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Cleveland becomes first US city with three HD news channels
While New York may have claimed fame for being the first city to snatch an HD news broadcast and beam IPTV content OTA and over cable, it looks like Cleveland, Ohio now has its own boasting to do, as it becomes the first American city to tout three local HD news channels. One particular channel, NewsChannel5, also provides exclusive HD weather and offers up "more than 12 hours of HD programming each day." The station commented that its HD weather capabilities now open up new views of on-scene reports, wider views of radar screens, and can simply keep viewers safer as they see more of what's going on around them. So as you lucky Clevelanders are waking up this morning, just know that you've got more choices than anyone else when it comes to catching the news tonight in crisp HD.
Samus figurines drop jaws
Alex Davis over at First 4 Figurines recently wrote in to tell us that work on the first Samus figurines is nearly completed. In hopping over to his company's site to check out the figures, we were shocked to see just how amazing they looked. Featuring Samus in two distinct flavors (Gravity and Varia), these collectible statues are the type of decoration that proudly proclaims you prefer your women in ancient Chozo battle suits and sporting an arm cannon full of weaponry. Don't be ashamed, we prefer our women that way too. More pictures of the figurines are embedded into the post after the break.
First Metroid Prime Hunters statue revealed
The kind gentleman of First 4 Figures dropped us a line, along with our superiors, letting us know that they have finally revealed the first in their long line of proposed collectible statues from the Metroid universe. Oddly enough, however, is that the debut collectible is not for everyone's favorite bounty huntress hunter Samus. No, instead we get Kanden. The figures is looking sharp, even if it is not the finalized product. However, I've always felt you should always put your best foot forward, which would apply to First 4 Figures' debut collectible being one of the Samus variations. Featuring an interconnecting base that will allow Kanden to connect with other upcoming hunters, we're sure his first opponent will be none other than the blonde bombshell herself.
"Why first generation Apple products suck"
Gundeep Hora at CoolTechZone has taken a critical eye to what some consider are Apple's recent and rocky 1st generation product launches. The article utilizes two examples - the iPod nano scratch issue and MacBook heat complaints - to illustrate what Gundeep argues is Apple's faulty process of releasing products and then reacting to serious flaws when the public outcry spreads across enough blogs and petition sites.Whether you're already hastily typing a comment to flame Gundeep or you have one of those aforementioned petitions already open in a separate tab, Gundeep has written an interesting piece that I think could strike a deeper chord if he used a find/replace command to swap the word 'Apple' with 'the computing industry as a whole'. Similar criticism of Apple's 1st generation production quality crops up on the web every couple of months like clockwork, and I think it's because there is an unusually high level of expectation surrounding their products. I'm not saying Gundeep's criticism is misplaced; quite the contrary: my first Mac ever was the 1st generation of 12" PowerBooks (867 MHz baby!) and I had to go through four of them to get one that didn't overheat or have a hard drive that choked itself to death within hours of bringing it home. To make matters worse, the Apple Store, including its snotty manager, treated me only slightly better than that sticky stuff you try to scrape off the bottom of your shoe. My next Mac experience was the 1st gen 15" Aluminum PowerBook that was a part of the 'white spots' debacle - case in point: I feel Gundeep's pain, but Apple isn't the only computer and electronics company to exhibit these kinds of mass production complications. Other computer makers have had to recall batteries and entire batches of one computer model or another. Dell recently had to replace some faulty displays, and I can't remember which mobile phone company's batteries are exploding this week.To wrap this all up: Apple sets the bar high with their unique design and flashy marketing, and because of that, I think their customers and the media at large simply hop on board for the honeymoon each and every time the company whips out a shiny new toy. Criticism like Gundeep's seems to appear when the fantasy inevitably hits speed-bumps that are simple facts of life and mass production. In the end Apple is a company, like any other, that is susceptible to hardware defects, firmware botches and software hiccups. Then the conversation turns to products, quality and accountability of the industry as a whole - but I think that discussion might be better suited for a different post. Granted, none of these issues are any fun when you're the one stuck with the bad apple (yes, a pun), but sensationalizing the situation isn't going to solve anything. Keeping a level head, however, and understanding that 1st gen hardware can sometimes be a gamble - no matter who it's from - just might save a few headaches, and perhaps then you won't need to sign that petition after all.
Survey: What was your first Apple product?
From everything we've heard, Apple had quite the strong holiday season, with lucky new Mac and iPod owners across the world. Top that off with snowballing buzz surrounding their (hopefully) imminent switch to Intel chips, and we thought it would be a good time to check in with our readers and ask: what was your first Apple-related product, and when did you get it?Let's get reminiscent. Was your first helping of Apple goodness a mere couple of weeks ago, when you picked up an iPod or AirPort Express over the holidays? Or are you (somehow) reading TUAW on your original Apple II? Whether you've been upgrading with every new Mac iteration through the years or you're still unpacking your first iMac with iSight, we'd like to hear when and what product brought you along for the ride on the Apple bandwagon.
