I’ve already posted at least one anti-Apple iPad rant or so here already. But the guys over at TechStartups have compiled an even better list:

5 Reasons NOT to buy an Apple iPad:

• No Multitasking – No searching the web as you chat on AIM, no listening to Pandora as you read an eBook. Sure, the iPad is faster than your smartphone, but what good is added speed when you will have to be constantly going in and out of apps instead of being efficiently able to do them all at once?
• No Flash – An understandable limitation in the world of cell phones, but this is unacceptable in a product trying to position itself in the world of notebooks. Not only do many websites require flash to view certain content, some require it to access the website.
• Limited Software – Like the iPhone, only runs apps from the Apple’s App Store. Although there are tons of apps at Apple’s store, it still bans certain apps, such as Google Voice, your notebook does not.
• What will you use it for? – The iPad is not going to replace any of your existing technology. Your smartphone may have a smaller screen, but it does just about everything the iPad does (not to mention makes phone calls), the iPad’s clumsy touch screen keyboard and limited capabilities make it incapable of replacing your laptop, and even a Kindle is a more practical alternative to the iPad as an eReader.
• It is sure to get better – If you still feel like you really need an iPad, at least wait until the next model comes out. By then Apple will have heard all the above complaints and it will be greatly improved, and probably cheaper. Case in point: the iPhone.

I’m sure people will want to argue about the multi-tasking since it’s an update that’s been rumored to happen with the upcoming OS 4.0 – but remember this. For each update for the Apple iPod Touch, the users have had to pay for those updates. And if multi-tasking is coming, it’s yet to be officially announced.

Love the list, now go check out Techstartups.

[ Links: Just Say No, Techstartups ]

The new Google phone, the Nexus One, has received lots and lots of hype, most of it focusing on how the device was supposed to revolutionize the US subsidized handset pricing model. Instead, it landed with kind of a semi-interesting thud – and users complained of high fees, no phone support, and the fact that the phone was only available via T-Mobile. Google has tackled the first two of those problems, and now it appears the phone is poised to arrive on other carrier networks. Vaguely-sourced rumors indicate that the Nexus One is set to arrive on Verizon’s network on March 23 – which sounds about right, given that’s the first day of CTIA. FCC documents indicate an AT&T version is also in the pipeline. <

Link to the original article…

Nokia is known for a lot of things, marketing hype sometimes being one of them; however when I heard about the Nokia BH-905 “high performance” Bluetooth headphones with active noise reduction, my cynical side immediately kicked in. I mean, what could be so “high performance” about Bluetooth headsets?

So let’s see… Nokia states this about their headphones:

Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR, Headset Profile (HSP) 1.2, Hands-Free Profile (HFP) 1.1, A2DP 1.2
3.5mm Nokia AV (3.5mm standard jack) connectivity
Frequency Response: 15Hz to 20kHz
Advanced Wolfson Microelectronics myZone Ambient Noise Cancellation for up to 99% noise reduction
10 microphones – 8 for noise cancelling, 2 for capturing speech in loud surroundings
Talk Time: 24 Hours, 15 Hours with noise cancellation active
Music Playback: 25 Hours, 16 Hours with noise cancellation active
Standby Time: Up to 600 Hours

The kind folks from Nokia and WOMWorld met my cynicism head-on and sent a pair of their Nokia BH-905 and a Nokia N97 to test things out. Upon opening the box, you get a good look at the size of these headphones. Of course, these are quite a bit more bulky than your typical in-ear solution; however the noise cancellation feature for calls as well as voice capture easily place the Nokia BH-905 top of it’s class. In the future, remind me to temper my cynical side.

Mind you, my normal Bluetooth earpiece is now a Motorola Endeavor HX1 with “Crystal Talk” and before that, an Aliph Jawbone 2 with their “Noise Assassin” noise cancellation. So making simple phone calls, people could still hear some road noise or if I were in the office, they could hear the server fans with the Jawbone or my Motorola. With the Nokia BH-905, I was constantly asked if I were being still, if I were still there or if I had turned off everything in my background; which wasn’t the case.

Another test happened while downtown, I sat down on a bench across from the street from some construction, decided to listen to some music. Instead of the normal reaction by some of the more inexpensive noise cancellation headphones where they just make the music louder and call that “noise cancellation”, the headphones pushed out the noise and allowed me to listen to my music from the phone without incident. Just flick the switch on the bottom left headphone and active noise cancellation kicks in noticeably. Since I decided to use a phone the entire time, I received a few phone calls while downtown and while they could hear some things in the background – it does not mute your surroundings to a point of where it’s unnatural, they could easily hear me over everything.

Note: Since these cover both ears, I would not suggest using these while driving. But using these in the workplace, in the home, while you travel on airplanes, I’d consider these headphones the first thing I’d grab before travel.

There’s a lot of technology that goes into the Nokia BH-905. Noise cancellation, superior Bluetooth compatibility, connectivity with just about any device that has either a headphone plug (yes, even the Apple iPhone) or your home stereo, to a pretty cool but huge carrying case to safely secure your attachments, charger and secure your player or phone in its exterior pocket… ok, I’m beating around the bush. The Nokia BH-905 isn’t cheap. But it’s not built cheap. It doesn’t feel cheap. It doesn’t look cheap. And it doesn’t work cheaply either – meaning, it actually does what Nokia says. Which, forces my cynical side to say that these headphones are definitely better than the Bose QuietComfort 3 headphones for about $100 less.

Nokia, I’m impressed by these headphones. There, I said it. It’s a shame that I had to send these back too…

The only cons to the Nokia BH-905 would be the fact that Nokia didn’t use the Micro-USB connector for recharging, much like the Nokia N97 or even my Motorola Endeavor HX1 headset and the price being another possible detractor. With that said, I still give the Nokia BH-905 a 4.5 out of 5 (Highly Recommended) score.

[ Links: Nokia, Nokia BH-905, WOMWorld ]

If you listen to some certain monstrous cable company, their overpriced and oft-litigated cables are worth every penny. I disagree. As do a lot of other people and companies that have been proving that same company claims to be more marketing hype than quality product. Sure, all you have to do is Google the phrase “high price cable challenge” to verify that the ongoing debate about high priced cables versus lower-priced cables is still ongoing as of today. But in the end… it just boils down to what works well for you and what you can afford.

With some cables coming with esoteric terms and overly expensive prices, let’s face it… nobody can really afford a bad experience due to the cables if they’re expensive or not.

So for this review, I got to do something extremely fun. Instead of going through a bunch of electronic scopes to measure the effectiveness of a cable or two… no time for that nerdy nonsense. I just grabbed the nearest LG 47LH90 [ site here ] and a Sony PlayStation3, a Monster THX 700 4′ HDMI cable [ Best Buy link here ] and an Optimized Cable 6′ HDMI cable [ site here ]. For the record, I also included some thin 6′ HDMI cable that came with some other piece of hardware I’ve had laying around that came with some piece of equipment as my “control group”.

With the unnamed cable, the thing had one end that absolutely refused to fit properly into my television. It was warped slightly but it would “fit”. I expected the video from this ill-fitting HDMI cable to be rather bad but it was rather clear… as long as I didn’t touch the cable. This is far from ideal. So I replace Mr. Unnamed Cable for the Monster cable… mind you, as unscientific as this review has been so far, the video was infinitely better and the audio was clearer. Things just worked better, as it should. But let’s’ be clear… this is an $80.00 cable. So it had better work as advertised.

After a full hour of playing Uncharted 2 on the PlayStation3 with the Monster HDMI cable, I had to give the Optimized Cable Company 6′ HDMI cable a chance. Won’t lie… for $13.00 bucks, I wasn’t really expecting much. Sure, the company has a good idea – bringing good cables to good people for less money. That usually works for me… it means more money for yet another PlayStation3 game, or a few Blu-Ray movies. But there is a thing as too cheap… such as that unnamed, thin HDMI cable that I had laying around. That unnamed cable was just… too bad. I’d lose my religion if that were the only cable I had laying around.

Looking at the specs on the Optimized Cable HDMI cable, it has specs that go head to head against the Monster THX 700 cable:

Cable Type: HDMI Male to HDMI Male Cable
Length: 6 Foot
Most Current HDMI Version: 1.3b1
Gauge: 28 AWG (American Wire Gauge)
Bandwidth: 340 Mhz 10.2 Gbps / 120 Hz Refresh Rate
Connector Finish: Gold
Shielding level: 3x Triple
Shielding type: EMI (Electromagnetic Interference)
Certified HDMI: Yes
HDCP Compliant: Yes
CEC Compliant: Yes
ROHS Compliant: Yes
Backwards Compatible with HDMI Version 1.2: Yes
Supports Blu Ray & HD DVD 1080p: Yes
Supports 480p, 720p 1080i, 1080p, 1440p: Yes
Supports Lossless DTS 8 Channel Audio: Yes
Supports TrueHD & DTS-HD: Yes

So how did the Optimized Cable Company HDMI cable do? It fit properly, was heavier than I expected, and didn’t feel cheap or flimsy. And I didn’t see a difference with it and the Monster one. Not one bit. No loss in sound, no loss in color, no bleeding, no static, it didn’t get in the way of me playing Uncharted 2 for another 2 hours ignoring the phone and bypassing a couple of bathroom breaks nor did it really seem like it was a less superior cable.

Sure, I could hook up all kind of machines to show that this cable probably can only use about 95% of the proposed 10.2Gbps throughput, but as far as I can tell you as a consumer… it is $68 dollars cheaper than the Monster Cable and delivered the same exact experience. And in this economy… that’s enough savings and positive experience to recommend cables from Optimized Cable Company.

4.5 out of 5 (Highly Recommended)

[ Optimized Cable Company ] [ Optimized Cable HDMI Cable ]

What has basically been one of the busiest starts of any year for me has meant that I’ve not updated the site like I normally would have. I have a review for a few items from Insignia, Rocketfish, Nokia, MagicJack, and even Skype and Gizmo Project. And amazingly enough, I’ve even somehow avoided the 2008 CES and Apple MacWorld web traffic hype too

And this year, I’ll have some other promotions going on, such as the ones from Senseo and a few others.

And yes… there’s going to be an even newer look for RTL (removethelabels) as well… just hope you’ve all caught up with your reading here. And per usual, if you have any questions and/or stories, I’ll gladly post ‘em here.

Thanks for your patience.