The Eye-Fi WiFi Secure Digital flash memory card is probably the coolest device to come out this year. What does it do? Well, it does just what it sounds like it does. The Eye-Fi allows you to take pictures with a camera that supports SD cards and then wirelessly transfer them to your computer or upload them directly to your favorite photo sharing site without connecting any cables or even popping the SD card into a reader. What’s even better is that it also comes with 2GB of storage on-board.

While 2 gigs is starting to look a little paltry compared to the higher capacity cards more and more cameras are beginning to support these days, most folks can take quite a few pictures on two gigs without running out of space. On top of that, the ease in which you can then dump the pictures onto your PC (or Mac!) really makes this card an incredible device. What is very frustrating is the incredible potential this little guy sports that is simply not being exploited.

Think about it. Most still cameras shoot video–wouldn’t it be great if the thing could upload video files directly from your camera to YouTube or any other video hosting site of your choice? What about mp3s? One thing that has frustrated iPod users for years is the lack of wifi. Sure, the iPod Touch has wifi capabilities but you can’t transfer files to it over your Local Area Network. This seems like a stupid thing to not be able to do. In theory, this card can solve that problem in media players that support SD cards.

The sad thing is that like so many other devices out there, its obvious wireless potential is not even being acknowledge by the makers of the Eye-Fi. If you go to the Eye-Fi website, all they talk about are photos. There is no mention of video or audio clips despite the commonality of cameras that will play and even record both. This is very similar to the situation Nintendo DS fans have dealt with. It took Nintendo years to get around to releasing a web browser for the DS, forcing the device’s homebrew community to work on it, instead. This is sort of understandable since a browser is complicated software. However, the programs the Eye-Fi is missing require minimal coding and, in theory, could be added quickly and easily. They could even charge more than the $100 price tag of the Eye-Fi SD card.

Come on, Eye-Fi, Inc! Get with the program and add those features!

Even if you are a Mac person, if you have any sort of reasonable bone in your body you’re cringing at all of the hype surrounding the release of the Apple’s latest version of OSX. Anywhere you go in the gadget-blogiverse there’s news of Apple’s new OS. Over at Gizmodo.com they actually live-blogged their first hour with OSX Leopard. How much can you tell about an OS in an hour? The Apple blogs are completely unbearable to even glance at–they’re worse than when the iPhone came out. It’s like they haven’t noticed that this “new” operating system is nothing of the kind.

For starters, Apple is still calling it “OSX.” That “X” on the end is a Roman numeral that means “10.” OSX first came out in 2001 and has had a huge number of updates since then. Some of the updates have been more major and more impressive than others, but despite the most major of additions OSX has been around for six years. Windows 95 was only around for three and Windows 98 lasted as long, though it did have some lame updates before Windows XP came out just months after OSX hit stores. So, what the hell is Apple thinking keeping the “OSX” moniker active for so long? It’s almost like they’re treating Apple customers like idiots.

“Here you go, faithful Apple customer!” Steve Jobs begins, “It’s a new OS, despite the fact that it’s got the same name! But trust us! It’s a whole new OS!” Yet, if you look at almost every change that Apple has made to it’s OSX, they’ve all been somewhat minor. Dashboard is neat, and so is Stacks, on Leopard (though it kind of looks like an erection to me–what? Just being honest!) but ultimately these aren’t things that are changing the way we use computers. The operative word here is that they are “neat.” That’s it. That’s all Macs really are these days–just neat. In the end it’s really no wonder that they haven’t changed the name of their OS. Ultimately it’s just the same damn system. Too bad they pretend that it’s the Second Coming when it’s really the eighth or ninth by now (who can keep count??)

Mac OSX version releases, like the way Shakespeare described life, are definitely much ado about nothing.

Feel free to stop by Apple’s official OSX page at http://www.apple.com/macosx/, you know, if you’re easily impressed.

According to an article at IHT.com today, electronics giant Sony has announced their profits for the last quarter and while things look great for them, the Playstation 3 has become the perfect example of how not to hype a new product. On the one hand, you’re probably the single biggest, best known electronics makers on Planet Earth. Almost everything you touch turns to gold (sans Betamax, MiniDisc, and Mariah Carrey), and after two generations of successful game consoles the third in the trilogy is bound to be the best yet, right?

Well, does anyone think Return of the Jedi is the best of the original Star Wars movies? What about Rocky III? Does anyone even remember that there was a Rocky III? The point is, sequels are usually crappier than what they follow and threquels, doubly so. However, the Playstation 2 was no Die Hard 2. It was more an Empire Strikes Back. However, using that comparison, how could the Playstation 3 possibly live up to expectations? Well, the giant price tag definitely didn’t help it. In fact, from this blogger/gamer’s point of view it’s one-hundred percent the reason the PS3 is losing Sony twice what it was previously.

Seriously, who wants to spend all that money when it only does exactly what the PS2 did, only better?

This seems to put the Playstation 3 squarely in the same categories as all of those other so-called “advances” that were not really necessary. Like High-Def and digital TV–were you really looking at your screen back in the 1980s thinking “damn, I wish I could see that cheerleader more clearly.”

OK, so, maybe you were, but the point is, that the cheerleader is pretty much just as hot in standard def as she is in high def. Is HD better? Of course! But did we really need it? Likewise can be said for the PS3. Sure, it’s got more power, the games on it look better and there are loads of bells and whistles that make using one incredibly cool. The catch is, playing games on the PS2 was already incredibly fun and capitalism tends to thrive on innovation not just improvement. Making something move faster or look more attractive is good, but changing the way the user uses the product is going to win you the crown. Look at how little ability Nintendo’s Wii has compared to a powerhouse like the Playstation 3. But the Wii is doing really well for Ninty. This is because what the Wii doesn’t do with power and looks, it does with innovation.

So, the hype-machine kicked in, but since there was nothing really new to see in the PS3, most of the fun went to the Wii and the Xbox 360. Sorry Sony!

Check out Playstation.com for better or Nintendo.com for different.

The XO Laptop, also known as the $100 laptop, the OLPC laptop, the One-Laptop-Per-Child Laptop, and, of course, the Green-and-White-Laptop-that-Could has run into a snag in the manufacturing process. You may recall how the OLPC people are giving you a chance to buy your own XO laptop for $400 on November 12, 2007.

You may also recall how they really didn’t manage to live up to their original hype of making a $100 laptop available to kids in 3rd world countries. The laptop actually costs $200. Now, for the $400, XOgiving.org lets you have an XO and they send another XO to a poor kid in another country. That’s pretty cool, huh? Well, sadly, the November 12, 2007 date is more hype that they can’t quite live up to.

According to an October 23, 2007 article from Reuters.com, they’ve run into some manufacturing bugs and building the lime and vanilla flavored lappies won’t begin until November 12–the day orders for said laptops were to begin being taken at XOgiving.org. The scuttlebutt is that this means you won’t get yours before Christmas.

However, there is some good news for the One Laptop Per Child people. Back in 2006, the government of India blew off the OLPC’s offer for cheap laptops for kids. The country’s education minister said, now infamously, that the OLPC project was “pedagogically suspect.” Now, according to Webster.com “pedagogical” means ” of, relating to, or befitting a teacher or education.” So, really that statement means that “there is suspicion that the laptops relate to or befit a teacher or education.” Which, one would think, sounds perfectly fine.

Regardless, what they did was not take part in the project. Well, according to an October 24, 2007 article from AP.org, India has just taken a delivery of 22 XO laptops to be part of a pilot program to see how well they work for the kids in a rural area of the second most populace country in the world. That’s what makes India so important for the OLPC peeps–lots of kids need help there.

So, at least those 22 kids are getting their XOs. The rest of us will have to wait a bit longer.

By now, the odds are severely against the possibility that you have never heard of the video rental-by-mail service Netflix. For a few years, now, Netflix has been the leader of mail-based video rental services. Their only real competitor, Blockbuster, came along and decided to allow their customers to drop off videos at Blockbuster stores (which is pretty cool) and this caused the folks at Netflix to get a little scared. So, they added an on-demand video feature that allows folks with Windows-PCs to watch movies without having to wait for the DVDs to arrive in the mail. On top of that, they dropped their prices to beat Blockbuster’s prices.

You’d think that would be enough to keep them Netflix on top. Alas, the folks at Netflix don’t think so. They’re apparently thinking about making their services available through set-top boxes, HD DVD players and online game consoles like the Xbox 360 and the PS3. The theory is that people don’t want to watch movies on their computers. However, there is a growing trend of people connecting their computers to their TVs for just this purpose. Plus, there’s the Apple TV which is said by many users to be a dumbed-down Mac Mini. Essentially, any computer can be connected to a TV with the right configuration. It’s not difficult in the least to do and if you can understand hooking up your PS3 to the TV, doing the same for your computer is not brain surgery.

This is just another typical corporation trying desperately to stay ahead of the competition. The catch here is that this is the wrong way to go. HD DVD players may not win the DVD format wars and even if they do are a long way off from being common place in homes. Meanwhile, computers with video-out jacks are downright familiar to many of us. What Netflix should be doing is concentrating on their web browser-based on-demand features that would allow any device with a browser and enough video RAM to “on-demand” a movie with any kind of WiFi connection. EyeTV for Mac from Elgato allows iPhones to stream video captured with a TV USB stick over WiFi, so, why can’t Netflix do something like that? Instead, they’re trying to fix something that isn’t broken.

Yes, it’s true–the Parrot DF7220 digital picture frame has it’s own phone number. You may be asking yourself, why the hell a picture frame needs a phone number. This would be very reasonable of you. However, Parrot, makers of many different wireless things, would like you to believe that Bluetooth and /or WiFi-enabled digital picture frames are simply not convenient enough for you! This is definitely one for the Tech-We-Never-Asked-For files. Remember the wristwatch cell phone you didn’t need and the high-def digital TV you didn’t know you wanted? Well, the Parrot DF7220 has got those beat–hands down.

The idea of a wireless digital picture frame is acceptable enough. Sure, an SD-card-reading digital picture frame is probably the most simple and least expensive solution, but it doesn’t require a stretch of the imagination to understand how much easier it would be to change the pictures on your digi-frame from across the room. For that reason, WiFi or Bluetooth-enabled digi-frames make reasonable enough sense. However, isn’t it taking things a bit far to be able to change the pictures on your digi-frame before you even come home?

Seriously--what good does it do you to be able to call up your DF7220 and send a picture to it from your cell phone? If you want to look at the picture you just took, look at it on your cell phone, you moron! What if you want to show your family, who is at home, the beautiful thing you just saw–well, then upload it to their cell phones, you idiot! This is simply one of those stupid products that is so gratuitous in it’s “convenience” that it won’t sell at all. Who wants to pay for a cell phone number for a fricken’ picture frame, anyway?

Then again, somebody bought the Zune, didn’t they?

If you’re a sucker for uselessly convenient gadgets and would like to learn more about the Parrot DF7220, head on over to the picture frame section of Parrot’s website. At the time of this writing they don’t have a dedicated page for the DF7220 with specs and all that, but you can check out the DF7220’s photo album. Cellular digi-frame porn. Just what we needed.

When you think of Porsche you think sleek, stylish, fast, expensive, curvy, cell phone? Yeah. The car company that has specialized in making high-end, high-maintenance, gorgeous sports cars is expanding into the world of cell phone design with the P9521 mobile phone. Yes, in a world with more cell phone models than kinds of toothpaste (there are, like, 27, at least!) Porsche decides to “translate” their design sense to phones.

Of course, all of the gadget blogs are ga-ga about the thing–all the gadget blogs, HypeHole.com.  Now, sure–there’s nothing wrong with a nice phone, despite any over-hype connected with it–like, say, Apple’s iPhone–but how nice do you need to go? Of course, “nice” is the wrong word when describing Porsche’s phone. It’s pretty damn fugly, regardless of what other blogs say. Seriously–compare a Porsche 911 to this new phone. Which do you think looks more like it came from the trinket store in Little Tokyo that still sells Famicom consoles from 1984?

Yeah, that’s right, the phone.

Remember back when Nintendo showed off their prototype Nintendo DS? Only the hardcore Nintendo fans were cooing over it. The rest of us were intrigued by the dual screens, but the over all device… well, it looked a lot like the first Sidekick–very Fisher-Price. Luckily for Ninty, the games were good and it survived to see the birth of the DS Lite. Now I’d buy the DS Lite being designed by Porsche before I’d buy that phone.

Oh yeah–and the best part about it? The price. Oh wait, “best part?” That’s wrong–try “most unbelievably absurd part.” The price. According to Crave at CNet.co.uk, the Porsche cell phone prices in at £800, which at current exchange rates works out to a whopping $1633!!
Gee, which would you rather have, the new Porsche phone or four Apple iPhones?

Read Crave’s hands-on review of the Porsche phone at Cnet.co.uk or swing by Porsche-Design.com and twiddle your thumbs until they bother to update their site with pics of their new phone. Oh and by the way, the Porsche phone doesn’t do anything substantial that the iPhone can’t already do and it can do it for $1200 less.

These days it seems like WiFi, or “Wireless Fidelity,” networks have just about everywhere. OK, they’re not everywhere–they’re not in outer space, for instance. However, a handful of people (and they’re minions) want to change this. Now, before you judge, picture this–you’re tooling around on your space bike and you hit an asteroid. Your starboard thruster is coughing oil and there isn’t a rest stop for a half-light-year in any direction. What do you do? Call for a tow-truck, of course! But how do you do it? You whip out your iPhone and of course, there are no cell towers this deep into space. BUT, the iPhone can make voice calls over WiFi! Thanks to Vinton Cerf, there’s a deep-space WiFi cloud that you (and that asteroid) just happened to be flying through at the same time! You get on the phone to the Double-S-Double-A (SpaceShip Association of America) and before you know it, your space bike is being towed to the nearest gas space station.

Yeah, it’s a pretty absurd scenario for sure, but when Internet Godfather, Vinton Cerf, speaks the Internet sycophants bow down and praise whatever crap the dude spews out. According to an article on the space Internet at TGDaily.com, Cerf says the main reason for an Internet in space is, initially, to help government space projects communicate better with probes in space. Yeeeah, and I suppose the part where it actually helps make human lives better will come after that?

Don’t get me wrong, WiFi is awesome–being on the toilet while surfing is one of the greatest things man can do in the modern world (sad, isn’t it?) but worrying about WiFi in space, when we don’t even send people to the moon anymore? Isn’t that pretty much like putting the rocket thruster in front of the cockpit? Sorry, the Space Internet belongs in the same category as the wristwatch cell phone and the High-Def digital Television you didn’t ask for.

The router in the image of this post is a Linksys Wireless-N Gigabit Gaming Router and the background comes to us from Nasa.gov’s Astronomy Picture of the Day.

You know you’re living in the future when cell phones can help you try on glasses. Forget the jet packs and flying cars science fiction films of old promised us–now, true believers, you don’t have to try on glasses to try them on! HOLY COW! Sure, we may have wrist watch cell phones and $200 laptop computers and many other cool gadgets, but LOOK OUT–this new technology helps you try on glasses! It’s a true fact!

Yesterday, Gizmodo.com blogged about a store in Japan that is using cell phones to help you see what glasses will look like on you without you having to put them on. The technology is called “Idiot Vision.” OK, not really but typing out the word “sigh” here doesn’t begin to express the stupidity of this new “technology.” OK, so, this is how it works:

1) You take a picture of yourself with your cell phone’s camera.

2) You download an overlay of the glasses you think you might like from the web.

3) The software on your cell phone superimposes the glasses over your face.

Tru