And if you want to de-stress after a tough working trip by listening to your new digital music player (eg, iPod), sorry: the Irish national airline has banned them. Again, it is out on its own on this one. The news will dismay long-haul passengers as the devices are popular in helping to while away airborne hours.
A spokesman for Aer Lingus said that the anti-iPod measure was the result of advice from a “steering group” of engineers in the airline. However, she could not provide further information as to what danger MP3 players posed to aircraft safety. [A Computers In Business survey of major airlines flying from Dublin shows that Aer Lingus is the sole carrier with the anti-iPod rule.] “We do tend to be on the conservative side in relation to personal electronic devices,” said the spokesman. [Sunday Business Post]
For Speed in Swimsuits, Add Bumps
Cool article about the developing tech in high performance swim suits. As a former competitive swimmer, I really found this of particular interest.
A new swimsuit technology increases, rather than decreases, drag to create a “tunnel” the wearer swims through. [New York Times: Business]
The Archos AV500 personal video player
Archos has been showing off its next-generation personal video player, the AV500, which besides having a 40GB hard drive and being able to play audio and video files (WMV9 as well as MPEG4 and DivX), will be able to double as a PDA. And if that doesn’t already sound too good to be true, they’re also saying that if you want go wireless with it the AV500 will support WiFi and Bluetooth. Should be out around the end of the year. [Engadget]
Toshiba Mobile Viewer
Looks very slick…
Toshiba has just released a consumer multimedia handheld device at the CeBIT 2004 show.
The Toshiba Mobile Viewer is a multimedia player featuring a 3.5-inch LCD display, and a 1.8-inch 20-GB hard disk drive for up to 80 hours of video storage. The Mobile Viewer also converts into a still picture and video recorder, with an optional one megapixel cam module (higher resolution modules to be made available later).
Toshiba has also designed the Mobile Viewer to be able to dock into an audio-video cradle connected to stereo sound speakers, transforming it into a full-featured entertainment unit.[GearBits]
Plug and Play Home Theater?
We can certainly hope this comes soon…
There is hope in the video-HDTV world where a new encrypted format has just been adopted called HDMI. With this computer like connection, you can link HDTV video components together with one nifty cable. The idea is brilliant – you keep digital video signals in the digital domain all the way until they get to your digital video display device (plasma, projector, LCD etc…) The problem is practically every video monitor, receiver and AV preamp are not HDMI compatible. In a year or two this will be less of a problem but for now, you really have to work to make your video system connect digitally. The reward is a fantastically beautiful picture thanks to not having to degrade or mangle your video in conversions from digital to analog and back to digital again.
While home theater in a box (HTIB) is a popular concept at the entry level of home theater there is still a lot more connections and programming needed to have your system make you truly happy. In coming years, higher end AV companies will likely adopt the general idea of HTIB for their components with the kind of ease of use you find today with an iMac. Between now and then, consider the idea that your AV system is only as good as its installation, programming and calibration. While it can cost you fractionally more, the idea of hiring a respected local dealer or CEDIA custom installer is often an excellent idea to make your home theater jump through hoops in ways mere mortals simply can not. [AudioRevolution]
BenQ’s Treo 600 killer
Live from the CeBIT trade show floor, a (blurry) photo of the P50 Pocket PC Phone, BenQ’s Treo 600 killer which has a large LCD screen, WiFi, Bluetooth, a 1.3 megapixel camera and a mini-keyboard. [Engadget]
Palm OS Cobalt Multitasking Explained
Jeff Kirvin has written an article further explaining how the upcoming Palm OS Cobalt will handle running multiple applications at once. He also looks at the Palm OS approach to multitasking, compared with Windows mobile. [PalmInfocenter]
Next Up To The 3G Batter’s Box: T-Mobile
T-Mobile has made it official that they’ll be officially launching their 3G service for both voice and data starting in May in Germany, the UK and Austria. This will take them a step beyond Vodafone, who has been launching their 3G for data only while they wait for someone (please, anyone!) to create good 3G handsets. [Techdirt Corporate Intelligence: Techdirt Wireless]
Kevin Werbach – My Wireless Future
UI Wars: Sony loves Symbian – grits teeth
Launching two new high-end phones this week, Sony Ericsson’s CEO, Katsumi Ihara, gave a pointed reminded to Symbian that its commitment had better not waver.
“There are two important factors for Sony Ericsson with the Symbian OS,” Ihara said, ComputerWire reports. “It should be open to anybody. Not perceived as proprietary to a single manufacturer. [It also depends on] UIQ being developed within Symbian. As long as those two conditions are met, Symbian will remain our open platform of choice.”
Back when Symbian couldn’t decide to be in or out of the UI business, but really thought it should be out, a buyer was discreetly sought for the Ronneby lab. Discussions to create a joint-venture with Motorola reached quite an advanced stage. But David Levin, Symbian’s second CEO, thought it would be in Symbian’s strategic interest to continue to offering UIQ; he decided instead to keep it, but give the lab some independence.
Ihara’s nudge is a reminder of how important this decision turned out to be. The disgruntled shareholders who assembled in London this week for Psion’s EGM base their opposition on the belief that Symbian is worth more as a vendor-neutral joint venture backed by the largest handset manufacturers. With Motorola having pulled out last year, the “neutral” proposition now very much depends on Sony Ericsson. It has a hit phone with the P900, and where there’s volume and an open platform, there should be developers.
Why can’t Sony Ericsson simply up its stake? Despite two illustrious parents, the company has been severely constricted for cash. In Ericsson’s case, it’s can’t pay; in Sony’s case, it’s won’t pay. The UIQ team gave Sony Ericsson more reasons to be cheerful at Cannes, announcing a one-handed UIQ user interface that will compete for developers with Series 60. But with resources tight, Sony Ericsson has a reason to be reluctant to pour money into a venture which will be perceived to be owned by Nokia. Why should it do the heavy lifting for the Finns? [The Register]
Bluetooth Phones and Mac OS X in Perfect Sync
I came to the same conclusion… bluetooth is way too important to pass on.
I’ve been testing a SE Z600 Smartphone with Mac OS X. I have seen the light, and I can’t go back. [O’Reilly MacDevCenter.com]
Vroom!
The first known case of an Easter Egg in automotive software – a way to get your new BMW M3 to take off like a veritable rocket. Popular Science | BMW’s Easter Egg [The Gadgets Weblog]
BW: TiVo’s Growth Picture: Still a Little Fuzzy
I’ve certainly commented on this before… TiVO is a great product and while I am a fan and was an early customer, our home has switched over to the Time Warner DVR for a few basic reasons.
First, it integrates perfectly with our fantastic interactive program guide. Time Warner services and installs the box and and will swap it out when the HD-capable version is ready for our market within a few months. There is no cost for the box itself… only a monthly fee which is comparable to TiVO.
So far, cable operators have been a tough sell. And though they are growing increasingly fond of the TiVo concept, viewing it as a way to differentiate themselves from competition, they now have their own efforts in the works. Says Rowen: “Companies were fighting DVR and now they’re embracing it.”
TimeWarner (TWX ) is selling recording capability through its digital-cable set-top box, which is made by Scientific Atlanta (SFA). Charter Communications (CHTR ) offers a product through a startup division called Digeo. Comcast (CMCSA) just paid company Gemstar-TV Guide International (GMST ) $250 million for access to its interactive programming guide. “It seems reasonable they will explore that partnership to the fullest,” Arenson says. The cable companies’ offerings, he adds, “don’t preclude a deal with TiVo, but it makes it a harder battle to fight.”
Hand-Helds That Offer Video to Go
David Pogue reviews the Archos AV320 ($336), and the RCA Lyra RD2780 ($420), the early and almost good enough AV players… I like the way this stuff is shaping up, but will definitely hold out for the iPod version, even if it doesn’t come from Apple (but, pretty please…). Video is easy to create, hard to capture and pretty hard to carry to play – someone has to make it simple.
With portable players for digital music becoming a smash hit, video was sure to follow. Two hand-held video players are now on the market. [New York Times: Technology]
Make no mistake: it’s quite a technical feat to build a personal video player that does so much and costs so little. And compared with, say, personal DVD players, these early players cost less and take up a lot less space; they also offer recording features and play a lot more than just Hollywood movies.
Apparently, adding polish and coherence to this seething mass of features is an even greater feat, however. RCA ought to send the young Lyra to its room without supper, so that it can think about what it means to be a well-behaved video pod. Archos, on the other hand, has the first truly usable video pod on its hands – a little rough in spots, but otherwise ready for prime time.
Veo Cancels 1.3MP Camera for Tungstens
Veo has cancelled their planned 1.3 megapixel SDIO camera. The Veo Photo Traveler 130 S was to be released in Februray for most palmOne Tungsten handhelds. [PalmInfocenter]
Intel won’t follow China’s Wi-Fi rules
Joining the ongoing dispute between U.S. tech companies and China, the world’s largest chipmaker says it won’t develop applications based on Chinese encryption standards for wireless computing. [CNET News.com – Communications]
Commentary: Three challenges for RFID
Retailers’ mandates for adoption of radio frequency identification technology mean suppliers have their work cut out for them. [CNET News.com]
• Define rules for where to tag a case. Consumer goods suppliers like Clorox and Black & Decker need guidelines for tag orientation by product category–such as “place tag in upper-right corner of the case when it contains liquid products in round bottles.” Industry rules will cut testing time and consulting costs.
• Deliver source-tagging infrastructure. Suppliers like Dow Chemical and Eastman Kodak need RFID infrastructure that works in high-speed production environments. The reason: Suppliers will only recoup compliance investments if they push RFID into manufacturing facilities–which would allow them to realize benefits like better inventory management across the distribution network.
• Provide better interfaces between readers and applications. Right now, suppliers need an additional layer of RFID middleware–from vendors like OATSystems, Savi Technologies and ConnecTerra–to get the right data from readers and into applications like warehouse management. The drawback: added expense and integration overhead for overtaxed RFID compliance teams.
Move to Establish a Mobile Device TLD
A number of leading mobile companies have submitted a application to the Internet Corp. for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) to apply for a mobile top level domain (TLD). [PalmInfocenter]
The participating companies are Microsoft Corp., Nokia, Vodafone, 3, GSM Association, HP, Orange, Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. and Sun Microsystems. These companies and others that will join over the coming months represent software developers, device manufacturers, network operators, infrastructure providers and content providers.
Under the terms of the memorandum of understanding, the companies intend to form a registry company to manage the distribution of the new mobile TLD names. The mobile TLD would be designed to enable efficient application and network services and reliability for mobile customers and service providers. The registry company will seek participation of additional, members to ensure broad customer and industry input.
Steves Digicams Reviews Canon Powershot S500
Sounds like a winner to me! I’ve been very happy with my Canon PowerShot S40, but was thinking this would be a good year to try something a bit smaller and more powerful. This could be the one…
Steves Digicams have also reviewed the new flagship model of the Canon Digital IXUS fleet, the 5.0 megapixel Powershot S500 (known as the Digital IXUS 500 outside North America), which was announced at the start of February. [PhotographyBLOG]
Filming the Hand That’s Stealing His Wallet
Bob Arno, a security consultant in Las Vegas, spends seven months each year traveling the world filming pickpockets and other street thieves. [New York Times: Technology]
I keep my money tucked inside my trousers, in a thin leather pouch that hangs from my belt. I also have a wallet stuffed only with newspaper, which I use as bait. It has been stolen from my hip pocket more than 100 times. Sometimes I confront the thieves and it magically appears on the ground. But other times I steal it back; that’s the quickest way to establish rapport with pickpockets. When I invite them for coffee, I think they are in awe, and that is why they reveal their secrets and give me their cellphone numbers. Granted, the phones are usually stolen.