Mike Slocombe

Microsoft Vista Reaches Final Beta
It’s been a long, long wait, but it looks like the release of Microsoft’s new operating system, Windows Vista, is finally set to happen soon.
The company has just released Release Candidate 2 (RC2) – or build number 5744 if you’re counting – and the Redwood boys are sounding chirpy that this will be the last beta version of Windows Vista before the product is unleashed for manufacturing.
The previous test release of Vista, RC1 was tested by no less than three million users, with the company claiming that it received “excellent feedback.”
With Microsoft now saying that just has to add the finishing touches to the overall quality and performance of the eagerly awaited operating system, the company looks set to meet it targets.
Vista has a scheduled roll out date for business customers next month, with consumers getting to play with the new desktop in January 2007.
Microsoft has already missed several release deadlines, although leading financial analysts like Rick Sherlund of the Goldman Sachs Group reckon that things are looking good for an on-time release:
“We had been sceptical of the launch schedule after Beta 2 shipped with problems in May, but the team seems to be making great progress in addressing issues of performance, reliability and compatibility,” he wrote in a research note.
Sherlund also noted that he expects Microsoft to start dishing out Vista discount coupons to customers who buy new PCs capable of running the OS in the run-up to the release.
Already, fanboy Websites are buzzing with screen shots of the shiny, sleek new OS and we have to say the new desktop looks mighty purdy to our eyes…
You can check to see if your system wil be able to handle all the whizz bang glitz here: windowsvista.com/getready
9 October, 2006
Samsung X838 Ultra Compact Phone/MP3 Player
Looking like lovechild of a bedtime romp between an iPod and a mobile phone, Samsung’s X838 phone has real “gimme!” appeal.
Folded up, it looks like a conventional compact MP3 player, complete with a 128 x 220 pixels 26k colour screen and a control scroll wheel clearly ‘inspired’ by Messrs I and Pod.
Turning the device into a phone is simply a case of swivelling the pull out screen through 180 degrees to reveal the phone keys lurking below.
Because of the narrow, slimline construction, the number keys are unusually arranged in rows of two, with the usual ‘call’ and ‘end call’ buttons at the top.
We’re not sure if closing the screen ends the call or if the thing is spring loaded, but either way the phone looks great to us.
Unlike many botched attempts at converging mobiles with music players, this one manages a pretty good likeness to a ‘proper’ MP3 player, with the colourful display offering track information and album art.
There’s also an easily accessible ‘hold’ button so you don’t end up ringing your Mum when you’re rocking out to Pantera, as well as a volume up/down control on the side of the unit.
Inside, there’s 1GB of internal memory for storing tunes as well as a 1.3Mpix onboard camera and a sneaking suspicion that it also plays videos.
We couldn’t see any sign of an expansion slot, which is a bit of a shame, nor any reference to battery life (with something as small as this, we’re figuring it’s not going to be that long).
Also bundled in with the Bluetooth-enabled X838 is an alarm clock, recording functionality and a Java game.
We spent some time trying to translate the text from the Phone Daily website, and we think that the phone will be available in black, white, orange, and, err, powder.
Whatever colours the thing comes in, it looks like a great phone to us: ultra-small, compact, cool and with a fun interface, which only leaves one question. When can we have one please?
[From Akihabara News]
9 October, 2006
Wales First For BT’s 21CN Next-Gen Network Rollout: Details Emerge
BT has released detailed plans for the rollout of its next generation 21CN network.
The technology will form the basis of BTs voice and data services for the near future, with the first area to be linked into the network being Cardiff.
And what finer city could they possibly start with?!
Between November 2006 and Summer 2007, 350,000 customers in the lovely, lovely Principality will be hooked up to the new network, with a rolling program scheduled to connect the rest of the country starting in 2008.
BT says that nationwide coverage should “substantially complete” by the end of the decade.
The 21CN network project sees BT shifting all voice and data services onto a single IP network that will carry fixed, mobile, voice, data, and video on-demand at speeds of up to 24 Mbps.
“Rebuilding the core telecommunications infrastructure of the UK is a massive undertaking,” said Deb Covey, managing director of BT Wholesale networks.
“Planning the rollout programme has been a complex task with industry consulted at every stage. Work is now well underway to create the new backbone for 21CN – this has to be in place across large parts of the UK before the first customer lines are switched across,” she added.
Huw Saunders, of Kingston Communications, speaking as Industry co-chair of the Consult21 Steering Board, commented: “As an industry, we’ve participated in the development and design of BT’s programme to ensure that it takes into account the needs of everyone, regardless of which communications provider they choose to take services from.”
“What happens in Cardiff in a few short months is only the beginning of the journey,” he observed.
We only hope he wasn’t referring to Saturday night punch-ups on St Mary’s Street.
What is 21CN?
Here’s how BT describes the new technology:
“21CN is BT’s next generation network which it is building in the UK and throughout the markets we serve. It is an advanced broadband network based on intelligent systems, Internet Protocol (IP), Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) and Multi-Protocol Label Switching (MPLS). IP is key to 21CN because it has the potential to act as a common transport protocol for all types of communication and applications; SIP allows the service provider to control the communications activity to meet a customer’s requirements and MPLS enables the efficient designation and routing of IP traffic flows.”
BT 21CN
9 October, 2006
Scrabble for Palm/Pocket PC by Handmark: Review (90%)
Currently sending our productivity levels downwards at a worrying rate is the hideously addictive Scrabble for the Palm OS by Handmark.
Looking – and playing – just like the classic board game, the program offers the familiar Scrabble board layout, with drag and drop tiles which are stored at the bottom of the screen.
Just like in the real world, you can shuffle the order of these around so you can plan and prepare killer words, but -sadly – you won’t be able to ‘find’ blank squares under your foot.
The game offers two player modes: Friendly or Tournament.
Friendly mode is like playing against drunken mates where you can try and insist that ‘Zyptq’ is actually a real world, and force the program to accept words that aren’t in the included Official Scrabble Player’s Dictionary.
There’s also a “Suggest Move” option for those times when you can’t think of any words bigger than, err…um….”to.”
In the Tournament mode you play by the standard Scrabble rules, with challenges being automatically checked by the built-in Dictionary.
The game offers four levels of automated computer opponent: Beginner, Novice, Intermediate, or Expert.
We arrogantly waded in at Expert level, and after being totally humbled repeatedly by an onslaught of obscure words we still don’t believe exist, we slunk down to Novice level where we still only managed to win about half of the games at first.
If you get bored having your sorry ass whipped by the computer, you can also take on real life chums, either by passing the Palm PDA around (the game will hide your tile rack from opponents) or via IR beaming and Bluetooth.
Conclusion
Although this game has been around for a very long time on the Palm OS, it’s still a hugely playable classic and easily holds its own against modern games.
The interface is attractive, simple and easy to use, with the computer opponent tough enough to keep you coming back for endless humiliations.
Even in expert mode, the computer was able to come up with challenge-destroying words almost instantaneously, so the only thing slowing the game down was our own ineptitude.
Since we installed the game on our Palm Treo 650 (it works fine straight off the card, by the way), we’ve been more or less addicted to Scrabble, having quick games whenever we find ourselves in a Post Office queue, waiting for friends or, err, going to the smallest room.
The game is also available on the Pocket PC and although both versions are a tad pricey at $19.95, we reckon they’re worth every penny.
Features: 85%
Gameplay: 90%
Ease of use: 85%
Value For Money: 80%
Overall: 90%
Handmark Scrabble for Palm OS
Handmark Scrabble for PocketPC
5 October, 2006
TalkTalk Admits To Free Broadband Cock Up
With its bottom spanked raw by a damning expose on the BBC’s Watchdog programme, beleaguered TalkTalk boss Charles Dunstone has admitted that they screwed up the launch of their free broadband service.
As we reported in June this year, the company – owned by the Carphone Warehouse – was experiencing problems keeping up with demand for their ‘free’ broadband offer which gave punters unlimited landline telephone calls and broadband access for £20 per month (plus a one-off £29.99 connection fee.)
After the launch of the service in April, more than half a million people signed up, but thousands failed to get connected and were forced to endure interminably lengthy waits on pay-per-minute helplines.
Speaking to the BBC’s Watchdog programme, Dunstone admitted the company bungled the launch, saying that the company had been overwhelmed by the number of people signing up, with their call centre staff unable to deal with customer demand.
“I got it wrong. I didn’t realise that free broadband was going to have the effect on people it has,” he whimpered.
Charles feels your pain
Clearly displaying a penchant for understatement, Dunstone commented in his blog: “We have had our fair share of negative publicity of late, and I more than anyone know how frustrating it has been trying to get through to us if you had a problem.”
We somehow doubt that he knows how frustrated Vie Marshall, from London was with his company.
The Watchdog site reports that after signing up in May 2006, Talk Talk completely failed to connect her to the Internet, even managing to lose her details three times.
She soon learnt all about how useless their call centre was too, on one occasion spending 56 minutes 40 seconds waiting on the line.
Donald Beal, was so fed up with TalkTalk’s crap customer service that he cancelled his contract after seven weeks, only to find that the company continued to bill him for a further two months – even though they’d already acknowledged his cancellation request.
They then went on to ignore his letters, emails and phone calls before referring his account to debt collectors.
TalkTalk broadband is, err, a “beautiful child”
After admitting that it had been a “bruising experience for everyone at Carphone Warehouse”, the relentlessly upbeat Dunstone chirped on, “as things start to improve, I hope people will appreciate that what we did was for the best for all consumers, and whilst giving birth to free broadband was painful, it is now turning out to be a beautiful child.”
He added that the company has now hired more staff and that by Christmas, anyone calling a TalkTalk call centre will get to speak to a living, breathing human, not a robotic automaton. Too kind, Charles!
Even with the extra call staff, TalkTalk has said that it can still take anything up to a month for the broadband connection to be turned on after the telephone ‘go-live’ date.
TalkTalk (don’t all rush now!) Dunstone’s blog
4 October, 2006
Brits Spend An Average £5,000 On Gadgets Yearly
A survey released by Best of Stuff suggests that nearly a third of Brits own up to 15 gadgets.
The survey revealed that 30 per cent of those interviewed were the proud owners of 15 gadgets or more, with 60 per cent spending a hefty £5000 on gadgets every year.
Not surprisingly, mobile phones topped the charts as the ‘most treasured gadget’, with 34 per cent of respondents insisting that they simply could not live without one.
The trusty ol’ gogglebox came in a close second with 27 per cent of the vote, and 46 per cent of those surveyed reckoned that the fabbest new innovation in the market is HDTV.
Brits were found to be most excited about Sony’s forthcoming PlayStation 3, with 44 per cent getting moist at the thought of its launch next March, while Nintendo’s Wii was dampening gussets to the tune of 24 per cent of the vote.
But it’s not all love-love-love in the world of gizmos, with 40 per cent of respondents declaring themselves disappointed with their gadget’s battery life, pointing the finger of blame at MP3 players, laptops and mobile phones as the worst offenders.
Best Of Stuff
4 October, 2006
D-Link Announces Unlocked V-CLICK Dual-Mode GSM/Wi-Fi Mobile
Router heavyweights D-Link have announced a new line of “V-CLICK” dual-mode phones that allow users to easily switch between cellular and Wi-Fi networks.
Due to start shipping early next year, the new D-Link V-CLICK phones rack up the connectivity options with tri-band GSM (900/1800/1900 Mhz) and switchable 802.11 Wi-Fi (2.4Ghz) capabilities.
Once the user’s SIM Smartcard is slapped into the V-CLICK phone, GSM access is provided with stored phone numbers and address books automatically imported into the phone.
The phone’s quite an attractive looking affair, resplendent in an all-black, compact-but-chunky shape (h 4.17″, w 1.73″, d .75″), with D-Link offering additional colours planned to fit any lifestyle (we’re not sure how a phone’s colour fits in with someone’s lifestyle, by the way, but there you go.)
Wi-Fi access is turned on and off with a bash on the phone’s V-CLICK button, with Opera Mobile browser support for surfing Websites and checking mail on the phone’s two-inch (176×220 pixels) screen.
D-Link doesn’t say if the phone will work with existing VoIP providers like Skype – their press statement simply says that users will be able to configure a specific SIP profile, with multiple profiles being available “to make usage between home and office automatic.”
“D-Link’s involvement in dual-mode technology is the next step to evolving wireless phone communication,” purred Steven Joe, president and CEO of D-Link Systems, Inc. “Similar to our popular flip-style Wi-Fi phone, the V-CLICK phones are open and unlocked.
“The market for dual-mode phones looks very promising, and the more than 10 years we’ve had in researching and developing 802.11 wireless and VoIP technologies make this a natural extension of our product offerings,” he added.
D-Link quote a phone battery life of around 5 hours of talk time with GSM, slipping down to just 2 hours over Wi-Fi. Users can turn off the Wi-Fi to save juice
The phone should be knocking out around a very pricey $599.99 (£318,€472) and will be available from the D-Link shop some time in the first quarter of 2007.
4 October, 2006
Sony NWS706 Walkman 4GB MP3 Player
Just spotted on the play.com site is Sony’s new NWS706 Walkman MP3 Player, kitted out with a healthy 4GB of flash memory.
Specifications are a bit vague at the moment, but the site gives out a few tantalising details of the mini-player.
Described by some wags as ‘tampon-shaped,’ the chunky-looking, cylindrical Sony offers the same rotary playback control as seen on the earlier NW-A600 series.
Notably, it’s also got a colour screen, albeit a teensy weensy, itty-bitty one which has to be one of the smallest we’ve ever seen that’s capable of showing album artwork (but we like seeing album art, even when it’s this small!).
The Sony comes in a range of three colours – pink, purple and black – and also sports a built in FM Tuner and a line-in recorder.
We’re not sure right now if the NWS706 can also record off the radio, but surely Sony wouldn’t be so daft as to leave off that useful feature. Would they?.
The Walkman is billed as shipping with “noise cancelling technology,” courtesy of “high value EX headphones” with the player promising a healthy 50 Hours battery life backed up by a quick charge function.
The player also touts a USB 2.0 interface for the nippy transfer of tunes from the user’s PC.
Play.com is currently advertising the NWS706 Walkman MP3 for £180, with delivery promised on the 9th October
3 October, 2006
Stolen Mobiles Get The Screaming Abdabs
Pesky phone thieves may get more than they bargained for if a new anti-theft system proves a hit with punters.
The Remote XT system renders stolen phones useless by emitting a screeching, high pitched electronic scream and disabling the phone.
Launched in Britain today, the system is aimed at smartphone-toting business users who may need to carry around confidential information on their handsets.
The Remote XT software is loaded on to the smartphone, with the system storing personal info like phone numbers, text messages and e-mails on a secure remote server – so even if a phone is nicked, the user can get their data back later.
As soon as the owner realises that some light fingered Fagin has just picked their pocket, they can dial a 24-hour call centre, have it registered as stolen and let the screaming begin.
Panicking thieves can, of course, take out the battery to silence the racket, but as soon as they try to use it again, the noise starts up.
Moreover, the Remote XT software disables the handset itself, so even if a resourceful tea leaf removes the internal SIM card and tries fitting another, the phone’s still a dead duck. And a noisy one at that.
Mark Whiteman, managing director of Remote XT, said: “Theft-proof phones spell disaster for the huge criminal industry that has profited from mobile theft for too long”
“By making mobiles unusable to anyone but the rightful owner, the phones become worthless and we’ll see the market for stolen handsets stamped out once and for all,” he added.
We’d love to agree with the fella, but with the service costing upwards of £9.99 a month, we suspect that many will find it too pricey.
The idea of ‘screaming’ phones isn’t new either, with another UK firm, Synchronica, recently announcing their own version supporting Windows Mobile 2003, Pocket PC Phone Edition, and Windows Mobile 5.
However, Remoter XT claim that their software will work on most phones and not just Windows based handsets.
Meanwhile, Palm Treo users concerned about keeping their data safe can use software like Butler and Warden to remotely lock and or delete the contents of their phone and memory card (although they’ll have to do the screaming themselves).
2 October, 2006
Tesco Launches Range Of Cheapo Own-Brand Software
The all-conquering uber-supermarket chain Tesco has announced plans to take on Microsoft with the launch of its own-brand software.
The company, started by East End market boy Jack Cohen in 1919, is aiming to offer a range of cut-price software titles which directly competes with Microsoft products.
The titles – all retailing for less than twenty quid – will include an office suite, a personal finance program, two security/anti-virus products, CD/DVD burners and a photo editing product.
The announcement follows Tesco’s decision to sell computer hardware earlier this year, and the company’s own-branded software will start appearing in more than 100 of their stores from this month, with full UK coverage expected over the coming year.
Happy shoppers getting confused between opening a program and opening a can of beans can access a support website, TescoSoftware.com, which will also offer the software for sale.
Tesco buyer Daniel Cook said: “With more people working from home, and schools encouraging greater use of IT, the demand for home computing equipment is bigger than ever.”
“When it comes to software, there is little choice and prices are high. Our new range of software changes this, bringing choice and value to a market that has offered little of either,” he added.
The software comes from a Cambridge company called Formjet, with the range being centred around their well-regarded Ability Office suite.
Of course, many home users will already have equivalent Microsoft products, like Word, installed on their computers, so we suspect that Tesco is looking to score a hit with its Internet security products.
Meanwhile, the company is expected to announce tomorrow that it has raked in half-yearly profits totalling more than £1 billion for the first time.
Fact! Tesco’s name comes from the first two letters of the founder’s surname (CO) and the initials of a business colleague (TES).
TescoSoftware
2 October, 2006