Apple have released a new MacBook based on the Intel Core Duo processor. It's somewhere between the old iBook and Powerbook being cased in shiny white or black polycarbonate plastic.
It's got a 13 inch widescreen display and is under an inch thick, so it should be perfect for playing DVD's on long journeys instead of doing some work.
The white model starts with a 1.8GHz CPU and 512MB of RAM (expandable up to 2GB) and a 60GB disk. It has USB 2 and Firewire 400 and Gigabit Ethernet. Apple have dropped the internal modem (at last) and opted for that as an extra. 802.11g and Bluetooth (EDR) as also included.
There is a 2GHz CPU option and up to a 120GB disk.
The black model comes with the 2.0GHz CPU and a 80GB disk, though a bloack model is still more expensive than an equivalently specified white version, so black plastic comes at a price.
It's a shame there's isn't a 13" MacBook Pro.
2006/05/18
2006/05/15
T-Mobile to filter VoIP
T-Mobile have been offering a "web and walk" service which includes unlimited data for a fixed monthly fee. They've now realised people can use that for VoIP too which means they lose revenues on voice calls (which is really how mobile networks make money).
So they've now decided to block VoIP access so people will have to use the phones to make voice calls.
It won't take long for someone to get round it, but it's probably the start of a trend with more companies blocking access to services they don't like.
So they've now decided to block VoIP access so people will have to use the phones to make voice calls.
It won't take long for someone to get round it, but it's probably the start of a trend with more companies blocking access to services they don't like.
Adobe announces an AJAX toolkit
Currently available through the Adobe Labs site and called Spry, they've released a toolkit to devleop AJAX (Asynchronous Java and XML) sites.
It's currently only a framework, but it's likely to develop into a fully featured development program.
There are others out the like Zimbra (which is also used in the Zimbra Collaboration Suite server package), but Adobe felt it was too complicated and made their own.
Everyone is developing AJAX sites, so if Adobe can make it really easy, their probably on to a winner.
It's currently only a framework, but it's likely to develop into a fully featured development program.
There are others out the like Zimbra (which is also used in the Zimbra Collaboration Suite server package), but Adobe felt it was too complicated and made their own.
Everyone is developing AJAX sites, so if Adobe can make it really easy, their probably on to a winner.
SGI files for bankruptcy protection
SGI in the US has filed for protection. Currently other international SGI units are not affected.
SGI used to be the mainstay of the film industry, but have been overtaken by cheaper systems running Windows/Linux/MacOS X. Linux on PC hardware has thought to have been a major part of this, especially as software vendors have ported high-end video applications to the platform (like Discreet's Inferno).
SGI they'll be clear in 6 months, time will tell.
SGI used to be the mainstay of the film industry, but have been overtaken by cheaper systems running Windows/Linux/MacOS X. Linux on PC hardware has thought to have been a major part of this, especially as software vendors have ported high-end video applications to the platform (like Discreet's Inferno).
SGI they'll be clear in 6 months, time will tell.
Apple and Softbank to develop iPod phone
Though Apple and others declined to comment, it looks like Apple and Softbank have come to an agreement to develop an iPod Phone that can download tracks from the iTunes music store.
Rumours have circulated for a while about an iPod Phone, with no comments coming from Apple.
Though many users like having seperate devices and phone and a music player does make sense. SonyEricsson have been trying with their Walkman phones - but an iPod phone could kil the competition in one move. iTunes still dominates the legal download space.
Rumours have circulated for a while about an iPod Phone, with no comments coming from Apple.
Though many users like having seperate devices and phone and a music player does make sense. SonyEricsson have been trying with their Walkman phones - but an iPod phone could kil the competition in one move. iTunes still dominates the legal download space.
PS3 launch data and pricing announced
The Sony Playstation 3 will go on sale in Europe on November 17th for 600 Euros. This is the high-end unit which includes a 60GB hard-disk drive, a memory card reader, a Wi-Fi adaptor and a digital high-definition video connector.
A lower price version will cost $499 with a 20GB drive and none of the other features. Both versions will have USB, a Gigabit Ethernet adaptor and Bluetooth.
The lower end version does not include an HDMI connector which means it may be useless for playing HD Blu-Ray content which can be encrypted/encoded to only use that iterface, therefore only allowing sandard definition.
Estimates are that the Cell processor and Blu-Ray drive are the highest costs of the console with the whole thing adding up to about $900 worth of components, so Sony need to make money on games to cover the loss.
The PS3 is considerably more expensive than both the Xbox 360 and Nintendo revolution.
It will take a while for games designers to take advantage of the Cell's multiprocessing capabilties (which are difficult to program for) - though new tools are being developed for it, so initially games are unlikely to be spectacular which may be their downfall.
A lower price version will cost $499 with a 20GB drive and none of the other features. Both versions will have USB, a Gigabit Ethernet adaptor and Bluetooth.
The lower end version does not include an HDMI connector which means it may be useless for playing HD Blu-Ray content which can be encrypted/encoded to only use that iterface, therefore only allowing sandard definition.
Estimates are that the Cell processor and Blu-Ray drive are the highest costs of the console with the whole thing adding up to about $900 worth of components, so Sony need to make money on games to cover the loss.
The PS3 is considerably more expensive than both the Xbox 360 and Nintendo revolution.
It will take a while for games designers to take advantage of the Cell's multiprocessing capabilties (which are difficult to program for) - though new tools are being developed for it, so initially games are unlikely to be spectacular which may be their downfall.
BBC starts a trial of HD broadcasts
The BBC will start broadcasting HD content this week, Initially only available to satellite viewers, it's likely it will be extended to NTL Telewest at some point soon, but definately in time for the World Cup and Wimbledon which will be simulcast in HD.
From July various drama, documentary, events and music will be broadcast in HD for a few hours each day.
It seems HD is really starting to become available.
From July various drama, documentary, events and music will be broadcast in HD for a few hours each day.
It seems HD is really starting to become available.
Dreamweaver updated
Adobe has updated Dreamweaver to version 8.0.2. This fixes the embedded content problem whereby users have to click on content such as Flash.
It also fixes some server side code which minimise the risk of databae SQL injection.
Of course real programmers don't use wimpy tools like Dreamweaver and write code themselves.
It also fixes some server side code which minimise the risk of databae SQL injection.
Of course real programmers don't use wimpy tools like Dreamweaver and write code themselves.
Microsoft to support HD-DVD, but only for movies
Microsoft is to offer an add-on the the Xbox 360 to support HD-DVD movies, but games will still be produced on dual layer DVD (DVD-DL). The 8.5GB DVD-DL format stores enough information for games in 720p (progressive) which is the highest resolution that the Xbox currently supports for games and the graphics subsystem is optimed for that.
In future that may change as Microsoft say the system is designed to be future-proof but no plans at the moment.
In future that may change as Microsoft say the system is designed to be future-proof but no plans at the moment.
2006/05/08
BT kills and fixes line fault
Last Friday I noticed my ADSL wasn't working - this was about 6pm, but thought nothing of it as probably a line drop of something, when I got back later that evening the line was still down. It was late so left it until morning.
The line was still down so I contacted my ISP who said they could see nothing wrong, so I should check the line and report a fault to BT if there was an error. That's when the search started for an analogue phone to plug in. Luckily there was a BT Openreach van parked opposite, and it's owner was just going off to work so I begged the use of his analogue handset and he nicely obliged.
I plugged it in and the line was dead like the dodo. No dial-tone. I returned the handset and he commented "oh BT have been doing lots of exchange upgrades in the area and as these were converted to DSL early, they're a mess and a lot of stuff is undocumented so when they change things, it doesn't always go well"
I phone'd up BT faults and got their automated system which after several menus eventually told me there was a fault and would I like alerts (which came to my mobile phone). This was about 9.30am.
At 11.15am a BT Engineer appeared with reference to the fault, did a few tests. I enquired why someone responded so quickly and was told "there are a lot of BT Engineers in the area, and we're blitzing faults" and then disappeared saying "they need to do some tests in the exchange I'll be back in a hour or so".
I had to do some errands and disappeared for a while.
About 12.45 the engineer appeared again, tested the line and all was well.
3 hours (near enough) fix for a line fault on a Saturday - very impressive for BT. I was expecting to wait to at least Monday to have someone respond, let alone have it fixed.
I'd guess either they knew they'd broken things or it was really just a lucky break. Likely to be either 21CN or DSLMax uogrades I'd guess.
The line was still down so I contacted my ISP who said they could see nothing wrong, so I should check the line and report a fault to BT if there was an error. That's when the search started for an analogue phone to plug in. Luckily there was a BT Openreach van parked opposite, and it's owner was just going off to work so I begged the use of his analogue handset and he nicely obliged.
I plugged it in and the line was dead like the dodo. No dial-tone. I returned the handset and he commented "oh BT have been doing lots of exchange upgrades in the area and as these were converted to DSL early, they're a mess and a lot of stuff is undocumented so when they change things, it doesn't always go well"
I phone'd up BT faults and got their automated system which after several menus eventually told me there was a fault and would I like alerts (which came to my mobile phone). This was about 9.30am.
At 11.15am a BT Engineer appeared with reference to the fault, did a few tests. I enquired why someone responded so quickly and was told "there are a lot of BT Engineers in the area, and we're blitzing faults" and then disappeared saying "they need to do some tests in the exchange I'll be back in a hour or so".
I had to do some errands and disappeared for a while.
About 12.45 the engineer appeared again, tested the line and all was well.
3 hours (near enough) fix for a line fault on a Saturday - very impressive for BT. I was expecting to wait to at least Monday to have someone respond, let alone have it fixed.
I'd guess either they knew they'd broken things or it was really just a lucky break. Likely to be either 21CN or DSLMax uogrades I'd guess.
2006/05/04
Netscreen 5GT ADSL
It's taken a while (almost a year and a half), but with the help of a senior Netscreen person the 5GT is now working. It was quite painless once the configuration was sorted, and performance seems considerably better than the old D-Link (well more consistent).
The filtering seems relatively easy to use and the WiFi side also is working (though currently slightly fudged as DHCP relaying didn''t seem to quite work.
It's a very nice little router/firewall.
The filtering seems relatively easy to use and the WiFi side also is working (though currently slightly fudged as DHCP relaying didn''t seem to quite work.
It's a very nice little router/firewall.
Regulation of VoIP Services
Ofcom link/ have extended the deadline for the consultation on VoIP regulation in the UK to the 10th of May.
This is an important consultation and though geared towards anyone providing VoIP services, it also covers NGNs (Next Generation Networks i.e. IP based telecoms networks).
This is an important consultation and though geared towards anyone providing VoIP services, it also covers NGNs (Next Generation Networks i.e. IP based telecoms networks).
Ofcom awards 12 licences following spectrum auction
Ofcom has announced the license winners (and how much they pay) for the GSM Gaurd band spectrum. This allows licensees to offer low power GSM services (or other technology). If GSM is chosen there are 15 channels available each carrying 8 voice channels - so there's a reasonable ammount of flexibility in frequency plans and also if multiple licensees want to operate in the same area.
The winners are: -
British Telecommunications PLC £275,112
Cable & Wireless UK ( England) £51,002
COLT Mobile Telecommunications Ltd £1,513,218
Cyberpress Ltd £151,999
FMS Solutions Ltd £113,000
Mapesbury Communications Ltd £76,660
O2 (UK) Ltd £209,888
Opal Telecom Ltd £155,555
PLDT (UK) Ltd £88,889
Shyam Telecom UK Ltd £101,011
Spring Mobil AB £50,110
Teleware PLC £1,001,880
The price varies from £50,002 to over £1.5m and as licensees pay what they bid, some must be feeling sick right now - while others who bid just above the Ofcom minimum must be giggling to themselves.
There may well now be a flurry of license trading, but some novel new GSM type services could be offered for in-building/in-area use.
The winners are: -
British Telecommunications PLC £275,112
Cable & Wireless UK ( England) £51,002
COLT Mobile Telecommunications Ltd £1,513,218
Cyberpress Ltd £151,999
FMS Solutions Ltd £113,000
Mapesbury Communications Ltd £76,660
O2 (UK) Ltd £209,888
Opal Telecom Ltd £155,555
PLDT (UK) Ltd £88,889
Shyam Telecom UK Ltd £101,011
Spring Mobil AB £50,110
Teleware PLC £1,001,880
The price varies from £50,002 to over £1.5m and as licensees pay what they bid, some must be feeling sick right now - while others who bid just above the Ofcom minimum must be giggling to themselves.
There may well now be a flurry of license trading, but some novel new GSM type services could be offered for in-building/in-area use.
Porn may decide Blu-ray, HD-DVD battle
The adult entertainment industry might well decide the winner of the Blu-Ray/HSDVD battle, as they seem to be adopting the format.
The porn industry pretty well brought the DVD format into being in the first place (that's what multi-angle is for), so they are probably a good indicator.
The porn industry pretty well brought the DVD format into being in the first place (that's what multi-angle is for), so they are probably a good indicator.
2006/04/28
Digit news - NAB 2006: Apple Shake update to have Intel support
Digit news - NAB 2006: Apple Shake update to have Intel support
Apple are going to ship version 4.1 of Shake (their high end digital compositor) in the next few weeks. The big news it's a Universal binary so will work on both PowerPC and Intel based Macs.
The timing for other applications hasn't been announced, though Adobe are waiting until next year to release Photoshop in Universal binary format.
Apple are going to ship version 4.1 of Shake (their high end digital compositor) in the next few weeks. The big news it's a Universal binary so will work on both PowerPC and Intel based Macs.
The timing for other applications hasn't been announced, though Adobe are waiting until next year to release Photoshop in Universal binary format.
Digit news - PSP firmware update adds Flash, podcasts
Digit news - PSP firmware update adds Flash, podcasts
The new firmware will support Podcasts and Macromedia Flash 6 (well a subset of it). Future versions will support video podcasts and new video profiles (so UMD video can be stored on Memory Stick). The final version will allow running games from memory stick and VoIP.
The update will be available for Japanese units first, and either at the same time or shortly after for worldwide units. This will bring the firmware to v2.70
The new firmware will support Podcasts and Macromedia Flash 6 (well a subset of it). Future versions will support video podcasts and new video profiles (so UMD video can be stored on Memory Stick). The final version will allow running games from memory stick and VoIP.
The update will be available for Japanese units first, and either at the same time or shortly after for worldwide units. This will bring the firmware to v2.70
Digit news - Seagate goes to 750GB with new drive
Digit news - Seagate goes to 750GB with new drive
Seagate have just released the newest Barracuda range (7200/10 which come in capacities ranging from 200GB to 750GB using perpendicular recording. They support both Ultra ATA/100 and SATA interfaces with either 8MB or 16MB of data cache buffer.
No pricing has been made available yet, but the higher capacilty drives (if current drives are used as a basis) will command a premium.
This means "consumer" RAID NAS (network attached storage) devices can hit 3TB (with 2.25TB available for use such that a drive can fail completely before the RAID stops working) as most use 4 internal disks.
Seagate have just released the newest Barracuda range (7200/10 which come in capacities ranging from 200GB to 750GB using perpendicular recording. They support both Ultra ATA/100 and SATA interfaces with either 8MB or 16MB of data cache buffer.
No pricing has been made available yet, but the higher capacilty drives (if current drives are used as a basis) will command a premium.
This means "consumer" RAID NAS (network attached storage) devices can hit 3TB (with 2.25TB available for use such that a drive can fail completely before the RAID stops working) as most use 4 internal disks.
2006/04/27
2006/04/26
Digit news - AJAX in the spotlight
Digit news - AJAX in the spotlight
You know when a technology is making an impact when there's a conference dedicated to it. The Real-World AJAX Seminar is being held in San Jose, California, next week. Meanwhile, a two-day AJAX technical conference, AjaxWorld Conference & Expo, is planned for this October in Santa Clara, California.
AJAX is the front-end technology for sites like Google Maps/Calendar/etc and Flickr. It means Asynchronous Javascript and XML.
What it does it move the rendering of data to the client, which is done in the browser using Javascript and HTML. The client side then processes the XML from the server and can then send data back and request more. This means the server is just transferring data, which is what web servers are good for. As soon as they have to process/render information scalability becomes an issue. Transferring data can also be stateless so delivered from a number of systems in parallel where it doesn't matter what back-end system is connected to.
You know when a technology is making an impact when there's a conference dedicated to it. The Real-World AJAX Seminar is being held in San Jose, California, next week. Meanwhile, a two-day AJAX technical conference, AjaxWorld Conference & Expo, is planned for this October in Santa Clara, California.
AJAX is the front-end technology for sites like Google Maps/Calendar/etc and Flickr. It means Asynchronous Javascript and XML.
What it does it move the rendering of data to the client, which is done in the browser using Javascript and HTML. The client side then processes the XML from the server and can then send data back and request more. This means the server is just transferring data, which is what web servers are good for. As soon as they have to process/render information scalability becomes an issue. Transferring data can also be stateless so delivered from a number of systems in parallel where it doesn't matter what back-end system is connected to.
Digit news - Panasonic to launch Blu-ray Disc drive in June
Digit news - Panasonic to launch Blu-ray Disc drive in June
The BluRay drive suitable for use in PC's will be launched in Japan in June for about $850. It has an ATAPI interface and supports both 25GB and 50GB disks and BD-RE (rewritable) disks.
Users will need a pretty hefty CPU to use them to watch BluRay movies a 3GHz P4 for MPEG2 movies and a Pentium D for MPEG4AV movies.
Data backup applications will run on modest systems.
The BluRay drive suitable for use in PC's will be launched in Japan in June for about $850. It has an ATAPI interface and supports both 25GB and 50GB disks and BD-RE (rewritable) disks.
Users will need a pretty hefty CPU to use them to watch BluRay movies a 3GHz P4 for MPEG2 movies and a Pentium D for MPEG4AV movies.
Data backup applications will run on modest systems.
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