If you're looking closely at the Blu-ray player reviews on CNET, there's a frustrating trend that complicates buying decisions--Samsung Blu-ray players get solid editorial reviews from CNET, but user opinions are consistently poor. While there are always differences between CNET reviews and user opinions, the differences with Samsung Blu-ray players stand out as being consistent and large.
Ratings have been standardized to a 100-point scale to make comparisons easier.
User opinions from Amazon and Newegg are also included to give some perspective. Their ratings are consistently more positive than CNET user opinions, although we're not sure why.
There are some factors inherent in CNET's review process that can explain why editorial opinion and user opinions are different, and they're worth pointing out.
CNET relies on review samples from manufacturers. CNET gets review samples directly from manufacturers rather than buying them off the shelf like a regular buyer. It's completely possible that manufacturers handpick review samples for us; if there's a problem with a certain "batch," a company can make sure we get the good batch. As much as CNET editors might like to purchase all our review samples, we don't have the budget for it.
CNET's review periods are relatively short. To review as many products as we do, we obviously can't test every product as long as a standard buyer would. If a product has quality control issues that cause it to break down after a couple of months, that's not something we're going to catch. That's why user opinions are so important.
... Read more
(Credit:
Audi)
Audi's flagship A8 luxury sedan is the company's technological tour de force, and the company says its 2011 iteration will sport handwriting recognition among its many features.
The feature will be supported in the vehicle's Multi Media Interface, or MMI--effectively the navigation/media unit in the car's console. It allows the user to write the destination in freehand and then use the touch screen to manipulate the directions as necessary.
Read more of "2011 Audi A8 adds handwriting recognition to in-car UI" at ZDNet's The ToyBox.
My last post about "reverse switching" from an iPhone back to a BlackBerry generated a lot of great comments that I believe warrant a short follow-up (much shorter than the original post, I promise). I can't address all the comments, but here are a few thoughts.
For the record, in my post, I'm describing 3.1 software on an iPhone 3G.
Yes, the 3GS actually speed some things up, such as the camera; however, in my view, the iPhone's speed issue is not one of CPU horsepower, but because of its fundamental interface architecture. As I say in the article, the paned, step-by-step interface is "easy," but it puts a limit on how fast it can be used, simply because of the number of steps it requires to perform a task. Apple can speed the CPU all it wants, and it will only make a marginal difference to the key usability index of time on task (the amount of time it takes to start and complete an activity).
(As an aside, on the topic of doing great user interface with a low performance device, here's an old post I wrote about the UI design of the Palm. Palm beat the experience provided by Windows Mobile phones of the day, even though its CPU, memory, and screen were far inferior.)
As some point out, there are things that can be done with a jailbroken phone that address specific issues. However, I'm using a work-issued phone, so I'm not going to jailbreak a phone that doesn't belong to me. Besides, jailbreaking is something that only a tiny percentage of users will risk doing, or even know about. You may say I'm a BlackBerry power user (I don't really think I am; there are people who know way more about it than I do), but things like knowing one's way around the menu are way less geeky than jailbreaking. ... Read more
(Credit:
Screenshot by Dong Ngo/CNET)
Captcha, or Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart, is a method used by many Web sites to fight against computer-generated input. As computers get smarter, Captchas hves become more of a nuisance because most of them are now tough for us humans to pass.
I recently blogged about a new and more humane way to create a Captcha by using 3D images and the implementation of that method at Yuniti.com. I've just run into a different approach, similar to the Asirra tool revealed by Microsoft in 2007, that seems even easier for humans to pass while remaining impossible for machines to figure out.
It's called Captcha the Dog from a Web site of the same name. Like the 3D-based Captcha, this method uses images instead of text for the challenge. However, the challenge is always the same: clock on the one different object on the screen, i. e., click on the photo of a dog among eight photos of cats.
With Captcha the Dog you are required to do this multiple times in a row. Each time, the position of the dog is changed and if you click on the wrong picture once, the process starts over from the beginning.
Once you have clicked on the right one enough times, all the photos will be those of cats. This is when you know you have passed the Captcha.
As it is currently impossible for a computer to distinguish between these photos, it's virtually impossible for a machine to randomly select the right image multiple times in a row.
This method of Captcha costs $25 per year with customized images. Beyond that, you can get its codes for free. The new method is said to be compatible with any browser (including that of the iPhone) and can be implemented within 15 minutes without the use of cookies.
This seems a simple yet effective alternative to the text-based Captcha that's so popular and so frustrating to use. However, like other image-based Captcha methods, Captcha the Dog doesn't currently offer a way to support people with disabilities. However, the site states that its new version will offer an audio component for vision-impaired people.
Try out the new Captcha method at Captchathedog.com and leave your thoughts in the comments.
If you subscribe to a broadband Internet service today, more likely you use cable than DSL. According to a study released Thursday by J.D. Power and Associates, cable modem usage is increasing at a faster rate than DSL usage among Internet customers, as dial-up use continues to decrease.
More and more people are moving to broadband services to access the Internet.
The firm has performed the Internet service provider residential customer satisfaction study for 11 years. Every year, the study measures customer satisfaction with high-speed and dial-up Internet service providers based on five factors: performance and reliability, cost of service, customer service, billing, and offerings and promotions. It uses a 1,000-point scale to gauge the providers' performance.
For 2008, the study was fielded in July and based on responses from 16,933 residential customers of Internet service providers nationwide.
The 2008 result indicates that both cable and DSL service have increased among broadband services, with cable now up to 41 percent (from 36 percent in 2007) and DSL up to 30 percent (from 27 percent), among all broadband users. At the same time, the share of dial-up Internet users has continued to decrease and now accounts for only 25 percent of all Internet users, a 10 percent decrease since 2007.
According to the study, 2008 is also a year of change with only 30 percent of customers remaining loyal to their service provider, down from 42 percent in 2007. Cost saving is the main reason customers switch services, accounting for 69 percent of broadband users and 40 percent of dial-up users.
Regarding customer satisfaction, EarthLink Net is ranked No. 1 in dial-up service, scoring 633 points, followed by United Online (630) and MSN (602). To nobody's surprise, AOL is at the bottom with only 551 points.
The study examined Internet providers in four regions.
East region: Cablevision ranks highest with a score of 650 points, followed by EarthLink (643) and Embarq (634).
South region: Road Runner tops the chart with 670. After that, Verizon (663) and Insight (661) are also high in customer satisfaction.
North central region: In this region, WOW! ranks the highest with 702, which is also the highest in all regions. Cincinnati Bell and Cox follow with 665 and 663, respectively.
West region: Cox Communications ranks highest with 641, followed by EarthLink (630) and Verizon (625).
Personally, I use Comcast and it's ranked among the lowest at 559 points, though I've been fairly happy with it. How about you?
If you're a Netflix customer and you use its Watch Instantly streaming service, well, you're probably used to not having a lot choices as far as which movies you can watch. And if you're a Mac user, you're used to not being able to use the service at all. Netflix is seeking to change this.
Finally! Before the Rains and The Neighbor are available!
(Credit: Netflix)On Monday the company announced that it will be using Microsoft's Silverlight software to deliver streaming movies not only to PCs, but to Intel-based Macs as well. The new Netflix player takes advantage of Play Ready DRM, which is built into Silverlight, for the playback of protected content on both Windows-based PCs and on Macs. According to Netflix, this had not been possible with previous technologies.
According to the company, Netflix members should expect a "faster, easier connection and a more robust viewing experience with Silverlight." One of the enhancements is in timeline navigation, which will purportedly improve the use of fast-forwarding and rewinding.
Deployment of the new software, which also includes Firefox compatibility, will initially touch a small percentage of new Netflix subscribers. It's the first step in an expected rollout of the new platform to all Netflix subscribers by the end of the year.
As much as I love the idea of instantly watching movies I don't own, Netflix's current catalog needs some work to say the least. Especially for older movies, it seems. The company claims they have more than 12,000 titles available to watch instantly, and more are being added. My question is where are movies like Clue and The Fugitive, two movies I wanted to watch last weekend, so maybe I'm biased? These should be no-brainers IMO. Instead I'm able to watch Before the Rains to my heart's content.
This pic might make a case for why you should not drink alone, however.
Our second half episode.
This one features excessive daytime sleepiness at jury duty. Dong not being able to be single in peace. Also, to all those this applies to, it's called user reviews, not vendor reviews, OK? Lastly, we kinda answer some mail, but not really.
There are a few segments I promised Dong I would cut out...I lied.
Enjoy!
To subscribe to this podcast, visit us at our main page and click the link on the right.
Listen now:
Download today's podcast
 |
Episode 10.5 |
The Napkin PC won first place in the Next-Gen PC Design Competition. Click photo for gallery of winners.
(Credit: Microsoft)Microsoft's fourth annual Next-Gen PC Design Competition put entrants to the task of dreaming up concepts that not only offer eye-catching aesthetics, but also cater to people's passions.
Check out News.com's gallery on the competition, featuring designs that tap into niches like travel, sports, fitness, cooking, and children. Winning concepts were inspired by everything from napkins to building blocks to the everyday book.
Who would have believed Google's geographic Web services could actually get your adrenaline going?
Granted, these aren't real video games, but two Web sites are pushing what can be done with interactive interfaces to Google Maps and Google Earth.
The first, taking advantage of Google Maps' new ability to work with Flash applications, lets you drive a car, bus, or truck around Google Maps. It won't bat an eye if you drive through a building or into the ocean, but Katsuomi Kobayashi, the programmer from Osaka, Japan, who wrote it, was happy to note that the software can display images at 40 frames per second vs. 20 at best for JavaScript. And it uses less CPU power, too.
This rudimentary game lets people drive various vehicles around Google Maps. Here I'm taking a semi through Tokyo traffic.
(Credit: Geoquake)Another novelty is a flight simulator for the browser plug-in version of Google Earth announced at Google I/O a week and a half ago. (This is different from the flight sim that works with the Google Earth standalone software.) It works with recent versions of Firefox, Internet Explorer, and Flock, but on Windows only.
This basic flight simulator works with the Google Earth browser plug-in.
(Credit: Barnabu.co.uk)Again, the software is crude by gaming standards, but it does illustrate what can be done these days inside a browser. I'm among those who are interested to watch Google Earth abilities gradually pop up in Google Maps and in the browser. It's easily conceivable to me that we'll soon be seeing all manner of games that run on the 3D models of the real world that Google and Microsoft are building. Lower network latencies, faster server responses, and higher network data capacity all point in that direction.
(Via Google Geo Developers Blog and Google Maps Mania.)
BlackBerry squished by a car
(Credit: Adam Richardson)Sorry for the lack of posts recently, I've been very busy with a lot of traveling that hasn't left many brain cells free to do blogging. Thanks to Tim for holding down the fort in my absence. Now, on to business...
Recently my BlackBerry got run over by a car. You can see the results here, it's not pretty. Actually, I think it held up pretty well considering it got hit on a busy street. It's rather a mystery how it got there, as I hadn't been anywhere near where it was found.
A kindly woman named Shawna saw it, stopped to pick it up, and had the savvy to take out the SIM card, put the card in her own phone, and see if any text messages had been left indicating the owner. "It's what I'd hope somebody would do for me," she explained, thus boosting my faith in humanity. As luck would have it, I'd sent a text to it in just such an eventuality. My hat is off to Shawna for her effort and for thinking of that solution. Only in Silicon Valley!
Work was able to get me a new one within a couple of days so my withdrawal symptoms were minimized. But here's what I found interesting about this process: Once I got the new one and activated it, everything came back -- and I mean just about everything. Of course the email, texts, call logs, calendar and so on, those are to be expected. But what surprised me was that it also restored my theme, the location of icons on the main screen, ringtones and profile settings. In other words, it restored all the things that you painstakingly customize over time and which take almost equally long to get back how you liked them. It instantly created a doppelganger of my old phone as though nothing had ever happened. The only item that didn't get restored for some reason was my text shortcuts, which is a bit of a pain.
The iPhone may be sexier, but to my knowledge it couldn't pull of a trick like this. Kudo's to RIM's system, this turned a potentially painful event into one that was pleasantly surprising. Not that I will be trying to repeat it again any time soon.
