Archive for July, 2006
The northern Finish city of Oulu is the first in the world to try out UMA (unlicensed mobile access) technology in anger. From its population of 128962, 50 families will be using the new Nokia 6136 phone to switch seamlessly between WiFi, VoIP access and standard GSM when not in range of a WiFi hotspot.
“This pilot project is an important step forward in bringing functional UMA technology to the mass market,” Nokia mobile phones research and development senior vice president Peter Ropke said. “Both operators and consumers will be able to garner the benefits of this new technology.”
What are these benefits? As far as the consumer goes it will allow them to dispense with a landline altogther as long as they have a WiFi network at home. Telecommunications companies like the idea as installing WiFi hotspots is a lot cheaper than mobile phone basestations and they will be able to offer network access to remote areas at a much lower cost.
Which brings us back to Oulu. Quite apart from being the home of Technopolis, the first technology park in Scandanavia, Oulu has invested in a free WiFi network across the city centre, making it perfect for Nokia’s trial.
July 30th, 2006
According to reports, Sony and Toshiba have received letters from the European Commission asking them to further explain their licensing rules for Blu-Ray and HD-DVD.Although this falls some way short of an official antitrust investigation, it suggests that the EU has some cause for concern and that a full investigation is not out of the question if the answers they receive are not to their liking.
The nature of the potential breach of rules is unclear and even the European Commission are less than forthcoming. “We sent a letter earlier this month to the makers of HD-DVD and Blu-Ray to request information about licensing,” said a spokesperson, sounding more like he was interested in manufacturing a Blu-Ray player himself than launching a damaging investigation.
Toshiba have not commented on the matter, but Sony have confirmed that a letter was received, although they go out of their way to stress the informal nature of the enquiry. “There are no indications of any complaint, nor of any antitrust concerns on the part of the Commission,” they said. “Or anyone else,” added the statement just to be clear.
Among the issues the EC could be looking into are the ‘encouragement’ of studios and tech companies to support either format or the use of a strong position in a related market to drive sales, such as Sony putting a Blu-Ray drive into the PS3.
Blu-Ray and HD-DVD are only available in North America and Japan.
Source: DVD Recorder World
July 29th, 2006
Please Sony, you are spoling us with your many-featured HDD/DVD recorders!
As if the brilliant RDR-HXD700 wasn’t already enough for us, now Sony aims to trump it by releasing the RDR-HXD860.
They are also releasing an upgrade to the smaller capacity RDR-HXD500 in the form of the RDR-HXD560. The 860 has a 160GB hard drive, while the 560 has a smaller 80 GB of storage.
The 860 also has an HDMI port meaning it’s HDTV ready when the mood takes you. Both recorders can record from their built in digital tuners with 8 day EPG, or from an external source.
The RDR-HXD560 should be available now, priced £350, and the higher-spec RDR-HXD860 will be available in September, priced £400.
July 29th, 2006
It seems that Microsoft is not relying on positive press alone to persuade users to download and install the new IE7 web browser when it is released. Instead the software giant will offer the browser as part of its Windows XP Autoupdate facility. However, somewhat surprisingly given past history, Microsoft will stop short of forcing users to upgrade, offering them the option to Install, Don’t Install or Ask me Later.
Microsoft promises that clicking the Don’t Install button will stop users from receiving any future prompts to upgrade to IE7. They will also provide a Blocker Toolkit for enterprise customers who may want to block automatic delivery of IE7; this blocker has no expiration date.
The planned release date falls in the fourth quarter of 2006, although an exact date has not yet been announced.
The new information about Microsoft’s plans for IE7 delivery was revealed in Tony Chor’s IEBlog on MSDN.
July 27th, 2006
Flash memory is everywhere - phones, USB keys and even hard drives. However, the ability to revolutionise the venerable hard disc by replacing spinning discs with solid state memory depends on manufacturers increasing the density of the chips. The greater the density, the higher the capacity per unit volume and the more likely it is that capacities will match those of standard hard disc drives.
Intel and Micron have moved a step closer to making solid state hard drives a commercial reality by producing 50nm NAND Flash, a reduction from the 72nm variety commonly in use today. Both companies are sampling 4 gigabit devices now, with plans to mass produce a range of devices from 2007. A factory in Lehi Utah dedicated to the joint venture will start production of NAND in the beginning of next year.
July 27th, 2006
Ulead Systems is bringing fresh enjoyment to home video projects by allowing users to create soundtracks in high-quality 5.1-channel surround sound. Ulead VideoStudio 10 Plus video editing software includes full 5.1-channel surround sound support with Dolby Digital 5.1 Creator.
“Surround sound adds enormously to the richness of the video experience,” said Eldon C. M. Liu, president of Ulead. “With VideoStudio 10 Plus, one click adds high-quality surround sound in the same format used by professional studios. The results are simply breathtaking.”
VideoStudio 10 Plus simplifies the process of enhancing home videos and DVDs with surround sound. A single button enables 5.1 sound in editing projects, automatically converting two-channel audio to 5.1 channels. Individual adjustments for center channel, subwoofer and overall level allow users to quickly mix audio in the video, overlay, narration and music tracks. For precise placement of sounds, a new Surround Sound Mixer lets users drag-and-drop audio to position it within the sound field.
“A simple technique for creating a pleasing surround mix for home movies with a music soundtrack is to leave the audio from the camcorder video untouched while zeroing the center channel level and reducing the overall level by 6 or 12 db for the background music in the music track,” said Vinson Chen, VideoStudio product manager at Ulead. “This ensures that important dialog remains clear but still lets you use music to establish mood and emotion. It’s what they do in the movies.”
“VideoStudio 10 Plus makes it easy for anyone to take video productions to the next level with dramatic and satisfying Dolby Digital 5.1 sound effects. We are very excited to see Ulead bring this powerful technology to home users,” said Greg Rodehau, Director, PC Business Segment, Dolby Laboratories.
July 26th, 2006
If you have never put your dog into a boarding kennel before, or perhaps you are unhappy with your existing kennel, then you must wonder how to choose the best accommodation possible. For the first time UK dog owners can easily share information about boarding kennels in their area thanks to new website – www.rateakennel.co.uk.
“I always agonised about where to send my dogs,” admits site owner Jay Neill. “A preliminary visit can help settle some of the concerns, but what I really wanted to hear were testimonials from other dog owners who had used that kennel.”
“RateaKennel.co.uk is unlike other dog kennel directories on the web in that it allows owners to rate and review kennels that they have used, passing that information on to other concerned dog lovers.”
Dog owners can rate a kennel using four key criteria – cleanliness, friendliness, value and dog stimulation. They can also write a short review, giving other owners the opportunity to learn why they love a kennel, or why they would never use it again.
“I wish that a website like RateaKennel.co.uk had been around several years ago,” says Jay. “It might have prevented an unpleasant experience for my older dog if I had been forewarned about one of the kennels I’ve tried.”
Posters on popular discussion forum www.UnderstandingAnimals.com seem to love the idea. “What a fantastic idea, I’m shocked it’s not been done before as it’s such a good thing to do,” said one poster from Brighton.
Overseas members are just as enthusiastic, albeit frustrated. “What a fantastic idea! Wish you could do this for Australia!” said a poster from down under. “That is a cool idea and it would be great if we could do New Zealand as well,” wrote another.
July 26th, 2006
AMD may claim that it isn’t worried by the plaudits being dished out to Intel’s new Core 2 Duo processor, but it certainly seems to be reacting having announced a dramatic reduction in the price of its desktop processor range.
AMD chips now sell for anything between $58 for the bottom of the range Sempron 2800, to $312 for the excellent Athlon 64 X2 5000+. Crucially, the top end of the market is where AMD is coming under pressure from Intel and the Athlon 64 X2 5000+ now costs over $500 less than the FX62.
AMD also cut the price of mobile processors. AMD Turion 64 mobile chips fell by as much as 26%, with its Model ML-44 down to $263.
The next leg of the Intel/AMD battle comes on Thursday when Intel unveils its Merom notebook processor, the next launch in its Core Duo line.
AMD won’t just be relying on price cutting to keep up the pressure. Quad-core processors are in the pipeline for 12 months time. “We have a new microarchitecture under development and the first substantiation of that will be the quad-core to be launched in mid 2007,” said Dirk Meyer, AMD’s president and chief operating officer.
July 24th, 2006
Sony is making sure home movies meet the high-def expectations of home theater fans with its new HDR-UX1 and HDR-SR1 Handycam camcorders.These are the first consumer camcorders to record in full 1080i HD resolution and Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound, offering a choice in recording media. While the HDR-UX1 model records directly to readily-available, three-inch DVD discs for effortless playback and sharing, the HDR-SR1 camcorder’s built-in 30GB hard drive facilitates mass video storage as well as in-camcorder and PC editing.
“With more families adopting high-definition televisions and acquiring HD content, we want to give them a variety of ways to enjoy their home video in the same high quality,” said Linda Vuolo, director of marketing for camcorders at Sony Electronics. “Our HD camcorder line offers people greater functionality and more choice to make high-def video creation fun and easy.”
High-Def is Not Just For Sports
Sony’s new HD camcorders bring home movies fully into the home theater fold. They feature HDMI(TM) outputs for simple, one-cord connection to an HD television with no data conversion and subsequent degradation of picture quality.
Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound assures a life-like audio experience when viewing your home movies. This experience can be further enhanced with the sold-separately Sony ECM-HW1 Bluetooth® wireless microphone, which amplifies the center channel sound of the multi-point surround system and even lets you record them wirelessly up to 100 feet away.
The HDR-SR1 hard disk drive model is the perfect choice for that week-long vacation in Hawaii when the convenience of long recording times and not having to manage removable media is much appreciated. This model records more than ten hours of high-def video in long play mode. You can extend the recording time of the HDR-UX1 model up to an hour in long play mode by using Sony’s new +R double-layer, single-sided DVD.
Effortless HD Playback
HD content recorded on DVDs with either the HDR-UX1 or HDR-SR1 models can be played back on Blu-ray Disc devices, such as the forthcoming Sony BDP-S1 player and PLAYSTATION® 3 video game console. Standard DVD drives on compatible PCs can also play back these DVDs with the bundled software.
Both support the new AVCHD(TM) camcorder recording format based on the MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 codec for video compression and Dolby digital audio. This technology makes it possible to not only achieve high-quality HD video and audio, but also produce camcorders that are power efficient and compact.
Both models allow for quick data transfer from the camcorder to a compatible PC for playback and editing. The hard disk drive unit also features Sony’s One Touch Disc Burn button for easy DVD creation using a PC.
Imaging Technologies for Like No Other
These lightweight camcorders feature Sony’s ClearVid CMOS Sensor(TM) and Enhanced Imaging Processor technologies. Together, they provide high-resolution and heightened sensitivity for virtually smear-free video with vivid color and clarity.
Other benefits include four-megapixel digital still capture, a Dual Record function that allows you to shoot video and simultaneously capture 2.3 megapixel stills, and a Smooth Slow Record function to shoot video in slow motion.
Both models are also equipped with an advanced Carl Zeiss® Vario-Sonnar® T* lens to ensure true-to-life color saturation and minimize unwanted glare and flare from reflected light. Even while shooting, the camcorders’ extra-large, 3.5-inch SwivelScreen(TM) LCD screens display video with high-contrast and optimal color due to Sony’s Clear Photo Plus LCD(TM) technology. Video is easy to view on screen from any angle and in virtually any environment. The screens double as touch-sensitive control panels, giving easy access to many of the camcorders’ settings.
The HDR-UX1 camcorder will be available in September for about $1,400, and the HDR-SR1 will hit stores in October for about $1,500. Options will include a full line of accessories, including lights, lenses, microphones, InfoLithium® batteries, chargers and cables.
Both models will be available online at Sonystyle.com, at Sony Style® retail stores (www.sonystyle.com/retail), and at authorized dealers nationwide. Pre-orders will begin on July 21st at www.sonystyle.com/handycam.
July 18th, 2006
Movielink, the much maligned movie download website, has improved the usefulness of its offering by announcing that consumers will be able to burn purchases to DVD.At the moment, downloading a movie from Movielink ties you into watching it on your PC (or presumably the TV connected to your PC if you are so inclined). For most users this resulted in an unsatisfactory experience which didn’t inspire repeat shopping.
Movielink have now tied up this loose end by partnering with Sonic Solutions who produce the AuthorScript media burning software which supports a variety of DRM types. In theory this should prevent copying of the burned DVDs, but in reality they will be no harder to rip than any commercial DVD.
The only cloud on the horizon for Movielink, and it’s a big one, is that they aren’t being bowled over by movie studio support at the moment. Prior to this announcement there were rumours that Movielink was up for sale, bolstered by the news that some studios were signing digital distribution deals with other companies.
However, Movielink remains bullish. “We are anticipating an industry resolution to establish rules for converting secure Internet-delivered Movielink downloads into a secure format compatible with DVD players,” Movielink CEO Jim Ramo said in a statement.
Movielink is still only available to users in the USA.
July 18th, 2006
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