Tacky Soccer Star Given Even Tackier Gold iPod
David Beckham, English footballer, and one half of the First Couple of Chavs, has been given a gold plated 32GB iPod Touch to celebrate his winning 100 caps (a footballer is literally given a cap each time he plays for…

David Beckham, English footballer, and one half of the First Couple of Chavs, has been given a gold plated 32GB iPod Touch to celebrate his winning 100 caps (a footballer is literally given a cap each time he plays for the England Team). The tacky gift was given to Beckham by his team-mates, and according to the British Newspaper The Telegraph, cost a mere £600 ($1190).

It is appropriate that the squeaky voiced soccer star was honored with bling, but it raises a question. Will the iPod ever be not cool? Is it so iconic that it can shake off any insult or will it eventually become tarnished by the onslaught of gaudy tat? A golden carriage clock for the 21st century, if you’ll.

David Beckham century gift - a golden ipod [Telegraph]

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Convicted murderer and future American Idol contestant Charles Manson has used the liberal Creative Commons license to release a new 16-track album from prison. The album, called, ironically, One Mind, is free to download at LimeWire. As an added bonus, the CC license allows listeners to replicate the tracks as much as they want and distribute them, so long as they don’t use them for commercial purposes-like starting a cult or something. Hear the man himself croon a killer tune after the jump at about the 1:15 mark.

[LimeWire Music Blog]

Via [gizmodo]

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So, one of the massive sniggles about Photoshop Express, Adobe’s free online pic tweaker and sorta-kinda Flickr clone, is that using the service basically gave full control of your pics to Adobe. No more! They just emailed us that as of April 10, they’re only claiming “those limited rights that grant us to operate the service” and they don’t “claim ownership of your content and won’t sell your images.” Score one for internet rights and your mom’s Photoshop dalliances. [PS Express Terms of Use]

Via [gizmodo]

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Apple Grabs No. 1 Music Retail Position from Wal-Mart
Apple finally managed to scoot ahead of Wal-Mart to become the U.S.’s largest music retailer — at least for the first two months of the year. According to the latest data from NPD MusicWatch, Apple beat out the retail giant…

Apple finally managed to scoot ahead of Wal-Mart to become the U.S.’s largest music retailer — at least for the first two months of the year. According to the latest data from NPD MusicWatch, Apple beat out the retail giant in both January and February music sales.

Based on a congratulatory noted circulated to Apple employees — and obtained by Ars Technica — we do know that the iTunes Store captured a 19 percent share of all U.S.-based retail music sales for at least one week in January, which was just enough to propell the online music store to the No. 1 spot, a few points ahead of Wal-Mart’s 15 percent share.

The NPD Group hasn’t released a breakdown of latest figures, but it’s certainly been quick climb for Apple to the top. Last June, the company breezed by Amazon to become the number three music retailer in the U.S. Six months later, iTunes bested Ideal Buy for two position. The only thing that remains uncertain is whether this momentum will carry Apple through the rest of 2008.

UPDATE: So there was a great deal of confusion this morning relating to the Ars Technica Apple retail report. Ars proclaimed that Apple was now the No. 1 music retailer in the U.S., but was using one week’s worth of data in January to make that claim. This, of course, also conflicted with the company’s late February announcement that it was now firmly entrenched as the No. 2 position. In a friendly note to Wired, Ars pointed out that that No. 2 position was based only on December information and was outdated. In fact, it was based on the entire year, according to the folks at NPD.

Anyway, most of the confusion was put to rest when Apple finally issued a new press release declaring itself the No. 1 music retailer for both January and February. We’ve updated our post to reflect this.

[Via Ars Technica]

Photo: Flickr/maury.mccown

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Way back in the 1980’s the Rubik’s Cube swept the playgrounds of the UK, and probably the world. But the story of the frustrating puzzle had one (ahem) twist: For a brief moment, geeks were cool. I could (and still…

Way back in the 1980’s the Rubik’s Cube swept the playgrounds of the UK, and probably the world. But the story of the frustrating puzzle had one (ahem) twist: For a brief moment, geeks were cool. I could (and still can) solve the Cube, and the ladies loved it.

Ernő Rubik’s toy is still around, and the Rubik’s Speed Cubing Kit is a pro solution for the many Speedcubers looking for an edge in contests. The included Cube has a removable tile which reveals a hole for adding the supplied lubricant and for adjusting the tension in the mechanism. These things really do make a difference. Having a face lock-up, even momentarily, can kill your record attempt. Just ask Edouard Chambon, the current world record holder, who managed to solve it in 9.18 seconds.

My fastest time? Around 13 seconds (and yes, the Cube was greased with Vaseline).

Product page [Rubik Japan via Oh Gizmo]

Via [wired.com]

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Survey: iPhone Users Talk Less, Listen More
Each market research firm worth its salt has spent some time studying this peculiar creature known as the iPhone user. To date, we know they tend to gravitate to the mobile web. But what about other insights? Do they, for…

Every market research firm worth its salt has spent some time studying this peculiar creature known as the iPhone user. To date, we know they tend to gravitate to the mobile web. But what about other insights? Do they, for instance, enjoy using their mobile devices to speak with other human beings? According to a current survey from iSuppli, not so much.

The firm found that, on average, owners of all types of mobile handsets here in the U.S. use their phones for good old fashion voice communication about 72 percent of the time. IPhone users, by contrast, spend only 47 percent of their time gabbing.

Instead, they seem to enjoy accessing the internet (12 percent), listening to tunes (12 percent), e-mailing (10 percent) and texting (15 percent). That leaves an unaccounted for 4 percent, which we’ll guess is devoted to some sort of “convergence high.”

[Via iSuppli]

Photo: Flickr/alexanderljung

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Is WiMax All Washed Up? An Open Letter [WiMax]

Dear Sprint and Intel,
I’m sorry to hear about your recent WiMax delays and struggles, I really am. The Xohm service was originally scheduled to launch this month, but all you’ve given us are a few prototypes and half-baked demos in controlled environments—the public has yet to see the technology truly in action. WiMax in general and Xohm in particular have the potential for greatness, but you guys seem to have lost your way. Here are all the signs that WiMax might be washed up:

• When the rollout is already slower than people initially hoped, the aforementioned delays are never good.

• Aside from the Nokia N810, Asus Eee Computer and Everex Cloudbook, Xohm lacks any mainstream WiMax-compliant devices, and we were hoping CTIA 2008 would be a good time to hear about them. An infrastructure is only as good as its end-user products (and vice-versa).

• Speaking of that, where are Intel’s WiMax-compatible chips? What about the 20% of 2008 devices scheduled to have WiMax? What about the Montevina chipsets allegedly eagerly awaited by Lenovo, Acer, Asus, Panasonic and Toshiba? WiMax needs some love from its $2 billion champion.

• Xohm partners we spoke to were under the impression that a full Xohm demo would be set up for CTIA. However, Wired’s Joe Brown attended Nokia’s press conference and noted the N810 WiMax Edition Tablet was demoed over Wi-Fi. What’s up with that?

• Similarly, while previewing the N810’s HAVA Player at Nokia’s booth, the Hava rep told me he was using Wi-Fi for demos because the Xohm booth just across the hall didn’t have a strong enough WiMax signal. Laptop Magazine even suffered dropped connections inside the Xohm booth. What ever happened to 10Mbps at 10 kilometers?

• The WiMax demos that did work seemed promising, but the people running the booth operated with a healthy amount of paranoia. We weren’t granted to get too hands-on and they tried to kill our photos, suggesting perhaps things weren’t as fully functional as they seemed.

• An early WiMax service rolled out in Australia last month suffered an EPIC FAIL, swiftly shut up shop and prompted the CEO to say “WiMax may not work.” Could Xohm be suffering from similar problems?

• WiMax’s direct 4G competition, LTE, chosen by America’s two biggest and most powerful wireless carriers, already seems to be gaining steam, not to mention showing well in current demos.

So guys, anything we have the ability to do to help? I want the future of technology to actually make it to the future. Lord knows I’d feel better knowing I could play World of Warcraft lag-free while sitting in the middle of the Mojave Desert, not that I own WoW or plan to visit the Mojave Desert, but you never know. Seriously, just give me my damn WiMax already!!

Signed,
Adrian Covert

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