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Wake to a World of Music with Quattro’s WiFi Alarm Radio

Posted by Lolita Beckwith Categories: Home Entertainment, Smart Home, Internet, Music, PC / Laptop, Portable Audio / Video, Wireless / WiFi,

If you’re familiar with the wide world of internet radio, you know it’s filled with thousands of stations from all over the world, and can be accessed by devices such as this one from Acoustic Energy. Well now you can wake up to one of these stations, courtesy of the Tangent Quattro WiFi Alarm Radio. It’s a retro-looking device that links up to your wireless network—and accesses over 6000 internet radio stations around the globe. In other words, you don’t need a computer and there’s no fees involved! Arise to Bhangra beats one day, Brazilian samba the next (and yes, there’s a snooze alarm). Plus, the Quattro can wirelessly stream music stored in your computer and you can even attach your MP3 player and use it as a speaker! Love it! Available in various colors for $250 USD, although for some reason “High Gloss White” is $50 more.

Don’t Trash It - Freecycle

Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Internet, Misc. Tech,

Freecycle logo Want to do more than just throw away your old stuff now that you have better gadgets amassed from the holidays? Started in 2003, the Freecycle Network is filled with freebies. It claims to save more than 300 million tons of trash every day by recycling. There are now more than 4 million members from 4,100 cities, so if you haven’t been there lately, visit it again.

The site also features volunteer moderators who make sure the swaps are legal and G-rated. Founder Deron Beal is proud that Freecycle helped a Hurricane Katrina victim refurnish his home and features such acts of kindness as the man who assembles bike parts then gives them away. Think of it as a kinder, more generous craig’s list.

Late Night Mix-Up

Posted by K.C. Morgan Categories: Late Night, Reality, Talk Shows, NBC, Rumors,

It all started when long-running NBC darling Jay Leno said he was going to retire. The Tonight Show, currently enjoying its fifty-second season on the network, is a show that’s obviously bigger than any one man. So NBC execs immediately started casting about for Leno’s replacement. Early rumors linked Conan O’Brien’s name to the late night variety/talk show, leaving a hosting hole wide open on O’Brien’s gig. Jimmy Fallon became the heir apparent, and Leno’s retirement (not scheduled, by the way, until 2009) seemed a done deal. But now, Jay just might be changing his mind. Sources purporting to be close to the situation say Leno doesn’t want to go, and NBC has answered the rumor. The network says it wants to stick with Leno, and has no intention of giving the show to O’Brien (and collectively, we can all say “whew”). The network is anxious to keep Conan on his regular late gig, which doesn’t bode too well for Fallon’s career.

Apples iTunes WiFi Music Store: trouble in paradise?

Posted by Sparky Categories: Apple, Smartphones, Music, Software,

iTunes Wifi Store Yesterday morning brought Apple‘s iPhone Update version 1.1.1 which included a bevy of new features including the slick new WiFi music store for the iPod Touch and the iPhone. The WiFi music store lets users purchase songs on-the-go using any WiFi hotspot which essentially puts the entire multi-million track library of iTunes in your pocket - perfect for a quick impulse buy from time to time.

Unfortunately not all users are able to get the shiny new storefront to work. Several of the iPhone owning editors at Gear Live were able to update their iPhone and use the WiFi music store successfully - I was not. Worse yet I don’t appear to be alone as other users have reported similar problems on the internet. Click through the jump for full details on why the iTunes WiFi music store isn’t working for us.

Click to continue reading Apples iTunes WiFi Music Store: trouble in paradise?

FOX Leads Tuesday Night Ratings This Week

Posted by K.C. Morgan Categories: Drama, Prime Time, ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, Dancing With The Stars, House, Ratings,

Hugh Laurie FOX’s medical melodrama House led the ratings on Tuesday, winning viewers over ABC’s Dancing With the Stars and Law & Order: SUV on NBC. Approximately 18.1 million viewers tuned in to watch House, the highest-rated premiere for any network so far this season. ABC’s dance-off won fewer viewers from the Monday lead-in, while CBS scored 13.7 million viewers with NCIS. CBS won big ratings with Cane, a show that’s been highly advertised by the network. But at the end of the day, House (and Hugh Laurie) still led the ratings game. Is this the year that FOX wins big ratings – for a show that’s not American Idol?

Games With Online Multiplayer Sell More

Posted by Paul Hamilton Categories: Corporate News, Downloadable Content, Internet, Microsoft, Nintendo, PlayStation 3, Sony, Wii, Xbox 360,

A research paper from Electronic Entertainment Design and Research has been released that suggests that games with online support can be crucial to a game’s retail success. Not surprisingly, another way to boost sales is to create a quality game (defined as those with a 90+ score on Metacritic), with these well-reviewed titles outselling the average release well above 5-to-1.

While making good games typically means making good money, naturally, it is a bit surprising to see the report indicate that sales can be doubled by dropping in an online mode. With online games selling twice the number copies that offline titles do, it’s curious to note that over half of games released don’t offer even basic online support.

Click to continue reading Games With Online Multiplayer Sell More

No More NBC at iTunes Store

Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Apple, Editorial, Home Entertainment, Portable Audio / Video,

NBC logo Apple has announced that it will no longer be offering NBC programs through its iTunes Store. The network broke relations with Apple after they refused to pay more than double the wholesale price for each show. This would have forced the price up to $4.99 per episode rather than the $1.99, which fellow studios ABC, CBS, FOX, The CW, and 50 cable networks now share. Because their contract doesn’t expire until December, Apple decided not to air any of their shows until then so as not to interrupt a series in mid-season. We know a better way to catch them which will not cost us a cent. We believe it is referred to as television watching.

Detailed Warhawk FAQ Available

Posted by Paul Hamilton Categories: Action, Downloadable Content, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Network,

Dylan Jobe from the Warhawk team has posted a lengthy FAQ on the PlayStation blog where he clarifies, among other details, how the player-hosted matches will work. Essentially, the system tests the host’s connection speed and makes a determination based on that about how many players the game will support, 8, 16, 24 or 32. From the FAQ:

[W]e… do a really quick series of bandwidth tests to determine how many players you will be able to handle. We spent quite a bit of time looking at the bandwidth requirements to make sure that the games that you host are not out of your league with regard to the bandwidth needed. We got a lot of comments during the BETA about players that were hosting 24 or 32 player games when they didn’t have the bandwidth to do so. This resulted in pretty crappy game experiences sometimes. Our updated bandwidth requirements should resolve a lot of this and we’ll be monitoring it and changing them if we need to… If you’re at school (college dorm or something) on a network you’ll probably be hosting up to 32 players, but the net is what the net is and you all know how it can change like the weather. If you have a really bad connection, then you will be hosting eight or 16 players.

He also talks about how there will be no way to run the retail version without the disc in tray, the fact that there will be clan support and that there is split-screen play but you can only have one headset active at a time on a given console, plus a lot more.

ABC to Welcome 11 New Shows

Posted by K.C. Morgan Categories: Comedy, Drama, Prime Time, ABC, News,

ABC Logo ABC will continue to work toward ratings supremacy this coming fall with no less than eleven brand-new shows. Will any one of them match the Desperate Housewives phenomenon? ABC certainly hopes so. The eleven new shows will bring some once-familiar faces back to the small screen, including Christina Applegate (of Jessie and Married With Children fame) and Lucy Liu (Charlie’s Angels movie star who got her start on Ally McBeal). But how many of these newcomers will make it to a second season on ABC? That probably all depends on how popular the existing ABC ratings-grabbers stay when faced with new network competition. How do these new fall shows stack up?