A couple of weeks ago I went to Pittsburgh for what I thought would be a day trip.  Since I was headed back that evening, I didn’t take my laptop, but because of thunderstorms across the Eastern Seaboard, my sojourn turned into an overnight stay.  So I had an opportunity to give a good workout to something I had received the previous day:  a review unit of Apple’s eagerly awaited (boy, that’s an understatement) iPhone.

During my travels and airport delays, I was able to keep up with my e-mail, negotiate my way around the downtown, get tips on the city from an old friend whose number I don’t normally have handy, check the weather conditions in New York and D.C., monitor baseball scores and blogs, listen to an early Neil Young concert and amuse myself with silly YouTube videos and an episode of “Weeds,” all on a single charge before the battery ran down. Now, just about all those things could have been done by devices that are already out on the market. But considering I’d had the iPhone for just a day, and never taken a glance at a manual, it was an impressive introduction.  In contrast, I’ve had a Motorola handset for two years and am still baffled at its weird approach to Web browsing and messaging.   What’s more, with the exception of learning to type on the iPhone, which requires some concentration, doing all those things on that five-ounce device was fun, in the same way that switching from an old command-line interface to the Macintosh graphical user interface in the mid-1980s was a kick.  And when I showed the iPhone to people during that trip and in the days afterward—especially people under 25—the most common reaction was, “I have to have this,” sometimes followed by a quick, if alarmingly reckless,  consideration of what might need to be pawned in order to make the purchase.

And there it is: one of the most hyped consumer products ever comes pretty close to justifying the bombast.  Apple has a history of using cutting-edge technology, slick design and friendly software to break the common logjam in which our machines have the capability to perform certain tasks, but developers haven’t figured out how to make the experience easy, even pleasurable, for users. That’s one reason why people, especially the tens of millions who love iPods, have been so eagerly awaiting the iPhone. “Everyone we talk to hates their phones—it’s universal,” Steve Jobs told me on a call to my iPhone a couple of days ago.  (The control-freaky Apple CEO was just checking up to see how I was doing.) If you’re looking for quibbles, flaws and omissions, you’ll certainly find them in this first version of the iPhone.  (I’ll get to these below.) But the bottom line is that the iPhone is a significant leap. It’s a superbly engineered, cleverly designed and imaginatively implemented approach to a problem that no one has cracked to date: merging a phone handset, an Internet navigator and a media player in a package where every component shines, and the features are welcoming rather than foreboding.  The iPhone is the rare convergence device that actually converges.

Read the rest of the review 

 

What is it?

Toshiba TDP-FF1AU "Palm Sized" Projector.

How much will it cost me?

$699.

Who makes it?

Toshiba.

Why should I care?

At just one pound, and about the size of a large paperback book, it's a truly portable projector that will turn any wall into a 68-inch video screen.

How would you describe it?

With its built-in battery pack--which offers about two hours of play time, just enough for the typical Hollywood flick--this Toshiba projector is worth taking a look at. It even comes with a 23-inch diagonal folding screen and carrying case, so you'll have a true traveling movie theater. It has a host of inputs--RGB, composite, USB and stereo mini-jack-making it compatible with a number of video sources ranging from laptops and portable DVD players to digital cameras. Even though it won't replace a large flat screen TV, and the SVGA 800x600 resolution is far from high definition, this mobile DLP projector is still significantly better than many larger "portable" projector systems in its class. It requires almost no warm-up or cool-down time, and while it's not the brightest projector we've seen, it does a pretty good job even when there's a little ambient light in the room. And since it's sleek enough to fit in your carry on bag, you'll never have to waste your summer vacation time actually reading ever again!

When can I get my hands on it?

Now.

Where can I find it?

Amazon.com.

What's your verdict?

Try.

What is it?

Stanton T.90 USB Turntable.

How much will it cost me?

$399.

Who makes it?

Stanton.

Why should I care?

This turntable features a USB output, so you can transfer your favorite vinyl records directly to a CD recorder or computer.

How would you describe it?

A whole generation may have grown up that might not understand why some of us still hang onto those thin black disks known as vinyl records. However, the fact remains, and serious audiophiles agree, that vinyl has a fuller and richer sound than CD. So you don't have to be a club DJ spinning records until the wee hours of the morning to appreciate a quality turntable like Stanton's new T.90 USB. It features three playback speeds--including 78rpm, should you actually have those really old records lying around--along with a pitch slider in case you are working on your own megamixes. This turntable might be meant for older technology, but it has plenty of 21st century features for our digital age. You can adjust the tempo of a record without affecting its pitch, and more importantly use the digital and USB outputs to copy your vinyl albums directly to a CD recorder or even rip them to a computer, where the included software can convert the songs to MP3 or WAV audio files.

When can I get my hands on it?

Now.

Where can I find it?

GuitarCenter.com.

What's your verdict?

Buy.

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DirecTV Sat-Go.

How much will it cost me?

$1,499.

Who makes it?

DirecTV.

Why should I care?

Do you like to tailgate? Now you can party in the parking lot and still stay on top of gridiron action from around the country.

How would you describe it?

Anyone who takes their TV watching very, very seriously knows that going on vacation isn’t relaxing--it means that you have to worry about whether your DVR will record your shows. Portable TVs are good in a pinch, but they only pick up broadcast TV. I can’t be tethered to cable, but with DirecTV Satellite-to-Go I can tune in from almost anywhere. You get an actual satellite dish and a 17-inch LCD monitor to watch anything DirecTV provides, in a high-tech looking suitcase that's smaller in size than an overnight bag, A rechargeable battery powers the unit if you’re not near an AC or DC power supply, but you'll only get about an hour’s worth of viewing time, so plan accordingly. Final note: if you consider standard def roughing, please note that this is SD only, not high-def.

When can I get my hands on it?

Now.

Where can I find it?

DirecTV.com.

What's your verdict?

Try.

 

In today's User Notes, Sarina Rosenberg recounts her experience with Verizon's V Cast Song ID.

I was skeptical when I first saw the ads for Verizon's V Cast Song ID. In the TV spots, a guy slickly uses his cell phone to identify the title and artist of a song he hears blasting from a convertible full of--you guessed it--flirtatious twenty-somethings. But this service is for real. Hear a song, open the application on your phone, identify it for free (some carriers charge a texting fee) and then pay ($1.99 per song on Verizon) to download it as a ring tone or MP3 file. Verizon offers the application, V Cast Song ID, on a slew of new phones, including the Chocolate, the enV by LG, the LG VX8700 and the VX9400 ($99.99-$199.99). Sony Ericsson announced their first phone with their music ID application, TrackID, in 2006, and some of the phones in the new Walkman series ($199-$499) come equipped with the application. Cingular and T-Mobile carry the Sony Ericsson line. Each service sets its own fees for the application.

Music recognition is finally going mainstream in the world of mobile. But the feature is simply a new twist on a relatively retro technology. These phones link to the same databases that supply the song information for applications like iTunes and Windows Media Player so that they can provide you with the artist, album and track information of a CD you slip into your laptop. Verizon's service uses the U.K.-based Shazam database; Sony Ericsson links to Gracenote.

In cell phones and laptops alike, the key to unlocking a song's identity lies in a six-second, incredibly specific music sample. "It's a finger-printing technology," says Ty Roberts, Gracenote's chief technology officer.

The fifth annual “D” Conference, run by the Wall Street Journal with hosts Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher, was so full of digiluminaries that nearly every time the name of some tech macher was invoked, the person in question was spotted in the audience. The highlight of the event was a joint appearance by Bill Gates and Steve Jobs -- closer to a lovefest than a smackdown, but not without some barbed interchanges or two. (Like when Jobs mentioned how much he liked Bill’s Zune team because “they’re our customers” for iPod.)

There were also a host of new products, news of which was embargoed until their release at the conference. I’ve already covered one in depth: Microsoft Surface. Here’s a rundown of a few more. Please note that these are not official product reviews--none of them have undergone careful evaluation in the field: