Mphony Is the AV Receiver I Want to Have [Audio]

Written by lito paramo | 29 September 2009

Yes, I'm a touch freak, and I love the Mphony AV receiver. No buttons except for what it looks like a big analog wheel. The rest is just one giant touchscreen covering the whole front plate:

According to he manufacturer/designer—it looks like it's still a concept to me—the touchscreen hierarchical menu system will make it easier to setup and use than a normal AV receiver. I can see their point, but then... Wouldn't it be better to have no buttons or touchscreen at all in the receiver, and control it all from your iPhone, iPod touch, Zune HD, or whatever smartphone/tabletish device you choose? [Myphony]

Apple Genius Bar: iPhones' 30% Call Drop Is "Normal" in New York [IPhone]

Written by lito paramo | 29 September 2009

How utterly shitty is the iPhone on AT&T in the New York area? The average iPhone drops 30 percent of all calls. And that's considered acceptable by Apple.

Giz reader Manoj took his iPhone to the Genius Bar to have it looked at because it was dropping calls left and right, and AT&T swore stuff was totally kosher on their end, so he thought something was wrong with his phone. After doing a stat dump, the Genius showed Manoj that his iPhone had actually dropped 22 percent of calls.

The jawdropper: The Genius told Manoj that's actually excellent compared to most people in the New York area, where a 30 percent dropped call rate is the average. There was nothing Apple could do for Manoj. His phone was totally fine. Which means there's nothing Apple can do for rest of us.

Ridiculous, and downright insulting. But, uh, if you pay $150 for this box it'll be all better. Excuse me while I go and puke. I'll call somebody and complain, but it probably wouldn't get through. [Thanks, and sorry, Manoj!]

Steve Jobs Gets a Dose of His Own Medicine [Apple]

Written by lito paramo | 29 September 2009

Back in 1984, IBM was Big Brother—dominating one boring world of beige and mainframes—and Steve Jobs was the rebel. In 2009, Apple and Jobs are the Big Brother of media in a world of white earbuds.

At least, that's what DoubleTwist—a company that makes software to use iTunes with any media device—thinks. That's why they turned the famous "1984" SuperBowl commercial against Apple and Steve Jobs himself.

The original Apple "1984" ad was commissioned by Steve Jobs to agency Chiat/Day. The ad was written by Steve Hayden and art directed by Brent Thomas, with creative direction by Jobs' pal Lee Clow. The Apple board didn't want to air "1984", but at the end Jobs got it in the SuperBowl, becoming the most famous and cost-effective commercial in the history of TV advertisement. It featured a nameless heroine sporting a t-shirt with the Macintosh Picasso icon, being chased by policemen who are unable to stop her as she throws a hammer against a screen that has a large number of people idiotized.

Of course, in the original ad, the man in the screen is a representation of IBM, and the Mac manages to break the Big Brother brain washing. In the DoubleTwist ad, however, the man in the screen is Steve Jobs. And, supposedly, this October 6 they will get all of the hypnotized fanboys out of the Kool-Aid loop. Good luck with that, people. [TechCrunch]