Geekly Update July 27

The AskBobRankin Geekly Update

• BlackBerry owners can now get the Slacker music service on their portable devices. The free Internet radio service is also available on iPhones, iPods, Sony Walkmans and of course on your home computer. You can even get Slacker on other Internet-connected devices such as Logitech Squeezebox, RCA Infinite Radio and Sony BRAVIA televisions. I listen to Slacker on my Blackberry, and I love the fact that I can pipe the music directly into my car's stereo system via Bluetooth or an FM transmitter.
• AT&T has announced that they are selling the Dell Mini 10, Lenovo S10, and 10-inch Acer Aspire One online and in their stores. Normally these models go for about $300, but AT&T is selling them for $200.00 if you sign up for a 2-year contract and a $40/month (200MB data transfer limit) or $60/month (5GB data) plan. Sounds like the "AT&T Cheap Laptop With Internet Access For Stupid People Plan" to me... Unless you have VERY minimal Internet use, you'll need the 5GB data plan, which brings the total cost of this netbook to $1639 -- plus all the taxes, fees and surcharges that phone companies love to slip in.
• Oh, and by the way... Walmart announced that they'll be selling a Compaq Presario notebook for $298. This models sports a 160GB hard-drive, 3GB RAM, and no monthly fees! Of course you'll need to use your existing Internet access, or head for the nearest free wifi hotspot. Walmart cautions that quantities will be limited, but you can expect to see similar back-to-school offerings by other retailers over the next few months.
• Asus has come up with the T1 series for those who can’t decide if their next purchase will be an HDTV or monitor. The T1 series works as both with a built-in TV tuner and will be available in 22, 24 and 27-inch models. Each can be connected to PC, DVD or Blu-ray players, audio devices and set-top boxes. There are lots of plusses to the T1's, including a contrast ratio of up to 20000:1, noise reduction and several video and sound modes with included remote. Pricing has not yet been released.
• The latest trick of identity thieves is to put up phony online job search sites that look like the real thing. In a recent MSNBC report, a man believed that he was applying for a job with a top company and agreed to release a background check that included including his age, height, weight, Social Security number, bank account numbers and his mother's maiden name. Imagine all that info in the hands of the wrong person... When releasing sensitive personal data like this, I recommend a phone call to verify who you're dealing with.
• Nokia smartphone users, beware. According to Trendmicro, the Symbian Trojan, aka SYMBOS_YXES.B, may attack your contacts with SMS (text message) spam, steal your phone and network information, then connect to a Website and sends it to Hacker HQ. It may appear as an application called "Sexy Space" or ACSServer.
• Google Wave is going to be launched this fall and is already taking requests for those who want to be first when it becomes a public beta. What's a wave? Think of it as a collaborative communication tool that lets you combine messaging with the ability for participants to be added and edit content using text, photos, videos, etc. Twitter on steroids? We'll see.
• Planning to purchase a new computer later this year? Say hello to Windows 7 as Microsoft says the final code is complete. The company is hoping for a smoother launch than it had with Vista in 2007. Considering all the issues that Vista still has, it wouldn't take much to keep that promise. New PCs will be equipped with the new OS by October 22 and it will be available for purchase separately.
• Firefox has released Fennec Beta for mobile device users. Included are tabs for browsing multiple sites at the same time, one-click bookmarking, easy navigation with "Awesome Bar" and a touch-enabled interface made for smaller screens.
• Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos.com, has announced that Zappos will soon be a part of the Amazon conglomerate. He also added in his announcement that he will still be in charge of the shoe company and that the "spirit" of the company will remain the same since it will still be run independently. I wonder if this is a sign that Amazon will be offerung free shipping both ways and a 365 day return policy on all book purchases? Let's hope...