The Dodge Retort

I’ve been invited along with 600 others by the Verizon folks to watch the first NFL game ever broadcast on 3D TV. The game will be between the New England Patriots (my team) and New York Giants Sunday night Sept. 2.

The event is at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, Mass. It’s an away game – no crowds!! TDR (me) will file a full report about the experience.

For those already with 3D sets, it’ll aired on FIOS channel 834. Bring your 3D glasses. Here’s the news release from Verizon.

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NEWS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                Media contacts:

August 11, 2010 See below

Verizon FiOS Scores First NFL Game on 3D TV: Giants-Patriots Preseason Match-Up on Sept. 2

Company to Produce and Broadcast the Game,

Exclusively for FiOS TV Customers

NEW YORK – Verizon is kicking off the football season with the production and broadcast of the first National Football League game in 3D on television for the company’s FiOS TV customers in parts of New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts andRhode Island.

The game is the Sept. 2 preseason match-up between the New York Giants and the New England Patriots, at New Meadowlands Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J.  Coverage begins at 6:45 p.m., with Verizon FiOS1 pre-game, half-time and post-game shows – all in 3D.  The game begins at 7 p.m.

Verizon FiOS1 is producing the 3D broadcast, which will be shown on FiOS Channel 834 for FiOS TV subscribers in theNew York City area, including Long Island and Westchester and Rockland counties, as well as for subscribers in northern New Jersey, Mercer County, N.J., Massachusetts and Rhode Island.  Similar to previously offered 3D programming from Verizon, customers must have 3D TV sets, 3D glasses and a high-definition set-top box to view the broadcast.

The veteran on-air broadcast team includes play-by-play announcer Spero Dedes, analyst Howard Cross and sideline reporter Kimberly Jones.

“This is the next major step in our development of 3D experiences for our FiOS TV customers,” said Terry Denson, vice president of content strategy and acquisition for Verizon.  “Broadcasting the first 3D NFL game delivers on our promise to FiOS customers to provide a superior TV offering, including 3D, HD and VOD programming, as well as interactivity that cable can’t match.”

Giants Chief Marketing Officer Mike Stevens said, “The Giants are excited to host the first 3D broadcast of an NFL Game in our new stadium.  We have worked closely with our partner Verizon in developing new technology throughout the stadium for our fans, and now Verizon FiOS and the Giants will be taking the next step in innovation for our fans at home.”

In support of the 3D broadcast, Verizon will host customer viewing parties at New Meadowlands Stadium and at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass.  Guests at Gillette Stadium will include youngsters from local Boys and Girls Clubs of America.

Verizon also is working with two popular sports bars in the New York and New England markets — Slate Bar in Manhattan and Snookers in Providence, R.I. — to give consumers a first-hand look at the power of Verizon’s 3D experience.  The company will set up 3D TVs at each location and hold promotional events there.

The broadcast marks Verizon’s third major 3D initiative this summer.  On July 10 and 11, the company broadcast the first Major League Baseball games in 3D, between the New York Yankees and the Seattle Mariners.  And on July 15, Verizon announced that it will carry 3D programming on FiOS TV Video on Demand from WealthTV.

“We are committed to bringing our customers a consistently high-quality TV experience with the best programming available over the country’s only all-fiber network,” added Denson.  “And there’s so much more yet to come, with new programming, applications and other enhancements that only FiOS can deliver.”

FiOS TV offers a broad collection of programming, with more than 565 all-digital channels including up to 142 HD channels and 18,000 monthly video-on-demand titles.  FiOS also provides next-generation interactive services including an advanced interactive media guide; social networking, news and entertainment widgets; remote DVR management via broadband or cell phone; and more.

In addition, with NFL Mobile only from Verizon, Giants and Patriots fans can get news, scores and highlights all season long on their Verizon Wireless smartphones.  For information on how to download, customers can visit www.verizonwireless.com/nfl.

For the latest news, updates and information about FiOS TV, visit www.verizon.com/newscenter andhttp://www.verizon.com/athomeblog.

What difference does an ounce make? When it comes to smartphones, a lot.

The Droid X made by Motorola and sold by Verizon Wireless is lot of smart phone for 200 bucks:  its big 4.3 inch display is brilliant and crisp. The X’s thin design is sleek and a major improvement upon the brick-like profile of its original Motorola Droid. Verizon Wireless loaned me a review unit late last week and I’ve been putting it through its paces.

Droid X

But I give the Droid Incredible (which TDR followers know I loved)  from HTC with its smaller 3.7 inch screen and profile a small edge.  Given, they are both $200 Verizon smartphones with the usual two year service contract, they beg comparison.

Here’s the weigh-in: The X weighs 5.47 ounces (49 ounces less than original Motorola Droid) versus 4.59 ounces for the Incredible (versus 3.7 ounces for my aging Blackberry Curve). Watching videos on the X, my hand tired holding it up while I was horizontal on the couch.

It feels a bit bulky in my pants pocket, too. It’s 5.02 inches tall, .039 inches at it thickest point and 2.57 inches wide versus. The Incredible is a touch thicker, a touch less wide and 4.63 inches tall.

Both are both based on the Android version 2.1 operating system, but that’s where the innards’ similarities end. The X comes with a different chipset known as OMAP from Texas Instruments,  long a mainstay in cell phones. And it has the Motorola application platform, whatever that is.

The Incredible phone is based on Qualcomm’s Snapdragon processor and is a heavily Google-ized phone. Verizon Wireless  calls the Incredible a “Google Experience Device (GED).” The X is a pure Android…the differences are subtle, but simply put, the GED is an Android-based phone with lots of Google apps built in.

So what does all this mean? I found some of X’s applications a bit funky and hard to use. For example, it was easy uploading photos from the Incredible to Facebook. It took some messing around to set it up on the X. The X’s camera had a pronounced shutter delay (maybe it was the lighting, but it never seemed fast in the 50 shots I took mostly in broad daylight) and it initially took me a few minutes to figure out that the shutter button was on the side.

Verizon's Incredible from HTC

Speaking of buttons, the X does a lot more with physical controls on the phone itself. I was constantly using the go back button, which the third from the right in the photo. I prefer the Incredible’s heavier use of screen-resident controls. The Incredible also seemed a touch faster than the X.

My X’s camera also inexplicably defaulted to black and white shots and I still figuring out how to get color shots back. Mind you, they both have great video cams and 8 mega-pixel cameras. I just had better Kodak moments with the Incredible in the few days Verizon Wireless gave me a loaner.

I also took an instant liking to the Incredible, but had to warm up the X although it is great for watching videos and has excellent apps for texting, e-mail, speech recognition and a great voice phone (as in talk on the phone).

The X is DLNA (Digital Living Network Alliance) certified meaning it can wirelessly or wired share content with other DLNA devices of which I have none and I suspect there are few. So I could not test this app.

I noticed little differences between the Incredible and the X. The on-screen keyboard on the X is excellent, but the CAPS lock stayed on after a keystroke instead of automatically defaulting to lower case which was the Incredible did – a tiny but smart feature.

One edge for the X is that it comes with 16 GB of memory built in and can be upgraded 32 GB whereas the Incredible comes with eight and can only add another 16 GB via a MicroSD card, according to Verizon’s specs (a friend who works for Verizon tells me the Incredible does go up to 32 GB and that Verizon’s specs are wrong).

Grant you, both phones are good and reason enough to say screw Apple’s iPhone should Verizon Wireless ever carry it. I am not saying this just because Steve jobs last week arrogantly excused the antenna problems with the iPhone 4. The Droids are nearly as good as the iPhone and you get a more reliable network with Verizon Wireless than what iPhone users endure with AT&T.

One iPhone advantage I noticed is that many Android apps cannot be sized spreading/pinching thumb and fore finger on the touch sensitive displays. And the single Android New York Times app is pretty basic compared to the several NYT apps for the iPod touch and iPad. After all, the iPhone, introduced Jan. 9, 2007, enjoys a near three-year head start on Android smartphones.

I could spend months testing out the both phones and still find new things. I always get paranoid that when I say a phone lacks a particular feature because maybe I could not find it or turn it on. But that is the phone’s fault, isn’t it?

I haven’t made up my mind for sure given I am waiting until November when I get my discounted phone plus a another $50 off. By that time, the Incredible and X could be in the rear view mirror, supplanted by a raft of new Android smartphones. Verizon Wireless has five, now (six technically, but one is being phased out).

For those with either  the X or the Incredible, what do you think?

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Like me, you may have had something to do that prevented you from watching the U.S. versus Ghana World Cup match on TV. I had a wedding that started at 1 CDT in Minneapolis suburb Wayzata, Minn. Two hours for pictures and the ceremony would prevent from situating in front of the TV for the duration.

And representing AT&T....

Smartphones to the rescue. Not really. It was AT&T 3G and an iPhone v. my Blackberry Curve and Verizon 3G. Neither performed admirably. My son had the iPhone and for 30 minutes tried to get a video feed over the Internet and specifically over iTunes. That did not work. Waaaaaaay too slow. My aging Curve doesn’t do video.

So he abandoned that effort and went to live blogging at Guardian.co.uk. I opted for the ESPN live blog of the game which provided minute-by-minute (and very opinionated) updates. My live blog worked well for the first half, but completely shut down in the second. My son’s live blog worked throughout (yes, AT&T prevailed over Verizon).

Neither feed worked inside the church where the ceremony was held. Divine providence, perhaps! We only got reception in the vestibule, which improved near the windows.

By no means is this a definitive test. This was just my experience and where I happened to be when I REALLY wanted connectivity.

The inability for 3G to provide video and consistent connectivity reminded how badly we need 4G before the potential of the latest smart phones can be realized. Follow me on Twitter.

I wish I could tell you this is my first post composed on my new iPad, but its on-screen keyboard doesn’t come when I use WordPress 3.0 in the Safari browser.

That’s just one example of things I can’t do on the iPad that I can on my netbooks, notebooks and tower PCs. Actually, I just found WordPress in the iPad App Store and with a couple tweaks, adapted my blog editor to the iPad. But going into WordPress straight through Safari was a bust.

Apple's WordPress app for iPad

So this post was half-composed with the iPad and I am still figuring out details like embedding links and that sort of thing.

Don’t get me wrong: there’s plenty to like about the iPad:  it’s a great reader, photo and video viewer with a fantastic display, but to three decade PC vet like me, it feels quirky. And the tablet metaphor has some drawbacks.

For instance, I recline using my netbook and notebook. With the display flipped up, I plunk the notebook down on my belly or chest and type with two hands. The tablet requires one hand to hold it up (it feels heavy at one pound, six ounces), leaving only one hand with which to peck away. For me, this is a downside of the tablet.

I have this idea for a sling like device attached to the iPad and fastened to my forehead. That would free up my left hand for typing. Or I could really grow mountainous beer belly and lean it against that.

No Adobe Flash on the iPad also means I can’t play my favorite Facebook game, Word Twist. And funneling everything through iTunes onto the iPad (save a the Camera Connection Kit, which my Apple store seems always out of) is a pain. iPad like Macs are closed systems.

I  like the iPad the more I understand its trove of features, but I won’t be giving up my PCs any time soon.

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Like two million others before me, I am getting my iPad – today. Yes, t minus 90 minutes before I head to the Apple store in Salem, N.H. to pick up my  64 GB 3G iPad.

It seems so appropriate for Father’s Day. Just plunk down the $829 cost on plastic (add $30 for the cover and god knows what else I’ll get while I am in the spending mood) and worry about paying later. Truly the American way…

As many of you know, the iPad is seriously back-ordered. I put my iPad reservation in 4-5 weeks ago and checked on it Friday. The store salesman told me it had no reservation for me on record, but that he’d re-enter it and I should expect to wait two months for delivery.

The next day as in yesterday June 19th, I got an e-mail from Apple telling me my unit was in and that it would be held in my name for 24 hours. I’ll take that as a good sign.

I better print out that e-mail and take it with me.

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I was all over Boston.com this morning and wondered for a moment if I had ventured onto a British tabloid site.

First, there was a 9-shot photo gallery of tryouts for the Celtics Dancers, the basketball teams cheerleaders clad in tight hotpants

and top.  Then there was another shot of a bikini clad female which I can’t locate at the moment. The link to the photo gallery

was from the sports section, not surprisingly. I wonder how many page views it got.

This is pretty out of character for the Globe, but desperate times require desperate measures, right? The Globe photos by British

tabloid standards are tame for sure.