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

  • Google Mail: Delete All Spam Feature Arrives

    Google Mail: Delete All Spam Feature Arrives

    Google mail has released a feature that has been long requested by any long term Gmail user – Delete all Spam messages now.

    Previously to rid yourself spam within Gmail you had to delete them all screen by screen, by clicking on Select All, then Delete, repeated endlessly until all of the pesky messages had been wiped out.

    HowTo
    To use the new feature, simply click on your Spam folder link, to find “Delete all spam message now”, sitting on top of your messages. You will then be met by a dialog box confirming that you want to delete them all.

    We had great pleasure of wiping 12577 dreaded spam messages this morning and we’d highly recommend it all to you.

    Google Mail: Delete All Spam Feature Arrives

    Google mail

  • Spam, Spim And Splog Spins Out Of Control

    Spam, Spim And Splog Spins Out Of ControlSteeenkin’ spammers are increasingly turning their evil gaze in the direction of SMS, Web-based instant messaging, bloggers and community sites like MySpace.com, according to MessageLabs.

    The mail services company said that spammers are looking to bypass e-mail-based antispam measures by targeting spam on “age, location and other characteristics.”

    Mark Sunner, chief technical officer at MessageLabs, warned that social-networking sites offer spammers a “new level of convergence and capability to profile people.”

    The company also noted an increase in IM spam (“spim”), with spammers sending just a hyperlink, which can direct users lead to a malicious site, or a phishing site.

    “We expect more cross-fertilisation of (malicious software) as Yahoo, MSN and Google become one big blob, from an IM standpoint,” Sunner added.

    Spam, Spim And Splog Spins Out Of ControlMessageLabs reported that spam mail soared a hefty 6.9% in June to make up a massive 64.8% of all global emails sent that month.

    Geographically, Israel continues to be the world’s number one spam target, with spam making up a colossal 75.9% of the country’s email traffic, up 11.9% since May.

    Ireland was hit by the greatest monthly rise, with spam increasing by 14.1% to make up a spam rate of 59.4%, while Spain saw the sharpest fall, with lucky Spaniards only suffering spam at 24.8% of all emails.

    Jargon watch
    Splog: Blogging spam
    Spim: Instant Messaging spam

    MessageLabs

  • Virgin First With Mobile TV

    Virgin First With Mobile TVVirgin Mobile looks set to launch the UK’s first true mobile broadcast TV service in the autumn, with the beardy one’s empire releasing a rebadged version of BT’s Movio product.

    A recent big pilot of BT’s broadcast digital TV to mobile service revealed that punters *hearted* the service with two thirds willing to fork out up to £8 per month to have the service on their network.

    BT Movio – formerly known as BT Livetime – broadcasts on the same frequencies as the digital audio broadcasting (DAB) network radio, but does a bit of techie jiggery-pokery to let multiple users access the service simultaneously without a reduction in quality.

    Earlier offerings of mobile TV in the UK streamed the signal as Internet protocol (IP) packets, a method which burnt up bandwidth like it was going out of fashion, leaving users with fat bills or having to put up with a capped service.

    Virgin First With Mobile TVMovio uses a system known as DAB-IP, which has emerged ahead of the rival technology, DVB-H, because the required radio spectrum is already available.

    Although DVB-H should be able to offer more channels than DAB-IP, there are question marks over a timetable for its availability in the UK.

    Virgin First With Mobile TVExclusive
    Virgin’s new deal with BT is expected to include a three month period of exclusivity, with Movio content providers announced within the next four weeks.

    Hipsters wanting to be the first in town to use the service will have to fork out for a new WM5 phone based on HTC’s Trilogy design.

    The curious looking phone has been co-designed by BT and UK company The Technology Partnership and will form part of Virgin’s Lobster range of mobiles.

  • Neonumeric NTG-1 PMP

    Neonumeric NTG-1 PMPA French company with the tongue twisting nomenclature of Neonumeric has released details of their NTG-1 portable media player.

    Boasting a veritable shedload of features, this shiny, black’n’sleek media machine should be able to keep you entertained for hours, offering a smorgasbord of audio/visual wotsits.

    When it comes to video, the NTG-1 can knock out DivX, AVi, MPEG and WMV files through its 2.5-inch TFT LCD screen, which supports 260k colours.

    There’s a 1.3-megapixel camera built in, which doubles up as a camcorder and Webcam, with JPEG photo viewing support letting you marvel at your snaphots.

    Neonumeric NTG-1 PMPThe 107 x 62 x 21mm player can also play back MP3, WMA and WAV audio files, and there’s also a built-in FM tuner, 512MB of internal memory and a SD/MMC card slot for shunting in your own memory.

    Also onboard is a line-in socket for audio recording to MP3s, video recording to ASF and an AV output for playing back your stuff on the tele.

    Neonumeric NTG-1 PMPPricing is still to be confirmed, although we’re looking at something between $250 to $300, and we’ve no idea of availibility yet.

    If the player floats your boat, be sure to budget in extra cash for a memory card if you want to get the best out of the thing.

    Neonumeric

  • Panasonic Readies Monster 103″ TV Screen

    Panasonic Readies Monster 103People still waiting for those wall-sized flat screen TVs that were promised in sci-fi books will be able to take a step closer to their dream with the announcement of Matsushita’s thumping great 103-inch panel TV.

    Korean electronics company Matsushita, which owns the Panasonic brand, plans to unleash the plasma whopper by the end of the year, and says that it has already taken orders from the US.

    First demo’d at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in January this year, the 2.3 x 1.3m behemoth weighs in at a wall-straining 215kg – making it bigger than a double-sized mattress and almost as heavy as an upright piano.

    Panasonic Readies Monster 103The specifications look sumptuous though, with the 103-inch panel offering a full 1080i HD resolution (1,920 by 1,080 pixels) and an “aaaieee – my eyes!” brightness rating of 3000:1.

    Panasonic haven’t announced how much the plasma monster is going to cost, but there’s no doubt it won’t be for the likes of us mere mortals (as a rough guide, Matsushita’s current 65-inch screen costs a leg-crossing $7,500 in Japan.)

    Panasonic Readies Monster 103Panasonic reckon that they’ll be able to shift around 5,000 of these enormo-displays in the first year, although they added that probably only 20% of takers will be TV viewers, with the majority buying the display for use as electronic billboards, or displays in studios and corporate lobbies.

    Panasonic

  • Prem-i-Air PMTF-07 Mini Fan With Ioniser Review (80%)

    Prem-i-Air PMTF-07 Mini Fan With Ioniser Review (80%Seeing as our office fan decided to go on the blink just as a sticky, sweltering heatwave sent temperatures soaring above 32C, we needed a new fan. Fast.

    Being techie types, we decided that a conventional fan was a bit too old-school for us, so we invested in a Prem-i-Air PMTF-07 35W Mini Fan, which comes complete with a built in Ioniser.

    Standing about 44cm (17.5″ tall) and around 14cm (5.5″) wide, the Prem-i-Air is the perfect size for slapping on your desk and getting a boatrace-bound breeze blasting your way.

    Control layout
    At the top of the mini tower sits a circular control panel, offering an on/off switch, fan speed control (three settings; low, med or hi), oscillating on/off control, timer and Ioniser activation switch.

    With an obedient bleep, the fan starts up promptly after hitting the main on/off control, and we found the ‘low’ fan setting to provide a pleasant breeze with the fan situated a couple of feet away.

    Prem-i-Air PMTF-07 Mini Fan With Ioniser Review (80%At full blast, the fan knocks out a fair bit of air (1.5m/sec, to be precise) although we’re not looking at office blasting wind tunnel effect here – this fan is definitely only for personal/small office use.

    When the oscillating control is turned on, the fan slowly spins around 180 degrees on its circular base, but started to shuffle about a bit when the fan was at full blast.

    Unfortunately, you can’t restrict the range of the movement, so some may find it a little too wide for their tastes.

    The timer’s quite straightforward; keep pressing the button and a red light will appear next to the 1 hour, 2 hour or 4 hour markings, with the fan turning off after that time.

    Ionisation time
    Of course, the button that intrigued us most was the one marked ‘ioniser’ and we bashed the ‘on’ button with high expectations.

    Prem-i-Air PMTF-07 Mini Fan With Ioniser Review (80%Ionisers work by sending out negative ions (which are found naturally by the sea and in the mountains, and after thunderstorms) and this should strip the air of particles and micro-organisms, pollen, dust, pollutants and airborne germs.

    Reading the guff around ionisers, they’re supposed to do all sorts of wonderful things for your health, like make the air feel fresher and more invigorating, disperse unpleasant whiffs, help with hayfever, asthma, bronchitis and migraine and get rid of the headaches and tiredness caused by the ‘positive ions’ coming from computer screens and air conditioning.

    Sadly, the ioniser didn’t promise to remove headaches and tiredness caused by a night quaffing yards of ale, but our preliminary tests seemed to result in the air feeling a bit ‘fresher’ around the office

    The verdict
    Although we’re still checking out the benefits of this ionisation malarkey, we liked the Prem-i-Air.

    It’s well built, doesn’t take a ton of desk space and offers enough fan power to make working in an office in a heatwave a bit more bearable.

    The price seems reasonable too (£25 from Amazon), although with a current sales rank of just 13 on the Amazon site, we’d recommend you get one quick before stocks run out!

    Features: 75%
    Ease of Use: 80%
    Value for money: 85%
    Overall: 80%

    Specs:
    Depth 5.91 in.
    Height 17.52in.
    Weight 4.85 lb.
    35 Watt
    Buy it on Amazon UK

  • Future Hype: Review: The Myths of Technology Change (71%)

    Future Hype: Review: The Myths of Technology Change (71%)Title: Future Hype: The Myths of Technology Change
    Author: Bob Seidensticker
    Publisher: Berrett-Koehler
    Buy at US Amazon $10.37
    Buy at UK Amazon £9.89

    With the constant bombardment of advertising and continuous slew of new products and developments, it seems like technological change is faster now than ever before, but is that really true? Bob Seidensticker would like to suggest otherwise.

    In a new book, FutureHype, Seidensticker sets out to explode the myths surrounding technological growth, “The Internet isn’t that big a deal. Neither is the PC. Abandon all your technology and live in the woods for a week and see if it’s your laptop you miss most.”

    Seidensticker, a programmer and former Microsoft programme manager, believes that so much information about technology is misunderstood or left out that the remainder resembles a kind of mythology. This is a refreshing point of view especially if, like me, you’re suspicious that most technology doesn’t deliver what it promises.

    Seidensticker sets about contextualising modern technological change by analysing the effects of older technologies. As well as reminding us how important earlier developments are now just part of the landscape (the telephone, electricity, medicines), he unearths some fascinating examples of technologies that never happened. For example, the fax newspaper, broadcast by dozens of US radio stations in the 1930’s and 40’s, provided several daily updates but failed to take-off. This is intriguingly similar to the shortly-to-launch service from The Guardian newspaper offering a regularly updated PDF edition.

    Future Hype: Review: The Myths of Technology Change (71%)In other areas Seidensticker is less compelling. He sometimes glosses over details to make his point. Describing redundant proprietary software formats (WordStar is often cited as an example, the most successful word processor of its time, its file format is now unreadable by all modern applications) he neglects to mention developments such as Open Source software, XML or research into digital archiving, all of which are making progress to eliminating exactly that kind of problem.

    On discussion of the Internet he asserts that “important applications aren’t new and new one’s aren’t important” a gigantic generalisation which, by his own arguments, is untrue. Sure, loads of current applications and technologies are simply developments from older ones and the great majority of them are not important, but, by his own logic, the chances are that the next big thing is already with us, just struggling to break through. It’s also more likely that it will not take the form of something that went before and so may be harder to recognise.

    Quibbles aside, Seidensticker does make a good case and I found myself nodding in agreement with his assessments of new technology often being inferior to old (just compare digital TV to a decent analogue signal or an MP3 to a CD or an analogue recording) and how our garbage may be more permanent than our written records.

    I did find myself wondering who FutureHype was aimed at? Many of Seidensticker’s observations don’t take a lot of thought to work out (anyone who cares to research even a little can find out that the Internet began in the 60’s, that there’s a law of unintended consequences or that technology is not always for the good), so anyone who is interested is likely to know these things already, and the general reader is unlikely to require this much detail. On reaching the final, slightly condescending, chapter – a list of do’s and don’ts that reads like a rather stuffy style guide – I realised that this book is for technology journalists.

    On that level, FutureHype is a very useful primer about the way in which technology has affected society. Seidensticker does a solid and entertaining job of documenting the rather empty bravura that surrounds technology and its unpredictable and often unexpected effects. It’s a welcome addition to the burgeoning library of books about the rapid pace of change and one which provides a rather more sober and level headed overview. Nerdy tech-scribes will find it fascinating, a more general readership may be harder to reach.

    Future Hype: The Myths of Technology Change

    Buy at US Amazon $10.37
    Buy at UK Amazon £9.89

  • Sky+ Remote Record: Mobile Sky+ Programming

    Sky+ Remote Record: Mobile Sky+ ProgrammingDesperate to program your Sky+ PVR, while out and about? Or can’t be bothered to reach for the TV remote control when you’ve got you mobile in your hand?

    Help is at hand (ha ha) as Sky announce their program-your-Sky+-box-via-your-mobile-service, that they’ve catchily named Sky+ Remote Record.

    There are two ways to use the service. Either download an application to your mobile phone or via SMS on a mobile.

    Remote Record
    This is the comprehensive offering and only works on data-enabled 2.5G, 3G or GPRS phones.

    To get setup, subscribers have to be registered via Sky Active and download the app to run on their mobiles.

    From what we’ve seen it looks pretty slick, with a similar feel to the Sky EPG. It contains 7-days worth of programming listings and details on the shows.

    Be aware that updating the EPG data will require updated information to be retrieved from Sky – along with corresponding data charges from your mobile operator. Beyond the mobile operators data charges, the service is free.

    Text Your TV
    We’re sure you’ve guessed the basics of this already – you text the programme you want recorded from your mobile.

    Sky+ Remote Record: Mobile Sky+ ProgrammingIt looks like using it might be a bit of palaver with the need to SMS quite precise and long winded instructionsThe Simpsons. Sky 1. 11/06. 18:30.

    to the dedicated ‘Remote Record’ number 61759.

    At the Sky-end a massive brain works out what they could have meant and sends them back a confirmation SMS, charging 25p in the process.

    We’d imagine that great confusion will reign on Friday nights as the pissed up masses send their best guess at what a Television X programme might be called.

    Availability
    It will work with all Sky+ boxes including Sky HD, but is only available to subscribers with Sky Sports 1 & 2 and/or Sky Movies 1 & 2 in their package or be a Sky Bet customer.

    Up to eight mobiles can be registered with either service per Sky+ box.

    Following these mobile-focused announcements, Sky will be bringing out a similar service working over the Internet ‘over the summer.’

    Sky continues to expand their application of technology to what was originally a satellite TV service.

    A little bird tells us that Sky will be officially unveiling their Broadband ISP service soon. Back in October they bought EasyNet and have been busily bringing it in to the Sky fold and are planning to offer communication services, widely expected to be voice services as well.

  • Why We Still Love The Palm Treo (Pt 2)

    Why We Still Love The Palm Treo, Pt 2Following on from Part One, published last week.

    The design
    As its rivals continue their crash diets and squeeze into ever-smaller designs, there’s no doubt that the Treo’s beginning to look like a bit of a lardy boy these days (although it’s by no means the biggest smartphone out there).

    Of course, one of the problems with smartphones is that if you try and shrink them too much, usability flies out of the window.

    Smartphones, by definition, need a big bright screen to fit all the information in (and at 320 x 320 pixels, the Treo’s got one of the largest displays around) and there’s a human limit to how small you can make a keyboard.

    Why We Still Love The Palm Treo, Pt 2Keyboards. Soft vs hard (ooo-er)
    Some smartphone makers have tried to get around this limitation by getting rid of the keyboard altogether and using an onscreen ‘soft’ keyboard instead.

    Although this allows designers to make super-small smartphones, the lack of a proper keyboard is – to quote Clint Eastwood – some price to pay for being stylish.

    Soft keyboards are absolutely horrible to use. Apart from the fact that your screen rapidly turns into a smudgy mess, they’re simply not as effective as a proper hardware keyboard, and after using both, we’d certainly never again invest in a smartphone without a proper keypad.

    Other features
    Despite its ‘built for comfort’ shape, the Treo still feels pretty good in the hand, with some of the best ergonomics around – changing the SIM card, for example is an absolute breeze compared to most phones (just use the slide out tray, accessible from the top of the phone), and it’s the same story for the SD card.

    Why We Still Love The Palm Treo, Pt 2Volume controls are where they should be – on the side of the phone – and muting the phone entirely is simply a case of sliding a switch in the top of the phone, a feature that is inexcusably absent in almost every other phone.

    It’s not all good though, with the Palm designers needlessly forcing users to take off the back of the phone whenever a reset is needed.

    And then there’s that great, chunky monolith of an antenna that’s bolted on to the phone. Funnily enough, it seems that most Americans actually like antennas on their handsets, but we can’t say we’re too keen.

    The phone bit
    Of course, pretty looks and bright screens are one thing, but it’s how the thing works as a phone that matters most and here’s where the Treo excels.

    When someone new calls you up, a great big button comes onscreen at the end of the call asking you if you want to add the number in your phonebook. Simple. Straightforward. Obvious.

    Why We Still Love The Palm Treo, Pt 2If you want to switch to the speakerphone during a call, just press the ruddy great onscreen ‘speakerphone’ icon. No holding down keys, no shuffling about in sub-menus or fiddling about with switches like a Windows phone.

    If you want to see who’s called you, just press the green call button twice and a list of calls comes up.

    As you scroll down the list, context sensitive buttons appear, asking if you’d like to add the unknown numbers to your contacts, or if you’d like to send a SMS message to known contacts.

    Click on a name and it calls them. Click on ‘call log’ and you’ll get a comprehensive listing of every phone call you’ve made, categorised into ‘incoming,’ ‘missed’ and ‘outgoing.’

    If you want to find out more, click on ‘details’ and you’ll get the exact time and duration of the call.

    Why We Still Love The Palm Treo, Pt 2Looking someone up in the address book is just as simple – just type in their initials and you’ll go straight to their entry.

    The whole phone is designed for effortless one handed operation, meaning you can use the phone on the move while most Windows Mobile users will be left reaching for their itty-bitty stylus or fiddling about with slide-out keyboards or ‘soft’ onscreen keyboards.

    Get ’em quick before they go!
    Note: since we started this piece, Palm have announced that there will be no further European shipments of Treo 650s as the phone breaches new EU regulations.

    However, the company claims that it has already sent enough Treo 650s to meet demand for now, although US users can already indulge themselves with the newly released Treo 700p offering EVDO.

    Why We Still Love The Palm Treo, Pt 2Palm has said that its next Treo smartphone will be targeted at European markets, although it appears that it won’t be a GSM/UTMS version of the 700p.

    Instead, Palm are rumoured to be developing an antenna-less Treo for the European market, possibly to be called the Treo Nitro (thanks to the valued reader who pointed this out to us – you know who you are).

    Palm CEO Ed Colligan has suggested that the new model is unlikely to become available until Palm’s 2nd Quarter in FY 2007 (around October – December 2006).

    Readers sufficiently enthused by our comments should look on eBay where there are ample new and reconditioned Treo 650’s available for between £170-£280 (that’s where we got ours from!).

    Coming up in part three: Palm Treo multimedia and office apps.

  • US Democratic Party Adopt Net Neutrality

    The US Democratic party has adopted net-neutrality as a party-political issue following the rejection of a second pro-neutrality amendment in a vote late last week.

    Previously we reported on the demise of the first pro-neutrality amendment as part of the ongoing review of US telecommunications law.

    The Senate Commerce Committee were tied at 11 for and 11 against, with Republican members voting against the amendment and Democrats for it. A majority vote is necessary for a bill to pass. Afterwards, Republican Senator for Alaska, Ted Stevens, gave his reasons for voting against the bill as well as displaying his obviously comprehensive grasp of the technicalities of the Web, “It’s a series of tubes. And if you don’t understand those tubes can be filled and if they are filled, when you put your message in, it gets in line and its going to be delayed by anyone that puts into that tube enormous amounts of material, enormous amounts of material.”

    The Democratic party subsequently took up the issue with the slogan “Republicans: They sold the environment to Exxon, and sold the war to Halliburton. Now they want to sell the Internet to at&t.”

    Former presidential candidate Senator John Kerry commented, “This vote was a gift to cable and telephone companies, and a slap in the face of every Internet user and consumer.” Another Democrat, Senator Ron Wyden, placed a ‘hold’ on the bill which temporarily stops further progress but a decision is inevitable and both sides are marshaling forces behind their cause.

    Lawrence Lessig greeted news of Democratic support with caution, “Good for the Dems that they got it. Bad that the issue is now within the grips of party politics.” He acknowledged that, give the amount of money involved, political involvement was inevitable.

    Many fear that the loss of net-neutrality will signal virtual civil war on the Internet and that commercial interests are having too much effect on the US Legislature. Jeannine Kenney, Senior Policy Analyst, Consumers Union offered a concise summary, “The network neutrality nondiscrimination principle, which protects competition, maximizes consumer choice, and guarantees fair market practices, is one step closer to being abandoned with the Senate Commerce Committee’s vote. This endangers the most important engine for economic growth and democratic communication in modern society. Nondiscrimination made possible the grand successes of the Internet. Its removal can take them away.”