Chris Pirillo’s Last Day of Live Streaming
Words cannot do justice to what you’re about to see. Our favorite dude with two 30 inch LCDs and a lot of LED lights in his room, Chris Pirillo, has had….an incident. He might not be able to do the live stream any more. I’m at a loss for words here, I’ve spent my year’s supply of napkins, I’ve been playing Leonard Cohen’s late works all morning…it’s just so sad to see a legend like Chris go offline.
You can see Chris’ shocking testimony in the video below.
T-Mobile snags the BlackBerry Pearl 8120 on April 14th
Filed under: Cellphones
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T-Mobile snags the BlackBerry Pearl 8120 on April 14th
Filed under: Cellphones
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Sega dissolves Korean subsidiary, nixing $330m Yokohama arcade complex
Filed under: Gaming
[Via Joystiq, image courtesy of USMC]
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Sega disolves Korean subsidiary, nixing $330m Yokohama arcade complex
Filed under: Gaming
[Via Joystiq, image courtesy of USMC]
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Google And Virgin Team For Human Settlement On Mars
Sir Richard Branson has announced on the Google Blog Virgle, a joint Google/ Virgin project to establish permanent human settlement on Mars.
Sir Richard writes:
Larry Page, Sergey Brin and I feel strongly that contemporary technology is sufficiently advanced to make such an effort both successful and economical, and that it’s high time that humanity moved beyond Earth and began our great, long journey to explore the stars and establish our first lasting foothold on another world…In the years to come, we’ll be sending up a series of spaceships carrying (along with the supplies and tools needed to build the new colony) what eventually will be hundreds of Mars colonists, or Virgle Pioneers — myself among them.
Virgle is currently taking applications on its site here. The official site also includes a 100 year plan for Mars Settlement and a statement explaining the benefits of the project being Open Source.
Update: there’s also a YouTube competition and official video channel. Page and Brin explain:
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Gmail April Fools Not Very Funny. On the Upside, They Started A Wikipedia War
Right on schedule: Google is releasing their April Fools jokes onto us as the calendars hit April 1 on the east coast (here’s last year’s efforts). Google Australia got a head start earlier today with the very funny Future Search. Gmail’s effort this year isn’t in my opinion as funny.
Gmail Custom Time lets users send emails with a custom date in the past, putting it in the recipients inbox at the old date:
How do I use it?
Just click “Set custom time” from the Compose view. Any email you send to the past appears in the proper chronological order in your recipient’s inbox. You can opt for it to show up read or unread by selecting the appropriate option.
Is there a limit to how far back I can send email?
Yes. You’ll only be able to send email back until April 1, 2004, the day we launched Gmail. If we were to let you send an email from Gmail before Gmail existed, well, that would be like hanging out with your parents before you were born — crazy talk.
Funny? You decide. The team did better last year in my opinion.
But the joke has started a minor Wikipedia war, which makes it more interesting. In describing the technology Google says “Gmail utilizes an e-flux capacitor to resolve issues of causality (see Grandfather Paradox)” and links to the Grandfather Paradox on Wikipedia. Someone changed the words “time travel” to “gmail” in a revision, along with the comment “Gmail starts a wiki-war by linking directly to this article on April 1st…”
The change was quickly put down by the Wikipedia police, of course. And then changed back. And then reversed. You can watch the drama in real time on the article’s revision history page (or feel free to participate with your own flourishes).
I wonder who’ll get tired first.
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Virgin And Google Conquering The Red Planet
In case you didn’t know, terraforming Mars and sending people to live up there (or down there, depending on how you look at it) is only about cash, nothing else. Kim Stanley Robinson hasn’t got a clue. Now, three guys that have cash in abundance, Virgin founder Richard Branson and Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, have agreed to finally take humanity to the stars and create a human settlement on Mars. For this endeavor, they formed a new company called…wait for it…Virgle!
I’m not going to get into details, but let’s just say that Mars will be “open source,” that Virgle plans to earn back their considerable investments (10-15 billion) by selling real estate, and that they have a “100 year plan” for the development of Mars. Hear it all straight from the mouths of Sergey and Larry in the video below.
Verizon XV6900, Motorola Q9c, and LG enV(2) out on verizon
Filed under: Cellphones
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Coca Cola’s Facebook App, Burn Alter Ego
We’ve seen some pretty interesting advertising campaigns that utilize Facebook’s platform for integrated applications, such as Bob Dylan’s. Most of them have been pretty cool, even in their blatant attempts to get users to spread a brand’s name around to their friends. Coca-Cola’s latest, however, seems like it could be fun.
It’s branding is rather subtle–if you add the app to your profile (click here), you may not even recognize that it’s a marketing effort until you’ve gotten it all set up and begin to play. The product being promoted? Coca-Cola’s drink Burn. The app itself? An avatar alter ego that goes clubbing at night, and reports back in the morning. That report shows up on your Burn app blog, your profile page, and even your newsfeed.
You can choose to go out with your other friends that have added the application, or make new friends while your out. Who knows? You may even bump into a celebrity avatar, and have all your friends thinking you were out with Paris Hilton last night.
At any rate, there’s a bit more to this application than trying to trick your friends on your newsfeed. The more you go out and enjoy the Burn night life, the more options you’ll unlock for your avatar. New outfits, hair dos, furniture for your apartment, and more. Looking through the application’s unlockable extras, there don’t appear to be too many more than what’s already available, so I’m curious to know how far Coca-Cola plans to build out the Burn application and others like it.
Depending on the success of the Burn app, however, and the potential for other services like SceneCaster may be recognized even faster, for use as branding tools across social networks.
Podcast: L33t Tech News
If you recall, back in the day (that is to say, January), I had MG Siegler of ParisLemon and VentureBeat on the show to discuss a little project he and several other tech bloggers had undertaken in the L33t Tech News filter for Reddit. Shortly after our conversation on the podcast, MG offered me a spot on the L33t Squad, as it were, helping decide the news with the rest of the crew. In short order, those moderating the L33t Tech filter included of course MG and myself, Jason Kaneshiro from Webomatica, Frederic Lardinois of The Last Podcast, Louis Gray from LouisGray.com and Steven Hodson from Winextra.
We began emailing each other with a fair degree of regularity and one of us (probably me, as I tend not to shut up about podcasting) floated the idea of doing a round-table podcast. Everyone seemed agreeable to the idea, so we picked a date, procrastinated, went to SXSW, re-organized the idea, and decided to actually record a pilot.
As the small number of folks we’ve tested the show seem reasonably pleased with our work so far, and since Frederic and Jason have already posted it to their respective blogs, already, I’m letting the cat out of the bag here that we plan on continuing this podcast out of pilot phase and into a regular weekly thing.
In this episode: Jason, Frederic, MG and myself kick off the show with a bit of talk of hilarious Apple unboxings, FriendFeed APIs, my WordCamp Dallas experience, and the top 10 L33t Tech News stories of the week.
You can also play the show directly from the player below or download the MP3 file directly.
To subscribe:
Get the Elite Tech News podcast here.
Add directly to your Zune here.
Your April Fool’s Day Joke Continues to Suck (Anil Dash)
Anil Dash:
Your April Fool's Day Joke Continues to Suck — Having been blogging for a few years, I've developed a few annual traditions. This one's a favorite: Warning you off of lame April Fool's jokes on the web. Every year, I get called a curmudgeon, or lambasted for having no sense of humor.
YouTube RickRolls Users (Michael Arrington/TechCrunch)
Michael Arrington / TechCrunch:
YouTube RickRolls Users — If you aren't familiar with RickRolling - it's when someone puts a link on website to something, but it actually takes you to a music video of Rick Astley's “hit” song Never Gonna Give You Up. — YouTube is RickRolling its own users on April 1.
SIM2, Dolby showcase 46-inch HDR display prototype
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Plantronics Discovery 925 Bluetooth Earpiece Blends Stylish Design with Powerful Features [Headsets]
Plantronics just announced their new Discovery 925 earpiece which breaks away from the utilitarian design of most Bluetooth ear pieces and injects some style into the hardware — similar to the MotoPure H12 headset. The Discovery 925 weighs roughly 9 ounces, and sits in the ear without a loop that wraps around the back. Also included is a matching carrying case that doubles as a DC charging dock for juice on the go.
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The long design of the Discovery 925 not only allows for a more powerful antenna but an extended microphone that picks up sound more clearly. The hardware also has DSP technologies that include noise cancellation and voice clarification. Battery life is around 5 hours and the carrying case holds an extra 5 hour charge. The Plantronics Discovery 925 is expected to come in pink, gold and black colors, and will hit stores in April for $150.
Plantronics Unveils New Discovery 925 Bluetooth Earpiece CollectionBlends Distinctive VFrame™ Design with Award-Winning Audio Technology for the Ultimate in Bluetooth Performance
CTIA WIRELESS 2008 - Las Vegas, NV (April 1, 2008) - Plantronics, Inc. (NYSE: PLT) today presented the Plantronics Discovery® 925 Bluetooth® earpiece collection, a signature line of designer headsets for both men and women. Delivering exceptional audio performance, complemented by bold lines and distinctive finishes, the Plantronics Discovery 925 Bluetooth earpiece represents a technical craftsmanship previously unseen in the mobile accessories category.
The revolutionary design of the Plantronics' Discovery 925 Bluetooth earpiece provides outstanding incoming and outgoing audio clarity in any environment. Central to its performance is the unique VFrame™ design, structured to follow the contours of the face and draw the microphone closer to the mouth for a headset that is as much objet d'art as it is audio ingenuity. The signature elongated design, housing an extended microphone, enhances audio performance and connection range. Plantronics' AudioIQ® noise reduction technology adds to the Discovery 925's performance by removing background noise while simultaneously adjusting the incoming volume - ensuring crystal clear sound on both sides of the conversation.
"When designing a Bluetooth headset, it is critical to fully understand the physical and emotional relationship between the product and the end user," said Darrin Caddes, vice president of Industrial Design at Plantronics, Inc. "Similar to high performance watches or automobiles, our Bluetooth headset is designed to deliver a first-class experience - in this case to permit clear, wireless conversation without the distraction of background noise. It is equally imperative that the product expresses individual taste and style and is comfortable and easy to use."
Plantronics' inaugural collection of Discovery 925 earpieces includes a unique palette of colors for both men and women: Onyx Black, Alchemy Gold and Cerise Pink. Each earpiece is treated with glass beads and fire-blasted for a deep, enamel-like finish.
Each Plantronics Discovery 925 comes with a matching, soft textile carrying case that recharges and stores the earpiece. The Discovery 925 earpiece supports up to five hours of talk time, while the charging case provides an extra five-hour charge on the go. Self-stabilizing, custom-fit eartips create a light, perfectly balanced fit without the need for an earloop. Plantronics QuickPair™ greatly simplifies pairing with most Bluetooth phones.
"From the onset, our vision for the Discovery 925 was to deliver remarkable audio clarity from within a supremely comfortable and distinctive package," said Renee Niemi, general manager and vice president, Mobile and Entertainment at Plantronics, Inc. "Plantronics leveraged the talents of its Industrial Design team to create the Discovery 925 as a true 'tech-cessory,' and bridge the gap between high-grade audio performance and high-fashion - a gap that has previously eluded most headset designs."
Introduced at an exclusive showing during the Spring 2008 New York Fashion Week, the Plantronics Discovery 925 has received rave reviews among fashion press, stylists and celebrities.
Pricing and Availability:
The new Plantronics Discovery 925 Bluetooth earpiece in Black Onyx (MSRP $149.99) will be available at major consumer electronics retailers, www.amazon.com and www.plantronics.com in April 2008. The Plantronics Discovery 925 in Alchemy Gold and Cerise Pink will be available in May 2008.
ChaCha Ditches Guided Search Model. I Love To Hate This Startup
Well it only took ChaCha fourteen months to figure out what everyone except ChaCha (and these guys) knew when it launched - search with a human guide as a business idea is ridiculously stupid.
The idea is that you do a search on ChaCha and a real person works with you via a chat interface to give you results. In theory those results would be better than Google. In reality, they weren’t (see image to right), and ChaCha still had to pay all those guides.
Today, according to an email sent to ChaCha’s guides titled “The Future Is Here,” they announced that guided search will be discontinued in favor of the one product they offer that isn’t monumentally dumb - mobile search. They claim that “new users are growing at a staggering rate every day” (most likely due to cell phone spamming).
So what happens to all the guides who worked on desktop search? Some of them, at least, can now apply for new positions on the mobile product.
The full email is below, and details of the company and their funding are here. Thanks Luke Kling for the tip.
Crunch Network: MobileCrunch Mobile Gadgets and Applications, Delivered Daily.
NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GTX already popping up in stores?
Filed under: Desktops, Gaming, Peripherals
[Thanks, Ryan]
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Podcast: A Conversation with iVideoSong’s Tim Huffman
Tim Huffman is a man with many stories, and one terrific company. At first blush, the company blends in with a lot of other video and audio purveyors on the Internet, offering paid downloads of music related video. What they’ve actually developed at iVideoSongs, though, is a unique blend of audio and video that provides not only entertainment value but a serious amount of utilitarian value as well.
Kristen reviewed the service back at DEMO in January:
The goal here is to teach you how to play music accurately, while still giving you the control over your music lessons. iVideoSongs is working with the content owners (i.e. record labels) to get DRM-free benefits that can be extended to the users. That means you can play lessons on your computer, your iPod, or wherever. Lessons can be purchased for about $4.99.
I sat down with CEO Tim Huffman, talked a bit about his personal history (it involves a Grammy!), and the unique and unintended aspects of his company’s work that have arisen since he’s started.
The embed is available below, or you can download the MP3 file directly here.
Get the Mashable Conversations podcast here.
Add directly to iTunes here (or give us a rating).
Add directly to your Zune here.
Robert Scoble Leaves Fast Company; Starts Ice Cream Library TV
It's official, just weeks after we broke the story that Robert Scoble went live with Fast Company TV here in NY, he has left to start a video site around his passion, ice cream. He worked in an ice cream store growing up with over 80 flavors and he tried every single one of them. He was fired for eating too much ice cream and giving it away to the young ladies who visited.
From what I understand rather than Seagate sponsoring this tv show, Baskin Robbins will be sponsoring the series. He will basically be equal to Rachael Ray with Dunkin Donuts. Look for banners to go up in your local ice cream shop next week. The Ice Cream Library TV site goes live once the current ice cream melts.
Best line from the initial show, "I love Ben & Jerry's, they put a lot of crap in there". He also goes after "fat pigs" in the video. Here is Robert's first video from ICE CREAM LIBRARY TV:
Check out the printer we used for our business cards:
Pleo finally learns to sit with Life OS 1.1
Filed under: Robots
[Thanks, Caaahl]
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Pleo finally learns to sit with Life OS 1.1
Filed under: Robots
[Thanks, Caaahl]
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Designing Online Social Networks: The Theories of Social Groups
Online communities (facilitated by Web 2.0) have become very important over the past few years - not only to niche communities, but now to mainstream brands. Social networking is about human connection and links between people. The reasons why people join groups and social networks are typically that groups can:
- Provide encouragement and support
- Establish identity with others and fulfil the need to feel included
- Provide the outlet for some people to establish their need for recognition, social status, control and/or leadership
- Alternatively, provide the necessary control over aspects of lives for those who don't want to be leaders (e.g. Weight Watchers)
- Help establish friends, relationships and the opportunity to interact with others
Historically group membership has served an evolutionary survival function - put simply, there's safety in numbers
There's been much research into group psychology but not so much about how this applies to a marketer trying to monetise an online community or introduce one to their brand. Here are some interesting phenomena about groups designed to help a brand owner capitalise on networks and the social phenomena:
Social comparison
Social comparison theory suggests that we form our own attitudes and behaviours by comparing ourselves with other people and their opinions. Mostly we compare ourselves against people whom we believe we're reasonably similar to.
Facebook capitalises on people's drive for social comparison by offering a plethora of applications like the visual bookshelf that lets you see what books your peers are reading and the 'Compare me' application that allows you to find out where you stand relative to your friends for various categories like cutest, sexiest and smartest. This is very similar to the surveys often found in women's magazines - 'How emotionally intelligent are you? Take our quiz to find out!' It's compelling to benchmark ourselves against others to see where we fit in.
Ecommerce sites can capitalise on this by offering 'most popular' products so site visitors can see what others have purchased. Amazon offers 'Customers with similar searches also purchased' which is along the same theme.
Real group feedback is also extremely helpful and often more trusted than 'official' comment. For example LOVEFiLM displays the Radio Times film review followed by those from ordinary members. Similarly, the 'Study buddy' application (now discontinued) let students see when their fellow students are studying which allows them to compare themselves and so shape their decisions and behaviours accordingly.
Social learning theory
Social learning theory is a broad theory developed by the psychologist Albert Bandura. The premise is that people learn new attitudes by observing others and noting the consequences of these actions. If those observed are rewarded positively then those observing are more likely to behave in the same way.
Observing others succeed and being able to interact with them is hugely encouraging. Sites that are designed to highlight success and which reward people succeeding set up a strong social learning dynamic. For example, QuitNet.com, a site for those who want to stop smoking, highlights success stories throughout the site and provides a discussion forum for interaction.
Similarly, Tesco Diets.com displays many success stories to reinforce positive behaviours. Ebay distinguishes successful sellers by providing top seller status and Amazon has top reviewers, offering both prestige and status as reward.
Social facilitation
As humans, we perform better when being observed or in groups - this is because we're concerned about our social image and how others perceive us. Sports psychologists have know this for years and it explains why top sports people are often lifted by the crowd to give world record-breaking performances at big events.
Interestingly, the opposite is true for tasks that we find difficult. For example, when being watched better pool players get better, whilst novices get worse (source: ChangingMinds.org).
This social facilitation phenomenon extends to virtual presence of others too. For online behaviour this means people might strive to lose more weight if connected to a virtual health facility where others can see them, compared to going it alone. Or someone might bid more on an online auction if they know others can see what they're doing.
The virtual presence of feeling watched is enough to positively change behaviours.
Social conformance
Also known as peer pressure, people may change their attitudes and behaviours to match the expectations of their peer group. If they don't agree then they face being ostracised by the group.
Social acceptance is a huge driving force and the threat of rejection from a group is often enough to change people's behaviour. This obviously extends to online groups too. People making inappropriate remarks in an online group discussion would quickly need to change their behaviour or find themselves out in the cold. Social sites should offer group members the option to flag unsuitable content.
Conclusion
When designing online communities or group websites, it's necessary to understand the underlying psychology of human group behaviour. Armed with this knowledge you stand a much better chance of delivering an effective site that supports interaction between users.
Provided you listen to your customers, concentrate on offering a first class service and win people over then you can let the social networking machine work it's magic - namely to broadcast information freely and easily (both positive and negative) about your brand. A friend-to-friend recommendation is the strongest endorsement a company can possibly have.
And, as with any Web 2.0 application, don't rush into creating social networks for the sake of it - get the basics right first. Find out what communities are saying about your brand and engage with your customers.
This article was written by Lisa Halabi. Lisa's crazy about usability - so crazy that she's head of usability at Webcredible, an industry leading user experience consultancy. She can often be found conducting a website review and is extremely talented at writing for the web.
Seven Body Signs and Pains You Shouldn’t Ignore [Health]
There are those who fear impending death at the slightest change in nasal congestion, and then there are those who constantly push abnormal aches and pains aside, hoping they'll just go away. If you identify with the latter group, health web site WebMD rounds up seven pains you should not ignore, no matter how busy your schedule. For example:
Pain or Discomfort in the Chest, Throat, Jaw, Shoulder, Arm, or Abdomen: Chest pain could be pneumonia or a heart attack. But be aware that heart conditions typically appear as discomfort, not pain. "Don't wait for pain," says cardiologist Jerome Cohen, MD. "Heart patients talk about pressure. They'll clench their fist and put it over their chest or say it's like an elephant sitting on their chest."
The remaining pains you shouldn't ignore include everything from burning feet and calf pain to abdominal and back pain. At each point, the article highlights what kind of pains in each area should be considered out of the ordinary, pointing out what they could indicate and why you shouldn't ignore it. If you are, or someone you know is an ignore-it-and-it'll-go-away type who's suffered consequences like those mentioned in the article, let's hear your experience in the comments.
Sony’s HDR-SR12 1080/60 camcorder gets reviewed
Filed under: Digital Cameras, HDTV
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Cabel Sasser Finds OS X’s “Awesomest Finder Bug of All Time”
Panic's Cabel Sasser found a funny Finder bug in a pre-release version of Mac OS X 10.4, in which Spotlight tries to index every layer of a massive Photoshop document, resulting in vertigo-inducing zoom effect when minimized to the Dock. (This bug has been fixed.)
If you're into Coda, Panic, Mac shareware development, resolution-independent interface design, anti-piracy techniques (complete with real-world anecdotes!), or just software development with an attention to detail, Sasser's talk was really fun. I watched the whole thing Saturday and am now completely sure I would be an awful developer.
C4[1] Sasser: Coda Confidential [Viddler.com via Daring Fireball]
YouTube RickRolls Users
If you aren’t familiar with RickRolling - it’s when someone puts a link on website to something, but it actually takes you to a music video of Rick Astley’s “hit” song Never Gonna Give You Up.
YouTube is apparently RickRolling it’s own users on April 1. All of the featured videos for YouTube UK and YouTube Australia actually link to the Rick Astley video. We’ll see if YouTube.com does the same at midnight EST tonight, too.
This is ok, but not nearly as funny as if the YouTube team broke into the Google search servers and simply redirected Google.com to the video. Now that would be funny.
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Mxplay Updates Stream Music to your IM
Mxplay is a music sharing site that we’ve covered in the past. It’s latest major release was its browser plug-in that lets you take the mxplay network with you as you surf the web. In an effort to make its service even more social and easier to use, mxplay has been working for the past 3 months on a new release that debuts today.
Some of the new features include an Amazon mp3 store, music search that’s now powered by Hype Machine, and improved people search capabilities. The Amazon store allows some third-party interaction that also brings some direct purchasing options for users that would like to keep the music they hear as they surf the web. You may recall that mxplay can detect the music on a given webpage and play it for you, through its plugin.
What the Amazon store does is allow mxplay to take the music experience a step further, and purchase more music for keeps. Improved search and discovery, for both music and other users, improves the overall usability of the mxplay service, and encourages even more networking behavior.
Additional features include support for all major instant messaging networks, enabling you to share audio streams with your buddies, as well as sharing capabilities for audio/video streams via Facebook. This of course takes an integrated approach to sharing music across the web, through third-party networks where you have existing friends. Given the direction in which several IM clients are moving by layering in media-sharing and activity-sharing capabilities, it looks like mxplay is fully taking advantage of these incentives for enhancing the services from both perspectives.
What’s more, is that mxplay has always managed to touch on several of the trends that have been taking shape in the past couple of years. As we’ve seen with some of Yahoo’s initiatives for socializing and personalizing music, there are a number of overlapping features that can be seen between Yahoo’s Blog Remix and mxplay’s network. Hopefully the new features will help boost mxplay’s presence in its space.
Airo Massaging Backpack Soothes Sore Muscles, Doubles as a Turtle Costume [Relaxation]
Last year we came across the Rotoflexion massaging backpack, but alas it was only a concept device. However, someone out there was enterprising enough to turn the idea into reality with the Airo—a backpack that can apply massage, vibration, and relaxing heat to sore shoulder and back muscles. Unfortunately, it appears that they failed to make the device into a functional backpack, which seems like a missed opportunity to me. After all, if I am going to walk around looking like a freakin' turtle, I should at least be able to store my books in the thing. [Discovery via BookofJoe via DVICE]
Why We’re Suing Facebook For $25 Million In Statutory Damages (Michael Arrington/TechCrunch)
Michael Arrington / TechCrunch:
Why We're Suing Facebook For $25 Million In Statutory Damages — When I started TechCrunch nearly three years ago it was meant to be little more than a hobby. I love startups, and writing about them was fun, not work. But since then this hobby has grown into a real business.
Sony HDR-SR12 Gets Reviewed (Verdict: It’s a Winner) [Camcorders]
According to Camcorder Info, Sony's HDR-SR12 is continuing to push the AVCHD format forward as a viable successor to HDV. It is, by far, the best Sony HDD camcorder on the market—and with 120GB under the hood, it is unmatched in the AVCHD category in terms of capacity. As far as preformance is concerned, the SR12 held its own against even the intimidating Canon VIxza HF10, with only a slight inferiority in picture sharpness. They also noted that Sony's Exmor CMOS sensor and Bionz processor has improved in leaps and bounds over their top HDV camcorder, the HDR-HD9.
In the end CI believes that the decision on what do buy is going to come down to a combination of what each individual needs in a camcorder and what they can afford. The HDR-SR12 is going to set you back a few at $1399, but you get a ton of capacity and a HDD for those who prefer it. On the other hand you could always drop down to the 60GB HDR-SR11 and save yourself about $200. If you want to save some money and get a more portable device, the HF10 may still be your best choice at $1100. Hit the link for the full review. [Camcorder Info and Sony]
