Personal thoughts on gadgets and tech news.
Geek Toys
It has arrived, the Kindle Touch
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It's actually a bit smaller than I expected.
Well after waiting almost two months, my Kindle Touch finally arrived a couple days ago. I’ve spent the time playing with the device, and of course digging into some books that I’d bought.
I must say I’m very pleased with the experience I’ve had.
Now, keep in mind this is my first e-reader, so I really don’t have anything to compare to. The size feels just right. It just sorta fits in my hand. I’m also very easily able to hold the Kindle one handed, and tap to turn pages. Makes it very easy to read while I’m eating or drinking something.
Geek Toy of the Week – Galaxy Nexus / Ice Cream Sandwich
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A twofer this time! Samsung and Google finally officially unveiled their Galaxy Nexus handset, which also means they’ve unveiled Ice Cream Sandwich, aka Android 4.0!
This thing looks gorgeous! 4.65 inch, 1280 x 720 screen, 1.2Ghz dual core processor, 7.2mm thin. I am drooling, just drooling.
Kindle(r) Thoughts
0Yes, I went there with the title. Never pass up a bad pun I say.
So hey, guess what today was. Go on, guess. That’s right, it’s Kindle Day! Or it should be anyways. Amazon made their big announcements about the Kindle line-up, and boy was it an exciting day. So here’s my thoughts on the whole thing.
$79 Kindle
Yes, you read that right, the base model Kindle clocks in at $79. If this doesn’t make you buy, nothing will. Now, there have been some sacrifices to hit this price point. This version is sans touchscreen, and thus has physical buttons for turning pages, menu, home screen and such.
I think it’s awesome that Amazon has not only dropped below the $100 price point, but really blown by it full force with this entry level Kindle. I was seriously considering just going for this cheapest model, but the geek in me objected to a couple things.
One, I really like touchscreens. Two, and sorta related, is that without a physical keyboard or a touchscreen, the keyboard entry is most like what you have with your game console, in that you have to use the arrow keys to select individual letters from the onscreen keyboard. Bleh.
Now really, I’m sure I could have gotten around that, but the extra features on the next level up pulled me in, and so we go to…
Geek Toy of the Week 2: This should be obvious…
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With Wednesday’s announcement, this week’s Geek Toy is pretty obvious. Though I have to say, while I would love to have one of these, it’s not worth the money to me in the slightest. The iPad really is a toy, more than anything. It’s a content consumption device at it’s core, and for someone like me who is quite technically savvy, it’s just not worth it. I would love to have one just to play around with, but I don’t see myself using it everyday or anything.
That said, if anyone has an extra I’ll be glad to take it off your hands 
So, some highlights:
-Front and rear cameras, and the video call support that implies
-Black and white (and AT&T and Verizon) variants available at launch
-Dual-core A5 CPU
-Thinner and lighter than original iPad, same battery life
-iOS 4.3
-Portable versions of the Apple video, photo, and music editing programs
-HDMI out (with Apple’s proprietary adapter, of course)
-Cheaper than the Xoom, its only real competitor at the moment
And here’s Engadget’s reveal.
Geek Toy of the Week 1: NoteSlate
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Check out this little beauty. It’s called NoteSlate. It’s an e-paper tablet, perfect for notes, sketches, stuff like that. I can totally see myself carrying this around, getting an idea for a website and I just start sketching it out.
“But Ken! There’s this thing called paper, and you can do that already! Dumbass!”
Hey, I didn’t say I couldn’t. But what’s geekier, pen and paper, or e-paper tablet awesomeness? So yes, I want this thing. Quote from the site time!
NoteSlate is low cost tablet device with true one colour display, real paper look design, long life battery (180h !), together with very handy usage and very simple and helpful interface for pen and paper. This easy, compact and portable gadget is used anywhere you want to make any notes, drafts, sketches, any ideas for future reference. Paper for everyone! Write a note and check it later, save it, or delete it. Maybe send it after. Just one colour is enough to express the basics. Keep your life simple. You will love it. For $99.
All this thing does is let you draw on it. Oh, and it plays mp3s, that kinda got snuck in there. Go check it out yourself!