Out of the Box

• New Switched On column posted: From Bluetooth to the bedroom and the backyard http://snurl.com/3hhub #

• Wii getting DVD playback may finally help end the travesty of people moving while watching TV http://snurl.com/3fo8p #
• Atom is apparently doing well. Of course, that’s *shipments.* Let’s see how well they sell to consumers. http://snurl.com/3fo9u #
• I applaud Vudu’s approach to “getting out of jail cheap” assuming it includes movies not finished within 24 hours http://snurl.com/3fobv #
• New Switched On column posted: Rethinking the living room PC http://snurl.com/3fsn0 #

• Wii getting DVD playback may finally help end the travesty of people moving while watching TV http://snurl.com/3fo8p #
• Atom is apparently doing well. Of course, that’s *shipments.* Let’s see how well they sell to consumers. http://snurl.com/3fo9u #
• I applaud Vudu’s approach to “getting out of jail cheap” assuming it includes movies not finished within 24 hours http://snurl.com/3fobv #
• New Switched On column posted: Rethinking the living room PC http://snurl.com/3fsn0 #

• New Tech on Deck column posted, Backing Up for Boneheads: http://snurl.com/3andq #
• 2nd Circuit OKs Cablevision network-based DVR but article doesn’t note whether broadcasters will appeal. http://snurl.com/3an99 #

There’s news from Palm today that its small and inexpensive Centro has now sold two million units and that, according to AdMob, it’s one of the  most popular phones for accessing the mobile Internet.

Such rankings are not quite the endorsement of a quality Web experience as they might seem (and as they were widely touted as representing when similar statistics were tossed about regarding the iPhone)  as users who buy phones like the Centro probably have Web access in mind as one of their purchase criteria. Nonetheless, the Centro’s success has been a testament to the power of more mass-market-friendly pricing and the rising interest in QWERTY devices that are blossoming despite the iPhone’s form-factor influence.

From a software perspective, it’s an interesting coincidence that news of the Centro’s popularity breaks on the same day as Microsoft releases results of its “Mojave Experiment” aimed at showing users the advantages of its PC operating system. Of course, PCs are different than smartphones. However, Palm’s race to bring out its Nova operating system to replace the likely-to-sunset Palm OS does not seem to be deterring the Centro buyer much. Developers, though, are a different story.

• CrunchGear: “Wireless is soon going to eat Monster Cable’s lunch” Not likely given wireless HD price and confusion.http://snurl.com/34m72 #
• Gateway goes exclusively indirect. An era ends for a brand that once rivalled Dell in direct and had fleeting success with its own stores. #

• New Switched On column posted: Net-enabled movies pit a blue ray versus a true way. http://snurl.com/34h9m #
• O’Reilly just pitched me “David Pogue’s iPhone: The Missing Manual Ebook” — promising, but I’d rather learn to use my iPhone than Pogue’s #

• 16-bit iHandheld Genesis plug and play lacks NTSC, After Burner. Fake “reviews” are a fail. http://snurl.com/305nu #
• Plug and Play Mega Drive also calls itself the “first Sega Megadrive Handheld Console”. Rememberest thou not Nomad? #
• CRN notes what a dismal failure the iPhone 3G has been. (Warning fanboys: Place tongue in cheek before reading,) http://snurl.com/309ag #

• New Switched On column posted: More options for getting from scribble to screen. http://snurl.com/2z1wm #

• New Switched On column posted: The iPhone’s iFunnel http://snurl.com/2l8kc #
• Final RCR Wireless News Analyst Angle column posted: Just when you thought PANs were DUN: http://snurl.com/2l8nb #
• Gogo looks good-to-go. I win my old bet with Seamus McAteer: http://snurl.com/2l8qk #
• Apparent new trend in DLP projectors: must be able to avoid enemy radar at low altitudes http://snurl.com/2laru #