What The Heck Archive

  • NPD: 75 percent of US iPhone, iPod touch users download content, other 25 percent think Opera Mini is a tiny concert

    NPD: 75 percent of US iPhone, iPod touch users download content, other 25 percent think Opera Mini is a tiny concert

    Posted on May 5, 2010 | No Comments
    While we can't honestly imagine an iDevice user going about their life without connecting to the iTunes App Store at least once in a blue moon -- if not on a semi-permanent basis -- the statistically-significant NPD Group decided to look into the matter regardless. Sure enough, the org reports that a full three-quarters of iPhone and iPod touch users in the US do indeed download apps and entertainment content from the internet. In case you're wondering, that figure beats the pants off those connecting from their video game consoles (19 percent) or Blu-ray players (17 percent), but both of those are obviously biased towards physical, disc-based media. Before you dismiss these findings as obvious, however, let's read between the lines -- if 75 percent of Apple's touchscreen devices are pulling content from the web, that means the other one-quarter have gone without. If not apps, what the heck are those devices being used for?

    NPD: 75 percent of US iPhone, iPod touch users download content, other 25 percent think Opera Mini is a tiny concert originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 05 May 2010 07:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

    Permalink | Email this | Comments

    Full Story

  • Left 4 Dead 2 DLC now available. Too bad Xbox 360 players have to pay for it.

    Left 4 Dead 2 DLC now available. Too bad Xbox 360 players have to pay for it.

    Posted on April 22, 2010 | No Comments
    There's pretty much no need to write this next story, especially if you're a fan, but... Valve, darling developers that they are, have released the very first DLC for Left 4 Dead 2, The Passing. I was supposed to mention this fact this morning, forgot about it, then logged into Steam to see something downloading. "What the heck is downloading? I don't remember authorizing this? Oh, it's the L4D2 DLC. Wasn't I supposed to write about that?" As you can see, I live a very exciting life.

    Full Story

  • Did your HTC Hero turn red? This poor guy’s did

    Did your HTC Hero turn red? This poor guy’s did

    Posted on April 21, 2010 | No Comments
    What the heck? A reader sends in this image of his HTC Hero. It apparently changed color as it began to heat up. Insanity. As I changed from a 1st gen iPhone to an HTC Hero I was very satisfied with it. Until it started getting very hot and turned into a redish color as well. [...]

    Full Story

  • Forerunner: The secret Apple code for “This man will rob us”

    Forerunner: The secret Apple code for “This man will rob us”

    Posted on April 6, 2010 | No Comments
    So what the heck is going on here? A young man named Owen JJ Stone went into an Apple store to buy a Macbook at the Santa Monica Apple store and requested a MacBook Pro. He was in a hurry and said so and suddenly one of the people helping him touched her ear and said "Forerunner." Bingo. That was the signal for a security lockdown. The Apple folks then proceded to bring over a black man to complete his purchase - Owen is also black - and security essentially surrounded him until he picked up his item and left.

    Full Story

  • Windows Phone 7 Series now just “Windows Phone 7″

    Windows Phone 7 Series now just “Windows Phone 7″

    Posted on April 2, 2010 | No Comments
    Strunk and White fans, rejoice! Run to the nearest peak and herald to all that will listen: “Less is more! Less is more!” The Windows Phone Team has just announced via Twitter ([cue the "Announcements via Twitter! Boo!" rants in comments]) that they’re dropping the word “Series” from “Windows Phone 7 Series”. This makes a whole lot [...]

    Full Story

  • Ricoh CX3: 10 megapixels, with back-illuminated sensor

    Ricoh CX3: 10 megapixels, with back-illuminated sensor

    Posted on February 3, 2010 | No Comments
    I’m just wrapping my head around CMOS and you spring this on me? This Ricoh CX3 is a 10-megapixel shooter with 720p video recording and “Pets” scene mode. But what the heck is a back illuminated sensor? DPreviewHas the full release but you’re basically looking at better low-light performance with the back-lit CMOS. I honestly don’t [...]

    Full Story

  • Doodly-doo! Eigenharp is hitting the U.S. in January

    Doodly-doo! Eigenharp is hitting the U.S. in January

    Posted on December 17, 2009 | No Comments
    Those about to rock out on a wind instrument with percussion pads and God knows what else, we salute you. The Eigenharp is coming to the U.S. in January and will appear at the Winter NAMM show. There is no confirmation as to which Eigenharp will arrive on our shores but there will be a [...]

    Full Story

  • Secret copyright treaty is the most annoying thing you’ll read all year

    Secret copyright treaty is the most annoying thing you’ll read all year

    Posted on November 3, 2009 | No Comments
    A great African American civil rights activist one said, “I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired.” That's how I feel about copyright these days. You've got these entrenched business interests who seemingly have their favorite congressmen on speed-dial, and then you have people who, God forbid, would like to see these businesses embrace new, practical business models that don't automatically assume their customers are potential criminals. But this! This latest development has me thinking, “You know what? Just shoot me. Go ahead, I'll even buy the ammo from Wal-Mart if you want. I don't have to pay my student loans any more (take that, Citibank!), and I won't have to worry about being treated like a criminal by the likes of whatever stupid entertainment company is in Congress' good graces this week. Win-win.”

    Full Story

  • French health agency: Try to limit your exposure to mobile phones if only because we don’t have enough data to say otherwise

    French health agency: Try to limit your exposure to mobile phones if only because we don’t have enough data to say otherwise

    Posted on October 16, 2009 | No Comments
    A group of researchers in France just recommended that we all limit our exposure to wireless devices, including mobile phones, Wi-Fi, and microwaves, because we really don't understand how prolonged exposure to them can affect us. That's particularly true with mobile phones, since they've really only been around for, what, 10 years? (Obviously there were available for longer than that, but Joe Public didn't buy his first phone till a little bit later.) You can't categorically say, based on 10 years of sometimes spotty data, that “phones are bad!” or “phones are good!” We simply don't know.

    Full Story

  • Don’t look now, but the Fonera2n router is now available

    Don’t look now, but the Fonera2n router is now available

    Posted on September 24, 2009 | No Comments
    The Fonera name doesn't really mean much here in the U S of A, but it's a little more popular in Europe. (I know I occasionally ran into Fonera Wi-Fi networks in Barcelona last year, and I had never seen one in Manhattan or Queens in New York.) In any event, Fon has, indeed, released the Fonera 2n router here in the U.S.. The big thing is that it works with 802.11n. I guess that's what the “n” is for.

    Full Story

  • CrunchGear Week in Review: Off the Green Edition

    CrunchGear Week in Review: Off the Green Edition

    Posted on September 21, 2009 | No Comments
    I’m leading a double life: I primarily use a Mac, but I just bought a Zune HD. (WHAT THE HECK?!) Behind the scenes look at PGA Tour’s ‘ShotLink’ technology The GoGoStand fits in your wallet, transforms to hold your phone

    Full Story

  • I’m leading a double life: I primarily use a Mac, but I just bought a Zune HD. (WHAT THE HECK?!)

    I’m leading a double life: I primarily use a Mac, but I just bought a Zune HD. (WHAT THE HECK?!)

    Posted on September 19, 2009 | No Comments
    While waiting for our music ban to kick in (again, you'll all be receiving letters in the mail shortly detailing when and where you'll be expected to hand over your music-related goods), I spent Thursday thinking to myself: “You know what I really want for some reason? A Zune HD.” Seeing as though I'm strapped for cash—you saw the lengths I recently went to in order to upgrade my three-year-old iMac—spending $236.79 for the 16GB model was definitely a decision I did not take lightly. (I actually had to calculate when my next student loan payment was due before I committed to buying the device! So if you think, as some of you do for some reason, that we're “on the take,‚” I can only reply: lol.) The thing is, I primarily use a Mac, and last I checked, the Zune software—which is great, by the way, and makes iTunes look like an old dog—only works in Windows. What to do? Sure, I have Windows all set up on a separate partition, but I really only boot into it when I want to play, say, Half-Life or Deus Ex for a little bit. That is, I had no intention of switching over to Windows full-time just to be able to use a Zune HD.

    Full Story

  • Mysterious Microsoft tweet has everyone guessing what the heck it means: Something costs $29.99 (Update: Oh, it’s Windows 7 for college students)

    Mysterious Microsoft tweet has everyone guessing what the heck it means: Something costs $29.99 (Update: Oh, it’s Windows 7 for college students)

    Posted on September 17, 2009 | No Comments
    Holy smokes, someone from Microsoft just tweeted a Tweet that has everyone jumping around like they just don't care! The tweet reads: “Good things are worth the wait... http://bit.ly/win741 will go live soon with all the details of the $29.99 deal. ^MS” What does that mean?! Windows 7 Home Premium for college students~! Woooo~!

    Full Story

  • Contest: Target exclusive Hasbro Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen Superion up for grabs

    Contest: Target exclusive Hasbro Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen Superion up for grabs

    Posted on August 18, 2009 | No Comments
    I know that I’m totally out of Hasbro’s targeted demo, but the Target exclusive Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen Superion is the hardest thing I’ve ever tried to assemble. A month after the fact, I still haven’t been able to put it together, which is why Target is hooking us up with five Superions to give away. I challenge all of you to do better than me (if you win). I remember the days when Hasbro’s Transformers toys were totally awesome and easy to put together. What the heck happened? I also miss the red decoder bonus from the old toys.

    Full Story

« Older Entries