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d5

Compact with a kick: Creative's ZiiSound D5 Bluetooth speaker

As the iPhone-iPod audio docking systems move into a more mature phase, Creative is hitching its wagon to Bluetooth in a bid to differentiate itself in this crowded category. Bluetooth compatibility allows the wide range of A2DP devices--which includes iPhones, iPads, recent iPod Touch models, most recent smartphones, and many PCs--to stream audio wirelessly to the speaker. On the PC speaker side, Creative has the $130 Inspire S2 Bluetooth system, and now the company has bulked up its audio line with several Bluetooth-enabled iPod speaker options, including the ZiiSound D5, a higher-end model that retails for $300.

The nice thing … Read more

Creative ships ZiiSound D5 Bluetooth speaker

Images of Creative Labs' new Bluetooth speaker, the ZiiSound D5, have been floating around the Web for the past few months, but the product is now officially available.

Creative is calling the D5 "the flagship" model in its line of wireless speaker systems, which includes the Inspire S2 Wireless system, as well as the D200 and D100. The D5 speaker works with any device that supports stereo Bluetooth and, according to Creative,  it's made with premium components and features a full-frame "monocoque exoskeleton for maximum rigidity." Also, according to company, its ZiiSound D5 has … Read more

More Canon 5D rumors

According to a post on Gizmodo last week, which came to them via a posting to DPReview's forums, which apparently may have originated at PhotographyBay, and has nothing to do with the fact that Ferris Bueller was seen passed out at 31 Flavors last night, Canon may be announcing a follow-up to the EOS 5D in April. I always find these rumors to be very silly, since it's really easy to come up with a wish list of what you want to see in the camera and then hide behind an anonymous source while your heart fills with … Read more

Jobs and Gates act now a podcast

If you didn't catch the Steve and Bill show at the D5 conference in Southern California last week, Apple has posted the full hour and a half discussion on iTunes. The rare joint appearance between the Microsoft chairman and the Apple chief has risen to the top of the podcast charts on iTunes.

It's available in both audio and video, though the latter weighs in at almost a gigabyte (my copy is still downloading as I blog this). Unlike the high-end conference, the podcast is free. Of course, it doesn't come with the nifty swag bags that … Read more

Google's Eric Schmidt: Viacom's lawsuit is 'just a mistake'

On stage at D5, on what will later be known as Google Day, Walt Mossberg asked Google CEO Eric Schmidt about the the $1 billion Viacom lawsuit against YouTube. "It was probably just a mistake," he said.

Some mistake.

Schmidt began his upcoming legal defense on the stage: "It's really about the DMCA. It's pretty clear that there's a safe haven for sites like ours."

Walt asked if Schmidt believed in intellectual property. He does, but said that the law says that in this case responsibility for enforcing copyright should be shared, and … Read more

Custom D5 Stephen Colbert video pulled from D5 site, but it's back now

Update: The video is back. All is explained on the D5 site. Here it is:

The intro for Viacom CEO Phillipe Dauman at D5 came from Stephen Colbert (a Viacom employee), via tape. It was very funny. But not nearly as funny as the fact that the video, which was then posted to the D5 site, was quickly removed after Viacom's lawyers demanded it.

And let's be clear: It's not like this video was an episode of the Colbert Report. It had no ads and it never aired on a Viacom channel. Furthermore, Dauman said on stage … Read more

Gates and Jobs share stage, friendly banter at D5

CARLSBAD, Calif.--Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates and Apple CEO Steve Jobs took the stage at the D5 conference Wednesday night for a rare joint appearance.

I'm in an overflow room with a half-dozen other reporters, many of whom flew to San Diego to watch the main event on TV from a room several hundred yards from the ballroom.

The keynote kicked off with a 1983 video of a young Jobs hosting the "Macintosh software dating game" with three software CEOs--Gates, Mitch Kapor of Lotus and Fred Gibbons.

In the video, a young Gates in a blue polo … Read more

iPhone is open to third-party apps, says Jobs

During the interview with Walt Mossberg at D5, Steve Jobs apparently let slip (according to the transcript from Gizmodo and Engadget), that even though the Apple iPhone won't start out of the gate with support for third-party applications, Apple is open to it and is working on making that possible later this year. Both transcripts imply that Jobs was concerned about security issues, which is what presumably was holding up the process. The lack of third-party support was one of the biggest complaints about the iPhone when it was first announced earlier this year, so if Apple actually makes … Read more

Palm Foleo: It's hardware for Webware

I owe an apology to my lunch companions at D5. When conversation turned to the Palm Foleo, I said it was a terrible idea. Overpriced, underfeatured, and too close to the well-established laptop market.

That was before I got my hands on one. It took me only a few minutes to develop a desire to get one of these for myself. This is partly because I tried the product while my back was straining from the messenger bag carrying my Thinkpad. The Foleo is tiny and light, yet big enough to hold a full keyboard and a nice screen.

It … Read more