Tech Talk

A venture capitalist hopes to equip 1,000 livery cars in New York City with WiFi by early fall, the Wall Street Journal reports — and then blanket the city with roaming hotspots.

The plan calls for free, advertising-supported wireless Internet access for passengers and anyone within about 400 feet of the vehicles, the newspaper reports.

While the plan would directly benefit the passengers in the WiFi-enabled vehicles, anyone around the vehicles would also benefit as long as the car is idling — which happens a lot in the city. And if technology expands and allows WiFi to work like cell phones, the plan could make WiFi available throughout large parts of the city.

The vehicles, the Journal reports, will also have nearly a dozen plugs to charge gadgets like iPads, iPhones and BlackBerrys.

Now perhaps the livery cabs will be worth their steep prices.

Are you a BlackBerry or Android user about to embark on a bike ride?  Are you tired of the same old routes and looking for a new and exciting ride?  Google is here to help.

Google Maps for Mobile now provides biking directions on its mobile application. In addition to accessing directions, users can find helpful information as well as share places with friends, according to a company blog post.

Individuals have been able to access biking directions, trails and lanes from their computers for some time.

To get rolling, simply go to m.google.com/maps in your mobile browser and install the latest application version.

Are you looking for a new trail to explore? Tech Talk suggests checking out Hike it Up, a regularly updated blog dedicated to sharing the best sites in the state to explore — for both the seasoned and novice hiker alike.

Happy riding.

HTC Incredible

Tech Talk recently had the opportunity to take the HTC Incredible for a test drive — and was blown away.

The smartphone, which runs on Verizon’s network, puts both Apple’s iPhone and the Droid released in November to shame.

The Incredible, which goes for $199.99 to new or renewing customers, offers a powerful punch and might convince some iPhone users to switch sides with its 3.7-inch touch screen, 1GHz processor, 480 by 800 pixel display and 8-megapixel camera.

During the test period, I attended a conference in Dallas. The photos I took with the 4.59-ounce Incredible were substantially crisper and more clear than what I captured with my point-and-shoot camera and iPhone 3GS.  The Incredible also managed to take more photos in the same time period than the iPhone. Another perk was that unlike the iPhone, which saves each photo as photo.jpg making it difficult to e-mail and quickly save multiple photos, the Incredible saves each photo in the same way a traditonal camera would — in a line of consecutive numbers, such as IMAG_0001. There was truly no comparison.

The Incredible also allows users to quickly and easily upload photos to the Internet. A user is able to share multimedia via Bluetooth, Facebook, Flickr, Gmail, other e-mail clients, text message, Twitter, Picassa and YouTube.  The speed of Verizon’s 3G service makes it possible to upload a half dozen photos in a matter of seconds. Good luck getting the iPhone to do that. And if those perks were not enough, the Incredible’s charger can easily be removed leaving a USB connection to easily transfer music and multimedia with the user’s computer.

Below are examples of unedited photos I took with the iPhone and the Incredible. Each photo could be clicked to see the photos in greater detail.  Here are some more pictures I took for NBC Dallas/Fort Worth with the Incredible.

A photo taken out of an airplane window with the HTC Incredible

A photo taken out of an airplane window with the Apple iPhone 3GS.

Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS, FM radio and 8GB of internal memory are all included with the phone. It also supports Flash Lite 4.0, Google Maps with navigation, Latitude, Google Talk and Google Calendar. The Android Market now touts 50,000 applications.

According to HTC, a user gets up to 312 minutes of usage time and up to 146 hours of standby time, something that seems about right.

The incredible is one of the fastest smartphones I have ever used. Even with multiple applications open, I was able to bounce from screen to screen without any delay — which was refreshing as the iPhone does not allow added apps to multitask at all.

I was surprised and impressed with the Incredible’s power. As loyal iPhone user, who had a BlackBerry previously, I did not think HTC would be able to produce something so great.  Suddenly my previous phones and cameras seem inadequate.

Maybe it’s time for a switch to Verizon so I can get my own Incredible.

More epic than the rivalry between the Red Sox and the Yankees, Seinfeld and Newman or even Batman and the Joker is that between the BlackBerry and the iPhone.

I, a loyal and long-time BlackBerry user, find myself torn between these two gadgets as my AT&T contact comes up for renewal. 

I can’t seem to find a clear consensus among friends as to each one is superior — everyone is committed to their gadget of choice — so I turned to the all-knowing Internet for some guidance.

Among the better comparison articles I found on the topic was on Wired.com.

Among the highlights:

In terms of applications:

“I’ve not been impressed by the application selection the Blackberry offers. While there are some free applications, most are second rate at best and the selection of pay applications isn’t nearly as robust as it should be. The Blackberry App Store is like a pawn shop that only sells used 8-track players.

…

Application development on the iPhone has been one of the highlights of the device since its inception. Developers are encouraged to design and sell their own applications, and there are thousands of applications available in the iPhone App Store. Even though there are several hundred useless applications, there are hundreds more to make life easier in the palm of your hand.”

In terms of physical attributes:

“The touchscreen and motion sensibility on the iPhone is unmatched by any other touchscreen devices. Bump to exchange contact information, play games by tilting the phone, zoom in with a finger slide motion. It’s simply amazing technology and even the touchscreen Blackberry Storm doesn’t come close. But you still wouldn’t want to drop an iPhone more than once.

…

Even if it gets run over by a truck the Blackberry still holds its form, avoids cracks and doesn’t lose a key. The Blackberry, built for business and travel, is a durable and strong phone.”

In terms of gaming:

“Playing games on the iPhone is a fantastic and handy experience, especially multiplayer games. “

In terms of functionality:

“Companies run Blackberry server products. From the connectivity to Microsoft Exchange server and the ease of mobile e-mail, the Blackberry is far superior to the iPhone.

…

The iPhone has more storage, a faster CPU and more RAM. … As I’ve witnessed at work, the iPhone is the anti-productivity phone.

…

Recently, the iPhone became compatible with Exchange Server, which was a huge step toward integrating with business.”

The writer’s conclusion … a tie?

“The bottom line is, we’re geeks. Geeks like awesome tech toys and the iPhone is certainly that. From its gaming to its thousands of unique and specific applications, it’s a device that every geek wants to carry even if they already have a Blackberry.”

And you know what? I agree.  We are all geeks.  However, with that said, I think I will eventually give in and purchase an iPhone and abandon my beloved BlackBerry. 

And here’s why:

• Superior video and photo capabilities
• Ability to surf the real Internet, as opposed to the mobile net
• Access to tens of thousands of spectacular and practical applications
• Ability to remotely erase data if phone is lost or stolen
• Fewer keystrokes
• Easier data entry through a variety of techniques
• Ability to store and listen to music

Though with that said, there are things I fear about the iPhone, including:

• Including having to type on a screen, rather than keys
• Horror stories concerning battery life
• Limited third-party support
• Loss of MMS capabilities
• Only being to use one application at a time
• Durability of the iPhone screen
• Speaker phone is less than adequate
• Inability to save documents