Digital-Lifestyles – Page 163 – Digital-Lifestyles pre-empted and reported thousands of articles on the then-coming impact that technology was to have on all forms of Media. Launched in 2001 as a research blog to aid its founder, Simon Perry, present at IBC 2002, it grew into a wide ranging, multi-author publication that was quoted in many publications globally including the BBC, was described by the Guardian as 'Informative' and also cited in a myriad of tech publications before closing in 2009

Digital-Lifestyles pre-empted and reported thousands of articles on the then-coming impact that technology was to have on all forms of Media. Launched in 2001 as a research blog to aid its founder, Simon Perry, present at IBC 2002, it grew into a wide ranging, multi-author publication that was quoted in many publications globally including the BBC, was described by the Guardian as 'Informative' and also cited in a myriad of tech publications before closing in 2009

Sony Goes Wireless With Cyber-shot DSC-G1 Camera
Digital camera heavyweights Sony have rolled out their first wireless Cyber-Shot digital camera, the 6-megapixel Cyber-shot DSC-G1.
The G1 is Sony’s first wireless digicam able to send photos to other Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA)-enabled devices (like other cameras and PCs) and Phil Lubell, director of marketing for digital cameras at Sony Electronics was ready to big up the technology: “This is a step towards realizing a platform for networked photo communication.”
“We will continue to explore the possibilities for networked digital imaging as broadband Internet becomes more pervasive in American homes,” he added.
The groundbreaking camera comes with a positively ginormous, 3.5-inch, 921k pixel screen, a whopping 2GB of internal storage, optical stabilisation and wireless connectivity.
The metal bodied Cyber-shot model sports an eye catching design, with a Carl Zeiss 3x optical zoom lens (38-114mm, 35mm equiv) lurking behind a horizontally sliding cover.
Socialites keen to grab that decisive party moment will like Sony’s claim that the camera can be ready to shoot in less than a second, with the built in Super Steady Shot optical image stabilisation keeping the cocktail shakes at bay.
In line with its party animal aspirations, the G1 has high light sensitivity – up to ISO 1000 – for grabbing natural, low light shots.
Hefty Storage
When it comes to internal storage, Sony have been very generous and strapped in a mighty 2GB of internal memory, good enough to store a holiday’s worth of pics (that’s 7,500 VGA-quality photos or 600 6-megapixel pictures).
There’s also a memory slot onboard for storing yet more photos, but Sony are sticking with their less widespread Memory Stick Duo/Memory Stick PRO Duo format, which can now store up to eight gigabytes.
Sony have also added an “auto image management system” which lets snappers organize their photos by events, keywords and labels and – remarkably – lets user select someone’s face and search for other photos with the same face, same colour, or a similar composition.
The DSC-G1 digital camera will be slipping on to the shelves in April, priced at around $600.

Sony DSC-G1 specifications
Sensor 1/2.5″ Type CCD, 6.0 million effective pixels
Image sizes 2816 x 2112, 2048 x 1536, 1632 x 1224, 640 x 480, 2816 x 1872 (3:2), 1920 x 1080 (16:9)
Movie clips 640 x 480 @30fps, 320 x 240 @ 30fps
File formats JPEG, DPOF, MS Video LV4
Lens Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar, 3x optical zoom, 38-114mm (35mm equiv), F3.5-4.3
Image stabilisation SuperSteadyShot
Focus AF area modes 9-point
AF assist lamp Yes
Focus distance AF: 50cm
Macro: 8cm (wide) 25cm (tele)
Metering Multi-pattern, Center-weighted, Spot
ISO sensitivity ISO 80 – ISO 1000
Exposure compensation +/-2EV in 1/3EV increments
Exposure bracketing 3 frames @ +/-0.3 / 0.7 / 1.0EV
Shutter speed Auto: 1/4-1/1000, P: 1-inch-1/1000
Slow shutter: 1/6sec or slower
Aperture F3.5-5.6 (wide) F4.3-7.1 (tele)
Modes Auto, Program Auto, Scene
Scene modes Twilight, Twilight Portrait, Landscape, Beach, Snow, Fireworks, High Speed, Shutter, High Sensitivity, Soft Snap, Handheld Twilight
White balance Image Sensor – Auto, Daylight, Cloudy, Fluorescent, Incandescent, Flash
Self timer 2 or 10 sec
Continuous shooting max 7 shots @ 3.3fps
Flash Auto, On, Slow Synch, Off, Red-eye reduction, Auto Daylight Synch
Range: 0.1-2.8m (wide) 0.25-2.2m (tele)
Viewfinder No
LCD monitor 3.5-inch, 921,000 pixels
Connectivity Cradle, USB 2.0, AV out, DC in, WiFi (b/g)
Storage Memory Stick / Pro Duo, 1.86GB internal memory
Power Rechargeable Lithium-ion battery NP-FR1
Weight (no batt) 204 g (7.2 oz)
Dimensions 93.3 x 71.7 x 25.3 mm (3 11/16 x 2 13/16 x 1 in)
Sony
9 March, 2007
Sigma Announce DP1 Compact Camera With APS Size Sensor
Sigma have announced the full details of their new DP1 camera, a high end point’n’shoot digital camera packing a hefty 14 megapixels resolution with a full size image sensor.
To say it’s been inspired by the Ricoh GR would be something of an understatement – with its plain black body, fixed 28mm lens, hotshoe and attachable viewfinder, this thing’s more of a ruddy homage.
What it lacks in originality it more than makes up in specs, sporting a Foveon chip image sensor “approximately 12 times larger” than what you’ll find lurking in your average point and shoot camera.
A bigger sensor should lead to a much cleaner image, with less noise and significantly better low light performance, but we expect this innovation to come at a thumping big price (as yet unannounced).
The camera shares the same design lines of the Ricoh, but that large sensor means that it’s substantially bulkier and more box-life, so street photographers will have to decide whether the extra resolution is worth lugging around a bigger camera.
Camera controls
The front of the camera is pleasingly simple, with the top plate carrying on/off, shutter and mode dial controls, with a jogwheel control below for manually focussing (a nice touch)
The back of the camera sports 2.5″ LCD with the usual controls, curiously finished in a rather garish and cheap looking silver finish (Street shooters usually like their cameras to be as plain as possible – legendary snapper Cartier Bresson famously stuck black tape all over his expensive chrome Leica to make it less conspicuous).
Traditionally, RAW write speeds on digital compacts fall into the so-slow-it’s hardly-worth-the-effort category, but Sigma are claiming that full resolution RAW files will be “recorded so swiftly that the DP1 won’t ever feel slow. It’s just like using a DSLR.”
The 28mm fixed lens is disappointingly slow at just f4, but this may be compensated by improved high ISO performance.
We have to say that we’re intrigued by this camera, even if it’s only really playing catch up with the Ricoh GR when it comes to the feature set.
Many of the improvements that GR users have been looking for – image stabilisation, optical zoom and a built in viewfinder – are all noticeably absent from the Sigma, and the camera’s macro can only focus down to just 30cm compared to the GR’s incredible 1cm.
However, with the SD1 offering dSLR performance in a (large) pocketable design, this could be the perfect carry-everywhere second camera for pro users.
More info: sigma-photo.co.jp
Dedicated website: http://sigma-dp1.com/
Specifications
Image Sensor FOVEON X3 (CMOS)
Image Sensor Size 20.7×13.8mm
Number of Pixels Effective Pixels approx. 14.06MP (2652x1768x3 layers)
Aspect Ratio 3 : 2
Lens 16.6mm F4(35mm equivalent focal length:28mm)
Lens Construction 5 Groups, 6 Elements
Shooting Range 30cm – infinity
Storage Media SD Card /SDHC compatible
Recording Format Exif 2.21, DCF 2.0, DPOF
Recording Mode Lossless compression RAW data (12-bit), JPEG (High, Medium Low), Movie, Voice memo to still images, Voice recording
White Balance 8 types (Auto, Sunlight, Shade, Overcast, Incandescent, Fluorescent, Flash, Custom)
Auto Focus Contrast Detection Type
AF Point 9-Points
Focusing Modes Single, 9-points multi
AF Point Selection Auto and Manual Selection
Focus Lock Shutter release halfway-down position(AF lock can be done by AE lock button from menu setting)
Manual Focus Focus aid (Dial Type)
Metering System 8 segments evaluative metering, Center Metering, Center-Weighted Average Metering
Exposure Control System Auto Mode, (P) Program AE, (S) Shutter Priority AE, (A) Aperture Priority AE, (M) Manual
Exposure Compensation +/-3EV (1/3 stop increments)
Auto Bracketing Appropriate, under, over; 1/3EV steps up to ±3EV for appropriate exposure
Shutter Speed 1/4000sec. to 15sec.
Built-in Flash Pop-up type (manually)
Flash Coverage Range 30cm-2.1m(at ISO200)
External Flash Sync. Hotshoe (X Sync. Contact)
Drive Modes [1] Single, [2] Continuous, [3] Self Timer(2sec. /10sec.)
LCD Monitor TFT Color LCD Monitor
Monitor Size 2.5 inches, approx.230,000 pixels
Interface USB(USB2.0), Video Out (NTSC/PAL), Audio Out(Monaural)
Power Li-ion Battery Pack BP-31, Battery Charger BC-31, AC Adapter (Optional)
Dimensions 113.3mm/4.5″ (W) x 59.5mm /2.3″(H) x50.3mm/2″ (D)
Weight 240g /8.5oz (excluding batteries)
8 March, 2007
Palm Rumours: Takeover Bid and New Palm OS Model?
Currently recording more ups and downs than Ron Jeremy’s buttocks, Palm’s share price continues to oscillate wildly as rumours of a takeover continue.
After the news broke that Palm had hired investment-banking firm Morgan Stanley to advise them about possible business strategies, analysts have speculated that Motorola, Nokia, RIM, Dell, Hewlett-Packard and quite possibly the bloke in the corner shop might be looking to buy out the handheld company.
Although now owning a considerably smaller chunk of the smartphone market, Palm is still in profit, posting earnings expectations between $390 million and $395 million (a figure reduced from the original $430 million after shipping delays with its new Treo 750 smartphone.)
Fans of the old oft-flogged Amiga platform will probably find Palm’s curious business shenanigans somewhat familiar: in 2003 Palm was split into two separate companies, with one taking care of t’software and the other t’hardware.
In 2005, Access Systems forked out $324 million to acquire PalmSource – the folks who developed the Palm OS – while the second Palm spin-off company, PalmOne, renamed itself Palm Inc.
A few months ago Palm shelled out $44 million to Japan’s Access Systems for a perpetual license of the operating system used by Treo smartphones and PDAs, ensuring that current and future Palm handhelds remain compatible with Palm’s Garnet OS.
While all this faffing about with names, new logos and buyouts was going on, Palm’s popular Treo brand has come under increasing competition from technology packed smartphones from the big boys.
Although the Windows-based Treo 750 already looks to be doing well in Europe, the lack of wi-fi continues to mightily miff users and some have been looking at the Treo’s lardy lines and hinting that a crash diet could be in order.
China deal
Despite the speculation about its future, Palm has just announced that it’s launching the Palm Treo 680 through the world’s largest mobile operator, China Mobile Communications Corporation, expanding its operations in the country and establishing its first R&D and Operations Centre in Shanghai.
Treo 755p
Elsewhere, rumours are abounding of a follow up to the US-only Palm 700p , the Palm Treo 755p (the ‘p’ means it runs the Palm OS), previously codenamed Treo Sherlock.
According to leaked info, the 755p will be the first to support CDMA Treo with an internal antenna and come with EVDO, instant messaging, native voice dialling and be available in burgundy and blue.
Much as we heart the Treos, that doesn’t sound like an iPhone killa to us, but Palm fanboys are pinning their hopes on Palm co-founder Jeff Hawkins’s hints about having a “top-secret product in the wings.”
Talking to Business 2.0 a while ago, Hawkins hinted that something very special could be in the works: “One of the missions we have at Palm is to design breakout products. It’s hard, really hard, to do. Palm’s done it twice, you could argue, with the original Palm Pilot, and the Treo smartphone. We’ve got another one in development.”
8 March, 2007
Skype Downloaded Over 0.5 Billion Times
Skype has announced that its VoIP software has been downloaded over 500 million times since its inception in August 2003.
A pretty staggering number, even when you realise that it includes all of the downloads and possibly all upgrades of the software (* We’re in the process of checking this with Skype HQ).
Working out that this averages just under 11m downloads per month is pretty meaningless, as in the early days there were very few people knowing about Skype, or even how to pronounce it. In the early days some numpties called it Skype-eee – and we bet that the guilty keep that one quiet these days.
Some numbers that are worth looking at – because they’re pretty mind blowing – are that Skype is being downloaded at the rate of six times per second; Skype to Skype minutes in Q4 2006 alone totalled 7.6 billion minutes; and in September 2005, Skype had 54 million registered users. Today it has over 171 million registered users worldwide.
Skype CEO and co-founder Niklas Zennström shares the love and enthused, “The entire Skype team owes its success to the global community of registered users we have today who tell their loved ones how much they enjoy using Skype.”
The original Skype users were mostly people who had used Zennström previously wildly popular product, Kazza, a P2P file-sharing application. Much of the knowledge his team had built up in handling considerable amount of data sharing between machines was invaluable in building the bones of Skype.
Skype is now just part of everyday life. A product that you couldn’t imagine being without. A pretty impressive feat in anyones book.
8 March, 2007
New Media Classification System For UK
Gordon Brown has announced that a new labelling system for media content is in the works, designed to help parents protect their children from dodgy digital content.
The idea is that a system similar to cinema classifications would be introduced to classify content on websites, video games, TV shows and other media content.
Backed by industry regulator Ofcom, Brown intoned that the system would offer practical help to parents concerned about their little darlings being exposed to new media outlets seemingly stuffed to the brim with violent imagery, drugs and hot, hot sex.
Commenting on the veritable torrent of filth that virtually seeps out of every child’s PC as soon as they connect to the web, Brown said that it is an “issue we must address with practical proposals to address the challenges we face.”
“We want to promote a culture which favours responsibility and establishes boundaries: limits of what is acceptable and unacceptable.”
“We can’t and shouldn’t seek to turn the clock back on technology and change. Rather we need to harness new technology and use it to enable parents to exercise the control they want over the new influences on their children,” he added.
As part of the scheme, Ofcom will introduce common labelling standards covering cinema, TV, radio, computer games and the internet.
These will be backed up by an awareness campaign advising parents about content filtering software for PCs, and information about TV set top boxes which can limit what can and cannot be seen by little Timmy and Tabatha.
Brown added that they’ll also be looking at persuading technology manufacturers to provide better information on software to block content unsuitable for children, as well as investigating new methods to restrict access to saucy and violent content shared over the t’web.
Brown recognised that it’s a fat look of good trying to implement restrictions on just a national scale, pointing out that agreements need to be struck at the international level.
“We need to support all those broadcasters and providers doing a huge amount and of course we need to recognise there are global markets where we need international agreement,” he said, somewhat understating the importance of worldwide standards.
Of course, many companies and public institutions already use web filtering software but their methods can often resemble a 300 ton sledgehammer cracking a dwarf-sized peanut.
Scunthorpe. Arsenal. And Sex
The denizens of Scunthorpe and fans of Arsenal football club have already famously fallen foul of none-too-smart naughty word blockers, and many sites have complained about being blocked for the most spurious of reasons, with very little chance of retribution.
Some sites about UK counties have also found themselves banned from libraries and internet cafes because the word ‘sex’ has appeared in their domain name – even though the sites are about subjects as unerotic as Sussex, Essex and Wessex.
More about word filtering mistakes here: The Scunthorpe Problem
[From: Brown unveils classification system for new media]
7 March, 2007
Who Owns YouTube/BBCWorld?
When an important deal like the YouTube/BBC one comes around, we feel we want to find out that little bit extra about it. Sadly neither of the press departments have been given the go ahead to provide journalists any further clues as to how the deal went down.
Given that frustration, we thought we’d apply a little lateral thinking to the situation and have a sniff around in a few places online to see if we can dig up some more.
Lots of investigation drew a blank, but realising that the address of the BBCWorld YouTube Channel hadn’t been given when the press information had been distributed at the announcement, we made a couple of guesses what it might be and it ended up being the obvious one.
One of the questions that we had was how long the deal had taken to negotiate. As mentioned there was no official word on it, but YouTube.com/BBCWorld reveals that a channel has been previously setup. The question is, is this an official BBC channel – setup over 9 months ago, or is there a 24 year old Australian squatting the BBC’s channel name.
If it is a BBC channel, it shows that there’s been a very long period of negotiation – 9 months – between the BBC and YouTube to get to the point of them announcing the deal.
If it isn’t, it will be interesting to see what YouTube’s approach will be to an individual registering a name that their largest content partner owns.
Keep your eyes on YouTube.com/BBCWorld to find out the answer.
7 March, 2007
WordWeb 5 Freeware Dictionary and Thesaurus: Review (91%)
We rather liked the nifty WordWeb 4 Pro dictionary and thesaurus when we looked at it in September last year and it’s remained a firm favourite in the office ever since.
A fast and smart English-language thesaurus and dictionary for Windows, WordWeb can be used to look up words from almost any program, dishing up definitions, synonyms and related words like a resident egghead lurking in your system tray.
With an upgrade to version 5 announced last week, we thought we’d take a shufti to see how it shaped up.
What’s new?
After downloading the free 7.5meg version of WordWeb 5, the first thing we noticed was that the Ye Olde Windows 95-style system tray icon had been replaced by a natty new icon which looks a lot smarter.
Full Windows Vista support has been bolted on, with the authors claiming that the program now comes with “many thousands of new senses, synonyms and clarifications.”
What we immediately noticed – and liked – was the improvement in usability; now you just have to hold down your keyboard’s control key and right-click over a word to bring up a definition in WordWeb. There’s no need to even select the word first, making it very fast and very neat.
A large choice of synonyms and antonyms are offered for selected words, and you can easily replace a selected word with a synonym by hitting the ‘replace’ button.
Note that this features works in most word processing applications, web browsers and email clients, otherwise you’ll have to hit ‘copy’ and paste the word in yourself.
Online definitions
The main WordWeb database sits on your hard drive (so you don’t have to go online to look up words) but a new feature lets you speedily check web references on the Wikipedia, Wiktionary and WordWeb Online websites in the same program window.
There’s also a new Bookmark menu for bookmarking words (if that’s your thing), and a ‘Basic English’ option simplifies the results screen by presenting the most common definitions in bold.

Hyper-bowls are us
If you’re unsure how to pronounce a displayed word, clicking on the loudspeaker icon will play back an audio pronunciation guide.
Although it can sound a bit ‘Sparky the Magic Piano’ (it uses Windows’ less than stellar Speech Engine) it should be enough to avoid committing a crushing social faux like pronouncing ‘hyperbole’ as ‘hyper-bowl’ at a posh dinner party.
Like we did once. And it still smarts.
Conclusion
If you’re looking for a free, fully featured thesaurus and dictionary, you’ll be unlikely to find anything better than WordWeb 5 – it certainly knocks spots off what’s built into Word, for example.
The ability to instantly call up a definition by right clicking on any word onscreen considerably improves usability, and the new web tools are a nice touch.
We should point out that there is also an enhanced commercial version available, offering custom web references, 6,000 more definitions, custom glossaries, wildcard word search and other features, but can’t say much about it because the author steadfastly refused to send us a copy, despite several requests.
We can, however, tell you that it costs £14 and is quite probably excellent value.
WordWeb 5 Free
Score on the doors
Features: 85%
Interface: 80%
Ease of use: 86%
Overall: 91%
WordWeb
7 March, 2007
The Next Newspaper Web-olution
In the wake of US newspaper USA Today recently unveiling a new version of their site with more cutting edge ‘new media’ features than any other, I thought it might be a good time to have a look at the challenges posed to newspapers by the onslaught of new media, what they are be doing about it and what they should be doing about it.
The Challenge
Undeniably new media (that is, the general availability of the Internet and the new types of publishing it enables, such as blogs and podcasting) has had a significant negative impact on circulation of newspapers. There are roughly two schools of thought over why this has occurred. The cynics would argue that it is because the ‘old media’ no longer has the trust of the public, and instead people turn to indie publishers, such as bloggers and podcasters, to provide information on what is happening in the world around them. A more moderate viewpoint would be that the Internet has lowered the barrier to entry into the publishing industry to such an extent that anyone and everyone can publish content (the long tail effect), thus inevitably reducing market share of the big players. It would seem that this view is the more sensible.
If newspapers wish to stay relevant therefore, they are forced to innovate in the realm of new media. Their future circulation is at stake, and if they fail to successfully capture market on the web they miss out on potentially millions of pounds worth of advertising a year. Hence the effort the newspapers are putting into finding a way forward.
What are they doing about it?
The biggest, and perhaps most notable addition to the newspaper’s content production is audio visual content (AVC). AVC refers to anything from podcasts to video blogs to video news reports. These are of crucial importance because of the value they provide to the consumer’s experience above and beyond that found in the newspaper.
The recently relaunched Times Online seems to be taking this the most seriously with the launch of an entire AVC section. They are currently providing over 10 different podcast series, and video content from their Iraqi correspondent and a car review show. Whilst the Times Online is making an admirable effort, my personal favourite newspaper podcasting effort is that of the Comment is Free section of the Guardian Unlimited website. I particularly enjoy their Media Talk podcast, to which I devotedly listen every week.
Another noticeable theme is the rise of user generated content (UGC). This is when users add any of their own content to a site, whether by means of a blog comment, uploaded video or anything else. This is an important trend for newspapers to be adopting for two reasons. The first is that users have come to expect the ability to add their thoughts to a story; provision of comments enhances conversation, and thus interest in the story and ‘stickiness’ of the site as users return to read comments in response to their own. The second reason is that UGC is ideal for any business looking to monetise content through advertising because it provides virtually free content, next to which can be placed fee-paying ads.
Almost all the recent newspaper Website relaunches (such as that of the Times and the Telegraph) have the ability to add comments, as well as more the forward-looking Guardian Unlimited, which has had the feature for some time. However, by far the most adventurous in UGC is the recent relaunch of the USA Today site. USA Today is building a fairly robust social network around their content, which allows users to comment, have their own avatar, ‘recommend’ (effectively digg) stories as well as a profile page.
Taking it further
Over time it is clear that the journalist will have to become an expert in all types of media. They will have to be able to easily transition from writing a story for a newspaper to producing a podcast interview to setting up and tweaking an installation of WordPress. Whilst many journalists will be struggling to be as technically proficient as this requires, I believe the necessary skills will develop over time.
The temptation will be for newspapers’ websites to become more and more like a combination between Weblogs, Inc and Digg, with loose editorial control and use of wisdom of the crowds to determine top stories. It is crucial that this is resisted, because to move in this direction would mean that newspapers would lose their unique selling point of quality, carefully edited content.
The challenge, therefore, is for newspapers to continue to innovate without losing sight of why they are important sources of news. If they succeed, they will continue to flourish, otherwise perish.
7 March, 2007
FunkeeStory SMS Backup For Mac Treo Users
The Palm platform has traditionally enjoyed a lot of support from Mac users who can perhaps relate to the platform’s status as a great working product that isn’t as well known as it should be (or maybe it’s because it’s simply not Windows?!).
Anyhow, Mac based Treo users might well be interested in this lovely little app for backing up and storing text messages from a company called FunkeeMonk Technology.
Treo owners will already know that its threaded text message interface is the best in the business, but mustard keen SMS fiends often end up having to delete older conversations as the none-too voluminous memory of the Treo fills up.
The FunkeeStory application lets Mac users back up and archive SMS messages and conversations by installing a conduit and an attractive desktop viewing application.
The application retains the threaded chat views and also supports multimedia content, so photos, audio and video clips can be viewed on a Mac, or emailed out to friends.
All the messages are searchable and the program offers international language support.
Created by Mac fan Joe Goh, the program is available from the Funkeemonk website for $19.95 – FunkeeMonk Technology.
Windows backup options
We took a look around for something similar for Windows Treo users and came across the $10 Treo Desktop application which offers similar functionality but without a conduit.
Cheapskates on either platform can also use this free online converter sms2csv.php which does the job but is about as basic as it gets.
6 March, 2007
Archos 704-WiFi Portable Media Player Announced
Keen to maintain its position as the Dark Master Of All Things PMP, Archos have announced the latest addition to its Personal Media Player, the 704 Wi-Fi.
A big’n’beefy, take-no-prisoners kind of affair, the 704 Wi-Fi comes with a massive seven-inch screen, a capacious 80GB hard drive, a DVR dock for recording TV shows, remote control, Opera web browsing and – not surprisingly – a hefty price tag to boot.
The $549.99, 1.4-pound beastie comes in a natty brushed-aluminium finish, with the front dominated by an impressively high resolution 800×480 pixel touch screen display, with two wee stereo speakers underneath.
Button freaks may be found wanting as all the navigation controls are activated via the touchscreen, either by using your trusty digit, or employing one of the two included styli.
As befits its media player billing, this puppy can play a ton of video formats including MPEG-4, AVI, Divx and WMV video files, and MP3 and WMA audio files (with optional plug-ins for h.264, MPEG-2 MP@ML, and AAC support). There’s also support for PlaysForSure.
The Archos can also play back bought movies from Amazon Unbox, AOL, CinemaNow, and Wal-Mart, but – surprise surprise – iTunes’ Fairplay-protected files won’t work with the player.
Video playback battery life is claimed at ‘up to five hours’, which should be good enough for all but the most lengthy of art house films.
The combination of the large screen and bundled Opera tabbed web browser should make surfing the web a whole lot more fun than some handheld devices, although there’s no support for Flash (so YouTube’s off the menu for now).
Initial reviews say that the player can suffer from sluggish performance, with an irritating “one-to-two-second delay between an input and an action”, which may give hyperactive surfers the heebeegeebees.
Although it’s a pricey number, the Archos 704 Wi-Fi packs a ton of functionality into its slightly portly frame, and with its big screen could be the perfect partner of long journeys. But don’t try wedging it into your pocket.
Specifications: Archos 704 Wi-Fi
Capacity 40GB (80GB in US)
Display 7 inches (800 x 480 pixels, more than 16 million colours)
Audio Formats MP3, WAV, WMA, protected WMA (AAC and AC3 with optional plug-ins)
Photo Formats JPEG, BMP
Video Formats MPEG-4, WMV, protected WMV (H.264, MPEG-2, and VOB with optional plug-ins)
Wireless Wi-Fi 802.11g
Battery Life 5 hours claimed
PC Interface USB 2.0
Size 5.2 x 3 x 0.6 inches
Weight 1.4 pounds
Archos
6 March, 2007