GADGET REVIEWS Just another GADGET NEWS

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In this week’s episode of the Gadget Lab podcast, Dylan Tweney and I analyze Google’s Chrome OS notebook and the idea of a Windows 7 tablet while giving a sneak peek of an awesome new iPad game.

Dylan shows off Google’s stealthy blackCR-48 notebook. The Chrome OS operating system, which is based on a browser, is fast and pretty capable, but Dylan couldn’t get a full day’s work done thanks to his need for Firefox. On the hardware side, the keyboard’s pretty nice, but the trackpad is clunky. Keep in mind, however, that this is a pilot device, so it’s not like you’re going to buy one.

I talk smack about a rumor that Microsoft is planning to yet again announce a Windows 7 tablet at next month’s Consumer Electronics Show. Why am I so pessimistic? Because this has been done over and over again, and Windows tablet PCs have constantly failed. Microsoft would be better off scaling up the new Windows Phone 7 OS to run on a tablet, but it’s unlikely we’ll see that happening next year because the phone platform is just getting started.

On to more fun news, I show off the new iPad version of Pocket God, a game that was a huge hit on the iPhone. You play the role of God, messing around with little creatures called Pygmies by manipulating their environment with your fingers. The iPad version, called A Journey to Uranus, just came out today. It’s even better because you get an entire universe to screw around with the Pygmies on different planets.

Like the show? You can also get theGadget Lab video podcast via iTunes, or if you dont want to be distracted by our unholy on-camera talent, check out theGadget Lab audio podcast. Prefer RSS? You can subscribe to the Gadget Labvideo oraudio podcast feeds

Or listen to the audio here:

Gadget Lab audio podcast #97

Brian is a Wired.com technology reporter focusing on Apple and Microsoft. He’s also writing a book about the always-connected mobile future called Always On (publishing April 2011 by Da Capo).
Follow @bxchen and @gadgetlab on Twitter.

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Google dominates this week’s Gadget Lab podcast with a new computer operating system, a smartphone, an Android upgrade and big sales number for the Android-powered Galaxy Tab.

The search giant on Tuesday shared details on Chrome OS, its browser-based OS that runs web apps. Gadget Lab just got its hands on a test unit of the Cr-48, a pilot notebook running Chrome OS, and we’ll post impressions soon.

Monday launched the Nexus S smartphone, made in collaboration with Samsung. It’s basically the sequel to the failed Nexus One. It comes with a 4-inch Super AMOLED touchscreen, a 1-GHz Hummingbird processor, 16 GB of storage and a battery rated for 6.7 hours of talk time.

Alongside introducing the Nexus S, Google announced its latest upgrade for the Android OS codenamed “Gingerbread.” It’s an incremental upgrade that improves copy-and-paste and cleans up the UI, among other changes we summarized in an earlier post.

In more Android-related news, Samsung recently reported it sold 1 million Galaxy Tab tablets. That’s quite impressive, and it shows that Google and other manufacturers aren’t too far behind Apple in the new tablet market after all.

We wrap up the show with a quick look at the Boxee, a $200 set-top box that plays web-streamed video. Dylan wasn’t a fan of it.

Like the show? You can also get theGadget Lab video podcast on iTunes, or if you don’t want to be distracted by our unholy on-camera talent, check out theGadget Lab audio podcast. Prefer RSS? You can subscribe to the Gadget Lab video oraudio podcast feeds

Or listen to the audio here:

Gadget Lab audio podcast No. 96

Brian is a Wired.com technology reporter focusing on Apple and Microsoft. He’s also writing a book about the always-connected mobile future called Always On (publishing April 2011 by Da Capo).
Follow @bxchen and @gadgetlab on Twitter.

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This week’s episode of the Gadget Lab podcast is packed with neat gear, including the Samsung Galaxy Tab, Windows Phone 7 phones and the Boxee set-top box. Also joining us is a special guest: the infamous Walt Mosspuppet!

Before we dive into the serious news of the week, Dylan Tweney pokes around a weird In-Sound hoodie with drawstrings that contain earbuds for your music player. Try not getting mugged when you’re jogging with this thing on.

Moving on to less ugly gadgets, the 7-inch Galaxy Tab got a bunch of favorable reviews from critics. It runs the Android OS, and it’s the first real competition for the iPad.

Who needs a 7-inch tablet though? Mosspuppet can tell you.

In smartphone news, the first Windows Phone 7 devices launched this week. I’ve got the scoop on how Microsoft made the new Windows Phone OS, which involved completely scrapping the old Windows Mobile project. It wasn’t easy.

Coming out soon is the Boxee set-top box to play downloaded videos and internet content on your TV. We’ll let you know what we think as soon as we get one here.

We conclude the podcast with a brand new bag from Chrome called the Boris. It’s a backpack designed for motorcycle trips with enough space to pack four days’ worth of clothing and a laptop.

Like the show? You can also get theGadget Lab video podcast via iTunes, or if you dont want to be distracted by our unholy on-camera talent, check out theGadget Lab audio podcast. Prefer RSS? You can subscribe to the Gadget Labvideo oraudio podcast feeds

Or listen to the audio here:

Gadget Lab audio podcast #95

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This week’s Gadget Lab podcast is packed with brand new, shiny goodies. Apple released new notebooks, and Microsoft launched its first phones running Windows Phone 7.

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Released Wednesday, Apple’s new MacBook Air now comes in two different flavors with 11- or 13-inch screens. We have an 11-inch Aur here in the lab, and we wonder how to justify paying $1,000 for one of these when you can pay $300 for a netbook or $500 for an iPad.

As for Microsoft, Samsung was one of the first manufacturers to create a phone powered by Windows Phone 7. I reviewed the Samsung Focus, and I’m a big fan of the OS, despite some flaws and features it’s still missing.

Wrapping up the podcast on a sadder note, Wired.com’s Priya Ganapati discusses the future of the Symbian foundation, responsible for the OS behind most Nokia phones, whose president recently resigned.

Like the show? You can also get the Gadget Lab video podcast on iTunes, or if you dont want to be distracted by our unholy on-camera talent, check out the Gadget Lab audio podcast. Prefer RSS? You can subscribe to the Gadget Lab video or audio podcast feeds

Or listen to the audio here:

Gadget Lab audio podcast #92

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In this week’s Gadget Lab podcast, the crew speculates about the rumored Facebook phone, aka Mark Zuckerberg’s plan for world domination. Adding to the rumors, yours truly blurts out a tip from a source about Facebook developing an all-in-one virtual identity that you’ll use not just to connect with friends, but maybe even buy things. How awesome would that be?

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Speaking of money: People who have a lot of it tend to get nasty with lawyers. That’s the case for Daniel Kokin, who’s going to trial with Apple to fight over the word “Pod.” Kokin’s startup Sector Labs is trying to brand a video projector “VideoPod,” and Apple’s claiming that Kokin’s usage of that magical three-letter word could get people confused about the famous iPod player.

Wrapping up the podcast, Priya Ganapati tells a story about a robot taking on the challenge of walking 300 miles from Tokyo to Kyoto.

Like the show? You can also get theGadget Lab video podcast via iTunes, or if you dont want to be distracted by our unholy on-camera talent, check out theGadget Lab audio podcast. Prefer RSS? You can subscribe to the Gadget Labvideo oraudio podcast feeds

Or listen to the audio here:

Gadget Lab audio podcast #90

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In this week’s Gadget Lab podcast, Dylan Tweney and yours truly geek out about the potential for Steve Jobs to be a ninja, in reference to a bogus news report published by Bloomberg about the CEO attempting to smuggle ninja stars from Japan.

Apple said it never happened, but who knows maybe Steve’s just really good at hiding shuriken, like a real ninja would be?

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In more serious news, we’ve had some hands-on time with the new iPod Nano, a touchscreen media player that might even make a decent wristwatch. (Dylan’s full review on the Nano will be published soon.)

Speaking of publishing, we’re currently holding an “iPhoneography” contest, asking readers to submit their most impressive smartphone photos. There have already been a bunch of great submissions. Keep them coming! We’ll feature the best art here on Wired so you can show off to your friends.

Still images are cool, but the world of video is getting plenty interesting with gadgets like the Veebeam, a streaming media player that wirelessly hooks up your computer to a TV. Sounds like an intriguing solution for fans of online video services like Hulu or Netflix.

Like the show? You can also get theGadget Lab video podcast via iTunes, or if you dont want to be distracted by our unholy on-camera talent, check out theGadget Lab audio podcast. Prefer RSS? You can subscribe to the Gadget Labvideo oraudio podcast feeds

Or listen to the audio here:

Gadget Lab audio podcast #89

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In this episode of the Gadget Lab podcast, Dylan Tweney and yours truly gawk over the amazing story of an abducted Japanese journalist who tricked his captors into allowing him to tweet from a soldier’s Nokia cellphone. Clever stuff.

In less impressive news, Apple’s new social music discovery Ping recently debuted on iTunes, and we’re not fans. The feature requires too much manual work, as it doesn’t automatically analyze your music library to generate recommendations like other services we’ve seen (e.g. Rdio). Lame!

While we’re on the subject of lameness, we’ve found that a number of Wired.com readers are hating on the new iTunes logo. (Only Apple fans would nitpick this sort of stuff.) So we’re hosting a contest asking you to redesign the iTunes logo for a chance to win a snazzy new iPod Shuffle.

We top off the episode with a weird case that turns your iPad into an expensive refrigerator magnet, enabling you to tweet whenever you grab a beer or watch YouTube videos while you’re cooking.

Like the show? You can also get theGadget Lab video podcast via iTunes, or if you dont want to be distracted by our unholy on-camera talent, check out theGadget Lab audio podcast. Prefer RSS? You can subscribe to the Gadget Labvideo oraudio podcast feeds

Or listen to the audio here:

Gadget Lab audio podcast #88

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This week’s episode of the Gadget Lab podcast is heavy on fruits. High on vitamin A, Dylan Tweney gushes over the pluot, a plum-apricot hybrid, while yours truly dishes out this week’s announcements of brand new Apple gear.

Apple’s iPod family all scored major upgrades. The iPod Nano has become a puny touchscreen badge with a built-in clip that should be ideal for athletes, and the iPod Touch is now up to par with the iPhone 4. The iPod Shuffle was refreshed as well also a badge-like clippable form factor, but with the traditional click wheel rather than a touchscreen.

Apple also announced a brand new Apple TV that’s about a quarter of the size of its predecessor. It streams movie and television rentals, but it faces one major limitation: only two television networks (Fox and ABC) are on board to offer programs for the device. For now, it’s not an adequate replacement for cable TV.

However, in a future software update, iOS devices will be able to wirelessly stream their iTunes videos and music onto the Apple TV by using a feature called “AirPlay.” We ponder on the potential for Apple to reshape the TV industry if the company eventually allows you to beam content from third-party iOS apps (such as Hulu) onto the Apple TV. It’s wishful thinking, but not an impossibility.

Finally, Samsung has officially launched a tablet to compete with Apple’s iPad. The Samsung Galaxy Tab is a 7-inch touchscreen tablet powered by Android OS 2.2, meaning it supports Adobe Flash. We share our impressions of the device after some hands-on testing.

Oh, and those pluots? They come from Frog Hollow Farm, and they really are delicious.

Like the show? You can also get theGadget Lab video podcast via iTunes, or if you dont want to be distracted by our smiling faces, check out theGadget Lab audio podcast. Prefer RSS? You can subscribe to the Gadget Labvideo oraudio podcast feeds

Or listen to the audio here:

Gadget Lab audio podcast #87

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The Gadget Lab crew kicks off this week’s podcast with a look at Dylan Tweney’s ugly new kicks, a pair of surf shoes made of recycled soda bottles. They cost $70. Seriously.

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Moving on from cheesy hippy apparel, Brian X. Chen shares the news of an upcoming Apple press conference, where we can expect new iPods, a major iTunes upgrade (streaming!) and maybe a do-over of the Apple TV.

Apple’s competitors haven’t been so quiet, either. A “leaked” video emerged this week demonstrating Samsung’s Galaxy Tab, a 7-inch, Android-powered touchscreen tablet that looks to be a worthy rival to Apple’s iPad.

Speaking of the iPad Tweney shares a hack for his iPad to gain 3G service at no additional cost with the help of his iPhone. If you jailbreak your iPhone at the site JailbreakMe.com, you can download an app called MyWi to turn the iPhone into a wireless hot spot. Select the hot spot on your iPad et voila 3G-surfing privileges on the tablet without any monthly bills. That’s sweet.

Still, it’s too bad 3G coverage in general is spotty at best (especially here in San Francisco). Dissatisfied customers are in luck: We’ve heard Sprint may give you a free femtocell to boost your service if it’s proving unreliable. Also, an unhappy AT&T customer on Wired.com staff complained loudly enough to score a free femtocell to fix the crappy reception on his iPhone. Who said whining doesn’t pay off?

Like the show? You can also get theGadget Lab video podcast via iTunes, or if you dont want to be distracted by our smiling faces, check out theGadget Lab audio podcast. Prefer RSS? You can subscribe to the Gadget Labvideo oraudio podcast feeds

Or listen to the audio here:

Gadget Lab audio podcast #86

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In this week’s Gadget Lab video podcast, Brian X. Chen and Priya Ganapati touch on more wireless woes reported by iPhone users. Apparently in some cities the iPhone’s upload speeds were slowing down to a crawl. AT&T has responded and said the drop was due to a software bug that will be addressed but not before angry conspiracy-theorist customers accused the telecom company of purposely capping speeds for the device.

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In brighter news, Ganapati shares her hands-on experience with the Dell Streak, a 5-inch touchscreen tablet device that feels like a supersized smartphone. Perhaps this Dell is aiming to offer a tablet that will actually fit in a woman’s purse unlike the iPad?

And looking further in the future, Chen talks about recent credible rumors that the Apple TV may be getting a software overhaul to run iOS, the same operating system that powers iPhones and iPads. Such a change would pose interesting implications for videogames, TV apps and more.

Like the show? You can also get theGadget Lab video podcast via iTunes, or if you dont want to be distracted by our mugs, check out theGadget Lab audio podcast. Prefer RSS? You can subscribe to the Gadget Labvideo or audio podcast feeds.

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In this episode of the Gadget Lab video podcast, the usual nerds talk about all things mobile. First, they mourn over the death of the Kin while reflecting on what Microsoft did wrong. They also talk about what Apple apparently did wrong with the iPhone 4 antenna, which loses signal when held the “wrong” way.

Elsewhere in the mobile world, Intel says it’s hoping to ship its first mobile chips in phones starting next year. We’ll see if that ever happens and if their efforts will even matter by then. On the other hand, something we’ve wanted on mobiles devices for a long time has finally arrived: Hulu. Unfortunately it comes at a price.

You can also get theGadget Lab video podcast via iTunes, or if you dont want to be distracted by our mugs, check out theGadget Lab audio podcast. Prefer RSS? You can subscribe to the Gadget Labvideo or audio podcast feeds.

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The iPhone 4 has finally arrived here in Gadget Lab. Some of you may have seen this before.

We’ve spent only a few hours with the iPhone 4, but our first impressions of the device are quite positive. The 960-by-640 screen is gorgeous, and the thinner profile feels nice in the pocket. FaceTime video conferencing was problematic probably because of our weak Wi-Fi network here but once it got working it was neat.

We’ll have a full review of the iPhone 4 by Friday, but for now enjoy the video above re-introducing the famous device at the center of perhaps the greatest drama in gadget history.

This episode of the Gadget Lab video podcast was produced by Annaliza Savage, with editing by Michael Lennon and audio engineering by Fernando Cardoso. If you want the audio version of this podcast, subscribe to the Gadget Lab audio podcast on iTunes.

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