Erix Clix

I just purchased the BlueAnt V1 Voice Controlled Bluetooth Handsfree Headset and I must say so far it has been an amazing experience! I think BlueAnt is proving to be a real contender in the handsfree arena.  Lookout Plantronics and Jabra!

This is my 2nd BlueAnt product.  The first, also purchased not long ago, is their Interphone helmet mount bluetooth headset which I use while riding my F650GS. Both devices are happily paired with my iPhone 3G and playing well together.

From the packaging, to the easy to understand quick start instructions, the BlueAnt V1 is a class act.  The design is simple and elegant.  The V1 is comfortable and more feature packed than any other bluetooth headset I’ve seen to date.  BlueAnt loads you up with accessories.  From 4 different earbuds, 2 rubber gels and 2 foam tips, to the wall charger, a car charger and usb charger.  I’m not sure they could have packed this thing with any more goodies!

What about the speech recognition?  Ok, the next step is setting up the device.  After a quick, full charge, the next step was to pair the headset with the iPhone 3G.  BlueAnt made this step so easy, I’m not sure it gets any better than this!  They insert a little note into the packaging that says “BEFORE YOU TURN ON YOUR V1 FOR THE FIRST TIME”, on the note, they actually ask you to wear the device during setup.  This is because it talks to you and walks you through step by step, waiting for you to complete each step, then moving to the next automatically when it knows you’ve successfully paired the headset with your phone.

After politely and painlessly walking me through the pairing process (which happened quite seamlessly on the iPhone 3G), the device then proceeds to assist you with available voice commands.  The built-in male voice is friendly and pleasing to listen to.

This is where it gets cool (as if it’s not super cool already!).  From speed dialing home, work, office and even GOOG-411 (GOOG-411 is pre-programmed into the V1), to configuration preferences such as deactivating the blue LED light (so you can attempt to conceal your tech-dorkyness by minimizing the flashing lights eminating from various electronic devices on or about your person) the BlueAnt V1 will assist you during every configuration twist and turn.

The V1 sports dual microphone noise-canceling, this improves the sound to whomever you’re talking to as well as improves the accuracy of the speech recognition.  Overall, the command voice recognition, was near flawless.  And in a tiny, unassuming device like this, the “V for Voice” in V1 is well deserved.

Sounds great! Does it have any flaws?  Well, as great as this headset is, it typically retails for about $119, a little pricey, but quality, usability and prestige are all included in the box with this product that may be worth shelling out some extra clams for.

Limited voice support on the iPhone:  Even though the V1 supports a cell phone that takes voice commands, the iPhone 3G does not offer voice control at this time, therefore taking full advantage of the voice features of the V1 is not possible with an iPhone 3G (this isn’t really BlueAnt’s fault but does take away from the “complete” voice control aspect of owning the product).  You can, however, still speed dial iPhone Favorites, ignore and answer incoming calls by voice with the headset, so it’s not even near a total loss.

And finally, the phone’s firmware is USB upgradeable (foreshadowing possible future enhancements, bug fixes, new features) and the documentation says to find information and software for this firmware upgrade on their web site, which with a few minutes of digging on their site, I couldn’t even find mention of support for this.

Finally, I think this little guy is great, and my rating is: “Highly Recommended”.  The V1 will pair with up to 8 devices (other phones, PCs, PS3, etc).  And with potential firmware upgrades, who knows what comes next!

If you have any experiences with the BlueAnt V1 you’d like to share please post as a comment to this article.

BlueAnt’s website can be found at:  www.blueantwireless.com

The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower court’s ruling that a 1998 law protecting children from sexually explicit and other objectionable content is unconstitutional mentioning that it is “overly broad” and “vague.”  Thus striking down the law that since 1998 has not been enforced and looks like it is on its way to the Supreme Court.

While I do agree there should be some built-in protection that goes beyond the content providers simply self-policing, I strongly disagree with this law as it is written and I believe it was conceived prematurely in the history of the Internet, while the technology (web browsers and such) still had a lot of maturing to do to what it is today so the authors of this law could be as informed as possible.

The Solution

I propose a combination of voluntary and legally enforcable controls from both ends.  Action on the part of the content providers as well as security controls built-in to web browsers.

I will start with the voluntary.  Currently, there actually is a content rating system on the Internet (hidden HTML tags in web pages).  However, very few web sites and content providers use it as it is purely voluntary and there are no repercussions for not rating your content.  I believe this part should remain voluntary.  As it is completely impractical to monitor millions of web pages.  Utilizing these hidden “ratings” tags, pages will be rated by their own creators.  The creators will have motivation to accurately rate their content, read on.

So how do we protect the viewer?  This is where the law steps in…  Require web browsers to provide parental controls (with REAL security) locking and unlocking certain ratings for their young web surfers.  Any UNRATED pages will simply be blocked so the unsuspecting web browser cannot stumble onto an inappropriate site simply because that site hasn’t rated their pages yet.  This mechanism is not unlike the “V-chip” law that requires televisions to acknowledge ratings of broadcasts.  This may block much of the Internet at first, but the protection is there. (Currently, child content protection software for computers actually does block most of the Internet, unfortunately, it also blocks valuable, legitimate content mistakenly as well.)

If a “clean” site wants to be sure all browsers can view it, they MUST rate their site’s pages, hence the motivation.  Requiring web browsers to recognize content ratings will encourage any legitimate organization to rate their pages.  Almost “overnight” most of the valuable web will be rated as it takes relatively minimal effort to add these tags.

A “certified” web browser would be one that meets specific requirements.  Microsoft’s Internet Explorer, Mozilla’s Firefox and Apple’s Safari web browser constitute nearly 100% of all web browsers used (especially those used by children) and those organizations would find it in their best interest to get this certification.  It wouldn’t be required certification, but parents would at least have a choice in web browsers and know that, with certification, real protection is there.

What about inaccurate content ratings that can fool the browser into showing inappropriate content?

Yes, this is a risk and it is also the part of the cost of having truly Free Speech.  But there is a solution for this as well…a realistic one.

Utilizing a fraud reporting system (similar to SPAM ‘blacklist’ services) browsers can “double-check” a site’s credibility with the reporting organization (it can do this real time).  So, as soon as a viewer sees incorrectly rated material, they can report it.  With enough reports, the browsers will see that a “G” rated site, for example, isn’t really G rated and blocks it from the viewer as needed.  Further, the domain can be threatened to be locked for presenting incorrectly rated pages after a number of reported violations. (This may also be written into the new law so the new rating system requirements have “teeth” as it were).  Again, the law would not require ratings, just that the ratings, when used, are accurate.

So, it’s mostly still a voluntary system.  As it should be.  However, the law is simply providing a realistic mechanism so that we may more easily protect our children while still leaving our precious First Amendment intact.

Goodbye Mr. Gates and farewell…as you step down from active duty at the behemoth enterprise you named Microsoft (MSFT).  Just one thing…will you be missed?

From business, leadership and investment points of view…I don’t think so.  The contrast is seen when we examine the impact your counterpart Steve Jobs, at Apple, has on those same issues.

Just a few short weeks ago, Steve Jobs was introducing us to the new 3G iPhone.  Not minutes after the demonstration, blogs and editorials were filling up with commentary and concern about what appeared to be a sickly looking CEO.

Not a few days later, enough momentum was built up in the industry regarding the rumors of an ailing CEO, once stricken with a rare form of pancreatic cancer, for the news to negatively affect the share price (AAPL).

I believe it is normal for the health of a CEO as influential and successful as Steve Jobs to affect the value of a company.  If the person most directly responsible for a company’s success is no longer around, they cannot continue to lead that company to success.  Especially with a company like Apple.  Before Steve was brought back as CEO nearly 10 years ago, Apple had a succession of failed Chiefs.

So, the contrast to Mr. Gates is Steve Jobs.  Gates is leaving, he left, he’s gone.  Stock price…the same.  Investors…not worried.  Business world cares Bill’s leaving?  No, not really.

Why mention this?  It sounds like I’m simply honoring Steve Jobs as a leader…but I’m really talking business here…

This brings me back to any possible future value of Microsoft and Apple.  You can’t have a leader that leaves a legacy of ambivalence with the business world and have the company they lead last forever.  The foundation is shaky..the future is murky…the proof is in the pudding?  Microsoft’s share price hasn’t moved much in ages.  Meanwhile their market share is steadily being eaten away by Apple and Linux-based solutions.  I thought share price was based on the future outlook?

Just as the analysts jumped on board with Apple (AAPL) after they had already showed signs of growth and a promising future.  They will too, continue to be the master oracles they are and predict a problem with Microsoft’s future, but only after that future has come and gone.

The dishonest business tactics (see Microsoft’s settlement with the states on Windows price fixing, European Union record fines), faulty product technologies (unreliable, insecure OS) and unfriendly nature of their products…all of this…will lead to an uncertain future for Microsoft (MSFT).

Steve Jobs may not live forever, but the Apple “seeds” he’s been planting for 10 years will most certainly last another 100.  Even mediocre leadership can hold all this up for a while…20…30 years?  The proof of that claim is in the man that just exited the stage from the other company.

The Phoenix Mars Lander has landed!  Another successful arrival on Mars by NASA.  We here at Erix Clix think 3D and Space Missions to other planets go together like chocolate and peanut butter.  So, since NASA released 2 black and white images from the stereo imager, we thought we’d process them (correctly) for Anaglyphic stereo 3D viewing (Red-blue glasses).  So here you go!  Enjoy!  We sure did.  Step back a little from your monitor and let your eyes adjust.  When it comes in clear it’s amazing.  This was taken minutes after it touched down!  Click to see full size.

The Phoenix Lander web site is here:  http://fawkes4.lpl.arizona.edu/index.php

So great to have discovered that our favorite media server and player VLC from VideoLan will be getting DLNA/UPnP media server capabilities.  On this blog entry made by Mirsal Ennaime, funded by Google’s Summer of Code 2008 program, he will be assisting VideoLan with the addition of these new server features.

Finally those of us with PlayStation 3’s can have a complete solution for our media libraries.

I know I will be on the edge of my seat waiting for this one!

Currently I own an HTC 8525, it works. It has 3G and its platform is more or less "open". There are so many security holes you can’t count them. However, I can download any app and run it on my phone. And developers can make what they want. No platform is perfect, I believe for the iPhone to really become the de-facto standard smartphone it MUST be open…and soon! And it must have 3G.

I can’t wait to start plugging away in Python on my 3G iPhone. Too much to hope for? I don’t think so as rumors are already flying about AT&T (Cingular) preparing to upgrade their 3G to EV-DO speeds.

I am a fairly happy AT&T Customer and a very happy Apple customer. If I can use an iPhone to wirelessly feed my MacBook Pro with a broadband data connection via Bluetooth (as I am currently doing with my 8525) I am a 100% certain buyer. Get to it Apple! I’m waiting…patiently…to sign over my paycheck to you!

Amazing everyone says “don’t buy 1st generation.” For me, I needed 3G. I use it regularly for business. So I don’t have an iPhone.

So everybody bought 1st generation, now they’re upset at typicial 1st generation problems (i.e. price drops, technology woes, licensing issues). Sounds like 2004 election results blues to me. Didn’t you know who you were voting for while you were standing in line?

About “unlocked, free” phones…I switched a couple years ago from Verizon to Cingular (AT&T) because Verizon (like Alltel) has a contract with “GetItNow” a rip-off service that REQUIRES those providers LOCK features of some great phones. This is still an issue with those carriers. And they have suffered legal action because of it, where are those headlines?

Now, Apple comes out with (even locked) the best phone we’ve ever seen, AND gives most people their “early adopter” money back…AND we STILL complain?

Where was all of this “informed consumerism” with Microsoft? They were found guilty in the Supreme Court of abusing their monopoly and Bush’s first presidential act in 2000 was to “pardon” the prescribed punishment. Where were all of the “technically informed consumers” on that one?

Why is Apple the red-headed step-child?

Here we go again…another mis-informed industry giant making a mistake that will save them cash in the short term and cost ALL OF US money today. Paramount’s decision recently to drop support of the Blu-ray High-def format is one of the most backward business decisions I have seen in recent years.

I will not be buying any HD DVDs. Blu-ray is clearly superior technology. More studios back it (still) than HD DVD and counting Playstation 3’s there are more Blu-ray players by multitudes in American homes than there are HD DVD players.

Retailers count two-for-one sales figures of Blu-ray over HD DVD content purchases. Target stores announced they will only carry Blu-ray High-def products. Blockbuster video announced they will only carry Blu-ray High-def movies for rent.

Surely, this is a short-sighted move. It costs a bit more to produce a Blu-ray disc. And the players are a bit more expensive. Sounds like the big guy saves a buck at the expense of the consumer…sound familiar?

Have we not learned from betamax? Sorry, I am not ‘buying’ into this one. And I will not cave into owning both platforms, only so one can die out. Anyone reading this article should do the same. When will the consumer stand up, and show who knows better?

I am one of those PS3/Blu-ray owners. HD DVD proponents did their own research to find that most people who bought into high-def for video gaming were less likely to buy movies, than people who bought stand-alone players. Really???

Well, I own 6 Blu-ray movies and 1 PS3 game. I can’t be that rare a breed can I?

Well, Paramount, one giant leap backward for mankind…thank you. I really wanted to own Transformers when it came available…too bad for me and too bad for Paramount…lost sales for them, lost entertainment for me. Bummer.

C’mon everyone, let’s show them which platform is superior…don’t listen to me…do your own real research…once informed, you’ll know what to do.

Well, Microsoft obviously didn’t care much for it…It’s been nearly 10 years since the first web browser offered organized, clean-desktop oriented, tabbed browsing. Yes! 10 years! (I couldn’t believe it myself) And many of us since have switched away to Netscape, Mozilla, and lately Firefox for this reason, amongst others.

Notice I referred to IE as the ‘most common’ browser, not necessarily the ‘most popular.’ The most popular browser would be the one that’s not laser-etched into every orifice of your operating system, one you may have had to download and install, and preferred over the ‘embedded browser.’

Redmond’s tech and innovation leader had to lose another 10% of their browser share before seeing a business need to add a single feature that was clearly a powerful ‘move away’ factor.

However, I think they’re too late. Waiting almost 10 years before witnessing a noticeable trend in technology and user interface is too long, an eternity in this industry. This is enough of a message to your user base that you don’t really care what your users ACTUALLY want. You only care about what you think they _should_ want. Do I hear Marx turning in his grave?

Now we have Safari for Windows and Mac, yet another web browser that’s had tabs for years and even on the Mac, Safari is not etched into every crevasse of the OS.

I ditched “the people’s web browser” quite a few years ago…

Go Firefox and Safari!

When an AP reporter writes an article on consumers being forced to choose “HD DVD or Blu-ray”, which on the surface is poignant and interesting, then you read it and find unadulterated bias injected into every sentence, your balanced, informative article ends up oozing personal opinions instead of facts. My article here is an opinion piece, yours is supposed to be an unbiased, informed newsworthy article. After-all, isn’t that the “product” your organization sells?

Bear with me…your article starts by saying there are many more stand-alone HD DVD players out there. You continue by saying “big names like Toshiba and Microsoft” are behind it. You never make a comparative Blu-ray statement, like “however, more big industry names support Blu-ray and with all the PS3’s out there, there are more players in total” G*d-forbid that may slant too many opinions toward buying Blu-ray…THAT’S WHAT ACCURATE INFORMATION SHOULD DO FOR US, MAKE US WELL INFORMED!!!

And that is not expressing your opinion…that is communicating the facts, again the type of article you are supposed to be writing for AP.

Sorry, but the truth is, the reality is…that the market is leaning way toward one technology than the other. That’s not my opinion…that’s measurable fact!

So why is that so bad? Did M*cros*ft or T*sh*ba get to you? Are they big clients of AP that you don’t want to scare away with accurate reporting that happens to shed a slightly negative light on them?

It’s so blaringly obvious, you can’t help but be suspicious of motive.

Why not come out and say Blu-ray is winning on all fronts in the format war? Again, that’s a measurable fact, not your or my opinions…

–Technology company support, WINNING
–Major Movie Studio support, WINNING
–Market share of players (whether in a game console or not), WINNING
–Movie sales, WINNING (as you stated 2-to-1 over HD DVD).

You even took the time to quote Universal’s exec (the only studio to only support the currently losing format). The quote was about this not being about winning or losing. Isn’t that what finding the best “STANDARD” is about? The one the consumers choose? The winner?

Hmm…sounds like denial to me.

You didn’t even cover technical comparison…Shouldn’t your unbiased article inform us which has more capacity? It is a storage medium you’re reporting on…Or is that also stating opinion?

Blu-ray discs currently store more than HD-DVD, and the theoretical future capacity of Blu-ray also can store much more than future potential of HD-DVD.

Is there really a format war? If there is, I believe you are “the shot heard round the world.”

Or do the big manufacturers make more money while we fumble around buying worthless technology over and over?

We all ended up getting screwed with VHS quality nearly 30 years ago when we all should have been viewing the superior betamax all these years. Due to biased, inaccurate reporting like yours, we ended up with the lesser technology.

Please help us kind sir, just come out and say, in every way Blu-ray is superior, from technical capability to current sales figures to overall market share.

Give me blu-ray or give me death!

Don’t worry dude, that big “window” company isn’t going to kill you if you report the truth. They’ll just send their money to your competitor. Oh, I guess that is bad isn’t it. Sounds like it actually doesn’t pay to tell the truth for some people.

PEACE and HAPPY HI-DEF VIEWING!