Geekly Update September 15

The AskBobRankin Geekly Update

• This week Apple unveiled their updated product lines. The iPod nano now has a camera, mic and built-in speaker in sizes of 8GB ($149) and 16GB ($179). Apple also cut the price of the 8GB iPod Touch, made it perform 50% faster and upped its capacity to 64GB. If only the iTouch could make phone calls. Oh wait, you CAN make phone calls with an iPod Touch...
• The Pixi was announced by Palm this week, a less expensive smartphone geared towards young consumers with a multi-touch screen, QWERTY keyboard, a Facebook app and a 2 megapixel cam. At a weight of only 3.5 oz, the phone has GPS and can store up to 8GB memory. If this thing had a companion "parent phone" that could send electric shocks to the Pixi, I'd be all over it.
• Asus has been hard at work to bring us five new 16.5mm thin monitors in sizes of 20 to 23.6 inches. Three of them have full HD and HDMI and all of the MS Designo series have an easily adjustable spherical ring that allows one finger tilt adjustment using the company’s Splendid Video Intelligence Technology for a better picture. Cool tech, but when I hear the word "splendid" my mind automatically inserts a "Cheerio!" and a "Tut, tut, old boy." Probably just me...
• Facebook is adding Connect For Mobile Web for an expanded range of cell phones. Already available for iPhone, Henri Moissinac, head of Facebook's mobile operations, said at Nokia World late last week that Connect will work on any phone with a Web browser. Connect For Mobile Web can be used to share info with friends or update your Facebook status.
• The Beatles Rock Band was released this week for $59.99 on Wii, Xbox 360 and Playstation 3, bringing lots of publicity to Electronic Arts. The game is as much of a history lesson as it is a fun romp with the Beatles and it’s nice that the reunion finally has occurred.
• The music industry is counting on the Beatles new Rock Band game and remastered albums to slow declining sales trends. It was recently reported that CD sales dropped 19% last year while digital downloads increased by 29%. According to the NDP, digital music sales should almost equal those of CDs by the end of 2010. The Beatles to the rescue? I'd say this is further proof that it wasn't the Internet that killed the music industry.
• Watching TV a few days ago, I realized how much television and the Internet have become entwined. It seems that the new series Glee, a strange combination of "Fame" and "American Idol", can now be followed on Twitter, offers downloads of some of its tunes and has its own MySpace and Facebook pages.
• The Washington Post reports that some who have been jilted by spouses or lovers are heading to sites that offer help hacking into their ex's email account. Some of these services offer to crack the passwords of web-based email accounts such as Gmail, AOL, Yahoo and Hotmail. Although it's a federal crime to hack into an email system, authorities say they lack the resources to investigate these misdemeanor offenses.
• According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, a man used a computer and GPS to find two men who reportedly robbed him of his iPhone, wallet and PIN number. The suspects were found and will be charged with robbery, device fraud, conspiracy, receiving stolen property and possessing instruments of crime. Let's start a pool -- how long before the victim of the crime is charged with violating the civil rights of the thieves?

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