This is hilarious! :)

You know what? I haven’t laughed as much in a long long time. And not so much about the video Gizmodo shot while they were ruthlessly killing CES LCDs and plasmas one by one, but the comment exchange I later found on the TV-B-Gone product page! [Later edit: removed since, but in full glory in screenshot below]
Enjoy:

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We all know airplane regulations about the use of electronic devices on board of an aircraft, don’t we?

Not only is there a total ban on any mobile phone use, but using a damn Tetris game is also a big no-no!
Yet here’s an interesting find on board of a Czech Airlines Airbus 321 aircraft flying from Bucharest to Prague:

(a picture is worth a thousand words, as usual)

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Ok! That’s it! I’m sold!

Till this I was still counting pros and cons on the new Macbook Air. But now there’s no doubt, I’m getting both! With the AirMail manila sleeve Air feels complete and personal! It feels right!

Will order the Manila folder notebook sleeve for Macbook Air to make sure I’ll have the actual reason to buy the machine.
Handmade out of durable upholstery-grade vinyl, and lined with fuzzy, soft fleece, AirMail sleeves have the same dimensions as standard interoffice manila envelopes.
Congratulate Jona Bechtolt and Claire L. Evans, “two Apple geeks with combined handicraft-and-idea-person superpowers”, for coming up with this neat idea! They’ve earned it! (Jona, Claire: don’t fuck up!)

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So far some content providers are delivering a few solutions. Take Joost for example. It’s a great application from the founders of Skype that delivers TV shows via an application. A great selection of shows is available for every taste, it even works perfectly with my HP Pavillion dv1000 laptop’s remote, so I can “watch Joost” just like watching TV. But still, when I purchased my laptop, watching TV was not on the list of requirements and that’s because I and most buyers already own a TV set for that purpose.

Another solution is Apple TV, which lets you easily watch the video content from your computer on your TV screen. The solution is well done, but still, you have to go through your PC to watch content on your TV.

The last one I mention is a Romanian service I came across yesterday called i-tv that offers the same channel list that most cable TV providers on your computer for a monthly fee comparable to that of conventional cable TV providers.

While all these are good solutions, none of them let me plug in a cable into back of the TV set and watch content without a PC in the home.

Expect an IPTV offer from any of your mobile phone, fixed phone, cable TV or your Internet provider in the years to come!

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A few minutes ago, Lorand Minyo uploaded Steve Jobs’ keynote from MacWorld 2008.

I can’t write more right about now as I am extremely anxious to watch it myself, so for all of you who did not see it yet, you can do it here: Macworld 2008 Keynote Address (high quality)

(outside link)

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Actionec has released the official information on the zControl since my previous post.

Actiontec’s product interconnects any devices that use the Z-Wave protocol such as Motion Sensors, Cameras, Doors, Thermostats, Blinds etc. Z-Wave operates at 900Mhz with a range of 30 m and a bandwidth of up to 40Kbits/s. Although the through output may seem small, it is more that enough to send and receive status information and issue commands.

Interaction with the zControl is done via its a Web-based interface and may be accessed virtually from anywhere (assuming you have an Internet connection in your home and your router/gateway is properly configured to access the zControl remotely). Discovery of your Z-Wave enabled devices can be either automatic or a configuration wizard can be used for that purpose.

Now I’m looking forward to a review of the zControl in a real-life environment. I’ll keep you posted if I find anything. Until then, enjoy these two demos: Z-Wave World and Z-Wave.com.
Njoy your day!

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I have just learned about Actiontec reading an article on PCMag.com. Apparently this company is one step ahead of the competition focusing its product on solutions, not as much as just devices. Their product descriptions feature words like “IPTV” and “triple play”. I will cover IPTV and triple/quad-play in a later post.

As pointed out by Tim Bajarin, PCMag.com columnist, Actiontec’s zControl has won one of the 2008 International CES Innovations Design and Engineering Awards. The product is supposed to bring together many of the devices and gadgets in your home. Even if you’re not a big gadget freak, you might want to count the remotes in your home or phones and you will immediatly understand the need for one central control solution for your appliances and electronics in your home.

The zControl will be officially unveiled at the 2008 CES (Consumer Electronics Show), and no details are yet released. I’m looking forward to information to come on the solution.

I’ve been doing some research on what’s on the market in the area of home automation systems, my disertation thesis is “Multi agent System for Control and Monitoring an Intelligent Home”, so expect to read other interesting stuff I may come across.

Happy 2008! :)

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