of SlingPlayer Mobile for iPhone to Apple for certification in Q1.

 

Sling Media is also unveiling a prototype of a new SlingPlayer for Mac HD which allows Slingbox PRO-HD users to stream HD to their Mac desktop or laptop computer. The new SlingPlayer for Mac HD is a web-based version of the SlingPlayer software that will be accessible from Sling.com, Sling Media’s recently launched video entertainment web site.

 

“SlingPlayer Mobile is ideally suited for the iPhone’s large touch screen display and I know iPhone users are eagerly anticipating the application’s availability,” said Blake Krikorian, co-founder and CEO of Sling Media. “Add to that HD streaming support for Slingbox PRO-HD customers and live TV support on our video entertainment site, Sling.com, and you can see Sling Media is committed to delivering great solutions for Mac users.”

 

SlingPlayer Mobile gives consumers their entire home TV experience, including local channels, local sports teams, video on demand, pay per view, etc. Any program that you can watch on your sofa back home, you can now watch via your iPhone using a standard network connection (3G Cellular, WiFi). In addition, SlingPlayer Mobile for iPhone users can also control their home digital video recorder (DVR) to watch recorded shows, pause, rewind, and fast forward live TV, or even queue new recordings while on the road.

 

Pricing and Availability

SlingPlayer Mobile for iPhone will be submitted to Apple for testing and approval in Q1. The price has not been determined at this time. SlingPlayer for Mac HD will be available for free via the web-based SlingPlayer within Sling.com later in Q1. Mac customers will be able to use either Safari or Firefox web browsers to get both HD streaming and Live TV within Sling.com.

 

About Sling Media

Sling Media, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of EchoStar Corporation (NASDAQ: SATS), is a leading digital lifestyle company offering consumer services and products that are a natural extension of today’s digital way of life. Sling Media’s product family includes the internationally acclaimed, Emmy award-winning Slingboxâ„¢ that allows consumers to watch and control their living room television shows at any time, from any location, using PCs, Macs, PDAs and smartphones and the revolutionary new SlingCatcherâ„¢, a universal media player that seamlessly delivers broadcast TV, Internet video and personal content to the TV. Sling Media is also the company behind the video entertainment web site, Sling.com, offering consumers a wide variety of popular TV shows, movies and other entertainment free for viewing online or on the TV using SlingCatcher. For more information on Sling Media, the Slingbox or the SlingCatcher, visit www.slingmedia.com. To watch your favorite TV shows and movies, check out www.sling.com.

Popularity: 1% [?]

Many accessories popped up for the iPhone 3G after its release. There are battery extenders and dongles and adapters, but sadly there is nothing to reduce the cost. There are, however, some accessories that will help you protect that investment. If you are like me you do not want to wrap that status symbol, ahem, device… in a full case. It loses all of its cool, right? Well there is an accessory for the vanity in all of all of us. The Invisible Shield by Zagg. Cool factor aside, this product offers some pretty hard core protection. You can get just the screen protector or wrap the entire device with two pieces. Go to http://tinyurl.com/5rj6yq and watch the demonstration video. It shows off how scratch proof the wrap really is. The application is more akin to putting aftermarket tint on your car window than the usual stick it on and hope it lines up. They include an application spray that you spray on your fingers and on the device. You then put the designated piece on the device and adjust it. Once you have it exactly where you want you use the supplied squeegee card to smooth out the bubbles and drive all of the fluid out from under the shield. This makes it much easier to line everything up.

One negative is the feel. The iPhone is all about the touch. Everything meaningful that you do with this device is via the touch interface. This makes the feel of the device very important. This cover has a more rubbery feel. It makes your finger drag a bit more when you are performing any gesture that includes a swipe or controlled drag. This can make it feel like you have to push a little harder to get the desired effect. I found it a bit clunky at first but after about a week I was able to get used to it. It is a personal preference really. You have to decide if protecting the device is important enough to you to possible change the user experience. For me it was worth it.

Popularity: 1% [?]