NorthGeek

NorthGeek is very excited about Google’s Navigation

This is something that just makes you think, “well, duh” – it had to happen, and finally, it has. Now shipping with all Android 2.0 phones (‘all’ being the Moto Droid for now, at least) is the new Google Maps Navigation which is an internet-enabled, voice prompting GPS navigation app that takes full advantage of all of Google Maps and Google Local’s network features, from business contact info to street view. Have a look:

I’m quite excited for more Android 2.0 phones to come out, especially a GSM one. My only question now: what to do with my Blackberry Bold?

Rolltop – laptop of the future?

Obviously, this is a computer rendering, but wow, I want one! This could very well be the future of portability – a fully collapsable (and ‘rollable’) notebook computer/display. Sign me up – and have a look:

How to tether on your Fido iPhone OS3.1

Has your iPhone stopped being able to tether (ie. connect your laptop to your iPhone data network) on Fido since you upgraded to OS3.1? Are you pissed about that? Please enter your comments on this below or at Fido customer complaints (like we did)! We’ll keep you up to date what we hear. This is an outrage!

Dear Fido,

I am an owner of a Fido iPhone 3G. When I purchased the iPhone and signed a 3 year contract, the best data option was 500MB as the 6GB promo was not available at that time. Up until updating my iPhone operating system to 3.1, tethering with my iPhone was an important feature for me. However, now with OS3.1, I am unable to tether, unless I change my data plan to one greater than 1GB. I am perfectly happy with paying for my 500MB plan for both iPhone browsing and tethering. I am not interested in changing the plan I chose under a 3 year agreement for a later added feature which excludes a 500MB plan for absolutely no apparent reason. 500MB is sufficient for my usage, and when I signed my contract, I was not told there would be any difference with a larger or smaller data plan other than data usage.

Please consider allowing people with a 500MB or any data plan to use tethering, until at least December 31, 2009, at which point you have announced changes may take place.

We have paid for the usage, we have signed contracts to do so, and should not suffer for choosing an appropriate plan before tethering option was defined later.

Thank you,
Noah Bloom
Fido customer since 2001
(This letter and replies may be documented at NorthGeek.com)

Win $100 in A/V cables and accessories!

To all NorthGeeks and home theater enthusiasts, our good friends over at Optimization-World.com have informed us of an exciting contest they’re running, where you can win a $100 gift card to their site, just for submitting a photo of your messy cabling set-up!

Whether it’s your computer cable maze or your home theater cable jungle, snap a photo of it and either send it directly to us, or visit their contest page, at http://www.optimization-world.com/contest.html to submit your entry. The contest page has all the rules, too.

With $100 there, you can do some serious damage!

So go get messy, and good luck!!

NorthGeek Product Review: 6′ HDMI 1.3b cable from Optimized Cable Co.

Sorry for the delay, folks – but here it is!! Our first review of a product from http://www.optimization-world.com – here is the product page for the HDMI cable they sent me – a 6′ gold-plated HDMI cable, for just $12.99! And they ship to Canada!

Please don’t mind the lack of editing – I had to use iMovie and I haven’t used it in a while… Am waiting for the new FCP to come out!

Move over, overpriced cables! Optimized Cable has a solution for you!

We at NorthGeek pride ourselves on finding excellent product, always for the best price around. Dan R is shopping for a new car, and boy, he’s shopping! Noah spent months looking around for frame, groupo, wheels, etc for his latest road bike. I am still looking for the right cable set up for my latest additions to my home theater. And no, I’m not talking about this home theater…

Well, today, we were contacted by Optimized Cable Company (http://www.optimization-world.com/), who wants to work with us to help promote low-cost and high-quality cables, from video (HDMI/DVI) to audio (optical/digital), to networking (ethernet/USB) and more. They also have accessories that will help you complete that pet project of yours, be it a home office or home theater!

NorthGeek has some product on the way, so stay tuned for some video reviews! Thanks, Optimized!!

Attention all bad parkers: YOU NEED THIS!

This is pretty cool stuff! I wonder if it’s available in Canada? Styling-wise, it looks like a car from the future…

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Home Theater: What can $6 million buy you?

To take an opening line from the original author of this post, when it comes to home theaters, I thought I had seen it all. Well, all that was worthy of my critical (yet practical – see: ‘egzak’) eyes… But this, well, THIS, I had never seen until early 2008. Yeah yeah, I know the date because the article is from February 2008 – whatever!

The giant Stewart Snowmatte screen isn’t all that’s impressive! There’s also the Sony ultra-high-resolution (4,096-by-2,160) SRX-S110 digital projector – this bad boy is on my “Need/Want” list, too! Just not sure if it’s a “need” or a “want” yet… Outfitted primarily with Snell speakers, Jeremy Kipnis’ $6 million home theater setup is an 8.8 system – that’s right, 8 speakers and 8 subwoofers. Although there are really more than 8 speakers. He has THREE center speakers, as he felt that just the one center was being too overpowered by the eight Snell THX Cinema & Music Reference towers he has surrounding the room.

This beast of a “home” theater is powered by two humongous General Electric 13,800-volt/800-amp step-down transformers next to Kipnis’ garage.

Amplified by two Mark Levinson N° 33h Amplifiers, thirty (yes, that is 30) McIntosh MC-2102 Amplifiers, and three Crown Macro Reference Gold Amplifiers, 13 Theta Digital Generation VIII 32-bit 8x Oversampling Dual Processors run the show.

Why is Qik so great for Blackberry video streaming? Ontario drivers parking!

Today I was presented with a wonderful opportunity to make fun of Ontario drivers. Granted, Quebec drivers get our fair share of criticism, but does anyone have proof like this? The video below demonstrates a driver from Ontario, along with his (or her) assistant, getting out of a not-so-tight parking spot. They were there for a solid 25-30 minutes – no joke.

Oh, but my point: why is Qik so great? Many reasons – for starters, it’s a fairly light application. It streams video “live” as you are recording it, and it gives you the option to add a title and description right from your device. The Qik website (qik.com) is also a great video sharing site, in my opinion. But maybe the best feature of all, which was recently released in a software update, is the ability to upload previously recorded videos to the Qik website. Great stuff all around – I highly recommend it!

Enjoy the video!

Fox Racing Shox: So many adjustments!

A quick look at the Fox Racing suspension products on my Ellsworth Epiphany. A couple things to note – the shock is actually a Float R, not an RP23. Also, I refer to all products as “Fox Racing Shox” when in reality I’m showing a fork and a shock… Sound good? Well then, on with the show!

Also, a post-ride reaction: