2005

ThinkPad X41 Tablet From IBM/Lenovo Announced
The Lenovo Group has officially announced the first ever ThinkPad tablet, the ThinkPad X41.
The laptop offers a swiveling, writable slate and a full-size keyboard in a slimline (1.14 inches thick) package weighing an easily-luggable 3.5 pounds.
Lenovo claim that the X41 is nearly 20% lighter than other competitors and delivers longer battery life. When in tablet mode, the X41’s 12.1-inch screen swivels to cover the keyboard – a design that has proved more popular than the slate Tablet PC design, which has no built-in keyboard.
Chinese powerhouse Lenovo bought IBM’s PC business in a deal that surprised some. This makes it pretty interesting to see that they are stepping up their game so strongly.
Although the format has had a few false starts in the past, Rob Herman, program director for Thinkpad marketing, says that their Tablet PC is in response to increasing demand from Thinkpad customers in markets such as health care workers.
The growth of Tablet PCs – once described as the future of mobile computing by Microsoft – has so far been slow, with total sales only representing a tiny fraction of the PC market.
Although users seem to like the ability to enter information using a digital pen, the wallet-lightening price has put many off, so it’ll be interesting to see how the X41 fares.
Although its $1899 (~£1,040, ~€1,550) price tag isn’t exactly bargain basement stuff, the price is similar to what other vendors charge for ultra portable notebooks.
The X41 is reasonably specified, although there’s nothing here to get the heart racing, with an Intel Centrino chip running a low-voltage Pentium M processor and wireless chip.
The basic configuration offers an Ultra Low Voltage Pentium M 758 processor, a fairly stingy 256MB of DDR2 RAM, a 20GB hard drive, with an optional docking station required for reading and writing CDs or DVDs
The anti-reflective and anti-glare screen claims to provide 170-degree viewing, and an optional integrated fingerprint reader offers extra security for the terminally paranoid and distrustful.
Battery life is claimed at 2.6 hrs (4-cell) up to 6.3 hrs (8-cell) – up to 8.5 hrs with an optional bolt on extended battery.
The ThinkPad X41 Tablet will be available from 14 June onwards.
IBM Thinkpad
Lenova
6 June, 2005
LC-65GE1 AQUOS: Sharp’s 65″ ‘World’s Biggest’ LCD TV Sells In Japan
First shown off at the CEATEC show in Japan last year, Sharp has announced that it will be launching its gargantuan 65inch LCD set in August this year – the biggest in the world.
The digital leviathan, snappily named the LC-65GE1 AQUOS, features a full-spec high-definition LCD panel with a room filling 1,920 H x 1,080 V pixel resolution capable of displaying digital content in Hi-Vision, the Japanese 1080i HDTV format.
The house-challenging Sharp TV features a 4 wave length back light to improve on the colour display quality with the built-in speakers powered by a 1-bit digital amplifier.
Coming in two tasteful finishes – Titanium and Piano Black – the wall-mountable leviathan serves up a feast of connectivity options, including HDMI, DVI, FireWire (IEEE-1394) and a CableCard slot.
Monster LCD screens are prone to suffer from ‘smearing’, which results in onscreen artifacts being displayed by fast moving objects, but Sharp claims that its QS (Quick Shoot) Technology improves moving video responsiveness, making it perfect for watching high-speed full-motion video and fast moving footage (like a Cardiff City strike. Sort of).
The company are big on waving their green credentials around with gusto, and were quick to point out that the LC-65GE1 has a power consumption of ‘only’ 619 W.
This is less than PDP televisions of the same 65V-inch class, but it’s hardly likely to impress Greenpeace activists.
The monitor also uses materials which can apparently be recycled, although we’re not sure what you could make out of them.
As is often the case lust-spawning objects, there’s a double whammy of a sting for anyone fancying installing one of these monolithic beasts in their Hackney bedsit.
The first killer blow is the price: a thumping great 1,680,000 Yen (~£8,565 ~US$15,570), with the knock out punch being price and availability: the company is only manufacturing 300 units a month and you’ll only be able to buy it in Japan.
The Sharp Aquos LC-65GE1 goes on sale in Japan on 1st August.
Sharp press release (in Japanese)
3 June, 2005
i-mate PDA2 Skype Pocket PC Released
Dubai-based Microsoft Windows mobile specialists i-mate have added the HTC-manufactured i-mate PDA2 to their popular range of Pocket PC phones.
Sporting a nippy Intel processor running at 520 MHz – the fastest available for Pocket PC phones – the tri-band GSM/GPRS handset has been designed for “heavy data processing” and comes with 128 MB RAM and 64MB ROM.
This phone is already available in the UK by O2 operator as the O2 Xda IIi, but is only now being offered by i-mate – the biggest distributor of HTC-made phones.
The unit comes positively festooned with connectivity options, offering GSM/GPRS (900/1800/1900Mhz, Class B, 10 slots), Bluetooth and Wireless LAN (Wi-Fi).
Memory can be expanded through a SD/MMC slot, which is compatible with SDIO peripherals.
The handset features a 3.5″ QVGA transflective (TFT) touch screen with both landscape and portrait modes, plus a 1.3 mega-pixel digital still and video camera.
The man-sized Pocket PC phone comes preloaded with Skype for cheap VoIP (Voice Over IP) calls, as well as standard Pocket versions of Word, Excel and Outlook Inbox and Windows Media Player 10, providing better integration with Windows Media Player on desktop or laptop PCs.
The i-mate is powered by a 1300mAH battery with a slot provided in the cradle for charging a spare battery.
Memory can be expanded through a SD/MMC slot, also compatible with SDIO peripherals.
Conveniently, all the accessories available for its predecessor, the i-mate Pocket PC, are compatible with this new model, although upgraders should be disappointed to learn that the device runs Microsoft Windows Mobile 2003 Second Edition and not the recently-announced Windows Mobile 5.0 OS.
With the release of Windows Mobile 5.0 OS set for Autumn this year, we’d advise potential purchasers to think twice before shelling out for this unit as it appears that there will be no OS upgrade available.
“The i-mate PDA2 is one of the most powerful and expandable mobile devices on the market. The efficiency gains to be had could mean the device pays for itself in no time” insisted Jim Morrison, Founder and Chief Executive of imate
“An outstanding feature of the i-mate PDA2 is its ability to be customized with innovative business applications to deliver remote access to a company’s core systems in real-time,” continued Morrison in full sales flow, “Our devices are highly scalable and can be configured to match the needs of a wide variety of industry applications like field and sales force automation, and asset management.”
The company is hoping that the PDA2’s companion Website, which offers 24/7 technical advice, support and value added services such as free hosted Microsoft Exchange e-mail, games and patches, will tempt users to fork out for what has to be seen as something of an understated upgrade.
Morrison clearly thinks it’s a deal maker,”Over and above the advanced features of the device itself, the real difference is in the i-mate value added services we offer and global warranty play a key role in i-mates strategy to deliver the ultimate mobile experience.”
The i-matePDA2 will be available online and in stores from the beginning of June 2005.
Club i-Mate
HTC
3 June, 2005
Video4skype From Dialcom adds Video To Skype
Skype users can now gaze at each other’s ugly mugs (and other body parts) while they waffle online, thanks to a new free plug in from Dialcom.
The Spontania Video4skype plug-in uses the Skype P2P engine and allows Skype account holders with broadband access to plug in their webcam and start making free video-calls through Skype.
The plug-in offers a full screen mode, end-to-end encryption and is billed as being “firewall, NAT and proxy friendly”, so there should be no need to start rummaging around in your network configuration settings.
Dialcom’s Sponania video plug-in hasn’t been specifically written for Skype – it’s designed to be integrated with any third party VoIP system – but Skype has benefited from being the first to use it.
There doesn’t seem to be any obvious business model for Dialcom yet, but we suspect that they may introduce paid versions with extra features and add-on sales at a later date.
Skype’s VoIP system has now scooped up nearly 40 million registered users, with take-up rolling along at a healthy 150,000 new users per day.
Skype’s recent affiliate program trials have proved something of a success, signing up more than 1,800 affiliate Websites to share Web traffic with Skype during the test period.
The deal for Webmasters is that Skype will dish out commissions of up to 10 per cent of its own store purchase revenues when a buyer is referred from their site.
The 30-day referral period starts after the first click, and credits site owners for all purchases made from return visits to the Skype Store.
“We look forward to rewarding our most ardent online evangelisers by creating an avenue to increase profits from their websites,” buzzworded Skype CEO and co-founder Niklas Zennström last week. “A strong affiliate program not only opens up a revenue stream for Skype devotees, but also provides an interactive communications tool for Website publishers to engage in dialogue with their audiences.”
There’s also a back-scratching reverse synergy deal (I’ve wanted to say that for years) with Skype able to direct its zillions of users to other sites through advertising links.
Skype’s ‘super affiliate’ partnerships include 192.com, Firstream, LunarStorm Sweden, LunarStorm United Kingdom, and MyFamily.com.
Skype recently released the latest beta of Skype 1.3 for Windows, but with their ‘known issues’ list stretching to fourteen items, many are advising holding back for a while before installing.
Video4Skype
Skype
3 June, 2005
Orange EDGE To Launch With TV In France Next Week
Coming hot on the heels of their 3G Mobile TV launch, Orange France has announced that their high-speed EDGE mobile service for consumers will go live next week.
Although EDGE technology is slower than 3G services it has the distinctive advantage of being cheaper and – unlike the “walled garden” approach of 3G – the technology gives customers direct access to email, the Internet and television.
Orange, the mobile phone arm of France Telecom, has shuffled its expectations of EDGE take-up in a downward direction from its initial forecast of 500,000 subscribers by the end of December.
“We expect to have more than a million high-speed clients (EDGE and 3G) by the end of May 2006,” Orange Chief Executive Didier Quillot told a news conference.
Quillot added that he expected the total to stand at between 500,000 and 1 million by Christmas 2006, with the number of EDGE subscribers reaching 2 million by the end of 2006.
Monsieur Quillot revealed that Orange had 110,000 3G subscribers by the end of May – nudging higher than their rivals, SFR, with 100,000 subscribers.
SFR expects to have scooped up around 500,000 3G subscribers by the end of the year.
Currently, Orange’s EDGE service offer coverage of some 85 percent of France’s population, against the 45 percent coverage offered by its 3G network.
3G coverage is expected to rise to over 50 percent by the end of 2005 and continues upward to around 60 percent by end of 2006.
Orange has stated that it will invest over 200 million euros in 2005 and 2006 to make its network compatible with EDGE.
EDGE stands for Enhanced Data rates for Global Evolution and is a radio based high-speed mobile data standard, which enables television, video and music to be received on an Orange Intense mobile phone at any time.
Orange France
EDGE explained
3 June, 2005
Next Generation Networks
International Conference on Next Generation Networks in the scope of the EC IST project EUROLABS in collaboration with the projects 6NET, BEgrid and EGEE and with the support of the IPv6 Forum.
The concept of “Next Generation Networks” is in permanent evolution, as new technologies keep being defined and deployed at a sustained pace. This International Conference offers every interested person a chance to understand the present evolution and the future challenges and opportunities of NGNs, covering such areas as Grids, IPv6, Mobility, Home Networking, Security and Quality of Service. Presentations by top-level speakers about some of the latest and most advanced European projects will satisfy the specialists seeking up-to-date information.
Auditoire Dupréel, ULB, 44 avenue Jeanne, 1050 Brussels http://www.ngn2005.be/
2 June, 2005
Sidekick II Released By T-Mobile Germany
The mobile Internet handset – developed by Danger and manufactured by Sharp Corporation – will be made available on service contract for £68.70 (~€100, ~US$125).
For just £10.30 (~€15, ~$18.84 USD) a month, users can enjoy unlimited data use when combined with any of T-Mobile’s voice plans, with the monthly data charge being waived for the first month for new T-Mobile Sidekick II customers.
The feature-stuffed handset includes a mobile phone, push email, instant messaging, HTML Web browser, text-messaging, calendar, address book, an integrated digital camera and the option to download applications and content.
Users will also get access to a Web-based, online account to manage their data from the desktop.
“The T-Mobile Sidekick II’s ease-of-use and complete set of voice and data applications have made it the featured product in our ‘Internet in your pocket’ initiative,” said Michael Schuld, Vice President Terminal Management T-Mobile Germany.
Beating at the heart of the T-Mobile Sidekick II is Danger’s “hiptop” software and services infrastructure.
Claimed to deliver a “superior mobile Internet experience to end users”, the thin client/server system takes care of the secure transmission of data between the network and the device, accelerates Web-page downloads and automatically opens files sent via email.
“Danger’s popular mobile Internet experience, combined with T-Mobile Germany’s excellent network, customer care and marketing might is an ideal match,” PR-ed Hank Nothhaft, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Danger.
Also known as the Hiptop 2, the 130 x 66 x 22 mm (5.1″ x 2.6″ x 0.9″) handset features a flip Transflective TFT 240×160 pixel screen and an integrated VGA (640 x 480 pixel) camera.
The tri-band (900/1800/1900 MHz GSM/GPRS unit comes with 32 MB RAM and 16 MB Flash, with a built in speakerphone and Lilliputian QWERTY keyboard.
T-Mobile are also releasing a “trendy” version of the Sidekick, resplendent in distinctly un-macho pink sparkly bits.
But that’s not for us. Oh no.
Hiptop 2
T-Mobile Germany
2 June, 2005
EU To Unify Wireless And Broadcast Rules
The European Commission has announced plans to create a single set of European Union rules on broadcasting and the wireless spectrum.
The proposals are aimed at easing restrictions on advertising and encouraging Internet and mobile phone media to do their thang. The proposals will also allow telecommunications companies to trade their expensive third generation mobile licenses.
At the moment it’s a bit of a free for all in Europe, with each country free to set its own broadcasting rules. The fact that the last EU guidelines were penned way back in 1989 – before mobile telephones and the Internet hit the mainstream – has added to the confusion.
“It would be unfair if traditional broadcasting were to be regulated very heavily, and new broadcasters on mobile phones and the Internet were subject to no rules,” observed Commission spokesman Martin Selmayr.
The new proposals form part of a five-year strategy to turbo-charge the European digital economy, although they’ll still have to circumnavigate acres of EU red tape, with all changes needing to be formally proposed and approved by the European Parliament and national governments.
The main thrust of the proposal by the Commission involves loosening advertising rules for traditional TV broadcasters, letting them foist more than the current advertising limit of 20% a day on hapless viewers.
The proposal will also see the end of enforced ‘ceilings’ on commercial breaks.
“These rules should be more flexible. It should be up to the programmer to decide when to interrupt a football match or a soap opera,” said Selmayr.
Currently, Internet and mobile phone broadcasters are compelled to respect diverging national rules, which could cover anything from security to anti-racist legislation. The new proposals would mean that they would only have to comply with their own country’s domestic broadcasting rules.
Europe is also looking to free up the highly lucrative wireless spectrum – currently worth something like €9 billion (~US$11bn ~£6bn) a year – and hopes that digital frequencies used by services such as mobile phone operators, police radar and radio will be brought under centralised EU control by the end of 2005.
“Such a policy is required if we want to make efficient and cross-border use of this very valuable economic resource,” insisted Information Society and Media Commissioner Viviane Reding said.
EU officials have stated that by centralising control of the use and trading of spectrum and frequencies, the trading of third-generation mobile licenses could be sped up.
Most national regulators have made 3G license trading verboten, with many telecoms companies being forced to take on an almighty pile of debt to buy the licenses.
The proposals were welcomed by ETNO, a lobby group for Europe’s telecommunications networks operators, while adding that “one of the main challenges of the initiative will be to develop a set of policies that continue to foster competition whilst at the same time creating incentives to innovate.”
European Commission
i2010 – A European Information Society for growth and employment
2 June, 2005
.xxx Porno Domain Approved
Saucy sensation seekers and sleazy surfers will be rewarded with their very own porn-friendly set of .xxx domains before the end of the year.
The Web’s virtual red-light district has been approved by ICANN, the non-profit organization responsible for Internet addresses.
ICANN has announced that it is working with the ICM Registry to finalise the new top-level domain details (other top-level domains awaiting a decision from ICANN are .asia, .mail, and .tel)
In an interview last year, Stuart Lawley, chairman of the ICM Registry, stated that .xxx domain names would cost around US$60 (~£32 ~€47.8) and have no restrictions on content, so long as sexually explicit material only featured adults.
“Apart from child pornography, which is completely illegal, we’re really not in the content-monitoring business,” he said.
It is hoped that pornsters will voluntarily shift from their current .com addresses, thus making it easier for parents to filter out adult material, but in an industry not exactly renowned for its high moral stance, we anticipate that not all will be wiling to switch from their lucrative, high profile domains.
Moreover, with the $60 price tag being around ten times higher than the cost of many dot-com names, we suspect that many porno kings will stick with the cheapest option. The wannabe-Bonking Baron’s that don’t currently have established sites with prize domain names are bound to pile into the .xxx domains – either to use them or with the hope of selling them on.
It’s common knowledge that the ‘right’ porn domain can bring a near guaranteed financial fortune. The long disputed sex.com domain is widely thought to have brought in up to $1m/month, simply from banner ads.
The ICM Registry plans to handle the technical aspects of running the master database of .xxx sex sites, with the non-profit International Foundation For Online Responsibility (IFFOR) charged with setting the rules for the .xxx domain.
The IFFOR will have a seven-person board of directors, featuring a selection of bizarre job titles such as “child advocacy advocate” and “free-expression aficionado” along with some big-hatted, cheroot smoking, pink Chevvy-driving dude from the adult entertainment industry.
Unlike the milk-snatcher Margaret Thatcher, the ICANN’s decision proves that they are definitely for turning – in November 2000, the ICANN staff rejected ICM Registry’s first application after objecting to domains such as .kids and .xxx.
An outrage of politicians were quick to deride the decision with the Republican Fred Upton demanding to know why ICANN didn’t approve the .xxx domain “as a means of protecting our kids from the awful, awful filth, which is sometimes widespread on the Internet”.
With a little less hand-wringing, Sen Joseph Lieberman complained to a federal commission that the domain would be an essential means to force adult Webmasters to “abide by the same standard as the proprietor of an X-rated movie theatre”.
The American Civil Liberties Union has expressed its concerns about .xxx domains, suggesting that some uptight nations may force sites dealing with sensitive topics such as gay rights, homosexuality or birth control into the easily blocked .xxx zone.
ICM Registry – Sponsored Voluntary Adult TLD Application
Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN)
International Foundation for Online Responsibility
2 June, 2005
Live 8 Event: AOL To Broadcast
AOL has announced it will broadcast the Live 8 concerts in London, Philadelphia, Paris, Rome and Berlin online for free.
As “Live 8’s exclusive online partner”, America Online will stream all of the Live 8 concerts online, with the shows being available for six weeks after the event, viewable in the US and on free AOL portals in England, France, and Germany. The videos will be free of cost with no AOL subscription necessary.
The global event, organised by Bob Geldof, is intended to highlight the problem of global poverty and features a veritable galaxy of veteran stars who have dusted off the cobwebs to take part.
The free London Hyde Park concert will include seasoned acts such as Sir Elton John, Madonna, Mariah Carey, Sir Paul McCartney, Sting, U2 and R.E.M, with Stevie Wonder, Bon Jovi, 50 Cent and P. Diddy scheduled to appear in the Philadelphia show.
With emotive violins reaching a tearful crescendo, America Online chairman and CEO Jon Miller splurted: “We have seen the Internet emerge as an incredibly powerful force for good in the world…with Live 8, we have the chance to help eradicate global poverty, not by raising money, but by linking people from around the globe, so that their collective voices can be heard loud and clear.”
“Nothing like this has ever been done on this scale before, and we are proud to be a part of it,” added Miller, before going off to shine his halo.
Organiser Bob Geldof explained the aim of the Live 8 concerts was to create attention and “political heat” to persuade G8 leaders to agree to cancel Africa’s unpayable debts, double aid for the continent and make trade fair.
Geldof boomed: “The G8 leaders have it within their power to alter history. They will only have the will to do so if millions of people show them that enough is enough.”
With demand expected to be off the scale, mobile operator O2 has been charged with providing the mechanism for distributing the 150,000 free tickets for the Live 8 Hyde Park show.
The tickets will be made available through via a Text lottery, to be announced at 8am on Monday 6 June via TV, radio and newspapers.
For those unable to get tickets, the show can be seen on giant BBC screens in the centre of major cities across the UK including Birmingham, Hull, Liverpool, Manchester, Plymouth, Portsmouth, Belfast, Leeds and Wrexham.
Live 8
Global Call to Action against Poverty
‘Live Aid’ Returns With Concerts Around the Globe
2 June, 2005