Digit Online
PNY had released the Quadro FX4600 which is an upgraded version of the FX 4500. It has 128 parallel 1.35GHz cores and 768MB of RAM a core clock speed of 500MHz and memory speed of 600MHz and the memory interface is not 384-bit.
The chip supports Vista's DirectX 10 graphics system. It also supports CUDA, nVidia's computing platform (where the GPU can be used for computational tasks, that may not be graphics related).
Frame and gen-lock are available through a daughter card (the Quadro G-Sync board). There's also a version of the card supporting 12-bit HD SDI (the Quadro 6400SDI).
Hopefully Apple will adopt this chipset as their high-end offering for the MacPro which currently uses a Quadro 4500.
2007/03/05
DVD download specification approved
The DVD Copy Control Association has had its protection scheme approved by the DVD Forum who met near Japan for downloadable content that can be burnt on to DVDs. It will require a new disk that's similar to a DVD-R disk which should work on most consumer DVD players.
Initially it's expected the technology will be used in controlled environments such as kiosks rather than on PC's, though if it works out it could be used on general PC systems.
Initially it's expected the technology will be used in controlled environments such as kiosks rather than on PC's, though if it works out it could be used on general PC systems.
3D virtual world Kaneva coming soon
Digit Online
Kaneva is sort of like Second Life, but a social networking (think MySpace) version.
Currently you can sign-up, but there's no guarantee that you'll actually be invited to participate in the 3D World. However on sign-in'ing up you'll be inundated with "friend requests".
There's no real view of how they're going to make money, maybe advertising in the 3D world itself, whether it competes with traditional social networking sites only time will tell.
Kaneva is sort of like Second Life, but a social networking (think MySpace) version.
Currently you can sign-up, but there's no guarantee that you'll actually be invited to participate in the 3D World. However on sign-in'ing up you'll be inundated with "friend requests".
There's no real view of how they're going to make money, maybe advertising in the 3D world itself, whether it competes with traditional social networking sites only time will tell.
2007/03/01
Replicability: the regulation of BT's retail business exchange line services | Ofcom
Replicability: the regulation of BT's retail business exchange line services | Ofcom
Ofcom is holding a consultation on whether BT can set its own pricing on certain business exchange line services to high value customers (£1m sales per annum).
Other telcos objected to this, as they still felt BT had SMP (significant market power) in this area. Ofcom has made BT change certain products so there is greater competition. Products affected are WLR (wholesale line rental), CPS (Carrier Preselect) amongst others.
This only affects a small part of the market, but they have significant spend power.
BT are making big inroads in being allowed to bunded retails products where one may susbisidise another.
BT Wholesale has been forced to maintain broadband pricing at a relatively high level to allow competition from new LLU entrants, but this is all going to change when 1.5m exchange lines are unbundled and ith will put further pressure on LLU operators.
Ofcom is holding a consultation on whether BT can set its own pricing on certain business exchange line services to high value customers (£1m sales per annum).
Other telcos objected to this, as they still felt BT had SMP (significant market power) in this area. Ofcom has made BT change certain products so there is greater competition. Products affected are WLR (wholesale line rental), CPS (Carrier Preselect) amongst others.
This only affects a small part of the market, but they have significant spend power.
BT are making big inroads in being allowed to bunded retails products where one may susbisidise another.
BT Wholesale has been forced to maintain broadband pricing at a relatively high level to allow competition from new LLU entrants, but this is all going to change when 1.5m exchange lines are unbundled and ith will put further pressure on LLU operators.
Licensing in the 71-76 GHz, 81-86 GHz and 64-66 GHz bands | Ofcom
Licensing in the 71-76 GHz, 81-86 GHz and 64-66 GHz bands | Ofcom
Ofcom is making these bands available for short-haul fixed links on 8th of March 2007. They could allow very high bandwidth point to point links.
Ofcom will maintain a database/registry of links so interference issues can be minimised, however it's expected industry will self-regulate.
Unfortunately there's very little radio equipment available that operates in these bands and equipment costs will be prohibitive for all but high end users (the spectrum available will allow gigibit or greater link speeds), so it's more suited to intra-building applications (LAN extensions) rather than any kind of backhaul network. The license cost is also relatively high - £50 per link - again suiting more to very short-haul LAN extension links rather than a multi-hop backbone network.
Ofcom is making these bands available for short-haul fixed links on 8th of March 2007. They could allow very high bandwidth point to point links.
Ofcom will maintain a database/registry of links so interference issues can be minimised, however it's expected industry will self-regulate.
Unfortunately there's very little radio equipment available that operates in these bands and equipment costs will be prohibitive for all but high end users (the spectrum available will allow gigibit or greater link speeds), so it's more suited to intra-building applications (LAN extensions) rather than any kind of backhaul network. The license cost is also relatively high - £50 per link - again suiting more to very short-haul LAN extension links rather than a multi-hop backbone network.
2007/02/27
Tiggdo - Mobile personalization and other services for your mobile cell phone
Tiggdo - Mobile personalization and other services for your mobile cell phone
Another site that want promotion. At least their service seems sensible and they've already worked with the BBC to offer mobile personalised news to WAP enabled mobile devices.
The have developed sites in multiple languages based on BBC news.
http://ara.tiggdo.com - Arabic
http://aze.tiggdo.com - Azeri
http://car.tiggdo.com - Caribbean
http://chi.tiggdo.com - Chinese
http://fre.tiggdo.com - French
http://hin.tiggdo.com - Hindi
http://ind.tiggdo.com - Indonesian
http://kyr.tiggdo.com - Kyrgyz
http://mac.tiggdo.com - Macedonian
http://per.tiggdo.com - Persian
http://por.tiggdo.com - Portuguese
http://rus.tiggdo.com - Russian
http://ser.tiggdo.com - Serbian
http://spa.tiggdo.com - Spanish
http://tur.tiggdo.com - Turkish
http://urd.tiggdo.com - Urdu
http://uzb.tiggdo.com - Uzbek
http://vie.tiggdo.com - Vietnamese
Could be useful for your site.
Another site that want promotion. At least their service seems sensible and they've already worked with the BBC to offer mobile personalised news to WAP enabled mobile devices.
The have developed sites in multiple languages based on BBC news.
http://ara.tiggdo.com - Arabic
http://aze.tiggdo.com - Azeri
http://car.tiggdo.com - Caribbean
http://chi.tiggdo.com - Chinese
http://fre.tiggdo.com - French
http://hin.tiggdo.com - Hindi
http://ind.tiggdo.com - Indonesian
http://kyr.tiggdo.com - Kyrgyz
http://mac.tiggdo.com - Macedonian
http://per.tiggdo.com - Persian
http://por.tiggdo.com - Portuguese
http://rus.tiggdo.com - Russian
http://ser.tiggdo.com - Serbian
http://spa.tiggdo.com - Spanish
http://tur.tiggdo.com - Turkish
http://urd.tiggdo.com - Urdu
http://uzb.tiggdo.com - Uzbek
http://vie.tiggdo.com - Vietnamese
Could be useful for your site.
Create your Free mobile website today with zinadoo - Create your FREE mobile service today.
Create your Free mobile website today with zinadoo - Create your FREE mobile service today.
A template driven mobile site generator. They keep SPAMing to write something about them so here it is.
Mobile sites are growing in popularity, but mainly for bigger operations and I'm not convinced there's a big consumer market out there how want such a service. Zinadoo seem to make their money selling .mobi domains and SMS services (where links can be put on a site to text friends and such like).
The basic service is free so have a look and maybe it'll have some kind of interest.
A template driven mobile site generator. They keep SPAMing to write something about them so here it is.
Mobile sites are growing in popularity, but mainly for bigger operations and I'm not convinced there's a big consumer market out there how want such a service. Zinadoo seem to make their money selling .mobi domains and SMS services (where links can be put on a site to text friends and such like).
The basic service is free so have a look and maybe it'll have some kind of interest.
Tandberg TV go for $1.39bn
Ericsson is trying to buy Tandberg for $1.39bn, though ARRIS may yet up their bid.
Tandberg used to specialise in videoconferencing systems, though have moved in to the IPTV world and that's where the big money is going to be. Everyone will be watching TV through an internet connected set top box and everyone wants to be in that space.
Cisco bought Scientific Atlanta for the same reason.
Though IPTV is in its infancy, it's the future and everyone knows it - though the business models (and infrastructure) are still big unknowns. However the big players know they've got to do something now so they're in a position to grab the market when it does take off.
It's a big gamble, but one that is likely to pay off in the long term.
Tandberg used to specialise in videoconferencing systems, though have moved in to the IPTV world and that's where the big money is going to be. Everyone will be watching TV through an internet connected set top box and everyone wants to be in that space.
Cisco bought Scientific Atlanta for the same reason.
Though IPTV is in its infancy, it's the future and everyone knows it - though the business models (and infrastructure) are still big unknowns. However the big players know they've got to do something now so they're in a position to grab the market when it does take off.
It's a big gamble, but one that is likely to pay off in the long term.
Microsoft fined $1.5B in patent suit
Digit Online
This is scary, very scary !!! Not even because the evil empire of Microsoft is involved, but because it's about MP3 encoding and decoding technology.
Pretty much everyone pays licenses to Fraunhofer who are the recognised body that collects royalties for MP3 patents, if the lawsuit sticks (and MS are appealing) then Alcatel-Lucent can attack every other MP3 licensee.
This is scary, very scary !!! Not even because the evil empire of Microsoft is involved, but because it's about MP3 encoding and decoding technology.
Pretty much everyone pays licenses to Fraunhofer who are the recognised body that collects royalties for MP3 patents, if the lawsuit sticks (and MS are appealing) then Alcatel-Lucent can attack every other MP3 licensee.
MyWebAlert - Website Availability Monitoring Service for only $4 a month
MyWebAlert - Website Availability Monitoring Service for only $4 a month
Hype or something useful? Well it's free (even though their page title [as above] states $4 per month), a service that monitors websites by testing http responses etc.
Though there's no mention of money, presumably there'll be a piad for version in the future.
The results of their probes are Emailed to you once per month, it does all seem very painless.
Hype or something useful? Well it's free (even though their page title [as above] states $4 per month), a service that monitors websites by testing http responses etc.
Though there's no mention of money, presumably there'll be a piad for version in the future.
The results of their probes are Emailed to you once per month, it does all seem very painless.
3G Rollout obligations | Ofcom
3G Rollout obligations | Ofcom
Ofcom has published a document re-iterating that 3G licensees must meet their rollout requirements as part of the license obligations (80% population coverage by the end of 2007).
This new document states how Ofcom will measure the rollouts and a timetable etc.
Hutchison 3 have been very vocal about this as they have had to build a network from scratch while the other operators already have 2G networks.
Vodafone and Orange have said they will share infrastructure (which will reduce costs in marginal areas).
Ofcom has published a document re-iterating that 3G licensees must meet their rollout requirements as part of the license obligations (80% population coverage by the end of 2007).
This new document states how Ofcom will measure the rollouts and a timetable etc.
Hutchison 3 have been very vocal about this as they have had to build a network from scratch while the other operators already have 2G networks.
Vodafone and Orange have said they will share infrastructure (which will reduce costs in marginal areas).
WRC 07 agenda item 1.4 | Ofcom
WRC 07 agenda item 1.4 | Ofcom
There are several bands that could be committed for IMT (International Mobile Telecommunications) use and these are being discussed at the World Radio Communication Conference 2007.
410 to 430 MHz Bands which are attractive for the coverage extension of current IMT-2000 systems
450 to 470 MHz
470 to 862 MHz Coverage extension and possibly providing capacity requirements
2300 to 2400 MHz Bands which are attractive for providing the capacity requirements for IMT-Advanced
2700 to 2900 MHz
3400 to 3600 MHz
3600 to 3800 MHz
3800 to 4200 MHz
4400 to 4990 MHz
Ofcom is proposing that
* to support efforts to keep the IMT-Advanced family as open and flexible as possible;
* to support a non-binding identification of spectrum for IMT but keep this as generic as possible (i.e. for IMT rather than IMT-Advanced);
* to support changing existing identifications from IMT-2000 to IMT to foster greater flexibility in their use;
* to support the development of a European Common Proposal for a primary mobile service allocation in the band 470 to 862 MHz at WRC 07 and a Resolution for ITU R to study the band for an identification for IMT at WRC 11;
* to support the development of a European Common Proposal for a co-primary allocation to the mobile service and identification for IMT in the bands 3400 to 3600 MHz and 3600 to 3800 MHz;
* to oppose any change to the allocations or a IMT identification in the band 2700 to 2900 MHz at WRC-07; and
* to adopt a neutral approach to the remaining candidate bands.
Ofcom are expecting response to be in within 5 weeks to be in time for CEPT meetings of the Electronic Communications Committee Project Team 1 (ECC PT1) and the Conference Preparatory Group (CPG) in April, where Ofcom expect ECP’s to be finalised.
There are several bands that could be committed for IMT (International Mobile Telecommunications) use and these are being discussed at the World Radio Communication Conference 2007.
410 to 430 MHz Bands which are attractive for the coverage extension of current IMT-2000 systems
450 to 470 MHz
470 to 862 MHz Coverage extension and possibly providing capacity requirements
2300 to 2400 MHz Bands which are attractive for providing the capacity requirements for IMT-Advanced
2700 to 2900 MHz
3400 to 3600 MHz
3600 to 3800 MHz
3800 to 4200 MHz
4400 to 4990 MHz
Ofcom is proposing that
* to support efforts to keep the IMT-Advanced family as open and flexible as possible;
* to support a non-binding identification of spectrum for IMT but keep this as generic as possible (i.e. for IMT rather than IMT-Advanced);
* to support changing existing identifications from IMT-2000 to IMT to foster greater flexibility in their use;
* to support the development of a European Common Proposal for a primary mobile service allocation in the band 470 to 862 MHz at WRC 07 and a Resolution for ITU R to study the band for an identification for IMT at WRC 11;
* to support the development of a European Common Proposal for a co-primary allocation to the mobile service and identification for IMT in the bands 3400 to 3600 MHz and 3600 to 3800 MHz;
* to oppose any change to the allocations or a IMT identification in the band 2700 to 2900 MHz at WRC-07; and
* to adopt a neutral approach to the remaining candidate bands.
Ofcom are expecting response to be in within 5 weeks to be in time for CEPT meetings of the Electronic Communications Committee Project Team 1 (ECC PT1) and the Conference Preparatory Group (CPG) in April, where Ofcom expect ECP’s to be finalised.
2007/02/22
Apple, Cisco settle iPhone dispute
Digit Online: "Apple, Cisco settle iPhone dispute"
Apple and Cisco have agreed that they'll both use the iPhone moniker for their respective products. They settled out of court. No suprise there really.
They'd been in discussion prior to Apple's announcement, during and since and it's just taken a while to come to an agreement.
Apple and Cisco have agreed that they'll both use the iPhone moniker for their respective products. They settled out of court. No suprise there really.
They'd been in discussion prior to Apple's announcement, during and since and it's just taken a while to come to an agreement.
2007/02/21
Colt lacks plan for its £1.5m mobile licence - ZDNet UK
Colt lacks plan for its £1.5m mobile licence - ZDNet UK
Hmm, no attribution though the guy used info off this blog and then phoned me.
Hmm, no attribution though the guy used info off this blog and then phoned me.
xda-developers - Announcements in Forum : Palm Treo 750
xda-developers - Announcements in Forum : Palm Treo 750
It seems Microsoft have asked the XDA Developers site to remove all ROM images from their site, even ones posted by carriers or handset manufacturers.
The XDA site had various official and unofficial Windows Mobile ROM sets, and hacks on how to use them on various handsets.
I successfully installed an iMate WM5 ROM onto an O2 Exec - which has improved stability compared to the O2 versions (later OS and drivers). Luckily I have the WM6 XDA ROM which I'll have to try and install soon.
It seems Microsoft have asked the XDA Developers site to remove all ROM images from their site, even ones posted by carriers or handset manufacturers.
The XDA site had various official and unofficial Windows Mobile ROM sets, and hacks on how to use them on various handsets.
I successfully installed an iMate WM5 ROM onto an O2 Exec - which has improved stability compared to the O2 versions (later OS and drivers). Luckily I have the WM6 XDA ROM which I'll have to try and install soon.
2007/02/19
Microsoft unveils public beta of YouTube rival
Digit Online
Microsoft have released Soapbox (beta) a video sharing site like YouTube. Anyone can view content, but you need a Microsoft Live ID to upload stuff.
It's another web services offering banded in with other Live applications, but currently branded with MSN.
Microsoft have released Soapbox (beta) a video sharing site like YouTube. Anyone can view content, but you need a Microsoft Live ID to upload stuff.
It's another web services offering banded in with other Live applications, but currently branded with MSN.
Adobe ships Photoshop Lightroom
Digit Online
Adobe's answer to Apple Apperture, now called Adobe Photoshop Lightroom has started shipping for $199 which will increase to $299 on April 30th. Adobe say it will not be included in future versions of Creative Suite.
Lightroom is a photographic workflow application now supporting over 150 cameras (with native RAW formats) allowing the user to manipulate digital photographs in a manner similar to that of an old lightroom for film.
It's natively available on both Windows and MacOS X.
Adobe's answer to Apple Apperture, now called Adobe Photoshop Lightroom has started shipping for $199 which will increase to $299 on April 30th. Adobe say it will not be included in future versions of Creative Suite.
Lightroom is a photographic workflow application now supporting over 150 cameras (with native RAW formats) allowing the user to manipulate digital photographs in a manner similar to that of an old lightroom for film.
It's natively available on both Windows and MacOS X.
Parallels Desktop improves Vista support
Digit Online
Parallels, the software for MacOS X that allows running Windows within the desktop has been upgraded to RC3 build 3170 (which will be 2.5 when released).
This has several new features including coherence that allows running Windows apps from the dock. It also supports Vista.
The download is available from the Parallels website.
Parallels, the software for MacOS X that allows running Windows within the desktop has been upgraded to RC3 build 3170 (which will be 2.5 when released).
This has several new features including coherence that allows running Windows apps from the dock. It also supports Vista.
The download is available from the Parallels website.
2007/02/18
PUBLIC BROADBAND SCHEMES, A Best Practice Guide
Ofcom and the DTI have published a guide on the rolling out of public broadband services by local government.
This should aid councils and other bodies with the regulatory environment ensuring they don't break state aid regulations and other issues such as distorting the commercial market place.
There are times when state funding can "pay" for broadband roll-out to ensure that their locality is on the right side of the digital divide (which may in in areas where commercial broadband roll-out would be uneconomic), but this can be a difficult line to tread as stimulating demand may make commercial services attractive.
The three main rationales for public intervention in broadband infrastructure provision can be ordered in terms of the ease with which the case to support them can be built:
A. Addressing market failures.
B. Achieving distributional policy objectives.
C. Increasing regional competitiveness.
The report gives contacts at both the DTI and Ofcom if public bodies wish to contact them for more detailed information or help.
Band III Information Update
Band III is makes up what used to be the VHF TV channels and some of the band is now used by Private Mobile Radio.
The Band was covered by the Stockholm ’61 Agreement which designated this band for TV broadcast across the EU.
The band is actually split into 3 sub-bands, the lower two being used for PMR in the UK and the 3rd being made available for use by T-DAB. The PMR use was always designated secondary use, though some bilateral agreements were made with neighbouring countries to extend its lifetime.
In May/June 2006 the Regional Radiocommunications Conference (RRC-06) which is made up of around 120 ITU member states in Europe, Middle East and Africa, had an objective to harmonise the Band III (and Band IV) use. Though the UK had an interest to maintain their interestes, they could not go against the wishes of the rest of the conference.
Sub-band 1 will be available for PMR use for a while (though the lowe parts will be needed by 2009 for T-DAB use), sub-band 2 will be used for T-DAB significantly after 2012.
Ofcom is actively moving sub-band 2 and affected sub-band 1 users and giving them priority on new available spectrum in sub-band 1, new users may be delayed allocations.
Where possible new bilateral agreements will be made with neighbouring countries to protect users of the spectrum, the main affected areas being the south and south east which are prone to continental interference. There may also be interference from Ireland.
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