10. Alfred – my new favorite launcher / keyboard Swiss army knife. Replaced the languishing and ever-slow-feeling Quicksilver.
9. Bisley multidrawer cabinets – okay, it’s not exactly tech, but never before have my gadgets been this organized.
8. Apple Magic Mouse – I was highly skeptical when I began using it (especially because of how annoying right clicks are), but I knew I was hooked when my fingers instinctively started dragging across the surfaces of my other, more traditional mice.
7. Sonos S5 and ZP90- after all these years Veronica and I are finally getting the full Sonos effect in our new multi-level apartment.
6. Simplenote and Notational Velocity – Simplenote’s lack of features is what drew me away from Evernote, but combining it with the incredibly sleek NV is what really hooked me.
5. Reeder – Silvio Rizzi has set a new bar for UI elegance and beauty. Basically nothing about Reeder sucks, which I have never said about any feed reading app ever. It’s kind of scary how easy Silvio makes it look.
4. Astro A40s – you haven’t gamed until you’ve used surround sound headphones, and these are the best I’ve tested. But Veronica and I not keeping each other up during late night gaming sessions is well worth the cost of admission alone for these or any pair of surround headsets.
3. Chrome (for OS X) – I have no clue how many hours and tabs I’ve logged in Chrome at this point, but I found the experience of switching from Firefox to Chrome every bit as mind blowing switching to from AltaVista to Google back in ’99. Your expectations for what a browser is just instantly and fundamentally change.
2. Instapaper – outside Chrome, I probably spend more time in Instapaper than any other piece of software. I simply could not go back to living without Instapaper.
1. Apple iPad – not much to say about the iPad that hasn’t been said already. It’s become the most important single device in my life (after my phone and laptop). And like many, I consider your phone and laptop totally mandatory and non-negotiable, so I guess that means the iPad is my new #1.

What are yours?

P.S. -Yes, I know it’s been nearly a year since I’ve updated. But things are swinging over at Twitter (and given this post from 2008, the irony of this situation isn’t lost on me). Maybe I should just turn this site in to a huge @ryan aggregator — that might be more appropriate given my usage!
P.P.S. -Updated  kinda-annual nerd wish list coming soon. For a bit of nostalgia, check out how much stuff we’ve gotten from 2008′s list!

Naw, this is just for the people who care too little to do three minutes of homework before making a wasted five minute pitch; who email and immediately call to follow up; who just can’t tell when they’ve crossed the line; or who just don’t know how to lose your email address, no matter how many times you ask. People like Andy Marken of Marken Communications (andy@markencom.com), whose name has become infamous in tech journalist circles for representing everything dysfunctional with certain old models of PR.

I know for some it can be hard work, but don’t be Andy. Your company and/or clients will thank you.

Maybe that’s a little surprising coming from someone so entrenched in the gadget space, but I’ve actually been discouraging most upgrading for years (namely because I find people typically upgrade for the sake of upgrading). When it comes to buying new kit, I think there are actually a few important things one should take into account:

• Companies love to issue seasonal gadget upgrades — which I often refer to as “incremental differentiation.” We should be more critical of being oversold on what often amounts to extremely minor product updates (in the grand scheme of things).
• Thanks to an increasing stasis in hardware specs and staying power by way of firmware updates (think Xbox 360 + NXE, iPhone + firmware 2.0 / 3.0) and hacks built by the community, people have really begun to lack a compelling reason to upgrade their devices as often as they did just a few years ago. (And yes, this totally freaks out a lot of companies who don’t yet know how to adapt.)
• It’s hard and time consuming to research, identify, and buy devices and systems that work well and get the job done — so when you do, you should appreciate them all the more.

So, do you really need that next device? Maybe so, but for whatever it’s worth, I used my last digital camera for years — and through many, many product updates — and eventually shot over 10,000 images on it. (I would probably be using it to this day had I not dropped and broken it.) Likewise, my HDTV is a few years old now, and my desktop PC is almost five — both still work so damned well the idea of an “upgrade” seems kind of silly.

The Model S is clearly early hardware, but the styling is impeccable (I’m an especially big fan of the jet engine turbofan-inspired wheels). And the massive, 3G-connected console touchscreen could be a game-changer — especially since they’re not just stopping with built in Pandora and Google Maps, and are intending to open the platform up to app development (presumably anywhere from telemetrics to voice-enabled email). Naturally it’s hard to give a full assessment on the Model S given the fact that most of its systems were deactivated and they weren’t providing test drives, but I think there’s little doubt Tesla’s on the right track. Fingers crossed these guys make it to production!

As for the rest of gdgt’s launch, we’re still working long hours behind the scenes, but we mentioned on the show that we’ll be trying to get it out in Q1. I wish we could be more exact, but as we close in on things we’ll have a little better idea of when that’s going to be. Happy new year!

About four years ago they tried their hand at a pair of alien-looking in-ear buds that never really took off, but this time they’re back with a dual-driver design at an intriguingly low price-point. The brief run-down on these new $80 phones:

• Well, for starters, they’re the first pair of Apple headphones that have ever fit and stayed in my ears. So that’s a great start.
• Besides fitting well, I found them to be surprisingly comfortable; Apple headphones do not like my ears
• Despite not officially supporting the iPhone, the inline remote supports all functions (mic, call end, track play/pause/skip, etc.), except volume.
• My hearing is fairly degraded, but in my testing, they sounded really good — way out of their price range. Having two drivers makes a big difference.
• The two piece plastic case they come in is pretty bad and not very user friendly. I can’t imagine many people will make use of it.

Comparison and FAQ after the break. (A few pictures also posted to my Flickr stream.)

Okay, let’s get to the comparison. Dual driver headphones make a big difference, and that’s what I tested Apple’s in-ear phones against. Some brief notes:

• Stock iPhone / iPod headphones: muddled, low definition, felt like a lot of detail missing.
• Ultimate Ears super.fi 3 Studio: decent bass, seems to weight towards mid-to-high range; but not super impressive. Kind of uncomfortable.
• Shure E4c: well-balanced and very crisp. Great reproduction. Best sound isolation of the group.
• Apple in-ear headphones: punchy bass, warm mids, also all around well-balanced.

The silicone caps Apple’s new phones are better than most, but they lack the serious sound isolation that comes with foam caps, like you can get with the Shures. In fact, the new Apples gave the Shures such a run for their money, it was difficult to tell whether they might have pulled ahead with better sound isolation.

Now, a few questions, some pulled off of Twitter:

Are they annoyingly rubbery/springy like stock iPhone ones? [adamschwabe]
Yeah, they have the same texture as Apple’s other headphoens now; a little bit of rubber seems to make them harder to tangle and a little softer to touch. I kind of like it, but it isn’t any deciding factor.

Is there much audio bleed? What are the noise canceling capabilities relative to other buds? [Solacetech, 007bond4321]
There’s a fair bit of noise isolation, as they are in-ear headphones; noise-cancelation is only something you get with larger, cup-type devices that actively filter — not just block — noise. I tested these headphones in a loud cafe with music playing on the PA, and was able to cancel out most of it. I still think they’re in desperate need of some proper foam sound isolation tips, though.

Will a firmware update will fix the lack of volume control support for the iPhone? [JohnCullen]
It seems feasible, but Apple did not get back to me on this matter.

How well do they fit (stay in ears) compared to bundled Apple buds? [rickhuizinga]
Everyone’s ears are different, but unlike every other pair of Apple headphones I’ve ever played with, these ones comfortably stay in. I have pretty small ear canals, if that’s of any help.

Do they come with different sized silicon buds? [lgladdy]
Yes, three sets: small, medium, and large.

Is the microphone is better than the stock ones? [GermanThoughts]
Not that I could tell, but it’s not like you want to record your demo tape with it anyway. The mic aperture is about an inch higher up on the wire, though.

Does the remote work with Apple laptops?
Yep. I tested on a new MacBook Pro, and the mic works, as well as the remote for volume, play/pause/skip, etc.

How long is the cable?
About three inches shorter than the iPhone cable, roughly 42-inches.

I think Apple’s got something good on their hands here. These headphones sound out of their league for headphones under $100, especially considering most dual-driver headphones start at a couple hundred dollars and go up from there. They fit well, are reasonably comfortable, and the inline remote functions on more devices than they let on. It’s been about seven years since Apple got in this game, but this is the first time I think I’ll be using some of their headphones.

10. An anti-glare option — or at least a 3rd party coating — for the new MacBooks and MacBook Pros.
9. A robot that hangs up my shirts and coats. That’s all it has to do.
8. Apple opens up and lets devs access all the great, juicy private APIs that make their default applications so amazing.
7. Native multi-touch for the G1. And a 3.5mm headphone jack, while we’re at it.
6. A travel mouse that is large enough to feel comfortable, yet uses Bluetooth (and not 2.4GHz RF). I’ve tried many, been satisfied with none. I think Microsoft’s Arc might be getting close, though.
5. Apple’s quietly delayed new in-ear headphones. They might suck, but I’m curious to try them out. Especially since supposedly the iPhone isn’t supported (WTF?).
4. An industry-wide PR-do-not-call list.
3. Chrome for OS X and Linux.
2. To finally show people gdgt. (Soon!)
1. Tesla Model S. I’d take a Roadster, though — who wouldn’t?

Apple touted some pretty decent battery life numbers at the new MacBook / MacBook Pro press event this week: up to five hours on the Pro with discrete graphics off, and four hours with it on (both surely assuming ideal low-power conditions). One of the things that didn’t come up at the presser, however, was that new MacBook Pro batteries actually have just under 20% less energy than their predecessors. While both kinds of MBP batteries are 10.8v, the old ones are rated at 5600mAh / 60Wh, while the new ones are rated at 4700mAh / 50Wh. (MacBook numbers updated below.)

I’d estimate that the integrated NVIDIA chipset and ever more behind-the-scenes power-saving techniques are why Apple is claiming such solid life despite killing a fifth of the machine’s energy supply — but a 20% reduction is still no small number. It also means that as your new MBP’s battery degrades, you’ll have a smaller pool of potential energy to rely on, meaning you could wind up having to replace your battery more often (although that’s a little conjectural, at this point).

But as some are now postulating, one technique Apple may now be employing to save power is making use of the machine’s GPU(s) to accelerate video playback. We already know that the new MacBooks have a different build of OS X than older gen machines (9F2114), but one thing I also noticed is that Quicktime, the engine behind Apple’s video encodes and decodes, was also revved in the new machines, now clocked in at 7.5.5 995.23.3 up from the last machines’ 990.7. With a little luck, perhaps video encodes will finally be hardware accelerated, too. (Will have to test that one later!)

Update: Matt at Gizmodo mentions that the numbers add up, when comparing the extra 20% battery life you get in new models using the integrated GPU vs. that same five hours claimed in old models using discrete graphics. Also, new MacBooks have also decreased battery capacity (as expected), from 55Wh in last-gen models to 45Wh.

Now look, laptops are a big deal. For most users, laptops more often than not represent one of the most expensive devices they own, TV aside — but unlike a TV, most people are apt to replacing their laptop every couple of years. And when it comes to product cycles for laptops, a couple of years is sometimes how long it can take to get one out the door: next week’s new machines probably got started shortly after the Air, likely in 2006 or even 2005. In other words, these machines got started well before we knew things would be headed as far south as they’ve gone.

So now that we’re neck deep in the worst financial crisis in decades, now that consumer spending is nosediving, now that hoarding is displacing buying, now that even high-flying VCs are getting nervous and battening down the hatches, I have to wonder: is this really the right moment for Apple to launch new laptops?

Probably not. Granted, there’s no turning back on a launch planned years ago, and people will always need computers (as long as the lights don’t go out, anyway). But the interesting thing is that Apple has an important new shot to make here: this is the most opportune possible moment for them to take on the booming netbook / lower-cost laptop market, a segment that will only balloon in size in the years to come as consumer spending continues to hemorrhage. The $2,000 pro market won’t go away entirely — but it certainly won’t be a growth area as larger numbers of buyers are starting to worry more about foreclosure and eviction than whether or not they can upsell for the ExpressCard slot and extra three inches of screen. Guess we’ll see next though; and hey, if nothing else, at least we can set all the doom and gloom aside for a few minutes while we geek out on Steve’s dog and pony show.

Okay, I’m way late in getting my hands on a T-Mobile G1 (the crew in NY got to check it out eons ago), but I did get to spend a day with one all to myself, and by popular Twitter demand, here are some (very) brief impressions.

Hardware

• A lot smaller than I thought it’d be. Looks great in person.
• Solid feeling, smooth, springy hinge; the device’s matte soft-touch finish is quite nice; entire back panel lifts off to replace the battery/SIM.
• No 3.5mm headphone jack is freaking annoying, and possibly the likeliest dealbreaker. It’s just unacceptable at this point. T-Mobile only makes this worse by not bundling an ExtUSB -> 3.5mm adapter, and HTC adds insult to injury by placing one of those annoying attached rubber covers on the USB port, too.
• Keyboard lacks definition (read: the keys are a little too flush), but it’s still very tactile, and (obviously) way easier to type on than an iPhone. The Leno chin doesn’t get in my way, although some who’ve used it certainly feel otherwise.
• Screen looks great, extremely responsive capacitive touch. It doesn’t feel plasticy or cheap at all.
• 3G reception is great in SF. Was getting 550Kbps+ speeds. (By comparison, my iPhone 3G usually does 650Kbps here.)
• MicroSDHC is hot. Worked great with an 8GB card. You should be able to buy a G1 + a 16GB card for less than a 16GB iPhone.

Software

• Everything is a lot snappier than I expected. Animations and transitions weren’t as fleshed out as I might have liked, but nothing lagged. After Android and iPhone, it’s impossible not to see Windows Mobile and even S60 as doggish.
• Setup is a freaking breeze, the default apps are solid. I did notice one oddity, though: even though the phone knows your Google ID, if you visit a Google app through the browser (like Reader) it doesn’t automatically log you in. Huh?
• Browser is pretty unexciting. It’s definitely second only to mobile Safari, but isn’t really anywhere near. The view modes, re-flowing, and general usability is weak all around. Look for alternatives once the Marketplace launches, because I’m just not feeling this browser.
• Maps app is great; compass mode (where street view moves with your real world motion) is out of this world. There’s nothing out there like it right now.
• Didn’t download too much from Marketplace, but what I did get was pretty impressive. It should be, though, considering that right now the only apps available are the ones that won Google’s dev challenge.
• Lack of multi-touch is annoying, but it doesn’t really ruin any experiences. I’ll miss it, but I’ll live. (Hey, you have to make sacrifices on the iPhone, too!)

If you want more, I highly suggest my man Paul’s writeup on E, he really digs in. As for me, I’m definitely, definitely excited about the G1. With a few key apps (which I’ll soon write about / unofficially request the dev community build), this could be the device that lures me from the iPhone 3G. Don’t expect everyone to be swayed, though, the G1 is certainly skewed towards the nerds right now, and doesn’t have much to compete with the iPhone’s copious sex appeal.

Oh, and big ups to my pal who hooked me up with the handset — you know who you are!

Over the past few months there have been a number of protesters spotted at various local Apple store locations, but I have to give it up to these guys (MTD Drywall, from Gilroy, I believe). Not only did they go to the effort of building out a full-on disgruntled union-protest iPhone costume (with near-accurately placed “proximity sensor” eye-hole), they also came up with the snappy phrase, “No service… for workers!” Clever. Full size version over at my Flickr stream.

Just a few bits on today’s monumental T-Mobile G1 / Android / HTC Googlephone / funnererest handset evar announcement that may have gone under the radar.

• T-Mobile claims G1s will be SIM-locked (no surprise). But hey, the software platform is completely open source; I can’t wait to see how they think they’ll protect against that.
• T-Mobile claims you can’t use the device as a tethered data modem. But again, the whole OS — networking stack, app layer, radio interfaces, etc. — is open. Try and stop us.
• Since T-Mobile’s US 3G network is 1700MHz-based, and the device only supports 1700 and 2100MHz bands, that means there could be it’s unlikely that future G1 versions would support 1900MHz (which is what AT&T’s 3G network requires). So we can probably count out an unlocked import unit for the time being.
• HTC claims better 3G talk time compared to the iPhone 3G: 350 minutes 3G talk time (vs. 300 minutes). 2G talk time is apparently much worse though, 406 minutes to the iPhone’s supposed 600.
• It supports microSDHC — meaning you’re not capped at 4GB of storage. When 16 and 32GB cards show up, you can drop those in and keep growing your device, whereas your iPhone will stay static.
• They didn’t include a 3.5mm headphone jack — they’re using HTC’s combo USB / audio jack (ExtUSB), which requires an adapter. Bunk.
• Sync is done all over the air, and through Google services. It’s still unclear how many of these services you can elect not to use (i.e. can one have a contact list that ISN’T synced to their Gmail account?).
• We knew that the device has a capacitive touchscreen (like the iPhone), but not how they solved the problem of copy/paste, which has plagued Apple. Turns out they half-assed it, or so I understand. Seems that you can only copy/paste data in fields. If you’re on a web page, for example, you can’t select a string of text in a paragraph. The search continues for someone to commit to chasing down the fat-finger-touchscreen copy/paste unicorn.
• Although its browser runs on Webkit and some of the Chrome code base, they’re not officially dubbing it Chrome, or Chrome Mobile, or anything like that. Head Android Andy Rubin said it’s fair to think of it as “Chrome light,” though — just don’t call it that. Yet.

First, Dan sets up Vudu as an example of the little company trampled underfoot by Apple. “Vudu was winning rave reviews… now Apple is selling or renting more than 50,000 movies a day, and Vudu is laying off staff.”
Rave reviews? Hardly. I thought the content selection on the Vudu was disappointing, the walled-garden approach (i.e. you can’t do much with it once you’ve bought the content) was off-putting, and it suffered from most of the same plagues that put pretty much EVERY other startup set-top box manufacturer — from Akimbo to Moviebeam  — out of business. Oh, and not Laptop, CNET, nor MacWorld gave the Vudu anything higher than a 3.5 out of 5.

“[Apple] operates the only store that can sell music, movies and software programs for [the iPod and iPhone].”
Movies perhaps; music, definitely not. There’s plenty of free video and paid video content online, but no certainly no shortage of DRM-free MP3 music stores (like competitors Amazon, Rhapsody, Napster, and even Microsoft’s Zune Marketplace) that sell content that works on the iPod and iPhone.

“Apple sets prices and takes 30 percent of the money.”
On applications. If they’re not distributed for free (which Apple does for no cost). And on music and movies, Apple’s margin is far, far less. It’s been said that Apple gets less than 10% of music, for example — that kind of content is generally a break-even or, at best, mildly profitable effort to sell iPods. In fact, that’s the record labels’ biggest contention with iTunes: Steve won’t let them turn up the price because he wants music to be affordable so iPods seem like a better ecosystem value.

“One iPod accessory maker… gripes that Apple takes up to 75 percent of the sales price, leaving him with zero profit on some of his products when he sells them in Apple stores.”
I used to do technology retail. In fact, my first job was as upgrade / accessories manager at a CompUSA. If Apple gets 75% of the sale price of an accessory at retail markup, the anonymous company in question is probably getting a pretty good deal. Most accessories are marked up more than just 400% — multiply that by four or five, and you’ll enter a reasonable ballpark. Even for stuff like speakers, whose margins are far lower than cases or cables, those numbers don’t sound completely off to me.

“The problem is that if Apple squeezes too hard, some partners may go out of business, harming the ecosystem.”
My editor instincts tell me: this is a great place to give an example. But he doesn’t. Probably because he can’t. I’m racking my brain and even did a little googling to give Dan the benefit of the doubt, but I’ve got nothin’.

“… a woman has filed a class-action lawsuit because her new 3G iPhone won’t always attach to a 3G network, which provides faster wireless Web downloads.”
What Dan doesn’t mention is that Apple gets two, sometimes three class-action lawsuits filed against it every week. I wish I was kidding. Unfortunately for Apple (and the woman who stands to lose a lot of money on lawyers’ fees), for the most part, the issue in question has a lot more to do with AT&T’s early, raw 3G rollout, which tends to lack network capacity. Remember, a class-action lawsuit is no different than any other kind of lawsuit: it’s just one person (or group of people) who think they have a case and decide to sue.

Maybe it’s just me, but I think Dan did a much better job at cutting to the heart of what makes Cupertino tick when he was doing so with subversive parody. Trust me, there are many, MANY things to groan about Apple over — its obsessive control in all aspects of business, its reluctance to try genuinely new markets and products, the way it handles media — but these complaints are not those things.

Update: Dan (kind of?) responded to some feedback, but didn’t really back up anything I mentioned. Although I will grant him, it does get a lot harder when you have to say real things about the companies you cover.

If you’re planning to upgrade (or even just changing your AT&T plan), I’d suggest watching out for these and possibly other charges:

• $18 “Upgrade fee” – Hmm, I don’t remember anyone telling me about this when I was checking out. Nor do I see it itemized on my Apple receipt, just an iPhone, a dock, and some California sales tax. I guess I can’t complain too much though, as we did mention it on Engadget.
• $12.64 in various new taxes – The new phone also came along with another $12.64 in taxes, more than doubling my previous months’ totals to an even $25. Included in these numbers is a new ~$11 in California state and city taxes which (surprise!) come on top of the $25 in CA taxes I already paid at the time of purchase.
• $56 in SMS charges – This easily hurt the most. My rate before was $0.05 per SMS, so I knew if I went over my original iPhone’s 200 SMS allotment, I wouldn’t be pinched that hard. I also knew the base 200 SMSs were going away with the iPhone 3G plan, but it wasn’t ever mentioned that I’d have to take a new SMS rate, too — let alone one that amounts to a 4x increase. (FYI: even 5c per SMS is a HUGE margin for AT&T.)

Of course, some of this could be mitigated. For instance, if I’d have been informed that there was a $5 / 200 SMS plan at the time of purchase I could have saved a good chunk of change on those two-dime messages. But I was only told of a $20 unlimited plan (which I declined, proving to be a dumb move on my part). The surprise would also have been dulled if customers were properly notified in-store, or simply presented itemized plan and rate changes (like the 4x hike on SMS), as well as other various service charges on its receipts.

Of course, at a certain level it also comes down to doing plenty of pre-purchase consumer diligence and not leaving anything to chance, right? Still, overall experience: poor.

Also, for those in the Bay Area, I’ll also be speaking on a panel about mobile computing (I think?) at Om Malik’s Mobilize conference. That one’s September 18th.

Reasons not to rely solely on wireless:

• Inconsistent speed and range.
• Constant concern of having network traffic captured/cracked if you allow any legacy access.
• Depending on the house/setup, multiple APs may be necessary.
• Multiple points to maintain or fail. Consumer WiFi devices require constant restarts… besides, do you want to update firmware/configs on two or three APs?

Reasons for hard Ethernet:

• Consistent speeds and reliable connectivity.
• Future-proofing: some good quality Cat6 line will do gigabit now, and probably 10 gig later. Wireless? It’s 2008 and 802.11n (which you’ll be lucky to get 100Mbps on) still isn’t even done yet — don’t count on speeds catching up to Ethernet any time soon.
• Many devices charge extra for (or simply don’t support) WiFi. It’s seriously baffling, no question about it, but your Xbox 360, TiVo, Slingbox, and probably printer, etc. isn’t wireless out of the box. (Besides, who wouldn’t prefer having wired latency rates when playing some CoD4 online?)
• Some devices support PoE (power over Ethernet). Suck on that, WiFi.
• If you really MUST do wireless, local Ethernet can always be used to hook up more APs.

That isn’t to say that a modern home should be wired-only, because you’ll probably want to use your iPhone or laptop from your living room, and there will always have guests over who need to get online. Ethernet is in no way the sole answer for any network environment, home or corporate. But I’m a big fan of hard-wiring as much as I possibly can, while leaving a single, well-secured, non-legacy WiFi AP running in an area that services those devices that tend to come and go. Everything else gets a cable. And hell, if you really don’t want to invest in a decent in-home Cat5/6 infrastructure, there’s always powerline networking!

Without question, this has been the hardest decision I’ve ever made, but I know it’s the right one. And as much as I’m looking forward to new challenges (and grateful they’re not Motorola-related), I’m also really excited to see Engadget continue its evolution with Josh at the helm, and as part of the AOL Tech network (where I’ll continue to play an advisory role as editor-at-large). Pete and I are both pretty happy with how things worked out, and are definitely looking ahead. (You’re following us on Twitter, right?)

As much as wish I could, for the time being I really can’t talk very much about the details of the new company (which does not yet have a name). I’m pretty stoked though — promise, you’ll hear more soon.