Strange New World: Tech Picks of the Week

Nov. 14, 2008 — -- Hello loyal readers. We're sure this missive reaches you as you stand outside the now bankrupt Circuit City like vultures, but we figured you would want something to break up the monotony of the stakeout as you wait to do your bargain hunting. This week Blu-ray hits a milestone, the Yankees go high-tech and the iPhone goes No. 1. Here are our picks of the week.

Blu-Ray Bats 1,000

This week the Blu-ray format released its 1,000th title. Nobody is sure which title put it over the top because they are released in bunches. Our money is on the Tinker Bell DVD. It's actually pretty astounding how fast Blu-ray has reached this milestone, and can you even remember what that format was they were competing against for a while? This news comes as prices on the Blu-ray players have started to dip below the $300 mark. Forgive the cliche, but it's the perfect storm. If you're looking to pick up a Blu-ray player, check out the NS-BRDVD from Insignia. It's Best Buy's own player, and it costs only $200. It's not the most full-featured player on the market, but for $200 you can't do much better.

The Yankees Sing Cisco

Cisco announced that the new Yankee Stadium, set to open in April, has been outfitted with state-of-the-art Cisco technologies, giving fans the most wired, connected and video-enabled stadium in all of baseball. The Bronx Bombers claim that a new Cisco technology called Cisco StadiumVision will provide fans with the most technologically advanced game-day experience in baseball. There are going to be HD televisions all over the stadium, at every concession stand and common area. Fans will also be able to use smart phones to order concessions from their seats and see instant replays. The luxury suites will have touchscreen Internet protocol phones to order food and other Yankee merchandise for those high-rollers who don't want to rub elbows with the riffraff. It looks as if the Yankees are building the world's largest sports bar.

The Streak Is Over!

The Motorola Razr's 12-quarter streak as the United States' most popular phone has finally come to an end. The Apple iPhone is now the No. 1 phone in the country. We know, you'd think that the ubiquitous BlackBerry models would have passed the Razr a long time ago, but they are actually only in third place. We're not sure how long the iPhone is actually going to hold the title, however. Blackberry is going to release two new models this month -- the Bold and the Storm -- that will certainly be big sellers. We'll keep you posted.