September 2005

4G Prototypes Phones Record Scorchio Speeds
Prototype cellphones capable of transmitting data faster than a startled squirrel on speed have been demonstrated by NTT DoCoMo in Japan, according to the New Scientist.
To test the speed and reliability of the new phones, the prototype handsets were used to view 32 high definition video streams from a car rolling along at 20 kilometres per hour.
NTT DoCoMo officials claimed that the 4G phones manage to receive data at the incredible rate of 100 megabits per second while on the move, and an astonishing gigabit per second while static.
At these kind of white-knuckle speeds, the contents of an entire DVD could be downloaded within a minute.
Compare those breakneck speeds with the stately download speed of 384 kilobits per second (129 kilobits per second upload) offered by DoCoMo’s current 3G (third generation) phone network.
Naturally, the boffins behind NTT DoCoMo’s experiment high-speed phone network have come up with a suitably techie description of the technology, describing it as Variable-Spreading-Factor Spread Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (VSF-Spread OFDM).
This _apparently_ increases downlink speeds by using multiple radio frequencies to send the same data stream.
During the tests, another smartypants wireless networking trick was employed to send data via various routes across a network to further increase data capacity.
Going under the snappy acronym of MIMO (multiple-input-multiple-output) multiplexing, the technology could, for example, enable a cellphone to receive data from more than one base station in range.
Lajos Hanzo, a communications expert at Southampton University in the UK found the prototypes “technically impressive,” but warned that NTT DoCoMo will need assistance from other phone companies for 4G take-up.
“In today’s world nobody can go it alone,” he told the New Scientist.
“And hence any standard proposal must be internationally ratified, which has not as yet take place,” he added.
There’s already been some international activity to cooperate on standards, with Japan and China signing a memorandum on 24 August to work together on 4G.
But don’t start throwing out your 3G phones quite yet though: NTT DoCoMo doesn’t expect to launch a commercial 4G network until 2010.
NTT DoCoMo
5 September, 2005
iTunes Promotion Sign Up Iggy Pop, Madonna and Little Richard
Pop stars are falling over themselves to fill their pockets with corporate cash as the Apple/Motorola iTunes phone promotion machine switches into overdrive.
Motorola has already waved their weighty wad in the direction of Madonna, Iggy Pop and a host of other music stars who have all been sufficiently tempted to associate their faces with the iTunes phone.
An article on the Marketing news Website Brand Republic reports that: “Motorola has signed an artist from every generation to appear in the ads, including Little Richard, Bootsy Collins, Lil’ John, The White Stripes, Sleater-Kinney, Sum 41, Mya, Pussycat Dolls and Billie Joe from Green Day.”
The company are still negotiating with Alanis Morissette and The Bravery.
Serious underground tremors are expected around Jimi Hendrix’s burial site as the rock legend will no doubt reach maximum graveyard revolutions on the news that a look-a-like has been booked to perform in the ads.
Apparently, all the pop stars will be seen singing in a phone box in the adverts.
The Brand Republic article goes on to say that, “The ads may debut from next week, at the same time the Motorola phone with iPod personal music system is launched.”
The iTunes-supporting phone is rumoured to be called the Motorola Rokr and will be made available in two models offering 512MB or 1GB of storage.
The ‘iPhone’ is expected to be announced by Apple at a press conference on 7th September.
Motorola
iTunes
5 September, 2005
Napster Releases Subscription Figures
For the first time since its UK launch May 2004, the online music store Napster has dished the dirt on its usage and membership figures for the UK.
According to their figures, Napster has now scooped up 750,000 registered UK members, notching up 55 million downloads and streams in 15 months.
The LA-based company also released demographic information about their subscribers, which revealed that 80 per cent of its subscribers are over 25 years old, 75 per cent are blokes and over 50 per cent have kids.
The company claims to be currently attracting 50,000 new members a month.
Reflecting the changing trends of the music buying public, Napster claims that one in five or their subscribers no longer buy CDs, preferring to buy from their online catalogue of 1.6 million tracks – the largest in the world.
This represents an amazing turnaround for Napster who famously started life as the brainchild of an 18-year-old college dropout named Shawn Fanning in 1999.
Creating an online peer-to-peer file-sharing system that allowed computer users to share and swap files – specifically music – through a centralised file server, Napster immediately attracted the wrath of the Recording Industry Association of America who charged them with tributary copyright infringement.
In February 2001, a judge ruled that Napster had to stop the distribution of copyrighted material through its network and was forced to block over 250,000 songs using over 1.6 million filenames.
Things got worse in July 2001 when a judge told Napster it must block all files infringing copyright, effectively shutting the network down.
Napster folded in September 2002, but the brand was revived as a legal P2P service by the owners of the Napster name Roxio in 2003, quickly growing to become a major competitor for market leader iTunes.
Despite rival, cheaper services being launched by HMV and Virgin, Napster has said that it will not be reducing prices, preferring to concentrate on its subscription-based service.
This lets users ‘rent’ unlimited songs for a £9.95 ($18.5, €14.7) monthly fee with the penalty of losing access to the songs if the user’s subscription lapses.
‘We believe that the market is all about subscription,’ says Leanne Sharman, vice-president of Napster UK. ‘We’re seeing significant growth in that area.’
Napster UK
5 September, 2005
PSP Launches In UK To Big Queues
After having made the UK wait nearly 9 months since the launch of the PlayStation Portable (PSP) in Japan, the BBC are reporting that enthusiastic potential owners of PSP’s have been queuing for 12 hours or more to get their hands on them.
The original UK release date was knocked back after Sony said it needed to provide the product to the US.
Those UK’ers who couldn’t wait for the much-desired, multi-media device to arrive had an avenue closed to them after Sony successfully took legal action against grey-importers of Japanese and US equipment.
The Japanese giant cited infringement of their trademark, claiming that the provision through these paths could not guarantee the quality of the product.
The UK PSP sells for £179 (249 euros), but it is understood that many shops have pre-sold most, if not all of their allocation of initial stock.
The BBC quoted one 36-year old gamer who had queued for a massive 11 hours to pick up his PSP.
Whilst we respect his dedication to the cause of all things Playstation, we hope we never reach that level of obsession with gaming.
Sony UK
2 September, 2005
NSF GENI Project Looks To The Next-Generation Internet
The boffins at the US National Science Foundation (NSF) have proposed “re-engineering” the Internet to create a whizz-bang updated version that connects all kinds of devices with built in security and robustness.
With the government agency challenging researchers to look at the Internet as a “clean slate”, the NSF’s Global Environment for Networking Investigations (GENI) initiative proposes a research grant program and an experimental facility to test new Internet technologies.
NSF officials trumpeted the GENI project at a conference for the Special Interest Group on Data Communications in Philadelphia last week.
But before you get too excited about this new super-improved Internet being piped into your devices (ooo-er), NSF spokesman Richard “Randy” Vines has some news for you: it’s not yet funded and it’s only “an idea under consideration.”
With the Internet continuing to grow exponentially and with researchers predicting an explosion of data in the next decade from mobile and wireless devices as well as sensors, the GENI project intends to anticipate and envision the Internet society’s needs 15 years or more from now.
The goals of the GENI Initiative include a new core functionality for the Internet, with new naming, addressing, and identity architectures; enhanced capabilities, including additional security architecture and a design for high availability; and new Internet services and applications.
According to the NSF’s GENI Web page, the GENI project intends to “explore new networking capabilities that will advance science and stimulate innovation and economic growth,” adding, “The GENI Initiative responds to an urgent and important challenge of the 21st Century to advance significantly the capabilities provided by networking and distributed system architectures
The site also urges the enabling of “new classes of societal-level services and applications”. We’ve no idea what that means, but it sure sounds good to us.
Faster transmission speeds aren’t on the agenda of the GENI Project, however, with David Clark, a senior research scientist at the Laboratory for Computer Science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology sagely commenting, “Making a network faster has never made it more secure or easier to use.”
National Science Foundation
NSF Global Environment for Networking Investigations
2 September, 2005
IFA
IFA is the world’s largest Consumer Electronics trade fair for both trade specialist and the general public covering all areas of consumer electronics with over 1,000 exhibitors. Berlin, Germany http://www.ifa-berlin.com
2 September, 2005
UK Online and Be Unlimited Ready 24Mbps Broadband Services
UK Online have officially joined the 24Mbps broadband party by announcing the October launch of their own broadband ADSL2+ based product.
The Easynet-owned company joins fellow 24Mbit Broadband providers Be Unlimited in ramping up the pressure on BT with their soon-come cutting-edge ADSL2+ services to be offered in urban areas
UK Online
The ADSL2+ UK Online service will enable lucky surfers to hurtle around the Internet at nigh-on reckless speeds of 24Mbps downstream and 1Mbps upstream – compare that to BT’s current broadband offering which chugs along at a snail-like maximum plod of 2Mbps.
BT has announced that it is trialing speeds of up to 8Mbps, which is rather like someone offering you a thimbleful of Kalibur when there’s a yard of Old Ferret Stripper Ale in the offing elsewhere.
UK Online has been conducting technical trials of its ADSL2+ service since March of this year and their 24Mb broadband service should be available in October for under £30 (~$55 ~€43) a month.
Chris Stening, General Manager at UK Online, purred, “We’ve been pushing the current ADSL technology to its limits with 8Mb broadband since late last year. This is yet another innovation for UK Online.”
Consumers will be able to register their interest in UK Online’s service via www.ukonline.net
Be Unlimited
Be Unlimited have already started public tests for their ADSL2+ service with the company expected to offer its super fast service from exchanges in the London area, with out-of-towners following in the next couple of months.
Businesses signing up for the service will be able to enjoy the service for nowt until the end of September this year, after which they’ll pay £70 (~$128 ~€102) per month.
Individual punters can also cash in on the freebie until the end of September, after which they will be charged £20 (~$36 ~€29) per month.
Temptingly, there’s no connection fee for new users with a free Wi-Fi-enabled modem lobbed in for no charge (the company will be using DSLAMs from Alcatel, and a Thompson 716g V5 wireless modem, optimised for VoIP and video-streaming applications.)
“This pilot would be fantastic for small businesses, but we’re not setting up for time-critical businesses such as city traders,” warned a Be spokesperson (in other words, “it’s a pilot scheme – so expect some glitches!”).
Be Unlimited
2 September, 2005
Names In Space; IR Transmission; Sporting Computer; Underwater CCTV?
Send Your Name To Pluto
No, that wasn’t a typo just then: It was actually true! This is the latest in space exploration efforts, and it’s destined for Pluto. With it, will be a list of names, and the space probe is destined to return to Earth in 50,000 years. What names, I hear you ask. Well, any that are submitted here. What a great idea! There’s even a searchable list of all the people who’ve already put their names down on the list. Go look for mine, ‘cos I’m going to Pluto!!
It’s fast, but why? Nice solution, but where’s the problem?
I personally had all but forgotten Infra-red as a data transmission means: It’s slow and line-of-sight only. Also, everything now has Bluetooth instead or as well as it. That’s why I was so surprised by the announcement by The Infrared Data Association that they have developed and adopted a new high-speed Infra-Red protocol promising speeds of up to 100Mbit/s. While faster is almost always better, it’s got no real-life use anymore in my opinion. Who still wants to precariously line up two devices on their lap in a bumpy train when they can leave one in their rucksack and instead connect to it over Bluetooth? This whole thing left poor little me very puzzled.
That’s… Fast!
The Register has a nice story this week about a start-up company challenging the heavy weights like Dell. Apparently, Azul Systems have released a computer sporting 1,248 processor cores with 800GB of RAM that, when running, only draws 9.1KW of power. To put that in perspective, a typical hair dryer weighs in at about 1.5KW. This means that this computer with 1,248 processor cores has the same electricity requirements as six hair dryers. A comparable Dell machine with the same amount of cores on the other hand would require 37 times more electricity, which equates to 307KW o electricity or 204 hairdryers. This is a lot by the way. So the Dell one might be cheaper, but with a kWh (kiloWatt hour) of electricity currently costing around 7pence, the Dell would be costing over £20/hour (~$36 ~€29) to run, whereas the Azul Systems machine would only cost around 63pence/hour. Over the period of a year, the decreased electricity consumption of the Azul Systems machine would pay off.
Whether this challenging of the big players in a crowded economy is going to work or not will be decided in the future and is impossible to predict now, but I know one thing: When I have US$800,000 kicking around in my pocket, I would like one of these. Imagine the frame rate on Quake3!! (Sorry…)
Big Brother is Everywhere
Here’s an unusual one: An array of cameras in a swimming pool coupled with a state-of-the-art detection system. CCTV? No, this is a way of monitoring swimmers and alerting lifeguards when they’re drowning.
The company making the system are called Poseidon, and they have their systems installed in various pools world-wide. They have some cool images taken by their camera equipment documenting various rescues here.
2 September, 2005
Deutsche Telekom: 50 Mbit/s Broadband Announced: IFA: UPDATED
Deutsche Telekom have just announced that they will be rolling out 50 Mbit/s connection in 50 cities around Germany by 2007.
By mid-2006 the first 10 cities will be connected to the new fiber network, covering around 2.9m households.
More immediately there will be a free six week trial starting in Hamburg and Stuttgart which will run at 25 Mbit/s. If you’re interested, you’d better sign up at their site quickly – it’s expected to fill up fast (not surprisingly).
Project ‘Lightspeed’, as they refer to it internally, will give Germany a leading position in Europe for broadband speeds. The project will provide fiber to the curb and will cost them up to Euro 3Bn.
With an average distance of 700m from the street distribution box to the home, delivery of most of the 50 Mbit/s to the consumer is likely.
During the announcement there many, many references to the ‘necessary framework’ for this size of investment. Despite clear questioning there was no answer from DT as to what the ‘necessary framework was, beyond it would involve the regulator and government (obviously).
The only phrase that was used (once) was ‘investment certainty’, which we can only assume is getting a return on the investment. As to what level of return they are aiming for is undefined, and we’re sure it’ll be the basis for a lot of discussion with the regulator.
The “we’ll make the country globally competitive by installing high speed Internet access, but it needs to be made worth our while” argument has been used before by other incumbent telcos when they are trying to get good, or better deals from the regulators.
DT said they haven’t as yet spoken to the regulator, Bundesnetzagentur about this matter.
Deutsche Telekom
Bundesnetzagentur
1 September, 2005
3D TV Live Demo By Grundig, Eventually: IFA
As with all companies at IFA, Grundig have shown a ton of new products, try to persuade the assembled throngs that they are approaching Digital Lifestyles by understanding the consumer.
It was all very much of a muchness, until they started talking about 3D TV … everyone in the room lent forward a little. Would this be for real or not. We learnt that it wasn’t the 3D that needed red and green glasses that give you a headache, but was to be viewed with the naked eye.
Working with X3D technologies, 3D Image Processing and Cobalt Entertainment (who make the camera), the result are shown on a standard LCD TV Tharus 30 with a special filter, provided by X3D Technologies, fitted to the front. The clever stuff is performed by 3D Image Processing’s (3D-IP) Black Betty box, which generates 8 different views of the 2 pictures recorded by the camera, jiggles them around and displays them in 3D in real time.
Back to the demo … Miss IFA (the shows red-haired icon) is called forward to demonstrate.
The special 3D camera was unveiled, as were the monitors covered with black-out cloths. Argh … the displays showed fractured moving images striped vertically down the screens. Tech wiz Steve was called forward to carry out emergency turning to the display unit, while the demonstrator started to sweat, explaining that it had worked for the 20 times they had tried it this morning. The black cloths were placed back on the screen to hide the embarrassment.
A couple of button presses later and Steve announced it was ready.
The room, slightly less believing waited.
As the monitors were revealed, the 3D TV was seen and the room was impressed. The ideal viewing distance of 4m was soon compromised as people eagerly clambered over each other to get a view.
It’s impressive, with the subject that is nearest to the camera actually appearing forward of the rest of the image in shot.
Grundig plan to release the first content on disc – as soon as the cameras have been used to shoot anything. The rumors are George Lucas is already preparing some of Star Wars for 3D broadcast.
Oh and if you want to impress your geeky mates, you can call the screen a ‘auto-stereoscopic multi user display’, and that’s official.
Grundig
1 September, 2005