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Review: Biscotti – Video Chatting Made Simple
May 24th
Biscotti shattered the video chatting platform as a tiny device with large ambitions. Over the years, video chatting has become easier to navigate and more people have adopted it as a common form of communication. Unfortunately, video chatting has been confined to a computer or small mobile device but turning high-definition TVs into conferencing hardware is made simple with the Biscotti.
Design
With a staggeringly small footprint, the six-inch-wide Biscotti seamlessly blends into any popular HD-TV. Sitting daintily atop the largest viewing screen in the user’s house, Biscotti could easily become one of the most desired methods for video chatting. The on-board 5MP camera will view the whole living room with a wide angle lens or can digitally zoom-in on a particular section. Additionally, the camera pivots four directions, internally, to ensure a perfect 720p high definition picture is captured.
Biscotti utilizes HDMI-in and -out and built in WiFI (b/g/n) to easily place and receive calls while watching TV. The included remote is easily simplistic and intuitively controls the included software. While a Bluetooth keyboard would be nice for the initial setup, it is not necessary for the continuous operation of the device.
Functionality
Most brilliantly, no computer is required. PERIOD. The complications of video chatting on a computer can be frustrating at best, but the Biscotti contains the built-in software to operate as a stand-alone device. Utilizing a TV as the single source for video display, Biscotti can pop up notifications when video chat requests are received without interrupting.
Biscotti is a pass-through-device between a cable box and the TV, which continuously pushes the TV signal through, using HDMI to maintain HD signal strength. When a call is received, a small, unobtrusive window appears and an audible notification signifies the incoming call, which may be answered or ignored.
It sets up in a couple minutes, let’s me watch TV while receiving calls, is HD, digitally pans/zooms, and has a wide angle lens. How can it possibly get any better? The cost is the cherry-on-top. Placing and receiving calls is absolutely free, as Biscotti operates utilizing Google Talk and G-Chat features.
After confirming with Biscotti Tech Support, who answered straight-away and were very polite, only Google services such as the Google video browser plug-in, Google Talk, and/or third party iOS apps like Vtok (Free, iTunes Link) work appropriately. This means it is not compatible with iChat or Messages for Mac. For more information, see the Tech Specs or the Biscotti FAQ section.
Making Calls
Presently, the software does not support importing addresses from the user’s Google account, even though the system runs through the Google infrastructure. However, it is Biscotti’s intent to address this issue in a forth-coming software update. As with all web-connected devices, the call quality depends on signal strength (minimum 256 Kpbs up/download speeds required). Unfortunately, a hard wire ethernet connection is not an option, but it would have considerably increased the Biscotti footprint.
The on-board 720p camera and the long-range microphone offer exceptionally high quality calls when the proper bandwidth is available. The call quality I received was excellent and only tiled or pixelated when I was straying to far from the WiFi router. Audio quality is a bit “airy” on the receiving end but I used Biscotti in a large living room when placing calls.
Once contacts are added to the Biscotti list, calls can be placed with the click of a button on the included remote. On the other end, the call may be answered from any of the aforementioned devices/services. To receive calls, requires inviting friends to add a new @biscotti.com address to their contact list, which is not complicated, but a little more work than if the Google email address could receive calls. The video below does an excellent job of explaining the service.
Conclusion
Biscotti ($149, Order Page) is the total video chatting package: sets up easily and quickly; works with HDMI-out cable and satellite boxes; is always on; makes free calls; boasts a small, sleek design. Utilizing a large HD TV for video calling is much more enjoyable than hovering over a laptop or mobile device and with the digital pan and tilt camera, zoom right in on the comfy couch. The Biscotti makes a great addition to the living room and is the perfect gift to a friend or family member you do not see often!
Pros
- All-in-one design with a small footprint
- No software to install
- Watch TV and receive calls
- WiFi enabled
- Easy setup
Cons
- No ethernet option
- No contact import from Google
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Review: MindFeud for iOS – The Social Boardgame With a Twist
May 23rd
Social board games are all the rage on the iPhone and iPad. While Words With Friends is probably the first game of this type that comes to mind, there have been many entries into this rapidly growing game genre. What can a game do to set itself apart from all the other games? MindFeud from MonkeyBin Studios offers a new way of challenging your friends, but with familiar game play that offers a few twists.
Overview
The basis of mindFeud is simple. Challenge your friends, total strangers, or even MindFeud’s bot ADAMA to a game where you have to choose the right formations of tiles of different colors and symbols in order to gain points and beat your opponent.
The objective is disarmingly simple, take the different tiles in your tile bar and choose the right formations with no duplicates, yet have a matching characteristic. This means, that say, all blue tiles should be together in a row, or all circles need to be grouped together. In the case of the blue tiles, no symbol should be the same, so you can only have one triangle, or one circle in the group. In the circle group, all the circles have to be a different color. Simple right? Uh-huh. By the time you get into the game and have your butt kicked by ADAMA a couple of times you’ll start seeing just how challenging the game can be.
The game has heavy social integration, so you can challenge and chat with your friends, or total strangers. If you’re feeling anti-social, or on the odd chance you can’t find someone to play with, you can challenge ADAMA, the MindFeud bot. ADAMA is NOT a pushover. I have yet to beat him in my many attempts.
I do recommend going thru the well laid out tutorial before playing the game. While it’s a logical game and easy to pick up, the tutorial does give you a nice heads up on how the pieces should be played. I didn’t play the tutorial before attempting to play, and wound up going back to it after a few frustrating messages from the game about how i was trying to play my pieces.
I played both ADAMA, and human players during my time with the game, and found the ADAMA gave an excellent challenge, as did most of the human players. As a beginner, I got my butt handed to me by almost everyone I played, but that just gave me incentive to get better at the game. When you first challenge ADAMA, you are notified that you only get a few challenges with ADAMA in the free version. You can however purchase unlimited ADAMA games through an in app purchase. The in app purchase also puts and end to the in-app ads that pop-up from time to time.
Verdict
I would highly recommend MindFeud to any lover of social games like Words With Friends, Scrabble, or DrawSomething. The game is easy to learn, and while it takes awhile to learn the quirks and scoring opportunities, it’s not overwhelming for a new player.
MindFeud will be staying on my iPhone for awhile. At least until I can beat that darned bot! I’m coming for you ADAMA!
MindFeud is available now in the App Store. (Free, App Store Link)
MindFeud is a Universal App and can be played on both the iPhone and iPad. The game was reviewed on the iPhone.
Rating: 4/5
Pros:
- A challenging game. Especially against ADAMA the game’s bot. He’s no pushover.
- The social aspects of the game are well integrated. Most of the folks I played against enjoyed chatting while playing the game.
- The graphics are simple, but well done. I was reminded of the classic arcade game “Omega Race” for some reason.
Cons:
- I did feel the board layout was a little small when viewed in normal view. However the game easily allows you to zoom in, also I’m sure it wouldn’t be a problem on the iPad.
- The colors of the pieces could be a few shades farther apart to make it easier to tell them apart. The colors were a little muddy.
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Moron Steals iPhone, Uploads Identifying Pictures to Photo Stream
May 23rd
Most criminals aren’t very smart – they obviously don’t think things through all the way, or they wouldn’t get caught. Sometimes, however, the level of stupidity is so high it’s almost painful to think about – like a cruise line worker who took personal pictures on a stolen iPhone without disabling Photo Stream (via MG Seigler).
Katy McCaffrey’s iPhone was swiped recently while she was on a cruise. Despite her efforts, she wasn’t making any progress on getting her iPhone back – until the thief (Nelson), a worker on the cruise ship, made an especially stupid mistake, and began taking pictures with the device.
Of course, Nelson didn’t bother restoring the device, or even disabling Photo Stream, so every photo he took showed up on any other iOS device that Katy had signed in with her Apple ID. The pictures clearly showed that the thief worked for the cruise line.
Katy quickly took action, uploading a sample of the photos to a public Facebook album, and forwarding the photos to the cruise line. CultofMac notes that the employee has now been fired, and with any luck, will be arrested and charged for his crime.
Justice: Stupidity’s greatest foe.
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Magician Makes iPad Provide Endless Stream Of Beer To Customers
May 23rd
The iPad is a truly magical device, and what better what to show that than with this cool trick pulled off by magician Simon Pierro. Posted to his YouTube channel (which features lots of other iPad magic videos), Pierro uses a stick on beer tap to produce a seemingly never-ending stream of beer right out of his iPad. Check it out!
This trick amazed tourists and customers alike at the famous ‘Hofbraeuhaus’ in Munich, Germany and no doubt made everybody wish it was real. You can apparently see the sleight of hand if you look closely (according to IntoMobile), but so far I haven’t been able to figure it out. Can you?
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How 100 iPads Played A Key Role In Greek Debt Restructuring
May 23rd
Apple call the iPad a magical device, and nothing better illustrates that than the role it played in potentially sort out Greece’s debt problems. Phillip Elmer-DeWitt reports for Apple 2.0 that when Bob Apfel, the head of Bondholder Communications Group, a company that specialises in bond management was faced with the logistical nightmare of connecting thousands of bondholders, he turned to iPads to solve the problem.
“I wanted to do something different,” Apfel says. “So I bought 100 iPads.”
The Apple tablets, equipped with a custom-made debt-restructuring app, were handed out to the leadership team, including representatives from the Finance Ministry, the Hellenic Exchange (the Greek equivalent of the NYSE), the Bank of Greece (their version of the Federal Reserve) and the three external banks that managed the deal, Deutsche Bank, HSBC and Lazard.
“I watched hundreds of millions of bonds being ‘slam dunked’ as these guys were running down the halls,” says Apfel. “Split-second decisions were made that couldn’t have been made without the data platform.”
“It was the largest financial transaction in the history of the world,” he added. “And we couldn’t have done it without the iPad.”
If that isn’t amazing nothing is, and if the Greeks get out of their crisis, it will be in part because of the use of 100 iPads. At the closing of the last deal on April 25, $270 billion in debt had gone down to $140 billion, something which could make the difference in the long run.
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