Archives

Adam Tensta - My Cool | 26 / 08 / 2008 | 0

Adam Testa - My Cool

Published under: Europe, Must. Have.

Voodoo, Alienware Face Off | 25 / 06 / 2008 | 0

Computer gaming kiddies armed with their parents’ American Express cards gobbled up Alienware’s aggressive designs over the last decade, turning the upstart into a formidable force in the computer industry — enough of a competitor that Dell scooped it up two years ago in a deal of undisclosed size.

That was a smart decision for Dell. Dell largely serves the corporate computer market, and its designs don’t appeal to any niches outside of corporate IT departments. Alienware, on the other hand, has captivated gamers with deep pockets, who don’t want the regular grey box setups that plague American homes and businesses.

Alienware has some problems, however. It’s known for manufacturing errors and shoddy customer service. A friend of mine, James (who is the IDEAL Alienware customer, I might add), has ordered two Alienware desktops, and has had problems both times. The second computer had the wrong part (perhaps it was a graphics card, or an incorrect memory configuration/size). When he called in to complain, Alienware told him he could pay his own way to send the machine in and pay for an upgrade, even though Alienware was responsible for messing up his machine’s configuration in the first place!  His experience is not alone; a survey of computer forums shows widespread discontent with Alienware’s customer service.

Alienware also has an image problem.  Real gamers won’t buy their machines.  Gamers like to tout their technical abilities; this includes building their own computers from generic parts, often on the cheap. Alienware computers don’t give you the pride of building your own computer, and they also cost significantly more.  It’s often been said that Dell’s XPS line of performance computers outperform Alienware, and at a much lower price. None of these revelations bode well for Alienware in the long term. Their ideal customer is rich, and new to gaming. Once initiated into the gaming community, one might be ostracized for ownng an Alienware and not having built their own for less.

Alienware does have pretty solid, differentiated designs. But their designs haven’t evolved enough to validate their additional cost.

Enter Voodoo.

They’re in the same market segment as Alienware, but they’re doing things differently: they’re doing everything right.

Their designs are evolving - not stagnating. Check out the design of their new desktop, the Omen:

It’s understated, modern, sharp, functional, and different.  It positions the internal components 90 degrees off, allowing physics (heat rises, people!) to cool the internals and improve performance without resorting to loud internal fans.

Another innovative product they have is the Envy 133 notebook.  It’s super-thin, and is the only notebook that really challenges Apple’s innovative design.

The trackpad is flush with the palmrest. Its power brick doubles as a WiFi hotspot.  How many laptops can claim that?

With regard to customer relations, Voodoo also has it down.  Their founder blogs to the gaming community, and Voodoo itself has a pretty legitimate blog that leaks photos and specs of their exciting new products.  It’s one of the few corporate blogs that people actually read, because the blog isn’t just products, it also chronicles the steps the company takes to stay in touch with the gaming community.  Voodoo sends teams armed with prizes and demos to gaming conventions, and they really keep consumers content (and happily engaged with new Voodoo products).

Voodoo’s management really has its head on straight, and stands as a beacon of hope for executive managers and entrepreneurs alike, no matter the industry.

Published under: Business, Must. Have., Technology

MacBook Deal | 3 / 06 / 2008 | 0

Apple has a new offer for Education purchases (students and faculty): a free iPod Touch 8GB with purchase of a new Mac computer. For instance, buying a MacBook ($999 with Education Discount) comes with a free printer ($100 value, rebate) and a free iPod Touch ($299, rebate). You get your rebates for the printer and iPod within 8 weeks, according to the offer details, and if you submit your rebate online, at http://www.apple.com/promo , your rebate(s) will be sent out within 3-5 days!

This deal means that you could reasonably sell the free iPod touch on Ebay for approximately $225, sell the printer for $40, effectively making your MacBook cost only $735 (a savings of $364, or 33% off the normal price of $1099, which non-students pay).

Previously, the free iPod deal was restricted to iPod Nanos or iPod shuffles, which were worth much less than the 8GB iPod touch in the current offer.

I’ve already got a Black MacBook, but I bought another MacBook today just to get this deal. I suggest you do the same. (Tip: Oregon/Alberta buyers with ID don’t pay sales tax!)

Published under: Must. Have., Technology

NetFlix Comes Of Age | 19 / 05 / 2008 | 0

NetFlix allows members paying $8.95/month or higher to stream movies from its library to a computer of their choice. The natural next step is to stream that content to the TV.

Over the last year, intrepid hackers have pieced together one solution that allows NetFlix content to be streamed to the TV using the XBOX 360 Windows Media Center.

If you don’t have an XBOX 360, you’re out of luck.

Until now.

NetFlix’s plans of dominating the living room have begun, with the introduction of a $99 box by Roku that slices, dices, and streams video without a hitch. Wired Magazine calls it “just shy of totally amazing.”

The player has access to more than 10,000 movies and TV shows, and will expand to close in on the nearly 100,000 that NetFlix offers in traditional DVD format.

Its competition, the Apple iTV, costs $229, but sports a hard drive, which the Roku box is without. Another competitor, Vudu, costs $295.

Apple is going with the a la carte model for media, but perhaps in this race, $8.95/month will win out. We’ll have to wait and see.

TV boxes let Netflix users bypass mail delivery - AP

Published under: Business, Must. Have., Technology

The New Ferrari GT California | 13 / 05 / 2008 | 0

It’s not often that Maranello brings us a new galloping horse.

Here are the first photos of the new GT California:

(click to enlarge)

Specs:

Convertible with automatic folding hard-top
4.3L V8 generating 460hp at 7,500rpm
0 to 100 km/h in less than 4.0 seconds
7-speed dual clutch gearbox
Brembo carbon-ceramic brakes are standard

Published under: Must. Have.

Cadillac Is Back On Its Feet | 14 / 01 / 2008 | 0

This car is simply beautiful.

It’s got classic new-CTS flavor, attitude, and even some G35 Coupe proportions at the rear quarter panel.

Also, they’re going to be rolling out a 550-hp CTS-V Coupe, which is going to blow the doors off just about everything on the road.

Kudos to Cadillac for building cars that people will buy.  Other manufacturers ought to learn something from this.

Cadillac Drops the CTS Coupe concept in Detroit - Motor Authority

Published under: Business, Must. Have.

I’m Buying A Wiimote, Now. | 10 / 12 / 2007 | 0

The prospect of turning my black MacBook into a multi-touch (à la iPhone) touchscreen tablet with only a torn-apart Bic pen and a $0.10 LED is just too delicious to pass up.

Published under: Must. Have., No F***ing Way, Technology

The LG Shine: Coming soon to AT&T! | 19 / 11 / 2007 | 0

I first saw the LG Shine in Las Vegas at CES, and I immediately fell in love with it. It’s as revolutionary of a design as the famed Chocolate, and it takes the shine to mirror-levels. It’s so chic, so metallic, and so beautiful. I’m so glad that AT&T is finally bringing it to our shores. It seems AT&T has gotten exclusive deals (or is first to launch) with just about every important handset of late. It’s like they’re trying to have a monopoly on sweet phones so that they can charge whatever they want for plans and people will pay it. Seems to be working.

(click to enlarge)

Read more over at Engadget.

Published under: Business, Cellphones, Fashion, Must. Have., Technology

Amazon Understands Sales | 15 / 11 / 2007 | 0

Upon checking in at Amazon.com to update my Wish List for the holiday gift-giving season, I came upon one of their new gimmicks to get you coming back day after day: Customers Vote. Combining Democracy with the Black Friday, Customers Vote allows you to vote for which Black Friday deals will be available next week. Ingeniously, there is a new deal each day from November 22nd to 28th (sans Sunday the 25th), and you’ve got to check in right at midnight to see A) if you’ve been selected to receive the deal in question, and B) to buy the damn thing before it’s sold out (at these ridiculous prices of 50-75% off and with only 100-1000 units available, they’ll be gone before 12:03am, guaranteed).

Deals include a Nintendo Wii ($79), a 40GB PlayStation 3 ($139), an XBOX 360 ($99), a Panasonic DSLR ($499), an HD Camcorder ($299), a RAZOR Electric Scooter ($29), a Tivo ($89) , HD-DVD and Blu-Ray players ($149), an HP Laptop ($299), an in-car GPS unit ($99), a pair of 1 carat diamond earrings ($499), and a 46″ 1080p HDTV ($719), among others.

Amazon is playing Black Friday just like Best Buy is, trying to get tons of attention and store traffic using crazy discounting. Personally, I’m glad they’re doing it. This year, after all, is without the launch of a major game console like we’ve had the past two holiday seasons with the XBOX 360 and the Wii/PS3, so these stores need something to keep the visibility up, something to keep people waiting in lines all night and getting in fights over who gets what.

Check it out at Amazon.com.

Published under: Business, Must. Have., No F***ing Way, Technology

Night At The Elysian | 12 / 11 / 2007 | 0

(click to enlarge)

A friend had his birthday at the Elysian Brewery in Capitol Hill last night, and I was lucky enough to be able to sample their Night Owl Pumpkin Ale. It’s brewed with 150 lbs. of pumpkin in each batch, green and roasted pumpkin seeds, and pumpkin in the mash. They spice it with nutmeg, clove, cinnamon, ginger and allspice, so it ends up tasting like pumpkin pie, rich and smooth.

1221 E. Pike St.
Seattle, WA 98112
(206) 860-1920

Published under: Must. Have., Out and About, Restaurants, Seattle

Venture Spotlight: Picnik | 6 / 11 / 2007 | 0

One of the best ways to support your local entrepreneurship community (and venture capital community) is by using their services if they’re useful. One of the most promising Seattle-based ventures is Picnik.

Picnik is an AJAX/Flash in-browser photo editor, and, though it isn’t as powerful as Adobe Photoshop, it’s arguably much simpler and convenient, especially for non-professionals. It’s got a beautiful interface and it integrates with Flickr/Facebook/Picasa/Photobucket/Webshots albums for simplicity. Flickr has actually chosen Picnik to be its sole image editing tool.

The basic tools I tried got the exact result I wanted, and I was able to export into any common image format. Picnik hopes to make money by charging $24.95/year for its Picnik Premium service, which adds more fonts, editing tools, shapes, and effects to the basic tool. Considering that Picnik doesn’t require any software downloads, is easy to use and is well integrated with people’s photo storage partners, Picnik will probably do quite well if they can continue to advance their offering and define themselves as the premier in-browser image editing solution. One of their only competitors to date is Berkeley, California-based FotoFlexer, which also has a great in-browser editing suite and a healthy number of users.

Picnik is self funded to date, but may be open to taking on some money in a venture round at some point, as some journalists have noted.

Published under: Business, Finance, Must. Have., Photography, Seattle, Technology

Must Have: Ibarra Mexican Hot Chocolate | 4 / 11 / 2007 | 0

My uncle Jeff and his wife Kim have introduced me to many a must-have, and this counts as one of the most memorable.

Mexican chocolate is made from dark, bitter chocolate mixed with sugar, cinnamon, and sometimes nuts. Chocolate is frequently purchased in “disks” although it is also available in bars and syrups. Ibarra is what I use, and, though some find it a little too sweet, I like it just fine.

Mexican Hot Chocolate
serves 4

1 quart milk

2 tablets Ibarra Mexican chocolate* (3.3 oz each), broken into small pieces

Heat milk until just about to boil, do not allow to boil over.

Place half of the chocolate in a blender. Pour half of the milk over the chocolate, hold cover down with dishtowel and blend on low speed until well-combined.

Repeat with remaining milk and chocolate.

Serve immediately.

Published under: Must. Have.