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Just days after ordering an iPod Touch (should arrive on Monday), I read this article about how the next Touch model will include a camera.
The lack of a camera was one of my beefs with the Touch (that and the lack of a video camera, the lack of an external storage card and the lack of a microphone).
Oh, well. I'm sure it will still be fun.
If you've updated to the new 3.5 version of Firefox, one of the new features is called "location aware browsing."
This means that your browser can tell Web sites where you are. Of course, the Mozilla community says you have to agree to allow such monitoring.
Here's what Mozilla had to say:
"Now Firefox can tell websites where you’re located so you can find info that’s more relevant and more useful (for example, getting directions or finding restaurants near you). It's all optional - Firefox doesn't share your location without your permission - and is done with the utmost respect for your privacy."
I gave it shot using Google Maps (click on the small dot under the directional arrows and above the magnifying bar. At home, the browser located me in the Rochester area (a circle about 40 miles in diameter). At work, the closest it could get was a broad view of Minneapolis.
But some are reporting down-to-the-street accuracy.
Check it out yourself.
If you had to pick one tech company to put a serious challenge to Microsoft's Windows operating system, what company would it be?
Google, of course.
The Mountainview behemoth took aim at Windows on Tuesday, promising an open-source OS to challenge Microsoft and Apple for netbook turf.
Google promises "speed, simplicity and security" with its new OS. Haven't we heard that before?
Anyone who knows me well can attest to my disdain for Apple products.
It's not that Apple doesn't make fine hardware and software. In fact, the opposite is true, Apple makes some extraordinary products. It's just that Apple charges such a premium for its technology that many of their devices are priced out of reach for most consumers.
Consider the iPhone. It is, in my estimation, a marvel of technology. Sure, it has some shortcomings -- a mediocre camera, the inability to have more than one app open at a time, no option for additional storage, etc... -- but it is a very slick machine that works in an intuitive manner. And, developers flocked to it, creating hundreds of interesting and sometimes productive iPhone applications.
But the thing is cursedly expensive to own. A new generation iPhone will set you back $199 if you sign up for AT&T wireless for 2 years at $65 per month. That's $1,759 before taxes!
So, what's a cheapskate to do? How about an iPhone without AT&T?
Enter the iPod Touch. It does most everything an iPhone can do, except make calls and take photos. The Touch can access the Internet via Wi-Fi, so whenever you're in a hotspot, you can check your e-mail, update your Facebook, etc. There's even a hack available that will allow Touch users to make phone calls over the Internet (with purchase of optional headset, since the Touch lacks a microphone).
After digging around on the Internet for a few days, I was unable to find a single device that compared in features to the Touch that didn't involve a wireless contract.
This is what I'd like to see: A Wi-Fi-enabled device that has all of the functionality of the Touch but also has a decent camera, the ability to multitask, a flash slot for additional storage and a microphone for making VOIP calls. Kind of like a smartphone without the requisite king's ransom wireless plan.
Does such a thing exist?
I couldn't find one.
So, I shelled out $214 for an 8 GB Touch. And, I'll probably pay the $10 upgrade fee (yes, a brand new device you have to pay to upgrade -- it's the Apple way!) so that I can use it with my Bluetooth headset.
Knowing my luck, some astute hardware maker will unveil an iPhone killer in the next few months, and I'll be kicking myself and, once again, cursing Apple.
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