Retrevo's Tech Blog

April First Report From CTIA - No Fooling

Andrew — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 19:10:04 -0700

It was opening day at CTIA today and no one was fooling around. I have to say this show is a lot easier to deal with than CES; much more manageable and less crowded. You could actually get a chance to check out the products at the booths and lunch in the press room didn't vanish at 11:45.

Speaking of the press room I ran into a Becky Waring, an old colleague who has a degree from MIT and has been writing a lot recently for PC World. She just finished a roundup of new wireless routers due to be published soon. One thing she told me that I wasn't aware of is how WiFi networks ca

Report From Showstoppers at CTIA

Andrew — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 00:03:57 -0700

Retrevo is at the CTIA show in Las Vegas this week. CTIA is the big cell phone conference. Showstoppers is an event held at all the most popular tech conventions that brings the press and vendors together in a comfortable setting. The draw for journalists is easy access to the right people from companies with cool products. The attraction for companies is access to fish or rather journalist in a barrel. The fact that they always have great food helps lure in hungry journalists looking for a free meal. It's always a great place to see cool new stuff and meet interesting people.

Another DTV Conversion Casualty

Andrew — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 15:24:12 -0800

While reading Etan Horowitz's new tech blog for the Olando Sentinel I came across a reader's comment that mentioned another fallout from next year's digital TV conversion and that is all those analog-based TV audio receivers. I've had many multi-band radios that have had a TV band that let you listen to the audio portion of a TV show. All those old radios will stop receiving analog TV signals next year. They'll all have to switch to digital receivers for TV audio. Just in case you want to read more

HD DVD Players Still Worth Buying

Andrew — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 12:46:50 -0800

Keep your eye out for firesales on HD DVD players. If the price gets low enough these players might still make excellent standard definition DVD players. For example, the Toshiba HD-A30 has an HDMI 1.3 port and upconverts to 1080p. You might even be able to pick up a player that comes bundled with some discs.

More Wii News

Andrew — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 13:56:03 -0800

Apparently Wii-motes flying out of peoples' hands and damaging expensive TVs has become a big enough problem that Panasonic announced that some of its new plasma TVs will be strong enough to sustain a blow from a Wii projectile. We imagine that could come in handy for beer cans tossed at ball games too.

Speaking of the Wii-mote, of you haven't been one of the millions of people to watch Johnny Lee's Wii-mote hacks on Youtube and you want to see some clever engineering from a certified wiz kid then check out this video.

Best Place to Buy a Wii

Andrew — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 10:37:12 -0800

Friends have asked us what's the best way to buy a hard-to-find Nintendo Wii. A quick poll of some expert gamers and shoppers including our own Robb Lewis revealed these tips. Craig Eastman of Gamepro Magazine fame, said it's all about timing a visit to a retailer like Target or Sears so you're there when the shipment comes in. If you're nice to the clerk in the games department, maybe he or she will tip you off. Norman Fong, techbargains deal wizard says, "Gotta get the Sunday ad on Saturday, see who's

Is It Time To Buy a Blu-ray Player?

Andrew — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 14:35:51 -0800

Toshiba has thrown in the towel and it looks like Blu-ray will be the one and only high definition DVD format for the time being. Is it time to buy a Blu-ray player? Maybe not.

The Blu-ray group has been a little behind on approving the Profiles that provide features like picture in picture commentaries, and intenet connectivity. Since the features haven't in place on the players the studios haven't been including them in the discs. To make matters worse it hasn't been possible to upgrade firmware on older players. All that should change but it should take another couple

Going Handsfree - It's the Law

Andrew — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 12:26:55 -0800

Five states have passed laws making it illegal to hold a cell phone while talking on it in a car. The California law takes effect July 1, 2008 and will cost drivers $20 for the first offense.

Personally I haven't found an ideal alternative to holding my phone up to my ear. Aliph's Jawbone has the best repution for sound quality and noise reduction but there are universal complaints about the fit on your ear. At CES this year Jawbone ran a promotion that offered a free Jawbone with a trade-in of any bluetoo

HD DVD on the Ropes After Warner Announcement

Andrew — Sat, 05 Jan 2008 16:30:53 -0800

The HD DVD camp is reeling from the Warner Brothers announcement to distribute Blu-ray only discs as of June 2008, . Warner is one of the largest DVD producers and could significantly change the balance in the Blu-ray vs. HD DVD format war. In reaction, the HD DVD group cancelled a big press event at CES. To make matters worse rumors have Apple's new Macbooks sporting Blu-ray DVD drives. This has got to have the Microsoft camp riled up and huddling with Toshiba to plan a counter attack. On the other hand I think it was Bill Gates who said this will probably be the last physical media format

Retrevo Gang Headed For Las Vegas

Andrew — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 11:10:28 -0800

CES is about to get underway in Las Vegas on January 7, 2008. Last year HDTV displays were the hot items but Apple stole the show with the introduction of the iPhone. The boys must have made a deal this year because the "rumored" new Macbooks built around Intel's new 45 nm Penryn processor will not be revealed until well after CES ends.

Speaking of Penryn, we expect to see many laptop announcements at the show from manufacturers including Sony, Fujitsu, Aser, Dell, and more. Penryn offers a faster front side bus and lower power requirements. We'll be looking for LE