Digit news - Gadgets: First Origami device shown
Well it's XP tablet Edition 2005 running on a small form factor tablet PC. It looks like the only difference between a normal tablet PC is that it can instant-on boot to a cut down XP just to run videos and other media.
Just got and buy an OQO, they're available now and work.
2006/03/08
Ofcom Website | Ofcom agrees to Home Office request for 101 as single non-emergency number
Ofcom Website | Ofcom agrees to Home Office request for 101 as single non-emergency number
Ofcom have agreed to allocate 101 as a non-emergency number as requested by the Home Office.
This will be used to report criminal or anti-social behaviour in situations not considered an emergency.
Ofcom has not set a tarrif, but the Home Office is trying to secure a rate of 10p per call from all networks, subject to ongoing talks with the networks to ensure they can implement the tarrif.
Ofcom have agreed to allocate 101 as a non-emergency number as requested by the Home Office.
This will be used to report criminal or anti-social behaviour in situations not considered an emergency.
Ofcom has not set a tarrif, but the Home Office is trying to secure a rate of 10p per call from all networks, subject to ongoing talks with the networks to ensure they can implement the tarrif.
2006/03/06
Infrant Technologies
Infrant Technologies
The Infrant ReadyNAS NV is a very neat piece of kit. It supports 4 drives, gig Ethernet, 6 USB ports. The internal drives are SATA.
The system came configured using Infrant's X-RAID system, though it can be changed to use RAID 0, 1 or 5. It's definately designed for "home" or small business use, and has the concept of shares which can be exported via CIFS (Windows file sharing), NFS, AFP (Apple) and web. The system runs Debian GNU/Linux under the hood, though on a dedicated network processor. CIFS seems to be Samba v3, and it's definately designed with CIFS in mind, though hopefully certain features that are available under CIFS will be made available via the other protocols too.
It's a very small box, and keeps very cool (and quiet).
So far it seems to perform well, though only limited testing has so far been completed. Trying to join a Samba domain on a UNIX system didn't work (well partially - but overall the process failed), this could be a Samba issue on the remote UNIX system rather than an Infrant problem.
CIFS sharing just works and the system just appears as a remote disk.
It's possible to load in a SLIMServer which will search for MP3's and such like and share them to remote systems supporting the SLIM devices protocol. It's also a uP&P media server so remote devices supporting that protocol will automagically pick it up too.
More to follow.
The Infrant ReadyNAS NV is a very neat piece of kit. It supports 4 drives, gig Ethernet, 6 USB ports. The internal drives are SATA.
The system came configured using Infrant's X-RAID system, though it can be changed to use RAID 0, 1 or 5. It's definately designed for "home" or small business use, and has the concept of shares which can be exported via CIFS (Windows file sharing), NFS, AFP (Apple) and web. The system runs Debian GNU/Linux under the hood, though on a dedicated network processor. CIFS seems to be Samba v3, and it's definately designed with CIFS in mind, though hopefully certain features that are available under CIFS will be made available via the other protocols too.
It's a very small box, and keeps very cool (and quiet).
So far it seems to perform well, though only limited testing has so far been completed. Trying to join a Samba domain on a UNIX system didn't work (well partially - but overall the process failed), this could be a Samba issue on the remote UNIX system rather than an Infrant problem.
CIFS sharing just works and the system just appears as a remote disk.
It's possible to load in a SLIMServer which will search for MP3's and such like and share them to remote systems supporting the SLIM devices protocol. It's also a uP&P media server so remote devices supporting that protocol will automagically pick it up too.
More to follow.
Digit news - Intel plans June dual-core processors launch
Digit news - Intel plans June dual-core processors launch
Intel are launching new dual core Xeons. These are 64 bit chips and currently support 2 cores, though 4 or more cores are planned in the future.
Though nothing has been announced, it's likely Apple are waiting on these new chips to replace the G5 PowerMacs which are already dual core and support up to 2.5GHz. Intel chips are likely to run up to 3.4GHz. With faster Intel chips and a 64 architechture, they have the chance to up the stakes in the power computing sector, though it will still rely on Apple and other software vendors to get their pro applications into Universal Binary format to realise the speed increases.
Intel are launching new dual core Xeons. These are 64 bit chips and currently support 2 cores, though 4 or more cores are planned in the future.
Though nothing has been announced, it's likely Apple are waiting on these new chips to replace the G5 PowerMacs which are already dual core and support up to 2.5GHz. Intel chips are likely to run up to 3.4GHz. With faster Intel chips and a 64 architechture, they have the chance to up the stakes in the power computing sector, though it will still rely on Apple and other software vendors to get their pro applications into Universal Binary format to realise the speed increases.
Pioneer unveils first 25GB Blu-ray drive - IT Week
Pioneer unveils first 25GB Blu-ray drive - IT Week
Pioneer has unveiled a Blu-Ray drive for PC's. It will read and write all DVD formats (current ones) except DVD-RAM. It doesn't support CDs. The BDR-101A will retail somewhere between £340 and £400 so isn't cheap, but a single layer Blu-Ray disks supports 25GB (the drive only supports writing single layer disks, but can read dual-layer). A single layer rewritable disk will cost around £10.
In future capacity should increase to about 200GB. The next generation drive will support DVD-RAM as well as CDs.
The BDR-101A should be available this month.
Though the battle is still raging between Blu-Ray and HD-DVD, having drives available will push users to this format, and Blu-Ray does offer poential higher capacities.
Pioneer has unveiled a Blu-Ray drive for PC's. It will read and write all DVD formats (current ones) except DVD-RAM. It doesn't support CDs. The BDR-101A will retail somewhere between £340 and £400 so isn't cheap, but a single layer Blu-Ray disks supports 25GB (the drive only supports writing single layer disks, but can read dual-layer). A single layer rewritable disk will cost around £10.
In future capacity should increase to about 200GB. The next generation drive will support DVD-RAM as well as CDs.
The BDR-101A should be available this month.
Though the battle is still raging between Blu-Ray and HD-DVD, having drives available will push users to this format, and Blu-Ray does offer poential higher capacities.
Digit news - Gadgets: 3.2mp blogging phone unwrapped
Digit news - Gadgets: 3.2mp blogging phone unwrapped
Sony's new phones aren't cheap (around £240) but the K800 and K790 phones come with Google's blogging software built-in so users can create a blog through the phone (if they don;t already have one) and pictures taken can be automatically uploaded to the blog. They also have Google as the search engine.
The cameras are autofocus, support red-eye reduction, digital-zoom and 3.2MP sensors. They also feature BestPic where the camera takes 9 pictures and the user can select the one(s) to save. They can also print straight to a printer via a USB cable. They also feature a muic player, video player, FM radio, push Email, Bluetooth, a memory stick slot and 64MB of internal RAM.
A lower end camera the W300 costing about £100 is in their Walkman range, can play MP3 and AAC files, has 20MB internal memory and a removable 256MB memory stick.
Sony's new phones aren't cheap (around £240) but the K800 and K790 phones come with Google's blogging software built-in so users can create a blog through the phone (if they don;t already have one) and pictures taken can be automatically uploaded to the blog. They also have Google as the search engine.
The cameras are autofocus, support red-eye reduction, digital-zoom and 3.2MP sensors. They also feature BestPic where the camera takes 9 pictures and the user can select the one(s) to save. They can also print straight to a printer via a USB cable. They also feature a muic player, video player, FM radio, push Email, Bluetooth, a memory stick slot and 64MB of internal RAM.
A lower end camera the W300 costing about £100 is in their Walkman range, can play MP3 and AAC files, has 20MB internal memory and a removable 256MB memory stick.
Apple release Intel Mac Mini
The new Mac mini comes in two versions, eith a single core (Intel Core Solo) running at 1.5GHz or a dual core (Intel Core Duo) running at 1.67GHz. The tenry level single core costs £499 (inc VAT) with 512MB of RAM, CD-ROM/RW combo and a 60GB hard disk. The £599 dual core comes with 512MB RAM, Superdrive and 80GB disk.
Both models have Gigabit Ethernet, 4 USB 2.0 ports, DVI (display) adapter, Firewire and an infrared port so they can run Front Row (Apple's multimedia program that can be controlled with the Apple remote).
Inside it uses an Intel graphic chip, which some say is a step down from the ATI chip in the old G4 Mac Minis.
Since the G4 is only 32 bit, even the single core design should give an improvement in speed, while the dual core will noticably speed up. Of course this relies on the applications to be universal or they still have to go through Apple's Rosetta technology which interprets the PowerPC code (applications like Office will probably run ok, though Photoshop is still the benchmark as it runs considerably slower under emulation).
If you're looking for a small unit to sit next to your TV/HiFi then the Mac Mini is a good choice as it still looks the business and the standard iLife apps are now all universal binaries so they're completely usable and will run fast.
Both models have Gigabit Ethernet, 4 USB 2.0 ports, DVI (display) adapter, Firewire and an infrared port so they can run Front Row (Apple's multimedia program that can be controlled with the Apple remote).
Inside it uses an Intel graphic chip, which some say is a step down from the ATI chip in the old G4 Mac Minis.
Since the G4 is only 32 bit, even the single core design should give an improvement in speed, while the dual core will noticably speed up. Of course this relies on the applications to be universal or they still have to go through Apple's Rosetta technology which interprets the PowerPC code (applications like Office will probably run ok, though Photoshop is still the benchmark as it runs considerably slower under emulation).
If you're looking for a small unit to sit next to your TV/HiFi then the Mac Mini is a good choice as it still looks the business and the standard iLife apps are now all universal binaries so they're completely usable and will run fast.
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