Archive for September, 2005
Ah…AIBO, we love the cheeky metallic chappy. He’s (she’s?) less amusing than RoboSapien and less useful that a dustpan and brush. Still, we realise that we may be alone in liking dogs that have fur, like to go for walks and are actually alive, so for those of you who love your canines hard and shiny, here is news of an upgrade from Sony.
The software enhancement package enables AIBO to say more than 1,000 English words to communicate with its owner, in addition to recognizing many Spanish words and phrases for the first time. It now also has the ability for short term memory mapping, enabling AIBO to track the locations of its Energy Station, faces, walls, and its favourite place or toys much faster. The little blighter can even read you the latest RSS feeds.
The AIBO MIND 3 enables AIBO to talk back and express verbal communication with its owner using more than 1,000 words in English. Discerning the growing Hispanic population, AIBO can also now recognize approximately 30 Spanish words and phrases, including sientate (sit down) ven aqui (come here) and buen pero (good dog).
The new software allows for increased pet-like actions and motions for a more natural body language.
The AIBO Entertainment Player version 2.0, part of the AIBO MIND 3 Upgrade Kit, comes on a CD-ROM that easily loads onto a PC. Multiple features are incorporated into the updated software for increased functionality and an enhanced entertainment experience. Owners can monitor and manually control many of AIBO’s capabilities directly from their computer. The AIBO MIND Scope feature shows the owner objects that AIBO sees, shows its emotions and lets the owner know when it has recognized a person.
The champagne brown AIBO Entertainment Robot model ERS-7M3/T will sell for about $2,100. The pearl white and pearl black models (ERS-7M3/W and ERS-7M3/B, respectively) will both sell for about $2,000.
The AIBO MIND 3 Upgrade Kit for AIBO MIND 2 will be available for about
$90 and the AIBO MIND 3 Upgrade Kit for AIBO MIND will sell for about $100.
September 30th, 2005
Engineers at MIT are to unveil a $100 dollar laptop that they hope will stimulate education in the developing world. The 500Mhz kit boasts a number of unusual features aimed at making it tough, practical and usable in areas with a poor power infrastructure.
The laptop is blessed with a bare minimum Linux OS. It has a screen that can, with the press of a button, convert from colour to high-contrast back and white, making it viewable in strong sunlight. Power is provided via an AC cord that doubles up as a carrying handle, but can equally be provided by a hand crank on a 10 to 1 ratio i.e. one minute of cranking gives 10 minutes of use. There is in-built WiFi connectivity and each laptop can act as a node in a peer to peer network, meaning that a single internet connection can be used by neighbouring laptops. One area where the specification has not been compromised is memory with 1 GB installed - more than the laptop on which this story is being written.
The MIT team will target Brazil, China, Egypt, South Africa and Thailand for the $100 machines, which they hope will becime cheaper as production volumes increase.
TechSmec.com wonders how long it will be before Microsoft gets in on the act and start offering a ‘free’ version of Windows to the project. The thought of millions of new developing world PC owners using Linux must be an unsettling one for Bill Gates.
September 29th, 2005
Skype has released v1.4 of it’s Windows software adding a variety of new features including increased mobility options, new ways for callers to personalise Skype with original ringtones, sounds and pictures, better than ever sound quality, as well making it easy to find and connect to their friends, family and colleagues online.
“Skype pioneered free Internet phone calls, and even with more than 56 million people already registered, we’ve recently seen our growth accelerate to over 170,000 new registrations a day,” said Niklas Zennstrom, CEO and Co-founder of Skype. “We are passionate about really understanding what motivates people to want to make Internet communications a part of their everyday lives, and listening to our callers about what they want from Skype allows us to stay ahead of the game. Today, we are thrilled to be delivering on this promise by offering a new version of Skype which both new and existing callers will find adds powerful and innovative new features like call forwarding and personalization, as well as offering our best ever sound quality on our simplest product to install and use.”
Skype recently embarked on a comprehensive global survey to deepen an understanding of how Internet communications is used by people around the world and what they expect from next-generation personal communications services. According to the independent study, Skype is used once or several times a day by 76% of its callers, far surpassing the usage levels of traditional IM-based voice calling services. Callers also recognized Skype’s leadership in sound quality - 72% of Skype users consider call quality to be good to excellent. Skype callers are more international, with 85% communicating with people living abroad. Skype’s broad base of early adopters are eager to embrace new features, with 79% interested or very interested in receiving calls from landlines, and 73% interested or very interested in adopting call forwarding, key innovations unique to Skype.
The new Skype for Windows Version 1.4, which was first available in beta in August, incorporates two new premium services requested by Skype callers, and fortifies Skype’s role as a preferred complement to ordinary cell phones and landlines. It builds on Skype’s already extensive product offering which allows people to instant message, set up group chats, make conference calls, transfer files, send and receive voicemails, call and be called from a traditional phone system, and access Skype over Wi-Fi for extremely low rates.
Skype’s new Call Forwarding service will allow callers to forward incoming Skype calls to another Skype Name, or up to three landline or mobile numbers when they’re away from Skype, at no cost to the caller. Anyone using Skype may forward their calls to another Skype Name free of charge, or forward to traditional phone numbers at low SkypeOut rates. 83% of beta testers who have tried Call Forwarding have found it easy to use.
Skype’s new Personalise Skype features also allow callers to easily express themselves with original pictures, sounds and ringtones for as little as 1 euro ($1.20). This new feature opens up a new and exciting market for content providers looking to deliver great applications to Skype’s global callers and is initially offered in partnership with American Greetings, Qpass and Wee World. The global ringtone market is forecast to grow to $5.2 billion in 2006, and ringtones now account for over 10% of the $32.3 billion worldwide music market (Arc Group).
The new version of Skype makes it even easier for callers to extend their social network. It’s simple for callers to search Skype’s Global Directory, and import personal contacts from Outlook directly into their buddy lists. With the Skype Toolbars, users can make one-click calls to numbers and Skype Names from Internet Explorer and Outlook, adding tremendous value to popular desktop applications. Advanced Skype buttons allow webmasters and bloggers to create links that instantly initiate Skype actions, such as conference calls and chats.
September 29th, 2005
Dell is jumping into the media center market with both feet following its annoucement of a revamped XPS range including XPMCE as standard.
The new range is definitely being targeted at the luxury end of the market (some analysts have compared it to Toyota’s Lexus range of cars in terms of marketing concept).
The range includes three XPS desktops starting at $1000 with XPMCE and one new XPS notebook for $2699. However, the basic configurations may need plumping out with extra RAM and more powerful hardware, so expect to pay anything up to $6000 for a really high spec.
Nice looking PCs, but not at a normal Dell-type low price.
September 29th, 2005
Scottish tabloid, The Daily Record, quoting Graham Harding, professor in clinical neurophysiology at Birmingham’s Aston University, says that playing with your PSP could induce an epileptic fit.
“Any video game has flashing images but it’s the proximity to the screen that can induce the seizures,” says Prof Harding. “And people hold handheld consoles, such as the PSP, very close to their faces.”
So, to be accurate, playing any video game with the screen 2 inches from your nose could induce a fit if you are susceptible. Seems unfair to single out the PSP then Mr Daily Record reporter?
Nintendo must be seething that the DS didn’t seem to get a mention, but then there’s not really enough of them around to warrant a full scale health alert.
Source: The Daily Record
September 29th, 2005
Heralding a significant breakthrough in mobile entertainment, SanDisk Corporation today introduced TrustedFlash, a new technology that will enable consumers to buy premium music, movies and games on flash memory cards for use interchangeably in mobile phones, laptop computers, PDAs and other portable devices. The Rolling Stones will be the first artists to publish onto the new format.
Music producers and movie studios will be able to release premium content on TrustedFlash products because it provides the superior security and digital rights management solutions that are required by these providers. Consumers will be able to download premium content from online digital music services through their mobile phone or PC. They’ll also be able to purchase pre-recorded content on SanDisk’s new gruvi cards, the first product to be released with TrustedFlash.
TrustedFlash will empower consumers to use their purchased content in a multiplicity of supported devices, in contrast to today’s closed, proprietary systems that bind content to a particular host device, such as a specific cell phone or MP3 player. TrustedFlash technology empowers the card itself to be the manager of digital rights, thus giving consumers the freedom to transfer the card - and its content - to other supported devices without compromising its content protection system. TrustedFlash cards also function as regular cards in non-secure host devices.
“The TrustedFlash technology launched today is the foundation of our third generation cards,” said Eli Harari, SanDisk CEO. “It provides independence from the host, offering consumers true freedom to enjoy the content they own on their cards in numerous host players. TrustedFlash cards will unlock a world of premium content to consumers using mobile phones, music players, game players and video players, while providing strong security to content providers such as record, movie and game companies. SanDisk has developed TrustedFlash over the past two years, working closely with industry leaders in entertainment, mobile handsets and cryptosecurity,” he said.
TrustedFlash addresses the security concerns of content providers as well as SanDisk OEM customers such as mobile network operators (MNOs) and mobile phone manufacturers. Among the companies that have adopted the TrustedFlash platform are EMI Music, Samsung Mobile Communications, Yahoo! Music and NDS.
“TrustedFlash cards are highly secure, thanks to an on-board processor, a high-performance cryptographic engine and tamper-resistant technology that are designed to provide much higher level security than has previously existed on memory cards and on most consumer electronics devices,” said Yoram Cedar, SanDisk’s senior vice president of engineering and the emerging markets business unit. “Cards built on the TrustedFlash platform will provide full digital rights management capabilities, supporting industry security standards such as both symmetric and asymmetric algorithms.” TrustedFlash cards, he added, can be customized to meet any OEM customer’s specific security and digital rights management (DRM) solutions, including integrating their own chosen DRM solution and rights portability across many devices. SanDisk is currently working with a number of leading handset manufacturers to enable their handsets to support TrustedFlash cards through a software upgrade.
The TrustedFlash platform is aimed at providing the flexibility that customers demand with their content while meeting the security requirements of content providers — record labels, movie studios, game producers, mobile phone manufacturers and mobile network operators. These worldwide providers of wireless voice and data services can use TrustedFlash cards to store secure data and content as well as to enable new and existing services.
In a second phase planned for 2006, it is expected that TrustedFlash will also support mobile commerce applications and enable handsets to perform secure online financial transactions such as credit card payments, mass-transit access and one-time password authentication.
TrustedFlash cards are available immediately to OEM customers in the miniSD, microSD and SD card formats, with maximum capacities of up to 2 gigabytes. For consumers, TrustedFlash gruvi music cards with preloaded music content are expected to be available in the near future.
September 28th, 2005
The Apple iPod Nano, launched with much fanfare two weeks ago, has been attracting its fair share of criticism about how robust, or otherwise, it is.
A small, but significant, proportion of Nano owners have found that their screens crack a little more easily than they should do. Apple, to their credit, have immediately acted to replace the defective Nanos, while steering clear of actually admitting a problem with the design.
“It is a real, but minor issue involving vendor quality problems,” an Apple spokesman said. “Any user with a defective screen should contact Apple and we will replace it for free.”
So, Apple moves to kill the story before it can gather steam, showing once again that they are masters of media spin.
September 28th, 2005
Logitech today announced the new ioTags feature, part of a software update to the Logitech io2 Digital Writing System, which allows people to use basic handwritten symbols to identify tasks, calendar entries and e-mail as they take notes with digital pen and paper during a meeting. When they return to their desk and dock the pen, the marked portions of the notes are automatically converted to text and imported into Microsoft Outlook or Lotus Notes.
Other enhancements to the Logitech io2 software include providing users the ability to search digital pen documents using Google Desktop Search, and the capability of editing and searching io2 Digital Pen notes imported into Microsoft Office OneNote 2003.
“We all sit in meetings, often taking several pages worth of notes, and writing down action items that may get lost in the daily shuffle - or, at the very least, need to be typed into a computer,” said Chris Bull, general manager for the digital writing group at Logitech. “With ioTags, people can very simply identify different portions of notes to be put into their to-do list, calendar, or even an e-mail. When they get back to the PC, it all just happens automatically — their handwritten meeting notes are instantly synchronized with their productivity applications.”
The Logitech ioTags feature gives io2 Digital Pen users the freedom to define where different portions of their notes will be sent when the pen is docked. To designate an ioTag action while taking notes, a person simply draws the symbol for the type of note to be created; the symbol is always a predefined uppercase letter within a circle. For example, the letter T with a circle around it denotes a new task. Next to the symbol, the person writes out header information for that task, such as a title and completion date. The lines following the header appear in the body of the task. By simply drawing a vertical line from the symbol down to the end the section, the user can indicate the length of the notes to be included with the task. When the pen is docked, a new task window opens in Microsoft Outlook or Lotus Notes and automatically becomes populated with the converted text. The user then edits the task or saves and closes it. The ioTags software works with current versions of Microsoft Outlook including versions 2000, 2002 and 2003. It also works with Lotus Notes beginning with version 5.0.
Within the Logitech io2 software settings, users can create new ioTags for a wide variety of functions within the Logitech io2 software. One could, for example, set up an ioTag to indicate that a block of text should be sent directly into Microsoft Word software, or a drawing should be automatically converted into a jpeg file. While ioTags automatically converts handwriting to text, the entire content of the original handwritten notes will be uploaded and stored as a digital pen file.
Logitech io2 Plug-In for Google Desktop Search
The Logitech io2 plug-in for Google Desktop Search allows Logitech digital pen files to be indexed and searchable using Google Desktop Search. This provides digital pen users the ability to quickly retrieve information from their handwritten notes. By typing a searchable word into the Google Desktop Search engine, people can now retrieve any file containing that word, including a handwritten note from the Logitech io2 Digital Pen.
Enhanced Support for Microsoft OneNote 2003
Microsoft OneNote 2003 software customers can more effectively search, retrieve, and edit their handwritten notes with the new Logitech io2 software. When digital pen users export a handwritten note into OneNote, it is automatically translated into text while the handwritten image of the file is preserved. Previously, only an image of the handwritten note was exported. Because recognized text is stored within the file, OneNote customers can search and edit any notes taken with the Logitech io2 Digital Pen.
Pricing and Availability
The updated Logitech io2 software is now available for new and existing Logitech io2 Digital Writing System customers at http://www.logitechio.com. The updated software will be included in the retail version of the Logitech io2 Digital Writing System beginning in late October in the U.S. and Europe. The suggested retail price for the Logitech io2 Digital Writing System is $199.95 in the U.S.
September 23rd, 2005
Lenovo today announced the ThinkPad Z-Series, the first widescreen multimedia ThinkPad notebooks with integrated Verizon Wireless Broadband Access.
ThinkPad Z-Series is designed for mobile and small business users who rely on one notebook computer for both work and life demands.
In addition to the classic black ThinkPad design, the new Z-Series is available in a special-edition, brushed titanium cover. Titanium offers a sleek new look, durability, and scratch resistance for one of the world’s most well-known notebook brands.
The ThinkPad Z60m’s 15.4-inch display offers 30 percent more data space than a 15-inch XGA and better viewing angles for notebook use on an airline flight. At 1.1-inches thick and just 4.2 pounds, the 14-inch ThinkPad Z60t is the thinnest and lightest widescreen notebook in its class. The Z60t boasts 25 percent more data space than a standard 14-inch XGA screen - the equivalent of four additional spreadsheet columns - offering a productive solution to business users who often work with multiple applications simultaneously.
The Z60m and Z60t are the first standard notebooks ever to integrate a high-speed, Evolution Data Optimized (EV-DO) wireless wide area network (WWAN) antenna for Verizon Wireless Broadband Access. The built-in WWAN antenna helps avoid many of the pitfalls associated with PC cards, including hardware incompatibility and fragile, easily damaged antennas protruding from the computer. Verizon Wireless’ network features one of the fastest connection rates in the U.S. with average speeds between 400-700 kilobytes per second (kbps). It also provides another layer of data security and protection, as it isn’t susceptible to the same vulnerabilities as a shared hot spot connection, such as data theft.
Several innovative multimedia features - including hot keys to control application functions and ports to easily upload digital images and video - make the Z-Series optimal for business or home use, including presentations, multimedia and DVD movies.
“One of the trends we’re seeing in small businesses is that the line between work and home is blurring,” said Chuck Sharp, vice president, Information Technology Solution Providers Alliance (ITSPA). “It’s not efficient to spend money on separate pieces of technology for all aspects of your life. Time is at such a premium, that small businesses are looking for technology that not only improves their productivity at work, but also allows them to maximize their personal time — at home and when traveling.”
Roll Cage Improves Notebook Durability
For business travelers, the Z-Series features a new inner armor chassis - a ThinkPad “Roll Cage” - that reduces the amount of stress on internal components when the notebook is dropped by up to 30 percent. The internal components, including the hard disk drive, are mounted in a one-piece magnesium cage that forms a more protective shell than traditional casings without affecting usability. Combined with Lenovo’s Active Protection System, a ThinkVantage Technology, the ThinkPad “Roll Cage” provides a strong solution to defend against costly hard disk damage. The Roll Cage will be deployed in the Z-Series and future ThinkPad models.
The widescreen TFT display is encased in an optional special edition titanium cover that is both durable and scratch-resistant. New Windows, multimedia and application keys enhance the legendary full-size ThinkPad keyboard. Lenovo strategically placed the large stereo speakers on either side of the keyboard for superior sound quality and volume. Adding to the multimedia capabilities are an array of ports for nearly every peripheral, including three USB 2.0 ports, as well as connections for S-Video, VGA and IEEE1394. The Z60m also boasts a 3-1 media card reader.
New ThinkVantage Technologies by Lenovo provide more powerful features in a centralized dashboard, making PC security quick and simple. The new ThinkVantage Productivity Center helps improve worker productivity by guiding them toward self-help and appropriate ThinkVantage Technologies. For example, one new feature is “Away Manager,” which helps people run system-maintenance tasks when they know they will be away from their computer. These could include pre-loaded and pre-tested tasks such as Symantec Client Security, Windows Defrag, Windows Disk Cleanup, and Lenovo’s own Rescue and Recovery backup utility. Productivity Center and Away Manager also help company IT departments customize the tools, enabling them to add their own regularly scheduled tasks, such as other anti-virus or anti-spyware utilities, as well as custom Web links, applications, and help files. In addition, Away Manager’s “whisper-mode” enables anti-virus and disk cleanup tools to run more easily in the background, occupying a smaller percentage of system resources, with less impact to the user’s valuable work time.
The Z-Series come equipped with the latest version of the ThinkVantage Client Security Solution, which enables users to recover logon passwords themselves. For added security, the Z-Series also is available with Lenovo’s integrated fingerprint reader, a convenient and secure biometric solution for password management. It also features easy and powerful disk encryption, updated password manager software, and a System Security Audit to ensure users are properly securing their system.
Mobile users will appreciate the newest version of Access Connections. Capitalizing on the new WWAN capability, the newest version of Access Connections allows for users to change environments while the ThinkPad automatically adjusts by turning on and off the right connections.
Pricing and Availability
The 14-inch ThinkPad Z60t will be available in October through www.lenovo.com. Lenovo personal computers are also available through select business partners. Prices for the ThinkPad Z60t start at $1099.
The 15.4-inch ThinkPad Z60m will be available beginning October 11. Prices for the ThinkPad Z60m start at $799.
September 22nd, 2005
NEC today announced that it has launched the world’s thinnest fold-Type mobile phone with mega-pixel camera into the Hong Kong market. Following this, the ultra-thin model will also be introduced in Italy, Russia, Australia and China, among others (TechSmec.com isn’t sure why these fine countries have been singled out).
NEC’s proprietary, cutting-edge technology has realized the creation of a modern, smart, compact and attractively packaged clam-shell type mobile phone. It boasts slim measurements of 47.9mm (width) X 101.5mm (height) X 11.9mm (depth; when folded) and a weight of 96g. Supporting mobile-internet and GSM/GPRS, it is equipped with a 1.9 inch (176 x 220 dot) 65,000 color display in addition to a digital camera (1.3 mega pixels). The sub-screen with an organic light emitting display is convenient for scrolling text messages. The phone is also loaded with a wide variety of features including PictBridge, MP3, Java and Bluetooth. Up to 64-polyphonic ring tones and two minutes of movie shooting can be enjoyed by the user.
This highly innovative model was enabled through a combination of NEC’s unbeatable technological competence in the areas of R&D and mobile. Ultra-slim mounting technology continues to be an important and constant R&D theme for NEC.
“This ultra-slim, clam-shell type mobile phone is a symbol of NEC’s leading position in the area of mobile technology,” said Susumu Otani, Associate Senior Vice President and head of Mobile Terminals Operations Unit at NEC Corporation. “We will continue to strive to offer the latest, most innovative and most attractive mobile terminal solutions on the market. Boasting compact shape and the latest technologies, our phones allow our customers to choose the right phone for their individual needs in all of our target markets across the globe.”
In March 2004, NEC introduced the world’s smallest, slimmest, card-shaped, camera-equipped mobile phone to the Chinese market. After its launch, NEC’s mobile competence continued to draw attention worldwide due to the launch of its handwriting-enabled phone, as well as its TV tuner-embedded and whole touch panel display card-shaped models, flagging it as a pioneer in not only ultra-compact design, but also user interface and mobile internet technologies.
September 22nd, 2005
Previous Posts