HP ePrint: No Print Driver? No Problem

Hewlett Packard led off Internet Week in New York Monday by unveiling ePrint, a new Web print service that allows users to print from any Web-enabled device whether it has built-in printing support or not. The new ePrint service will come with a wave of new all-in-one inkjet printers starting at $99.

During a morning press conference, Vyomesh Joshi (right), HP's executive vice president for Imaging and Printing Group, noted that all of the new printers will come with their own e-mail addresses. Sending a print job to any of the ePrint-enabled printers is as simple as sending an e-mail he said.

While three of the four new printers will be available in August and September, the $99 HP Photosmart e-All-in-One printer, which features a 2.4-inch touchscreen and a flatbed scanner, will be available later this month.

For more on the new ePrint service, see my piece at PCWorld.com.

Copyright 2010 Stadium Circle Features

Gates on Gates: Proud Son Yields to Prouder Dad

Bill Gates Sr. joins famous son to promote book on family values

Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates doesn’t have to deal with second billing too often, but he was happy to do so Wednesday since the person hundreds of people packed a New York auditorium to hear was someone he truly admired: His father.

“Needless to say, I am quite proud of the outcome of my family,” said Bill Gates Sr., 84, to a roar of laughter during an event at Manhattan's 92nd St. Y to promote his book, “Showing Up for Life,” which focuses on the value of family and hard work.

Gates Sr. said his position as co-chair of the charity founded by his famous son, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, “is why I still get up and go to work every morning.”

“I had a lot of fun growing up,” said the younger Gates (William H. Gates III, to be precise) who famously took a pass on a Harvard education to found Microsoft. “I’m not sure if I made it fun,” he added with a smirk.

Gates Sr. had a bit to say about the value of a strong family, the poor condition of the American public education system and the damage extreme partisan politics has done to government at all levels. However his true focus was on his family, which includes two more children: daughters Kristianne and Libby.

He noted that he has a tradition of taking his grandchildren anywhere in the world they wanted to go when they turned ten years old. 

“By and large we were able to accommodate their wishes,” he said.

The last request came from one of his son’s children: Antarctica. They made it.

Gates Sr. was downright exuberant when he spoke of the 6,000 students a year who “go to school on Bill and Melinda’s dollar.”

During a question-and-answer session, the younger Gates said running Microsoft during its infancy “wasn’t that hard” and “didn’t seem like that big of deal” at the time.

He said Microsoft started on the premise that software, not hardware was the “key ingredient” in developing a usable computer. Unlike other companies that focused on a single product, like the old WordPerfect Corp., Microsoft sought to develop entire platforms of software products, he said.

“In all success stories there are significant elements of luck and timing,” he said. “You do have to be lucky enough, but you have to be fanatical enough to keep it going.”

In a week where Apple, buoyed by strong sales of its new iPad tablet, nudged ahead of Microsoft to become the world’s largest tech company in terms of market capitalization, the younger Gates actually eked out some praise for his competitor.

“Now Apple’s doing a good job with hardware,” he said as some in the audience tittered. “There’s room for more than one success story.”

So what did Gates Sr. aim to teach readers with his book?

“To get people to think about how we are all in this together,” he said. “We’re grossly interdependent.”

Photos and text Copyright 2010 Stadium Circle Features

Sound ID 510 Bluetooth Headset: Now Hear That!

According to the folks at Sound ID, you are what you hear. That's why the new Sound ID 510 Bluetooth headset comes with something no other wireless headset to date has offered: Its own personalized iPhone app.

The new app, called EarPrint, allows you to fine tune the incoming audio of the headset to your own ear. Depending on how you set the app, you can have the earpiece dull loud sounds or increase the volume of soft ones.

The headset will be available at AT&T stores and the Sound ID website on June 6. So what else does it offer? Read my first look at PC World.

Copyright 2010 Stadium Circle Features

Sprint HTC Evo 4G: A Formidable Android Powerhouse

If you get your hands on the new HTC Evo 4G cell phone for Sprint and you're not impressed with its 4.3-inch display, solid feel and sleek lines, just remove the battery cover. The engineering inside is just as elegant as it is outside. Even its battery is color-matched to its innards.

At a splashy press event in New York Wednesday, Sprint introduced the HTC Evo 4G, the first 4G cell phone to come to market in the U.S. The unit ($199.99 after a $100 rebate and with a two-year service agreement) arrives at Sprint stores on June 4. According to Sprint representatives, 4G data service is up to ten times faster than today's 3G networks, like the one used by the Apple iPhone 3G S.

One thing that didn't arrive in New York with the May 12 launch event, however, was the 4G network. While Sprint's 4G service is already available in Atlanta, Baltimore, Chicago, Houston, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, Seattle and a handful of other cities, New York is listed as "soon." However a temporary 4G cell was set up near the event site so that the 4G features of the phone could be demonstrated to the press.

Sprint officials said that since they knew that 4G coverage would be spotty for some time, the goal in creating the Evo 4G was to create the best possible 3G phone--with 4G capabilities. Also, since the 4G circuitry is rather power hungry, most users would not want to leave the 4G capability on all the time, the Sprint officials said.

"If you're going to build a great product for 4G, you better have a large display," said David Owens, vice president of consumer marketing for Sprint in a meeting before the press event. "This will impact gaming, as you will see."

Indeed, the bright, 4.3-inch display is stunning. Combined with the unit's one-gigahertz processor, high-quality YouTube videos run smoothly and without audio problems. While the HTC Evo 4G isn't the first cell phone with a front-facing webcam (the Pharos Traveler 137, introduced in 2009, is one example), the combination of the 1.3-megapixel webcam with an 8-megapixel, back-mounted digital camera makes the HTC Evo 4G a rather formidable communications and image-recording tool for both casual and professional use.

"I see more utility in this than I see in a netbook," said Owens, who also noted that the phone can used as mobile Wi-Fi hotspot for other devices.

Included among the preloaded Android applications is Google Goggles, an interesting utility that makes good use of the phone's camera and Google's archive of images. Point the camera at an object or a photo and the software will try to figure out what it is. During the press event, the phone successfully recognized a photo of the Guggenheim Museum (see video).

Also preloaded on the HTC Evo 4G is Qik, a service which lets you stream live videos from your phone. However if you enable an upgrade to the software, you can use Qik to engage in live video chats with other mobile devices or with desktop computers. An attempt to demonstrate the utility on stage at the press event failed quietly (see video), but the Qik app worked perfectly when shown off at a demonstration table afterward.



At a price just under $200 and with data plans that are significantly cheaper than those of other major carriers, the HTC Evo 4G may quickly evolve into a true competitor to other top-shelf cell phones like iPhone 3G S, Google Nexus, and Motorola Droid. Only time, and the speed of the growth of Sprint's 4G network, will tell.

Image courtesy of Sprint
Text and videos Copyright 2010 Stadium Circle Features 

Kodak CMO: We're Ready to "Play"

It's not your grandfather's Kodak anymore and Kodak aims to keep it that way, declared its chief marketing officer Tuesday.

"I want to make us look cool," said CMO Jeffrey Hayzlett in a frank and often funny keynote address at the Streaming Media East conference in New York Tuesday. 

Hayzlett readily admitted that Kodak had a penchant for saddling interesting products with dull names. For example, while Kodak's Zi8 digital video camera had been well received in the market, he agreed with Boston Globe technology columnist Hiawatha Bray, who lauded the camera but said the name was "dreadful."

Prompted by the column, Kodak ran a contest to name its next video product, which turned out to be the PlaySport, a waterproof digital video camera unveiled at the International Consumer Electronics Show in January. He said it took a while to decide on the name, but he told his colleagues at Kodak, "We're not about to call this cool camera the 'ZX3.' "

He said that moving forward, all of Kodak's new digital video cameras will carry the "Play" moniker as the first part of its name.

He said Kodak has gone through great pains to freshen the way it presents itself on the Web and at trade shows. Pointing to an image of Kodak's old Web site on a large screen, Hayzlett said it "looks like a yard sale," especially when compared to the new site, which makes good use of screen-filling images and videos from current events. 

Instead of carting truckloads of products from trade show to trade show, Kodak now uses interactive displays to get its point across and stages televised panel discussions to engage the public at the show and on the Web. "We cut 75 per cent out of our trade show budget by doing it this way," said Hayzlett.

He also noted that Kodak now responds to consumer demand much faster than it once did.

"The old Kodak would have taken five years to bring the Zi8 to market," he said. "We did it in five months."

So where is the future for Kodak? Apparently in the business-to-business market. Hayzlett said Kodak now does 60 to 70 per cent of its sales with businesses. 

He noted that the company that once did $15 billion a year in film sales might do just $200 million this year. When he asked audience members to raise their hands if they had purchased a roll of film in the last two years, only a few hands went up.

"Thanks, both of you," he said with a grin. "You made our year."

Text, video and image Copyright 2010 Stadium Circle Features

Can The Kin Two Do HD Video? See For Yourself

 While none of the folks at the iPhone division of Apple will be losing sleep over the arrival of the new Kin One and Kin Two social networking cell phones from Microsoft, the phones do offer some useful features, including a nifty interface and quality digital cameras which double as camcorders.

  A key feature distinguishing the Kin One ($50 after rebate) from the Kin Two ($100 after rebate), is that the Kin Two (shown above) can record high-definition videos. So how well does it do HD? Compare these videos and judge for yourself.

  All were taken around New York City on May 4 in the hours after Microsoft and Verizon Wireless held a midtown press event to introduce the new phones, which will hit Verizon Wireless stores May 13.

Times Square in standard definition

Times Square in high definition.

Grand Central Station in standard definition.

Grand Central Station in high definition.

Photo courtesy of Microsoft and Verizon Wireless
Videos and text Copyright 2010 Stadium Circle Features

CEA Wires Washington's Historic Eastern Market

Take a small slice from the gigantic International Consumer Electronics Show, bring it to Washington, D.C., invite the press and members of Congress and what do you get? CES on the Hill, a surprisingly interesting and busy event held at Washington's historic Eastern Market Tuesday.

Not only did the Consumer Electronics Association bring dozens of high- and low-ranking Capitol Hill officials to the Eastern Market, it also left something behind: $8,500 worth of Ethernet jacks and cabling.

During a brief interview, Gary Shapiro, president and CEO of the CEA, noted that when rescheduling the event from the Russell Senate Office Building to the Eastern Market for space and other reasons, the CEA discovered that the Eastern Market's North Hall had wireless Internet connectivity, but no Ethernet jacks for exhibitors who needed them for security or bandwidth reasons.

The CEA, he said, decided to correct the problem itself: It donated $8,500 to the District of Columbia to install the needed hardware, which will now be available to future renters of the site.

On Tuesday the crowded hall was filled with gadgets and technology demonstrations from familiar CES exhibitors such as Samsung, Microsoft, XStreamHD, Kodak, Audiovox, Qualcomm, and Panasonic.

For example, Samsung showed off its new Restore, a handset built with 84 percent recyclable materials. To no one's surprise, the phone does not include a paper manual (it's available online) and what little packaging it has is 100 percent recyclable and made from 70 percent recycled material.

The unit has a standard phone keypad as well as a slide-out QWERTY keypad. Also included is a two-megapixel digital camera and camcorder, a microSD slot for removable memory cards with capacities up to 32 gigabytes, stereo Bluetooth support and an MP3 music player. Also bundled with the 4.3-ounce phone is Sprint Navigation for turn-by-turn driving directions. The handset will be available from Sprint in the summer.

Text and photos Copyright 2010 Stadium Circle Features

Going Online? Wash Your Hands!

 I had to chuckle when I spotted this "Restrooms & Data Ports" sign at the Mohegan Sun casino last week. Makes me wonder what indeed is being pumped across the Internet.

   Unlike most casino properties in Las Vegas, the Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Connecticut, provides free wired Internet access in its guest rooms and free Wi-Fi in its convention center and other public areas. The doorway leads to a set of laptop desks with working Ethernet jacks and chairs--and then to the bathrooms. I was there to cover the North American Poker Tour sponsored by PokerStars.net.

Copyright 2010 Stadium Circle Features

Good News: JetBlue's $10 Fares. Bad News: JetBlue's Web Site is Down

JetBlue is celebrating its tenth anniversary by offering $10 flights from New York’s JFK Airport to its first ten destinations. Try to book a flight on JetBlue’s Web site, however, and you get what you see below. Not a good day for "Website Technical Issues."

Copyright 2010 Stadium Circle Features

Samsung’s Sleek R80 Series Notebooks: Color them Red

First it was beige, then it was black and now the color of today’s notable notebooks depends on which way the fashion winds are blowing. Samsung is hardly a stranger to this trend and proves it with a raft of sleek-looking notebooks poised to debut exclusively at Best Buy on Sunday.

At a press preview in New York Thursday, Samsung showed off its new R80 series notebooks, which feature the company’s Crystal Wave body design. A clear coat protects a colorful metallic shell with wavy designs etched in. The result, according to a Samsung representative, is a durable case which will still looks good after hard use.

Samsung’s R780 ($930), R580 ($830) and R480 ($730) notebooks come with 17.3-, 15.6- and 14-inch HD LED displays respectively and 500-gigabyte hard disks. The R780 and R580 come with muscular Intel Core i5 processors and high-end nVidia GeForce GT 330M or 310M graphics engines while the R480 uses a less-robust, but certainly adequate Intel Core i3 processor and a medium-strength Intel GMA 4500MHD graphics chipset.

Somewhat surprisingly, the R480 and R580 come with Blu-ray players while the R780 is outfitted with a DVD burner. All of the R80 series units are long on connectivity options, offering three (R480) or four (R780, R580) USB 2.0 ports in addition to HDMI, video, audio, gigabit Ethernet, memory card and ExpressCard slots. The new units also feature built-in webcams, microphones and Wi-Fi adapters and the R780 includes a Bluetooth adapter as well.

During an assortment of demonstrations at the Samsung Experience at the Time Warner Center in New York, Samsung representatives demonstrated how the Blu-ray-enabled R80 notebooks could send HD video feeds to nearby televisions while having enough processor and graphics muscle left over for notebook users to surf the Web, edit documents or perform other tasks without cyber hiccups.

The R480 and R580 notebooks will be available at Best Buy retail stores March 7 while the R780 will be available online only via BestBuy.com.

Text and photo Copyright 2010 Stadium Circle Features