Bridget Carey: The Digital Dish

Live Video: Release of Droid R2-D2 at Hialeah Verizon store [UPDATED]

Well, I'm about to head out to the Verizon store for the release of the Droid R2-D2 phone, but I hear there aren't many people there right now -- probably because of the tropical storm. But there might be a big rush of people coming just before at midnight. Guess we'll find out!

Crowds or no crowds, we'll have a live stream for you shortly before midnight. You can watch it below, or by clicking here: http://www.ustream.tv/flash/live/1/5334020?v3=1

[THURSDAY MORNING UPDATE:] Thanks to all who tuned in to see my first attempt at using ustream. It was a little messy, but hey, that's the magic of being live. There's a high-quality video on the way, which I'll post when it's ready. As a Star Wars fan, I was disappointed to see there wasn't a crowd -- especially when Verizon was giving phones away for best costume, trivia contest and a random raffle.

Perhaps the thought of waiting in a tropical storm had fans wanting to stay indoors and buy online. (But it wasn't raining around midnight.) Perhaps the Hialeah store wasn't the best location choice. Or perhaps it wasn't promoted enough. But the force was strong for the handful of fans who showed up to grab the one droid every geek will envy.

Regretting not going? It's not too late. As of noon today, the an employee told me they have plenty available. You can call to double check before you go: 305-819-6443. The store is near Westland Mall, at 1599 W 49th St., Hialeah.

Verizon Star Wars Droid R2-D2 release party Sept. 29 [2ND UPDATE]

[UPDATE! The Droid R2-D2 smartphone will cost $249 after a $100 mail-in rebate with a two-year contract. It comes pre-loaded with R2-D2 notification sounds and ringtones, four live wallpapers, R2-D2 clock widget, a "Best of R2-D2" video and an "exclusive binoculars app." Due to the tropical storm warning, the store will be setting up tents for shelter from the rain. The party portion may be postponed at times. If it gets dangerous, they'll either have people wait inside the store or Verizon will tell people to come back at midnight. Come back to this blog or MiamiHerald.com before midnight on Wednesday for a livestream of the event!]

Star Wars fans, these are the droids you're looking for.

Verizon's Star Wars special edition of the Motorola Droid 2, called the Droid R2-D2, will be sold at the Verizon Hialeah store with a launch party the night of Wednesday, Sept. 29. Customers can buy up two phones each, and participating stores are only getting about 150 Droid R2-D2 phones, which are decked out with a special R2-D2 design, come with a special docking station, and are loaded with R2-D2 multimedia.

[UPDATE: Originally Verizon said the Hialeah store would be getting 200, and now that number changed to 150. I'm told it's possible that number can change again.]

The Hialeah store will close at 9 p.m. on Sept. 29, and the parking lot costume party begins at 9:30 p.m. There will be giveaways, trivia contests and appearances from the The 501st Legion. At midnight, the store opens again.

There will be two chances to win the phone at the event: The winner of the costume contest gets a free R2-D2 smartphone, and there will be a raffle, so everyone in attendance has a shot to win.

If you don't want to camp out, you could try your luck online at midnight, but there are only about 50,000 of these limited edition phones available. This is pretty much your only chance to grab this droid.

If you are a collector who doesn't want to remove it from the box or activate it, Verizon will let you do that -- as long as you purchase and activate a second phone. I'm told that can be a second Droid R2-D2, or another phone in the store.

[ANOTHER UPDATE: It's also possible to buy a phone and have it activated with a contract-subsidized price without removing it from the box. Verizon tells me they have had requests from fans to be able to do this.]

Any phone that isn't connected to a contract will cost full price (expect it to be somewhere around $500 to $600 $599. The normal Motorola Droid 2 costs $199.99 with contract, but prices of the Droid R2-D2 have not been released yet but the contract-subsidized price of the Droid R2-D2 will be $249 after a $100 mail-in rebate. Customers will need to subscribe to a Nationwide Talk plan or a Nationwide Talk & Text plan (beginning at $39.99 a month) and an E-mail and Web for Smartphone plan (beginning at $29.99 for unlimited monthly access).

The Hialeah store is located at:1599 West 49th Street, Hialeah, 33012. This store is one of four in Florida having this event, and less than 100 Verizon stores across the country are selling it at midnight.

Other Florida event stores include:

• St. Petersburg, at 4870 Part Street N., 33709
• Orlando, at 3742 East Colonial Drive, 32803
• Orange Park, at 1911-1 Wells Road, 32073

 

Happy birthday New Tech Community

When the New Tech Community first popped up, co-founders Mark Laymon and Craig Agranoff would tell members that a new tech community -- with real name to be figured out later -- was forming.

And a year later, the general name New Tech Community seems to have just stuck. It was started so that folks in Palm Beach County had a way to network with other Web developers and tech entrepreneurs (without having to drive to Fort Lauderdale or Miami). With meetings typically held around Boca Raton, the group celebrates it's 1-year anniversary tonight.

Group moderator Elesha Gabrielle Aflalo told me that about 50 to 100 people are now coming to meetings. It's just one of several networks around South Florida that meet every few weeks to boost South Florida's Silicon Beach tech scene dreams.

At tonight's meeting, the New Tech Community is giving away some prizes. And they will feed you food.

It's from 6:30 p.m. - 9 p.m. at the The Wyndham Garden Hotel Boca Raton. More info here: http://newtechsept.eventbrite.com/

Changing your TV bill as easy as changing channels

Compulsive spenders, rejoice! The ability to pay more for television is now in the power of your remote for AT&T U-Verse customers.

Well, to be fair, there's a little bit more to it than that. On channel 9910, U-verse TV is adding the Account Manager application, where you can instantly make a TV package upgrade. You can also view other account information and compare packages and channel lineups. It began the rollout today.

So if you're flipping through the guide and you're annoyed that you don't have access to a show, click a few buttons and you'll be able to add it to your bill.

It wasn't too long ago that U-verse competitor Comcast rolled out shopping on HSN with your remote, called iTV Shop-By-Remote.

As time passes, I'm sure we'll see more options for ordering and shopping with our remote. See a pizza commercial, get that pie delivered. (Oh wait, that was done.) OK, new idea: Prescriptions-By-Remote. I'm sure that will go over better than pizza.

Picking your perfect smartphone this season (and there's a flowchart!)

The country is in the midst of an Android invasion, and there's no sign of it slowing down.

Since late April, more than a dozen new smartphones -- most of them running Google's Android operating system -- have hit stores. Apple's iPhone 4 with service on AT&T has grabbed the most media buzz of all the new smartphones, with customers still occasionally finding some stores out of stock. But competitor phones with Android systems have also flown out of stores.

Throw in the launch of a new touch screen BlackBerry, and 2010 has shaped up as an unprecedented bonanza for consumers and smartphone makers. (And that's not counting the launch of Windows Phone 7 handsets that launch in October.)

In today's Herald, I write about how consumers are buying Android phones at a faster pace than iPhones, and what this year's phone trends signal about the changing marketplace. You can read the full story here: Battle of the Smartphones.

If you're in the market for a new top-of-the-line smartphone, but feeling dizzy from the array of choices, have no fear. For those of you too lazy to read my full reviews, I've got a quick breakdown of which are the winners, and why: Smartphone Review Roundup

Don't care about carriers? Or prices? Then maybe you will like this fun little flowchart to help you narrow down which phone's hardware might be a good fit for your mobile needs. I made it for you with love, with help from Herald graphic designer Bill Gerdts.

Flowchart: Picking Your Perfect Smartphone

Weezer takes over YouTube

Oh, how the interwebs love the Weez (and who doesn't?!). They've taken over YouTube today, making cameos in all the most popular YouTube channels. It's part of the marketing for their new album, Hurley.

You may remember their music video for "Pork and Beans," where they incorporated famous faces and videos from YouTube. But this time, they're invading other videos, such as the most recent Auto-Tune the News:

Summer of Smartphones Survey

There has been an onslaught of new Android phones this summer, not to mention the iPhone 4 and touchscreen BlackBerry Torch. So tell me, did you end up buying a new top-of-the-line smartphone this summer? Or do you feel burned that you bought a new phone earlier this year and now have to wait?

Please take this really short survey and tell me if you got a new phone (or which one you wish you could buy). [Click here if you don't see the survey button below.]

Product Review: Wisair Wireless PC to HD TV converter

The Wisair Wireless USB Audio and Video PC to TV converter kit transmits whatever is on a computer screen to an HD TV or projector. It requires Windows, and has a USB stick that connects to the desktop or laptop. A second device, powered by a wall plug, connects to the television using an HDMI cable or a VGA cable with audio jack (can connect to two televisions at once). Supports HD video up to 720p. Television and computer can be up to 30 feet apart in the same room.

It's sold under the brands Warpia, Cables Unlimited and Atlona. Warpia sells it for $152. Cables Unlimited sells it for $150. Atlona sells it in white for $109.99.

Ups: Set up was easy on a Windows 7 laptop. Once the software was installed, I didn't need to fuss with settings: Every time the USB is attached, it automatically transmited the signal to the TV or projector. Audio came in great through my television.

Downs: If there's the slightest hiccup or delay in watching a streaming online video or watching a DVD from the computer, it's made worse once transmitted to the TV and fast movement looks choppy.

It works best when the TV and computer are not interrupted with walls, so it isn't a good solution for a desktop computer that's in a different room than the TV.

Bottom line: If your computer can handle video well and you have a fast Internet connection, it's a handy solution to watch Web videos on a big-screen TV -- but you'll have more success if the computer is in the same room as the TV. And the portable factor makes it handy for business use.

AT&T U-Verse gains Spanish-language channels, loses Hallmark

AT&T's U-verse television service has added 19 Spanish-language channels to its offerings this week, with a total of 52 channels in Spanish.

To access the added cable channels, customers need either the Paquete Español package of 46 channels, or the U200 Latino package, which has 220 English stations plus everything in Paquete Español.

But while it was able to add more Spanish-language options, it dropped the Hallmark Channel and the Hallmark Movie Channel this week after failing to reach a new carriage agreement with the network.

The new Spanish-language stations include:

• Azteca America (ch. 3019)
• Bandamax (ch. 3509)
• CBTV Michoacán (ch. 3067)
• Cine Mexicano (ch. 3410)
• Centroamérica TV (ch. 3044)
• EstrellaTV (ch. 3024)
• Mega TV (ch. 3008)
• Mexico 22 (ch. 3022)
• Multimedios (ch. 3065)
• Once Mexico (ch. 3011)
• Pasiones (ch. 3018)
• Ritmoson Latino (ch. 3512)
• Telefe Internacional (ch. 3035)
• TV Chile (ch. 3032)
• TV Columbia (ch. 3026)
• TV Dominicana (ch. 3047)
• TVE Internacional (ch. 3029)
• Vme Kids (ch. 3058)
• VeneMovies (ch. 3408)

Verizon and Florida Highway Patrol launch Danger Thumbs campaign

Verizon Wireless and the Florida Highway Patrol launched a "Danger Thumbs" campaign, traveling to high schools to talk about the dangers of texting while driving. 

The first stop for this is my old high school, Charles W. Flanagan High in Pembroke Pines, on Saturday Sept. 4. Driver's Ed students will get the statistics about the dangers, and there will be a pledge card they sign to keep in their wallet. They're also giving away keychains as reminder tokens.

It's not going to be a scared-straight type of presentation. "You don't need to have a wreck to know this is not safe," Verizon spokesman Chuck Hamby said. "This is about starting the discussion."

The FHP has already been going to school driver's ed classes. Sergeant Mark Wysocky of FHP teams up with the Florida Trucking Association to teach students about trucker blind spots. But when he visits Flanagan, he'll also talk about the dangers of texting while driving.

"We realize adults do it, basically whoever has a phone seems to do it," Wysocky said. "We just have to keep getting the point across."

There will also be stops in Tallahassee, Tampa and Orlando. Hamby said they'll be getting feedback from Flanagan to improve the program as it expands to other schools.