The Canon Rebel XSi was announced today, bringing Canon 40D features over to the Rebel line, such as a bigger LCD, highlight priority, 14-bit A/D, and live view. It also ups the megapixel count to 12.2 and switches over to SD/SDHC media. The latter seems a good prosumer move, given how much cheaper SD media is nowadays.

But I'm not sure I grok Canon's SLR strategy. This is the second time I can recall that Canon has one-upped their professional line. Six months after Canon 30D debuted at PMA, they announced the Rebel XTi. The 30D premium over the Rebel line became harder to justify when the XTi added automatic sensor cleaning, a superior megapixel count, and an equivalent autofocus sensor. Now, six months after the release of the Canon 40D, they've released the XSi, which again puts the Rebel line in the lead with megapixel count and matches some of the 40Ds biggest improvements: highlight priority and live view. The 40Ds advantages are mostly whittled down to build quality, viewfinder brightness, and +3 fps.

I understand the need to stagger their new products into the marketplace to keep the buzz alive; what I don't get is why they choose to let the Rebel line be the leader with new features and more megapixels. Perhaps they figure that consumers and semi-pros will stay in their camps and in my case they're right, but a 50% price premium hurts, Canon, it hurts. Or perhaps they are secretly using the Rebel line to debug the newer sensors so that they're rock-solid by the time they land them in the next xxD model :).

I went to an Eye-fi demo in November [yes, I'm behind] and its been on my wish list ever since. It's a 2GB SD card and wireless card in one. In essence, it hooks your camera up to the cloud that is the Internet -- you can even send photos directly to Flickr (and many more). This is a huge time saver for me: I have scores of photos that never make it to Flickr because I am too lazy. It is also the final piece of the puzzle for cloud-computing photography: take photos, find any computer with a Web browser, and edit online. You don't even need to own your own computer anymore. It can even automatically rename your photos based on your location (no more 'IMG_1235' image titles).

There are already many, many reviews of this device on the Web, so I'll quickly get out of the way some questions that I still had going into the session:

• What about compact flash?: the Eye-Fi will work with a SD-to-CF adapter, though the range may be less due to the way the antenna is obstructed
• Can you control privacy settings for Flickr, i.e. upload private?: Yes
• What about wireless networks with logins? (e.g. Google WiFi): you're outta luck here. In the future they plan on adding this as a 'premium' feature.
• Can it auto-delete successfully transferred photos, i.e. become an infinite-storage-capacity card if you're on a network?: 'unloading' may be a feature they add in the future.
• Can it use WiFi geolocation services like Skyhook?: they may add this in the future, possibly as a paid feature

At the demo I went to, the presenter took shots of us with his SLR that almost instantly showed up on his laptop screen. The claimed transfer speed was 2Mbit/s, though they hope to ramp it up to 4-8Mbit/s with some firmware updates. The range is ~45 ft indoors, though this will vary significantly. You get all of this for only 5% more battery usage.

Eye-fi is very focused on the consumer demographic. They worked hard on some slick packaging and streamlined setup, going as far as attempting to ID your camera so that the setup can tell you if you need to adjust any camera settings and also attempting to guess your WEP key. The consumer focus also means compromises: they chose to go with a 2GB SD card instead of 4GB+ SDHC cards to eliminate any confusion over compatibility; they only transfer JPEG images (no RAW, MOV); it won't attach to ad-hoc networks, and they don't offer a compact flash form factor. If you want to take it into the field you'll probably have to purchase a USB WiFi basestation for your laptop.

Most of the management of your Eye-fi card is via an Eye-fi Web page. This page lets you configure multiple WiFi access points with your card as well as setup your transfer settings. The card can upload directly to sites like Flickr, Picasa, SmugMug, etc... or to your computer, or both.

There are professional alternatives to the Eye-fi. Canon SLR users can get the WFT-3a grip, which adds wireless transfer to Canon SLRs with much greater transfer range than an Eye-fi, but at a steep cost: $750. At $100, the Eye-fi is a bargain and adds many features (i.e. Flickr, Smugmug) that you generally don't see in professionally-oriented accessories.

2008 has arrived (Happy New Years!) and soon my Canon 40D will as well. The $1149 price held and the Tour of California is only 45 days away, so its time to break in some 2008 gear.

I'm hoping that this is my main purchase for 2008 as 2007 was an expensive year: 70-200 f/2.8L with 1.4x extender, 580EX II, and 16-35 f/2.8 II. The 40D bumps my old Digital Rebel 300D out of the lineup and will mean that I no longer have to bug m every time I need to borrow camera equipment. I've heard recommendations for a 300mm lens to shoot finish lines, but I'm going to have to do a lot more pushups and earn a lot more cash before that becomes a reality. I still have a 35mm-70mm gap in my lens lineup, but with two camera bodies I'm happier going long and wide.

I've been following the price of the Canon 40D on Amazon closely over the past week, trying to avoid the temptation of buying new camera equipment. I told myself that I would at least wait until January 1st so that I could claim it as a business expense in 2008, seeing as my lack of restraint gave me more than enough expenses in 2007. The main features that are enticing me are better dynamic range + highlight protection (important for shooting in the noon sun), live view (important for when you just have to hold the camera over your head to get a shot), and dust reduction (I hate swabbing the sensor). 10MP is a plus, but not a huge improvement over the 8MP I'm used to.

Anyway, in the past week, it seems that the 40D has been plummeting in price. When it was $1299.99, I was considering getting the $1424 40D + 28-135 IS USM kit, seeing as you get a $400 lens for only $130 or so. Then the price dropped to $1219 and I was thrown into indecision. Now it's dropped to $1149 -- who cares about the package deal at that price? The closest reputable dealer I could find selling at that price was B&H, which has it for the same price, used. BuyDig has it for $1199. I'm hoping that these price reductions last after Christmas.

Side note: Canon hit the 30 millionth EOS SLR this week -- I'm doing my best to contribute.

Apropos some dinner conversation last night, Gibson launched the "Robot Guitar" today. The name implies a guitar that plays itself -- instead its much simpler and more useful: a guitar that tunes itself. It should help you get up and running from a broken string much quicker, or keep you from having to change guitars between songs with different tunings.

A glowing LED knob lets you set the desired tuning and also illuminates the current setting. Some advanced perks include changing your fundamental frequency, custom tunings -- you store it by strumming the guitar in the desired tuning -- and string winding/unwinding for when you want to change your set of strings. You do have to charge the guitar every 200 tunings or so, but that can be done over your normal guitar cord with a special adapter.

The Web site features a countdown to the 12/7/2007 release of the limited edition first run -- a general release won't be until 2008.

Gibson has previously innovated with an ethernet-capable guitar.

Link

Casio is showing off a 60fps still shot/300fps VGA camera at IFA 07. DDDDDDDDaaaaaaaannnnnnnnngggggggg.

Japanese press release

I just made it through the long guided tour that Apple posted today for the iPhone. There weren't any real surprises, but it manages to start connecting all the dots and gives a greater impression of day-to-day usage.

Of course I want one. But I have to defy all my experience-gained common sense about Apple products (never buy a 1st-gen Apple product) and gadgets in general (8GB is not enough for a convergence device) if I were to get one. I also find the 2-year contract doubly insulting. Usually the 2-year commitment is to pay off the subsidy for the free phone you just got (e.g. the $500 RAZR is now free with 2-year commitment), and it's not as if I'm not going to buy phone service for this. It poorly frames the device for me: I just think about how much the iPhone will improve over 2 years. Maybe Apple will get rid of this requirement at the last minute.

So do I get one? Not sure yet. Maybe they'll sell out everywhere and I won't have to worry. If I can wait a year to get a TiVo HD, surely I can wait for an iPhone, right?

Garmin has just opened up developer.garmin.com, which is now their warehouse for Garmin Web APIs and toolkits. Under Device Communications you can find tools for transferring data to and from your Garmin GPS device. Under Web Services you can find APIs for interacting with MotionBased.com, using its Activity Player as your own, and transferring Garmin data from your Web site to a device. There's also stuff in there for SmartPhones/PDAs, Fleet Management, and location-enabling your Java app.

I'm most excited about the Activity Player API. As cool as the MotionBased site is, I would like to gain a little more control over my data.

There's a whole lot for Garmin going on under my roof: I'm having a blast with my new Garmin Edge 305, d has a Forerunner 305 on the way, and my dad likes his Nuvi 305.

With all this Garmin happiness, I feel like pointing out that you can get a pretty good deal on the Forerunner 305 on Amazon: $257.06 - $50 rebate = $207.06. The rebate ends on May 15. Garmin's own Web site lists these for $376.91, so that seems like a pretty good deal to me.

Why get a Forerunner 305? From my Edge 305 review you can get the gist of what it does, just subtract all the cycling features (e.g. cadence). The Forerunner 305 is like an iPod + Nike kit, except you don't have to get Nike shoes. In fact, you don't have to wear shoes. It gives you fairly accurate GPS maps and combines these with heartrate data for improved training. If most of your running is done on treadmills, something like an iPod + Nike kit is the better choice*, but if your running is in the great outdoors, you might want to consider something that doesn't tie to a particular brand of shoes. In fact, you could even use it cycling, snowboarding, or any other type of workout.

* You can get a footpod with the Forerunner, but that adds more $$$ obviously

My Mimoco Chewbacca usb drive has arrived at long last (Mimoco wrote a letter to apologize for the long preorder delay). It's all good -- the protohoodie is even more hilarious than I thought it would be.

My Dyson is jealous of the new Dyson Slim. They managed to squeeze their Ball into the new slim design for extra maneuverability and it's more... orange-y.

Gizmodo Photos

Luckily for d, gadgets do not have to be limited to things that play music or store photos. A gadget for me is anything that displays cleverness with respect to its function: double points if the gadget itself gives you more insight into the nature of the function. Thus, my latest 'gadget' is a Dyson vacuum cleaner. Why is d lucky? Because I consider the Dyson a gadget, it provides as much entertainment as using an iPod, much in the same way some might consider the weather channel on the Wii a game.

My aunt and uncle showed me their Dyson vacuum cleaner a couple years back and I've wanted one ever since. It feels like a vacuum cleaner designed by someone who really, really likes vacuuming. There's no height adjuster, just a simple switch you can hit with your foot to raise or lower the brushes. It also has a wand with extra long reach that you remove from the Dyson like Excalibur.

The best feature, though, is a clear bay in front in which you can watch the collected spin round and round, growing into a larger and larger gray-black Hedora monster. When it fills up, which actually happens frightfully quick, a simple switch detaches the bay from the vacuum cleaner. Your role then switches from vacuumer to hazardous waste disposal. You carry the chamber by its handle at arms length over the trash, stick the bottom of the chamber deep into the trash where you don't have to see it, and pull the trigger.

This visibility of collection is both fun and dangerous. I like watching the dirt swirl together like a mini tornado, but this dirt swirl also makes it clear that your carpet is never clean. The first time I used it, I got it to the 'max' line in a quick spin around the apartment. The next time around was less, but I have the feeling that no matter how many times you use the Dyson, it will collect something, even if it has to rip every stray fiber from your carpet. A particularly OCD person might be compelled to vacuum every hour, which could convince your neighbors that you're on amphetamines.

My only worry with the Dyson is that like most vacuum cleaners nowadays, it is mostly made of plastic. I don't see it lasting the 20 years my Kirby vacuum cleaner did. But I guess like any good gadget, it requests that you upgrade it every couple of years.

Update:

Photo of the Dyson's first run:

Back in April I was a little excited when I saw the NXT scorpion (video) and other NXT creations at the Lego booth at Maker Faire. You would put your hand in front of the scorpion and it would 'attack' you with its tail. Clever, but not awesome.

Then I saw this creation: self-parking NXT car. Screw you Lexus! I may not be able to afford your latest offerings, but I can make my Lego park.

I realize that what the NXT is doing is much simpler -- it's probably just bouncing its ultrasonic sensor off of the faux cars and running a preset parking routine, whereas Lexus actual uses actual video. But I don't care. I'm going to build a self-parking car that can stab SUV Lego cars with its tail.

meta and I thought for certain that the last of the series would be Princess Leia (there's always Series 2). An R2 seemed possible, but I thought they would have to be really creative with the ear buds to pull it off. Even as a passionate R2 collector, I'm not sure that this one works well enough for me to regret my Chewy pre-order. For all its cuteness, it needs more, for lack of a better word, R2-ness. It's as if an ewok painted itself to look like R2. I would happily buy one if it were not for Chewy, but as I mentioned before, there is always Series 2.

The Stormtrooper mimobot has been announced -- one more left to go (big bets on Leia). I couldn't hold off any longer so I ordered Chewy.

d and I needed a good KVM to switch between our desk setups and the Belkin Flip easily caught my eye as I browsed the aisle at Fry's. Most KVMs are ugly, obtrusive, and desirous of desk real estate. Belkin distilled the KVM down to its barest essence: the button to switch between two computers. It was an easy decision to go with the Flip.

My next decision, though, wasn't as wise. In my glee to hide as much of the KVM mechanism as possible, I decided to spend the extra $20 to get the wireless flip button. Yes, I spent $20 to eliminate a single cord. I actually sat in front of the display at Fry's for a good 10 minutes making this decision. I should have let the more parsimonious side win.

The wireless Flip frequently goes into a fit where it wants to switch over to d's computer. My best guess is that it is picking up stray wireless signals, though I can't explain why it never seems to want to switch the other direction. My computer is a PC and d's is a Mac, so perhaps Belkin embedded the Flip with its own Apple switch campaign.

Update: The Flip switch has been switched for its cheaper, corded cousin.

Belkin Flip

Methinks they are saving Leia for last.

The new Sony Bravia ad delivers, after much anticipation from this clip, but now I want them to do it with Diet Coke and Mentos

I'm a sucker for mimobots -- designer flash drives -- even if I own none so far.  How many flash drives out there come with their own hoodie? I've biding my time for over a year now just waiting for just the right design. I really wanted Magma, but it was a bit too expensive for me at the time and, alas, the limited series is now forever out of stock.

Mimoco has announced they are selling out the Star Wars franchise, which is guaranteed to get me to irrationally ignore pricing and make me spend, spend, spend. So far they've announced the Darth Vader model. There are three more TBA. Vader is on preorder now.

Mimoco Star Wars Mimobot Series 1

I've long followed the slow path to release for the Sony eBook Reader (aka PRS-500). Every time I move (about once a year) I seem to need yet another bookshelf. I have resorted to selling off a bunch of books to Book Buyers, but still no room. eBooks have long seemed like a great idea -- I can 'keep' my books but make room on my bookshelves -- but without any good execution, i.e. low resolution. The Sony PRS-500 is a huge leap across the gap: the electronic ink display is 160 DPI and can display everything from book text to manga. Just imagine those bulky, throwaway weekly Jump Comics collections condensed into the palm of your hand. * Hot: display that looks more like paper than a computer screen * Hot: can play mp3s, for those of us that like music with our books. Just imagine the possibilities for something like my Japanese language podcasts -- you could have an entire new breed of 'audiobooks'. * Not: you have to use the craptacular Sony Connect store * Reviews: Engadget Hands On, Gizmodo Hands On

Boycott note: I've been on a 'soft' boycott of Sony products, which I technically broke by buying a used PSP and memory stick. Although it was for a charity auction, I will say that I mostly regret the PSP purchase, as I believe the PSP fell far below its potential due to Sony's predictable mismanagement of that system. Fool me once...

Consumer Reports and this derivative Wired article address one of my biggest pet peeves: plastic packaging. I hate it when something I buy takes first blood. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't ever recall having this problem with products I've bought in Japan. America seems to be the land of the sadistic plastic packaging obsession, though it's also the land of the wondrous Apple packaging that's just too pretty to throw away.

Maker Faire was so much bigger and better than I thought it would be. I thought it would be great, but it was amazing. There were multiple pavilions crammed with eye-catching maker-foo and everywhere inbetween was interestingness as well. It was part Burning Man, part science fair, part RoboOlympics, part Web 2.0 conference, part RoboNexus, part DorkBot, part arts and crafts fair, part who knows. m, d, and I went on Saturday and I couldn't resist going back for Sunday as well. Some highlights:

• Parallax had some great workshops, great in that you got to walk away with ~$70 worth of hardware for only $15. I made an RFID reader and a ultrasonic range finder. It's a good investment on their part -- I'm very tempted to get into BASIC Stamp programming now and also get one of their boe-bots: they showed off how you can mount the range finder on a swivel to turn it into a short-range (3.3m) radar.
• I had a great time relearning how to solder while making my own Simon game.
• The MythBusters were there playing Segway Polo and test driving a Xebra. The parking lot smelled like burning after their test drive.
• The fine folks of The Crucible had a firetruck flame-shooting apparatus and there was also the flame-shooting SS Alpha Fox. The booms were loud enough that it was shaking the workshop building next door.
• I absolutely loved the Meccano models of Difference Engine #1 and #2 (photo 1, photo 2).
• Lego was showing off their next generation of Mindstorms: NXT. I snapped a video of their NXT scorpion 'stinging' my hand. The NXT set should be Mac and PC compatible and will support Bluetooth. I previously abandoned Mindstorms immediately after I discovered the kit I bought required Windows 98.
• The folks at Amazing Magnets had a about a liter of ferrofluid to play with -- much more than the 30mL I bought.
• There were plenty of modified bicycles on display, like a lawnmower bike and a chopper bike. My favorite was the Harry Potter broom bike. I failed to tame that unruly broom ride.
• The cartwheeling robots (video) that I last saw at Robolympics were back.
• There was a live demonstration of glass-flower making (video)

This entry doesn't begin to cover what was at Maker Faire. If you're interested in finding out more, you can check out the official Maker Faire site, the 3000+ photos on Flickr, or my mediocre photoset.

Canon's newest camera will have it all: from bp's/meta's pizza button to the latest in AI sensing/reminder technology for the "Pee Break Now" indicator. But which button calls my mom to tell her to come and pick me up?

I'm waiting for the model with GPS.

credit: bigconig's posting on dpreview

I just received my Case-ari iPod nano case, which will replacing my homemade Altoids case. The Case-ari case is similar to the premium Vaja leather cases, but about half the price as they ship from Georgia instead of Argentina and they don't offer any customization.

I approve of the Case-ari case so far. It comes with a detachable belt clip and plastic screen protectors that you stick right on the screen and scrollwheel. Strangely there is no protector for the center button. The inside of the case is plush and there is a separate cleaning cloth. The customer service, from what I have seen, is good. Within a couple hours of my order they called to let me know that my chosen color was out of stock and gave me the choice of choosing a different color, cancelling, or waiting. The case also arrived with a free Case-ari keychain and signed personalized letter. All little things, but quite a lot for a $24.95 product when compared to the crap you might find for the same price in the Apple Store.

I liked the Altoids case, but I never quite finished it and it felt silly carrying around something as large as a regular iPod to transport a nano. I may revive the Altoids case for snowboarding or the like, but otherwise the Case-ari case will be absorbing most of the blows.

I've been stopped by several Apple accessory stores over the past several weeks to try and find a case for my iPod nano. I've been using baby socks (0-3 months) as my Nano Case 1.0 and I've been wanting to provide it with slightly better protection for pocket travel. No affordable case has yet to catch my eye, so I've decided to upgrade Nano Case 1.0 from soft cover to hard cover. Nano Case 2.0 uses the same baby sock, but the sock now has a hole for viewing the screen. The modified Nano Case 1.0 with hole now sits inside of an Altoids case. A hole drilled in the bottom allows me to plug my headphones in. As soon as I find a metal file to file down the sharp bits it will be ready for primetime.

It is much easier to locate your lost cellphone if it is not in silent mode.

Note to others: yes, I have my cellphone again. It was wedged in the couch.

I got my first hands-on experience with the iPod with video yesterday. My immediate impression was, "It's bigger," even though it's smaller. They aided this illusion by shrinking the scrollwheel (comparison pic). The more interesting comparisons came once I picked it up and started playing with it. Perhaps it was a matter of expectations. If someone had said, "Checkout the new iPod photo with new screen," I probably would be more favorable to it. Two disappointments came to mind:

1. I felt strained watching video on it's tiny screen, though this may have been because the first video I watched was the Fantastic Four trailer. Although the screen had beautiful colors, I felt that I had to concentrate to watch, something I don't have to do when I watch video on the larger screen of my PSP. I was biased against it going in and nothing I experienced changed that.
2. The ergonomics are much worse. I appreciate that they made the iPod thinner, but they also decided to change the plastic face of the iPod. Instead of the smooth, rounded edges of the third- and fourth-generation iPods, it's back to the old sharp edge of the first-generation iPod. It didn't feel as comfortable sitting in my hand as I tried to manipulate the smaller scrollwheel.

I hope that this is not Apple's final statement on handheld video playback. Apple usually tries to one-up it's competition when it enters a new space, but now I feel like they have to catch up. The only advantages they have are in video content and software, especially now that I see that Sony wants to charge $20 for software to put content on your PSP. These are not advantages that I underrate, but the handheld experience currently does not measure up to them.

With euphoria of new announcements comes a bit of a hangover. Time to do a reality check (read on if you want my gripes and predictions):

I've long wished for an iPod with video out that I could sync with my TiVo to transport my TV shows around. Now it looks like I will get something close as there is now an iPod that can playback video with video out as well as an a new 'FrontRow' media-center-like app, a new iMac with remote, TV shows for $1.99 via iTunes, and music videos. Today's laundry list of announcements show that Apple has thought about the full video experience that they wanted and waiting until they could have all the pieces in place: iPod, iMac, and store.

$1.99 is a really good price for TV shows IMHO, even if the video resolution is a bit low (324x240). It matches well againt the per episode cost of DVDs and comes with the additional benefit that you are only getting the episodes you want and sooner. It should also give Apple some leverage with the music industry, which is already losing sales due to the pricing of DVDs versus CDs. It's hard to argue for more than $0.99/song when an hour long TV show is only $1.99.

The iPod is ultimately a generic storage device, not a music player, and with the addition of photo and now video capabilities it is a more complete portable device for media. Video was the last pillar of standard media and they now have them all.

bp has sent me a bit of good news. One of our side projects while we both worked at PARC was researching stress deformations and fractures of DVD substrates. We demonstrated that DVDs with Microsoft logos had a higher incidence of fracturing than other DVDs, though we were unable to conclude a causal relationship. It appears that Gizmodo has used our initial findings to build towards this important announcement: Gizmodo Announces Support for Some Form of Higher Definition DVD. We wish them the best of luck in their research.

Apple introduced a whole slew of music stuff: iTunes 5, iPod: Harry Potter Edition and the Motorola ROKR photo (100 songs on your phone, rather paltry for an otherwise uninteresting phone). The one that caught my attention the most was the iPod 'nano', the successsor to the iPod mini. It's tiny. It uses flash instead of a hard drive, making it about the width of a #2 pencil. It's small enough that I worry about whether or not the scroll wheel on it will actually be usable. It also comes with a color screen and new features like a better clock, a lap timer, and stopwatch.

The Apple marketing team must have taken a cue from the iPod flea parody: one of the first accessory items that will be offered are 'nanotubes' -- green, purple, blue and pink slipcases -- presumably a step up from the iPod sock.

I've had more time to play with the PSP now that I got a 1GB memory stick for it. I succesfully downloaded some episodes of Battlestar Galactica that I had missed and re-encoded them for my PSP. Most of the setup was painless, but there is a lot of waiting between steps. At least I have several episodes now so that should hold me for awhile.

I had a much worse time trying to get TiVo programs onto my PSP. It appears that either you're lucky and it works or you're unlucky and you have to add some extra time-consuming steps and software. I'm an unlucky one so I'll have to re-experiment with my other options to see how they work out. I'd rather it not take 10 minutes for me to load 45 minutes worth of programming to watch on the train; at that point I'll just go back to reading books.

I dream of the process as simple as iPod + iTunes, though we as consumers have much less control over our video as we do our music. If Sony were consumer-friendly, they would have released a program for the PSP that would let me transfer my DVDs onto it painlessly. Instead, they want me to pay $21 for a UMD version of Kill Bill even though the DVD version is only $15. Go figure. The only comparison that comes to mind would be if Apple had released the iPod and told it's customers that it would only play $20 albums from the iTunes Music Store.

Update: From susanne I found out that IXUS is the product name for ELPH in Europe. The product shots from the press release use the European models, but it appears ELPH as a digital brand is still around in the US. What confused me is that if you go to the Canon camera listing page and click on the big 'ELPH' logo, you only get their non-digital ELPHs.

I noticed all the hot new cameras that Canon released today from the low to high end. There are a ton of new PowerShot cameras and there is this hot, full-frame 12.8 megapixel SLR.

One thing I noticed about the new offerings is that I no longer understand the low end of Canon's offerings. I used to have a Canon Digital ELPH (before I broke it under constant use) and the ELPH brand used to be a good, understandable way of saying "rugged but portable." Now as I look through the new Canon offerings, what I knew as an ELPH appears to be called an "IXUS 55" and the only cameras on Canon's Web site called 'ELPH' are these ugly film-only beasts.

I will be in the market soon for a successor to my old ELPH (S400): anybody out there savvy enough to which 'IXUS' camera might be a good replacement? I care more about "rugged but portable" than photo quality.

A kinda sorta, but not really, broke my Sony boycott by getting a Sony PSP. But I don't think I actually technically broke the boycott as I got it at a charity auction, which means none of my dollars ended up in Sony's pocket. However, as I am now obligated to buy things for the PSP, like more memory with which to store episodes of the Daily Show and Battlestar Galactica, it all goes to show that I really have no backbone when it comes to gadget issues.

Steve Jobs can diss handheld video all he wants -- I watched Spiderman 2 on Sunday and I found it liberating to be able to walk around the house and do my chores (cooking, typing, photo retouching) while being entertained by a movie I love. The video quality is as good as a TV and is beautiful any which way you look at it. The true test, though, will be how easy I find it to load new videos onto it, which I will test out as soon as my larger memory card arrives.

I'm not a fan of the new Apple Mighty Mouse, so I shed no tears when I saw that the folks at ArsTechnica had dissected one into little pieces. I don't understand why Apple feels the need to design devices with no physical clues as to how they are used (affordances), shape them to make my RSI cringe, and require you to learn rules like "you must lift your left finger in order to right click."

Actually, according to the Ars dissection, it's not actually a "right click" as much as it is a "click with no left finger present," which almost sounds like a Mac koan. Apple apparently did include a right touch sensor in the mouse, so perhaps they'll modify this behavior in the future.

Critiquing the Might Mouse is a bit pointless for me because there's probably little if no features that could convince me to part with my ugly but wonderfully comfortable 3M Renaissance Mouse. If any mouse deserves buzz, I think it's this scrollwhell-less mouse which even my RSI-wridden wrists can command around with authority. Coat one of these with shiny white plastic and I think Apple would have a killer product.

Microsoft is demoing "Auxilary Display" technology -- a fancy name for what you get when you plug a Gameboy Advance into a GameCube. Dang that Tingle was freakin' annoying.

Microsoft demos Auxiliary Display

While I'm at it, a second semi-poll inspired by meta's post (my condolences). Below I've recorded all of the Macs that I know of that I can find out the history of. I call this one a "poll" because you're free to add your own data or correct anything I've written, and I also left a lot of unknowns (which I assume to be probably good).

Yes, this is a slightly mean-spirited post, but you could rephrase it as a show of sympathy, or you could also rephrase it that despite the poor hardware quality, the good software and aesthetics override the trips to the Genius Bar for repairs. Note that in some of these cases, just like a trip to the hospital, more serious problems resulted from attempts to fix more minor ones.

Also note that, unlike Windows-based systems, the hard drive failures below were all preceded by a period of warnings (usually little dialogs warning of imminent doom), which gave time to save all data.

Problems: * meta's Al PowerBook: dead harddrive * dm's Al PowerBook: failed harddrive * i's Al PowerBook: failed harddrive * PARC PowerMac G4 at PARC: failed videocard * a's g4 iBook: failed motherboard->battery drainage->new iBook * honeyfield's iBook: case wouldn't close properly->screen backlight->broken sound * ln m's Ti PowerBook: failed motherboard * a's Ti PowerBook: external video output problems * 3 work Al PowerBooks: failed harddrives (same batch)

Doing great: * 17 work laptops (mushy, approximate stat) * a's replacement iBook * dm's Ti PowerBook * s's Ti PowerBook * pqbon's Ti PowerBook * bp's Al PowerBook * j's Al PowerBook * d's Al PowerBook: (spots on screen) * bp's iBook * parakkum's/honeyfield's G3 iBook (replacement keyboard from aggressive space-barring :) ) * kenji's PowerBook * cyndi iBook * justin's PowerBook * davextreme's G4 iMac * katherine's PowerBook * paul's Al PowerBook

Newsweek has has revived the Anthropomorphic iPod argument in light of the "Random is a Virtue" iPod shuffle marketing gimmick.

More than a year ago, I outlined these concerns to Jobs; he dialed up an engineer who insisted that shuffle played no favorites. Since then, however, millions of new Podders have started shuffling, and the question has been discussed in newspapers, blogs and countless conversations. It's taking on Oliver Stone-like conspiracy buzz.

Apple execs profess amusement. "It's part of the magic of shuffle," says Greg Joswiak, the VP for iPod products. Still, I asked him last week to double-check with the engineers. They flatly assured him that "Random is random," and the algorithm that does the shuffling has been tested and reverified.

You know, I could actually see myself playing this if I had the proper equipment (need bluetooth + proper cellphone): GPS:: Tron

Awesome alarm clock from a researcher at Ivrea

I've already thought ahead for a New Year's Resolution and have chosen one that will be easy to keep: I'm boycotting Sony (just their devices, not ready to give up Spiderman movies just yet). Just a few years back this would have been unthinkable, as every remote I owned was a Sony remote (TV, VCR, PS2, TiVo), and I even had a Sony VAIO laptop. This comic would have captured me perfectly. Now, however, the TiVo has been replaced with a brandless Series 2, the laptop has permanently died (replaced by a Dell), the Gamecube grabs more of my attention, the VCR is an archaic device, and my TV emits a high-pitched noise that calls for its eventual replacement.

This symbolic exit of Sony devices of yesterday is matched by a general lack of interest in the Sony devices of today and tomorrow. I visited the Sony Style store last night in search of X-mas gifts and tried out both of their hard drive music players, the one with the weird grid buttons, and the one that's as small as a iPod mini. Both were awkward and ungraceful to use -- neither could tempt me away from my broken iPod.

Add on top of all of this poor PSP battery life and load times, stupid legal pressure and belated mp3 support, and my boycott is no longer New Year's resolution but, rather, a smart consumer choice.

My iPod battery is going dead after one year of service. It lasts about two hours now.