By Martin Regtien
Contributing Writer, RealTechNews

POINT AND SHOOT ASTRONOMY

Paul Moons, Contributor with DigitalReviews.net says: Meade’s mySKY is an innovative, easy to use device that allows you to learn about the night sky by literally pointing at what you want to know about. Easy.
The mySKY incorporates a GPS to auto align itself then leaves the user to literally point and learn. Information is displayed as audio, video and still photography. Incredible.
Meade claims this is the easiest way to explore the night sky, and if this device performs as described, I think I would find it hard to disagree.

Read on for more details here.

By Michael Santo
Executive Editor, RealTechNews

I’ll bet you all forgot about this; November 19th the Nintendo Wii is one year old. And despite the fact that we all made fun of it when we found out it’s name (come on, come on admit it; I for one, will admit it) it’s been the most successful console in this generation of gaming consoles.

The Nintendo Wii has far outsold both the Xbox 360 and the PS3 since it’s launch, and why is that? The innovative controllers are one reason. The controller setup enables Nintendo to come up with games like Wii Fit (whenever it launches, anyway). But there’s also the fact that its games are plain and simple — fun.

When you ask people about the Wii, they say it’s fun. And that’s why it’s still in short supply after all this time (although it appears sometimes the supply problem may be in the eye of the beyolder).

We Say: At any rate, Happy Birthday, Wii, and how about manufacturing more of them, Nintendo?

By Michael Santo
Executive Editor, RealTechNews

T-Mobile and Motorola have confirmed what users already know: some Sidekick Slides, when the display’s slide mechanism is actuated, may reboot or even power off. They’ve suspended sales, and in fact, if you go to the T-Mobile website, you’ll see the Slide is listed as “temporarily unavailable.”

The root cause is not known, so who knows how long a fix will take. The T-Mobile Sidekick LX and Sidekick iD are unaffected by this issue.

Those who have purchased Slides with this issue can either call T-Mobile Customer Support or go to a store to discuss “options.”

We Say: if a device is going to have the name “Slide,” wouldn’t you slide it a few times to check it before shipping it?

By Michael Santo
Executive Editor, RealTechNews

One of the best elements of the Nintendo Wii is the unique set of controllers. Not only that, there have been aftermarket attachments that turn the controller into a more-realistic racket, for example. Today Nintendo released the Zapper, a controller shell for both the Nunchuk and Wii Remote that looks like, well, what do you think it looks like?

The Zapper ($20) ships with a game, Link’s Crossbow Training, which is really a training ground for use of the Zapper, though it is derived from The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. You play as Link in 27 mini-games which fall into two genres: target practice and protecting Link from enemies.

Nintendo plans to come out with more controller shells, but the one I (and other people looking for more exercise with their Wii) am looking forward to is the Wii Fit along with the Wii Balance Board.

By Michael Santo
Executive Editor, RealTechNews

E-books have pretty much flopped until now, but this morning Amazon.com introduced the Kindle, a device they hope does for e-books what the iPod did for MP3 players.

The Kindle weighs about 10 oz. and can hold up to 200 titles. Size-wise it’s 7.5″ x 5.3″ x 0.7″ — as you can see, smaller than a folded-up newspaper. Cost: not cheap, at $399, but despite the fact that it uses cellular technology (EVDO) to deliver the titles to you, there are no monthly or wireless fees.

Of course, you still have to pay for the books, right? According to the Kindle’s sales page (yes, you can buy it right now), New York Times Best Sellers and all New Releases are $9.99, unless marked otherwise. Yes, the ubiquitous “unless marked otherwise.” You can also get book samples delivered for free.

Nicely, you can even have newspapers or magazines delivered to your Kindle, automatically upon publication. This includes titles such as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, TIME, Atlantic Monthly, and Forbes. Monthly Kindle newspaper subscriptions are $5.99 to $14.99 per month, while magazines are $1.25 to $3.49 per month. All magazines and newspapers include a free two-week trial.

You can also get info from top blogs delivered to it, and even email documents to your Kindle.
More

By Michael Santo
Executive Editor, RealTechNews

The latest piece of electronics that’s in short supply isn’t an iPod or an iPhone, or a console like a PS3 or a Wii. It’s — no kidding — the new Zune, specifically the 80 GB model.

While Web retailers have 4 GB and 8 GB versions of the second-generation Zunes in stock, the 80 GB music player is not available on Amazon, Best Buy or Circuit City’s Web sites.

Microsoft said it prioritized the manufacture of the smaller Zune 4 and Zune 8 devices, and that more of the 80 GB version should be on shelves, physical and virtual, in the next 10 to 14 days. Source: Yahoo! News

We Say: You have to bet that this is pleasant news, and perhaps a pleasant surprise for Microsoft.

By Michael Santo
Executive Editor, RealTechNews

Microsoft probably can’t wait to get Windows Vista Service Pack 1 out the door, as many corporations will not adope the new OS until SP1 is released. To that end, Microsoft has delivered a release candidate of Windows Vista Service Pack 1 to some 15,000 invitation-only testers, while at the same time saying it was still on track to deliver SP1 early next year.

You’ll recall that SP1 was released to beta in late September, and while Microsoft continues to run a “closed beta,” it has said it will release SP1 to anyone who wants to test it … soon. It’s unclear when soon will be, however.

The Release Candidate (RC) build is build 6001-17042-071107-1618. It weighs in at 434.84MB for the x86 version and 734.3MB for the x64 version.

Unfortunately, according to Microsoft, if you already have a beta version on your PC, you’ll have to uninstall the old version. “Windows Vista SP1 does not support build-to-build upgrades,” stated Microsoft. “Therefore, if you have installed a previously release build on your machine, you have to uninstall this old build before installing the next build of Windows Vista SP1.”

We Say: I remember when I beta-tested Windows 95 and Windows 98, I didn’t have to fresh install every time they sent me an update. Moving backwards? At any rate, Microsoft continues to shoot for the first quarter of 2008 as the release timeframe for SP1.

By Michael Santo
Executive Editor, RealTechNews

According to security firm Sophos, wi-fi piggybacking, which is jumping onto someone else’s wi-fi network and using their bandwidth, is a lot more popular than thought. A survey of 560 respondents, run from October 13 - November 6, 2007, showed that 54% had freeloaded off someone’s unprotected wi-fi.

As we know, people can be arrested for wi-fi theft. But is it really theft? Most people think it’s a victimless crime. But it’s not for the ISP, who loses revenue.

Additionally, if people leave their wi-fi routers unprotected, allowing others to piggyback onto them, the worst problem is that people can get into your network, and if you don’t have your hard drives locked down, infect your systems with malware or grab sensitive files, with perhaps enough data for ID theft to occur.

It’s been said before, but it’s good to say it again: when you get a new wi-fi router, before using it, first

1. change your router password. This should be the first thing you do. Default passwords for specific brands of routers are well-known
2. disable SSID broadcast. There’s no reason to broadcast it, really
3. encrypt with WPA or WPA2

You can take further steps, like restricting access to specific MAC addresses, but personally, I thnk that’s not necessary. The above three steps should be plenty.