Although it won’t be available for purchase for months, Apple just announced the new standard in smart watches and wearable computers. It’s as far ahead of the status quo as the iPhone was from the “smart” phone pack on its introduction back in 2007. But as it stands, the Apple Watch doesn’t transform the market: Although it will undoubtedly capture most of the smart watch market, this isn’t yet a transformative product for modern society like the iPhone or iPad.
TiVo
How To Access Alternate Audio Tracks And Subtitles On An Apple TV
The user interface for selecting alternate audio and subtitles on the Apple TV is laughably rough, but it works. Hold down the select button, scroll to the top, then scroll right and you can access these features if they are present. Let’s hope Apple improves this in future iOS versions!
Teaching Science with Wi-Fi (Thanks, Ruckus and MetaGeek!)
As a parent, especially a techie one, you never know when a teachable moment is going to appear. Last night, I mentioned that I was testing a new Ruckus access point and enthused about how fast it was. My 12-year-old asked, “why is it so fast?†This led to a wonderful discussion about radio waves, congestion and propagation, and spectrum licensing. Yeah, I’m that kind of dad.
We Live in the Future: Robotic Cat Litter Boxes!
This post is a bit of a break from my usual gadget-fest, but the object in question isn’t that far off: It requires electricity, costs more than average humans can justify, and simplifies a task we’ve all been doing fine up until now. That’s right: An overly-expensive electric cat litter box. Predictably, I love it.
Drobo, XP Users: Beware of 4K “Advanced Format” Drives!
Personal computer hard disk drive access methods have been repeatedly forced to adapt to ever-expanding capacity. But Western Digital is leading the change to larger 4 kilobyte hard disk blocks. Although this new “Advanced Format” includes mechanisms for backwards compatibility, buyers should be wary of these new drives for the time being.
