Google and the Phantom Town of Argleton

For ages, map makers have protected their own maps by adding little landmarks and towns that don't exist, sort of a hiding-in-plain-sight watermark. Well, the Telegraph UK reported that it had spotted one such town in a Google Map, which was using Tele Atlas data. Argleton, in Lancashire, simply doesn't exist, even though you can plainly see it. What happened? Apparently, the name was quite possibly sucked up with other data when Tele Atlas' map makers were busy inputting info from old maps. This isn't unusual, though you'd think there'd be a more rapid fact checking process. By the way, we didn't cover it because nowadays, the story isn't really whether or not Tele Atlas is stealing maps from old dead cartographers, but whether or not Google is stealing the map business from Tele Atlas. [Telegraph UK via Valleywag]

10 Years of Steve Jobs' Apple Product Unveilings

MacLife created a choppy but thorough video of Steve Jobs unveiling everything from the original CRT iMac to the video-camera equipped iPod Nano, with bits of Schiller thrown in out of necessity. It's a fun encyclopedic romp (though I'm sure some of you can tell me what's missing). The biggest reason we didn't post it? We didn't want to be sued for all the fanboys who suffered heart attacks—or the ones who maybe escaped cardiac arrest but came away with Teen Wolf palms. [MacLife via 9to5Mac]

AT&T's Foray Into In-Car Satellite TV Goes Miserably Wrong

After four months up and running, the CruiseCast satellite-TV service for cars bit the dust hard, with refunds and paid un-installations going out to current subscribers. What was AT&T and its partner, RaySat, thinking when they launched it? $1300 up front and no major sports channels or adult programming to speak of? That just doesn't—excuse me, didn't—make sense. Good thing zero point zero readers fell for it. Right guys? [Engadget]

Robots Will Soon Learn How to Smell Fear

Just as drug-sniffing dogs can be replaced by machines that aren't so prone to smack addiction, scientists are developing sensors—nowhere near ready but due in 2012—that home in on the pheromone released when people experience stress or fear. Like what Leslie Nielsen must have felt when he got that call from OJ, asking about the Naked Gun 10-year reunion. [PopSci]

DirecTV currently only sends out two feeds—one to the east coast, one to the west—which each broadcast uniform content and advertising across their various markets. For advertisers with limited reach, this is wasteful; likewise, for viewers, this can mean annoyingly irrelevant ads.

More often than not, though, it just means that local or regional advertisers don't even bother with DirecTV, which is bad for its business, and most importantly deprives its customers of the crucial information they need to choose the right repossessed furniture dealership. [WSJ]

Right now, satellite television is still technically illegal in China, thanks to a 1993 regulation that said only hotels, media outlets and apartment buildings that are specifically for foreigners are allowed to use satellite dishes. Because of that, there's no China-branded satellite company and most TVs come with just the smattering of local regional Chinese channels and, of course, the CCTV.

There's a way around it though. A gray market has popped up in most cities to provide satellite cable services – including cable boxes and regularly updated encryption cards – for anyone willing to pay. Roughly $300 a year will get you channels like BBC World and CNN, HBO and (my personal favorite) the Discovery Channel.

The cards catch satellite signals from the Philippines, which are usually good at not crapping out and give you the added bonus of occasionally glimpsing a crazy mirror world of good ol' American pop culture. Did you know the Philippines had a Project Runway of their own called... Project Runway Philippines?

But I digress. Illegal Filipino satellite equipment saved me from what local Chinese had to watch: The CCTV's live (up until a certain moment) broadcast of the President's inauguration address.

Oh crap! Did he just say “fascism and communism”?! CUT CUT CUT. Um... so, person translating the broadcast... uh... what kind of problems do you think Obama will be facing with regards to the U.S. economy?

The rest of the address was only broadcast later in government-approved snippets.

I suppose I should also take time to be thankful that I speak English, since translations of his speech also had offending parts edited out.

And heavy. To get the promised 20 channels of satellite TV programming, users will have to install a 3lb., 11.3-by-10.3-by-4.3-inch antenna on their roof that's "not particularly noticeable," says AT&T. They've obviously never driven off to work with a laptop on the roof, which is what this sounds like. Believe me, people notice this kind of thing, especially when it falls off in the middle of the freeway.

While the number of channels appears to be set in stone, the full lineup is unknown. So far, the confirmed family-friendly focused channels include the Disney Channel, Disney XD, Discovery Kids, Animal Planet, Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network Mobile, USA, Comedy Central, MSNBC, CNN Mobile Live, and CNBC. Twenty satellite radio stations are also included in the package, which costs $1300 up front for the system, and $28 a month for the service.

Service cut-outs that occur when similar services go under a bridge or into a tunnel, like my ancient 4-year-old Sirius XM radio receiver, will be addressed—allegedly—by AT&T's proprietary "breakthrough buffering technology."

Additionally, there was no word on the kind of insurance claim one should file when the satellite receiver caves in your roof, but we'll keep an eye out for an update. [CruiseCast via PC World]

He says that he was just hired to write pirate programs to make DirecTV's own network more secure, but one of his projects for News Corp., the "stinger," can talk to any smart card in the world. Another hacker claims that he bragged about using the stinger with News Corps.'s people to reprogram a bunch of Dish's cards, but Tarnovsky claims he's being set up to take the fall.

Dish says the hack attack has cost them over $900 million. Either way, this whole thing is some serious material for a TNT movie of the week. [Reuters via Valleywag]

Getting 'Em to Your Door
Dish and DirecTV both have online package-builder tools to keep you off the phone. You are supposed to punch in what kind of TV(s) you have and what services you want, but the tools are worthless. Our unexpected advice? Dial, don't click. The crappy flash interface leaves too many questions unanswered, and our phone experiences were shockingly good—short waits and friendly reps. Besides, they'll call you after you submit the online build anyway.

Our Dream Gear
Taking one for the team, we went through the online package-builders anyway, with an imaginary setup of one HD DVR and one vanilla HD receiver. For some bizarre reason, Dish would not allow us to select the HD DVR at all—the options is grayed out on the gear screen—despite the main pages blasting its awesomeness (it's a free upgrade!) far and wide. When we called, though, we could order it. DVR runs about $5 a month from both, and the functionality's worth the fee. Extra standard-def receivers are free (to a point).

So, What's on TV?
Dish promises over 70 national HD channels. DirecTV touts 75. But half of those will cost you extra—premium channels like HBO and Showtime plus 22 regional sports channels— so your base lineup in either case is something closer to 35.. Both carriers offer an "everything" package that includes, well, everything, though you can always add premiums a la carte. We should note Dish wouldn't give us a definite number of HD channels with the "Everything" package, saying it's changing every month and it depends on what region you live in, which goes for DirecTV too—another reason to call. The rates listed in our chart include the fees for local channels and DVR service.
The Total Damage
DirecTV's startup fees are painful, totaling nearly $300—$200 for the HD DVR, $100 for our second HD receiver. Dish has a much more reasonable $50 activation fee, but they're running a promotion that refunds it with an 18-month contract, according to the rep, and it also nets you their best HD DVR for free. Both are offering so-called "free" install.

Making Your Choices for You
The analysis that made the most sense for us was to pit DirecTV's two HD DVR service offerings against Dish's Top 200 and America's Everything plans. You get about the same stuff for around the same price, though DirecTV's a bit cheaper. When all things were about equal, it seemed the deal-breaker was DirecTV's massive up front cost. The best value then is Dish's Top 200 since it doubles what you get with their 100 channel package for only about $8, and start-up and install is apparently gratis with the current promotion.

We realize price isn't everything so we went to hallowed customer surveyor JD Power & Associates to ask which satellite provider takes care of its customers best, and again it turned out to be a toss-up: JDP's last survey from April showed "no statistical difference between DirecTV and Dish" regarding satisfaction with their HD service.

Let's skip the JD Power and go straight to Giz Power: If any of you guys are DirecTV and Dish HD customers, what horror stories can you share to keep potential comrades in arms from entering a treacherous pool of satellite-beamed misery? Or maybe, you know, what kind of high praise can you sing because it's nothing like all that? We've supplied the data, but now it's your turn to share the real-life experience. [Dish Network, DirecTV, Flickr]

While the $1499 kit isn't portable in the sense that a laptop is, the guys say it's as "luggable" as any mobile computer built before 1990. Says Ed:

The trickiest part of setting it up is finding a suitable (and hopefully flat) spot to place the antenna. As with any DirecTV installation, the antenna requires an unobstructed view of the southern sky [hence the compass built into the side of the carrying case]...The quick-start guide shows you dish-pointing coordinates for 15 major markets, with a lengthier list inside the manual. Pressing a button on the TV shows you a signal-strength meter; you'll need 50% or better to pull in a picture.

It's hard to imagine in this day and age, but tree leaves are the great technical barrier. They prevented me from ever getting a signal in my backyard. After a bit of trial and error, I was able to get reception in my front lawn.

If you're truly in the middle of nowhere, forget about catching much of the game if you have to rely on the replaceable lithium-ion battery; it lasts just an hour, and a full recharge takes eight hours.

Under ideal circumstances, you'll connect Sat-Go to a wall jack, or cigarette lighter adapter for powering it up through your car or boat.

Since the satellite receiver is built into the LCD, you can use Sat-Go as an additional TV tuner in your house. Under that scenario, you connect the LCD by cable to the more typical dish installation on the roof.

DirecTV Sat-Go [Gizmodo]

Starting today, current DTV customers can get the service for $1,499 by calling 1-800-DIRECTV. If you're afraid of phones, the Sat-Go should be available at retail stores soon. How much is 1280x1024 TV anywhere worth to you? We can bet it's probably not worth a G and a half. – Jason Chen

Press Release [DirecTV]

Impressions [Gizmodo]

Marine Satellite TV [KVH]