DROID DROID DROID!

Been playing with the new Motorola Droid from VZW a few days. Full review today on my show and interview with VZW Marketing Director.

VZW has no less than 14 more phones being released between now and the end of the year.

11a-2p on The 9-5-0.

The Ultimate Solar-Powered Battery Charger

"If you don't have battery power, you got nuttin'." Quote me on that. Which is why extra batteries, cords, car chargers and sometimes generators can be invaluable especially during emergency situations.

Instead of buying all these accessories and schlepping them around with you (which can add a lot of weight to backpacks and briefcases), new types of universal battery chargers are popping up on the market. They are easier to carry but you never know if the chargers themselves have power.

That issue is now resolved with a simple device I found called powerBAR 3500. It is a multi-functional solar-powered battery charger and luckily we have no shortage of sun. Green is good nowadays which makes the powerBAR even better - renewable energy is the way to go.

Its design resembles an iPhone making it lightweight and able to tote most anywhere. To ensure it is never without power it comes packaged with a charging cable ready to plug in to a computer, AC adapter or car charger. One touch of a button lets you see the internal power with blue LED lights.

While this is a perfect device to keep in your car or office for extra power, this comes in most handy during electricity outages when power is needed to run cell phones, digital cameras, GPS devices, mp3 players or even Bluetooth headsets.

Many of these portable chargers I have seen run well over $100 so the price tag of $59.95 from Fommy.com makes this even sweeter. Never leave home without at least one powerBAR 3500.

Interviews Galore on Saturday, June 27 Show

Don't miss The High-Tech Texan Show on The 9-5-0 this Saturday. In addition to Michael Jackson bump music, we welcome these guests:

• 11:40am Kevin Regan, CEO of Houston-based Exobox
• 12:20pm Shawn Goheen, Goheen Financial Group
• 1:05pm Patrick Vardeman, VP of Accudata Systems

Podcasts of the show will be posted by early next week.

New iPhone 3G S Coming June 19

The S stands for Speed but some iPhone users will be Surprised to learn some of the new features will not be launched when it goes on sale.

Apple announced new hardware and an upgraded OS software (v 3.0) at the company's Worldwide Developer's Conference today.

[from wire reports]
It's got the same design and pricing as the current iPhone 3G model, but has a faster processor that Apple says will load most apps somewhere between 3 to 5 times faster. It also comes in improved capacities, all the way up to 32GB up from 16GB.

The 3G S has an updated 3-megapixel camera (up from 2 megapixels) that has autofocus and autoexposure. It can also shoot video that can be edited right on the device in a similar fashion to iMovie. The video it takes is 30 frames per second at 640x480 VGA resolution, bringing it to spec with most point-and-shoot digital cameras.

The 3G S hardware also gets a magnetometer, which will allow the device to tell what direction it's pointed in. To go along with this, there's a new compass app that will act just like a normal compass. Users with the 3G S will get additional features in the Google Maps application that show which direction they're facing.

Apple also added built-in voice control that can start calls, find songs, and other information on the phone. The iPhone has long been criticized for not having voice support.

This device will come in two flavors a 16GB model that will cost $199 with a two year contract and a 32GB model that will cost $299 with a two year contract. AT&T and Apple will also continue to sell the 8GB iPhone 3G announced last year for $99 with a two year contract. Older 16GB iPhone 3Gs will be available for $149 with a two year contract until stock of that device runs out.

Apple announced that iPhone OS 3.0 will be available worldwide June 17 as a free update to iPhone customers, and as a $9.95 update for iPod Touch owners.

Newly announced was data tethering over USB and Bluetooth is coming as part of the software update; however it will require carrier support, which means some carriers may not allow it. iPhone users across the U.S. were disappointed Monday to learn that AT&T, the only operator in the U.S. offering the iPhone, won't immediately support a couple of key new features in Apple's new 3.0 OS that will be available starting next week. But AT&T says these features are coming.

Users can now rent and purchase movies from the phone. This also works for TV shows. Previously you had to do this on iTunes proper, then sync.

There's a new feature called "Find My iPhone" that will be available only for MobileMe users. It tracks down where your phone is on a map and gives you the option display a message and even perform a remote wipe.

So, do you plan to go out and get a new iPhone?

Huge Story Monday Morning

If you didn't hear this news over the weekend, it's time to WAKE UP PARENTS and keep an eye on EVERYTHING your kids are doing online. Not just on a computer...on video games, cell phones and anything else connected to a network or the Internet.

A Kentucky man was arrested late last week for solicting nude photos from an 11 year-old Humble girl. Via a Sony Playstation 3. Little did her parents realize that a PS3 -along with Xbox 360 and Nintendo Wii - can connect to the Net and allow for communication with others. Chat, photo sharing and more.

I just spoke with Sgt. Gary Spurger of the Harris County Precinct 4 Constable's Office who played an integral part in this case. This was the first case of its kind anywhere in the fact that he and his team had to contact Sony in Japan to track down the data stream between the Kentucky man and the 11 year-old girl.

Sgt. Spurger will join me in studio Monday morning at 9am to talk about this case including the intricate process of how the predator was tracked down and arrested. It is an incredible story from his position with the Houston Metro Internet Crimes Against Children unit.

I am now tracking down the parents of the young girl to see if they would like to tell their story. I'm sure they want to prevent anything like this happening to other kids and parents.

Live from Cy Fair Home and Garden Show

I'll be hosting my HTT Show this Saturday from the Cy Fair Home and Garden Show. Stop by and say "whattup" near the entrance to the Berry Center between 11a-2p. You'll get an official "Don' Mess With The High-Tech Texan" t-shirt while supplies last.

Topics include: new Netflix devices, how to delete accounts from any website, how far the web has come in 20 years, the new Shuffle, info about the upcoming iPhone OS and more.

Off to Las Vegas next week for some weekday shows and next Saturday's technology show. Props to Continental Airlines and Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino for hosting us. First class airline (and seat) and first class hotel. Now if they can only help me out at the craps table...

A Real Work Week

This daily job thing can kill a person. Waking up early, dropping the kids at school, navigating traffic and then finding topics that people care about and talking about them for hours. I am beat!

But having a J-O-B is kind of C-O-O-L right now. I'll suck it up. ;)

Day 1 of The MG Show went OK. I was kind of all over the place with topics but I hit some nerves when talking about the traditional dying media. TV viewership is sliding and newspapers are cutting back and starting to charge for content.

I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw the Business and City&State sections COMBINED in the Chron today. Things really must be tough. I got several calls and emails about that.

Scouring topics for tomorrow but the RyanAir possibly charging for in-flight toilets story is catching my eye.