My Logitech Revue is here!

I signed up for the Google TV pilot program a couple of months ago where 10,000 developers were selected to receive a FREE Logitech Revue with Google TV. Mine is finally here! To bad I barely watch television so I haven't purchased a TV in over 5 years. None of my TV's have HDMI input, therefore none of my cable boxes have HDMI out.

No worries. Thanks to a new Verizon FiOS promotion we just received that wouldn't require me to sign a contract, and the latest Wikileak of Santa's credit card statements; It's been revealed that the family will be getting FiOS for Christmas! There is also a shiny new Samsung LCD on deck. I am just waiting for those post Christmas/pre-New Year sales to kick in ;).

I've already downloaded the Google TV Remote for Android app in anticipation. You can expect my thoughts and more on the new Google TV OS and Logitech Revue the beginning of next year.

T-mobile 4G on my Cr-48

After reading some reviews of the Cr-48 and its lack of USB support I felt a little discouraged at the possibilities of some high speed wireless tethering. I mean I can always set the trusty old Nexus One to hotspot mode, but that's slower and drains the battery so it would most likely be plugged in anyway.

With nothing to lose, I went ahead and connected my Nexus One, running CyanogenMod 6.1, and mounted it as a USB drive first. I had no luck at browsing or being able to select and upload any of its contents. After that miserable fail, I skeptically went into my Nexus One's wireless settings and turned on USB tethering. To my surprise I was connected to T-Mobile's HSPA+ network as soon as I enabled it on my superphone! Browsing was reliable and quick, plus I know I can burn through the 100 free Verizon MBs in no time if I'm not around Wi-fi.

The Cr-48 also carries a Gobi 3G chip which should mean that it would work on either CDMA or GSM 3G in the future. Being HSPA+ is just a 3G firmware upgrade, we should be seeing "4G speeds" natively. Why Google got USB tethering before simple storage devices working? Got me. Knowing I'm able to fall back on my unlimited T-mobile "4G" data plan is a big bonus though.

Carlos Gabriel Limardo

Welcome to the blog of Carlos Gabriel Limardo (limardo.org), not to be confused with Carlos Geru Limardo (carloslimardo.com), my brother! I've been resisting the move to blogger in preference of WordPress on a personal or hosted server. Why did I give in you may ask? Google gave me a FREE Chrome netbook (Cr-48), on top of the FREE Logitech Revue with Google TV that's also on it's way from their pilot program.

I have always respected Google for its great products and willingness to contribute to Open Source. I've relied on Gmail and Google Calendar for years and more heavily after purchasing my G1 on the release date and now Nexus One a few years after that. If that wasn't bad enough I soon moved to Chrome (really Chromium on my Ubuntu laptops) and Google Voice as my main phone number. Far from perfect but far ahead of the competition in my honest opinion.

You will still be able to find info on building your own home brew GApp-like services and CakePHP components and code snippets as my old blog, but also a lot more reviews and info on the latest Google based products I've received for free. I've always been skeptical when it comes to Google or any "cloud" based services, but after receiving these two test products I feel a little bit of a responsibility to "give back" some feedback!

I'll admit I will probably be a little bias for the next few days as Google has woed me, but stay tuned as my paranoia returns and I have a little more time to break things.