Thursday, February 23, 2006
February 23, 2006 As mobile phone penetration approaches ubiquity, the potential for technology to make our lives more productive grows daily. Two glowing examples of this have just been launched in Australia from organizations intent on changing public perception of them from low-tech utilities to high-tech service organizations. Mobile phone penetration in Australia is expected to reach 94% by mid-2006, enabling personalised information services to be delivered at new levels. Connex Melbourne operates 15 rail lines, 300+ trains, 200+ stations and carries 145 million passengers a year. Transport users can now register for SMS updates via the Connex web site, providing details of their travel patterns. When a train is delayed or cancelled, a personalised SMS message is sent advising of the delay and next scheduled service. Interactive SMS queries are also possible. Similarly, Australia Post’s new 'Mail2Day’ service is a notification service that lets Post Office Box customers know when they have received mail either by SMS or email. ..
Monday, February 20, 2006
AFP - Researchers at US technology firm IBM have discovered that current chip-making technology has the potential to make computer processors even tinier and cheaper than was first thought.
The popular format that defined the online music revolution is outdated, but a new upgrade may give MP3 its best chance for a second life. Commentary by Eliot Van Buskirk. This column is also available as a .
A reader writes: "Unipage recently released a beta version of its Unipage Unifier. The Unipage encoding is a way to encode a full page with its images, CSS, Javascript, Flash, and whatnot, into just one HTML file. The 'Unipage Unifier' program instantly turns any online or local page into a 'Unipage' that can be viewed directly in a browser. It saves the mess of files when you normally save a complete web page, but maybe the bigger scoop is that now people can use 'Unipages' to send content rich documents instead of PDF. But Unipages are superior to PDF in their ability to hold functionality (Javascript), Flash animations and practically anything normally possible in a web page. Together with any program that can export into HTML you can get fully styled, dynamic, portable documents instantly. And it's free." Good luck taking down the installed base of PDF
We can't for sure confirm that Sony is in fact launching the following models, but according to Let's Go, the Sony Centre site (which we can't seem to find) has it that Sony's PMA offering this year to come in the form of another five models: The Cybershots DSC-H2, DSC-H5, DSC-W40, DSC-W70, and DSC-W100. We didn't hear anything about the six megapixel DSC-W30 and DSC-W50 we saw the other day, but here's the skinny on the above models as we understand it: the DSC-H2 has a six megapixel CCD, 12x optical zoom, Steady Shot OIS (optical image stabilization), 1000 ISO mode, 3-inch display, and VGA 30fps video recording; the DSC-H5 appears to be the same device, but with a seven megapixel sensor (both available in May); the W40 doesn't have much info on it, but would have a 6 megapixel sensor, 2-inch display, and 32MB of internal memory; the W70 features a seven megapixel CCD, VGA 30fps recording in MPEG-4, and 64MB internal memory (both it and the W40 could see release in March); the DSC-W100 may have an 8 megapixel sensor, 3x optical zoom, 2.5-inch display, 64MB internal memory, USB 2.0, and may debut in April. Oh, and apparently Sony's working on a new digital SLR (or two or ten) as per their technology handover from Konica Minolta, which could launch in the summer. We know that's a lot to digest, but hey, we're just trying to get you ready for PMA this month.
iPod cases are a dime a dozen and new ones usually elicit a yawn, but these Iconz iPod Video Cases are just a little different. Take your pick of a dozen iconic characters such as Batman, Homer Simpson, Darth Vader, and of course, the classic Superman logo. Plus, there's a see-through back that lets you keep an eye on the shiny-shiny side of the iPod, a nice touch, unless of course it's a veritable skating rink full of scratches that would be best covered up.
Iconz for iPod with Video [XtremeMac via The Cool Hunter]
Sunday, February 19, 2006
Ant writes "Commtouch reports the January 2006's virus and spam statistics. Its summary said there were four massive virus attacks (including a multi-wave attack of 7 variants) and the most aggressive attacks penetrated before the average antivirus (AV) solution could even release a signature. The data is based on information continuously gathered by the Commtouch Detection Center, which analyzed more than 2 billion messages from over 130 countries during the month of January 2006
The recording industry certainly has a history of dirty tricks when it comes to the various lawsuits they're involved in. Last year, for example, it came out that they had stalked the CEO of Sharman Networks (makers of Kazaa) with a 24-hour surveillance program that lasted several months. The latest is that they're apparently trying to intimidated Patricia Santangelo by investigating her kids. While certainly not the first person to stand up to the RIAA when accused of file sharing she claims she didn't do, Patricia Santangelo has become quite a thorn in the side of the RIAA since her case was revealed. She's been publicly standing up to the RIAA and won't back down -- like many others who initially resisted, but eventually settled. Even after losing her original lawyer, she has continued to fight. The RIAA's latest tactic, as submitted by Jon, is to reveal to Santangelo and her new lawyer that they've been investigating her children, and have been able to collect a lot of non-public information. The RIAA will probably claim that the info is related to the case, but it certainly borders on using scare tactics, and trying to intimidate Santangelo into backing down.
