Monday, February 28, 2005

Wake up to the Philips PSS110 MP3-playing alarm clock. We heard about it in January at CES, but finally have some info on what Philips is doing to answer our call: why no decked clocks? Their new MP3 and WMA-playing PSS110 clock has 256MB of flash memory—more than enough room to fit Missy E’s “Wake Up” (or Simon & Garfunkel, if you’re down). You should be able to pick one up in April for about $160. [Via DigitalMediaThoughts] [Engadget] 9:30:22 PM          Google It!

Developing Quality Technical Information: A Handbook for Writers and Editors, 2nd Edition. The #1 guide to excellence in documentation--now completely updated! Direct from IBM's own documentation experts, this is the definitive guide to developing outstanding technical documentation--for the Web and for print. Using extensive before-and-after examples, illustrations, and checklists, the authors show exactly how to create documentation that's easy to find, understand, and use. This edition includes extensive new coverage of topic-based information, simplifying search and retrievability, internationalization, visual effectiveness, and much more. Coverage includes: Focusing on the tasks and topics users care about most Saying more with fewer words Using organization and other means to deliver faster access to information Presenting information in more visually inviting ways Improving the effectiveness of your review process Learning from example: sample text, screen captures, illustrations, tables, and much more Whether you're a writer, editor, designer, or reviewer, if you want to create great documentation, this book shows you how! [O'Reilly Network Safari Bookshelf] 9:27:38 PM

XtremeMac's got no less than 13 shuffle accessores. XtremeMac, yet another company whose sole product lineup consists of iPod accessores, has a new lineup of no less than 13 shuffle add-ons. Highlights include a line splitter (for sharing with that special someone on the subway), the AirPlay (an FM transmitter), Bumperz (molded rubberized shuffle bras), Shieldz (molded rubberized shuffle cases), Wrapz and SuperWrapz (molded form-fitting shuffle shrouds), and the SuperHook (a hook for, you know, whatever). The best part is, if you buy more than two or three, you’ve already spent more than the value of your player—gotta love that! [Engadget] 9:23:10 PM          Google It!

Vonage IPO This Year?. Om say Vonage IPO. I don't think they can wait. Reports are their growth is slowing, that costs are rising and that founder Jeffrey Citron has a bundle of his own cash in the venture.... [VoIP Watch] 9:19:25 PM          Google It!

Wireless Companies Turn Their Eyes To TV (Investor's Business Daily). Investor's Business Daily - There's a major push under way to bring more TV content and video to wireless devices. Asia's big consumer electronics firms, as well as Europe's Nokia and U.S.-based Qualcomm , have jumped into the fray. They're supporting a number of different standards for beaming digital TV to mobile devices. [Yahoo! News: Technology] 9:11:10 PM

Steve Rubel: "This is a pivotal discussion that bloggers, journalists, PR professionals and marketers need to jump into. Do you really want Google, Microsoft, George W. Bush, God or anyone adding links to your content?" [Scripting News] 9:07:22 PM

Skype and SMS. I'm still catching up on email and voicemail from being away from the office for a week attending Internet Telephony Expo - which by the way was a resounding success. I'll link to some photos in my next blog entry.... [VoIP Blog - VoIP News, Gadgets] 5:41:54 PM

First chapter posted on our corporate blogging book. We've posted our first chapter over on the Red Couch. Steve Lacey already praised it. Thanks! Bob Wyman, founder of my favorite blog search engine, Pubsub.com, wonders if the book will still be useful by the time it's published. [Scobleizer: Microsoft Geek Blogger] 5:32:03 PM

BPO battle heats up. BPO (business process outsourcing) is quickly becoming a frontline solution for CIOs desperate to reduce costs and automate business processes. ADVERTISEMENT Reducing the Total Cost of Ownership Learn how to reduce the total coast of ownership in enterprise data management in this case study. [InfoWorld: Top News] 5:31:01 PM

Official: Wi-Fi on Airplanes Not Lies. So who else heard about internet on airplanes and said, "Golly, I can't wait to not afford that!" A person who calls hirself 'Alexander,'—the bishonen anime hermaphrodite avatar isn't giving me much to go on, although who are we to talk?—tried out the Boeing Connexion broadband service on a flight from Frankfurt and varified that it does actually work, then went on to talk about the battery life on their Axim X50. Awesome, glad to know it actually works and the Lufthansa stewards don't just come by and ink a big LOADING on your newspaper or something, but maybe next time you could benchmark it and tell us how fast it was. Also, do that other idea, where you were going to test Skype—that would almost make the $30 fee worth it. Alex speaking from Flight LH 432 [MobileRead] [Gizmodo] 5:27:55 PM