Cool Hunting
| 12 October 2006view entries from: this week | this month | view previous day | view next day |
First Look at the Treo 680
by Josh Rubin
Earlier today at Digitallife Palm announced the much anticipated Treo 680. We got our hands on one and are happy to report it's a great improvement over the 650. The device is smaller in all dimensions. The screen is brighter and more crisp, the SD card slot is moved to a better location and the antenna is now internal so there's not annoying nub. Expected to ship by this holiday season at a more "competitive" price, the 680 will be available in 4 colors: graphite, copper, arctic and crimson.
Software improvements include a new phone user interface which includes 5 tabs on the main screen: dial (pictured right), favorites, wallpaper idle, address book and call log (all four pictured below, click to zoom). There's also better association of contacts and photos so you can see a picture of who's calling—something long time coming for Palm. The multimedia applications are also improved to better access and use pictures, video and music.
The Treo 680 will also come bundled with über handy Google Maps, an improved Blazer web browser and a selection of Email clients to chose from.
Check Engadget for live coverage of the press event here.
Girl Talk
by Ami Kealoha
Take a mash-up, multiply by 100, mix with booty-shaking bass, add a high energy live show and you have something like the recipe for Girl Talk, aka Gregg Gillis, a 25 year-old hailing from the industrial town of Pittsburgh, PA. Since the May release of, Night Ripper, his third full-length, Girl Talk has been the latest hype-fest, performing to rooms stocked with celebrities and jetting abroad to open for the likes of Beck. Like Dangermouse and other genre blenders he's often compared to, Gillis’ work is a symptom of the high pop culture metabolism of a the MTV generation and the ADD-style attention span that comes with it. But more than a shallow nostalgia fest, simple beat matching or deftly sampled eclectic Top 40 hits—one lauded track, “Smash Your Head,” layers Notorious B.I.G.’s “Juicy” over “Tiny Dancer” by Elton John— Girl Talk is also irresistibly danceable, drawing out crowds with dirty South breaks and grunge loops tied together by an relentless underlying beat. (Click image at right for detail.) For more photos and Cool Hunting's conversation with the polite young party-maker about pop music, making live music and the perfect snack, go here.
The Roots: Game Theory
by Ami Kealoha
Undisputedly the premier live hip-hop band in the world, much of the Roots' well-deserved reputation has been earned on stages around the globe—but in the studio they have been less consistent. On the heels of their seventh album, Phrenology (2002)—which included the breakout crossover hit duet with Cody ChestnuTT “The Seed (2.0)”—their last album, The Tipping Point, failed to excite fans or garner the critical acclaim of earlier works. Their move this year from Geffen/Universal to DefJam/Island seemed to hold promise for a rebirth.
The result, their new release and impressive ninth studio album, Game Theory, is dark and soulful, but also an understated album that's easy to miss. There’s nothing flashy. No obvious hit singles or party songs. But below the surface is a maturity of depth, and a cohesive beautifully brooding vibe that reveals more with each listen. And without being didactic, it expresses an exasperation with the current political moment. A pared down, bluesy, rock lament with hip-hop trappings, Game Theory is also presented as a eulogy for the recently deceased James “Dilla” Yancey, beginning and ending with heartfelt tributes to the pioneering hip-hop producer. Pick it up from Amazon.
by DJ Scribe
Ryan McGinness in Europe
by Wendy Dembo
Master of silhouetted graphics (and perhaps the hardest working man in the art world) Ryan McGinness currently has a series of three solo shows called “NEVERODDOREVEN,” which are taking place across Western Europe this fall. At Curti/Gambuzzi in Milan the installation is in full swing and will be up through 3 November 2006 (pictured right, photos courtesy of Paolo Curti & Annamaria Gambuzzi & Co.) and his show in Amsterdam at Vous Etes Ici opens Saturday, 14 October 2006, and runs through 11 November 2006. (More installation shots Galeria Moriarty opens 24 November 2006 and is up until 8 January 2007. And if that wasn’t enough Ryan for you, some big new paintings of his are in two UK group shows right now. “Saatchi's “USA Today” at the Royal Academy of the Arts until 4 November 2006.
