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The Logitech QuickCam Orbit AF is Logitech's best webcam money can buy. The QuickCam Orbit AF is Logitech's flagship webcam featuring Carl Zeiss optics, integrated microphone, and a cool motorized tracking that automatically follows your every move. The QuickCam Orbit AF (AF = autofocus) also has premium autofocus, up to 30fps, a true 2-megapixel sensor, with up to 8-megapixel photos (enhanced), 960 by 720 pixels, 24-bit true color Video capture, and RightLight 2 Technology which adjusts intelligently to produce true-to-life clear images in dim or poor backlight settings.

The QuickCam Orbit AF also has a 'trick' up it's sleeve. Not only can it sit low in its base, but it also comes with a 9" long stem that lets you mount the camera up high. This way you can just place the Orbit AF on your desk and the camera is at almost eye level. More like chest level with most desks, but the optics move anyway, so if you are a really tall person, the motorizing tracking system will move the camera lens up. Or you could place the camera stand on top of a book or something if you wanted it a bit higher, though that defeats the purpose of the included 9" stem. (see the images of the Orbit AF to the right) I should mention that it's very easy to detach the camera from the stem and the stem from the base if you want to attach the camera down low directly onto the base. You just pop it off and pop it in. The connector looks almost identical to a mini-USB connector.

In any event, I did some testing of the Orbit AF to see how it compares with other webcams I've reviewed over the years. For my first test I launched the QuickCam software, which was running in the System Tray. I launched the QuickCapture software from the easy to use toolbar. From here I changed the image size to the maximum - 8 megapixels. The video quality was amazing! Although not a true "8 megapixels" since the camera lens is 2MP optical, the digital software enhancement to 8MP was pretty remarkable. While in 8MP "quick capture" mode, I was able to snap a photo. I did notice however that the Record Video button was greyed out. - so no 8MP video captures! I expected as much, since that would create massive video files that would be all but unusable unless compressed. I had to switch the resolution down to 2MP before the Record Video option became available. Other resolutions include 320x240, 640x480 (VGA), 960x720 (HD), 1.3MP, 3MP, and 4MP. If you are curious about the video quality when recording at the maximum 2MP setting, click here to view the short 6 second long recording I made. The specs for the video are 1600x1200 resolution @15fps with a total bitrate of 1797kbps.

Here's a snapshot at 2MP reduced in size to 620 width to fit my blog. Click it for the full size to see the video quality.


You can also apply video effects and avatars to the video image allowing you to personalize your conversations with hundreds of avatars and face accessories that mirror your expressions and motion. You can also use filters to add photographic effects such as fisheye, '50s Movie Reel, neonize, and more. After calibrating to your face, the avatar image can track your head, eye, and mouth movements. Even cooler, the rendered video image can be sent to any of your video conferencing applications, such as Skype, MSN Messenger, AIM, Yahoo! Messenger, etc. So your friends will see the animated avatar instead of your real live image. The QuickCapture software also features a "privacy shade" allowing you to select a 'canned' image or even select one of your personal photos. This image will display instead of the live video.

The coolest feature of the Logitech Orbit AF camera is undoubtedly the motorized motion tracking feature, which tracks you as you move about. The image to the right shows the QuickCam settings including the 'follow me' feature turned on. From here you can also move the camera up/down or left/right with the click of a mouse. I tested the motion tracking and it worked pretty well. I got up from my chair and moved about the room and it followed me wherever I went. It occasionally lost track of where I was if I moved too fast, but if I went back into frame, it got back in sync. All-in-all this feature worked quite nicely and is a nice feature to have so you aren't chained to your desk when having a video call with a friend, family member, etc.

I should point out that I recently tested the QuickCam Orbit AF with Skype's new High Quality (HQ) video support and was very impressed with both Skype and the Orbit AF. Check out my review for more details. A nice new feature in Logitech's v11 QuickCam software is that you can directly upload your captured videos to YouTube. Sweet!

Conclusion:
The Logitech QuickCam Orbit AF is currently my favorite webcam and would highly recommend it. You can buy one on Amazon anywhere from $80 (used) to $90. Well worth the price to get the motorized tracking feature IMO.

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You Mr. Administrator think you know it all. You think you've got all the bases covered and you scoff at disaster recovery.

Well... Pop quiz, hotshot. Your web server goes down on a weekend. Once the web server loses 50,000 page views, you lose $2000 in ad revenue. If it drops below 50,000 pageviews you "Mr. IT Administrator" will lose your job. What do you do? What do you do?

Putting aside the Speed movie reference for a moment (couldn't resist), this is a serious scenario that every IT administrator dreads. Sure, the IT administrator could remote desktop into the network or directly to the web server and try and reboot the machine, but what if the machine is completely frozen and requires a physical cold restart? Mr. IT Administrator will have to drive to the office on his day off to physically power down and restart the machine. Now imagine if your VoIP IP-PBX goes down on the weekend and no one has the ability to call and leave or retrieve voicemail. What if there was a way to remotely reboot machines? What if using an IP connection you could recycle the power to specific outlets connected to specific servers.

Ah, but you can.. you can... Using Dataprobe's series of iBootBar products, you can remotely recycle power simply using a Web browser interface or for the techies you can even telnet into the iBootBar and issue various commands. It also sports an internal modem with both data and DTMF tone dial control. Some of their models include a modem (i.e. iBB-2N15-M) so you can even dial-in via the the telephone with guided voice prompts and status information or remotely connect using a modem terminal program. TMC Labs was sent an iBootBar to test and so I was lucky enough to play around with this potential weekend & career lifesaver.

I hooked up their iBB-2N15 (2 x NEMA 30 Amp) model (list price $500) which includes 8 outlets segmented into 2 separate power outlets (A & B ) each with their own power cord. The beauty of this segmented setup is realized when you are connecting servers with dual-redundant power supplies. You can group the two outlets together and reboot them in combination or if for whatever reason you need to change the outlet connection, such as when installing a new UPS, you can gracefully bring one outlet down while the other still stays up since it's connected to a separate power outlet.



                                North American version - 15 or 20 Amps, Single or Dual Power Inlets



                               International version - 10 or 20 Amps, Single or Dual Power Inlets

Next, I had to configure the IP address which defaults to 192.168.0.254. I used telnet to change the IP address and gateway settings to match our LAN configuration. I also changed the default username and password. Then I launched a browser, typed in the IP address, and logged in.

From the web interface you can simply select a single outlet, multiple outlets, or an outlet group and then perform an action, which includes: turn outlet(s) on, off, or cycle (off/on). Pretty straightforward. The web interface hides most of the advanced functionality, which must be done via telnet. That's probably my main usability complaint is the fact that you have to use telnet to do all your configurations, but I suppose that adds a layer of security.

The telnet interface accessible via a serial cable (RS232) or via IP address. You can add additional users and assign permission for that user to a specific outlet or group, allowing different IT staff to only have access to specific servers that they are responsible for. The telnet interface is pretty easy to use and includes several commands, including:

set outlet <n> <on/off/cycle>
set outlet <n> name <name>
get outlet <n> initial.state
set outlet <n> initial.state <last/on/off>
get outlet <n> autoping
set outlet <n> autoping ipaddress <dotted decimal>
set outlet <n> autoping action <action>
        action = none/on-latch/on-follow/off-latch/off-follow/cycle/cycle-once
set outlet <n> autoping frequency <0..999>
set outlet <n> autoping count <0.99>

The most interesting of the commands is autoping, which will actually PING the server/device's IP address that you assigned to a specific outlet. After a certain number of pings has failed (autoping count) you can have the iBootBar cycle the power to the outlet. I configured it to autoping our firewall's internal IP address and recycle the power to Outlet1 after 20 failed ping attempts. It will only cycle the power once and won’t recycle again until the ping is restored. This prevents the iBootBar from constantly killing the power if for example I am reconfiguring something on our network that knocks the firewall off the network. You can also set it to constantly recycle the power, but you just have to be careful to set the "autoping count" setting fairly high to give enough time for your device to reboot and reach a "pingable" state.

The beauty of the autoping feature is you can set it and forget it. It can be 4am and if the device fails, the iBootBar will automatically recycle power to the device. No need to respond to a 4am beeper/page and manually do this. Ah, the beauty of technology! Pretty soon we won't even need IT folk! I'm kidding. If anything, IT admins will be in more demand as technology becomes increasingly complex and requires more integration with other systems.

In any event, I should mention that the iBootBar supports SNMP alerts as well as email alerts that leverage SMTP. It also supports SSL (HTTPS) for additional security. And speaking of security, a co-worker, Vahid Hashemian and I discovered that you can easily hack into the iBootBar. The iBootBar uses a static cookie defined as DCRABBIT="0". Simply creating this cookie on my PC allowed me to bypass the username/password screen and get right in. Thus, in theory, I can access any iBootBar where I knew the IP address.

Hacking the U.S. Senate...
Ironically, I was sent a case study where the U.S. Senate uses the Dataprobe iBootBar to monitor the audio network devices in all of the remote hearing rooms. So in theory, I could have remotely recycled the power to the microphones during the General Petraeus hearings to cut out ridiculous accusatory statements like “I think that the reports that you [Gen. Petraeus] provide to us really require the willing suspension of disbelief" Come to think of it, didn't General Petraeus's microphone not work at the beginning of his testimony? I plead the 5th!

Joking aside, I love the iBootBar. I wouldn't map the internal IP address to an outside IP address until they offer a firmware fix for the cookie security issue - I'd just stick with telnet, but all-in-all, this device is indeed a lifesaver and a worthy asset to any IT/network administrator's arsenal.

Pricing as tested: $500. ($650 for the optional modem modem)

Update: I just spoke with Dataprobe and they told me they fixed the problem in a beta version of the firmware that is yet to be released. They sent me the beta firmware, but when I tested it it didn't seem to fix the cookie security issue. I was able to send a POST command (cycle=&delay=&mainAction+6+=1&mainCommand=1) using DCCOOKIE="1" using a browser simulator tool and was able to cycle power to the outlets without a username & password.  I will have to follow-up with them tomorrow to let them know the beta doesn't fix the problem.

I should mention that the new beta also adds more functionality, including allowing a Windows program they are developing to connect to the iBootBar so you can configure it more easily than using a telnet session.

Microsoft dropped a bombshell with their new Microsoft Surface touchscreen computer that is a touchscreen coffee table with "eyes" that can see what is placed on it blending the virtual and real worlds together. Microsoft thinks this technology developed under the top-secret codename 'Milan' will change the world and be used as a coffee table replacement in living rooms and family rooms. According to Popular Mechanics, here's how the screen works... A diffuser turns the Surface's acrylic tabletop into a large horizontal "multitouch" screen, capable of processing multiple inputs from multiple users. The Surface can also recognize objects by their shapes or by reading coded "domino" tags (i.e. RFID). Like Superman, Microsoft Surface even has XRay vision. Ok, I lied, it's infrared vision, a different end of the electromagnetic spectrum, but it could have Xray vision, perfect for seeing through clothes or to view the other poker player's hand - Xray radiation be damned! This table this screen kind of reminds me of those old tabletop video games you'd find in bars and pizza parlors.

In any event, the infrared "machine vision" uses an 850-nanometer-wavelength LED light source aimed at the Surface screen. When objects touch the surface, the light reflects back and is picked up by multiple infrared cameras with a max resolution of 1280 x 960. Microsoft demo'ed the ability to take a digital photo, place the digital camera on the surface and the photo was instantly transferred to the Surface. This "surface computing" as it is called, can utilize a blend of wireless protocols, special machine-readable tags and shape recognition via the infrared cameras to merge the real and the virtual world. Microsoft's Milan team refers this as "blended reality."

Simply by embedding any variety of wireless transceivers, such as Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, RFID, etc. it can sync instantly with any device that touches its surface. I wonder how long before Microsoft or a 3rd party develops some "virtual world" games for Microsoft Surface. It could also be used as an educational tool for youngsters. For instance, the table could say something like "Place the yellow triangle on the table" and then determine if the child correctly performed this task. I do have some skepticism that this will pass the WAF (wife acceptance factor). You really think she'll want to swap out a nice wooden coffee table that coordinates with the rest of the room with some high-tech coffee table gadget? What about the power cord that will now snake across the floor unless you professionally install it under the rug? Nevertheless, all gadget lovers will salivate over this new piece of high-tech furniture gadgetry - including me. To quote Butthead, this is the coolest thing I have ever seen!

Check out the video demo from Popular Mechanics:

Of course you've seen the Apple TV ads with the "PC guy" and the "Apple guy" (makes me wonder what the "Dell Dude" is dude-ing today).

And you've probably considered (or at least thought about) heading away from the PC platform and buying a Mac -- they make it compelling, don't they?

Call it the iPod "glow."

Or maybe the Vista backlash?

Well, now we have this very useful list -- 42 reasons why.

Anybody out there care to add any more?

Can I ever buy another notebook computer again?

Or maybe they can just come up with better power supplies for notebooks -- you never hear about notebook recalls, only battery recalls.

Lenovo's recent recall of 100,000 battery packs used in ThinkPad notebook computers got me to thinking about this.  This time, the fire hazard is if the battery is struck forcefully on the corner, such as from a direct fall to the ground.

Lenovo sold the batteries with new ThinkPad notebook PCs or as optional or replacement batteries for the following ThinkPad models: R Series (R60 and R60e), T Series (T60 and T60p) and Z Series (Z60m, Z61e, Z61m, and Z61p). The recalled 9-cell batteries have the part number FRU P/N 92P1131, which can be found on the battery label. Free replacement batteries are available from Lenovo at (800) 426-7378 or http://www.lenovo.com/batteryprogram.

Will I ever buy another notebook again?

Yes, am sure I will, but which one?

Now you're probably thinking that Apple has taken brand extension to the outer limits, but I'm talking sub-notebook computer, not any other kind of sub (sandwich? submarine?).

According the this report, the big bad boys from Cupertino are planning to make a strong move into a market that has lost a lot pizazz in the last few years.

(In fact, I was just on eBay looking a small, lightweight, full-featured subnotebooks -- kind of like Toshiba's Libretto or those models that never seem to ever make it out of Japan -- now, why is that? And does Compaq's orginal Aero fit here? Now that was a great computer!)

Seems like Apple will draw upon the mighty PowerBook heritage for inspiration.

(Thanks to the Home Computer Museum for the PowerBook 100 photo.)

They have been busy at Apple, haven't they, so far this year?

 

I'm big on storage -- never can have too much, you know!

Having battled the too-much-data-on-too-small-capacity-media syndrome for what seems like centuries (20th and 21st), I think I've finally found just what I'm looking for in a storage device -- small size, big capacity (and how about a great form factor and compact size!).

Seagate's USB 2.0 Pocket Hard Drive safely stores all of my large files, MP3s, photos, videos and games — in a palm-sized drive that can fit inside my pocket. The Seagate 6GB Pocket Drive is available on Amazon for less than $49 and the Seagate 8GB Pocket Drive is available for less than $139.

The sleek, round shell can take a licking and keeping on ticking (thanks Timex!) so I don't need to worry about my data -- but is that really possible not to worry at least a little bit?

Hot swappable and powered by the USB bus, this eliminates the need for power cords or adapters.

The details:

• 6GB and 8GB capacities (latter stores 133 hours of digital music, 2,560 digital photos or 8 hours of digital video )
• Rugged design
• Secure Zone software for simple password protection
• No power cords or adaptors required — powered by the USB bus

www.seagate.com

Today's announcement about Michael Dell becoming CEO of his own company through me off guard, especially since the disposed CEO, Kevin Rollins, was at the big Windows Vista launch shindig in NYC just two days ago!

Wonder if anyone in the "C" suite at Dell (the company) knew this was going to happen ... and, if so, why not have Mr. Dell, whose roots in the PC biz go back nearly as far as Mr. Gates and company, at the event to espouse how solidly Dell is behind the Vista bandwagon?

After all, Dell (the company, again) did announce that a whole bunch of hardware with Vista was available even before Microsoft officially launched the product.

What does this all mean to us, the gadget-buying public?

Maybe better Dell products since the man who's name is on the box is watching more closely ...

 

Hey, I'm all for companies making a buck on the products ands services they provide us consumers, but why does Apple have to charge $1.99 a month for faster wireless service on some of its MacBook and MacBook Pro laptops?

(Don't they make enough margin on the hardware to begin with?)  More on that here.

Now that news may get me a bit hot under the collar, but how about hotter still when we learn that Apple and Cingular (now AT&T) will make nearly a 50% margin (aka profit) on its first iPhones, according to this report.

Now those numbers set up some aggressive price cutting, according to sources, but I'm personally still waiting for CD prices to drop, like they were supposed to after the investment in the pressing plants was recouped.

Dream on ...

Exciting to hear about the public having the possibility of buying one of those "green" $100 laptop computers that are slated to solve the developing world's Internet problems -- talk about bridging the Digital Divide!

Even more exciting to hear that you and I would have to buy two of these beauties to get one for our own use -- the second one would be for its intended use in developing countries. More about that here.

How about taking that idea and going one step farther -- buying the two laptops and having them both sent to where they really belong?

Remember, 'tis better to give than to receive ...