The Evangelist

If an article from the New York Times is any indication, the United States could be facing a shortage of the Digital Television (DTV) converter boxes that many need in order to make the transition from broadcast analog to digital television that the government has required.

I think that it is a smart move to force technology forward like this so as to keep the country as a whole competitive technologically. On the other hand, it seems to me that the effort should have been more organized. Now I don't think we should throw the full weight of this on the government because I'm sure people didn't run out immediately and use their coupon to buy a converter but instead decided to wait until the last minute before their coupons expire. And then there are those who have been waiting to get a coupon to get one of the boxes.

Perhaps both the people participating in and those running the program will learn a lesson now that the transition has been delayed and will move with greater alacrity. If everything goes smoothly, there will be more converters out when additional coupons are sent out, so everyone can hopefully get one before the cut-off date.

Here's an interesting idea: a digital camera with a built-in printer.

That's exactly what the new TOMY xiao with ZINK printer is. The TIP-521 allows you to print pictures of photos taken with the camera in less than 60 seconds. You get a 2x3" print that you can easily share photos with a friend quickly and easily.

Unlike a Polaroid, however, the pictures are stored in digital form. It can take pictures just like any other 5 megapixel camera, so you are not limited to just the small prints produced by the device. It has 16MB of internal memory and supports SD (Secure Digital) and SDHC (Secure Digital High Capacity) cards. Just like a polaroid, it does not require ink, just the paper.

The device does seem on the expensive side when you add the expense of the special 2x3" paper. One has to be wary of proprietary formats, and it is almost certain that the paper will no longer be sold, even if the product itself still works.

Still, this seems like a pretty cool little gadget. For more information, you can visit http://www.zink.com/tomy-xiao.

With all of the modern smartphones and push-email devices on the market now, a device dedicated to just email may seem like what a pager is to a cell phone. That, however, is exactly what the Peek, a device now on sale at Target stores, is.


The Peek is a device specifically designed for mobile email. It is a good example of the classic concept of doing one thing, and doing it well. It operates in the United States using a nationwide GSM network, which will cost you $19.95 a month in addition to the $79.95 for the device itself.

Because it is designed just for email, the device is very slim and light (at just 3.8 ounces). It features a full QWERTY keyboard that promises to be easy to type on. It also has a decently-sized (and high contrast) screen (2.5 in. QVGA at a resolution of 320x240) which makes it easier to read emails. The Peek's website also says that it lasts around 4-5 days under typical usage. While 'typical' is a bit ambiguous, it seems likely that this device will get pretty good battery life.

To give the specifics, the device has a total of 8MB of memory for storing emails and sports a 104MHz ARM7 chipset from TI and an operating system called "Peekux" (no relation to the open-source Linux).

So far, the device has been reviewed favorably, with Time calling it one of the "50 Best Inventions if the Year 2008." I'm not at all surprised; I can't help but like the device myself for its simplicity and reasonable price. While I do a fair deal of instant messaging, I still like to use email for a good deal of my communications.

For more information on the peak, or to purchase a device, you can visit the Peek website at http://www.getpeek.com/.

Many tech blogs and sites have already begun to pour over all the new gadgets, cheap and expensive alike, and make gift recommendations for the holidays.

I think that giving tech gifts is an awesome idea. People tend to use gadgets often, and it is harder to go wrong with tech gifts as long as the person you are giving it to is not inept when it comes to technology.

For some, just giving a tech gift is good enough, especially considering current economic conditions. But if you can afford it this tough holiday season, there is ColorWare, a company that allows you to add some personalization to certain electronics. They allow for color customization of different elements on certain computers, smart phones, music players, game consoles, and even HDTVs. They also offer some accessories for these electronics so that everything matches (or doesn't). Want to give a pink iPhone to that special someone? Well, now you can.

If you can't decide what to get, want to allow the person to customize the gadget themselves, or if the person already has one of the electronics, you can give them a gift card so that they can custimize their own or send their gadget in and get it customized.

So if you are looking for a tech gift that will turn heads and stick out from the crowd, ColorWare is your place.

Blockbuster has finally made the leap with Video On Demand (VOD) services after staying out of a market that has proved to be massive and growing at a huge rate for years.


While Blockbuster was sitting around with their stores (which have a poor selection of titles) and eventually DVD rentals by mail, other companies such as Netflix have had mail subscriptions for years and opened the doors on Video In Demand a while back, bith Netflix even offering streaming movies that can be viewed on devices such as PCs, Macs, and even the Xbox 360. There have been other services with similar offerings as well. Blockbuster has suffered because of these services and because of their overconfidence in their retail stores.

With Blockbuster's new service, they basically claim that they will have more new titles when compared to Netflix's services, which seems to focus more on television shows and classic movies. I fail to see what's wrong with having classics, but whatever floats their boat.


Unlike Netflix, which charges a flat monthly fee, there is a fee for each rental. In order to get the device from Blockbuster, you first have to pay $99 for the first 25 rentals, and you get the device for free. You can learn more (or buy the device) at http://www.blockbuster.com/ondemand.

I'll be waiting to see how well this service goes over.