CES Preview: Denon A1UDCI is First Announced Blu-ray Universal Player—and Priciest

By Will Sullivan
Contributing Writer, [GAS]

The pre-CES backtracking continues: A week ago, I announced the Oppo BDB-83, a Blu-ray/Universal player from that well-regarded Chinese manufacturer—at a rock-bottom $499-$599 price. Not mentioned on [GAS] (except buried in my followup comment to the original post) has been the first such universal player, from Denon, the A1UDCI, announced for Europe a month ago (Dec. 4, 2008).

I have nothing but the greatest respect for Denon, but the now-confirmed $3800 MSRP (down from the $5,800 estimate based on the yen/dollar conversion a month ago!!!) is still so far removed from reality as to be absurd. Sure, check out the Denon (see link, below), but give a VERY long look and listen to the oppo, at ~15% of the price, and chock full of electronics goodness, including the well-regarded new Anchor Bay Technologies (ABT) video processor, discrete analog and digital stages—with shielding—and high-end parts…

[Via Sound and Vision’s “Bitstream” Blog]



CES Preview: LG Adds Built-in Netflix Streaming Capabilities to New HDTVs

By Will Sullivan
Contributing Writer, [GAS]

In the week(s) prior to CES every year, manufacturers often “pre-release” info to whet the appetites of journalists about to be bombarded by the cacophony and cognitive dissonance that truly is the lasting experience of the Consumer Electronics Show. Even though today—the day before the official start of this year’s CES—is the normal day for endless manufacturers’ unveilings of new products and lines, some co’s already have jumped the gun; so, we have to backtrack a little before giving the lowdown on today’s pre-show events..

LG announced a few days ago that its upcoming spring line of Plasmas and LCDs would include Netflix-streaming (“Watch Now”) capabilities, which currently requires a set-top box (such as Ryan’s Roku Christmas present!) or an HTPC (Home Theater PC) to accomplish. No word on models, availability, features (e.g. Netflix HD streaming) or pricing—but Engadget reports that the AP has estimated this will add $200-$300 to the price of sets…OUCH! See Ryan’s review of the Roku by hitting the link above: at 1/2 to 1/3 the price, what’s another tiny box in the ol’ entertainment center, eh?

[Via Engadget]

When you want it clean, there’s Cyber Clean!

Are you tired of whacking your keyboard face down on your desk to get all the old bread crumbs out? Do you feel ashamed when your favorite tech support person has to come replace your keyboard because you dropped too much crap in it? If you answered yes to any of those questions, then please watch the following video!

Apparently, The Cyber Clean compound can clean all your favorite tech gadgets while killing most germs on contact. Unfortunately, the Cyber Clean goo doesn’t last forever, and as it absorbs dirt, it progressively changes color from yellow to greenish-blue. Oh, and in case you’re wondering what’s inside this mysterious substance, just have a quick look at its data safety sheet (PDF)… ethanol, glycerol… “Repeated or prolonged exposure may cause irritation of eyes and skin.” Hmmm, that doesn’t sound like a very healthy substance… but most cleaners aren’t anyways. If it can kill germs, it can’t be good for you either.

[Product Page | Via Technabob]



A Lesson in Password Security

By Miss Cellania
Contributing Writer, [GAS]

twitbird1Wired’s Threat Level blog has an interview with GMZ, the hacker who briefly helped himself to some high-profile accounts at Twitter a few days ago. The way he got in was ridiculously simple.

1. He identified a very active account. It later turned out to belong to a Twitter employee who had access to all account passwords.

2. He used an automated dictionary program that tries common English words as passwords. He ran the program all night, with no interference.

Cracking the site was easy, because Twitter allowed an unlimited number of rapid-fire log-in attempts.

Continue reading ›

The New 17-inch MacBook Pro

When Apple unveils a new product, you can always expect the company to release a shiny commercial to go along with it, and that’s exactly what they just did for their new 17-inch MacBook Pro, which I think looks totally fabulous!

CES 2009: Preview of the World’s Largest Consumer Electronics Show

By Will Sullivan
Contributing Writer, [GAS]

Well, it’s early January, again—and that must mean it’s time for: a) the annual misdating of checks and documents debacle; b) the early abandonment of too-ambitious (and already onerous) New Year’s Resolutions; c) the counterbalance to the latter for all techno-geeks worldwide: the cornucopia of emerging technologies, realized and packaged in alluring consumer electronics toys that is the ginormous annual, International Consumer Electronics Show (CES).

This year’s CES, presented as ever by the international Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), promises to be no less of an utterly humongous, glittering, near-bewildering tech smorgasbord than in years past. The show is so big, no single attendee can possibly cover more than a small fraction of the exhibits. Unlike over forty years ago, when CES debuted in New York City (1967) with some 200 exhibitors and 17,500 attendees, this year’s edition, which takes place in Las Vegas from January 8-11, will feature over 2700 exhibitors, and will welcome over 130,000 industry retailers, marketers, competitors, journalists (and sneaky fans) from more than 140 countries all over the world—in over 1.7 million net square feet of exhibition space.

Too big for any one single venue, CES will span two major expo spaces: The Las Vegas Convention Center/Las Vegas Hilton, and the Sands Expo and Convention Center/The Venetian, with countless individual outliers and tangential, non-affiliated demonstrations in individual hotel and meeting rooms around the city. This is THE place to debut new tech, in whatever niche. Some highlights of historic debuts (and acronyms!) from years’ past:

-1970: Video Cassette Recorder (VCR)
-1974: Laserdisc Player (LDP)
-1981: Camcorder, Compact Disc (CD), and CD Player
-1990: Digital Audio Technology
-1991: Compact Disc-Interactive (CD-I)
-1993: Mini Disc
-1994: Radio Data System (RDS)
-1996: Digital Versatile Disc (DVD)
-1998: High Definition Television (HDTV)
-1999: Hard-disc Video Recorder/Personal Video Recorder (PVR)
-2000: Digital Audio Radio (DAR)
-2001: Microsoft X-Box, Plasma TV
-2002: Home Media Server
-2003: HD Radio
-2005: IP TV (Internet TV broadcasting)
-2006: A plethora of digital content services
-2007: Convergence of new digital content streams and technologies
-2008: Organic Light-emitting Diode (OLED) video screen technology

Since even large teams of journalists are hard pressed to cover more than a fraction of the show, what I will do over the next few days is bring you a compendium of the best-of-the-best coverage of major tech niches, from the most respected journalists, publications and websites from all over the web. Stay tuned, sexy geeks; shiny new tech toys await!

[Source: CES 2009/CEA official site]

Mmm! Scientist Explains “Umami,” the Mysterious “Fifth Taste”

By Will Sullivan
Contributing Writer, [GAS]

Ask serious gourmets or gourmands what humans can taste, and they’ll tell you: “Salt, Sweet, Sour and Bitter… oh, yeah, and then there’s ‘Umami,’ but it’s a mystery, no one really knows what it is…”

“Umami” is Japanese for “delicious savory,” and until recently, it was a mysterious food “taste” or maybe sensation, that was largely unqualifiable, and certainly unquantifiable. The great French chef Escoffier first postulated this “fifth taste,” although it’s named in honor of a Japanese scientist, Kikunae Ikeda, who discovered in 1908 that the amino acid glutamate (as in monosodium glutamate, MSG) added something…extra…to seaweed soup.

Now, a century later, a Chinese scientist in San Diego has discovered that the effect of umami is a binary process—i.e. it takes two chemicals, in tandem, for the process to occur on your tongue; both molecules together trigger unique taste-bud receptors that don’t otherwise respond to anything else. What’s cool about this is that while MSG works, it also causes side effects in a small percentage of people—headaches, dizziness, and it may cause neurological disorders—so this research may show the path towards developing new, safe “umami” flavor enhancers.

[Via Wired]

Breaking: Apple Releases Revolutionary New MacBook Wheel

With the MacBook Wheel, you’ll never have to put your hands on a keyboard again!

Oh, and for those of you who haven’t realized it yet, this video comes from the Onion News Network, and is unfortunately only a spoof.

[Via Engadget]

2008 Weblog Awards – [GAS] Nominated as best tech blog!

The 2008 Weblog Awards

To our surprise (and very appreciative amazement!), some kind soul has nominated GAS for the 2008 weblog award. Best of all, [GAS] was selected as one of the top 10 best tech blogs for this year’s edition.

Unfortunately, there can only be one grand winner, and we’re running up against some very stiff competition. If you want to help us win this prestigious award, we humbly ask beg you to take a minute of your time and cast a vote—we will be eternally grateful.

We may not be as big as the Gizmodos and Arstechnicas of this world, but we’re doing everything we can to inform and entertain you the best we can. Thanks for a fantastic year and for all your great comments. Readers, you are truly appreciated!

Link to vote: http://2008.weblogawards.org/polls/best-technology-blog/

Please note that the voting system allows you to vote once every 24 hours, so if you guys feel like going back to cast multiple votes for us, feel free to do so!