Much-anticipated Palm Pre will be $200 and scarce, say reports
Apr 30, 2009 Technology
Speculation is again swirling about how much the upcoming Palm Pre, the new smart phone we called a “game changer” when it was unveiled, might cost and how many might be available. The phone is expected by June or so.
According to FierceWireless.com, Palm will limit production to about 375,000 units to create a buzz when supplies run out. Analyst iSuppli says each new Pre will cost $170 to build and will be sold to Sprint for $300, which will offer it to customers for $200 with a two-year contract. .
If that's not enough, according to Engadget, the Pre may have a little brother as early as this fall, which BoyGeniusReport.com says will be called the Eos. The carrier: AT&T Wireless.
Of course, as most smart-phone followers know, success in today's market rests as much or more on software, rather than hardware, as the New York Time's Matt Richtel writes. —Mike Gikas
Tags: cell phones, computers, Internet, mobile-phones, News
Tech Talk: ISO setting
Apr 30, 2009 News
As summer approaches, you may find yourself shooting in many different lighting scenarios, including low light. For example, you might be photographing an evening party where there just isn’t that much available light. One solution is to turn on your flash. But if you don’t want to do that, you might opt for increasing the camera’s ISO setting. If you’re not familiar with the term ISO, here’s some help:
ISO stands for International Standards Organization, the association that developed this specification for film many years ago. As with film, an ISO setting measures how sensitive a camera is to light.
A lower number, 100 or 200 ISO, means that the camera is less sensitive to light than at 1600 or 3200 ISO. When the lighting is less than ideal, using a higher ISO setting gives you more flexibility in adjusting other exposure settings (such as aperture or shutter speed) to capture a well-exposed photo or freeze action. It also lets you avoid having to use your camera’s built-in flash.
Click here for an example of two images captured at different ISO settings.
This flexibility comes at a price, however. Making a camera more sensitive increases the strength of the signal from the sensor, akin to turning up the volume on your car radio. Yes, you’d definitely hear more sound, but if there’s any static or background noise on the radio, that will also get amplified. Likewise, in digital cameras: When you capture an image in low light with a high ISO setting, the camera may be forced to “guess” at details in the image, thereby producing specs of false color (called artifacts), also known as visual noise. This can degrade the quality of the image.
Some cameras do a better job than others with high ISO settings. Our Ratings (available to subscribers) tell you which ones to look for. When choosing a rated model, check its “Max. ISO with best quality” column, which indicates the highest ISO setting at which that camera can still produce a good-quality image without a flash. —Terry Sullivan
Tags: digital cameras, image, tips, video
How to track swine flu on your cellphone and computer
Apr 30, 2009 Technology
Modern science may not yet have saved us from the swine flu virus (aka H1N1), but modern technology can help you to track it. Here’s how:
Sign up for text message updates. The website CellPhones.org will text you up to three times a day with swine flu info from the CDC, WHO, and other authorities. The service is free, but your standard text message rates apply.
Follow the CDC on Twitter. Do you tweet? If so, follow the Center for Disease Control as they post short, frequent swine flu news updates, information, and reminders (“CDC reminds you that you can NOT get swine flu from eating pork”).
Watch the virus spread. Not the prettiest picture, but you can track confirmed flu cases across the U.S. at PandemicFlu.gov. Click on your state for local flu-related information and resources.
Get e-mail alerts. You can have Google monitor the news for “swine flu” and e-mail you whenever a story or blog of interest surfaces.
Check the WHO and CDC websites. Both organizations are regularly posting updates on the swine flu: WHO provides a daily, world-scope briefing, and the CDC has travel notices, infection reports, and guidance for health professionals.
Check in with the Consumer Reports Health Blog for ongoing coverage of the swine flu, tips for avoiding and recognizing it, and advice from CU's experts.
Additionally, beware of online, well, swine who are sending out phishing e-mails with swine-flu subject lines. —Nick K. Mandle
Tags: consumer, Internet, mobile-phones
Cellphone plans: Is tiny Alltel better than giant Verizon?
Apr 30, 2009 Technology
Subscribers to Alltel, the relatively small cellphone carrier acquired by Verizon Wireless last January, will be able to keep their Alltel plans as Verizon takes over their accounts, according to a Verizon spokeswoman. And they probably should do so, according to our head-to-head analysis of comparable Alltel and Verizon plans.
In fact, our numbers suggest that Alltel’s 11 million customers will be able to get more minutes of talk time and save $60 to $420 a year by hanging on to their old plans rather than switching to a Verizon one, as they are allowed to do, if they wish.
Since Verizon’s and Alltel’s wireless national-plan rates don’t vary by city, we picked a representative city, Cleveland, in which both Verizon and Alltel (available in 118 metro areas and 259 rural and other markets) are active. We then compared what Alltel customers there would gain and lose if they switched their existing one-line or family two-line national voice plans to the most comparable Verizon plans.
The results show that the existing Alltel plans delivered more talk time for the same or lower price, or lower monthly fees, in 9 of the 11 of the match-ups we studied.
Sometimes that edge was not immediately apparent. For example Verizon’s 900-minute $60 per month Nationwide Basic one-line plan looks as good as Alltel’s 900-minute $60 per month National Freedom one-line plan. But the Alltel plan allows free unlimited calls to and from 10 My Circle designated phone numbers on any networkwhile the Verizon plan allows the same for only five Friends & Family numbers. That’s a big value disparity, especially if you designate My Circle numbers to friends who aren’t on the Verizon network and would otherwise be billable. Verizon customers can also make unlimited free mobile-to-mobile calls to 80 million other Verizon Wireless customers; the newly acquired Alltel customers got that same benefit starting last February.
(The Alltel and Verizon plans also both provide unlimited free night and weekend calling, a nationwide home calling area, and no extra charge for long-distance calling. Our latest, September 2008, survey of cellular service satisfaction among 51,740 ConsumerReports.org subscribers in 23 U.S. cities found Verizon top-rated in all of those markets, and on-par with Alltel in four markets where that carrier also operated—Charlotte, Cleveland, Phoenix, and Tampa.)
Commenting on our findings, Robin Nicol, a Verizon spokeswoman, said that Verizon customers had gained “greater value” with the addition of Friends & Family calling, which was modeled around My Circle and wasn’t available before Alltel joined the Verizon family.
In May, Verizon will begin phasing out the Alltel brand name, a process that should be completed by next fall. The Alltel My Circle feature will be re-named Friends & Family. Regardless of the name changes, however, Alltel customers are not required to switch to a Verizon plan; they can keep their current Alltel price plan as long as they want, says Nicol.
Consumers Union, publisher of Consumer Reports, led efforts to oppose Verizon’s purchase of Alltel on grounds that it would reduce competition. Our plan comparison shows that Verizon’s buy-out removed an often lower-priced competitor from the marketplace.
We recommend that Alltel customers carefully compare the value of their options and hang on to their Alltel plan if it’s a better deal and meets their calling needs.
As for the 71 million customers who were with Verizon before the Alltel acquisition, they might want to ask about getting access to those often-better Alltel plans, or something similar. After all, it’s all in the family now… —Jeff Blyskal
Tags: alltel, mobile-phones, News, verizon
Surreal Estate: Turning a Manhattan Apartment Into a Puzzle Palace
Apr 30, 2009 Multimedia
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The first hint that something was up came in a letter stamped “Lost Post.” It was addressed to the family of six who had recently moved into the sprawling Fifth Avenue apartment—and was apparently written by a former occupant who had died decades earlier. Inside the envelope was a poem full of riddles, the solutions to which were all around them: The home was filled with puzzles that had been covertly installed during an extensive renovation.
The letter led the family down a rabbit hole of hidden keys, secret compartments, and glowing boxes. Today, more than three years after they settled into their magic kingdom, they still haven’t solved everything—even with the book of clues that architectural designer Eric Clough planted in a wall to guide them.
The elaborate project started with a casual aside. “Can we do something for the kids?” Clough asked his client, the CEO of a private equity firm, when he began work on the $1 million-plus job. Nothing complicated at first, just a few hidden lines of verse. But soon the carpenters were carving ciphers into radiator covers and adding secret compartments to the credenza. “I kept sneaking back into the apartment and hiding a few more clues,” Clough says.
Even after the family decodes the last brainteaser, the game won’t really be over: Someday the special keys for the secret compartments will be lost. The veneer will begin to warp. Someone new will move in, and they’ll be enthralled by the enigmas around them. “Then,” Clough says, “they’ll find these clues in the archives of Wired.”
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The apartment was once part of a 54-room penthouse atop a 1925 building on New York’s Upper East Side. In 2005, an architectural designer retrofitted it with a treasure trove of puzzles and mysteries, unbeknownst to the new residents. Encrypted verses were carved into radiator covers.
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Elaborate Rubik’s Cube-like toys were hidden in a secret cabinet.
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The apartment’s elegance belies its cunning accoutrements.
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A cherry tree mural in the kids’ bedroom doubles as a map of Central Park.
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Starburst chandeliers figure in a riddle on Galileo.
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A Japanese wood puzzle, when assembled, becomes the key to unlock a hidden compartment.
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A poem written by the father is revealed when panels are released by a special magnet.
Tags: moved-temporarily, Multimedia, temporarily
Don’t let the swine flu infect your computer
Apr 29, 2009 Technology
A new variant of the swine flu is looking to make your computer sick. E-mail phishers are now sending unsolicited messages using subject lines like “First US swine flu victims” and “Swine flu worldwide” to entice readers to follow harmful links or open malicious attachments.
If you receive such an email, delete it immediately. McAfee’s Avert Labs Blog has a list of other known subject lines, including ones claiming that Madonna and Salma Hayek have been infected.
Readers with real swine flu questions should visit the FAQ at the Center for Disease Control’s website.
Related: Can you spot a cleverly disguised phishing e-mail? Take our quiz and find out. For more on Internet safety, visit our Guide to Online Security.
Tags: computer security, computers, Internet, internet/online, video
Verizon, Microsoft not planning an iPhone Killer?
Apr 29, 2009 Technology
There has been lots of speculation in recent months that Microsoft was working with Verizon on unleashing an iPhone killer, based on the company's Zune MP3 player. But as Engadget reports, no such model appears to be in the works.
That's just as well. While Zunes are competent MP3 players, they lack the panache to help a phone go toe-to-toe with iPhone, with its superb, touch-based interface. (Complete details in our Ratings of MP3 players, available to subscribers.) Besides, Verizon is also reportedly working on lassoing an iPhone, or at least Apple phone of some sort, for its customers.
Moreover, Verizon, one of the few carriers seemingly not yet hurt by the recession, already has phones that run on Microsoft's Windows Mobile operating system, including a touch-screen model called the Samsung Omnia. Windows Mobile phones generally do well in our tests. They allow you to easily create and edit documents, run multiple programs, and switch easily between them. Those advantages are likely to improve when Microsoft finally releases Windows Mobile 6.5. —Mike Gikas
Tags: cell phones, microsoft, mobile-phones, Technology
Typography Two Ways: Calligraphy With a Twist
Apr 29, 2009 Multimedia
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The phrase to the left can be read two ways: right side up and upside down. It’s called an ambigram, and it’s the hottest trend in typography since Helvetica. This one was created by professional puzzle designer Scott Kim, who has worked with invertible text for 35 years. “We’re wired to look for symmetry,” he explains. “Ambigrams have an almost mystical quality to them.” You can find them on everything from doormats (reading COME IN or GO AWAY, depending on your angle) to tattoos (which are awesome in the mirror) to Angels & Demons (the best-selling novel that hits the big screen on May 15). Here’s a quick tour through the world of ambigrams.
image: Scott Kim
Scott Kim designed this logo for his alma mater in 1990. He studied music and graphic design at Stanford and continued to experiment with ambigrams. In 1981, he released a book-length collection of his unique lettering called Inversions.
image: Scott Kim
Kim went on to become a professional puzzle and game designer. He later created this ambigram to celebrate the geek touchstone Tron, about a computer programmer who gets uploaded into a game.
image: Scott Kim
Kim’s ambitious attempt to make an ambigram out of one of the most recognizable logos in the world.
image: The Charles E. Tuttle Company
Ambigrams have been around for more than a century. Peter Newell’s 1893 picture book Topsys & Turvys concluded with an image that read “The End” right side up and “Puzzle” upside down. This is the first known ambigram.
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Many of the most visible ambigrams have been names and promotional logos. The brilliant industrial designer Raymond Loewy dreamed up this logo for French clothing company New Man in the 1960s. Loewy also designed logos for Shell Gas and Hoover vacuums.
image: Lovember Records
Washington, DC, glam rock outfit Angel sported this psychedelic ambigram on its 1977 On Earth as It Is in Heaven album cover. The album art effectively demonstrates that the rockers’ hairdos look just as awesome upside down.
image: Marvel Comics
After rebooting DC’s Justice League in the JLA series in the 1990s, Grant Morrison brought the X-Men back to life with renowned artist Frank Quitely, the illustrator of this ambigram cover. Morrison had a 40-plus issue run, starting with his New X-Men #114 debut.
image: MGM
Cary Elwes and Robin Wright Penn discover fantasy can be reality on the 20th-anniversary DVD cover of The Princess Bride. The movie’s title is an ambigram, reading correctly in both the right-side-up Westley version and the upside-down Dread Pirate Roberts version.
image: Pocket Books
In Dan Brown’s 2003 novel Angels & Demons, symbologist Robert Langdon must uncover the mystery of a mark burned into the chest of a murdered physicist—in addition to stopping the Illuminati’s not-so-secret blood feud against the Catholic Church. This ambigrammatic cover effectively conveys the idea that Rome has a hidden underbelly.
image: Red Chapter Clothing
Ambigrams have become a fashion accessory. Red Chapter Clothing http://www.redchapterclothing.com/ makes ambigrams wearable and stylish, with stars like Jamie Foxx sporting its designs. The man behind Red Chapter, Mark Palmer, is also a prolific ambigram tattoo designer.
Tags: moved-temporarily, Multimedia, temporarily
DisplaySearch: Plasma shipments continue to slide
Apr 28, 2009 News
As we've previously noted, sales of plasma TVs have waned as LCDs have become a more popular choice, so that nine out of every 10 TVs now sold in the U.S. are LCD models. Given that the best plasma TVs (available to subscribers) are still great choices, we've been wondering: Can plasma sales rebound?
Based on the latest numbers from Austin-based market research firm DisplaySearch, the answer is apparently no. Blaming the poor economic climate and the exit by several brands from the business, DisplaySearch reports that shipments of plasma panels—the glass panels used to make plasma TVs—fell 22 percent in the first quarter of the year compared to the same time last year.
While a lot of the decline was due to the 32-inch screen size—offered by brands such as Vizio and Insignia—being discontinued, DisplaySearch says that even 42- and 50-inch panel shipments were down, as Pioneer exited the TV business altogether, and other brands, including Vizio and Hitachi, are now focused exclusively on LCD. That leaves just Panasonic, Samsung and LG Electronics as the major panel makers left in the plasma business.
“As bad as plasma unit shipments were in Q1’09 relative to a year ago, plasma panel revenues were even worse, declining 36 percent [year-to-year], as falling prices were needed to stem even steeper demand falloff,” noted Paul Gagnon, DisplaySearch director of North America TV market research. He expects plasma manufacturers to try and implement more efficient manufacturing and production processes to help remain competitive with LCD sets.
DisplaySearch also noted that 1080p plasma shipments dropped slightly, as more manufacturers focused on lower-priced 720p models in the 42- and 50-inch screen sizes to entice cost-conscious customers. Also, one-third of all plasma shipments are now 50 inches or larger, a size where they compete more effectively with LCD sets.
Personally, I hope that plasma TVs remain a viable choice for some time to come. We're currently testing several new plasma TV models from the leading manufacturers, so stay tuned for the results.
And if you'd like more info about DisplaySearch's latest findings, check out its global TV forecast, or send an email to the company at contact@displaysearch.com.—James K. Willcox
Tags: camcorders, hdtv, trends
Three tips to avoid ATM skimmers
Apr 28, 2009 News
The next time you use an ATM, look before you swipe. There’s a good chance the machine was tampered with, say an increasing number of experts.
Savvy crooks are once-again trying to attach skimmers—phony card scanners that fit over the ATM’s real card swipe—in hopes of reading your debit or credit card and send its data to the criminal. A cleverly concealed spy camera, records your secret PIN code. Increased awareness of ATM skimming scams have banks doubling their efforts to protect their customers, reports ABC News.
Here are some safety tips to keep in mind when you use an ATM:
1. Beware of your own bank’s ATMs. Earlier this month, three skimmers were found in one week, all at ATMs located within Chase bank lobbies or vestibules. Criminals know that well-known bank machines are trusted and highly trafficked. But, they're not closely monitored—especially during off hours, when thieves can place their very cleverly-crafted and –concealed contraptions.
2. Know what to look for. Scam artists are adroit at camouflaging their devices to look legitimate. (See how convincing these doctored ATMs look by checking our sister blog, The Consumerist.) If you see an extra mirror or shoddy looking card-reader, give them a tug. They might pop right off. If you see something suspicious, don't use the machine and alert the bank branch's manager. If it's after hours, call your bank and alert them to the problem. Many ATMs will also have a local or toll-free number (printed on the machine itself) to call if you're having problems or issues with a particular machine.
3. Make safe ATM use a regular practice. Cover your hand when entering your PIN. Take your receipt (if you opt to have one printed) and always make sure your session has ended before you walk away from the machine.
"Skimming" and other forms of ATM fraud are a growing, worldwide concern. Australia’s Commonwealth Bank has released a great visual guide to identifying skimmers at ATMs. Download the PDF here. Also check out the embedded video, above, from the BBC show The Real Hustle.
Do you have other ATM safety tips and practices? Or an experience with a compromised ATM? Share it here. —Nick K. Mandle
Tags: computers, if-not-soon, News, tips, video
