CrunchGear

Kane Kramer claims to have invented the iPod some 30 years ago and Apple is willing to admit that he did, in fact, invent the technology behind the iPod. This fact was disclosed while Apple and Burst.com were in the middle of some legal shenanigans and Apple flew Kramer out from the UK to Cupertino to testify on their behalf. Kramer’s patents and drawings, which he was unable to renew in 1988 were used by Apple to squash Burst’s claims that they had siphoned technology. So far Kramer has only received consulting fees, but hasn’t seen a dime otherwise.
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We’re two days from Apple’s “Let’s Rock” event and the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco has been decked out. Yay! Moving on.

Ars is reporting that they’ve caught wind from a “little birdie” that Apple will release iPhone firmware 2.1 on Tuesday along with new iPods. So what can we expect from 2.1? Earlier reports suggested better GPS functionality and, Jobs willing, push service. However, Ars is also suggesting that a few hidden gems were withheld from developers. So, what sort of surprises can we expect this Tuesday on the iPhone front?

Jason from Techware Labs seems to have gotten himself some private time with a new Dell keyboard and mouse and I have no idea whether or not these are worth posting, but maybe some of you periphery freaks will get a kick out of it.

A new Dell mouse seems to be a shot across the bow for Logitech. The text around the sensor reads “LaserStream Technology” which is a trademark used by Agilent Technologies, a company that sold laser technology to Logitech. The sensor appears identical to the one on the Logitech G-series (G3, G5, G7) which is a second-generation laser sensor maxing out at 2000 DPI or so.
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CEDIA is full of iPod docks, but the only one that interested me was the Wadia 170iTransport. It comes from the same company that has been producing uber-high quality, but pricey, digital audio converters since before the last Bush administration. I spent some time with the 170iTransport and walked away fully impressed with the audio and video capabilities. Granted, the unit isn’t for everybody, but for those audiophiles ready to ditch physical media and step across to high bit rate digital audio, it’s a great solution. Owners need to bring their own DAC or amplifier, but that shouldn’t be an issue for the target audience. The dock sells for only $379 and started shipping in June.

My hopes of owning such a righteous HDTV have been severely dashed. Mitsubishi has priced their 65-inch LaserVue HDTV that will begin shipping to Diamond stores at the end of this month and you may want to sell your car or take out a second mortgage. That’s a bit of an exaggeration, but the 65-inch set will cost a smidgen under $7,000, which is on par with other 60+-inch HDTVs, but there’s no word on the 73-inch set, yet.

Sharp always has one of the sleekest booths at CEDIA. Minimulistic cues abound, I wish I could pull of so much cool in my midwest pad. Anyway, Sharp is showing off their limited edition LCD, a bunch of standard LCDs, and of course, their ‘new’ Blu-ray players that Sharp hopes someone will buy. 

Photo set after the jump. Enjoy.

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I know, I know, but the eSommelier Wine Cellar system is actually really neat. The product scans a wine bottle, prints off a custom label, catalogs it, and can even provide live temperature and humidity conditions in your cellar. Software control comes from either a stationary touchscreen, or coming soon, a wireless touchpad. The whole system costs around $10k, so obviously, not everyone is going to have the system installed in their cellar. Personally, my wine management is a tab bit more simply, they are hanging by the stove. I wonder if that’s good for ‘em.

Who doesn’t enjoy a high-end universal remote? After spending sometime with Universal Remote’s latest units, I can tell you that users will certainly enjoy these too. The MX-440 might retail for $249, but the solid build and a striking high-res LCD shouts quality. The big brother, MX-880, easily justifies the higher price of $499 with a bigger screen and better feel along with RF signals. While the two conventional remotes are nice, they aint the RSS-sport’n, remote audio server control’n, $1,499 MX-6000 touchscreen remote though. 

Remote p0rn after the link.

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Monster Cable setup a mobile test lab at CEDIA this year, challenging any cable manufacturer to a head-to-head battle. Only one attempted to enter, but didn’t see disclaimer that Monster wanted 4m cables or longer in the match up, and that particular maker didn’t have HDMI cables that long.

I know what’s yelled whenever a Monster Cable HDMI story comes up: Monoprice-4-evah playa! I hear ya, but take a look at what the test equipment that Monster Cable employs to prove their cables are the best. It impressed me.

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The Speakercarft booth took a different approach than most others at CEDIA ‘08. The focus seemed to be the company and building relationships, rather than products. The booth did feature a few of the speaker company’s wares out front, but inside was a bass-pounding good time thanks to Lucent Dossier performers. I don’t think there was another booth at this show that drew the same amount of curious onlookers. 

Check out what I mean after the jump.

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Oppo has always been a driving force in the upscalling DVD scene. The company was one of the first, and the AV crowd still looks upon with respect, so when the BDP-83 dropped at the DVDO booth, they took notice. Rightfully so too as the BDP-83 is sporting the same killer video processor as the DVDO EDGE. No word on price or availability, but you can assume that the player supports BD Live, thanks to the rear-panel Ethernet jack along with 7.1 analog out for legacy audio. Plus, the front logo markings revel that it also supports SACDs with HDCD support. Hopefully, more info will drop soon — like the price — as the BDP-83 might just be the first must-have Blu-ray player.

Pics of remote and back panel after the jump.

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This thing really freaks me out, but I can’t stop watching it.

Microsoft has a new scheme designed to get people excited about watching movies on Xbox Live, which isn’t half-bad as it is now. They’re launching something called the Xbox Film Club, which gives a handful of lucky people (you have to enter and win) the chance to see new, hit movies before their theatrical release.

It does seem to be UK-centric at this point, what with one of the movies being touted, Tropic Thunder, having come out in the U.S. a few weeks ago.

Now how ’bout a U.S. version?

via Xbox-Scene

Yesterday we posted about the possibility of Magnetosphere being the visualizer that Rose mentioned a week back and last night via Twitter, Rose confirmed this.

Confirmed: This was visualization I saw in a build of iTunes 8.0 - http://tinyurl.com/67m3pv

I just wanted to remind my fellow Mac users that they really aught to be using Plex to play back all their movies. (And I do mean movies—a quick clip here and there, you’re best served by VLC or mplayer.) A new version, 0.5.15, was released two days ago, and includes all the usual bug fixes that you’d expect. What’s unexpected, though, is the complete revamp of the application’s branding: new logo, splash screen, default skin, etc. (Again, I recommend the skin Aeon, though it’s a bit of a pain to set up.)

In conclusion, Plex is neat. Use it.

The Dell Mini 9 appears to not completely suck, which is good news for the netbook crowd, I suppose. But—and I’m sure you’ve all been wondering about this—what does it look like on the inside? How does Dell manage to fit so much into such a tiny space?

As luck would have it, Dell actually has provided photos and illustrations of the Mini 9’s interior. Unless you’re one of those folks who hang out at Radio Shack for fun, they’re probably only worth a “oh, cool, that’s what it looks like,” which is exactly what I said.