Free on iTunes: Pilot Episode of “Who Wants To Be A Superhero”, and Free Episode of “30Daysâ€?
Posted by Helper Monkey
Two new “freebie videos” hit the iTunes store today, and as always, we suggest you pick these up before their “free” status is revoked!
First up is the pilot episode for “Who Wants to be a Superhero?� from the Sci-Fi Channel. The series is the realty-show brainchild of Marvel Comic’s Stan Lee, and is absolutely hilarious, if I may be so bold. The show’s premise is that 11 average (and I use the term loosely) people will compete to create their own super hero alter-ego (complete with costume and super powers), and the winner (picked by Stan Lee himself) will be immortalized in comic book form and an original Sci-Fi Channel movie. The lucky 11 heroes (Major Victory, The Iron Enforcer, Lemuria, Creature, Monkey Woman, Nitro G., Fat Momma, Levity, Feedback, Cell Phone Girl, and TyVeculus) will live together in a secret lair, and compete with each other in various “super hero�-related activities, such as “Find a place in a public park to quickly and discreetly change from the alter egos into their superhero costumes.� Get it now!
Next up is the first episode from Season 2 of 30 Days, the FX show that follows Morgan Spurlock (from the film Supersize Me) and friends as they conduct various “social experimentsâ€? and attempt to tackle various complex topics through living as the other half does. In this episode :â€? Frank George is a member of the Minutemen, a citizen’s volunteer group that patrols the country’s borders. Like all Minutemen, Frank holds staunch anti-illegal immigration views, as he and his family legally immigrated from Cuba to Miami when Frank was 7 years old. He will live with a Mexican family of mixed status in a one bedroom apartment in Los Angeles, and will work side by side with the father as a handyman.â€? This episode also comes with a 10 minute free behind the scenes featurette. Download both here.
Leather-trimmed iMac in a custom Mercedes CLS
Posted by Helper Monkey
Ever wonder what would Jesus’ car would look like?
The German custom car shop Mattes Interieurtechnik has gotten about as close as I think we’ll see with their recently upgraded Mercedes CLS. The incredibly soft-looking and heavenly bright interior has many nice appointments, but what really sets this custom job apart from the rest is a leather-trimmed iMac that folds out into the back seat (that’s right, a LEATHER TRIMMED iMac). Complete with wireless keyboard and mouse, there is no telling how much work you could get done in the back of this Mercedes, if you could stay awake.
According to our Babelfish translation, passengers can rest assured that “Overacting from photos from a digital camera is just as possible as a logging in in the InterNet via UMTS or GPRS connection.� Awesome. Let’s see a PC overact with photos!
Now, before you get too excited, we should point out that seems to only be a 17-inch G5 iMac, not Apple’s latest Intel offerings. But what do you expect? This is only a custom Mercedes, after all. It is really designed for those on a tight budget who just need a car to get them from point A to point B.
Thanks to faithful Macenstein reader EvilTuna.
Review: mTune-N Cordless Stereo Headset for iPod nano
Posted by Lab Rat
When Apple first unveiled the iPod nano last year, everyone here in the lab was blown away by just how tiny it was. I remember saying to Helper Monkey “Wow! That thing is small. I can’t wait to see what the 3rd parties do with that!�. I was speaking of course about the 3rd party iPod accessory manufacturers who had made a small mint in designing various add-ons for the nano’s full-sized brethren. Unfortunately, 6 months later, all we had really seen were smaller versions of the current “big iPod� accessories, such as cases, sports bands, FM tuners etc.
Well, the nano has finally come into its own in recent months, and Macally has been leading the way with a line of nano-specific accessories that are beginning to take advantage of the nano’s small size in BIG ways.
Fresh on the heels of our review of Macally’s IP-N111 portable speakers for the nano, we now present you with the mTune-N Cordless Stereo Headset for the nano.
Coming up with a set of decent cordless headphones for an iPod is the “holy Grail� for many iPod accessory makers, but to date most have gone the expensive and technologically complicated Bluetooth route to achieve wireless freedom. Thanks to the nano’s small form factor, Macally had the bright (and patent-pending) idea of simplifying the whole process and connecting the nano directly to the earphones.
Although the nano weighs next to nothing, integrating the diminutive music player into the headset still necessitated that Macally design the mTune-N as an over-the-head style of headphone, as standard earbuds would pop out with a nano dangling from them. Since the headset had to be bigger anyway, Macally decided to do it right and provided leather cup-style ear pads, which in addition to being comfortable, also serve to cancel out a great deal of room noise as well (although these are not marketed as true noise-canceling headphones). Still, the mTune-N is not bulky, and its largely plastic construction allows it to sit lightly on the head. I have a set of slightly larger (and significantly heavier) noise-canceling headphones, and their extra weight causes them to slide off the head when used during any out-door activity, such as mowing the lawn or exercising.
Made for travel
The mTune-N does not need batteries, and instead runs off the nano’s battery like standard earbuds. I did not notice that the mTune drained the battery significantly faster than Apple’s earbuds. This means the mTune would make an ideal choice for traveling since you will not have to remember to have an extra set of batteries on hand. Additionally, the mTune’s earcups fold in for travel purposes.
The mTune-N’s ear cups fold in to make it an ideal travel companion.
Another thing I like about the mTune-N is that, unlike the IP-N111 nano speakers, this time Macally designed an extra mini audio jack (cable included) into the mTune-N, so it will work with not only the nano, but with any iPod or portable device with a headphone jack.
Sound quality
The sound quality of the mTune is a significant improvement over Apple’s earbuds, due in large part to the noise-canceling effect of the padded ear cups. Bass response is good, although I found the volume to be slightly lower than I would have liked. Sure, you can crank it up to the point where it starts to get uncomfortable to listen to, but there isn’t much headroom for those of us who do not fear tinnitus. The volume is controlled via the nano’s click wheel, and the sound begins to distort a bit around 85-90%. However, the sound is very good in general, and the noise canceling means you don’t HAVE to crank these as loud as standard ear buds. Still, these $50 headphones do not sound quite as good as some similarly priced sets out there. You are paying a slight premium here for the ability to connect the nano to these headphones without the need for wires.
Going Wireless
Speaking of wireless, I really was surprised to find how much I enjoyed the freedom that comes with being wireless. The mTune worked great for doing yard work in particular. Many a time I have had my iPod in my pants’ pocket and bumped it with a rake or shovel handle, or accidentally gotten the chord hooked on something, causing the headphones to pop loose. The mTune is so light, at times I forgot it was even there. The only real downside to having the nano placed directly inside the mTune is you probably will have to take them off your head to do anything more than adjust volume or skip a song (unless you have memorized your iPod’s menu, which I haven’t).
While the mTune-N is built to be wireless, you can connect any device with a headphone jack via the included cable.
I initially thought the mTune looked a little weird, and thought I’d feel a bit self conscious having an iPod stuck to the side of my head, but I really didn’t. Right now the mTune-N only comes in black (there is a white model designed for the iPod shuffle) and luckily I have a black nano, so I think it blended in more with the mTune than would a white nano (something to keep in mind if you are a white nano owner). To a casual observer, they just appear to be a set of black headphones.
Criticisms
The only real criticism I have for the mTune involves the padded leather earcups. While I found them to be very comfortable and to provide a fair amount of sound isolation, I found that Macally did not add the extra hinge that many other headphones of this type have which allows for a larger range of motion when positioning the cups flat against the head. I have a freakishly-large head, so this wasn’t a big problem for me, but my wife noticed the difference on her more normal-sized head.
Conclusion
The mTune-N is a very well designed and good sounding set of headphones that, when combined with an iPod nano, allows for a wireless freedom that has to be experienced to be appreciated. The addition of a standard headphone jack makes it more versatile than Macally’s other nano-specific accessories, and the light weight makes it a pleasure to use during outdoor activity. There are better sounding headphones out there for the money, but none that come close to offering the mTune-N’s features. If you are a nano user with an active lifestlye, you owe it to yourself to give the mTune-N a test drive.
mTune-N Cordless Stereo Headset for iPod nano by Macally
Price: $49.99
Pros: Wireless nano integration, lightweight, comfortable padded earcups, extra mini jack allows for use with other devices.
Cons: Volume distorts a bit at higher volumes, only available in black
Flip4Mac 2.1 Universal binary released
Posted by Dr. Macenstein
Telestream has released an update to their Flip4Mac Windows Media playback software, finally adding support for Intel Macs. Flip4Mac runs as a plug-in to QuickTime, and allows for the seamless playback of Windows Media audio and video via Apple’s QuickTime player.
In addition to adding Intel support, the update also brings “significantly faster Windows Media encoding for PowerPC Mac users� according to the press release. Additional new features in Flip4Mac WMV v2.1 include: multi-language audio support in the WMV player; overlay when importing Windows Media content in trial mode; support for Web authors to disable save as feature in embedded streams and improved support for MMS servers and live streams.
Also available as a Universal app is Flip4Mac’s authoring suite, “Flip4Mac WMV�. Flip4Mac WMV allows users to play, import and export Windows Media® files using QuickTime-based applications. PowerPC users will see encode speeds four to six times faster with version 2.1. Flip4Mac WMV costs between $29-$179, depending on the feature set.
Intel unveils Core 2 Duo
Posted by Helper Monkey
As the demand for energy conservation continues to grow, corporations are tailoring their products to better meet consumers’ needs. Computer chip maker, Intel, demonstrated this trend by unveiling 10 new Intel Core 2 Duo and Core Extreme processors on July 27. The new processors are designed to conserve energy by more than 40 percent while simultaneously running numerous applications at faster speeds. Intel officials say these new processors enhance high-definition video playback, protect a PC and its assets during e-commerce transactions and offer a longer battery life.
From the Intel Site:
Up to 40 percent faster than previous generation desktop processors the Intel Core 2 Duo desktop processor provides unrivaled performance for all your desktop computing needs. With the latest arsenal of performance-rich technologies, including up to 4MB of shared L2 cache, and up to 1066 MHz Front Side Bus, you’ve got the future of computing now, and only from Intel:
• Intel® Wide Dynamic Execution, enabling delivery of more instructions per clock cycle to improve execution time and energy efficiency
• Intel® Intelligent Power Capability, designed to deliver more energy-efficient performance
• Intel® Smart Memory Access, improving system performance by optimizing the use of the available data bandwidth
• Intel® Advanced Smart Cache, providing a higher-performance, more efficient cache subsystem. Optimized for multi-core and dual-core processors
• Intel® Advanced Digital Media Boost, accelerating a broad range of applications, including video, speech and image, photo processing, encryption, financial, engineering and scientific applications
Apple adds E! programming to iTunes
Posted by Helper Monkey
Apple today announced it has added “hit� programs from the E! Entertainment Television Network to the iTunes store. These shows include: Season 1 of the Playboy realty show “The Girls Next Door�, Season 3 of the pop-culture talk show “The Soup�, both “The Simple Life: ‘Til Death Do Us Part� and “The Simple Life: Season 1�staring Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie, and the first 2 seasons of “Dr. 90210�, the realty/documentary series which follows the exploits of Beverly Hills plastic surgeon Dr. Robert Ray.
“We’re thrilled to expand our growing video catalog with this original content from E! Entertainment Television,� said Eddy Cue, Apple’s vice president of iTunes. “With over 35 million videos sold, iTunes provides the best way for fans to discover, purchase and download video online.�
“This new partnership underscores our commitment to our E! Everywhere initiative, making E! content available to viewers on multiple platforms and on demand,â€? said Ted Harbert, president and CEO, E! Entertainment. “We’re delighted to pursue this new programming opportunity with iTunes, allowing us to further expand the E! brand and reach even more entertainment fans.â€?
REVIEW: Macally’s IP-N111 Portable Stereo Speakers for iPod nano
Posted by Lab Rat
I’ve written so many lengthy iPod speaker reviews of late that I am very excited to be reviewing the new IP-N111 Portable Stereo Speakers for iPod® nano from Macally. Why? Well, aside from its On/Off switch, the IP-N111 has no controls, and no real features to speak of. In fact, there are really only two things you can talk about when it comes to the IP-N111: its looks, and its sound (well, three if you count its horribly un-catchy name).
Looks
The iPod nano is arguably the cutest iPod Apple makes, and with the IP-N111, Macally has made one of the cutest speaker solutions for any iPod I have seen. Available in both black and white, the IP-N111’s 4-inch round form factor nicely compliments the nano, and sort of mimics the nano’s click wheel. There is a flat stand in the back of the unit that allows it to stand upright, giving you full access to the nano’s click wheel. Volume is set through the nano’s controls, as are any EQ settings you’d like to try out. As I said, feature-wise, their ain’t that much to say about this little guy.
How’s it sound ?
Given its size, the IP-N111 sounds very good, although; please do not expect to be blown away by this unit’s volume. The nano connects to the IP-N111 via the nano’s headphone jack, not through a dock connection. This choice may have saved Macally a couple bucks, but doesn’t hamper the speaker’s sound. The IP-N111 “boasts� 500mW of power output from its 3 included AA batteries, so this is really meant to serve as a travel set of speakers, not a bookshelf speaker system replacement. Volume on the IP-N111 (controlled via the nano) scales well to about 80-85%, then begins to distort a bit, but not too much. By way of comparison, I would say the sound quality is roughly 2 or 3 times as good as the speakers found in the more gimmicky iDog. And like the iDog, I think this speaker would be a good fit for the teen and pre-teen crowd.
Issues
While I appreciate Macally’s decision to make a nano-specific speaker system, I would have liked to see the addition of a standard stereo mini jack to the IP-N111, as they did with their nano-centric mTune headphones. This would allow the IP-N111 to play audio on a wider range of devices, such as a MacBook, cell phone, or full-size iPod, and help justify the IP-N111’s $39.99 price tag. After all, if these are meant to be portable speakers, it would be nice to just throw them in my computer bag when traveling, and know it could handle ALL my portable audio needs.
Conclusion
All in all, I think the IP-N111’s surprisingly good sound quality and small size combine to make it a good choice for nano owners who are looking for a lightweight and compact portable speaker system. The audio quality is very good considering how small it is, and the unit has a very solid feel to it. While this is not the speaker system you would bust out when throwing a party, it is ideal for listening in a quiet hotel or dorm room, and is small enough to take anywhere.
IP-N111 Portable Stereo Speakers for iPod® nano from Macally
Cost: $39.99
Pros: Sounds great given its size, looks cool, solidly built, batteries last over 10 hours.
Cons: No external audio input, sound distorts a bit at higher volumes
Apple releases Bluetooth Mighty Mouse
Posted by Dr. Macenstein
Apple today released a new Bluetooth version of its popular Mighty Mouse.
Although it looks identical, the $69 mouse is more than just a cordless version of its predecessor. The new Mighty Mouse is a “laser� mouse, allowing for up to 20 times more accurate tracking (especially on smooth surfaces) than the old “optical� Mighty Mouse. The new Bluetooth Mighty Mouse is available for order now from the Apple store, with a 3-5 day estimated ship time.
Free on iTunes: Bravo’s “Tabloid Wars� Series Premiere
Posted by Helper Monkey
Another week, another free Bravo series premiere on iTunes. This week’s free video is for the new Bravo reality show Tabloid Wars. The show follows the exploits the New York Daily News staff as they try to out-scoop their bitter rivals, the New York Post. It’s a game of “beat-the-clock” to get the paper out the door and into the hands of its hundreds of thousands of readers every day. It all sounds very urgent.
From the show’s description:
“City reporter Kerry Burke races against time to cover a brutal Howard Beach beating that leaves three men hospitalized. This complex attack brings up many questions and dilemmas for Michael Cooke, editor-in-chief, who worries about the race issues this will conjure up for the city. Burke is then sent to investigate a tip about Robert De Niro’s thieving nanny with the help of crime reporter Tony Sclafani. With the 10:30 p.m. deadline looming and his wedding just one day away, Sclafani is then thrown into another celebrity news scandal — actor Christian Slater allegedly pinched a woman’s derriere and was arrested. Sclafani heads to the Barrymore Theater, where Slater is performing in “The Glass Menagerie,” to get the audience’s reaction, and is late to meet his bride-to-be. Married gossip columnists George Rush and Joanna Molloy balance family life and work when their son’s sudden injury leaves Rush to cover a Gotti family party solo.”
Now on iTunes: WB shows Friends, Aquaman, The Flintstones and more
Posted by Helper Monkey
There have been a couple noteworthy additions from Warner Brothers to the iTunes store this week. First up, Season One of Friends, the show that pretty much defined Thursday night for NBC for about 10 years or so (luckily, they did NOT add Joey). Since this is only season one, the friend’s hairstyles and original noses might be the funniest thing about these episodes.
Next up, the pilot episode of the new series Aquaman. Set in the world of the WB’s popular Superman show Smallville, Aquaman is the story of the always-shirtless Arthur “A.Câ€? Curry’s search for his mother, who disappeared mysteriously in the Bermuda triangle. Aquaman is an iTunes exclusive.
Also added are Seasons One of Babylon 5, and two classic animated shows; The Flintstones and The Jetsons (both of who’s plots sound better than Aquaman’s).
