iTunes Switches to Tiered Pricing: Walmart and Amazon Follow

iTunes recently modified the cost of songs to $0.69, $0.99, and $1.29 with their new "variable pricing" strategy. At first it may sound like an okay deal, but with 12 of the top 20 downloaded songs priced at $1.29, I would have to disagree. Many new releases and popular songs are at the high price point so iTunes can capitalize on their popularity.

Trying to ignore this annoyance, I looked around to see what songs I could find for $0.69. I couldn't find any... I tried to search on Google to see if anyone had found songs for $0.69, and after several tries I found a few. All of the songs priced at $0.69 appear to be Rhythm and Blues from the 60s, most of which I have never heard of. If you happen to be and R&B fan from the 60s, congratulations! For everyone else, it appears that iTunes will be demanding $1.29 for the current popular songs. This pricing increase is not just happening on iTunes, however.

Walmart and Amazon have just announced that they will be using a platform similar to iTunes. I don't think it is a smart move to instantly increase the price of hits by 30%. iTunes (and Amazon/Walmart for that matter) would have been smarter to increase the price to $1.19, which is a much more modest increase. This 30% hike is just too much, and it will definitely push away many music buyers from purchasing as many songs as before the price increase.

The Dismal Trend in Audio Quality

Music appreciation has been increasing over the last 10 years, mostly due to popularity of portable music players including iPods. It seems like almost everybody owns an iPod, from young girls with Hannah Montana iPod cases to the Queen of England, thanks to President Obama.

Technology has allowed a wide range of music to be accessible to many different types of people. Because of this trend in technology, it would naturally seem that audio quality has improved as well. Unfortunately, this is definitely not the case.

Over 90% of the time that I see a person listening to an iPod, they are listening with the included headphones. If you have not heard these headphones, they sound worse than a clock radio from the '70s. This makes absolutely no sense to me.

I don't see how a person can spend $300 on a fancy audio player, just to listen to headphones that sound like neanderthal speakers (such as these). This would be similar to a mom buying a Ferrari only so she can take her kids to school.

I'm sorry if I have offended you, but all I ask is for consumers to spend $50 or more on a good set of headphones (Sennheiser, Grado, Bose, AKG). I promise it will be worth it, and $50 isn't much after dropping $300 on an iPod. Your ears will thank you.

Official Frog Domain Desktop Wallpaper Released!

Frog Domain has teamed up with desktop Wallpaper site Zeus Wallpapers to release the official Frog Domain wallpaper. It is available in two different resolutions: 1680x1050 and 1280x1024. Click here to download.

Amazon Mechanical Turk: It Just Makes Cents

It seems like many internet users are looking for great ways to make money online. Amazon Mechanical Turk (AMT) might be the solution to that problem... Maybe...

AMT is a service provided by Amazon that provides work opportunities for internet users. A user must sign up to participate, and payments are issued through direct deposits into bank accounts or by Amazon gift cards if you don't trust posting your bank account online (like me).

So what type of work can be done on AMT? Basically different clients of Amazon post online jobs (called hits) that they desire for their site that a robot cannot do. These hits require human input (such as choosing a picture that matches a topic) and do not require much skill.

About 75% of the hits are extremely simple and provide payouts of about 10 cents per job (not much, I know). There are hits that pay much higher (I've seen up to $10), but these require a HUGE amount of effort and are not worth the rewards.

As you can probably see above, AMT is not a job that you can do full time and make minimum wage. The best time to do a hit would be during times of extreme boredom. It is not worth the time if you have better things to be doing. Over time, these small hits can add up to, say, a free DVD on Amazon or some money off a purchase.

Amazon Mechanical Turk is a great idea because it benefits users and Amazon clients. It is also one of the few sites online where users can legitimately make money, even though it is not much. If you have some free time and do not care about making a large amount of money, try Amazon Mechanical Turk. If not, I don't blame you.

Review: HowStuffWorks - The Answer to Life's Questions

I find it extremely hard to find a good site on the internet that provides an in-depth answer of a question that I have. Most sites such as WikiAnswers and Yahoo! Answers answer basic questions by providing a short, quick answer to a question. Unfortunately, they do not have the ability to answer a question that has a long, complex answer.

HowStuffWorks is extremely different from these sites. It thouroughly describes topics that cannot be summarized in one sentence. HowStuffWorks answers questions like "What causes rigor mortis?" and "How do solar panels work?" with several pages of valuable information covering the topic. It also provides answers in many interesting technological areas such as how computers, cell phones, and GPS systems work, as well as almost any other topic you can think of.

Hours can easily be spent looking through what appears to be endless information on HowStuffWorks. It is one of the few websites I have seen that actually benefits society by improving user knowledge. The site looks very clean, and it is easy to search for a specific area of inquiry. For questions about processeses or to learn about how things work, I highly recommend HowStuffWorks.

Introducing... The Tesla Model S

Tesla Motors, headquartered in San Carlos, California, has been a major player in the electric car business for several years with the Tesla Roadster, an electric sports car capable of reaching 0-60 mph in under 4 seconds. The performance-rich Roadster is base priced at a not-so-modest $100,000. This high price tag has discouraged many buyers from purchasing Tesla vehicles, but this trend may soon be shot down courtesy of the Tesla Model S.

The Model S, an electric four door sedan, is base priced at just under $50,000. It can travel 150 miles on a single charge (300 miles on the premium model), which is not bad for a car that can be charged in 45 minutes using a high voltage jack or overnight with a standard electrical plug. A full charge ends up costing only 4 dollars, which is impressive for the 150 mile driving range.

The Model S can reach 0-60 mph in just under 6 seconds, but the premium model is predicted to hit 60 mph in less than 5 seconds, with a top speed predicted to be around 120 mph. The engine, being electric, has a single-speed transmission, so the car accelerates without ever shifting a gear.

Aside from the impressive engine performance, I found one of the more intriguing aspects of the Model S to be the 17-inch "infotainment" touchscreen. This touchscreen is equipped with 3G internet access for the use of Google Maps or Pandora Radio. This screen is a very stylish way to do away with less-attractive buttons and dials on the center console.

With all of these features priced at less than $50,000, Tesla has made a step in the right direction. The Model S is not just a benchmark for more affordable electric cars, but also a technological showcase intimidating the likes of Mercedes and BMW, as well. It will not be released until 2011, but Tesla is already taking reservations for the much-anticipated Model S.

Will Consumer Electronics Innovation Reach a Plateau?

In the age of consumer electronics where cell phones, computers, and televisions have dominated the market for the last 10 years, I have but one question: In what direction will consumer electronics go in the future?

The trend over the last 5 years with televisions has been increasing the resolution to high definition and most currently having a thinner display. LCD televisions are becoming extremely popular, with the future being even thinner OLED displays. The future for movies looks to be downloadable content through services like Slingbox, which use the internet for movie/TV show viewing. DVDs and Blu-Ray discs will slowly fade out to downloadable content, similar to the way that CD sales have diminished. Home entertainment will all be administered through a television (most likely thinner than your wallet) that has all of these capabilities combined.

Computer innovation has been stagnant for the last 10-15 years. Windows Vista is organized the exact same way as Windows 95, except it is more visually appealing. Laptops have not changed much in the last 10 years either, except being thinner with a nicer screen, and touch screen laptops (AKA tablet PCs) have yet to catch on. This trend of thinner, lighter, and prettier laptops will continue without any major changes to laptop design.

The cell phone innovation throughout the last 5 years started off with the thinner the better. The original Motorola RAZR was instantly popular because of its thin appearance, but recently touch screen cell phones have increased in popularity. These phones have taken a step backwards, however, because of their poor touch functionality and clunky appearance. The next step for phones will be touch screen phones that have better design and perfected touch screen controls. They will also decrease in thickness as well. The cell phone interface will not change significantly, with internet and GPS already included with many phones, but internet service will be much faster than current cell phone internet.

After stating my believed technological advances for the future, there will never be a plateau with electronic innovation, but the rate of technological advancements will drastically decrease. Most improvements to electronic devices will occur slowly over time (no large leaps) so that businesses can make more money. Apple's iPod has been a prime example of this strategy. Each iPod has typically had just one more "major" feature than the last, so Apple can market the product and make more money. There will be no significant "breakthroughs" in computers in the foreseeable future, with most changes being with cell phone appearance. These cell phone advances won't be major, and that is okay with me. Technology has already increased laziness in America and around the world. If everything a person needs can be accessed from the couch (pizza orders, online shopping), physical activity in America will continue to decline. Great...

Customize Your Own Internet Ads?

The internet's leading advertiser, Google, has just launched a new advertising program called "interest" advertising through Google Ads Preferences, which allows users to enter their interests so Google can provide specialized advertising. Google has also added tracker cookies to detect sites that users have recently visited, which promote advertisements from those visited sites.

This new advertising program is a smart move by Google, but am I the only person who thinks this is really creepy? Google does allow users to opt out of the tracking cookies (which can be done through the link above), but 99% of internet users won't even think twice about performing this action.

On one hand, I don't know why Google hasn't been doing this for years. On the other, I would have to think that this has to be getting pretty close to violating internet privacy laws. Just thinking about Google storing users' webpage history for their own monetary gain seems nerve-wracking, however, Google claims this information is kept confedential.

The video below is Google's take on their new advertising platform.

Review: StumbleUpon

StumbleUpon is a browser add-on that allows members to visit user-submitted sites. A user can click "Stumble" in their browser, and they are sent to a site that another user has recommended. It is a great way to find new sites and a fun tool to use when you are bored.

In addition to visiting a submitted page, StumbleUpon allows the user to give the page a "thumbs up" or "thumbs down." This tells StumbleUpon whether the user liked the site or not, and giving a site a thumbs down eliminates the user from ever finding that site again through "Stumbling." A thumbs up increases the chance that the user will Stumble on similar sites in the future.

StumbleUpon also offers users the ability to Stumble favorite sites of friends, images, videos, and news items. This specificity of Stumbing options is also a great feature included in the StumbleUpon browswer add-on.

StumbleUpon is not the most productive internet tool out there, but when boredom knocks on the door, it is a great way to find new sites for entertainment and hobbies. I would definitely recommend using StumbleUpon.

LG Recalls Spyder Cell Phone Because of Poor 911 Connections

Engadget has reported that 30,000 LG Spyder cell phones are being recalled for having poor quality when dialing 911. Bad connection and unsatisfactory voice quality during 911 calls prompted the cell phone giant to recall 30,000 phones. This is actually pretty scary because this was the main reason people started buying cell phones in the 90's, even though today I'm guessing most people would rather have access to texting than 911, which is sad...

This isn't the first problem for LG, who pleaded guily for price fixing LCD screens between 2001 and 2006. The price fixing cost them a $400 million fine. This was extremely unethical, and I am personally glad I have never owned an LG phone.

Back to the 911 problem... Engadget reported that LG was very active with the recall and that they only had a single report of poor 911 connection and no deaths. This is a step in the right direction, but LG still has a record of being very unethical and I would not recommend purchasing an LG product.

Sony Announces New Hannah Montana PSP - Why?

To further add to the current phase of irritating Hannah Montana items, Sony has just announced that they will be releasing a special Hannah Montana version PSP for $199 (left photo). This pack includes a lilac-colored PSP, a Hannah Montana game, a memory stick, and some Hannah Montana stickers.

It is obvious that Sony is gearing toward pre-teen and teenage girls with this product. This would seem to be a good strategy to try and get more girls to play hand-held games, but Sony is ignoring the fact that Hannah Montana viewers don't like to play video games! In my life, I have seen two girls playing handhelds, but they were the exact opposite of girly.

I could see this being a good option if the product they are trying to sell is $20, but $200 seems a bit much for girls who wouldn't enjoy more than 3 games on the PSP library. The Nintendo DS, on the other hand, has seemingly hundreds of girl games (nothing to brag about). They released a DS targeted for girls as well, which was pink-colored (right photo). Both companies need to realize that designing feminine hand-helds does not pay out in the end. It might encourage some girls to purchase the product, but it will also steer many male gamers away.

At the end of the day, most girl gamers will enjoy many similar game titles as males. Designing systems geared towards pre-teens will not benefit the company; it will hurt it. Opinions aside, the Hannah Montana PSP will be released later this year. The worst part of all of this is the fact that it means one more Hannah Montana product will be out there in stores. Great...

The Future of HDTV: OLED

LCD televisions have dominated the HD market for the last couple years. Their thin display coupled with great color has been very attractive to consumers in the HDTV market. It is believed that LCD televisions are the best option for HDTVs, but that viewpoint will soon change thanks to OLED displays.

OLED stands for organic light emitting diode. This technology is much more advanced than LCD because the display does not require a backlight. This means that OLEDs are capable of being significantly thinner than LCDs, most only several millimeters thick!

Another area where OLED shines is in picture quality. In the past, LCD has boasted for having a 2,000:1 contrast ratio. Sony's first OLED television has an astounding 1,000,000:1 contrast ratio. This high contrast ratio can produce deep blacks as well as vibrant color.

For environmentaly friendly consumers, a 20" OLED television requires 40% less energy than a similar size LCD television. This energy efficiency gap only widens as the display size increases.

With all of these advantages, why not purchase an OLED TV now? Because the technology is very new, the prices of OLED televsions are extremely high. Sony's first OLED TV costs a whopping $2500 for an 11 inch television! At the same time, LCD television prices have dropped significanly over the past 5 years, and picture quality has increased in the last several years as well. LCD televisions are also improving in viewing angle for optimum picture quality from many different areas of a room.

OLED will be the HDTV technology of the future, but for now LCD is the best option. LCD televisions are a great deal for the money, and the picture quality is still very good. For now, LCD is the way to go for HD televisions.

Why iPhone Cases?

The folks over at PC Mag recently wrote an article on the 10 Coolest iPhone 3G Cases. I'm asking why? Cases for phones and mp3 players are completely pointless. They usually make the device much uglier than the manufacturer intended, and they don't "protect" the device very well. I bought a hard plastic cover for my iPod several years ago, and it was completely useless. The plastic cover for the screen got many annoying scratches that made it hard to view videos, and the back of the case scratched up the stainless steel backing of the 3rd generation iPod. The case itself did much more damage to the iPod than what I would have done normally using the device! It also was a clear plastic case, which was much less attractive than the iPod's original exterior, and it significantly added to the thickness of the iPod. Basically what I'm trying to say is don't waste your money on pointless cases for your cell phone or mp3 player!