If you’re having trouble finding a new iPhone 3G at Apple stores, Dealnews reminds us that Apple has created an online iPhone 3G availability checker. Apple notes that you should check the, um, checker after 9 p.m. the day before you plan to head to the store and that you should arrive at the store early the next day. Based on a check of Minnesota stores, the 8GB model was the only one out of stock at most places.

I now understand why the Boundary Waters area was picked by Forbes as a cell-phone-free getaway after a recent family vacation near there. We spent a week at the YMCA’s Camp Du Nord, a family camp 15 miles from Ely and just a mile from the Slim Lake entrance of the pristine BWCA wilderness. We used our cell phones only occasionally to check messages or make a quick call to relatives. But those few calling episodes often became comical, requiring climbing to the top of a rock formation near our cabin and maybe even assuming the crane pose from Karate Kid. It’s certainly easy to turn your cell phone off under such conditions.

Otherwise, in the beautiful northern Minnesota setting, our vacation was largely tech-free. The lack of Wi-Fi gave my wife a reason to leave her laptop at home, which still wasn’t easy for a prolific writer who does virtually all correspondence by e-mail and even teaches online. 

I still managed to bring along my Nintendo DS and Sony PSP to catch up with some recent games during my down time in the cabin–including the word puzzles of CrossworDS (plain, but addictive), the retro ricochet of Arkanoid DS (just OK),  the comical stealth of Secret Agent Clank (solid neo-Ratchet fun), the reworked Space Invaders Extreme (nonstop wild action), the even more-reworked Atari Classics Evolved (surprisingly engaging and difficult)  and the mythological adventure God of War: Chains of Olympus (cinematic bliss). 

In other news while I was away:

* The NPD group finally confirmed my report from more than a month ago that the Nintendo Wii is now the top console in U.S. homes, with nearly 11 million units sold through June. It also noted in its June sales report (released last week) that the PlayStation 3 posted its highest monthly sales outside of the holiday season with sales of 405,500 units, nearly double the Xbox 360–although the latter older system still has more titles purchased per system, almost 8.

* By many accounts, last week’s annual E3 video-game expo in Los Angeles was a disappointment, including the surprising non-announcement of a new Halo title. There’s talk now, including bringing gamers back to the media event, of how to keep E3 from dying completely.

* A whole slew of intriguing catalog Blu-ray releases were announced, including the Ultimate Matrix (October), Quo Vadis (spring), Young Frankenstein — “that’s Fränkensteen”– (October), Ghostbusters (October), John Carpenter’s The Thing (September) and much more. Cool.

Be sure to check the Star Tribune website Monday night for my story on local fans who dress as Star Wars characters for community appearances, including some great video.Â

Many Apple fans are eagerly awaiting the July 11 release of the new iPhone, including tech-obsessed geek Benjamin Higginbotham of Eden Prairie. I spent some time with him and his wife, Cariann, on Tuesday for an article about their SpaceVidcast. His iPhone rang during the interview and, just as happened when I called him once, he couldn’t hear the caller.  It seems his iPhone’s casing is cracked and the thing is on the fritz. Ben really wants that new iPhone.

I have to confess that I have no need for an iPhone, but I still got a kick out of Retrevo’s “7 Reasons why the new iPhone 3G sucks.” 

“This is the iPhone that all the late adopters have been waiting for,” the author says. “It promised to address the deficiencies of the first generation iPhone, but does it really?”

He then goes on to list the seven reasons why it doesn’t:

• Too expensive, at $1,000 a year for service and expenses.
• GPS locates but doesn’t offer turn-by-turn directions.
• Can’t be tethered to a laptop
• Still no cut and paste.
• Poor 2MP camera.
• No stereo Bluetooth.
• Many other problems, such as no Flash player for rich media and no replaceable battery.

His conclusion? “So it’s not perfect but it’s still the coolest smartphone out there and I still want one.”

Ben, is that you?

Of all the come-on lines I’ve received in press releases, “Mow your lawn with your cell phone…What?” has to be one of the best. The explanation:

“The LawnBott 3500 is the newest and most sophisticated lawnmower on the planet, featuring Bluetooth compatibility that allows it to be conveniently programmed and controlled by any Bluetooth enabled device, including cell phones and PDAs.”

Cool! Basically, maker Kyodo America has added Bluetooth control to its innovative mower, which came out last year. The LawnBott does for your lawn what Roomba does for your floor. It mows your lawn automatically, using perimeter wire that you set up to avoid flower beds and mark the edges. After it’s done or when it’s low on juice, the LawnBott returns to a docking station to recharge. You can program it and change settings using a Bluetooth device — perhaps while sipping lemonade on the veranda. The new LawnBott has enhanced security features that stop the blade and sound an alarm when it hits something or is picked up. There’s more:

“LawnBott uses $7 to $10 worth of electricity a year and because gas or oil is not required, they are eco-friendly with no pollution and zero emissions.  … LawnBott is also quiet enough for a late night or early morning cut without disturbing neighbors, or yourself, while it mows.  LawnBott also comes equipped with a rain sensor, which allows it to cut during light rain but stops once it senses too much water, immediately returning to its docking station.”

How could anyone not want this thing? Well, for me, it became a no-go when I saw the retail price: $3,249.

Now I know what they meant by the “What?” in the press release come-on. Actually, I’d add an exclamation mark, as in “What?!”

I could have a lawn service mow my lawn for nearly five years for that price — seriously. Yes, a service is not as good for the environment, but being eco-friendly sure is expensive. I would bet most people think the same way.

Maybe the best eco-friendly device to mow your lawn is a goat. On the other hand, I do not believe there is one that is Bluetooth-capable.

Would you pay more than $3000 for the LawnBott 3500?

What would you see if you attached a video camera overnight to a housecat?

That’s what Crittercam inventor Greg Marshall, whom I wrote about today as part of his Thursday visit to Minneapolis for National Geographic Live, wondered when he outfitted a cute feline critter with his innovative audiovisual recorder. The stunt was not part of his groundbreaking research on wildlife, which you can see in his narrated video on this website or in films such as March of the Penguins; it was just to test out some tweak in his continually evolving Crittercam. What he found when he examined the footage later was eye-opening, especially to the cat’s owner.

Greg Marshall

“It was fairly horrifying seeing what that cat was doing,” Greg said. This “lovely, little, genteel cat” was going out at night and marauding, killing and eating — head to tail — city rats in the back alleys of Washington DC. “You see this unfolding on video,” he said, “and when the owner saw that, she was totally, completely horrified, promising never to kiss the cat again.” 

Greg said he hasn’t come up with a consumer version of Crittercam, a so-called Petcam, but he has tried out his scientific device many times on his own cat, Snake. (Internet users have come up with less elaborate versions, such as Mr. Lee’s CatCam.)  Until then, we’ll have to make due with his cool work for National Geographic.

I took a look at consumer-electronics trends for the new year on Tuesday, with the help of Technology Evangelist guru Ben Higginbotham and CNET senior editor Dan Ackerman. If you missed it, check it out here. 

Because it’s been a few weeks since I wrote that column, here are some follow-up clarifications:

High-def only: I can’t stress enough that consumers shouldn’t spend too much time worrying about the federal mandate for a switch to digital-only (HDTV) broadcasts by February 2009. Ackerman and Higginbotham were adamant about this. Obviously, if you want to upgrade to HDTV, this year would be a good time to do so. But no one who doesn’t upgrade is going to lose his or her TV shows. If you get cable or satellite, your provider will still get you that signal you’re paying for in a way that you can watch it. And if you get a broadcast-only signal via an over-the-air antenna, the federal government will issue vouchers for you to buy a converter box for your non-HDTV set at minimal cost.

HD DVD vs. Blu-ray: Higginbotham and Ackerman agreed with each other that the war between the two high-def DVD formats will be resolved by wider spread universal players that will render the battle moot.  Neither put much stock in the buzz that Warner Home Video, the only studio still supporting both formats, might announce at the upcoming Consumer Electronics Show that it will back only one format. It won’t matter in the end, they say. Still, WHV’s backing of one format over the other certainly could send shockwaves through the industry. But even if one format is weakened by such a move, it would still take a while for the other format to die out, if at all. That’s why my techno-friends think a hybrid player will win out in the end.

Laptop boom: One reader emailed to chide me for saying that laptop computers are “going to take off.” They already have, the reader said. I guess I should have added “like never before.” The scoop is that, while laptops have increased in sales while notebook computers have declined in recent years, 2008 is when industry observers expect laptops to be the dominant configuration for the first time. 

Finally, one reader emailed to say that some of the trends identified in my write-up are “pure speculation.” Well, duh. It was a prediction-oriented column — hence, the intro noting “techno trends we see for the coming year.” So, yes, it’s speculation, but it’s from people who do nothing but follow technology for a living. We’ll find out at the end of year how much of it ends up being fact.