Its my bet that even if Microsoft does manage to make Internet Explorer that the underlying systems which renders HTML and associated code for the IE web browser won’t be going anywhere. Sure, you may be able to remove IE and not see it anywhere on the system, but it will be there. There’s no question about that. Windows Vista and Windows 7 employ a new UI system which renders dialogs instead of by calling the larger traditional UI assets and components of older systems. Of course, transforming an OS interface into what is essentially a web browser was supposed to be a means by which Microsoft could reduce the size of the overall system, but, as we all know, Vista and Windows 7 are the largest versions of Windows in the companies long history. Another guess I have is that, even if Microsoft is able to make IE vanish, that you will still be able to open a Windows Explorer window, type in an URL, and get somewhere on the intarwebs.

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So, can IE beat Firefox? No. Its not possible for two reasons. One, Microsoft is slowly but surely losing marketshare to Apple. Two, Microsoft has been losing its edge in applications for some time. They’re being beaten by the likes of Google and Facebook and there are dozens of Web 2.0 sites which do neat stuff. Three, Microsoft can’t win at media players (the Zune is about to die, I’m sure) or smartphones. Apple has those markets sewn up. Four, the Firefox web browser works on nearly all platforms including Windows and Mac OS X. With addons which work in both places and tools which can sync them, there’s little need to focus on a single platform. Five, People are bored with being brand loyal and are happy to own a Dell lappy and an Apple iPod.

So, in the end, it doesn’t come down to how well MS has programmer IE8. It will never matter until their produce versions of IE with the same features and compatibilities for Mac OS X and Linux. Windows compatibility is become a thing of the past. I’m not saying were in the “cloud” yet. That won’t happen for some time (4-7 years, likely later rather than earlier). There are a lot of things we do in the cloud, though. Google, Facebook, MySpace (blech!), WoW, YouTube, Pandora, NetFlix, Hulu, etc… We email. We browse. We shop. We SMS. We post silly videos. We play. We meet. We goof off. We speak out mind. IE8 may make that happen better than IE7 did, but it still can’t ever beat Firefox.

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Apple has reached a point where they are now the defacto name of cool in the technical space. Apple has a cachet which Microsoft never had and it looks like Apple is now trying to capitalize on that. The simple truth is that cool doesn’t carry, and Apple will have to fundamentally modify its strategy to continue to grow. Its become clear that Steve may have figured out that no matter how many moves of the chess pieces he orchestrates, there is no longer anything new Apple can do that will have the Zing Factor of the iPhone.

They’ve captured the laptop market, the mobile media player market, the music market, the mobile phone market, and enough of the desktop market to make them very happy, and they’re watching that marketshare grow consistently. Anything they do now will be a derivation of something they’ve already done and people will necessarily be disappointed. This, I believe, is why Apple has been migrating away from the event-driven announcements over the past few years. Apple also had to have noticed that shares of Apple stock drop after every keynote.

I’m pretty sure that Steve knows that Apple rises and falls on his perceived failings and fortunes, and that’s not good to the ongoing fortunes of a huge multinational. Apple needs to become a brand again and right now its Apple is Steve Jobs. Mr. Jobs own mortality had to play a role in his views on how Apple should appear to the world. Apple is now distancing itself from its fanbase and will, in the next year or so, become something akin to Microsoft.

This will actually help Apple to grow as the lifestyle brand it has been forging itself into, something Microsoft has never been able to get a handle on. The people who purchase Apple goods now don’t do so out of brand loyalty or because they are phanboiz. They buy because it is popular and it works. This was the image Steve Jobs has been crafting over the last decade. He started with the iMac then the new PowerBooks then Mac OS X then the iPod and so on.

If Apple is going to move forward, gain more marketshare, and be a powerhouse from this point on it needs to behave differently. Will this piss off the phanboiz? Sure. Will it upset the loyalists? Some. Will it cement Apple’s role in the future of lifestyle computing? Without a single doubt. Apple has created a brand image for itself which works on all levels of a persons needs from the technological standpoint. They have made themselves as necessary as shoes, and unlike Microsoft’s lumpy pennyloafers these shoes are nice and comfortable.

That brand image doesn’t have a picture of Steve Jobs in it. Think back and try to find any piece of advertising material aimed at the general consumer in the last decade which has included Steve Jobs in it. My bet is you won’t find any. I’m also going to bet that Apple will return to MacWorld soon, maybe even next year, but they won’t do the keynote.

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Technically, the Insignia NS-2BRDVD is a very capable deck. Aside from the obvious Blu-Ray disc playback functions, it is also capable of playing standard DVDs. Its also capable of handling DVD-R/RW, DVD+R/RW, CD and CD-R/RW discs and can read MP3, WMA and JPEG formats. It is also able to upconvert standard DVDs and outputs digital video in 720p, 1080i, and 1080p via the HDMI output port. Sadly, it does not come with an HDMI cable, but it does ship with a Composite set in the box.

The real business comes when you disconnect your old DVD player and plug in the BR deck using an HDMI cable. I connected the deck to my Westinghouse 32″ 1080i LCD TV. I was initially concerned that not having a 1080p capable set would limit my experience with Blu-Ray, but I was very, very wrong. I did not have to see the output of my old HDMI-capable Sony DVD deck next to the Insignia deck’s output to see the difference. It was immediately obvious to my wife and daughter and myself when I pushed in Over The Hedge.

The upconversion quality itself is astonishingly good. The colors are cleaner and sharper. The blacks are deeper. Even the surround sound is better (or that could have been in my mind). The overall clarity of the picture is just plain better without question. My PR rep had assured me that it would improve picture quality on 1080i, but now I knew for sure. What I was not prepared for, though, was an actual Blu-Ray disc. I’ll say it this way: I now feel bad that I don’t have a 1080p set of at least 42″ in size.

The picture is so good and clean and clear that I want to fill up my living room wall with it. This is the kind of good that makes you want a home theater very badly. I’m not heading in that direction any time soon, but I will definitely focus some of my energies on getting that upgrade in place as soon as I can. In the meantime, I can now marvel at the fact that I talked crap about Blu-Ray for no clear reason.

Okay, it was mostly because I’m sick of Sony constantly trying to take over existing markets with proprietary technologies which are incompatible. They couldn’t do VHS. They had to create BetaMax. They couldn’t get in CDs. They had to do the MiniDisc. They couldn’t jump on board with SD cards. They had to create the Memory Stick. It appears, however, that it was just time which would tell in the case of HD-DVD vs. Blu-Ray… but I digress.

It turns out that there is something about Blu-Ray which I didn’t know; there are versions. There are versions 1.0, 1.1, and 2.0 and not all Blu-Ray players are capable of all of them. One purchaser/reviewer on Best Buy’s website stated that, while this Insignia deck has Ethernet and USB ports specifically for software updates and BDLive, the hardware is currently using Revision 1.1. If it is, I can’t tell. Of course, when I get more Blu-Ray discs I’ll likely be able to test this.

In the meantime, I’m going to deeply enjoy what I already have and see where it takes me. The one thing I would ask Best Buy and/or Insignia to do is to add about 5 oz. of weight to the remote. Either that or change from AAA batteries to the slightly heavier AA batteries. Retail price for the Insignia Blu-Ray deck is US$250, but Best Buy is offering a US$50 discount so you can the deck for US$200. Not too shabby.

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Kensington seems to be quite good at making keyboards, too. I’ve had a number of them through the years. My daughter uses a wireless set on her Mac (the SlimBlade Media set) and won’t do without it. I believe the reason Kensington has done so well is because they make good gear. The Ci70 is a clear case in point. Sure, it has a rather ridiculous, bulbous back end which seems too large for the stuff it holds, but its not an eyesore. In fact, it does have some little secret bits which are very clever and useful. The keyboard, a wired USB type, sports two additional USB ports (sadly, not powered) and an integrated USB 4-pin mini jack. Take a look at the image below. I know its a tad dark, but I’ve added tags to show the important bits.

This next image shows the slider covering the buttons to the left and revealing the integrated 4-pin mini USB cable. Its unfortunate that Kensington didn’t add a second USB cable for power and then offered a number of additional USB ports. Who knows, maybe they’ll add one like that soon.

I’ve inserted a 4GB thumb drive and it popped up immediately on my MacBook Pro. This should work with just about any USB device which has its own power supply or doesn’t require the hi-power mode from USB. Now on to the keyboard itself.

Kensington has really latched onto the benefits of the low profile keyboard format. The idea is to lay the keyboard very flat on the desktop instead of canting it up at a steep angle. One of the problems with a steep cant is that you overflex your wrists to meet the keys, and this seems to exacerbate repetitive motion injuries. I’m a big fan of the lowpro keyboard (I mostly use an Apple Bluetooth Keyboard as much as I can) and this one works on that ethic well.

Key design is nice, though I’d rather they adopt the Apple MacBook style of key design. Instead, the Ci70 has low height key caps, but they are still splayed at the edges. I’m not exactly sure why I no longer like this, but I don’t. Regardless, the Ci70′s key action is clean, crisp, and reactive. There’s a nice, subtle little resistive “pop” feeling when you press they keys. The spacing and positioning of the keys is also very inducive to speedy, accurate typing.

Interestingly, the box does not include software, but its an easy download from the Kensington site. There are Windows and Mac OS X drivers for the keyboard, and I quickly downloaded and installed it for the Mac. Honestly, the only thing that the software seems to do is activate the Quick Launch keys. Eject and the media control buttons work out of the box. The software enables you to use the Search, Email, Web, and Media buttons. Everything works quite well and and there are no surprises.

For US$49.95, the Kensington Ci70 Keyboard with USB Ports (that’s the official name) is an excellent replacement keyboard. Its well built, has great key action, offers plenty of features without being overly complicated, is platform agnostic, and sports neat USB connectivity options. I can deal with the fact that its kinda ugly.

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To that end, when I saw the TV ads for the new Cuisinart automatic coffee maker, I leapt at the chance to review Cuisinart’s new Grind & Brew Thermal 10-cup Coffeemaker. I’m not going to say that if you buy this coffeemaker that you’ll never want for another one, but you certainly won’t feel bad about this purchase. When I brought the box home, my wife immediately demanded that she be allowed to review it, so I let her. Here’s the result:

Overall, it is a solid product. The stainless steel construction is attractive and makes it easy to keep it looking that way. The grinder is very handy. One regret is its small capacity. The thermal carafe keeps the coffee warm for hours, without continuing to heat, and therefore overcook, the coffee inside it. The instructions say that you may use the gold filter by itself, or in tandem with the paper filters that are provided with the unit, with the caveat that some coffee grounds may go into the coffee.

That caveat is certainly true, especially if you’re bothered by the presence of grounds at the bottom of your drink, and like weak to medium coffee. My preference is for Espresso drinks, so I like my coffee strong. Using the paper filter, or, actually, two paper filters, causes the water to take longer to filter and the resulting brew to be stronger, more flavorful. The types of coffee I suggest you try this with, without risk of getting a bitter cup of joe, are Kenyan, Guatemalan, or Ethiopian beans.

I indicated to her that this was too short and that The Dojo required a more complete review. Sure, the Dojo is only me and I’m her husband, but I have standards. She told me that her review was more than sufficient, game me the ‘eye’ and left it hanging like the worst of a pair of gunfighters in the Wild West waiting for his opponent to draw. She is right, however, in her estimation of the coffeemaker.

It is solid and well constructed. The stainless steel exterior is a breeze to clean and looks good. The parts all go well together. Its a rather nicely made piece of equipment. Plug it in, set the clock, and off you go. You can set the alarm, add the beans, add the water, and wake up to freshly ground and brewed coffee, too. The thermal carafe is quite nice, as well, as it holds coffee very hotly for a long time with no threat of overcooking it.

There are a few areas which they could improve the unit, though. The grinder isn’t large enough to hold as many beans as I’d like it to. I like strong coffee, but it doesn’t have to be cappucino. It would also be nice if you could connect the coffeemaker to a watersource. Manually filling a US$129 coffeemaker everytime you want a pot is kind of tedious.

In the end the Cuisinart Grind & Brew coffeemaker is a nice addition to any kitchen who is looking for a solid coffee making appliance which delivers the goods automatically, first thing in the morning. Its been quite nice to wake up to the smell of freshly brewed coffee and nobody had to get out of bed to make it happen.

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If you see one of these under your tree this Christmas, don’t bother unwrapping it. Take it back to where it was bought from and buy yourself a Sony PSP. The new Mystic Silver PSP-3000 model which comes with a new Ratchet & Clank game and a movie sells for the same price and offers infinitely more functionality and fun. I’m sorry to be the bearer of bad news.

I won’t even bother going into the specifications or any real details about the device. I will, however, state that it is not what it says it is. The Sony mylo 2 is not a smaller version of a laptop, as Sony would like you to believe. That would suggest that its a MID, and it is most certainly a MID, just not a very good one. The reasons for why it is not good are simple and clear, and I will outline them for you here.

To be entirely frank, I don’t have many issues with the hardware itself. If I had to be picky, I’d complain about the poor range of the Wi-Fi module and the lack of Bluetooth. The slider snaps open with an annoyingly loud sound, and the unit us twice as thick as Nokia’s N810 Internet Tablet, a product its supposed to compete directly with. Sadly, where the Nokia N810 shines, the Mylo 2 falls very, very flat. One of the biggest failings the device has is the complete lack of any additional software in any way, shape, or form.

Yes. That’s right. There’s no software you can add. There’s not even a decent Mylo 2 site or, from what I’ve been able to tell, a development site for the version of Linux which the Mylo 2 uses. I’m not an expert, but I’m pretty sure that utilizing any related open source code requires that you make that source available. This means that Sony should have a developers site for the version of Linux the Mylo 2 uses. Nokia (I’m sorry I keep dragging them out, but they’re an excellent example) has a complete project for the Maemo project and almost all of the software is available in source form.

Apparently Sony has found a way around this by using Linux as the core, but designing every single bit of UI software in-house and using entirely private and proprietary code. Its possible to do this as long as they don’t use any open source code at all. What this boils down to is that Sony doesn’t have to give out the code, offer any SDK for developers, or really do anything at all. And that’s just what Sony has done… nothing.

The interface is annoying. There’s no software. There are no 3rd party developers. There are no games. There are no tools to convert media. You’re forced to use Sony’s proprietary Memory Stick for storage. There’s really nothing at all that the Mylo 2 can offer. So, either get the aforementioned PSP or go pick up an Acer Aspire One from Costco for a measley US$349. I’m serious. For once, I’m actually telling people to stay away what appears to be a very cool gadget. Please trust me.

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That fact, however, is unimportant, because this set, which comes with the keyboard, a separate numeric keypad, and a SlimBlade scrollball mouse, is very, very nice. I am going to split hairs, though. First off, unlike other Kensington keyboards, the unit in this set is a tad mushy. Second, the wireless dongle, which is admittedly small, fits into the battery bay of the mouse, and the cover is hard to get off. Third, the software installation does not add a module to System Preferences in Mac OS X. I didn’t know that and I spent hours trying to get the installation to work right. Interestingly, the driver install only adds scrollball functionality.

Now that all of the little bad tidbits are out of the way, its on to the good stuff. Overall, the SlimBlade Notebook Media Set (SNMS) is a nice rig. It comes in three pieces and there is an optional media remote which matches the set (I’ll cover that in a separate mini-review). The pieces are, as I mentioned earlier, the keyboard, a numeric keypad, and the mouse. Each module is designed to connect to the next with a simple Tab/Slot design which is slightly magnetized to hold them together. There’s a slot on the right and a tab on the left of each unit, so you can order them any way you like.

The components have nice weight to them and sit well on the desk. They are slightly angled in a simple wedge form, so they’re not flat, but its low profile enough. The keyboard has a small set of quick function keys, one of which operates the Eject function on Mac OS X machines. The other keys open the media player, open the Dashboard on Macs, and activate the Search function. There’s an additional key which does something but I don’t know what that is. It could be a Windows-specific thing, but I haven’t tried the set on a Windows box.

The mouse which comes with the set is a very pleasing laser type. It doesn’t switch modes like the Kensington Scrollball Mouse and the ball is smaller, but it works very well. You can scroll vertically and horizontally very easily. The mouse also tracks very nicely on a wide range of surfaces, including my suede couch. One neat trick, if the battery hatch wasn’t so tricky to manipulate, is that when you slot the wireless dongle inside of its space, its turns off all of the units so they don’t waste power.

In fact, aside from its pleasing industrial design, the SNMS’s best quality is likely its power sipping ability. The keyboard and the mouse react almost immediately on input after the host computer has been asleep, but this immediacy apparently doesn’t affect longevity. I’m still on the first set of batteries which shipped in the package, and that’s been over two months now. There is a power status light on the top right corner of the keyboard unit, but I’ve yet to see it light up, which I assume it does when it needs its batteries replaced.

Apart from my gripes earlier in this review, I’m very pleased with the SNMS. Its a beatiful set, fits nicely in the hands when sitting on the couch for some HDTV computing, and has decent range ( I was able to use the keyboard from up to 20 feet away, but I didn’t test scientifically). I would say that the Kensington SlimBlade Notebook Media Set is well worth the US$130, even if you don’t end up using it with a notebook computer.

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