Digital Media

(Credit: YouTube)

Google won't officially unveil its Nexus One smartphone until Tuesday, when it has scheduled an Android Press Gathering. There are plenty of descriptions and images of the phone floating around the Web, though--a result of Google's decision to "dogfood" the device with employees.

And now, some video. Wednesday, a 10-minute clip of what appears to be someone taking the phone through its paces popped up on the Web. There's no sound, and the device appears to be configured for French speakers, so if you're an American with a short attention span, I'm not sure what the appeal would be. But some of you are going to want to watch it, anyway.

This normally would be the place where I'd embed the relevant YouTube video. But this is one video Google doesn't want on its video site, and the company is pulling the footage down as quickly as it can. (This is where I imagine the Viacom guys chortling and rubbing their hands).

That said, you can find the clip without much effort, particularly if you search other video sites not owned by Google. Have at it, if that floats your boat.

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One assumes it didn't happen by text.

But, according to The New York Times, AT&T has announced, in a very brief statement, that it will no longer associate its fine name with Tiger Woods.

Accenture, Tag Heuer, and Procter and Gamble have already distanced themselves from the world's greatest golfer after he crashed his car and became associated with as many alleged extra-marital affairs as there are clubs in his bag.

Yet it's interesting that AT&T should choose New Year's Eve as the time to announce its decision. It has been a tough year for the carrier, with Verizon deriding its coverage and a survey showing that more than half of iPhone users are unhappy with AT&T's service.

AT&T was a founding partner in the Tiger Woods Learning Center.

(Credit: CC Zeetz Jones/Flickr)

It's almost as if AT&T would dearly love to slap 2009 with a 9 iron, in the hope that it will have a better relationship with 2010.

In truth, the sponsorship of Woods was not a mainstay of the company's commercial thrust. It involved him hosting tournaments, carrying the AT&T logo on his vast golf bag, and AT&T's involvement in some of Woods' charitable work.

However, AT&T is not in and of sports and Woods was never a central figure in its communications. Though it might have been slightly interesting had the company chosen to have Woods lead its fightback against Verizon instead of the scandal-free Luke Wilson.

Wouldn't it have been lovely to see Woods bouncing a Droid up and down on his 5 iron before smashing it somewhere down a distant fairway? A case of Droid Does meeting Just Do It.

The tech company that has perhaps the most problematic dilemma where Woods is concerned is Electronic Arts. Its Tiger Woods PGA Tour series of games is a strong part of its business. Currently, Woods' image still retains pride of place on the EA site.

Although perhaps the wording might need a little revision. Right now, EA chooses to have some interesting words beneath Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10: Feel The Drama. Indeed.

The economy took its toll on digital audio in 2009, with CD sales continuing to decline (even as vinyl makes a resurgence), digital start-ups going bankrupt or disappearing after takeovers, and labels expressing dissatisfaction with would-be digital saviors like MySpace Music. Even so, there was actually quite a lot to cheer this year. The following five products aren't necessarily the best, but to me, they did the most to move the state of digital audio forward in 2009.

Outside the tech press, the Zune HD didn't get the love it deserved in 2009.

(Credit: Microsoft)

Windows 7. Microsoft appears to have recovered from Vista with a new OS that runs efficiently, looks good, and satisfies users. Released on October 22, the latest version of Windows also includes some important new features for digital audio lovers. I was pleasantly surprised by Microsoft's decision to support for Advanced Audio Coding (AAC), which is the default format used by Apple's iTunes. With this simple move (along with native H.264 video support), Microsoft has finally acknowledged that Windows Media isn't taking over the world any time soon, and will hopefully move to the much more sensible strategy of making Windows a sort of "Swiss Army knife" of digital media. In addition, the new Remote Media Streaming feature lets you access the media library on your hard drive from any PC over the Internet, reducing the need for third-party solutions like JukeFly or online music lockers like Lala. Plus, for professional audio recording, Windows 7 is much more stable than Vista was at launch. Love it or hate it, Windows is still the OS used on more than 95 percent of computers worldwide, and Windows 7 is probably going to be around for a long time--like XP was--so these advances, however overdue, are major news.

Spotify and Rhapsody on iPhone. Music fans have been waiting for the celestial jukebox--the ability to listen to millions of songs on demand from anywhere--for years. In 2009, the music industry finally started coming around to the idea that on-demand access to millions of songs could be the digital business model that saves it. Nowhere was this clearer than in Apple's decision to approve iPhone apps from Spotify in August and Rhapsody in September. These two subscription services--Rhapsody in the U.S., Spotify in Europe--give iPhone users access to millions of songs, on demand, for a few bucks a month. Single-song downloads have been great for Apple, helping iTunes become the top music retailer in the U.S. starting in 2008, but the company may be coming around to the idea that subscriptions--or at least on-demand streaming--represents the future, as evidenced by its acquisition of Lala earlier this month. When Apple finally takes the plunge, Rhapsody and Spotify subscribers can be smug, knowing that they've been able to stream songs to their iPhones since 2009.

Sonos S5. I've been singing the praises of Sonos's multiroom home-audio system for a couple years now. There's no other equivalent system that offers such easy set-up, solid sound, reliable streaming (thanks to its dedicated wireless network), and slick user interface--including an iPhone controller. The only drawback has been its relatively high price of entry, especially compared with cheaper competitors like Logitech. The release of the Sonos S5 this November (read the CNET review) is a major step forward in affordability, giving you single $399 device--receiver, amplifier, and speaker, all in one--that lets you get started down the Sonos path. You'll still need a $99 bridge if you have a wireless home network and want your S5 to be in a different room than your router, but the S5 is Sonos's most affordable product to date, and a move in the right direction for multiroom digital audio.

iConcertCal for iPhone. For live music fans, nothing's more frustrating than missing a show because you happened to miss the listing in your weekly paper. This year saw the release of several iPhone and iPod Touch apps for finding and tracking local gigs, but my favorite remains iConcertCal, released in July for $2.99. (It was briefly removed from the iTunes Store earlier this month to fix a bug, but it's back now and working fine.) Unlike other gig-finding apps, iConcertCal doesn't require you to enter a list of artists you want to track--instead, it grabs all the artists whose music you have on your iPhone. If you want an even bigger selection, you can download the free iConcertCal desktop add-in for iTunes (useful in its own right), link it to your iPhone with a user name and password combination, and the iPhone app will then track every single artist you list in iTunes. You can also use it to see all local shows happening in the next couple of days.

Zune HD. At last! The latest version of Microsoft's portable music player, released in October, has everything its predecessors lacked. Classy industrial design. Touch screen. Gorgeous on-screen interface that makes it easy to find favorite songs or music you've recently added and scrolls through images of artists as you play their songs. Well-designed PC client software that does everything you've come to expect from iTunes and looks way better doing it. It's not perfect--the browser and lack of app store are kind of weak, and I'm still bothered by what sounds like a bass roll-off and lack of oomph in the midrange--but the Zune HD has so many features that iPods still lack, like wireless sync, a built-in subscription music service (with 10 permanent monthly downloads to boot), and the ability to add songs to a currently playing playlist, that it makes my iPods seem a bit out of date. Unfortunately for Microsoft, the Zune brand is still tarnished by its initial weak launch, and outside the tech press, the Zune HD didn't get the love it deserved. Perhaps when (if?) Microsoft moves these features into the next version of Windows Mobile, we'll finally see Microsoft considered as a viable competitor to Apple's mobile music juggernaut.

Tomorrow, I'll follow up with the five least welcome digital music products in 2009.

Sending texts with explicit images to one another is a common phenomenon among teenagers.

(Credit: Dong Ngo/CNET)

Remember when we were all crying about the fact that AT&T delayed the rollout of multimedia messaging on the iPhone? Well, some parents may now be wishing the feature wasn't available at all.

Sending explicit content, such as naked or near-naked photos, via text message--a phenomenon also known as "sexting"--is a familiar phenomenon among some teens, according to survey results released Tuesday by the Pew Research Center.

The survey, conducted from June 26 to September 24 with the participation of 800 teenagers, is part of the research center's Internet and American Life Project, which tracks the effect of the Internet on American life. It found that 4 percent of cell-owning teens ages 12 to 17 say they've sent sexually suggestive nude or nearly nude images of themselves to someone else via text. Fifteen percent say they have received such material.

Older teens, especially those who foot their own cell phone bills, are much more likely to send and receive these images. While 8 percent of 17-year-olds with cell phones have sent a sexually provocative image by text, this number goes up to 17 percent among those who pay their bills themselves. In all, 30 percent of 17-year-olds have received explicit images on their phones.

The survey also shows that while the exchange of nude images mostly takes place among romantic partners or potential partners of the same age, these images are also forwarded to non-partners or people in different age groups. And this is where things can get really ugly.

At heart, are dogs as unpleasant as human beings?

The question pummels at my sinews today because an iPhone app of unusual enlightenment has been brought to my attention.

It's called FidoFactor. And what sets it apart from all those fart-obsessed, teeny-titillating iPhone apps is that, to use a phrase created by the company itself, it's "like Yelp for dogs."

We've all yelped for a dog at some point in our lives, but staring at this concept made me think that this app (and its accompanying site) would be the equivalent of reading reviews from the everyday world written by dogs.

I am sure many people would love to discover which doggy parks have brittle grass and smell like ant excreta. Who wouldn't want to know which street light provides the perfect angle, texture, and general environment for urination?

And just imagine a restaurant review written by a curmudgeonly Pomeranian--"The floor had too many splinters. And the food that dropped from the table reminded me of a garbage can I once inadvertently stumbled into."

What does this Pomeranian REALLY think about Starbucks?

(Credit: CC KTylerConk/Flickr)

However, FidoFactor--currently covering just New York, San Francisco, Boston, and Portland, Ore., falls a little short of every dogged doggy's dreams.

It does keep you informed about dog-friendly locations. Just like many review sites, it offers you various categories by which to judge dog suitability: Dog-friendly tables, leash policy, and--that most vital thing for many pooches--heating.

But that's the point: it offers YOU these things. Everything on Fido Factor is a little too human. Take this restaurant review for the Grove on Fillmore. While giving the Grove five stars, or rather what look like little doggy biscuits, the reviewer writes: "Good food with friendly staff. Owners have rescue pets and have big hearts."

You see, it's all about the humans. Surely, Precious the Pomeranian will want to know about far more basic factors like the lickability of the furniture and the sniffabililty of the floorboards.

Dogs are people, people. They are their own beings with their own feelings. Please let's try and make FidoFactor something that is truly dog-centric. Let's try to elicit what really makes our dogs happy, even if we have to get Cesar Millan to teach us canine language that we then re-interpret into reviews that will be meaningful for dogs.

Only then can Fido Factor truly be a factor in improving a dog's life.

In these modern times, when people hear the word "beard," they sometimes think of someone being used, perhaps unknowingly, to cover up the sexual orientation of a friend.

However, once anyone under 20 sees this series of public-service announcements from LG, in which James Lipton from "Inside the Actor's Studio" attempts to be a good companion to troubled teens, they will, hopefully, think "beard" before sending a text featuring a picture of their private parts.

You see, LG did a little research and discovered that nasty or sexually explicit texts weren't being sent so much by bullies, but by "tabloid teens." You know, those who might have helped Yahoo's business enormously by trying to find every last piece of information about Tiger Woods' alleged missteps with various misses.

Such teens believe that gossip is their source of influence and social power, but it doesn't necessarily yield the finest of results. Which is why LG would like the rapidly typing youth to "give it a ponder" before they send, as Lipton so sweetly describes it in one of the spots, "a pic of your junk."

In an attempt to help, Lipton gives them his beard for them to stroke. On their own faces, you understand.

The spots have a tough task, as they are asking kids to don Lipton's famously ephemeral facial hair in order to adopt a little temporary maturity at a moment of some excitement.

But LG is still determined to knock a little sense into these people wherever it can get to them.

The rather lovely Give It A Ponder Facebook page has delightful entries from, for example, a lady called Lynn Hood who says, "Oh, that I had a beard this magnificent to stroke while I ponder." And, the GiveItAPonder.com site offers even more amusement.

U.S. teens together apparently send 20,000 texts per second, so one can only hope that this delightful campaign puts at least a tiny dent into their craniums.

Once it makes some intelligent inroads with teens, perhaps LG might try to influence the poor judgment of politicians. Perhaps, indeed, LG could get the folks on Capitol Hill to text us their thoughts and receive our approval before they ever articulate a single word in public. Just a thought.

Is there some etiquette one should follow when receiving a spam text?

Should one at least read it before erasing it? Should one even attempt a polite reply, even if it is in the negative? Or should one sue the rotten behind off the ungracious crasher who deigns to invade one's cell phone?

If your name is Elizabeth Espinal, you gravitate toward the latter option.

According to the Miami New Times, Espinal was inconvenienced by that slightly creepy King texting her with what she describes in her suit as "cryptic" messages.

You know the kind of thing, enticements to nosh on a splendidly nourishing Burger King steakhouse burger. Or entreaties to please, please try a Mocha BK Iced Coffee. After the first, Espinal allegedly texted back "stop." But the King kept creeping electronically into her life certain, it seems, of winning her over. At least twice more, apparently.

Unimpressed by his wooing her with his "perfect mix of rich coffee and chocolate syrup," Espinal slapped him with what she hopes is a perfect mix of a lawsuit.

The New Times suggested that within Espinal's veritable onion ring of pain lay the idea that she was "caused actual harm" and was "subjected to aggravation."

(Credit: CC Ted Murphy/Flickr)

Now, we all have our own opinions of fast food. Yes, the purchasing process can be aggravating, and yes, very occasionally our digestion can slip a cog in its delicate machinations, resulting in some temporary harm. But could this all be worth $5 million?

Oh, perhaps I didn't mention, but Espinal is allegedly looking for 5 million whopping dollars. Perhaps the King would merely have to sell a couple of his crowns, but still, it does seem like a lot of money.

She appears to have filed the suit in April of this year as a class action and it has not yet received certification. Her no doubt clever lawyers are relying on Section 47 of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, which "prohibits unsolicited voice and text calls to cellular phones."

I understand that Espinal might be on the blistered side of peeved to discover she had to pay for the texts that Burger King sent, even though they might have contained patently irresistible enticements.

But $5 million suggests either that she is a very sensitive human being, or that she believes that the only way to deal with an alleged harasser is to harass them right back.

What if she were to somehow win? Might we all be able to sue those who text us with unwanted inducements? I'm not thinking merely of AT&T, which keeps sending me texts with numbers and concepts far beyond my meager rationality.

What about those slightly odd people we meet at parties and networking events? You know, the insurance salesmen to whom we regret giving our phone number, our business cards, even our names--the ones who contact us suggesting a meeting and then contact us three more times. Might we be able to take them for a few million?

I think I'll text my lawyer and ask him.

You may need a little Xanax after observing this. Equally, you may never want to take any drugs ever again.

For Quentin Tarantino, he who makes movies that contain blood, gore, and many homages to Asia, recently shot a TV spot for the Japanese cell phone company Softbank.

As well as an astute grasp of Japanese, you need to have a very firm grasp of existential philosophy to fully appreciate this spot. Without an astute grasp of Japanese, I can tell you that this is the latest in a series of spots that features the White family.

Just to give you a sense of how this ad follows in the rambunctiously absurd tradition of much Japanese advertising, the regular members of the White Family are Me, a Softbank saleswoman, Older Brother, played by American actor Dante Carter, Mom, and Otousan, the talking dog who is, in fact, Dad. (Yes, I am entirely sober.)

I will leave you to create your own version of what is going on here. Though, to my untrained, pained eyes, the story seems to concern Tarantino, whose character is Uncle Tara-chan, and his parading a live dog as some kind of competition to Otousan, the plastic pooch who is, in fact, Dad.

The blond lady near the end of the spot appears to be playing Tara-chan's wife and, as so many wives of famous Americans these days, she doesn't appear happy with her husband. Though she is screaming down the phone rather than wielding a three-iron.

I have embedded the short and long versions of the ad, just because the long version doesn't seem to make the short version any more understandable. Several people made similar comments about Tarantino's "Kill Bill" series.

However, Brad Pitt has already appeared in Softbank spots, so one must suppose that the most understandable part of Tarantino's performance is the fee.

Now that Black Friday and Cyber Monday are just a memory, the holiday season is in full swing. For those of us who like to be organized when we hit the stores, creating a shopping list is really the best way to go.

Unfortunately, though, there aren't many services that do a great job at creating those shopping lists. Too often, they provide very simple functionality. Realizing that, I've compiled a handful of services that do perform well for anyone looking to get organized this holiday-shopping season. In this list, you'll find a few sites and a few iPhone apps to check out.

Let's get started.

Get your shopping on

Amazon Shopping List Not to be confused with the company's Wishlist, Amazon's shopping list helps you keep track of all the products you want to buy.

Overall, Amazon's Shopping List is useful. It's not the best service in this roundup, but it if you're looking for simple, one-click experience, Amazon's tool provides it. That said, I should note that you can't simply add any product on Amazon to the list. Unfortunately, I could only find items that could be added in the grocery, beauty, gourmet food, and health and personal care pages. Even then, not all the products listed in those categories were capable of being added to the shopping list. It was a little disappointing. But if you're a heavy Amazon customer who shops in those categories, try it out. If not, there are some better services out there.

My Amazon shopping list needs more products!

(Credit: Screenshot by Don Reisinger/CNET)

Boxedup Boxedup is one of my favorite services in this roundup. It makes it quick and easy to find products anywhere from the Web and add those to a shopping list.

When you start using Boxedup, you'll need to download a Boxedup button that's added to your browser (I was using Firefox, which it works well with). From there, simply go out to any online retail site and click on the Boxedup button when you want to add the item to your shopping list. Upon doing so, it's added to your Boxedup list for later viewing. You can also add items to your profile right from the Boxedup page, but to be quite honest, that's not how the service was designed and that functionality is a little suspect. Regardless, having the option to add content to your list from just about anywhere on the Web is fantastic. Boxedup works quite well. Check it out.

Boxedup helps you add content from just about anywhere.

(Credit: Screenshot by Don Reisinger/CNET)