Gigaware In-line Control With HD Radio For iPhone

As soon as I pull the trigger on the Griffin Navigate I talked about in the previous post, I find this: the Gigaware In-line Control with HD radio for iPhone. It allows remote control of your iPhone or Touch, and when used in conjunction with the Gigaware HD Radio app it doubles as an HD tuner.

Sounds great in theory, but I’m cool with the Navigate for now. The Gigaware costs a whopping $79.99 and it doesn’t have an LCD screen like the lower priced Navigate. The app only works on devices running iPhone OS 3 to boot, and I still haven’t made that jump on my Touch. That also means that it wouldn’t work with my 3rd gen Nano, and that’s the device I like to carry around when I’m traveling light. Plus the few user reviews available list poor HD reception and noise distortion as major issues.

So, as nice as it would be to have HD Radio on my iPod, this isn’t the device for me, at least not yet. I’ll wait ‘til the reviews and the price get better.

To Add An FM Tuner, Or Not To Add An FM Tuner…

That is the question.

Whether ‘tis nobler in the mind to wait, suffering the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, or to take arms against a sea of troubles, and add one now?

The device I speaketh of is my iPod Touch, and the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune that I suffer is that when I’m out and about, like today, and the Pats (insert your favorite team here) are on, I need to carry my little micro AM/FM radio with me. Apple didn’t see fit to bestow upon my Touch an FM tuner, so I have little choice in the matter. They added one to the latest generation Nano and iPhone, but sadly, not to the Touch.

Luckily, there’s an FM tuner that works with the Touch, iPhone and 3rd gen and up Nanos, The Griffin Navigate. It’s a slick little inline remote with an OLED screen, and it doubles as an FM tuner. It can also be used with Griffin’s free iFM Radio Browser app that will look up all the available stations in your area and auto program them into your Touch or iPhone. Pretty cool!

Ay, but here’s the rub; 9to5Mac and other sources are reporting that there’s a dormant chip in the 3rd gen Touch, that when activated will allow both Wireless N and FM receive and transmit. Hmmm, sounds a little like their Bluetooth chip that an upgrade, for a price, to OS 3 gave greater functionality to. It’s been hypothesized that Apple may unveil this little on board extra as soon as this January.

So, is it worth shelling out 50 bucks for FM tuner functionality today, when the device may be unnecessary in a couple of months?

For me, yes. I have a 2nd gen Touch and a 3rd gen Nano. The Navigate works with both devices and neither has the dormant onboard capability, but if you own a new 3rd gen Touch, nuh-uh. Wait awhile, and you may save yourself some money. 50 bucks will buy you a pretty decent dinner, or a couple of my T-shirts!

By the way, the Patriots bested those knaves from Miami today, and I would have missed our plucky knight's great moment of victory, were it not for the lowly FM broadcast.

What say you now, Master Porter?

Windows 7

Unless you’ve been living in a cave, you’re probably aware that Microsoft has released a new version of their operating system, Windows 7. According to early reports it’s a vast improvement over their Vista experiment, and it’s generating quite the buzz. Before you run out and buy a copy though, you should read this very comprehensive article on CNNTech, after you've read this one, of course.

The long and short of it is, it’s a cakewalk to upgrade from Windows Vista to Windows 7, but a bit more difficult to upgrade from XP.

With XP you'll need to back up all of your files, wipe the system, and then reload with 7. Microsoft has an Easy-Transfer Tool to help you, but before you make the move you need to download and run Microsoft’s Upgrade Advisor. It will check out your system and peripherals to see if they’re compatible with the new operating system. Be sure to have ALL of your peripherals plugged in and powered up before you scan your system (flash drives and memory cards included), as the software will query the devices and advise you of their compatibility. This is very important, as it’s good to know if you’ll still be able to use your printers, etc., before you drop any coin on 7.

My take is this; if you’ve got a new system that came with Vista, then it’s worth upgrading. If you’ve just bought a new system with a legacy copy of XP on it, it’s probably worth upgrading, providing the system and peripherals pass the upgrade tool’s sniff test. If you’re running XP on an older system, don’t even think about it. Wait until your next system swap out and get a machine that has it preloaded.

Remember, there are no magic bullets in life, or computing. A new operating system will not fix what’s wrong with your computer if it’s old, tired and slow. From the perspective of changing technologies, the average lifespan of a desktop is 3 to 5 years. I’m not saying you need to throw your PC away every 3 to 5 years, but I would not recommend tricking out a system of that vintage with the latest and greatest OS. Wipe it, add some memory and load a fresh copy of whatever OS came with it, and you’ll have a very serviceable PC that will last you until you have some sort of catastrophic hardware failure.

Getting back to Windows 7, there’s also the question of what version to buy. I found a very good article on the differences between the versions here on the digital inspiration site. As with both XP and Vista before it, you’ll probably want to go with the Windows 7 Professional edition if you use your PC for anything more than email and browsing. Professional also has an XP mode, that will allow you to run a virtual copy of XP for apps you have that won’t run on 7. The good thing is, with 7 you’re able to upgrade any version, for a small fee, if you find out later you need more functionality.

And speaking of fees, if you’re buying a copy of 7 for a computer you already have, you’re eligible for the upgrade pricing as long as you already own a genuine version of Windows 2000, XP or Vista. You’ll save a c-note over the full version price, and that ain’t bad.

The Beauty of Fall

A longing for one more day

When we lose someone we love it seems that time stands still. What moves through us is a silence, a quiet sadness, a longing for one more day, one more word, one more touch.

We may not understand why you left this earth so soon, or why you left before we were ready to say good-bye, but little by little, we begin to remember not just that you died, but that you lived. And that your life gave us memories too beautiful to forget.

-Anonymous

Guess We Won’t Be Kissing Rex Ryan’s Rings Anytime Soon

Wow.

The Pats broke a combined 12 NFL and team records yesterday as they pounded the Titans 59-0. Brady looked great, as did the whole team, and it looks like Bill is back in the groove on the game planning front. A flea flicker during a snowstorm? Beautiful.

Full game coverage here on BDC.

The only thing better than watching the Pats beat up on the Titans yesterday, was watching the Jets lose their 3rd straight. Sanchez is looking like the rookie he is, and Rex Ryan is just looking… overweight.

Welcome back to earth, balloon man. You should never lose sight of the fact that they called your predecessor Man-genius, right up until they ran him out of town.

That is all.

Bruschi In The Oct. Issue Of Boston Common

There’s a very good Tedy Bruschi interview in this month’s Boston Common Magazine that was done just before he announced his retirement. Interesting reading, and according to my wife, a great photo shoot to boot.

Well done, as always, Ms. O’Leary.

The Sunday Of My Discontent

Last Sunday started off great. It was a beautiful crisp fall morning, and after a lazy breakfast, a few errands, and some finishing touches on the yard work that I had started on Saturday, I was in my chair with a sammich just in time for the first pitch of game 3 of the Sox/Angels series. Things looked encouraging as the game progressed, and I had high hopes that the Sox would force a game 4. The boys were home and taking care of business, the Pats weren’t starting til 4pm., and I was in for one of those delicious October Sundays of baseball, football and food. Ah, heaven. Or so I thought...

We had to be on the road by 3:30-ish to attend a Pat’s game/fantasy basketball draft party, and as the time approached I was feeling pretty good about leaving. Pap was in, and there were 2 outs in the ninth. What could go wrong?

Well, you know what happened next. By the time I had shut off the tube and transitioned to my vehicle, things were bad and getting worse. The Sox season ended while I was truckin’ along the highway. Thank God little Tommy Cruise had the Zakim shut down for filming, or I might have been tempted to take a fast, hard right after that last out.

Anyways, we get to the party, and although everyone is a little down to start with, the Pats are on and things are looking pretty good out in Denver. Spirits lightened as the food and drink flowed, and we all started jabbering about our upcoming draft. Once again, you know what happened next.

All pretense of an early start (and finish) to our draft went out the window as the game tightened in the second half. We were glued to the set(s), and the crowd roared and groaned with every play. As the Broncos drove down for their winning field goal in overtime, I started to feel a little sick. Were we going to see another home town team let a sure win slip away?

Yup.

So, my perfect Sunday imploded, at least from a hometown team point of view. I still had the beautiful morning, nothing could take that away, and our fantasy draft couldn't have gone any better, but in between, now that’s another story. I was bitterly disappointed.

After all these years of fandom, all the ups and downs, I’ve become a little thick skinned, and I’m able to shrug off the bad times pretty quickly, but I still can’t divorce myself from it completely. I wish I could, but there’s some primal force deep down inside of me that will not be denied. When it’s happening, it makes me crazy. When it’s over, I go into ostrich mode. Monday I busied myself with the business of winterizing, and stayed totally incommunicado until supper time. No sports talk radio, no ESPN, no phone calls. Just me, my iPod and the storm windows. Occupational therapy, if you will.

As the week went on, I started to feel better about things and slowly pulled my head from the sand. Seeing the Jets lose Monday night helped a great deal, as did tweaking my kick butt fantasy basketball lineup. Dwayne Wade, Ray Allen, Paul Pierce, Jason Kidd and Nene, sweet! Anyways, as I march into the new weekend I have a much better attitude, and the following thoughts in my head:

The Sox were cooked, and I’m glad they got knocked out early. The Angels were the better team this year, they earned it, and had the series gone on and ended poorly late on a weeknight, I would have been even more upset. West Coast playoff games are the pits.

Can the Sox pull it together for next year? We’ll find out soon enough. The equipment truck leaves for Fort Myers in less than 4 months, so things will start poppin’ the minute the playoffs are over. Not much time between seasons when you factor in the hubbub of the holidays.

Speaking of Fort Myers, I gotta start getting the place ready. The front office will be down early and maybe I can pick up a long term rental. Now there’s a thought!

I’m confident that the Pats will take the AFC East. Above all, they need to be consistent. Flashes of greatness in a sea of mediocrity won’t cut it in this conference. Remember last year when 11-5 wasn’t good enough?

They really need to be on the mark this week against the Titans. It’s easy to say the right things but mentally dismiss a losing team, and losing teams can be dangerous. You don’t have to look any further than Miami beating the Jets in a shootout last week for the proof.

I’m also looking forward to the start of the NBA season, both to see the Celts back in action, and to kick butt in my fantasy league!

So go Pats, go Celts, go Jammers… and sleep tight, Sox.

That is all.