Xbox 360 Content License Transfer Tool now available

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Corporate News, Downloadable Content, Editorial, Internet, Microsoft, Xbox 360, Xbox Live Marketplace,

Looks like Microsoft has finally gotten around to attempting to fix the horribly, horribly broken Xbox 360 DRM model, which we have written about in the past here and here, with the release of the Xbox 360 Content License Transfer Tool. The video above, hosted by Major Nelson, shows off exactly how users go about consolidating all their licenses to a single Xbox 360 console. There are a couple of issues here though, and they need to be addressed - after all, if you are going to work on a tool to help your users, the help shouldn’t result in new problems.

Click to continue reading Xbox 360 Content License Transfer Tool now available

V-Moda customer service responds

Posted by Sparky Categories: Accessories, Smartphones, Music, Portable Audio / Video,

Mere hours after the post regarding V-Moda’s horrible customer service, they got back to me with status on the warranty and the news that they would be shipping replacement Duos right away. The communication did not mention if the previous article had any influence on their response, but the timing certainly is suspicious. The note included an apology stating that they had moved offices which had caused delays. While finally getting contact is nice V-Moda’s inability to properly set expectations was inexcusable.

Click to continue reading V-Moda customer service responds

MIT Makes Inexpensive Solar Dish

Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Design, Editorial, Misc. Tech, Science,

A team of MIT students has successfully tested a prototype solar dish by lighting a plank of wood on fire. The system is a 12 ft. wide mirrored dish made of thin, inexpensive aluminum tubing and strips of mirror. It concentrates sun rays by a factor of 1,000, enough heat to melt a steel bar. Because water in the tubing turns to steam, the team is hoping that could revolutionize energy production as we know it. We think it’s great and would certainly opt for solar panels over building more nuclear power plants, as was recently suggested by a certain presidential contender.

Read More | MIT

Ian Usher Sells His Life for $233,000

Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Smart Home, Internet,

Talk about depressing. Ian Usher was obviously devastated when his wife left him since he decided to auction off his life on eBay. The Australian resident was hoping to raise $475,000.00 to make a fresh start. The package included most of his worldly possessions and a chance to take over his job. The first day it appeared that the bids went as high as $2.1 million. Unfortunately, it turned out to be a glitch in the system, so when all was said and done the highest bid was only $233,000. While that is only about half of what he would have liked, that seems enough to make a pretty decent start.

Read More | MSNBC

CJ7 Dog Doll MP3 Player

Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Music, Portable Audio / Video, Toys, USB,

This wins our award for the ugliest MP3 Player on the planet. The CJ7 Dog Doll has built-in speakers and 1GB flash memory via USB. At a size of 3.19 x 1.34 x 3.35-inches and a weight of 6.98 oz., the creature comes with what the site describes as a “cute dog doll outfit.” Uh huh. No doubt Paris Hilton might find this amusing, but for $18.67, we think we will pass until they come up with one that works without the fru-fru.

Read More | Deal Extreme

Toy Story 3D Midway Mania

Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Misc. Tech, Movies, PC / Laptop, Toys, Videos,

It’s been a while since we have been to a Disney Park and notice that technology has come a long way. Their Toy Story Midway Mania is a 3-D gaming experience that was created with help from the Pixar folks. The attraction includes an animatronic Mr. Potato Head barker and a swiveling ride that takes you past a series of virtual games. Each of the five is based on a different Toy Story character. While you can’t actually win anything, virtual prizes are awarded. A central PC-based gaming control is run by a computer farm that consist of about 150 computers, including one Windows XP PC from HP for each of the 56 game screens.

Read More | Mechatronics Zone

Channel Changer Ray Gun

Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: HDTV, Home Entertainment, Misc. Tech, Movies,

There is not much info available on this Channel Changer Ray Gun, but we figure it has to be even more functional than the SMK remote prototype that was shaped like a water pistol. Due out in August, you can pre-order now for £8.99 (~$17.00) and get ready for the new fall season on the Sci-Fi Channel, or a few old episodes of the myriad of Star Trek re-runs that seem to go on forever.

Read More | Play

Remote Buddy Organizes

Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: HDTV, Home Entertainment, Smart Home, Misc. Tech,

Every time we get a new gadget we get a new remote. While we suppose a universal one should be in order, we prefer the simplicity of the Remote Buddy. It holds up to 4 remotes with a cup holder for your fave brew. The outstanding thing about this is that it has one-touch buttons in case you lose one of the controls. Made of plastic, the 16 1/2 x 7 1/2 x 3 1/2-inch holder carries a MSRP of $59.98.

Read More | Taylor Gifts

Vibe Duo review followup (or V-Moda customer service sucks)

Posted by Sparky Categories: Accessories, Smartphones, Music, Portable Audio / Video,

Previously, we’ve raved about the iPhone Vibe Duo headset/earbuds and the 2nd generation Duos with the answer/hangup button. Unfortunately at this time I’m are dismayed to report that I can no longer so highly recommend the Vibe Duos or any other product manufactured by V-Moda.

In the 9 months I’ve owned a set of the Vibe Duos, they have required repair once, and failed outright 3 times. While the Duos sound incredible and are super comfortable, it’s hard to continue to recommend a product with such an astonishingly high failure rate. It’s actually surprising that the Duos have such a high failure rate given their cloth cables and metal construction - initially we would have guessed them to be among the most sturdy earbuds available.

To top things off, V-Moda’s customer service sucks. Returns take weeks on end, and the most recent attempt to get a replacement pair of earbuds has ended in stony silence from V-Moda and a complaint to the Better Business Bureau. Hit the link below for the full gory details over on my personal blog, and a copy of the BBB complaint.

Update: V-Moda has officially responded - check out the V-Moda responds post for details.

Read More | Code For Food

iPhone 2.0 firmware going gold master this week

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Smartphones, Handhelds, Portable Audio / Video, Software, Video Games,

Here we are, at the tail end of June, and it appears that the iPhone 2.0 firmware is right on schedule to achieve the status of golden master on Friday. According to our friends over at Gizmodo, they have a source inside the iPhone software dev team who let them know that the shipping version of the update will follow build 345. Expect a couple of new encryption and code-signing features.

Now, just because the firmware will be finalized and ready on Friday, that doesn’t necessarily mean that we can expect it to show up in iTunes or anything. During the latest WWDC keynote, Steve Jobs said it would be available in early July. Also, as history has shown us, the final version of firmware can be ready weeks before it is released, as was the case with the iPhone 1.1.3 firmware we got our hands on weeks before it was out. Surprisingly, the build number of the version we had matched that of what shipped.

Anyhow, we look forward to getting our hands on the final version of the 2.0 firmware. We are ready for some App Store goodness, Exchange features, iWork support, and most importantly, Super Monkey Ball.

Read More | Gizmodo