dashes

We made it onto Engadget! Well, sort of. It was kind of an accident, but Engadget is Engadget right? On today's show, we discuss some video game news with our buddy Russ Frushtick, the games editor for UGO.com. We also talk about our accidental plug on Engadget.com, explore some of the unhealthiest foods on the planet, and we briefly consider raising our kids on our favorite movies from the sci-fi universe. The second half gets absurdly dirrrty, with red light talks on fleshlights, 3d porn, massage therapy, and a very disturbing reading from Wilson Tang.

Today's … Read more

On the first day of CES 2009, GPS manufacturer TomTom introduced its newest portable navigation device, the TomTom GO 740 Live. Like the Dash Express and TeleNav Shotgun, the GO 740 Live is a connected GPS using a built-in SIM card and GPRS modem, so you'll get more up-to-date information delivered to your PND right over the air.

What kind of information? Well, I'm glad you asked. With the purchase of the TomTom GO 740 Live, you'll get a complimentary year subscription to TomTom's Live services, which include Google Local Search, fuel-price information, weather data, and … Read more

Dots Free is a free game that lets you play the classic pencil-and-paper game Dots and Boxes (aka Dots and Dashes, the Dot Game, Squares, and so on).

Players take turns placing horizontal or vertical lines between dots on a five-by-seven grid, and the player that places the last line to close off a box scores a point and takes another turn. In Dots Free, you can play with one or two players (or, if you're particularly risk averse, you can even watch the game play by itself), and you can choose between Easy and Medium artificial intelligence settings. … Read more

GM, BMW have a lousy week; Dash Navigation pulls the plug on it's device; Delphi is convinced we want in-car Internet; and a romp in the tire smoking Chevy Cobalt SS. Listen now: Download today's podcast

• Delphi gets interested in putting Internet in lots of cars

• Dash pulls the plug on its connected nav device

• AT&T CruiseCast sat TV for cars

• Audi A4 3.2 Quattro road test

• Fujitsu works on antidrowsy pulse detection

• See Ford's SmartGauge in action

Hey, here's a thought: a free, open-source video codec that could be universally portable and playable. I'd vote for that, wouldn't you? In other news of the day, Dash stops making hardware to focus on software, Apple brings in an IBM guy to run the iPod division (other than Steve Jobs), and BlackBerry sneaks the Bold into stores today. Yeah, today. There's got to be something wrong with that thing.

Listen now: Download today's podcast

Apple’s iPod chief to step down http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-10082065-37.html

Dash Navigation pulls the plug … Read more

While pen and paper is still the most important gear for any reporting effort, I did use a bunch of other technology in making this series possible.

1. Panoramic lens from 0-360.com

This was the piece of gear I was most excited about. Basically, it allows an immersive panoramic movie to be created from a single still photo. (The folks at 0-360.com were kind enough to lend a review unit for CNET to use on this trip.)

It's a custom lens that fit on top of my Canon Digital Rebel XT. To achieve the effect, the lens … Read more

TAMPA, Fla.--And so it ends.

After driving through nine Southern states and crossing innumerable borders, Road Trip 2008 has come to an end.

What began in Orlando, Fla., ended 4,593 miles later here in Tampa. Along the way, the trip has taken me to a Space Shuttle landing, to the Corvette factory, to watch the Blue Angels practice at their home base, to being banned from Graceland, and much, much more.

Through it all I carried with me thousands of dollars worth of tech gear, aiming to road test it all. The list of gadgets included some of … Read more

Thanks to California's new hands-free phone law, I have been dragged into Bluetooth land. It's not somewhere I really ever saw myself landing. I never really saw a need; I don't use my cell phone as frequently as anyone else I know, and my car tends to sit in the garage undriven for days, sometimes weeks.

With the enforcement of laws beginning in California and Washington last week, Bluetooth earpieces have become the rage--even when people aren't behind the wheel. Sorry in advance if I offend, but this strikes me as a bit odd--maybe not … Read more