After taking it out of the box I quickly discoverd just how good looking this car was. To really sell something a novel as cars that are mice you have to really crank up the quality of the car. RoadMice didn’t fall short here. The lines are beautiful, if not a little squished, but over all it looks great! The headlights however leave a little something to be desired. They’re extremely dim blue LED lights that are hard to make out even when they are on.

The mouse hardware is top notch. This is really no surprise since RoadMice is using HP internal components. So you get excellent optical mouse performance on just about any surface. That brings me to the movement. This car mouse moves like it’s on a cushion of air. It’s amazing to me how good it feels in my hand too. The buttons on the hood of the car are totally natural and the track ball moves very nice. I seriously have no complaints about the functionality of this device.

So there you have it. It’s a car. It’s a mouse. It’s great at both! I love nothing more then coming into work every day and seeing a sweet car on my desk. It doesn’t look like a mouse, but it drives like one. The prices vary and a ton of different models are available. If you were to compare other devices I think you’ll find the price is incredibly fair. This mouse has become my daily driver.

RoadMice.com

Nice read, but I’d like to point something out.

“When Google starts bundling everything it knows about its users and selling that to insurance companies, background check companies, and the Department of Homeland Security, that’s when I’ll trot out the “evil label.”

When waffle company X wants to sell an ad to males 18-24 who like cars, baseball, and maple syrup they would normally buy a demographic list to hit these guy via email, or TV based on a variety of half ass guesses. Maybe during ESPN 9am-Noon or something similar.

Or Google will just take the ad and deliver it to they keywords you’ve suggested and bam, you’ve just reinvented the whole system. No longer is there a need to sell information to companies for marketing. Now you’re selling access to the system that already HAS the information. If Facebook and Google have shown us anything it’s that “trust” and “privacy” is objective. When you go to a site and see an add for a site you were at 20mins ago that’s Google selling your information. Plain and simple.

Evil….well that’s objective now isn’t it?

Let me first introduce myself by a name that most of you haven’t heard in a long time. I’m Nic Ball the “Berry Guru”. Before there was a Gadget Gurus, before there ever was an Angry Guru and much before I secured my doctorate, I was simply a blackberry junkie. I walked around with my head held down and my thumbs busy typing away on a keyboard as I weaved through pedestrian traffic. It was the best of times. The smartphone market was on in it’s early childhood. We’d finally crossed over the threshold of Windows Mobile and the world was ours to take. Then the iPhone came along and started the downward slide. Android came on the scene and it was as if all the air in the room had been let out. Now here we are only a few years later but it seems like forever ago. Now here we are, RIM, the former king of the market is now the ugly red-headed step child of smart phones. What, if anything, can RIM do to save this ship?

The most obvious problem with RIM has been the total consumerization of IT. No longer are system admins able to keep everyone on an easy to manage and easy to control system without justification for that granular control. Now days CEO’s are demanding the use of an iPhone or iPad and the notion of using a BlackBerry is quickly fading away. RIM has missed out on consumer market in belief that there would always be a rock solid business market. As this layer starts to fade away we have to look at other solutions at RIM.

Management:

Let’s start with the people steering this ship. Co-CEO’s and Co-Chairmen Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie have lost touch with the pulse of consumers. Being both co-CEOs and co-Chairmen of the board they dictate the agenda and answer to no one. This and their admitted success in the industry to the point of total domination before the iPhone have lead to delusional isolationism. Just one month ago Mike Lazaridis said

“These new models will build on the incredible success of the BlackBerry Curve line and further expand the largest global launch of BlackBerry smartphones in our history” and “RIM has taken a unique path and the reason why we do things might not always be obvious from the outside.”

Might not be obvious? How about ‘is clearly mind boggling.’ These two would better server as CEO where they’d have the ability to kill any ideas they didn’t like, but would also be held accountable by shareholders via the board of trustees. With the threat of being canned over their head they might be more willing to try new things.

Ecosystem:

What started out as an alternative to Flash could be the answer to solving a lot of RIMs ecosystem problems. Outside of BBM there aren’t too many applications that RIM has nailed down that anyone wants to use outside of their ecosystem. RIM doesn’t have Instagram, or FaceTime or anything else Apple ‘wows’ you with. What they do have is strong developers who create apps that you would only want and know about if you already had a BlackBerry. There’s hope that more major titles will come to BlackBerry but I think there’s an easier solution. With HTML5 a company such as Instagram would be able to make a single HTML5 app that looked beautiful on PCs, Macs, Android, BlackBerry, iOS, and Windows Phone.

Think this is all crazy talk? Here are a few early examples.

• DeviantART Muro - HTML5 based sketch app
• Hootsuite - Social media dashboard
• Coolendar - Simple and ‘polished’ calendar app
• Grooveshark - Music service whose apps were pulled from iOS and Android markets

Hardware:

When it comes to deploying your own OS and hardware RIM hasn’t always been the worst but they’ve run into stagnation. Their phones all seem to be the same and look the same. When was the last time someone was asked “did you see the new blackberry?” Heck the last innovation this company made was the Storm, which was a flop for consumers and critics. Perhaps the solution is in licensing their OS out to the likes of HTC and or Samsung. Two companies who know how to make fresh and appealing hardware. Even Microsoft with all of its cash didn’t decide to make hardware on their own. Allowing another manufacture to develop hardware for them could really give a fresh start to RIM.

NFC:

NFC is currently in its infancy. Only one American device currently has it. If RIM were to commit to this new technology they could be the forefront of a new and developing market. RIM is already starting to dabble in this technology with their “BlackBerry Tag” protocol. If done right this could be the equivalent of BBM appeal. NFC door locks, car docks, nightstand dock, etc. It’s really a crazy and fun tech that could do so much for their bottom line.

PR:

Finally the first reason of hope I’ve had for this company in a very long time came from the following video from Ashley Esqueda. It was the first breath of fresh PR air I’ve whiffed in awhile from camp RIM.

[There is a video that cannot be displayed in this feed. Visit the blog entry to see the video.]
Now Ashley does two things well. She shows cleavage and seems to be genuinely excited about what she’s seen from RIM at CES. RIM basically we need more excitement. We don’t need some unknown DJ explaining how his eccentric life-style fits BlackBerry. Or for that part how some broke ass bike messenger uses BBM to meet up after work with his fellow broke as messenger friends.

[There is a video that cannot be displayed in this feed. Visit the blog entry to see the video.]
Apple nails this. They show “real” people using their products in “real” ways.

Conclusion:

The bottom line here is simple. RIM has a ton of ways to save their company and right this ship. The only question is whether or not they’ll be able to do any of these things. RIM has shown that over the years they’ll make the wrong choice despite what seems obvious to the rest of us.

This week Liz Money can’t join us, but I’ve found a suitable replacement. Cory Haessler fills in to bring us some very good insight on security and hacking topics of choice. Hope you enjoy.

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Nic:
twitter.com/NicBall
Nic@TheGadgetGurus.net
Google+

Liz:
twitter.com/Liz_Money
hellolizzy@about.me

RSS | iTunes | Download MP3

Nic:
twitter.com/NicBall
Nic@TheGadgetGurus.net
Google+

Liz:
twitter.com/Liz_Money
hellolizzy@about.me

Show Notes:

NASA: Satellite has fallen to Earth

Hacking

No more lulz: FBI arrests LulzSec hackers following nationwide manhunt

FBI arrests LulzSec member “recursion” for Sony Pictures hack

Etc: Both Apple and Dropbox have joined the Digital Due Process coalition, a group focused on modernizing US surveillance laws. Other members of the group include the EFF and ACLU.

DigiNotar dies from certificate hack caper

OS X Lion security flaw allows anyone to change your password

Movie Institute Feels Pain Of IP Address-Only Piracy ‘Evidence’

Pirate Service Makes Textbook Rentals Last Forever

Political

India seeks to disable satellite phones at the border to fight terrorism

German Pirate Party boards Berlin state parliament

Massachusetts Attorney General to demand answers from Apple after iTunes breach

Tech

Apple is unveiling two new iPhones next month, and here’s why

Sprint may cap mobile hotspot data on smartphones at 5GB beginning October 2nd

Dish misses out on opportunity to cash in on Netflix missteps

AT&T: Sprint has been lying for months about motives for opposing T-Mobile merger

Verizon goes to bat for AT&T, defends T-Mobile merger

Lighter Note

London Fashion Week So Far: Burberry Live-Tweets and Pippa Appears
http://stylenews.peoplestylewatch.com/2011/09/20/london-fashion-week-burberry-pippa-middleton/?hpt=hp_c2

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Nic:
twitter.com/NicBall
Nic@TheGadgetGurus.net
Google+

Liz:
twitter.com/Liz_Money
hellolizzy@about.me

Show Notes:

RSS | iTunes | Download MP3

Nic:
twitter.com/NicBall
Nic@TheGadgetGurus.net
Google+

Liz:
twitter.com/Liz_Money
hellolizzy@about.me

Hackers steal SSL certificates for CIA, MI6, Mossad
Hackers spied on 300,000 Iranians using fake Google certificate
Comodo hacker claims credit for DigiNotar attack
After hacking claims, second firm pulls digital certificates
How an omniscient Internet “sextortionist” ruined the lives of teen girls
DOJ vs. AT&T hearing set for September 21st
P2P lawyer: IP address not enough, let me search all PCs in the house
HTC sues Apple again, this time with patents acquired from Google
LulzSec and Anonymous hackers released on bail
Police investigating accusations in bizarre lost iPhone 5 case
RSA spearphish attack may have hit U.S. defense organizations
DIY flying robo hacker threatens wireless networks
Android app gives you free Web access via texting
Conan mocks Apple over ‘lost iPhone 5′
No, Canada! ISPs ordered to out users in Hurt Locker case
Apple strikes stolen SSL certificates from OS X
Privacy-violating, useless AVG antivirus app pulled from Windows Phone Marketplace

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Show Notes and more after the break

The Justice Department complaint was filed today in federal court inWashington. The U.S. is seeking a declaration that Dallas-based AT&T’s takeover of T-Mobile, a unit of Deutsche Telekom AG (DTE), would violate U.S. antitrust law and a court order blocking any arrangement implementing the deal.

It would appear that this whole merger could be dead in the water unless AT&T can get creative. Only time will tell.

(via Bloomberg, BGR)

(via FoxBusiness)