No Clear Choice for DVDs

(For $50, Griffin's bulkier iFM does combine FM tuning and recording with a remote control, but leaves out the RDS feature.)

The Radio Remote runs off an iPod's batteries, but barely affects battery life. I easily got 14 hours or so of FM listening in one test. To see FM integrated so well into iPod hardware or software does, however, raises one question: How well could Apple build an FM tuner into the iPod itself?

In Case You Missed It

Last week was a two-column week. Sunday's piece, in the usual spot, was a review of Google Pack, the collection of Web, security and multimedia software the Web site began offering last month. I also wrote an out-of-rotation column for Saturday's paper about the BlackBerry patent imbroglio, and the bigger problems with the U.S. patent system that mess illustrates.

Elsewhere in Sunday's paper, Frank Ahrens wonders if we're not all getting completely blogged out. Daniel Greenberg reviews a couple of gadgets that somewhat automate the process of archiving old videotapes onto DVDs. And in Help File, I outline how to revive a catatonic iMac -- and steal back a few gigabytes of disk space in the process.

And Finally: New Frontiers in Pixel Engineering

Editors like to say that any story, no matter how long, can be edited down the length of a photo caption if necessary. The same apparently goes for video games.

This site (covertly underwritten by the American Optometric Association?) features 18-by-18-pixel renditions of Pac-Man, Pong, Breakout, Asteroids, Space Invaders and others, all shockingly playable... with a magnifying glass held up to the monitor.

Questions? Comments? Send them to rob@twp.com.