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Satellite

Take your TV to-go with AT&T CruiseCast

At 2008's SEMA Show, I took a spin in a Toyota Sienna with a rather unique feature designed and installed by AT&T: CruiseCast Satellite TV. I have to say after seeing the system, I'm impressed.

We here at CNET Car Tech have test driven vehicles equipped with satellite TV, such as the 2009 Dodge Ram and Durango Hybrid vehicles with their Sirius Backseat TV systems. These systems have two fatal flaws. First, the signal is poor even at its best. At its worst, it's unwatchable because of spotty reception. Secondly, the selection of channels is … Read more

Sirius XM chief: Yes, we will be profitable

NEW YORK--He made it past the Federal Communications Commission. But Sirius XM Radio CEO Mel Karmazin now has to deal with Wall Street.

In his keynote interview Tuesday at the Media & Money Conference, a joint production of Dow Jones and Nielsen, Karmazin wasn't in humility mode. "We're probably one of the top 25 media companies today," he said of the newly merged Sirius XM, which brought together the world's only two satellite radio companies. "I think it's very clear that we will be the most successful company in the audio entertainment industry. … Read more

Toshiba rolls out Satellite updates

Before we're awash in MacBook news later today, Toshiba would like to keep the focus on its Satellite laptops. The company introduced minor updates to the U405, M305, M305D, A305, A355, P305, L305, and L335 lines of Satellites. A refresh for the Satellite X205 is still in the works. The new models will feature the Fusion finish that Toshiba introduced earlier this year, along with face-recognition technology that lets you log on by placing your mug in front of the laptop's Webcam, and sleep-and-charge USB ports that let you charge your cell phone or iPod when the laptop … Read more

Dish Network VOD vs. Blu-ray: 1080p shootout

Sound & Vision magazine's Brent Butterworth conducted a test comparing the video quality of Dish Network's 1080p video-on-demand service with that of a Blu-ray movie, and found very little difference.

Dish offers a very few select VOD movies in 1080p resolution, the highest-definition available today, only one of which was available at the time of the comparison: Speed Racer. Comparing the 1080p Dish VOD version with the 1080p version on the Blu-ray disc, Butterworth "could detect only subtle differences" from a normal seating distance, reporting that both "looked fantastic."

Dish overcomes bandwidth constraints by … Read more

2009 Dodge Ram is tough outside, tech inside

When we first laid eyes on the Dodge Ram, a few words came to mind: gargantuan, behemoth, colossal. The words that didn't immediately come to mind when the big ol' truck rolled into the CNET garage were "high" or "tech." However, after--literally--climbing into the Ram's cab and spending some time behind the wheel, we found a surprising amount of drive-train tech and, more surprisingly, some very sophisticated cabin tech.

Satellite TV, a hard drive-based audio system, and in-vehicle Wi-Fi are just some of the ambitious, if unrefined, tricks the Dodge Ram has up its … Read more

Attention, Google Maps fans: Here come GeoEye photos

Golden Bears fans, take note: The first high-resolution photos from GeoEye's newest satellite, GeoEye-1, have begun arriving, and Kutztown University in Pennsylvania is the first subject of scrutiny.

These are the shots that eventually will show up on Google Maps and Google Earth; Google has an exclusive partnership to use the GeoEye-1 imagery for online services. The satellite's camera can capture image details as small as 41 centimeters, though commercial customers only get 50-centimeter resolution because of U.S. regulations.

The Kutztown University image was taken at noon EDT Tuesday while the satellite was moving south at an … Read more

New-look Satellite E105 gets price, ship date

The decidedly un-Toshiba-like Satellite E105 that Crave spied last week has landed. For preorder, anyway. Best Buy's site lists the Satellite E105-S1402 for $1,199 with an arrival estimated between October 14 and 21. With its clean lines, completely flat keyboard deck, and aluminum-and-black color scheme, the E105 looks more like a Sony Vaio or MacBook Pro than your typical Satellite. We're expecting an evaluation unit any day now and hope to bring you a full review by the time the E105 hits store shelves and UPS trucks.

The 14-inch, 5.5-pound laptop looks like a good deal, featuring Intel's Centrino 2 platform, which includes a 2.26GHz Intel Core 2 Duo P8400 processor, Intel GMA 4500MHD integrated graphics, and Draft N Wi-Fi. Along with 64-bit Vista Home Premium and 4GB of RAM, you also get a 320GB hard drive, a DVD burner, and an HDMI port. Battery life is rated at an impressive 5.5 hours. Also nice, the standard warranty runs for two years.

Two more shots of the Satellite E105 after the break. … Read more

Assessing small-biz laptops from Lenovo, Toshiba

We focus primarily on consumer laptops at CNET Reviews, but this week I looked at two well-designed models that target small businesses: the 13-inch Toshiba Satellite Pro U400 and the 14-inch Lenovo ThinkPad SL400.

Each configuration clocks in at just north of $1,000, stripping out some enterprise features that a small-business owner buying one laptop or even a handful probably doesn't need and definitely doesn't want to pay for. The Toshiba offers an interesting configuration, one that I feel cries out for more memory, which is an easy add. And the Lenovo includes a couple features not … Read more