The Technology Suits

Personal Navigation Device Reviews: Need a PND for Christmas

The Technology Suits, Editor-in-Chief: Kurt Uhlir — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 23:25:26 +0000

We normally do not promote individual products or companies, but with all of the talk about GPS and navigation systems as presents this year, we had to jump in.

The best site online for information, reviews and deals on navigation devices is Personal Navigation Device Reviews. The site is kind of plain, but they have some great information and have partnered with some of top brands to offer you the lowest prices of the season.

How to make candles

The Technology Suits, Editor-in-Chief: Kurt Uhlir — Thu, 06 Dec 2007 16:23:04 +0000

It may not be tech-related, but if you have ever wanted to know how to make candles at home. There is a great post at Sacred Paths about making Sand Candels. Fun to do with family and friends…and relatively easy to do.

PayPerPost and AdSense: Same ethical issues…neither a problem for bloggers

The Technology Suits, Editor-in-Chief: Kurt Uhlir — Wed, 05 Jul 2006 15:17:32 +0000

I’m not sure why there is such outrage against PayPerPost, especially when most people saying it is evil are using AdSense. Should bloggers disclose if they are being paid to write about a topic or post a link? They probably should, but that is up to each blogger.

Let’s compare AdSense and PayPerPost:

AdSense examines the text/topics on your posts and attempts (sometimes pretty poorly) to display ads that match the text/topics. The blogger has not “blessed” or approved each of these ads, and they do not endorse them, but they are happy to receive money from someone clicking on one on their site. If the reader happens to have a bad experience buying or visiting the site from this paid link, they may or may not attribute some ill will to the blogger who showed them the link.

PayPerPost pays bloggers who write a post that matches the requirements of the advertiser. From looking at the site right now, about half of the opportunities are for only positive reviews/links, while a little less than half simply want a link with any thoughts (positive or negative). It is still up to the blogger whether to accept an opportunity or not, and any blogger that writes a positive review of a horrible site/service/product is sure to lose creditability with their readers. Is this really any differently than say CNET? Cnet, as do many other sites, receives a small payment anytime someone who buys a product after clicking on a link on one of the site’s reviews. People still visit and trust CNET because they give their honest opinion of products and disclose that they may receive a payment from time to time. Why should this opportunity only be left for big corporations?

I haven’t signed up for PayPerPost yet, but it looks like it could be another good souce of revenue for a blogger that only accepts PayPerPost opportunities that do not interfere with his/her ethics (i.e. only give something a positive review if you like the site/product/service).

Nokia Shifts Away From N-Gage Device

The Technology Suits, Editor-in-Chief: Kurt Uhlir — Fri, 25 Nov 2005 21:34:18 +0000

Nokia’s VP of corporate strategy, Antii Vasara, admitted to Vnunet that the N-Gage did not meet the company’s projected targets. Vasara said, “N-Gage is still being sold but it was not a success in the sense of developing a new category.” While the company does not plan to introduce further iterations in the N-Gage handset line, it will continue to support existing N-Gage and QD handsets.

This does not mean the N-Gage has been completely disappointing, as Nokia is able to use the N-Gage software platform to expand its entrance in gaming. “We learnt that people want to play games on all devices. As such we are integrating the gaming software into Series 60 phones.”

Venture Capital Startup Launches With $130 Million

The Technology Suits, Editor-in-Chief: Kurt Uhlir — Mon, 21 Nov 2005 21:57:09 +0000

Claremont Creek Ventures, a startup investment firm specializing in early-stage information technology and biotech startups, has closed its first fund of $130 million in committed capital. The fund will focus on the “un-tethered workforce”, which includes wireless, workforce mobility, and voice/video over IP; applications for healthcare, which includes medical instruments, bio-informatics and home care; and security software for the enterprise.

According to the company, it will look for investments in companies valued between $2 million and $7 million where it can invest from $100k to $3 million for an initial investment. These investments will be lower level series A, not seed funding, and with more extended due diligence than most early stage investments.

List Of Original Xbox Games That Play On The Xbox 360

The Technology Suits, Editor-in-Chief: Kurt Uhlir — Mon, 21 Nov 2005 03:41:12 +0000

As the Xbox 360 release date has approached, everyone continues to ask if their games from the original Xbox will play on their new 360. We can tell you that more than 200 games have already been tested for backward compatibility on the 360, and Microsoft continues to add others.

Here are the most frequent questions:

Why are will all original Xbox games not play on the 360?
The architecture (i.e. hardware components) of the 360 are drastically different than the original Xbox. To allow games to play on the new system, an emulator must actually be created (or tweaked) to account for the differences.

Are their benefits to playing Xbox games on the 360?
Yes. Every original Xbox game will be playable in high definition. The 360 has the ability to upscale the games to 720p and 1080i.

Is a hard drive needed for backward compatibility?
Yes. It does not matter if a hard drive came bundled with your 360 or if you purchased it at a later date, but one must be present for backward compatibility.

What games from the original Xbox will play on the Xbox 360?

AirForce Delta Storm
Alias™
Aliens versus Predator™ Extinction
All-Star Baseball™ 2003
Amped®: Freestyle Snowboarding
Army Men®: Sarge’s War™
Atari® Anthology™
ATV: Quad Power Racing 2™
Baldur’s Gate™: Dark Alliance™ II
Barbarian
Barbie™ Horse Adventures™ Wild Horse Rescue™
Batman Begins™
Battle Engine Aquila
Battlestar Galactica™
BMX XXX™
Brute Force™
Buffy the Vampire Slayer™: Chaos Bleeds
Cabela’s® Dangerous Hunts™
Cabela’s® Outdoor Adventures™ 06
Cabela’s® Deer Hunt™ 2005 Season
Cabela’s® Deer Hunt™ 2004 Season
Call of Cthulhu®: Dark Corners of the Earth™
Call of Duty™: Finest Hour™
Casino
Chicago Enforcer
Circus Maximus
Close Combat: First to Fight
Colin McRae Rally 4
Combat Elite: WWII Paratroopers™
Commandos 2: Men of Courage™
Conflict: Desert Storm
Constantine™
Crash Twinsanity™
Crash Nitro Kart™**
Crimson Skies®: High Road to Revenge™
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon™
Dark Angel
Darkwatch™
Dead or Alive® 3
Deathrow
Digimon® Rumble Arena®
Dinotopia**
Drake™
Egg Mania™: Eggstreme Madness
ESPN MLS ExtraTime 2002
Euro 2004
F1 2001
Fable®
Fable®: The Lost Chapters™
Fairly Odd Parents: Breakin’ da Rules
FIFA Soccer 2003
FIFA Soccer 2004
FIFA STREET
Fight Night 2004
Fight Night Round 2
Ford Mustang
Ford vs. Chevy
Forza Motorsport™
Frogger Beyond™
Futurama™
Fuzion Frenzy®
Genma Onimusha
Goblin Commander™: Unleash the Horde
Grand Theft Auto 3
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas™
Gravity Games Bike: Street. Vert. Dirt.
Grooverider: Slot Car Thunder
Half-Life® 2
Halo®
Halo® 2
Halo® 2 Multiplayer Map Pack
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire™
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone™
He-Man: Defender of Grayskull
Hitman: Contracts™
House of the Dead 3
IHRA Drag Racing Sportsman Edition
IHRA Professional Drag Racing 2005™
Jade Empire™
James Bond 007™: NightFire™
Judge Dredd®: Dredd vs. Death™
Jurassic Park: Operation Genesis
Kabuki™ Warriors
Kelly Slater’s Pro Surfer
kill.switch
Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events™
LOONS—The Fight for Fame
Manhunt
Mat Hoffman’s Pro BMX™ 2
Max Payne
Max Payne® 2
Medal of Honor European Assault™
Medal of Honor™ Frontline
Medal of Honor™ Rising Sun
Mega Man® Anniversary Collection
Metal Arms™: Glitch in the System
MicroMachines
Mike Tyson Heavyweight Boxing
Monster Garage™
Mortal Kombat®: Deception™
MTV Music Generator™ 3
Murakumo: Renegade Mech Pursuit
MX World Tour™: Featuring Jamie Little
Namco Museum™
NBA LIVE 2004
Need For Speed™ Underground 2
NFL Blitz 2002
NFL Blitz 2003
NFL Blitz 2004
NHL® 2004
NHL Hitz™ 2003
Ninja Gaiden®
Ninja Gaiden® Black
Outlaw Golf 2
Outlaw Volleyball
Pariah™
Phantom Crash™
Pinball Hall of Fame™
Pitfall®: The Lost Expedition™
Predator Concrete Jungle™
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time™
Pro Evolution Soccer 5
Pro Race Driver™
Pump It Up™: Exceed
Pure Pinball
Puyo Pop Fever**
Quantum Redshift®
Rayman Arena
Raze’s Hell™
Red Dead Revolver
Red Faction® II
RedCard™ 2003
Robotech: Battlecry
Rocky™ Legends
Rogue Ops
Samurai Jack
Samurai Warriors™
Scooby Doo!™ Night of 100 Frights
Scrapland
SEGA GT™ 2002
Shadow The Hedgehog™
Shamu’s Deep Sea Adventures
ShellShock: Nam ‘67™
Sneakers™
Sniper Elite
Soccer Slam
Sonic Heroes™
Sonic Mega Collection™ Plus
Speed Kings™
Sphinx and the Cursed Mummy™
Splat Magazine Renegade Paintball
SpongeBob SquarePants™: Battle for Bikini Bottom
SpyHunter® 2
Spyro™ A Hero’s Tail
SSX 3
Stake™
Star Trek: Shattered Universe
Star Wars®: Episode III Revenge of the Sith™
Star Wars® Jedi Knight®: Jedi Academy™
Star Wars: Starfighter™ Special Edition
Star Wars®: Knights of the Old Republic™
Star Wars® Knights of the Old Republic® II: The Sith Lords™
Street Racing Syndicate™
Stubbs the Zombie™ in Rebel without a Pulse™
Super Bubble Pop
Super Monkey Ball™ Deluxe
SX Superstar™
Tecmo Classic Arcade
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles™
Test Drive®: Eve of Destruction
Tetris Worlds™
The Great Escape
The Hulk™
The Incredible Hulk™: Ultimate Destruction
The Incredibles: Rise of the Underminer
The Lord of the Rings™: The Return of the King™
The Simpsons™ Hit and Run™
The Simpsons™ Road Rage
The Terminator™ Dawn of Fate
The Thing™
Thief: Deadly Shadows™
Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon
Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six® 3
Tony Hawk’s American Wasteland
Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater™ 4
Tony Hawk’s Underground 2
Tork™: Prehistoric Punk™
Toxic Grind
Ty The Tasmanian Tiger™
Ty the Tasmanian Tiger™ 2: Bush Rescue™
Ty the Tasmanian Tiger™ 3: Night of the Quinkan
Urban Freestyle Soccer
Vexx™
Volvo: Drive for Life
World Series® Baseball 2K3
Worms 4 Mayhem
Worms™ Forts: Under Siege
WWE™ Raw™ 2
XIII
Yourself!Fitness™

Technology Spending Doubles U.S. Consumer’s Spending On Entertainment

The Technology Suits, Editor-in-Chief: Kurt Uhlir — Sun, 20 Nov 2005 17:02:16 +0000

According the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average American spends more on entertainment than they do on gasoline, household furnishings and clothing combined, and nearly the same amount as spent on dining out.

Household spending on entertainment has outpaced overall expenditures over the past 10 years, by more than doubling during this time. Household earning more than $77,000 per year in pretax income, which is 20% of U.S. households, spends approximately $4,500 per year on entertainment. This also varies some depending on where the household is located within the country, as households of all income levels on the west coast spend about 20% more on entertainment than the national average.

How much do you spend on entertainment? Probably more than you think. Add your subscription services together, such as digital cable, HBO, upgrade for high-definition, Netflix or renting movies, TiVo, high speed internet and in some cases satellite radio or internet streaming music, and the total will shoot above $200 per month ($2,400 per year). Next, let’s look at the variable costs like movie theatres, video games, print or electronic books, and the number quickly jumps several thousand dollars more. If you consider “food away from home”, which the Bureau of Labor Statistics considers a separate category but often overlaps with entertainment, the number grows even further.

Alabama Firm Gives U.S. Soldiers An Edge

The Technology Suits, Editor-in-Chief: Kurt Uhlir — Sun, 20 Nov 2005 06:10:23 +0000

Radiance Technologies, a small Huntsville, AL company, has created a system that can instantly determines the exact location of a gun being fired and its model. The U.S. Army is currently testing it and three similar ones to give soldiers an edge in battle conditions, by allowing them to return fire more rapidly.

Unlike other known systems, the Radiance’s WeaponWatch is powered by infrared sensors that can literally detect missiles or gunfire at the speed of light. It even works while under heavy attack and at longer sniper distances.

WeaponWatch is one of the major reasons Radiance has grown from only three employees six years ago to 275 now, making it one of the 500 fastest-growing small businesses in the United States. It had revenue in 2004 of $35 million, a 701% growth over the last three years, and moved up 66 places to #148 on the 2005 Inc. 500 list.

Korean Telecom Readies 3.5G Mobile Wireless Service

The Technology Suits, Editor-in-Chief: Kurt Uhlir — Fri, 18 Nov 2005 17:03:44 +0000

Korea Telecom (KT) will roll out a new mobile wireless broadband service by mid-2006 called WiBro.

WiBro is one of the next steps beyond 3G known as mobile WiMax and will provide subscribers up to 10 Mbytes of data transfer per second while driving at 75 miles per hour. Current trials have already shown KT subscribers downloading at 4 Mbytes per second at cruising speeds.

KT said the first deployment will be in the Seoul metropolitan area, with further deployments gradually expanding across the country. Koh, Jong-Seog, vice president of KT’s Mobile Internet Business Group, is quoted in an article on EETimes, stating that the new service is expected to provide KT with additional sales of approximately 10 trillion won ($10 billion) through 2010. As SK Telecom and Hanaro Telecom are providing similar WiBro services, high speed broadband will no doubt expand quickly through the Korean consumer and business market.

Airline Security Experimenting With Lie Detectors

The Technology Suits, Editor-in-Chief: Kurt Uhlir — Fri, 18 Nov 2005 02:15:47 +0000

A new lie detector, the GK-1, tested in Russia for airline security shows significant promise towards improving airline security. The GK-1, developed by Israeli firm Nemesysco, uses a minimally invasive two stage process to tell if a passenger is being untruthful.

The initial test takes between 30 to 75 seconds and can be performed as part of the standard security screening. Passengers simply put on a pair of headphones and look at a console to answer “yes” or “no” questions into a microphone. For those that fail the initial test, they are taken aside for a more extensive test.

At $10k to $30 per installation, the added speed and accuracy of the tests may be a good step towards improving airline safety and helping you get through the “line” that much faster.

High Interest from Mobile Subscribers in BRIC Countries in Mobile Data

The Technology Suits, Editor-in-Chief: Kurt Uhlir — Thu, 17 Nov 2005 15:23:17 +0000

A new study by Pyramid Research shows that mobile subscribers in emerging markets have high interest in mobile internet and data but little interest in paying much.

The study asked 2500 mobile phone users across the BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China) “under which of the following circumstances they would use data services like wireless internet and mobile TV - if it were free, if the price were right or not interested at all”.

Brazilians had the highest interest in mobile data but only if these services were provided for free. Are we surprised this? Business and consumer customers across the world always show much higher interest in data, content, applications and games when there is no charge for them.

The more in-depth areas of the study examine those subscribers willing to pay “if the price were right”. Russians are willing to pay an average of $4.23 USD per month for mobile data, while those in Brazil and China would pay an average of $4.00 USD per month. Indian subscribers show the least willingness to pay with $1.50 USD per month, where only 20% of respondents showed an interest in mobile data applications.

Digital Content Firm Navio Raises $25.4 Million In Second Round Of Funding

The Technology Suits, Editor-in-Chief: Kurt Uhlir — Thu, 17 Nov 2005 02:19:28 +0000

Navio Systems has closed its second round of funding with $25.4 million of venture funding.

Navio sells multimedia networking software to media companies that allows subscribers to buy, share, download, store and access content while protecting the content. Their technology can be integrated into customers’ storefronts through the internet, mobile devices and peer-to-peer networks. It also allows customers access and redownload their purchased content when they lose or upgrade their devices.

Lead participants in this round were the WK Technology Fund and VantagePoint Venture Partners.

LOC-AID Technologies Secures $5 Million In Venture Funding

The Technology Suits, Editor-in-Chief: Kurt Uhlir — Wed, 16 Nov 2005 04:18:51 +0000

LOC-AID Technologies announced that it has secured $5 million in its first round of institutional financing. The round of funding was co-led by H.I.G. Ventures and Intersouth Partners.

Loc-AID was founded in 2001 to add functionality and interoperability to cell phones with location based services.

Mobile Industry Adopts Ratings for Content

The Technology Suits, Editor-in-Chief: Kurt Uhlir — Fri, 11 Nov 2005 04:20:46 +0000

The Wireless Association (CTIA) has announced plans to adopt a voluntary content guideline system, similar to the ESRB, to “proactively provide tools and controls to manage wireless content offered by the carriers”.

The system will not only provide ratings for content but will also allow parents to block access to particular content on their children’s devices. The two-tiered system will divide content on a carrier’s portal into Generally Accessible Carrier Content and Restricted Carrier Content. To avoid inconsistencies with other rating systems, the system will categorize based on existing movie, TV and game rating systems.

The initial phase of the rating system will label content provided on carrier portals, with a second phase to address internet content accessed through mobile devices.

Adult content on mobile devices has been available on carriers in Asia for years and is quickly growing in Europe. While this type of content has not been a large part of the U.S. mobile content industry, it is good to see U.S. carriers beginning to provide the tools to consumers to monitor the type of content accessed on their plans.

In-Game Ad Company Gets $10 Million

The Technology Suits, Editor-in-Chief: Kurt Uhlir — Wed, 09 Nov 2005 04:51:01 +0000

In-game advertising firm double fusion Monday announced it had hired Geoff Graber, the former general manager of Yahoo! Games, as its CEO. The company, which intends to soon move its headquarters to New York City from Jerusalem, also announced that it had closed a $10 million financing round led by Accel Partners and Jerusalem Venture Partners.

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Unlike rival Massive Incorporated–which focuses on inserting ads into games by major publishers–Double Fusion intends to work with major publishers as well as makers of short-form casual games, like those Graber oversaw at Yahoo! Games. “There are opportunities in both areas,” Graber said. “There’s very clearly an interest from brand game publishers to leverage their games, but there’s also a very good target market in the demographic for casual games as well.

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Link to Complete Article

Mobile Game Addiction Spreading In Korea

The Technology Suits, Editor-in-Chief: Kurt Uhlir — Wed, 09 Nov 2005 04:46:25 +0000

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According to Marketing Insight, a consumer research institute, 14 million out of 37 million cell phone subscribers in Korea play mobile games. To put it another way, four out of every 10 people are mobile gamers. More specifically, 2.3 million play mobile games everyday, accounting for 6.2 percent of the total cell phone subscribers, including 15 percent of cell phone users in their teens and twenties.

As the popularity of mobile games soars among teenagers and workers, there is a growing concern over “mobile game addiction.” Indeed, mobile games are increasingly causing distractions at workplaces and classes.

{…}

Experts agree that the biggest problem with mobile games is the difficulty in determining whether one is addicted to the games or not.

According to psychiatry professor Yoon Soo-jung of St. Paul’s Hospital, many teachers complain about students playing mobile games in class, and it is difficult for parents to notice their children’s mobile game addiction as children can easily hide their mobile game playing, unlike Internet games.

Oh Won-i, the head of the Information Misuse Prevention and Research Center at Korea Agency for Digital Opportunity and Promotion, also pointed out that due to the ubiquity of cell phones, it is hard to draw a clear definition of mobile game addiction despite its great adverse effects. In addition, he emphasized the need for concerted efforts from mobile phone operators to establish a program to prevent mobile game addiction.

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Link to Complete Article

Walt Disney shores up European mobile gaming strategy

The Technology Suits, Editor-in-Chief: Kurt Uhlir — Tue, 08 Nov 2005 04:51:06 +0000

The Walt Disney Internet Group (WDIG) is acquiring Living Mobile, a European mobile game developer and publisher, as part of its ongoing strategy to expand its footprint in the mobile games category.

Disney first entered the mobile market in Japan through a deal in August 2000 with NTT DoCoMo which propelled its to become the number one mobile entertainment brand in that market. It currently has distribution deals with all 4 major carriers and more than 3.3 million paid subscriptions. This latest move is intended to enable the group to replicate this success in Europe.

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Link to Complete Article at Computer Business Review Online

Walt Disney World Tickets and other discount Orlando ticket deals.

Mobinet Study Shows Mobile Data Usage Growing

The Technology Suits, Editor-in-Chief: Kurt Uhlir — Sun, 06 Nov 2005 05:35:32 +0000

The most recent Mobinet study, from consulting firm A.T. Kearney and the Judge Business School at Cambridge University, shows that shows that consumers are eager to use mobile data and content, yet uncertainty still exists.

The study has been conducted eight times since 2000 and uses a sample of 4000 mobile phone users in 21 countries. A few of the most interesting results from this most recent report includes:

More than half of consumers say they are able to access multimedia services on their mobile devices
Individuals with newer handsets are more willing to pay for multimedia services
56% of all multimedia phone owners now use mobile internet and email usage at least one message, up from 36% last year
33% of all multimedia phone owners download music, up from 21% last year
17% of all mobile users and 27% of teenagers say they are willing to pay for “time-critical and relevant content that can be easily viewed while on the move”
Multimedia phone owners that do not use multimedia services listed uncertainty of cost, security and privacy, slow access, cost and poor content as reasons for not using these services
60% of customers expect to use their mobile phone for the majority of their calls this next year

Click here to download the full report (pdf).

Arsenal sign O2 content deal

The Technology Suits, Editor-in-Chief: Kurt Uhlir — Wed, 02 Nov 2005 05:15:09 +0000

O2 has signed a three-year £2.25 million deal with Arsenal for the exclusive mobile content rights to London’s football club’s matches. This deal follows a four-year deal £10 million O2 signed with Arsenal for the branding on players’ shirts, which ends this season. O2’s main sponsorship will now be given to the Millennium Dome, which is being renamed The O2 after a £6 million per year deal.

Telefonica offers GBP 18 billion for O2

The Technology Suits, Editor-in-Chief: Kurt Uhlir — Wed, 02 Nov 2005 05:06:32 +0000

Telefonica, a mammoth Spanish telecom with major mobile networks in the south of Europe and Latin America, has made a bid to acquire UK’s biggest carrier, O2, for GBP 18 billion ($32 billion).

The bid is being recommended by O2’s board and will complete early next year if it is accepted by shareholders. Telefonica has announced that O2 will maintain its current branding with a headquarters in the UK.

Analysts see this expansion as a great move by Telefonica, as the two companies have little overlap in operations and O2 is known for pushing mobile data technologies such as i-mode in the UK.