This being my first blog posting of 2009 I was intending to write about the future of the Android platform and maybe throw in some speculation about MacWorld which is coming up next week. However, I wasn’t in a speculative mood, and even the prospect of a 32GB iPhone didn’t excite me – especially since I’m not that far into the AT&T two year contract with my 3G iPhone.

Instead , after a break of about eight number of months or so, I decided to start up my Xbox 360. This was after I’d hooked it up to my small HDTV along with the PS3. I’d  briefly read about the new Xbox dashboard interface, the “New Xbox Experience” recently, but was still pleasantly surprised once update was downloaded and installed.

The NXE – the New Xbox Experience – has avatars which are reminiscent of the Wii Miis (Mii pronounced to rhyme with Wii). Anyone who has played on the Wii will think, hey, this looks slightly familiar. That’s were the similarity ends though, with the new interface a lot different from the old tabbed one, and actually quite impressive. Among the new options added are the ability to install games on the hard drive, and run them from there – but with the original disc in the DVD Drive. The interface relies a lot more on graphics than on text and seems a lot more fluid.

Here’s a category I didn’t even know existed: Back to school (or college) Desktop Computers. I saw them advertised last weekend. Of course the desktop computer is not meant to be lugged around between classes (although LCD monitors are a darn side lighter than the old CRT monitors). This is probably more for the student who either has a not very powerful notebook for taking lecture notes - or some other means, maybe a voice recorder - and then uses the Desktop PC for term papers and the like. With the right choice of a back to school desktop, it can be used for a media center or gaming machine.

The Gateway FX540B Desktop fits into this category. It has a Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 processor running at 2.4 GHz, 2GB of DDR2 RAM which is upgradeable to 8GB, a NVIDIA GeForce 8600 Graphics card with 256MB memory. Additionally it features a 500GB 7200 rpm hard drive and a Gigabit Ethernet network adapter.

On the down side, it runs Windows Vista Home Premium, so the 2GB RAM is barely adequate, and doesn’t come with a monitor. It has plenty of room for upgrades though. It is also multimedia ready and capable of gaming.

I was slobbering over all the fancy TVs in Costco again today on my way to the bagel aisle to load up on carbs. I just don’t see myself as the kind of person who will ever be wheeling out a large-screen display on one of those giant trolley carts, all in the name of improving the quality of my viewing time, of which there is little.

That said, I am intrigued by the special devices that are coming out to turn my PC into a viewing station. After all, I’m not averse to checking out a video or two on YouTube in idle moments of work. So why not entire episodes of Masterpiece Theatre? That’s why the Pinnacle PCTV HD Ultimate Stick TV Tuner surfaces in my thoughts.

This little USB 2.0 device lets you view and record standard definition (SD) and free high definition (HD) TV on any PC. Since the tuner and personal video recorder software run from the stick, you don’t have to install anything, and you can move it from PC to PC, depending on where you are and what the available equipment is. (More on that shortly.) you can store up to two hours of TV on the stick, and it records in several formats, including MPEG-2, MPEG-4 (that’s iPod and PlayStation Portable (PSP) recording), DivX and direct-to-DVD. The package includes a telescopic antenna and a remote control, though I’ve never really heard how good high-def is over the airwaves vs. cable or satellite.

A couple of reviewers have commented on the Stick on PriceGrabber.com. Jetino from NY likes the overall package, but warns that you need a “powerful processor” in order to view HD channels — “probably greater than [a] Pentium 4 2.4 GHz.” If you try it on an anemic processor, you’ll get pixilation and lose synching between audio and video. Wwwyyy says the computers he/she tried it on met the package specs, but only one actually worked to his/her satisfaction. Likewise, this customer reported problems with the software.

So I don’t have a computer yet that can stomach this — at least not for viewing in one window and answering email in another. Fortunately, Inspector Lynley and his sidekick Havers aren’t yet being broadcast in HD from what I know; otherwise, I might have to upgrade my beloved machine and get a Stick for myself.
 

(Apologies to Intel for altering their slogan for their Dual Core Processors.)

I’ve noticed that Desktop PCs with Quad Core Processors are beginning to appear in the weekly Ads of local technology retailers. Desktops with Quad Core processors from both Intel and AMD are being advertised. The AMD Quad Core chip is called the Phenom, admittedly quite a cool name for a processor, and the Intel name is plain old Core 2 Quad. From comparisons by various technology companies, it appears that the AMD Phenom is still playing catch-up with the Intel Core 2 Quad.

One quad core desktop I looked at was the HP Pavilion Elite m9060n Desktop. This Media center PC has a 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 processor, 3GB RAM and a total of 640GB hard disk space, consisting of two 320GB 7200rpm hard drives. It has a dedicated NVIDIA GeForce 8500 GT video card with 512 MB of Video Memory. In the media department there is an integrated FM tuner and TV Tuner with remote, as well as a Blu-ray/HD DVD combo drive. This is definitely a system to connect to a large widescreen LCD monitor or HDTV so you can enjoy high definition movies in either format.

Even with the dedicated graphics card and Quad Core Processor, this is not a gaming machine. Although it is intended as a media center PC, it will more likely be used as a powerful Desktop PC.

The Archos 605 WiFi Portable Media Player is often compared to the iPod Touch. Sure, they both have touch screens, play music and video, and can browse the internet, but there the similarities end. The Touch comes in capacities of 8GB and 16GB. The Archos 605 WiFi comes in capacities of 4GB (flash memory with an SD expansion slot), and 30, 80 or 160GB hard drive sizes. Although the Archos has a touch screen, it also has tactile controls (buttons!) which can perform most of the functions. The Archos 605 has a Wi-Fi accessible content portal which allows you to buy music and rent or purchase movies and TV shows. These are then downloaded to the player wirelessly. To browse the internet though, you need to buy the Opera Web Browser plug-in for $30.

One of the greatest strengths of the Archos is that with the addition of a DVR Station (which costs $80 to $100 extra), the Archos 605 becomes a Digital Video Recorder. Once the 605 is docked in the DVR Station and connected to your television, you can watch any of the content on the device on your television. You can even surf the web on your television. Additionally you can record shows from your television and then take the very portable Archos 605 with you and watch the recorded shows on the go.

In the BlogBytes blog entry “No Computer for Christmas” I mentioned that I was enticed by another gadget instead of a desktop computer. I’ve since been asked by a reader what that gadget was.

Trusted Reviews writes this about it:
“you can dismiss it as an over-priced gimmick…but that would be ignoring the sheer software and hardware engineering genius that’s gone into making this product viable”
and
“Put simply, if you want to experience the cutting edge in interface design, this is the best way of doing it without saddling yourself with a $60 per month phone bill”.
(I altered the price per month from Pounds to Dollars with the lowest Rate Plan for the iPhone from apple.com)

Yes, it is the iPod Touch, less than an iPhone without the cellphone but more than just a widescreen iPod, a whole lot more. I’ve actually only listened to one or two songs on it and watched one video clip (excluding the ones from YouTube). The rest of the time I browsed the internet with my index finger, and searched for web apps I could use on the Touch.