We predicted Blu Ray would win and it has

I am not the only person to predict that Blu-Ray high definition format would beat HD-DVD in the format wars so thw question is now what do you do if you:

1) Bought an HD-DVD player
2) Are looking to buy a new DVD player soon

If you bought an HD DVD from Toshiba or one of the other vendors take heart, there are at least some movies out that will take advantage of the format and fortunately your player will read traditional DVDs. If you paid top dollar for yours...consider it a lesson learned..don't be an early adopter when format wars loom.

If you are considering buying a new player, you might want to wait a few months as there is an expected surge in Blu Ray sales which will stress inventories, meaning few if any price specials. However by summer you can expect to see some of that backlog taken care of and increased production from many vendors.

And don't forget both Sony Playstation 3s and a number of the Apple Macs come with Blu Ray built in.

The Dangers of GPS Addiction

For someone who travels a lot and lacks a natural sense of direction, GPS devices are a god-send. On a recent trip to wine country north of Santa Barbara I was reminded of the limitations of ignoring bringing a paper map.

First, I've noticed in L.A. where I landed, the GPS take an extra few minutes to get synched with the satellites. As a result you better be in a parked position and wait. If you choose not to do so, well you are off and running and could get considerably off track before the device decides to recalculate the route and get you on the right path. L.A. traffic means this mistake can cost you 30 minutes.

Secondly, up in the foothills north of Santa Barbara the maps used in the GPS system may not be perfect. I had the pleasure of being sent in a 12 minute loop a couple of times before I found a gas station to ask for directions back to Highway 101.

But had I done the reverse and simply relied on traditional maps and directions given by local wineries...I would have spent a lot more time and reached a much higher level of frustration than the minor annoyances listed above.

I still believe for GPS to hit the next level of customer acceptance, companies like Garmin and TomTom need to highlight there is no monthly fee (i.e. like GM Onstar) making the portable version of these devices pretty affordable.

My advice, use them but have a back up plan and pay attention to your surroundings to see if what the GPS is showing/telling you makes sense with what you see around you.

Wireless Power, the next frontier in cutting the cords

As we get more gadgets we face a growing problem of running out of power and the need to manage even more power cords. My laptop bag is getting bulkier with each new toy I add to the mix.

Help is on the way in the WildCharge which is a pad where you place wireless devices like phones, music players and digital cameras and they charge through contacts on the pad and the special replacement cover you put on the back of your device. The cost is $90 which includes the Pad and a replacement battery cover for 1 Motorola RAZR. Each additional cover/adapter is $35. Right now it's useful if you have a houseful of RAZR users but plans are to add support for iPods, iPhones, Blackberry's, Zunes and more devices very soon.

http://www.wildcharge.com/

New iPods and iPhone pricing

I am sure some of our readers are none too pleased that they shelled out $499-$599 for a product that is either a) discontinued (4g iPhone) or now $399 (8G) in less than 3 months time. I have to say, anyone who read ANYTHING about Apple's announcements at the time of launch heard they would either come out with new devices or lower prices by the end of the year. Admittedly, this soon, this much of a decrease probably surprised us all.

If it is any consolation, early buyers of game machines like XBOX paid $200-$400 more than list price to get their hands on early units of those gadgets.

What about the new iPods themselves. Well the units are pretty cool. The nano now has a video screen and the iPod Touch has most of the cool features of iPhone minus phone and camera. I have to tell you, I might be more likely to by one of those than the iPhone as I really like my cell phone to be small and just be an excellent phone (that doesn't scratch or break easily). But having wifi on my iPod and being able to buy songs wirelessly...pretty cool.

Hope to hear comments from readers on these devices and Apple's moves. The new products are shown here

HD DVD wars continue to heat up

Hey, this isn't getting any easier to choose which format; Blu-Ray or HD DVD will be the one that wins out. In past posts we've talked about how Blu-Ray was locking in some key players such as retailers.

But as they say in the computer biz...software drives hardware sales. And Paramount and Dreamworks SKG announced they wouldn't be supporting Blu-Ray which means no Shrek 3 or Nickelodeon content on Blu-Ray.

We restate our current opinion don't buy one unless you like risk!

What percentage of users are "Notquitegeeks"?

Note: I had the wrong web address! My mistake, sorry it is fixed now

I was reading at article in Firstglimpse Magazine that asked what type of tech user are you? As I continue to work on the definition of a not quite geek, this caught my eye. Based on a study done by the Pew Internet Project (they get quoted a lot these days) between 23-31% fall into the category I classify as a not quite geek. The variance is that their Omnivore description may include true geeks (8%). You can take their survey at www.pewinternet.org/quiz and find out how you rate. I'll post my category later.

Enjoy.

Getting existing DVDs onto AppleTV

I purchased my AppleTV primarily to help build a library of converted DVDs onto my system as well as those movies I download from iTunes. I want my own "on demand" capabilites for the 50+ movies I have.

Unfortunately due to piracy concerns, you can't copy your existing DVDs to AppleTV, at least you are not suppose to. Look I am totally against piracy but I am in favor of people being able to use what they've bought where they want to use it: video iPod or AppleTV device.

I purchased Cucusoft DVD to Apple TV Converter for $30 after testing the free download. Well worth it! The user interface has already improved since I first used it and with one exception I have been able to convert all the DVDs I have tried. Reminder! don't use this to pirate!