Content

Content in its shift to become digital

TAVI 20GB Portable Media Player, The ‘World’s Smallest PMP’ On Sale
It might look like a run-of-the-mill Gameboy Advance SP, but the TAVI Portable Media Player packs a much mightier multimedia punch, with the wee fella letting you watch movies, playback music, look at your photos, listen to FM radio, read eBooks and record your own voice.
Weighing just 8.9 ounces and measuring a pocket-pleasing 3.6″ x 3.2″ x 0.97″, the TAVI manages to pack a 320×240 pixel 16.7 million colour LCD display, USB 2.0 support and a hefty 20GB hard drive into its diminutive clamshell design
Video support comes in the shape of Divx 3.11/4/5, XviD, and MPEG1/2/4 format, playable up to 720×560 pixels at 30fps at an impressive 8Mbps bitrate, with JPEG and BMP photo formats supported.
Audio support is pretty generous too, with the unit offering MP3, WMA, OGG, AC3 and AAC playback.
There’s a pair of ‘virtual 3D surround stereo speakers’ built in, although the tiny size of the things suggest that bass is going to be very thin on the ground.
Battery life is claimed at a respectable 10 hours for audio and 5 hours for video playback – long enough for two ordinary movies or maybe half of an Eastern European arthouse film.
There’s also a built in FM radio and mic, line-in recording (audio only) and TXT reader support.
TAVI claims that the unit can be connected to a home theatre system and provide 1080i Hi-Def quality video output with digital 5.1 surround sound, “without the slightest compromise in clarity” – an impressive achievement indeed.
If you’re in the US, the TAVI 20 GB Portable Multimedia Center have just landed on WalMart’s expansive shelves with a retail price of $499.73 (~£280, ~€410), which seems something of a bargain – if the player delivers on its promises, of course.
SPECIFICATIONS
VIDEO
LCD Display: 3.5-inch TFT LCD, 320 X 240 pixels, 16.7 Million Colors
File Formats: up to 720×480 pixels, 30 f/s, 8Mbps Bitrate
Divx 3.11 / 4 / 5, XviD, MPEG1 (VCD), MPEG2 (DVD),MPEG4 (WMV and ASF: transcoding software)
Bookmark / Resume Function / Video Subtitles
AUDIO
File Formats: MP3, WMA, Ogg Vorbis, AC3, AAC
Audio Out: Stereo, Optical 5.1 Channel Surround Sound
VOICE RECODER
Recording (Direct Encoding: MP3 (via 64 / 128kbps Bitrate)
Recording Source: Voice (Built-in Mic.), FM Radio (Direct), Line-in (External Mic.)
FM RADIO
FM Frequency Range: 76Mhz-108Mhz (Global / International FM Ready)
PHOTOS & eBOOKS
File Formats: JPG, BMP, Text, etc
Preview / Slideshow / Image Rotation / Meta Info Display
ADDITIONAL FEATURES
Alarm Clock
Custom Background Image
Background Music: Play Music with Photos, eBooks and more
File Management: Move / Copy / Delete / Rename / Create files and folders
USB 2.0 high speed and USB 1.1 Host
3D SOUND
Built-in Stereo Speakers with Virtual 3D Sound
EQ: 27 Preset Modes (Including Virtual 3D Sound) Plus Custom Settings
External Video Output
PAL & NTSC
Composite Video / Component Video (480p, 720p, 1080i), S-Video /w cradle
Smart Power Technology
Smart Brightness: Automatic LCD brightness with a sensor
Sleep timer control, Automatic system off, Automatic LCD off,
Intelligent HDD sleep mode
POWER
Built-in Rechargeable Lithium Ion Battery
Playback Time:
– Music up to 10 hours ( LCD off, 128kbps mp3 Play, Earphone out)
– Video Up to 6 hours ( 320 X 240, 30frame)
Charge time:
– Quick: about 3.5 hours (charges up to 80% of battery capacity)
– Full: about 4.5 hours
Adapter:
– AC in: 100V to 240V
– DC out: 5V, 2A
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
Microsoft Windows XP / 2000 / ME / 98SE, Mac OS, Linux
TAVI
WalMart
16 January, 2006
Casio S600 Digital Camera Gets European Release
Casio have announced the European release of their super-slim 6 megapixel camera featuring an ‘Anti Shake’ DSP and MPEG-4 movie recording.
Thinner than a supermodel on a crash diet (just 16.1 mm thick), the S600 comes with a retracting 3x optical zoom, superfast shutter release (0.007 second) and high-speed picture playback of approx 0.1 seconds interval.
Casio is making a big noise about the EX-S600’s ability to reduce camera shake when recording quality MPEG-4 movies through its EXILIM engine’s Anti Shake DSP (digital signal processor).
As the name suggests, its not a proper mechanical anti-shake gizmo – instead, the camera employs high ISO1600 sensitivity plus a faster shutter speed to minimize image blur.
The camera can record MPEG-4, VGA (640×480 pixels) video at 30 frames/second, with a ‘normal’ mode, letting users capture up to one hour of movies on a 1GB SD memory card.
Point’n’shooters will like the “Quick Shutter” function which provides simple and easy high-speed focusing, with 34 different “BESTSHOT” settings taking care of scene settings.
An improved battery allows up to 300 shots per battery charge, with the 2.2 inch LCD being “twice as bright” as previous models.
For charging up the camera, transferring images or connecting to a TV, the EX-S600 is plonked on its supplied multi cradle.
The cameras are available in a range of colours which the designers insist should be known as “Sparkle Silver”, “Mistral Blue” and “Latin Orange.”
It’s taken some considerable time for the Casio S600 to reach Europe – it’s been available in Japan since October 2005 – but you should be able to pick it on the High Street for around £230 (~€335, ~$406).
Casio
16 January, 2006
Web 2.0 Gains Its First Corporate Defector
The buzz about the rebirth of the Internet has been getting louder for at least the last nine months as the label Web 2.0 was attached to the new generation of applications.
As we’ve said previously, our view is that Web 2.0 (for want of a better moniker) and in particular AJAX is the point where Microsoft started to lose their control of applications. With Web applications able to update information without needing to reload the page, using them becomes a consistent, uninterrupted experience – one of the few advantages desktop applications had left.
Now it appears that the pull of this new generation of change is so strong that it’s starting to dislodge people from what must be very comfortable, well paid positions in large corporate companies – a trend we’re all familiar with from the Web 1.0 days.
Om Malik has the scoop on Toni Schneider, senior exec at Yahoo’s Developer Network, leaving the Internet giant to move to start-up Automatitic (read Toni’s thoughts on this).
This isn’t as foolhardy as it might first appear. Toni’s also joining a VC firm, True Venture Partners and has a few quid in the bank following the purchase of his last company, OddPost, buy Yahoo for close to $29m.
More importantly Automattic is headed by Matt Mullenweg of WordPress fame and we think, is a company destined for big things.
WordPress, if you haven’t heard of it before (and you should have done), is a fully-featured blogging application that is being taken up in large numbers. It provides the same functionality of most pay-for blogging tools, but for zero cost. This has lead to it being used by both large-scale companies and community sites like the wonderful VentnorBlog (Disclosure: My wife Sal does most of the writing on this – but it is truly wonderful).
It’s based on the Open-source software principles that are integral to true Web 2.0 apps – by giving away the application and providing tools for interested developers, a large community has grown up providing plug-ins that extend WordPress in many different directions. This benefits the users as well as the people behind WordPress – see how giving things away is a good thing?
Automattic now has five people onboard and we suspect will become one of the significant companies of Web 2.0.
It’s interesting to note that Ping-O-matic, the now-defacto ping distribution service used by nearly all blogs, is not part of Automattic. We think that Matt knows quite how valuable this little baby is, especially after seeing how much previously popular ping service Weblogs.com was bought for by Verisign.
Expect nervousness in the upper echelons of established Internet companies as the more adventurous execs re-consider the excitement of being in startups.
Om Malik scoops Toni Schneider’s move from Yahoo
Automattic
WordPress
13 January, 2006
Toledo Temp Typed Tirelessly, Tracking 19,200 Times
Some people get rather too carried away with online communities, and we’re safe in saying that Scott Leo of the City of Toledo in Ohio, USA.
Not unusually in the online world, Mr Leo took a female form online, under the pseudonym of “Sassy Sarah”. He extended this to include a photo of an alluring blond, and posted as if he were a female.
He was no slouch, ending up with 6,622 postings since August, averaging at 45/day.
His down fall came when a ‘concerned citizen’, Mike Brubaker, a resident of Tennessee raised the issue on 27 December, after getting concern that they Cities money wasn’t being spent wisely.
“My son comes to me and says, ‘This person works for the city of Toledo,’” said Mr. Brubaker. “He said, ‘Are you allowed to look at sports Web sites while you’re at work?’ “
After investigations, it was found that slightly rabid poster has accessed the site 19,200 times between Aug. 18 and Nov. 2 by computers near Mr. Leo’s, all using his password.
Robert Williams, director of the Department of Public Utilities, has responded by saying that he planned to introduce controls of Internet access when sites “receive an inordinate number of hits.”
This kind of behavior isn’t unique online. To get the lowdown, we spoke to Digital-Lifestyles’ Mike Slocombe, who has a parallel life as head honcho and founder of UK discussion board Urban75. It’s a seriously busy board with nearly 2.5 million postings and over 26,000 members.
Mike said it’s not unusual for some of his more keen members to post over 45 messages a day, with the highest being 80/day. Not surprisingly a number of the members have received warnings from their work places, some receiving official warnings.
Torledoblade – ‘Sassy Sarah’ posted on Web 6,622 times
Urban75
13 January, 2006
Apple.com Homepages Collected On Flickr
Friday afternoon distractions.
Kernel Panic has created a photoset on flickr collecting together many of the Apple.com home pages over the years. There’s quite a collection, running at 155 so far.
Clearly with that number it’s not fully comprehensive, so they’re calling for other contribution. If you’ve got any knocking around in your digital attics, best add them in and spread the love.
Assorted gems include just before the bringing together of Next and Apple (1996); just after bringing together of Next and Apple (1996); French launch of Power Mac G3 (1999) ;launch of Airport (2000);death of George Harrison (2001);Mac OSX (2001) and iMac (2004) … you get the idea. Go on, head off there and have a dig around.
Apple.com home pages over the years
13 January, 2006
Hubble Image ‘Largest Ever’
A huge photograph of the Orion Nebula taken by the Hubble Space Telescope has been released on the Internet. It is thought to be one of the largest images every produced.
How big’s that then? 18,000 x 18,000 pixels!
Download are available in a number of sizes and resolutions. The smallest is a 6,000 x 6,000 px JPEG weighty in at a mere 2.6Mb, which is also available as a TIFF, taking it to 49.12Mb.
The 18k x 18k monsters is 23.67Mb as a JPEG and a ISP-crashing 385.09Mb TIFF. We’ve yet to get the whole image down, but we’ve been told that the image is 927Mb when decompressed – not too bad when you think you’re getting 256 million pixels.
The guidance on the download page, wisely suggest download the file rather than trying to view it in your Browser.
For those who don’t fancy downloading that, or for those on dial-up, NASA also provide a Flash-fronted version you can look at using your browser.
Around two years ago the previous version of this image was also distributed online, but that was a ‘mere’ 6,200 x 6,200, at that time, also claimed at the ‘largest image ever’.
Many have commented that trying to download the image has been a direct route to frustration, as space fans pile into grabbing it.
The Hubble Space Telescope is a project of international cooperation between NASA and the European Space Agency, not just NASA as many publication are reporting. Looks like NASA’s may be getting stuck with the bandwidth bill though.
Flash version
Image download page
12 January, 2006
Nikon Stops Analog Camera Production
Yesterday afternoon, without much fuss, and with zero trumpets playing, Nikon UK announced that they are to stop production of nearly all of their analog cameras. Err … what did you say?
Nikon, the company that was founded in 1917, started making camera in 1948, whose name is synonymous with analog photography, is halting production of analog cameras and all of their lenses for large format cameras, bar two camera bodies.
They’re reporting that over 95% of their business in the UK is digital, so we assume it’s not economic for them to continue to produce the analog versions as well as digital.
Once the current stock runs out, that will be it. Nikon are thinking they should start to run out in Summer 2006.
In their words …
… Nikon will discontinue production of all lenses for large format cameras and enlarging lenses with sales of these products ceasing as soon as they run out of stock. This also applies to most of our film camera bodies, interchangeable manual focus lenses and related accessories. Although Nikon anticipates that the products will still be in retail distribution up to Summer 2006
There are two analog models that that they will continue with, the F6, “in recognition of Nikon’s commitment to professional photographers,” and the manual FM10, outside Europe.
As yet, we don’t know the extent of Nikons intentions with this, is it just the UK; Europe; or the whole world. We pursued the UK press office today to get clarification and further details on what we view a pretty major news. To our genuine surprise we heard that they “all out at a meeting” and are unreachable. Pretty amazing on the day after they announce one of their biggest ever news stories, don’t you think.
Ask most people and they’d have predicted this news, but knowing it was going to happen and it actually happening are two different things. We see this as one of the markers in the timeline of analog->digital history.
Nikon UK press release – Nikon prepares to strengthen digital line-up for 2006
12 January, 2006
Traffic Vizzion Streams Traffic Cameras To Smartphones
US firm Vizzion have announced the introduction of their innovative traffic-watching system “Traffic Vizzion” to eleven areas in the UK.
The system streams roadside and traffic camera videos to smartphones, letting drivers check the route ahead for congestion or other problems.
Users can browse cameras by region, and those with a Bluetooth enabled cell phone and GPS can use the “Watch Road Ahead” feature in Traffic Vizzion to monitor cameras directly ahead.
The display continuously updates to show the next camera up ahead, with no button presses or scrolling required.
GPS users can also call up a “Find Nearby Cameras” function to list cameras close to their current location, and then select and view any camera from the list in the hope of finding the best way out of a jam.
Insisting that Vizzion is in fact pronounced ‘vision’, the company’s cheap’n’cheerful Website lists the 11 locations across the UK where the system will initially be available:
Berkshire: Reading area
Glamorgan: Cardiff, Swansea areas
Greater London: 9 London areas
Hampshire: Southampton, Winchester areas
Lanarkshire: Glasgow area
Midlothian: Edinburgh area
Monmouthshire: Newport area
Nottinghamshire: Nottingham area
South Yorkshire: Sheffield area
Traffic Vizzion runs on Windows Mobile 2003 for Smartphones, and relies on a working Internet connection (e.g. GPRS), with a Bluetooth GPS device required for the added features.
There’s a free two week trial available from their website, with the regular subscription costing $5 (£3) per month, billable to MasterCard or Visa.
Naturally, you’d also have to add on any data transfer fees from your network provider.
Traffic Vizzion
11 January, 2006
Podcasting Studio Built Into New GarageBand
As expected, there’s lots of interesting things being revealed at Steve Jobs keynote at MacExpo, and in parallel at the BBC, where Steve Kennedy is embedded for us.
Among the things that grabbed us is big news for Podcasters. Apple are expanding GarageBand to include a podcast authoring studio.
Included are 200 royalty-free sound effects and 100 jingles. While other audio such as music is playing, the volume will automatically reduce once the host speaks.
Apple are also including a speech enhancer, which, without extra detail, I’d imagine is an audio compressor.
This kind of move by Apple will have a serious impact on companies offering podcasting software like Odeo.
Another great addition, which may hit Skype slightly, is the ability to carry out remote interviews using iChat.
More details soon. We’d imagine, once Steve gets off the stage on the Apple aite.
Apple GarageBand
10 January, 2006
Yahoo! Launches Go Services
Yahoo is launching a new service aimed at making it easier for users to connect to Yahoo Internet-based services through multiple Web-connected devices, including mobiles and TVs.
Announced by Yahoo chief executive Terry Semel at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, the new Yahoo Go service consists of the Yahoo Go Desktop, Yahoo Go Mobile and Yahoo Go TV interfaces,
Each of the interfaces is optimised for the screen of the specific device, with Yahoo Go automatically serving up the appropriate interface.
So long as the device is connected to the Internet, users will be able to access their personal Yahoo content such as photos, email and address books.
Stating the flaming obvious, Semel commented: “We think the Internet is not a Web page or desktop, [but] an infrastructure and delivery vehicle for communication, experiences, entertainment and any kind of data you use on the Internet.”
“The next generation is about ease of use and open platforms that connect the Internet to any device that you all will be manufacturing. Yahoo is in the perfect position to be a great partner to all of you who are working on devices in the future,” he added.
Yahoo! will be rolling out their Go TV service in the next few months, with the service enabling users to access various other Web based services for TVs, including local movie listing search and personalised MyYahoo! functions.
If you’re a heavy Yahoo! user, we can see the attraction of the new Go services, with the universal internet database ensuring that personal info is synchronised across all your devices.
Even better, the remote storage concept means that your data will be safe if a device is misplaced or stolen.
Yahoo! Go.
10 January, 2006