As for the rest of gdgt’s launch, we’re still working long hours behind the scenes, but we mentioned on the show that we’ll be trying to get it out in Q1. I wish we could be more exact, but as we close in on things we’ll have a little better idea of when that’s going to be. Happy new year!

About four years ago they tried their hand at a pair of alien-looking in-ear buds that never really took off, but this time they’re back with a dual-driver design at an intriguingly low price-point. The brief run-down on these new $80 phones:

• Well, for starters, they’re the first pair of Apple headphones that have ever fit and stayed in my ears. So that’s a great start.
• Besides fitting well, I found them to be surprisingly comfortable; Apple headphones do not like my ears
• Despite not officially supporting the iPhone, the inline remote supports all functions (mic, call end, track play/pause/skip, etc.), except volume.
• My hearing is fairly degraded, but in my testing, they sounded really good — way out of their price range. Having two drivers makes a big difference.
• The two piece plastic case they come in is pretty bad and not very user friendly. I can’t imagine many people will make use of it.

Comparison and FAQ after the break. (A few pictures also posted to my Flickr stream.)

Okay, let’s get to the comparison. Dual driver headphones make a big difference, and that’s what I tested Apple’s in-ear phones against. Some brief notes:

• Stock iPhone / iPod headphones: muddled, low definition, felt like a lot of detail missing.
• Ultimate Ears super.fi 3 Studio: decent bass, seems to weight towards mid-to-high range; but not super impressive. Kind of uncomfortable.
• Shure E4c: well-balanced and very crisp. Great reproduction. Best sound isolation of the group.
• Apple in-ear headphones: punchy bass, warm mids, also all around well-balanced.

The silicone caps Apple’s new phones are better than most, but they lack the serious sound isolation that comes with foam caps, like you can get with the Shures. In fact, the new Apples gave the Shures such a run for their money, it was difficult to tell whether they might have pulled ahead with better sound isolation.

Now, a few questions, some pulled off of Twitter:

Are they annoyingly rubbery/springy like stock iPhone ones? [adamschwabe]
Yeah, they have the same texture as Apple’s other headphoens now; a little bit of rubber seems to make them harder to tangle and a little softer to touch. I kind of like it, but it isn’t any deciding factor.

Is there much audio bleed? What are the noise canceling capabilities relative to other buds? [Solacetech, 007bond4321]
There’s a fair bit of noise isolation, as they are in-ear headphones; noise-cancelation is only something you get with larger, cup-type devices that actively filter — not just block — noise. I tested these headphones in a loud cafe with music playing on the PA, and was able to cancel out most of it. I still think they’re in desperate need of some proper foam sound isolation tips, though.

Will a firmware update will fix the lack of volume control support for the iPhone? [JohnCullen]
It seems feasible, but Apple did not get back to me on this matter.

How well do they fit (stay in ears) compared to bundled Apple buds? [rickhuizinga]
Everyone’s ears are different, but unlike every other pair of Apple headphones I’ve ever played with, these ones comfortably stay in. I have pretty small ear canals, if that’s of any help.

Do they come with different sized silicon buds? [lgladdy]
Yes, three sets: small, medium, and large.

Is the microphone is better than the stock ones? [GermanThoughts]
Not that I could tell, but it’s not like you want to record your demo tape with it anyway. The mic aperture is about an inch higher up on the wire, though.

Does the remote work with Apple laptops?
Yep. I tested on a new MacBook Pro, and the mic works, as well as the remote for volume, play/pause/skip, etc.

How long is the cable?
About three inches shorter than the iPhone cable, roughly 42-inches.

I think Apple’s got something good on their hands here. These headphones sound out of their league for headphones under $100, especially considering most dual-driver headphones start at a couple hundred dollars and go up from there. They fit well, are reasonably comfortable, and the inline remote functions on more devices than they let on. It’s been about seven years since Apple got in this game, but this is the first time I think I’ll be using some of their headphones.

What companies rarely realize, however, is that astroturfing is a myth, one which I’ve never heard of working to do anything except unravel companies’ reputations (see: Sony, Wal-Mart, and many, many more). Astroturfing is a concept that’s easily sold to gullible businesses (like Motorola) who are desperate for new, out-of-the-box ways to “engage with consumers” (i.e. get people to buy their products). But the truth is this: quality will always out. The internet itself has done more to ensure people are well informed than any single consumer advocacy group, and any idea that might spread virally is inherently too worthy and kinetic to funnel from a small, clumsy, group of phony commenter-consumer-bloggers.

Someone should let the folks over at DEI Worldwide, Inc., know this though, as they’re the ones behind Motorola’s assault. The IPs associated with the comments (and numerous others) came from 64.60.150.178, an address belonging to DEI, a marketing company which specializes in “engaging consumers online,” and which counts among its clients — you guessed it — Motorola.

Now, are you ready for the real kicker in all this? Remember how I mentioned Wal-Mart, which was astroturfed by PR mega-firm Edelman back in 2006? At the time, the Word of Mouth Marketing Association (WOMMA) issued a release, stating:

“the lack of disclosure… is a violation of WOMMA’s Code of Ethics, which requires honesty and full disclosure in all marketer-sponsored communications. … Such transgressions… are of grave concern to WOMMA, which has led the fight for high ethical standards in word of mouth marketing and social media. Our Ethics Code sets clear guidelines for disclosure by marketers.”

That’s certainly an interesting position, considering the fact that DEI Worldwide’s CEO, David Reis, is a power-player in the marketing world and one of the co-founders of WOMMA. I’ll let that sink in for a minute.

Surely in the spirit of honesty and full disclosure, Reis appears to have posted his personal contact information online, should you have any misgivings about companies misleading consumers in their marketing efforts. (Reis also claims to be a black belt, so if you spot me with a black eye, you know who did it!)

10. An anti-glare option — or at least a 3rd party coating — for the new MacBooks and MacBook Pros.
9. A robot that hangs up my shirts and coats. That’s all it has to do.
8. Apple opens up and lets devs access all the great, juicy private APIs that make their default applications so amazing.
7. Native multi-touch for the G1. And a 3.5mm headphone jack, while we’re at it.
6. A travel mouse that is large enough to feel comfortable, yet uses Bluetooth (and not 2.4GHz RF). I’ve tried many, been satisfied with none. I think Microsoft’s Arc might be getting close, though.
5. Apple’s quietly delayed new in-ear headphones. They might suck, but I’m curious to try them out. Especially since supposedly the iPhone isn’t supported (WTF?).
4. An industry-wide PR-do-not-call list.
3. Chrome for OS X and Linux.
2. To finally show people gdgt. (Soon!)
1. Tesla Model S. I’d take a Roadster, though — who wouldn’t?

Apple touted some pretty decent battery life numbers at the new MacBook / MacBook Pro press event this week: up to five hours on the Pro with discrete graphics off, and four hours with it on (both surely assuming ideal low-power conditions). One of the things that didn’t come up at the presser, however, was that new MacBook Pro batteries actually have just under 20% less energy than their predecessors. While both kinds of MBP batteries are 10.8v, the old ones are rated at 5600mAh / 60Wh, while the new ones are rated at 4700mAh / 50Wh. (MacBook numbers updated below.)

I’d estimate that the integrated NVIDIA chipset and ever more behind-the-scenes power-saving techniques are why Apple is claiming such solid life despite killing a fifth of the machine’s energy supply — but a 20% reduction is still no small number. It also means that as your new MBP’s battery degrades, you’ll have a smaller pool of potential energy to rely on, meaning you could wind up having to replace your battery more often (although that’s a little conjectural, at this point).

But as some are now postulating, one technique Apple may now be employing to save power is making use of the machine’s GPU(s) to accelerate video playback. We already know that the new MacBooks have a different build of OS X than older gen machines (9F2114), but one thing I also noticed is that Quicktime, the engine behind Apple’s video encodes and decodes, was also revved in the new machines, now clocked in at 7.5.5 995.23.3 up from the last machines’ 990.7. With a little luck, perhaps video encodes will finally be hardware accelerated, too. (Will have to test that one later!)

Update: Matt at Gizmodo mentions that the numbers add up, when comparing the extra 20% battery life you get in new models using the integrated GPU vs. that same five hours claimed in old models using discrete graphics. Also, new MacBooks have also decreased battery capacity (as expected), from 55Wh in last-gen models to 45Wh.

Now look, laptops are a big deal. For most users, laptops more often than not represent one of the most expensive devices they own, TV aside — but unlike a TV, most people are apt to replacing their laptop every couple of years. And when it comes to product cycles for laptops, a couple of years is sometimes how long it can take to get one out the door: next week’s new machines probably got started shortly after the Air, likely in 2006 or even 2005. In other words, these machines got started well before we knew things would be headed as far south as they’ve gone.

So now that we’re neck deep in the worst financial crisis in decades, now that consumer spending is nosediving, now that hoarding is displacing buying, now that even high-flying VCs are getting nervous and battening down the hatches, I have to wonder: is this really the right moment for Apple to launch new laptops?

Probably not. Granted, there’s no turning back on a launch planned years ago, and people will always need computers (as long as the lights don’t go out, anyway). But the interesting thing is that Apple has an important new shot to make here: this is the most opportune possible moment for them to take on the booming netbook / lower-cost laptop market, a segment that will only balloon in size in the years to come as consumer spending continues to hemorrhage. The $2,000 pro market won’t go away entirely — but it certainly won’t be a growth area as larger numbers of buyers are starting to worry more about foreclosure and eviction than whether or not they can upsell for the ExpressCard slot and extra three inches of screen. Guess we’ll see next though; and hey, if nothing else, at least we can set all the doom and gloom aside for a few minutes while we geek out on Steve’s dog and pony show.

Okay, I’m way late in getting my hands on a T-Mobile G1 (the crew in NY got to check it out eons ago), but I did get to spend a day with one all to myself, and by popular Twitter demand, here are some (very) brief impressions.

Hardware

• A lot smaller than I thought it’d be. Looks great in person.
• Solid feeling, smooth, springy hinge; the device’s matte soft-touch finish is quite nice; entire back panel lifts off to replace the battery/SIM.
• No 3.5mm headphone jack is freaking annoying, and possibly the likeliest dealbreaker. It’s just unacceptable at this point. T-Mobile only makes this worse by not bundling an ExtUSB -> 3.5mm adapter, and HTC adds insult to injury by placing one of those annoying attached rubber covers on the USB port, too.
• Keyboard lacks definition (read: the keys are a little too flush), but it’s still very tactile, and (obviously) way easier to type on than an iPhone. The Leno chin doesn’t get in my way, although some who’ve used it certainly feel otherwise.
• Screen looks great, extremely responsive capacitive touch. It doesn’t feel plasticy or cheap at all.
• 3G reception is great in SF. Was getting 550Kbps+ speeds. (By comparison, my iPhone 3G usually does 650Kbps here.)
• MicroSDHC is hot. Worked great with an 8GB card. You should be able to buy a G1 + a 16GB card for less than a 16GB iPhone.

Software

• Everything is a lot snappier than I expected. Animations and transitions weren’t as fleshed out as I might have liked, but nothing lagged. After Android and iPhone, it’s impossible not to see Windows Mobile and even S60 as doggish.
• Setup is a freaking breeze, the default apps are solid. I did notice one oddity, though: even though the phone knows your Google ID, if you visit a Google app through the browser (like Reader) it doesn’t automatically log you in. Huh?
• Browser is pretty unexciting. It’s definitely second only to mobile Safari, but isn’t really anywhere near. The view modes, re-flowing, and general usability is weak all around. Look for alternatives once the Marketplace launches, because I’m just not feeling this browser.
• Maps app is great; compass mode (where street view moves with your real world motion) is out of this world. There’s nothing out there like it right now.
• Didn’t download too much from Marketplace, but what I did get was pretty impressive. It should be, though, considering that right now the only apps available are the ones that won Google’s dev challenge.
• Lack of multi-touch is annoying, but it doesn’t really ruin any experiences. I’ll miss it, but I’ll live. (Hey, you have to make sacrifices on the iPhone, too!)

If you want more, I highly suggest my man Paul’s writeup on E, he really digs in. As for me, I’m definitely, definitely excited about the G1. With a few key apps (which I’ll soon write about / unofficially request the dev community build), this could be the device that lures me from the iPhone 3G. Don’t expect everyone to be swayed, though, the G1 is certainly skewed towards the nerds right now, and doesn’t have much to compete with the iPhone’s copious sex appeal.

Oh, and big ups to my pal who hooked me up with the handset — you know who you are!

Over the past few months there have been a number of protesters spotted at various local Apple store locations, but I have to give it up to these guys (MTD Drywall, from Gilroy, I believe). Not only did they go to the effort of building out a full-on disgruntled union-protest iPhone costume (with near-accurately placed “proximity sensor” eye-hole), they also came up with the snappy phrase, “No service… for workers!” Clever. Full size version over at my Flickr stream.

Just a few bits on today’s monumental T-Mobile G1 / Android / HTC Googlephone / funnererest handset evar announcement that may have gone under the radar.

• T-Mobile claims G1s will be SIM-locked (no surprise). But hey, the software platform is completely open source; I can’t wait to see how they think they’ll protect against that.
• T-Mobile claims you can’t use the device as a tethered data modem. But again, the whole OS — networking stack, app layer, radio interfaces, etc. — is open. Try and stop us.
• Since T-Mobile’s US 3G network is 1700MHz-based, and the device only supports 1700 and 2100MHz bands, that means there could be it’s unlikely that future G1 versions would support 1900MHz (which is what AT&T’s 3G network requires). So we can probably count out an unlocked import unit for the time being.
• HTC claims better 3G talk time compared to the iPhone 3G: 350 minutes 3G talk time (vs. 300 minutes). 2G talk time is apparently much worse though, 406 minutes to the iPhone’s supposed 600.
• It supports microSDHC — meaning you’re not capped at 4GB of storage. When 16 and 32GB cards show up, you can drop those in and keep growing your device, whereas your iPhone will stay static.
• They didn’t include a 3.5mm headphone jack — they’re using HTC’s combo USB / audio jack (ExtUSB), which requires an adapter. Bunk.
• Sync is done all over the air, and through Google services. It’s still unclear how many of these services you can elect not to use (i.e. can one have a contact list that ISN’T synced to their Gmail account?).
• We knew that the device has a capacitive touchscreen (like the iPhone), but not how they solved the problem of copy/paste, which has plagued Apple. Turns out they half-assed it, or so I understand. Seems that you can only copy/paste data in fields. If you’re on a web page, for example, you can’t select a string of text in a paragraph. The search continues for someone to commit to chasing down the fat-finger-touchscreen copy/paste unicorn.
• Although its browser runs on Webkit and some of the Chrome code base, they’re not officially dubbing it Chrome, or Chrome Mobile, or anything like that. Head Android Andy Rubin said it’s fair to think of it as “Chrome light,” though — just don’t call it that. Yet.

I’ve also heard rumblings that CBSi COO Steve Snyder and CEO Quincy Smith may not make it through the year in their current executive positions, but that sounds a bit more speculative at this point. Of course, neither CNET nor Kortekaas would officially confirm or comment on anything for me — nor can I say with certainty whether those let go are only part of a larger number of employees being laid off. Either way, definitely a bummer for all those involved.

Damn, if our numbers are anything to go by (and I’m not saying they are), the adoption rate of Google’s Chrome among the geek-set has been absolutely astonishing. Tomorrow will mark gdgt’s first week (in super soft launch mode, anyway), and about a week and a half for Chrome — and Google already represents more than ten percent of the thousands of views we’ve gotten.

Kind of reminds me back in 2004 when Calacanis wrote a totally breathless post about Firefox and Engadget, wondering if its 20% slice would become the norm in a couple of years (it clearly has). If gdgt’s first audiences are anything like the same super-early vanguard that Engadget’s audience was in 2004, it stands to reason that Google’s going to absolutely dominate the browser market in the near future. Of course, I’m also really curious to see some larger data sets on this!

Update: At the request of reader Leo, I’ve segmented browser stats by just Windows. They’re not all that different! (In fact, proportionally, Chrome performs a little better.) Here’s the top five Windows browsers for gdgt in week one:

1. Firefox / Windows: 57.91%
2. Internet Explorer / Windows: 21.21%
3. Chrome / Windows: 17.79%
4. Opera / Windows: 1.83%
5. Safari / Windows: 0.83%

But let’s be real, it wasn’t always frenemies uniting. We all had some some damned hard days in the crucible of that kind of competition, as Wired touched on, and I know I certainly had my fair share of lapses in judgment (like a boycott Gizmodo site, which I let myself get talked into by a particularly hateful former writer). Of course, it went both ways, too. Gizmodo and a lot of other sites were pulling shenanigans day in and out, with the traded barbs pushing everyone harder, thinning out mistakes which could turn into ammunition. The results were obviously felt as gadget sites got better, faster, and more accurate, but it’s a little funny, because that stuff all seemed so very serious then. Looking at it now, the storied rivalry retired, it’s almost kind of cute.

There was a line to be drawn, too, and to me that line was where real damage could be done. In fact, this May that line drew itself right in my inbox when a disgruntled former Gizmodo editor pinged me offering a tidy bounty: the full “back catalog of classified Gizmodo emails, some discussing Engadget,” as well as “access to Gizmodo’s tips account [that'd be where you could get all of Gizmodo's scoops, or even turn over their tipsters to the companies they're leaking about]” and the “master list of Gizmodo online sources, which is a great aid.” Without hesitation, I turned this person (and any data that could be made use of) over to Brian and owner of Gizmodo / Gawker Media, Nick Denton, for them to deal with as they saw fit.

Of course, Engadget (for whom I still write and advise) and Gizmodo wage on, trying to out-scoop each other every day of the week. There’s no doubt in my mind that Brian was an adversary so worthy I had to make him an ally — but he’s also a good friend, and someone who knew exactly all the kinds of crap we pulled with each other. But I think ultimately we’ve both spent enough time doing this stuff to know that tearing things down won’t ever be as productive or positive as what comes next: where we unite and build.

First, Dan sets up Vudu as an example of the little company trampled underfoot by Apple. “Vudu was winning rave reviews… now Apple is selling or renting more than 50,000 movies a day, and Vudu is laying off staff.”
Rave reviews? Hardly. I thought the content selection on the Vudu was disappointing, the walled-garden approach (i.e. you can’t do much with it once you’ve bought the content) was off-putting, and it suffered from most of the same plagues that put pretty much EVERY other startup set-top box manufacturer — from Akimbo to Moviebeam  — out of business. Oh, and not Laptop, CNET, nor MacWorld gave the Vudu anything higher than a 3.5 out of 5.

“[Apple] operates the only store that can sell music, movies and software programs for [the iPod and iPhone].”
Movies perhaps; music, definitely not. There’s plenty of free video and paid video content online, but no certainly no shortage of DRM-free MP3 music stores (like competitors Amazon, Rhapsody, Napster, and even Microsoft’s Zune Marketplace) that sell content that works on the iPod and iPhone.

“Apple sets prices and takes 30 percent of the money.”
On applications. If they’re not distributed for free (which Apple does for no cost). And on music and movies, Apple’s margin is far, far less. It’s been said that Apple gets less than 10% of music, for example — that kind of content is generally a break-even or, at best, mildly profitable effort to sell iPods. In fact, that’s the record labels’ biggest contention with iTunes: Steve won’t let them turn up the price because he wants music to be affordable so iPods seem like a better ecosystem value.

“One iPod accessory maker… gripes that Apple takes up to 75 percent of the sales price, leaving him with zero profit on some of his products when he sells them in Apple stores.”
I used to do technology retail. In fact, my first job was as upgrade / accessories manager at a CompUSA. If Apple gets 75% of the sale price of an accessory at retail markup, the anonymous company in question is probably getting a pretty good deal. Most accessories are marked up more than just 400% — multiply that by four or five, and you’ll enter a reasonable ballpark. Even for stuff like speakers, whose margins are far lower than cases or cables, those numbers don’t sound completely off to me.

“The problem is that if Apple squeezes too hard, some partners may go out of business, harming the ecosystem.”
My editor instincts tell me: this is a great place to give an example. But he doesn’t. Probably because he can’t. I’m racking my brain and even did a little googling to give Dan the benefit of the doubt, but I’ve got nothin’.

“… a woman has filed a class-action lawsuit because her new 3G iPhone won’t always attach to a 3G network, which provides faster wireless Web downloads.”
What Dan doesn’t mention is that Apple gets two, sometimes three class-action lawsuits filed against it every week. I wish I was kidding. Unfortunately for Apple (and the woman who stands to lose a lot of money on lawyers’ fees), for the most part, the issue in question has a lot more to do with AT&T’s early, raw 3G rollout, which tends to lack network capacity. Remember, a class-action lawsuit is no different than any other kind of lawsuit: it’s just one person (or group of people) who think they have a case and decide to sue.

Maybe it’s just me, but I think Dan did a much better job at cutting to the heart of what makes Cupertino tick when he was doing so with subversive parody. Trust me, there are many, MANY things to groan about Apple over — its obsessive control in all aspects of business, its reluctance to try genuinely new markets and products, the way it handles media — but these complaints are not those things.

Update: Dan (kind of?) responded to some feedback, but didn’t really back up anything I mentioned. Although I will grant him, it does get a lot harder when you have to say real things about the companies you cover.

Wow, we’re barely 24 hours out of the gate with our new show at gdgt, and we’re already the number one tech podcast on iTunes — as well as the number five podcast, period (trailing my fave show ever, This American Life). Of course, this can change day to day, but I’m still awestruck at the love and support for the show.

Real quick, I’d like to thank our pals at BitGravity for their help making us sing right out of the gate; my boy Scott over at iTunes for making sure the page got online alright; and, of course, everyone who listened in and subscribed! Man, I can only hope the rest of gdgt’s launch goes this swimmingly.

It’s been a year since we hung up our mics at Engadget, but we’re finally back with our new gadget podcast, gdgt weekly! The first episode’s already up, so head over to gdgt to grab it / subscribe. Oh, there’s another bit, too.

We’re also announcing our first two advisors to gdgt, two good friends of mine: Josh Topolsky, editor of Engadget, and Brian Lam, editorial director of Gizmodo. Yeah, I know, just blew your mind: people from Engadget and Gizmodo collaborating on something. Together. Of course, the reality isn’t all that weird when you think about things.

It may not have shone through in the various articles trumping up the Engadget / Gizmodo rivalry, but believe it or not, Brian Lam and I are actually pals outside of work — have been for years. In fact, a side story neither of us ever told publicly was that I actually tried to hire Brian when he was on his way out of Wired, just before Gawker snagged him for Giz. I pitched hard, but in the end, as he put it recently, “It wouldn’t have been as much of a challenge.” Of course, he was totally right — he accepted the greater challenge and put Gizmodo back on the map.

Josh, of course, is one of the most brilliant people I’ve ever met — someone with a natural eye for content and gadget world, who I’m totally proud to have take over as Engadget’s editor in chief. So maybe it’s time to look at this space a little more holistically; or, as Brian said, get some Voltron action going on.

If you’re planning to upgrade (or even just changing your AT&T plan), I’d suggest watching out for these and possibly other charges:

• $18 “Upgrade fee” - Hmm, I don’t remember anyone telling me about this when I was checking out. Nor do I see it itemized on my Apple receipt, just an iPhone, a dock, and some California sales tax. I guess I can’t complain too much though, as we did mention it on Engadget.
• $12.64 in various new taxes - The new phone also came along with another $12.64 in taxes, more than doubling my previous months’ totals to an even $25. Included in these numbers is a new ~$11 in California state and city taxes which (surprise!) come on top of the $25 in CA taxes I already paid at the time of purchase.
• $56 in SMS charges - This easily hurt the most. My rate before was $0.05 per SMS, so I knew if I went over my original iPhone’s 200 SMS allotment, I wouldn’t be pinched that hard. I also knew the base 200 SMSs were going away with the iPhone 3G plan, but it wasn’t ever mentioned that I’d have to take a new SMS rate, too — let alone one that amounts to a 4x increase. (FYI: even 5c per SMS is a HUGE margin for AT&T.)

Of course, some of this could be mitigated. For instance, if I’d have been informed that there was a $5 / 200 SMS plan at the time of purchase I could have saved a good chunk of change on those two-dime messages. But I was only told of a $20 unlimited plan (which I declined, proving to be a dumb move on my part). The surprise would also have been dulled if customers were properly notified in-store, or simply presented itemized plan and rate changes (like the 4x hike on SMS), as well as other various service charges on its receipts.

Of course, at a certain level it also comes down to doing plenty of pre-purchase consumer diligence and not leaving anything to chance, right? Still, overall experience: poor.

Also, for those in the Bay Area, I’ll also be speaking on a panel about mobile computing (I think?) at Om Malik’s Mobilize conference. That one’s September 18th.