August 2005

Happy Birthday Win95; PSP Software Upgrade; 12 Hr Batteries; Mobile Flight Mode – Teenage Tech News Review
It’s Tin For Win95
Yes, that’s right, Wednesday marked 10 years of vaguely intelligent computing. 10 years ago, Windows 95 was released. It’s weird, because it’s 10 year old technology, but it really doesn’t seem that old: I still remember using it at school on old computers. Makes you wonder why Microsoft are still using a ten year old interface (OK, it’s shiny and got a plasticky look now, but you know what I mean).
The Washington Post has an interesting read on the subject here, basically an announcement they wrote about it at the time. It’s funny to read how some things about marketing campaigns for high-profile software releases have changed nowadays, and what parts have stayed exactly the same. One thing everyone will likely recognise is the hype!
As granddad would say: “It was better in the old days!”
Browse the Web on PSP
Despite only officially being available in Europe from the 1st of September, the software updates for it have finally reached v.2.0. This latest update includes a host of exciting new features, including a Web browser and the ability to play AAC music tracks. These added features for a handheld gaming system that is already looking very promising, serve to make the gadget a must-have for every technology-conscious teen under the sun. Being able to browse the Web on the device, which incidentally has Wi-Fi technology, might even make it a laptop replacement of sorts. Beware though: The device has no keyboard, so typing long emails on it might become a little tiresome, as it uses a virtual on-screen keyboard for text input.
I have briefly played around with a PSP, as a friend of mine was in Japan and brought one back with him. The graphics look awesome, despite the text being Japanese, and I can’t wait to get my hands on one!
Laptop Battery Low Warning
The Register is running a story on how Panasonic and Intel are working together to make a 12-hour laptop battery. Can’t wait for this technology to filter down to phones and other small consumer electronics, as battery technology is the one thing the vast majority of gadgets still seem way behind on. It’s all fine and dandy having a million and one functions in one device, but if the battery only lasts two hours, then to me, it’s no use.
Apparently, the technology works by adding a small amount of Nickel to the standard ingredients of a battery pack.
Remains to be seen how long this will take to mature, but in the meantime, I can always hope for cold fusion to arrive!
Upgrades To Flight Mode
With all the new gismos appearing on phones nowadays, it seems a shame to be unable to use them on a plane, ofcourse with all the wireless features switched off. This is why phone companies started introducing a concept called flight mode.
The theory behind this simple setting on a handset is to allow users to utilize all the features on their phones, when they’re not allowed to have anything that transmits radio signals. What, then, is the use of this if you’re not allowed to use it? I recently came back from holiday, was sitting there in the plane, minding my own business, trying to reply to some mail on my Blackberry, when a member of the flight-crew and asked me to switch it off. I tried to explain that a) it was in flight mode, and so wasn’t going to harm anyone, and b) that I had some work to do, so could he please leave me alone.
The flight attendant then stated that it was company policy to make people turn their phones totally off at all times, adding that I could use my laptop instead if I so wished. Now bear in mind the stupidity of this statement: My laptop has GPRS, 3G, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connections, and would likely broadcast the hell out of anywhere, and the flight attendant would rather I use it than my phone which is innocently sitting in there flight mode, not bothering anyone. Trying to explain this resulted in a rapid degrading of his ability to speak English and ended with him just pointing to my laptop and sticking his thumbs in the air. The airline, which shall remain nameless for now as I don’t want to stir up any trouble, will not be receiving my custom again. When will airlines realise that they have to be nice to people and move with the times a bit more to receive their custom? In these days of cut price travel, it’s all about value-added services, and this certainly is one of them.
I was interested then because of this, about what I read regarding the Consumer Electronics association trying to make it possible to easily determine whether a phone is in flight mode or not. Can’t wait to see some results, but I fear it may then still be a case of training flight crew to know what it means.
26 August, 2005
Onkyo CR-505DAB CD Receiver Review
See the update below for the reason for the reason we now don’t rate this product.
After our clapped out Sony mini-system refused to play one track too many and the usual thump on the side failed to yield the required result, we realised it was time to find a new stereo system for the office.
With the room stuffed full of humming computers, books, cables, gizmos and overflowing racks of CDs, we were looking for something compact but with enough grunt to shake the walls when the punk rock mood takes.
After several trudges up London’s hi-fi Mecca, Tottenham Court Road, and long periods scanning the minutiae of online spec sheets, we decided that the Onkyo looked like the one for us.
One trip to Richer Sounds later we returned back to the office clutching the Onkyo CR505 DAB CD receiver system.
For £240 (~US$433, €352~) you get a lot of bang for your money, with the attractive brushed aluminium unit packing in a high quality amplifier, CD player, AM/FMRDS tuner and – best of all – a DAB (Digital Broadcast Audio) receiver.
Unlike many other all-in units in the same bracket, this puppy offers a ‘proper’ amplifier with high-quality Wolfson DACs delivering accurate digital-to-analogue conversion and discrete output stage circuitry for a clean output signal.
Moreover, there’s a slew of RCA/digital connectors available on the rear for hooking up external units like MD players and cassette recorders, so the unit can be used as the heart of a small hi-fi system.
Setting up the system was easy enough, although it was strange to discover that three separate aerials had to be installed for the FM/AM and DAB tuners!
We couldn’t wait to get playing with the DAB tuner, and after a quick bash on the auto-scan button we were astounded by the huge variety of channels it managed to find.
Admittedly, most of the channels sounded absolute rubbish, but it was a revelation to find so much content available.
With all those channels to wade through, it was necessary to set up our own list of favourites, and although it was a bit of a fiddly process, it wasn’t long before we’d programmed the thing to our liking.
The nice thing about DAB is the additional text information transmitted with the audio signal, and the CR505’s pretty blue LED display served up two rows of text, with users able to choose which DAB information they want onscreen – we fell in love with the scrolling text option that provided details about the station and the song currently being played.
The FM and AM tuners were equally straightforward enough to sort out, with the auto scan quickly scooping up a list of available radio stations.
The onboard CD player usefully supports MP3s recorded on CD-R and CD-RW discs as well as Audio CDs. We had no problems at all playing a wide selection of discs.
With so much on board, working out what does what can be baffling at first, but we were pleased to find that the manual came in just one language instead of the usual United Nations ten-ton tomes.
The Onkyo system is offered in two flavours. The CS-220UK version ships with Onkyo speakers but we bought the bare-bones CR-505DAB unit and wired up our own £100 (~US$180, €147~) Eltac speakers.
The sound was impressive, with a tight, controlled bass and clear soundstage. Cranking up the sound levels, the system coped admirably, with no harshness or distortion marring the thundering output.
The system would make a great bedroom, kitchen or study stereo system, offering a huge range of radio channels and enough poke to accompany the occasional air guitar wig out or party.
If you’re looking for a compact, flexible mini-system with loads of features and a big sound, ~~we thoroughly recommend the Onkyo. It’s a winner!~~
~~FIVE STARS~~, Now ZERO STARS
See the update below for the reason for the now Zero rating.
Specs:
Amplifier: 25 W/Ch int4 (1 kHz), WRAT (Wide Range Amplifier Technology), Discrete output stage circuitry, Tone control (Bass/Treble), Tone direct and 3 audio inputs and 2 outputs.
CD Player: Plays Audio CDs and MP3 CDs, Wolfson single-bit D/A converter, 20-track programming, Random/Memory/Repeat play modes, Optical digital output.
Tuner: DAB (Digital Audio Broadcasting) with 59 Presets, 5-mode timer (Timer 1/2/3/4/Sleep), 40 FM/AM presets, Automatic FM scan tuning, RDS (CT/PS/RT).
Other features: Battery-free memory backup, Headphone jack, RI-compatible remote control
Onkyo
Update 24 November 2005
Sadly, we have to add that after we gave the Onkyo such a glowing review, ugly problems reared their head.
Firstly, the CD player started to stall on new and old CDs, introducing party-wrecking uninvited gaps mid-way through albums.
Changing disks made no difference and after triple-checking that there were no overheating problems, the unit was sent back to Richer Sounds who gladly swapped it over for a replacement player.
Sadly, this turned out to be even worse, with the same CD-stuttering problem and a curious display glitch that sent random characters flying across the screen.
We’d had enough, so once again despatched the unit back to trusty Richer Sounds who were happy to oblige with a full refund.
With two failed units we can’t recommend this player to our readers.
Maybe we were just unlucky, but after having major problems with two ‘regular’ units (i.e. not press review models), we’d hate to see others experiencing the same hassle.
We’re now planning a review of a replacement DAB product from PURE – expect a review and news shortly.
25 August, 2005
Fujitsu Announces LifeBook T4020 And Stylistic ST5032 Tablet PCs
Fujitsu LifeBook T4020
Claimed to combine the “convenience and familiarity of a notebook with the powerful and versatile functionality of a slate Tablet PC”, Toshiba’s new LifeBook T4020 comes with Intel Pentium M 740 or 760 processors beating inside its swish silver and black casing, with a swivel-tastic 12.1″ XGA display offering a 160 degree viewing angle.
The Windows XP Tablet PC Edition 2005-powered convertible Tablet PC comes fitted with a 56K V.90 modem, Ethernet and Atheros Super AG or Intel PRO/Wireless 2915ABG Wi-Fi connectivity, with the option to add Bluetooth.
Paranoid types can also purchase an optional fingerprint sensor to keep prying eyes away.
The laptop comes with a rather miserly 256 meg of RAM as standard (upgradeable to 2GB), 40GB Shock-Mounted Hard Drive and one Type I or Type II PCMCIA card slot fitted into its 11.5″ x 9.3″ x 1.4″ dimensions.
Fujitsu Stylistic ST5032 tablet
Running on Microsoft Windows XP Tablet PC Edition 2005, the Stylistic ST5032 tablet PC comes in two sizes, with customers able to choose between the 12.1″ XGA and 10.4″ indoor/outdoor displays.
The super slimline silver beastie (12.77″ x 8.66″ x .88″) weighs in at 3.5 pounds, boasting an Intel Pentium M 753 processor, a shock-mounted hard drive and built-in TPM, a dedicated Smart Card slot and a biometric swipe sensor (on 12.1″ display models only).
There’s also a nifty dual mic array with noise cancellation software, 60 GB hard drive, built in 56K V.90 modem, 10/100/1000 Ethernet LAN, Bluetooth, Intel PRO/Wireless 2915ABG Network Connection (Tri-mode 802.11a/b/g) and 512 meg RAM.
The PR blurb
“As enterprises increasingly rely on vast numbers of mobile workers, they require a mobile computing platform that is easy to deploy, maintain, and service,” frothed Paul Moore, director of mobile product marketing at Fujitsu Computer Systems.
Cranking up his PR offensive to eleven, Moore continued, “Fujitsu offers a broad array of mobile solutions with the features, security, flexibility, reliability and ease of integration these companies need – all at competitive prices”.
Prices for the Fujitsu LifeBook T4020 start at US$1,599 (£888, €1,300) and US$2,499 (£1,390, €2,030) for the T5032. Availability is to be announced.
Fujitsu LifeBook T4020
Stylistic ST5032 Tablet PC
25 August, 2005
Virgin Radio Adds Another Podcast
After an encouraging response from listeners, Virgin Radio has announced that it will be making its Sunday afternoon programme ‘The Tim Lovejoy Show’ available as a podcast.
Virgin first experimented with podcasting earlier this year, with the ‘The Pete & Geoff Breakfast Show’ making Virgin Radio the first UK radio station to offer a podcast of a daily show.
The service, launched on the 9th March 2005, now receives 85,000 downloads a month.
Lovejoy’s sports and entertainment show is broadcast weekly from 4pm to 7pm, and Virgin have said that they’ll make the “best bits” available for consumers to download to their MP3 players from 28th August.
iPod-toting fans of the show will no doubt appreciate the new service, although they may not be pleased with having to put up with adverts for the podcast’s sponsor, Nivea, popping up throughout the download (see: ‘Podvertising’ Supports Virgin Radio Daily Podcast)
James Cridland, head of strategic development for new media at Virgin Radio was enthusiastic about the potential for podcasts, “The response shows us that people are more than willing to have a play with the technology if the content is good enough”.
“It also allows them to listen in at their own convenience if they don’t fancy getting up at 6am,” he added.
Cridland has stated that the radio station was also looking to make more of its content available as podcasts, describing the delivery method as “a great mechanism to get people to trial our flagship shows”.
Virgin Radio Podcasts
25 August, 2005
Unified DVD Format Trouble Confirmed
Following reports yesterday of difficulty between Toshiba and Sony in agreeing on the Unified DVD format, bringing together HD-DVD and Blu-Ray, we’ve spoken to Sony and they have confirmed difficulties.
Disc capacity
Blu-Ray, surprise, surprise uses a blue laser, as does HD-DVD. They didn’t just like blue lasers because it fits in with their name, or even that it’s their favorite colour, the shorter wavelength of the blue light, 405nm, (think of its position in the rainbow relative to the red, 650nm) allowed for higher density of their disks. Current CD and DVD media uses red lasers.
The difference in capacity of the two formats is pretty large. A single layer disc yields quite a difference – HD-DVD provides 15GB, and Blu-Ray 25GB.
Blu-Ray are claiming that their eight layer disks can hold 200GB of content, a considerable amount in anyone’s book. They’ve also told us they’re working on ten and twelve layer disks, pushing storage even higher to 300Gb. HD-DVD holds 30GB on their dual layer disks.
Why extra capacity is a sticking point
Many may wonder why 200GB is needed for a disk (not you, dear reader, I’m sure). Well while the storage requirements of HD content has a small part to do with it, the obvious use is to provide near-endless ‘extra’ material to go with the film on the disk (even if the purchaser isn’t interested in it). Less obviously, is placing material on the disk that is locked.
We think that Blu-Ray’s dogged pursuit for high capacity (possibly in the face of Unified DVD), and the fact that Sony are driving Blu-Ray is no coincidence.
Sony, having learnt its lesson during the Betamax/VHS wars, now own a serious amount of content and the studios want to make more. We imagine that the content side of Sony’s business is pushing hard to extra capacity for commercial reasons.
Think about it – what do media companies want to do? Reduce the involvement of the middle man, or cut it out completely. If they are able to sell a disk with one accessible film on it, plus a number of films on it that are locked, they’ve reduced their distribution costs, and importantly, kept percentage paid to the retailer to a minimum. To access the extra films, the purchaser simply has to contact the media owner.
An important part of the Blu-Ray standard is its online capabilities, so the unlocking could be requested and paid for through the player, or via the phone for the die hards. The great thing, at least in the eyes on the media owner, is that the additional income generated is nearly all profit.
Difference in programming One thing that appears to have been missed by most commendations on Unified DVD is the world of difference in the programmability of HD-DVD and Blu-Ray. As a player supporting both standards isn’t realistic, one of the sides would have to change completely. This leads to considerable additional cost for the media creator, forcing them to effectively have to programme the whole disc twice.
Cover layer thickness difference
This is possibly the unbridgeable gap. Cover layer thickness – how close the information is written to the surface of the physical disc. Blu-Ray is 0.1mm and HD-DVD is 0.6mm. HD-DVD has plumbed for the 0.6mm, the same standard as current DVD’s. From our discussion, this appears to be an intractable difference.
The difference in layer thickness is one of the factors that makes manufacturing Blu-Ray discs more expensive, as the equipment used to create the disc has to be replaced.
Both sides have been busy gathering supporters of their own formats, in a not dissimilar way to two groups at school picking teams in the playground, trumpeting when another new chum joins their gang.
It will be a great shame if Unified DVD does fail. We all know what will happen – everyone suffers from the producers of the content to the consumer. At this time, it looks like we’re going to have to prepare for that.
HD-DVD
Blu-Ray
24 August, 2005
Google Launches Online IM And Voice Chat Service
Thanks to Mathew for corrections to this piece
Google has slapped down a big leathery gauntlet to the communications industry with the beta launch of its instant messaging service with voice-over-IP capabilities today.
Currently in beta, the Google Talk program will link its instant-messaging service to its e-mail service, Gmail, letting users contact each other over email, IM or a VoIP call.
The program, Google Talk, is based on the open source Jabber protocol and competes directly with the three major providers of instant messaging – AOL, Microsoft and Yahoo.
With the company trumpeting the service’s integration with GMail, Google Talk will use the same log-in information as their email account, with users able to access their inbox from within the Google Talk interface and send e-mails from there too.
Interestingly Google appears to refer to the accounts as a Google User Account – an interesting shift, pointing to the continued rise of additional Google services.
Users will be able to chat via IM and then talk to contacts on Google Talk by clicking on a “call” button in an open chat window or by clicking on the phone icon next to names on the contact list.
The software will let users have multiple voice sessions open at the same time, but only one can be active at any given time.
Gmail contacts will be loaded automatically into the Google Talk interface, letting users exchange instant messages with those who have downloaded the IM software.
Jabber is an open standard messaging protocol called eXtensible Message and Presence Protocol, or XMPP, and Google have stated that the company hoped to use the standard to interconnect the messaging industry. Many feel XMPP have advantages over SIP (Session Initiation Protocol, commonly used for VoIP) for voice communications.
Currently, the three major messaging services are closed shops that generally don’t permit users to send messages to and from competing services – a source of continuing frustration for many IM users.
Jabber have been reported as preparing to interconnect with AOL, whose AOL Instant Messenger system is the largest provider of messaging.
“We are going to start working to federate all the other networks,” said Georges Harik, a Google director of product management who is responsible for Google Talk and several other services.
According to figures from comScore Media Metrix, more than 80 million Americans chattered on instant-messaging services in July, with 30.9 million using AIM, 23.3 million chatting on MSN Messenger and 23.2 million connecting via Yahoo Insider.
Peter Saint-Andre, executive director of the Jabber Software Foundation, estimated that 13.5 million use the Jabber standard, based on figures from Osterman Research.
The company is yet to announce how the new service may earn its keep, but Google has stated that it intends to look for revenue opportunities in the future.
Google Talk reveals the company’s continuing ambitions provide to extend beyond Web searching, with some analysts predicting that Google will soon be taking on voice-over-Internet phone services like Vonage and Skype as well as the communication industry big boys.
How the industry reacts to this onslaught should be entertaining.
Google Talk
24 August, 2005
Nokia Grabs Lead In 3G Phone Market
Nokia has risen to become King Of The Hill of 3G phones with a market share of 17%, with its attractive range of 3G phones trouncing products from rivals NEC and LG.
According to a report by Strategy Analytics, the phone-shifting Finns scooped a 17% of the 3G handset market in the three months from April to June, 2005.
Chris Ambrosio, director of the Strategy Analytics wireless device strategies service observed that Nokia’s hefty share of the 3G market represents nearly half of its global overall share in the global mobile market, currently standing at 33%.
Previous 3G front-runners Motorola and LG have been overtaken by Nokia, with the report warning the manufacturers that they “have significant work to do to match up in the next battle for WCDMA phones priced below US$200 (~£111, €164~) wholesale, which will present significant mass-market opportunities in 2006 to 2010”.
The study notes that the market for 3G phones is still comparatively small, with only nine million units shipped in the second quarter of 2005 – small beer compared to the total sales of 185m handsets for the same period (source UDC).
“WCDMA (3G) technology, which accounted for just 5% of total handset sales during Q2 2005, remains a market in the early stages of development, but it is worrying for a cluster of aspiring Asian vendors that Nokia has already become best in class,” commented Chris Ambrosio, director of the Strategy Analytics’ wireless device strategies service.
Nokia’s market lead has been assisted in no small part by the popularity of their acclaimed 6680 3G handset, recently lauded as the “best-in-class 3G phone” in Western Europe.
Nokia’s triumph means long faces in the Motorola offices, with the company failing to make much progress with their 3G phones, despite their funky ‘lifestyle’ GPRS phones like the V3 Razr proving a hit.
Strategy Analytics
24 August, 2005
PowerShot S80 Announced By Canon
Canon has announced its new PowerShot S80 consumer camera, an eight megapixel compact camera with a wide range of auto and manual controls.
Smaller and lighter than the PowerShot S70 it replaces, the S80 sports a much larger (2.5″) wide viewing angle LCD monitor, a wide-angle 28-100 mm f/2.8-5.3 (3.6x) optical zoom lens which uses the same DIGIC II processor found in Canon’s professional series digital SLRs
The prosumer-targeted camera offers an EOS-style Multi Control Dial for quickly setting menu and shooting functions and nippily scrolling through images during playback.
The camera packs in some advanced features including real-time histogram display, FlexiZone AF/AE with a freely movable focus point and manual focus override with 21 shooting modes taking care of most lighting conditions.
The new large 2.5″ LCD is adjustable to one of 15 brightness levels and features a “Quick-bright” function for shooting in sunny conditions (sadly, a feature of little benefit to most UK users).
There’s also a handy selectable grid line display to help with composition and keeping wobbly horizons level.
As is the norm for a compact camera, the optical viewfinder can best be described as ‘basic’ with all the shooting image being presented in the LCD screen.
The little fella (104 x 57 x 39 mm) can also record quality video clips up to 1 GB in size, from 320 x 240 at 30/15 fps right up to 1024 x 768 at 15 fps.
Surprisingly, RAW capture has been left off the spec list, although there’s USB 2.0 compatibility to help speedily transfer images to a PC speedily.
“The PowerShot S80 provides those serious about photography with uncompromising specifications,” gushed Mogens Jensen, Head of Canon Consumer Imaging Europe. “Its futuristic and compact design symbolises Canon’s commitment to pushing the limits of what is possible in this important segment.”
The camera’s 8.0 Megapixel sensor produces images for detailed A3+ size prints, with auto focus speeds claimed to 20% faster.
The S80 is expected to retail for around $549 (£322, €475) when it hits the stores in October 2005.
PowerShot S80
24 August, 2005
Unified DVD Format On Rocks
Sony and Toshiba have failed to agree on a unified format for next-generation DVDs, according to a Japanese newspaper report today.
For three years, pressure groups led by Sony and Toshiba have jostled to have their respective technologies adopted as standard for next-gen DVD players, PC drives and optical discs.
Both formats are based around blue lasers, which have a shorter wavelength than red lasers used in current DVD equipment.
This allows discs to store data at higher densities, providing enough storage capacity for high-definition movies and television.
Toshiba teamed up with NEC and Sanyo to promote the HD DVD standard, while Sony and Matsushita (makers of Panasonic products) have been pushing a rival Blu-ray technology.
Japan’s Yomiuri newspaper has reported that the two companies have now abandoned their efforts to develop a unified format, with negotiations falling through after both sides refused to budge.
It was hoped that the Japanese technology giants may have worked together to develop a new format before the launch of new products, but time appears to have run out.
The newspaper report hasn’t been verified by either firm, although both have said that they have not ruled out the possibility of further talks at some point.
In the meantime, both companies will continue the development of products utilising the rival DVD formats.
Sony has announced that it intends to put a Blu-ray disc drive in its new PlayStation game console next year. Their Blu-ray technology is also backed by industry big boys Dell and Samsung.
Although pundits are predicting that producers of next-generation optical discs would eventually use one format, it looks like products based on the two competing standards will be around for a short while, potentially punishing earlier adopters and holding back consumer growth.
Blu-raydisc.info
HD DVD
Sony, Toshiba May Create Universal Blu-Ray/HD DVD Standard (April 2005)
23 August, 2005
BBC Offers Dr Who Video On Mobiles
The BBC has announced that it will be offering classic episodes of “Doctor Who” and “Red Dwarf” on digital video chips for viewing on mobile phones.
The company’s commercial arm, BBC Worldwide, has teamed up with mobile phone content firm ROK Player to flog special multimedia memory cards that let users watch feature-length films and programmes on their mobiles.
The films are pre-recorded on Sim card-sized DVC (digital video chips) chips which slot into the multi-media memory card of compatible mobile phones.
With no content to download via mobile networks, films will automatically load once the card is inserted – and with no requirement for network coverage, commuters will be able to watch Dalek battles while stuck in a train tunnel.
Films can be fast forwarded, rewound and paused, just like a conventional movie player.
The cards, capable of storing up to two hours of entertainment, will be sold for £17 (US$30, €25), twice the price of a downloaded iTunes album but roughly the same price as the latest DVD releases.
ROK Player said they have invested £10 million (US$18m, €14.7m) creating the software which they claim will allow viewers to see high-quality pictures despite the teensy weensy mobile screen size.
The first scheduled release is The Five Doctors, a 90-minute Dr Who special originally shown in 1983, followed by three episodes of cult sci-fi hit, Red Dwarf.
More programmes are expected to follow from the BBC archive, with the chips initially being sold through Nokia stores, ROK Player’s website and Choices video outlets.
ROK Player also offers music videos and films such as “Wallace and Gromit” and “The Shawshank Redemption.”
ROK Player
23 August, 2005