Thursday, July 30, 2009

Yahoo comes full circle with retreat from search

Yahoo! Tech: "Yahoo Inc. invested billions of dollars in its Internet search engine during the past six years before realizing it made more sense to entrust the job to an outsider — hearkening back to a conclusion the company's co-founders reached shortly after they started their Web directory in the mid-1990s.

The latest shift in direction will put rival Microsoft Corp. in control of the search results and the ads that appear alongside search results on Yahoo's highly trafficked Web site, assuming the proposed partnership is approved by antitrust regulators in the United States and Europe.

The 10-year deal announced Wednesday blows up a search expansion undertaken under Yahoo's former chief executive, Terry Semel, who resigned under shareholder pressure two years ago. The repudiation of Semel's strategy returns Yahoo to a philosophy embraced by co-founders Jerry Yang and David Filo in the company's early days."

Online video watching nearly doubles since ’06

Tech and gadgets- msnbc.com: "Americans' appetite for Web video, from clips shared on YouTube to TV programs and movies, continues to soar, nearly doubling since 2006, according to a report from the Pew Internet & American Life Project released Wednesday.

'The audience for online video-sharing sites like YouTube and Google Video continues to grow swiftly across all demographic groups, far outpacing the adoption rates of many other Internet activities,' Pew said. 'Fully 62 percent of adult Internet users have watched a video on these sites, up from 33 percent' in December 2006, when Pew last measured such activity."

Monday, July 27, 2009

E-cigarettes may be as bad as the real thing - MSNBC

I was always curious to know what exactly an e-cigarette was (see them in the mall). Found this NBC video that explains it all.

Wii Sports Resort Review - MSNBC

Why did wedding boogie wow Web? MSNBC

'Wii Sports Resort' is a great gaming getaway

'Wii Sports Resort' — the long-awaited sequel to the massively popular 'Wii Sports' game — launched Sunday. And after spending far too much time playing it, I can say that it's a must-have game for any Wii owner — a charming collection of fun, absorbing , easy-to-jump-into games that just about anyone can play and almost everyone will dig. Yes, even some of you Wii haters out there.

Sunday, July 26, 2009

SHOW #77 - NerdBoyTV: RealPlayer SP (beta)

In this episode of NerdBoyTV, Ryan Yee demos the RealPlayer SP (beta) and shows how to convert YouTube videos to play on your iPod, Blackberry, or Palm Pre.

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Wireless Internet use up sharply

READ full story on MSNBC.com

"More Americans are accessing the Internet using wireless mobile devices such as smartphones and laptops, according to a study released Wednesday by the Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project.

'Use of the Internet on mobile devices has grown sharply from the end of 2007 to the beginning of 2009,' with 56 percent of Americans saying that have 'at some point used wireless means for online access,' the Pew Center said.

While laptops, game consoles and MP3 players were cited as some of the devices used for wireless Internet access, Pew's findings show that smartphones — such as the iPhone or BlackBerrys which have Web access and e-mail — are playing a fast-growing role."

Monday, July 20, 2009

Send free text messages on the iPhone

Gateway joins $299 Netbook club

Gateway joins $299 Netbook club | Crave - CNET: "The $299 Netbook club is getting a little bit bigger with the announcement of Gateway's 10.1-inch LT2000. Gateway calls it 'a sleek and compact,' system that will, 'let mobile customers maximize their time on the go to stay connected and productive.' We call it a Gateway-branded version of corporate-cousin Acer's popular Aspire One (also available for $299).

Like the Acer models, the Gateway LT2000 supports some basic multi-touch gestures on its touchpad, and it will be available in red and black (sorry, that's actually 'NightSky Black and Cherry Red')."

Best non-iPod MP3 players for Mac

Best non-iPod MP3 players for Mac - CNET Reviews: "Connecting a non-iPod MP3 player to a Mac computer may sound like heresy to some Apple lovers, but for those Mac users who dare to 'Think Different,' there's a whole world of alternative MP3 players out there for the taking.

Not all MP3 players play nice with Mac, however. Several popular MP3 players marketed to PC users (such as the Microsoft Zune or the Creative Zen) use a connection standard called MTP that only responds to Windows-based computers. For an MP3 player to be Mac-compatible, it needs to show up on your Mac's desktop as a generic USB hard drive (also called UMS or MSC compatibility). It's not too hard to come across an MP3 player capable of connecting as a generic USB hard drive, but finding one worthy of replacing an iPod is tougher than you'd think.

Each of the following six players offers something special that no iPod has yet to match. Whether it's the audio quality of the Sony Walkman, the unbeatable price of the Sansa Clip, or the dazzling file format support of both Cowon and Archos, Mac users looking to dip their toes in non-Apple waters have plenty of incentive."

Newspapers 2.0

Barnes & Noble unveils digital bookstore

Courtesy of Tech & Gadgets—msnbc.com

Barnes & Noble Inc unveiled on Monday what it called the world's largest online bookstore, taking on Amazon.com Inc. with more than 700,00 titles readable on devices such as Apple Inc's iPhone.

The top U.S. bookseller plans to charge customers $9.99 to download most new releases and bestsellers — the same as Amazon. The titles now available include more than half a million public domain books from Google Inc.

Barnes & Noble also said it will be the exclusive provider of digital books on the Plastic Logic e-reader, a device expected to compete with Amazon's popular Kindle and due to launch early next year.

Eschewing Amazon's Kindle-only approach, the bookseller said its digital books could be read on the iPhone or iPod touch, Research in Motion Ltd's Blackberry and most Mac and Microsoft Corp Windows laptops or desktop computers.

Sunday, July 19, 2009

SHOW #76 - NerdBoyTV: Nokia E71x

In this episode of NerdBoyTV, Ryan Yee reviews the terrific Nokia E71x cellphone with its 3.2 megapixel camera and battery that lasts up to 3 days (yes days, not hours).

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Google's going after Microsoft (courtesy of Morning Joe)

Was Facebook started as a college prank? (courtesy of Morning Joe)

New book on the founder of Facebook...could it be that this social networking site was created with the objective of getting laid? LOL

Sunday, July 12, 2009

Hmmmm. Who said, "Tail To The Chief?"

Now what do YOU think? Is Barack checking her out or helping another down the stairs? YOU be the judge (hehehe)...I know, NerdBoyTV is taking a break from technology on THIS one (LOL).

CNET Top 5: Google Searches

Saturday, July 11, 2009

FingerBeat - Make Pocket Music! ( iPhone/ iPod )

FingerBeat is a music instrument designed for creativity & self-expression, inspired by retro synthesizers and samplers, FingerBeat is a classic for absolutely everyone. You dont need to know a single musical note to create beats or draw melodies using your finger. Annotate your musical ideas, record external sounds directly into the pads to express yourself.

Available on iPhone & second generation iPod touch.

Snik.com — iPod and iPhone Cord Control with Zipper Puller

The zipper puller is the essential Snik. It's a simple string puller that attaches to almost any zipper on your jackets, sweaters, or hoodies. Feed the cord through the normal zipper tab and the Snik will lay nice and flat on your chest, tummy, or lower bulbous. Pop your earbud cords into the grooves with your fingers or thumb. Snik!

Thursday, July 9, 2009

Monday, July 6, 2009

RIM BlackBerry Tour 9630—Verizon Wireless (courtesy of CNET)

Long awaited, the RIM BlackBerry Tour 9630 has finally arrived in town, and it's putting on quite a show. As the replacement to the RIM BlackBerry 8830 World Edition, the Tour offers 3G world roaming capabilities and brings a number of improvements in all three departments of design, features, and performance.



While we're disappointed by the lack of Wi-Fi and other minor annoyances, the pros far outweigh the cons. It's one of the strongest smartphone offerings from Verizon Wireless, and its business customers will be well-served by this device. The RIM BlackBerry Tour 9630 will be available from the carrier starting July 12 for $199.99 with a two-year contract and after a $70 mail-in rebate.

Saturday, July 4, 2009

NerdBoyTV NEWS: Struggling for Internet freedom in China (courtesy of MSNBC)

Bioshock 2 Game: Who's Your Daddy? (courtesy of MSNBC)

Blackberry Storm Vs. iPhone 3G (via Jon Rettinger)

NerdBoyTV FIND: Thriller Dance on YouTube

Watch these dancers perform Michael Jackson's Thriller dance in front of stunned commuters on London's District Line.

Get your ‘Thriller’ on YouTube (via Technotica- msnbc.com)

Spontaneous gatherings to Michael Jackson popped up all over the globe following news of the pop icon’s sudden death on Thursday.

But in the Philippines, 1,500 convicts at Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center practiced nine hours Friday night and into Saturday morning for their own professionally choreographed tribute to the artist who helped make them the most popular inmates on the Internet.

The maximum security penitentiary became YouTube-famous in 2007 for its exercise yard rendition of Jackson’s “Thriller” video.

Where was that picture taken? (via Christopher Null : Yahoo! Tech)

Those boxes and boxes (and gigs and gigs) of old photographs make for fun moments of nostalgia, but they can also lead to plenty of confusion, too.

To wit: That interesting-looking house you shot on the family summer vacation 10 years earlier... but is that John Quincy Adams' childhood home or John Tyler's?*

Who knows. But when memory fails, why not turn to the web?

That's the promise of an upcoming technology in development at Google, whose developer says can identify 50,000 unique landmarks worldwide based on a snapshot alone and correctly identify them without the need for humans to get involved.

How do you upgrade a PC with no optical drive? (via Christopher Null : Yahoo! Tech)

Netbooks remain hot, and they stand to get even hotter this fall: While Windows Vista is too bloated for most netbooks, Windows 7 has been demonstrated to run on them rather zippily.

While that's good news for those who plan to buy a new machine this holiday season, it poses a problem for those looking to upgrade netbooks they already own. That's because netbooks, virtually by definition, don't include optical drives. And the most reliable way to upgrade Windows is to pop in the Windows DVD and let Microsoft do its thing.