Hardware

There have been a number of rumors recently as to what the Kindle 3 is going to be and when it is going to be out. This time last year there was a bunch of rumors about the "Kindle 3", most of which involved a larger screen. As it turns out, that was the Kindle DX, and that came out. As of late the rumor mill seems to have started up again with new talk of a Kindle 3 being released/announced at some point this month. The Kindle 2 was released in February of 2009, so if Amazon plays by the Apple rules and releases a new version around the same time each year, we're looking to have the Kindle 3 here shortly.

I was surfing about looking at Kindle 3 rumors, most of which were from last year (and for what turned out to be the DX). I have combined these along with some thinking of my own and put together what I'd like from the Kindle 3. I kept it to the "big" items, meaning I'm not bitching about the desire for a new browser, enhanced MP3 player or other software tweaks. Yes, I do desire all those "niceties", but they can be firmwared at anytime. If I'm gonna wish for something, I'll wish big(ish), and hope that it is still reasonable.
Continue reading "Wishlist for a "Kindle 3"" »

I know you're looking at this title and the first thought that comes to mind is "What the Frack?!" (No Vitriol tag, so I don't get to swear profusely... so sayeth my editor). I know... I'm normally not one to buy Apple products, I think their operating system is designed for idiots and they generally think they are better than everyone else. Not to mention the "Cult of Apple" which drives me up a freaking wall. Don't get me wrong, I fanboy companies (See also: Google), but I'll fully admit when those companies screw up or do something wrong... The Apple Cult? Ha. Everything they do is "perfect". Makes me want to shove that MacBook up their... yea... anyways. Back to the iPhone.

They announced the new iPod Nanos a while back and they were shiny. I wanted a new iPod and I was about due for an upgrade. $150 wasn't a bad price either, then I kept looking and realized that A) I've wanted an "all in one" device for a while and B) the iPhone (subsidized) was only $50 more. I polled a few people and the answer was "Buy the iPhone", so I did. I succumbed to the shiny. Now I've had it for about 3 weeks, so it is due for a review.
Continue reading "Review: iPhone " »

Last Friday I covered the AMD Experience on the USS Hornet. This is "Part 2" which is less technical stuff (though I have a ton of it, I just don't think anyone cares that much) and more "cool shit" that I saw. The first of which is an "Ultra high definition 175" seamless display". It is 5500x2000 resolution using 6 rear HD projectors for a total of 11 million pixels. And yes, they were playing Left 4 Dead on it; yes, it was totally bad ass. This "rig" was powered by one single computer and one single card, the new AMD 5870. I've got to say the guy from Mersive (makers of this bad ass screen) was very nice and took a fair amount of time to talk to me and answer my questions. Needless to say, if I could ever afford one of these, I'd totally buy it (I'm guess that it is expensive enough that they'll toss the computer in for free).

Item #2, while not as technically impressive, was still damn cool. It was Google Earth spread across 3 very large TVs. I'd guess they were probably better than 46" each. I joke that the screens allow you to show Google Earth at a 1:1 scale. I think the reason why I think that was so cool was the fact that if you look at the picture, on the left TV you see the coast of California, on the right TV you can see the top half of Lake Tahoe (and part of Nevada). I know you're saying "Hey, I can do that on my 15" screen", yes, but you can't have that view and have a meter and a half walk between the two features. If you need to show off a LOT of (whatever it is you show off) at once, this is definitely the answer.

Item #3 on my list of "kick ass", while not quite as "cool" as say a giant Left 4 Dead demo, but far more impressive, was this monstrosity. That is 24 LCDs powered by a SINGLE COMPUTER (with 4 of these news graphics cards). According to the AMD employee I talked to, never before had this many screens been powered by a single computer. I'm inclined to believe him too. On screen was a very functional copy of X-Plane flight simulator. The employee was kind enough to let me take it for a spin, and damn... that was cool. I asked him how much work went into making the software compatible with this system, and he told me they only had to make 1 change (ONE!!! One!), which was to allow multiple copies of X-Plane to run on the same computer. You see, X-Plane already allows you to network multiple machines in, so instead he ran 4 copies of X-Plane on the same computer. Each copy ran one graphics card, which in turn ran 6 of the 24 screens.

Now the one thing that really and truly impressed me about this entire demo. This computer is running Linux. Yes, you heard me right. A demonstration for the latest and greatest graphics card ever, is running on the bastard step child of operating systems, at least when it comes to graphics drivers. Earlier in the presentation that they gave to us "Community members", they mentioned Linux support along with Vista and Win7. I think that is super cool of them. This display running Linux just made me all warm and fuzzy inside. Plus the guy made a few other tweaks that were cool, the one I want to mention which might be somewhat hard to tell in the previous picture, is bezel skipping. He did this on the linux side, rather than the graphics card - but apparently Windows will have this feature at some point also. Basically if you look really close, the computer renders as if the bezel were actually part of the displayable screen (and thus skips over that part of the image) which overall works very nicely in this display.

All and all, I was very excited to be there. I didn't partake in the free food (well I did take 2 power bars and a bottle of water) or booze, but that's ok. I'm a "cheap date" when I get invited to these tech shindigs. I'm far more interested in the technology than I am in abusing their free food budget. I took a bunch of pictures, which unfortunately I'm too lazy to generate thumbnails for, but if you are interested you can browse them.

A few weeks ago I was contacted via Twitter to see if I was interested in attending a bay area "tech/gamer blogger event". I was a little bit suspicious, but eventually I acquiesced (thanks to John's constant harassing). As it turns out, I got an invite to the "AMD Experience aboard the USS Hornet". I didn't know what to expect because I wasn't told anything about it in advance.

So last night I went off to visit the USS Hornet, which I had visited previously about a month ago (and never got around to blogging about it). I got accosted by a security guard asking if I was "here for the event", sigh. I fully expected that and I'm used to it, so It doesn't upset me. I got inside to find that they had turned off all the regular lighting and replaced it with what I can best describe as "mood lighting". It was amusing, but made it somewhat difficult to get any decent photography done for the evening. Not that it stopped me because I have ISO 6400 to abuse on my camera, and abuse it I did. Continue reading "The AMD Experience Event aboard the USS Hornet" »

There has been plenty written about the Kindle DX, good and bad. There has also been a lot of fighting on whether the device is better or worse, too soon, so on and so forth. I really don't care about that. I bought one; I got it yesterday; I'm happy. I haven't been able to spend a ton of time using my Kindle DX (I do have to work and stuff), but I thought I would share at least my initial reactions.

My very first reaction: Wow. It's big.

Obviously, I knew ahead of time that the Kindle DX (KDX) was larger than the Kindle 2 (K2), that is the point after all, but it is still a little surprising. In fact the KDX is almost exactly the same size as my Eee PC 1000. The screens between the two devices are very similar in size, just slightly different shapes; the KDX screen being shorter, but wider. After getting used to the Kindle 1 (K1) and the K2, getting a device this size is a bit jarring. It was a bit of a mixed reaction.

The next major notice is the next/previous page buttons. On the KDX they are only on the right hand side, no more left side buttons. Even though I'm right handed, I prefer holding my Kindles with my left hand. This is because it allows me to still interact with the world using my right hand. So the loss of these left side buttons is a little sad to me. Now before this makes anyone upset, remember that the KDX has a tilt sensor. You can (and I have) simply rotate the KDX to be "upside down". The page fixes itself, and the buttons are on the left hand side. While this is nifty, my major problem with it is that it takes a second to rotate the device in your hands and the screen to catch up. This is opposed to the K2 where you could simply pass the device back and forth between your hands while having your reading experience uninterrupted. Minor miff, but I'm sure I'll get used to it.

The last major physical difference to the KDX is the keyboard. The K1 Keyboard had a crazy (but interesting) design. The K2 Keyboard was a decent revision, going to a more normal design. The KDX Keyboard is yet another overhaul. This time they dropped the numbers row and made the keys more of a Tic Tac shape. I haven't done a lot of typing, but so far the keyboard has been decent. The biggest problem I see with this keyboard is the fact that the device is simply too wide to effectively use the keyboard. If I'm holding the device on the outsides, it is a bit of a stretch to reach G/H (for example) with my thumbs.

So, how do I like the device after using it for just a day? It's different. Being larger is definitely nice, seeing as how you can go that much longer between page turns. Plus you can turn up the font size to what I affectionately refer to as "HUGE" (the text is 1/4" inch tall) while still retaining a reasonable amount of text on screen. The tilt sensor also works well, it doesn't trigger a screen rotation until the device is over 45deg to one side or the other. I like that it is more likely to stay "upright", unlike the iTouches and iPhones which seem to switch orientation on the drop of a hat (and unlike the Kindle lack the ability to lock the rotation).

My main complaint with the KDX? The weight. The reason why I've really enjoyed reading with my Kindles was because I could "one hand" it without issue. The KDX seems to be just slightly too heavy (it might be more to do with the size exacerbating the slightly increased weight). I was reading in bed last night and I found myself having to switch hands more often that I'd like, simply because my thumb was getting tired of holding on. I think with a little bit of getting used to it, and working on finding a better hold position, the issue could become moot.

Parting words. People, the Kindle DX is NOT the Kindle 3. Get over yourselves and the fact that you just bought a Kindle 2 (Hey, I did too, the trio are pictured above). The Kindle DX is to the Kindle 2 as an iPod Touch is to the iPod Shuffle. It is made with a different market in mind, with a different purpose and a different form factor. Yes, the thing is large, but it is supposed to be. If you want a small and easy to carry eBook reader, buy a Kindle 2. That being said, for what it is, it is a fantastic device. Especially if you are loading up PDF documents. If you're unhappy with the KDX/K2 situation, wait a year, I'm sure the Kindle 3 will be out - and I'll buy one of those too (gotta catch 'em all!).