4 posts tagged “youtube”

As hinted at in Episode 673 and last week, Dick and Leo finally talk about T-Mobile's G1.  Made by HTC, the G1 is the first phone featuring Google's open-source smartphone operating system Android.

It has bluetooth, wifi, GPS (though not turn-by-turn), 512 MB built-in memory, although it has an microSD card slot and comes with a 1GB card; a back-lit qwerty keyboard (which is revealed by sliding out the screen) and a replaceable battery; a 3.2MP camera, but like the iPhone, it does not shoot video, and like the iPhone it does not support Flash on the internet.  Unlike the iPhone, it supports voice dialling and "cut and paste".

Physically, it weighs just under 6 ounces.  At the bottom is a panel of buttons: a big Menu button, underneath which at the centre is a trackball (for navigation and as a select button).  To the left of the trackball are the "Call/Send" button and the "Home" button; to the right of the trackball are the "Back" and "Hangup/Power" buttons.

On the left hand side of the phone is a Volume toggle, and on the right hand side the camera button.  For the earphones, unfortunately it's a microUSB connection and you'll need an adapter for your 3.5mm jack earphones.

The display is 3.2 inches at 480 x 320 resolution, with a capacitive touch-screen.  It does not support multi-touch, but does support long presses (through which you get a context menu including "cut and paste").  It has an accelerometer and is supposed to adjust itself to Portrait/Landscape mode, at least when the qwerty keyboard is open.

Since Android is open-source, many applications are expected to come out supporting the platform, and will not be filtered as in the case of the iPhone.  You can access the apps from the Android "Market", and Google will tell you in relation to each app what types of access the app may have on the phone - such as communications, your location and your personal information.

The phone comes with the standard Google apps, such as Gmail, Contacts, Calendar, and like the iPhone, offers a mobile version of YouTube.  If you don't use Gmail, there is another mail application.  Unfortunately, this other mail app cannot open attachments (which Gmail can by HTML conversion), nor save them.  The IM app supports major instant messengers such as AIM, Windows Live, Yahoo and of course Google Talk.  Like Google's desktop browser the Chrome, the Android browser is WebKit-based.  Another app that comes with the phone is AmazonMP3, with access to Amazon's DRM-free mp3 downloads - which only works with Wifi, and not 3G or Edge.  The phone also has its own music player software.

At the moment, the phone is available in T-Mobile stores only in cities which has T-Mobile's 3G coverage.

Favourite Episodes
In Episode 679, Dick and Leo were asked if they had a list of their 20 favourite/funniest episodes.  Ludwik Trammer of gizwizsearch can answer for them.  Search queries on his site show which episodes are most frequently accessed - 182 Titanium Spork, 465 Electron Echo Piano, 462 MP4 Watch, and of course 282 Toothpick Bird.

Ludwik also tells us that the accumulative length of all the DGW shows now exceeds 7 days.

One More Thing
Ludwik is going to introduce a new feature on his site.  In fact it is already operational.  Just go to his site and see if you can spot the difference.  Otherwise, just wait for an announcement through Dick and Leo in tomorrow's recording session, or in next week's episodes.

Video Podcasts To Wait
The last time Leo talked about video podcasts (with hopes of getting DGW on video) was Episode 671.  Unfortunately, with the economic downturn, Leo has decided to be a little more prudent, and maybe putting that on hold, although he may still put out a weekly "best of" video podcast.

Second Longest Episode
At 31:03, today's show is the second longest episode, just 12 seconds short of Episode 634, the Lexmark X9575 Professional.


Listen to Episode 686
Go to TWiT
The Giz Wiz Home Page

These earbuds look exactly the same as the familiar iPod earbuds, but are 500 times as big (hence the name 500XL).  They are desktop speakers made by Fred & Friends, and available on Perpetual Kid (see also Episode 404).  USB-powered, they produce decent sound, and can double up as portable speakers using 4 AA batteries.  A fun gag.

Andy Marken chips in again
The generous Andy Marken has stepped into the fold again, offering 10 copies of Cyberlink's YouCam webcam special effects software (see Episode 443) as prizes, to add to the 3 Maxtor portable drives.  For details of the contest, see Episode 514.

You can see one of the YouCam special effects, the Polaroid look, in Dick's recent video on the 500XL Earbuds Speakers.

And Now, From Our Own Correspondents

Terry Scott who works for Edmonton Transit in Edmonton, Alberta listens to DGW while driving his bus at work.  After listening to Episode 500, he talked to his brother in Winnipeg using his HP PDA on his Jawbone bluetooth headset, and suddenly realised that he's been turned into a geek, but at least he's not a proctologist.  Leo warns, "DGW may cause geekiness," and Dick warns, "Don't look underneath the veneer."

Theme-Free Wednesday Theme
Dan Lueders of Why Me Studio, a DGW listener, and musician and songwriter based in Chicago, sent in a theme to Dick and Leo back in January (which apparently Dick again misplaced - see below).  It's for their Theme-Free Wednesday.  It was made in response to comments by Dick and Leo in the beginning of Episode 478, segments from which have been incorporated into the theme itself.

Some listeners might remember the name Dan Lueders.  He made a Gravy Jingle submission which Dick first mentioned in Episode 115, which was never played, and somehow got misplaced.  The jingle submission was later recovered and played in Episode 313 (and played again in Episode 314).  By then Paul Minshall's Gravy Jingle had long established itself as the closing theme.

For more information on Dan Lueders, check out his profile on urSESSION, or Promiseland Music.

For a long-winded story of the Gravy Slogan and Jingle, check out the Gravy page.

For more DGW jingles, you can find them on the Jingles page.

Listen to Episode 528
Go to TWiT
Read Dick's Write-Up

Dick's Gadget Warehouse

The LiveWire series of backpacks from Jansport have special pockets and connectors for the iPod, with iPod play control buttons on the strap.

Happy Birthday, Henry!
Today is Henry Laporte's 12th birthday.  Someday he will be getting as a present from Leo the Jansport backpack after Dick is done testing the product.

Torran, Torran, Torran
10-year-old Torran found out about the DGW from his Dad.  He wants Dick and Leo to give him a shout on the show.

Mad Minute
Dr Rude, sex therapist, answers questions from the audience.

Listen to Episode 136
Go to TWiT
Read Dick's Write-Up