« January 2007 | Main | March 2007 »
The era of the tablet may have arrived
Wacom took a few journalists out for lunch today to talk about the handwriting features built into Windows Vista.
In short the handwriting capabilities are much improved. Windows Journal, an inbuilt hand writing notepad, is a constructive push forward from Microsoft.
Only with Microsoft's support in a mainstream operating system like Vista Home Premium does the pen tablet have the slightest chance of become a mainstream peripheral used by all - I think it's now or never for the pen tablet.
You can use a tablet as a complete replacement for a mouse and apparently Wacom is doing an in-depth study to try and conclusively prove what we all believe in the PCW office: using a tablet instead of a mouse can ease the pains of repetitive strain injury (RSI). Michael Domke, spokesman from Wacom, is already speaking the anti-RSI lingo, he said: "Working with a pen tablet will prevent RSI."
Half the PCW office has a pen tablet, because we're geeks, but also because of RSI (even if we're not suffering from it right now). It's nice to be able to change to a good old fashioned pen and take a break from the crippling mouse.
Finally Domke suggested that in future we could see a tablet that also acts as a digital picture frame. Although not currently in development, it would look great on our gadget-studded desks.
Pinnacle takes on the Slingbox and LocationFree
Pinnacle is looking to provide competition for Sony's LocationFree and Sling Media's Slingbox TV streaming devices with the new PCTV To Go.
It works in exactly the same way as LocationFree and the Slingbox - hook it up to your TV input (via Scart) and you'll then be able to view your home TV over the internet.
LocationFree dropped points due to Sony charging for its viewer software per installation. Although Pinnacle's software can be installed on any number of PCs without charge you can't download it over the net - a feature offered by the Slingbox. So, if you're in an internet cafe you'll need to have the installation CD handy to view your home TV channels.
No TV tuner is included and although there are two video inputs, only one can be controlled by the included IR blaster.
We had a brief demo of the product and, although it refused to work at first, image quality was similar to the rival products.
Pinnacle has followed Sling Media's lead in undercutting Sony in terms of price - LocationFree currently costs £229 plus £20 for each additional viewer. The standard PC TV To Go is priced the same as the Slingbox at £149, while a wireless alternative is available for £199.
PCTV To Go will be available mid-March and we'll be posting a full review soon.
AAA battery explosion
On Saturday morning I set about testing the Genius G-Note 5000, a hand writing tablet.
I inserted the four bundled AAA batteries into the back of the unit, flipped it over and before I got a chance to turn it in there was a very loud pop, followed by a fizzing noise.
At first I thought something else in the unit had exploded, but when I opened the battery department I noticed battery fluid everywhere and one of the AAA batteries had split apart at the seams.
The offender, a Maxell Alkaline Ace, got battery acid everywhere and I promptly wrapped the whole unit in a plastic bag.
Upon closer inspection (which stupidly involved me getting more acid on my fingers) I realised I'd put one of the other batteries in the wrong way round – a mistake made easier because the positive end has a spring on it just like the negative end. Either way, you wouldn't expect a battery to explode.
A quick call around my office revealed another Genious supplied battery did a similar thing about a year ago. Back then it was a GP 700 rechargable battery that was the offender. During its first battery charge it didn't go bang but did fizz and leak.
A Genious spokesperson blamed the incident on a faulty battery and said Genious has never heard of a similar incident.
Using a Vista upgrade CD as the full version
We got our hands on a retail copy of Windows Vista Ultimate upgrade and have successfully tested the way you can do a full install with a Vista upgrade key, without owning a previous version of Windows.
This directly violates Microsoft's terms and conditions, so isn't legal, however the end product is a fully licensed and authenticated copy of Vista. Current indications suggest Microsoft has no way of knowing whether or not you used this method to install Vista.
The benefits of this method are twofold. In the UK, where we suffer Microsoft's wrath over pricing, the Vista upgrade packs are 55-68 per cent cheaper than the full versions.
Secondly we've found the upgrade process from Windows XP a dirty affair with programs often given the wrong security permissions so they won't run. Unlike previous Windows upgrades, you can't insert the old Windows CD and enter a valid licence number during the upgrade process of a formatted hard disk. A clean Vista install lets you start afresh.
Although there are many other guides detailing how you do this, many of them use RTM instead of retail copies of Vista and none of them appear to have tested an Ultimate version.
The whole process takes just over an hour and is astonishingly easy to do:
- boot your PC from a Vista upgrade CD
- skip over the step where it asks you to type in your licence key by pressing next
- select 'Clean Install'
- once installed, let your PC boot up Vista
- run 'setup' from the Vista CD from within Vista
- go through the install process again
- this time enter your licence key
- select upgrade, instead of clean install, when prompted
And voila. Vista will then authenticate with Microsoft's servers and you have a clean install of Vista using only an upgrade licence key.
Er... just as I was writing about unreliable websites
Just got back from the NetEvents forum on networks and communications at Evian, France, where the network went down for the final day. Seems it was something to do with the service-provider and the massed ranks of experts could do nothing about it. As a result you'll have to wait until Monday for some of my reports.
Some kind of gremlin seems to be at work at PCW Towers, too. I've just loaded a story about web sites going down, only to find that our own site is throwing up old news and not allowing me in to put the latest up.
Recent hiccups in my Virgin Media (ex NTL Telewest ) broadband service had already got me thinking about net resilience and if I were running a small web-dependent business I would be sure to have some kind of fallback, however apparently watertight my service level agreement. It costs relatively little to have both an ADSL link and cable in areas where both are available.
Some businesses take their link for granted until it goes down. A friend of mine, who runs a news agency serving all major news outlets in the Middle East, found himself cut off for days when his ADSL crashed. He had no fallback and no business-class service level agreement, having never been told he needed one; BT appeared oblivious to the damage the disruption would cause to its reputation in a major market.
This is not just a problem for businesses. Many people work from home at least part of the week and only realise how much they depend on the web when it goes down.
Dean Bubley, founder of Disruptive Analysis, suggested at the NetEvents Forum this week that this could be where emerging technologies like Wimax could be heading: providing a fallback link for people or businesses. It makes a lot of sense.
It's an HD-DVD player (oh no it's not!)
We picked up a copy of Digital Life today, one of those ad inserts you find in magazines, and saw an HP HD-DVD drive, the HD100, on sale.
Amusingly this drive has done the rounds on nearly every big technology website in the last five months and none of them have picked up on the fact that there is something very wrong with the image.
This HD-DVD drive has been obviously been photoshopped because it included a blue light on the front of it with BD written underneath, an abbreviation for Blu-ray disc.
Even HP's own website shows the image as an homage to Blu-ray PC drives getting first to market.
Gaffes aside the HD100 costs £309.20, which is very expensive for a drive that won't write, especially when you consider Microsoft's Xbox360 HD DVD drive is fully PC compatible and sells for £130 inc. VAT.
Compact(ish) solar charging for your mobile
We've just got hold of Solar Technology's new FreeLoader - a portable solar charger for everything from digital cameras to mobile phones.
Housed in a shiny silver casing, the FreeLoader opens up to reveal two solar panels. Attach these to either side of the centre unit, choose from the 11 included power adapters and stroll outside to get charging. Most phones are supported - check Solar Technology's site for more info.
The packaging states it takes "as little as 5 hours" to charge the FreeLoader's internal battery, which we'll be keen to put to the test, and will be able to charge a mobile phone for 44 hours or an iPod for 18 hours.
Although it's reasonably compact when not in use, it's dimensions of 62x123x17mm (width x depth x height) means you'll need a fairly large pocket to carry it around with you.
Available from the 1st March, the FreeLoader will set you back £29.99. We'll be giving it a thorough test over the next few days - expect a full review soon. 
Free Virtual PC 2007 released
The Vista-compatible version of Microsoft's virtualisation software, Virtual PC 2007, has just come out of beta and is available for free download. Windows Vista Business, Windows Vista Enterprise, Windows Vista Ultimate, Windows XP Professional, or Windows XP Tablet PC Edition can be the host operating systems: XP Home and Media Center owners are out of luck. A 64-bit version is also available. The download button on the front page seems to have the wrong link - you need to go to the Microsoft Download Centre
The big difference from Virtual PC 2004 is the support for Windows Vista as a guest operating system. We've been running the beta of Virtual PC 2007 for a while now, and it works fine, although there's no support for DirectX so you can't run Vista's Aero theme or 3D games. Pretty well any x86-based OS can be installed, including of course Linux. Oddly, on the site Microsoft has a lot of references to the fact that you can run OS/2 Warp on it. Hmmm...
If you want a pleasant experience, though, the more memory you can allocate to the virtual machine, the better - we wouldn't recommend anything less than 1GB of Ram for Windows Vista as a guest OS.
Kelvyn Taylor
Nikon updates its Coolpix snappers
Nikon has given its Coolpix cameras a shake up with the release of no less than six new models.
Top of the list is the Coolpix P5000, a 10megapixel snapper with 3.5x optical zoom. Nikon is also making noise about the P5000's "incredible" 2.5in LCD monitor.
The camera comes with an in-built image stabilisation feature. Although it won't be of huge use when using the 3.5x zoom, it will certainly come in handy if you purchase the 378mm (35mm equivalent) telephoto converter. Nikon says the image stabiliser will also improve movies shot using the P5000.
We're doubtful many will actually need the 10megapixels on offer (or the ISO 3200 setting for that matter), but it's good to see another camera with a face detection feature. You can see Fuji's rival technology in action in our video review of the Fujifilm Finepix F31fd.
The P5000 will be released in March for around £330.
Come back friendly Telewest and get me out of this Branson pickle
You have been waiting in a queue got forty minutes, plagued by a particularly annoying busker who can play only one piece of music on a tinny electric organ. Suddenly an official arrives and says: "You have been waiting too long. Get to the back of the queue and start all over again."
Unfair? Doesn't make sense? Yet this is exactly what can happen with Virgin Media, the expensively rebranded NTL-Telewest.
I won't bore you with the details of how I spent an hour and a half on Friday, and from 9-30am to 5pm on Saturday, failing to change my package. Mostly it was a game of navigating voice menus and then hanging on to the same ghastly jingle until you reached an actual human who said you were talking to the wrong person.
I had the speakerphone on to allow me to do other things and at one point, hoping to goad the company into replying, I chose the option for people planning to move to another supplier. To my astonishment, after about 40 minutes, the ensuing "wait for us" jingle stopped and a voice said: "The other party has cut off."
I suppose it is one way to try to delay defections but it could also get Virgin Media sued for wasting people's time.
Still, I refused to be defeated. It became a challenge to talk to someone who would not pass me on to someone else. Late on Saturday afternoon I finally spoke to a woman who appeared willing to help me. "Hang on, I'll consult my supervisor," she said.
This time there was proper music on the line, which was somehow reassuring. Then, out of nowhere, the voice-response system kicked in, offering two completely irrelevant options. I picked one at random. "You're talking to wrong person," the man said.
Richard Branson's Virgin was supposed to be bringing improved customer relations to the cable company. If this it, please give me back friendly old Telewest.
India, land of cheap broadband, could lead way on thin clients
One of the great unknowns about IT today is what the effect will be of emerging markets like India and China. One possibility is an erosion of Microsoft dominance and an increase in the use of open-source - ironically aided by more effective policing of digital rights. As pirated software becomes harder to get, these huge markets will seek cheap alternatives.
Richard Brown, British-born vice-president of marketing for chipmaker Via, believes India will boost the use of thin clients. It seems Via is doing a lot of work in India, and Taiwan-based Brown says he is going there "a couple of times a quarter".
Part of his work is promoting Via's PC-1 project to bring low-cost computing to countries like India. "Broadband is cheap there - between $6 and $10 a month, but computers are still expensive," he said during a stopover in London.
Thin clients, which act as the front end for remote server-based applications, make a lot of sense in this context because they can be built much more cheaply than full-fledged PCs. And services like Google Apps essentially provide free software for use over the network link.
Via has produced three reference designs for thin clients, called the E-Series, based on its own processors.
At the other end of the computing scale, Via's low-drain C7 processors and small Epia EN15000 mainboards are making high-performance cluster computing relatively affordable for smaller business, according to a start-up called Ainkaboot.
One of its compact Octimod MPC7-1500 cluster modules packs eight board onto a 4U rack - or 16, with two modules stacked back to back. Prices start at around £10,000, including installation, and if you need more capacity your can simply attach another module.
Free love among the docking stations and a UWB reality check
Interesting talk yesterday with Jason Slaughter, product manager at DisplayLink, which was known as Newnham Research until late last year. It designs software and chips that can drive monitors across virtually any physical or fast wireless link.
A virtual graphics card is created on the PC which sends a compressed data stream typically across a USB 2.0 lead, allowing it to drive a monitor. As we reported yesterday, one use is in docking stations, when the USB lead also carries keyboard, mouse and audio data, allowing docking stations to mate with any notebook. One lead and they are anybody's.
The USB 2.0 lead can be replaced by a wireless USB 2.0 link, an emerging technology that uses Ultrawideband (UWB) radio instead of the physical cable. DisplayLink's system adjusts to the available data rate, and reduces latency by tricks like transmitting mouse clicks immediately, without waiting for a frame to be sent. "The response is very crisp - not like you get with some wireless systems," said Slaughter.
I wrote a couple of days back on the profound effect UWB display links could eventually have on the digital home, when potentially any device could use any monitor. This in turn could increase the popularity of small ultra-mobiles because they could always use a big screen when required.
One thing puzzled me about reports of Displaylink's demonstration of a wireless PC-monitor link at the 3GSM show. Its high-end chip can stream data for a 2-megapixel display, enough for high-definition; USB 2.0 is rated at 480Mbits/sec, again well fast enough for HD even allowing for the fact that real-throughput will be more like 200-250Mbits/sec. Yet a video stream of "only" DVD quality was mentioned,
But Slaughter says that if you are playing a DVD video and scaling it up to a 1280 by 1024 PC screen you are in fact dealing with a data rate close to that of HD TV.
More surprising to me was his revelation that Displaylink was getting only 20-30Mbit/sec out of the Wireless USB link - a tenth of the real data rate of the wired version, and roughly what you would get from a good Wifi 11g connection.
"Pure radio to radio is very much faster," said Slaughter. "I've seen [UWB alliance] WiMedia guys demonstrating 1Gigabit/sec. But as soon as you get into the real world things are very different."
Current products are loading in the Media Access Control, WiMedia, and USB.2.0 protocol stacks, all of which take a penalty and are designed for wired rather that wireless links, Slaughter said. Devices using the links treat them as ordinary wired connections, and the data stream has to pass through compatibility layers. But a direct access mode will cut through a lot of this stuff.
"I see no reason why these things should not be solved. By the end of this year we should be seeing real data rates of 150-200Mbits/sec - and that's on today's hardware."
Slaughter said UWB products using DisplayLink's technology will not appear until data rates reach this level. Incidentally the demonstration system used an Intel Wireless USB on the PC side an Alereon module on the monitor side.
Office 2007 reviewed
We've just posted our Microsoft Office 2007 review. Like the wait for Vista, Office 2007 development seems to have to have gone on forever.
I could do the popular thing and sound the death knell for Microsoft Office by claiming excellent Web 2.0 office software will end its dominance (Google Docs lets you do your work in a web browser and save it online so you can access all your documents and files from any computer) but I won't. Despite valiant advances by OpenOffice, Microsoft Office remains the best (and only) option for most white-collar workers.
The reason I say 'only option' is because of that contentious issue of document formats. Microsoft is using a document format called Office Open XML, which is different from the one used by OpenOffice, and one which Microsoft controls. The main fear remains: a Microsoft Office document won't display correctly in competing products.
So, until Microsoft uses a 100 per cent open document standard, which it won't change willy-nilly and can be viewed as universally as, say, an ASCII .txt file, we'll be tied to the product.
A small feature, one we as journalists really appreciate, is the new running word-count. It counts the whole document or a highlighted section and sits in the status bar. Students will like it too if they're trying to hit a target word count.
Finally the licensing scheme appears to remain the same. I delved into the license agreements for the different versions and found that for retail versions of Office Basic, Professional and Small Business editions:
- "You may install and use one copy of the software on the licensed device."
- "You may install another copy on a portable device for use by the single primary user of the licensed device."
The license agreement is more generous in the "Office Home and Student" edition (since home/student users have got the least to lose going to the free OpenOffice or Google Docs):
"You may install one copy of the software on three licensed devices in your household for use by people who reside there. The software is not licensed for use in any commercial, non-profit, or revenue-generating business activities."
For OEM copies, i.e. those bundled with new PCs, all the licenses state the software can only be used on the computer it ships with.
Get painting on your UMPC
If you've rushed out and bought a Samsung Q1 or are tempted by our review of the Sony Vaio VGN-UX1, you'll be pleased to hear UMPC-specific software is starting to hit the shelves.
OK, so ArtRage 2 from Ambient Design might not be what everyone's been waiting for, but it's good to see developers taking notice of UMPCs.
This latest version of ArtRage sports larger buttons (so you can use your finger instead of the stylus to navigate), while menus collapse down when you're busy painting so as not to get in your way. What's more, with a single touch of your UMPC's 'enter' button all controls and panels will disappear, leaving you with a glorious blank canvas to work on.
Artrage2 UMPC is available now for $19.95 (approx £10.95) direct from the Ambient Light website.
Moduslink responds to Vista criticism
Moduslink has denied delays in getting Windows Vista upgrade CDs to customers is its fault, instead claiming computer manufacturers are responsible for the 4-8 week delivery time.
I asked Moduslink why eligible Vista express upgrade customers haven't been receiving their CDs and Christine Pothier, marketing and communications manager for Moduslink said: "There seems to be some confusion in the market as to the delivery date.
"We are sending out the product; the delivery time frame is 4-8 weeks - that was a timeframe set by the individual OEMs [original equipment manufacturers]. Our customers should receive the product 4-8 weeks after the general date [Vista launch date]."
When asked about customers being charged multiple times Pothier said "we don't charge any monies until the product ships to the customer" and she said that taking credit card details was just a "reservation" until shipment.
So in a nutshell, Moduslink claims to be not charging customers until 4-8 weeks after January 30th, the Vista launch day, which should mean the very first express upgrade customers should start getting their Vista CDs between February 27th and March 27th.
On the issue of customers being charged multiple times Pothier said "there's nothing wrong with the system; the system is fine" and she went on to say: "What we have seen in some instances that if customers use the wrong address, different from what's held by the bank, then the authorisation process will fail."
When asked why the Moduslink telephone line went down in the first couple of days Pothier responded: "I don't have any specific information on that going down. We are aware that we have had extremely high volumes of calls following the launch. We regret obviously any delays to customers."
Moduslink denied it was ill-prepared for the launch Pothier said: "The volume is extremely high. The volume itself was anticipated but there were some specifically high spikes."
She went on to say additional support staff have been hired and blamed the high volume of calls on customers ringing up about maters unrelated to the ordering process, but still regarding Windows Vista.
When asked about some customers having their Windows XP certificate of authenticity (COA) rejected by Moduslink's system, Pothier said: "At one point some customers were having a problem. The COA was temporarily locked if there was an interruption in [internet] connectivity - the COA would have been locked before the application process was complete."
However she went on to say "we did make some adjustments there" and that it is not a problem for customers anymore. She agreed that customers should try Moduslink's website again if their COA was rejected.
Customer complaints have been widespread following Moduslink's European telephone lines crashing for more than 24 hours following the Vista launch. Dell and Toshiba also had problems but Dell went on to apologise for the difficulties.
Update 8/03/07: Microsoft has apologised for the delays customers have been experiencing over this fiasco. In an interview with PCW Microsoft wouldn't say if Moduslink had done a good or bad job distributing Vista disks. It is also happy about the fees retailers are charging for the 'free' upgrade.
70 per cent websites hackable claim "nonsense"
Claims that seven in ten websites are at immediate risk of being hacked have been disputed by security heavy weight Joel Snyder of Opus One today.
Following Acunetix's claims, which we reported yesterday, Snyder's laid down the gauntlet by saying "I'll bet $1,000 they can't steal personal data from three of them" on networkworld.com.
He thinks Acunetix is talking "sensationalist nonsense" and likens them to a spam vendor that recently disappeared in disgrace after pumping out some of its own voluptuous claims.
One of the vulnerabilities Acunetix said was a problem was directory listings being visible to all to see; Indeed, on Monday morning I went to tomshardware.co.uk and only saw their directory listings instead of the front page. This happens occasionally on site to site and hardly a gaping hole for most, even if you have sensitive data (since sensitive data should be encrypted).
Has Virgin cast a hex on my Telewest service?
Richard Branston seems to have had an effect on services at NTL-Telewest, now rebranded Virgin Media under a deal with the be-jumpered entrepreneur.
I had few problems with my service in Islington, North London, until about three weeks ago in the run-up to the launch of the new-look company. The service has since gone down three times, on each occasion for more than a day, and on two occasions I lost both the TV service and my Blueyonder broadband.
Even when the service is on, some of the TV channels are on bit-rates so low as to be barely viewable and a couple of the Discovery channels seem to be unavailable more often than not.
Postcodes that have suffered most of the recent problems are favoured habitats of London's mediacrats, so what this is doing for the new Virgin Media's image is anyone's guess.
The flashy new Virgin Media site is full of offers but lacks the service status page of the old Blueyonder site on which you could check out problems in your area – or if the page is there, the search engine can't find it.
I can, however, report that Branston's promise to improve customer relations has had some effect. My broadband went down for the third time today, for the first time after the rebranding, and the old-style automated voice has been replaced by a cheerful, young (dare I say Virginal?) woman's voice running through the numbered options.
Telewest's Liverpool-based support staff are still on the job, and they have always been helpful and friendly in my experience. They tell me my latest problem is not district-wide, which means I have to wait three days for someone to come round.
Meanwhile I await Virgin Media's explanation of why its services have deteriorated and I am checking out the alternatives.
Read Olympus , Nikon and Sony RAW images in Vista
Thanks to Tech-Recipe for digging out the links to the official RAW Vista codecs for Sony, Olympus and Nikon digital cameras. These let you import and view the RAW files directly into Vista. Unfortunately the Nikon one doesn't appear to be a live download yet.
3 X-Series Gold - a good service not to be recommended
When 3 launched its X-Series service, which gives you a range of internet and TV options on a mobile phone, we thought it looked pretty interesting - especially its tie-up with Sling Media's Slingbox
Having spent several weeks testing the Gold package, I found myself in that funny position of liking a service that I wouldn't recommend - yet. That sounds odd, because overall I was actually really impressed. But its cost holds me back. At £45 a month, I just don't think I need to access my home TV from anywhere (via the Slingbox) or watch TV streamed over the internet when I'm out and about.
You get access to the internet using the service, but it's been tailored for Skype (not SkypeOut though), Windows Live Messenger, Yahoo, eBay and via the Orb, you can access your home or work PC. The TV streams have been its big draw, and the quality when using the Slingbox was far superior to what you get when tuned into the internet TV streams.
But if you live outside of a main urban area, you'll likely find the regular lost 3G signal very frustrating if watching the TV. It really highlights just how many areas currently don't get a signal.
But I do think this is the future of mobile services. While we test and some sign up to these infant 3G add ons, given time we'll see better quality services. And you can't just dismiss the service with comments like 'I'd never watch TV on my mobile'. And to those who think they can, I'd ask how many of you uttered the words 'I'd never own a mobile phone....' in the past. Many of you, I'd suggest.
So while I made the rather contradictory statement of I wouldn't recommend the service yet, that's because for me the price puts me off. With more compelling offerings, I might be tempted - throw in a decent broadband connection for that £45 for instance and I'd start seeing why I need to watch TV on my phone and access my PC on the move.
Read a full review of 3's X-Series Gold package
Symantec to rate websites
Symantec visited PCW today and told me about its new security product, Norton 360, and its plans to rank websites according to how trustworthy they are – a completely different angle to anti-phishing.
Any website can be rated by Symantec's software and this ranking will happen in two ways:
1) data from official bodies that oversea selling complaints, for example Trading Standards in the UK and the Better business bureau in the USA, will be collected for ranking websites
2) a community rating will be given to websites, where all Symantec users can give their opinion on websites
This feature will be a part of the next Norton Internet Security version and Norton 360.
Norton 360 includes everything in Norton Internet Security 2007 (NIS2007) but adds PC Tune-up, which does basic defragging and cleans up temporary files, and Back & Restore software, which provides 2GB of online storage and scheduling for backing up files and folders to external devices etc.
The new security suite will arrive in March priced £59.99, £10 more than NIS2007, and like NIS2007, Norton 360 comes with three licences so it can be legitimately installed on three different PCs for 12 months, a really positive step in my opinion.
How the death of TV sets could change mobile computing
Most LCD TVs sold over the past couple of years can double as PC monitors, eroding the distinction between the two. The emergence of UWB monitor links could eliminate the distinction altogether; the standalone TV set will give way to the smart monitor that can be used as the front end for any device that happens to be talking to it - including a set-top-box or TV tuner.
This is already the case in homes networked by early adopters, where the TV can easily be used as a dynamic photo frame, an audio player, a video screen, and a PC monitor. But the system has to be foolproof to go mainstream and UWB should eventually eliminate much of the tangle of cables in the average living room.
The downside is that it requires more cabling between rooms because UWB is very short range; but this may in the long term prove essential to ease the problem of wireless pollution, which will only get worse with the industry more bothered with hyping today's products for quick sales rather then developing optimum solutions for the future.
The industry answer is that emerging 11n Wifi wireless will provide the range and bandwidth to reach the places UWB hasn't got the legs for; but there have to be doubts about whether 11n will scale up if everyone starts using it to throw high-def video about. The first draft of the 11n spec was all about increasing range and hogging limited bandwidth to boost data rates, both of which will exacerbate the contention that is already cramping the use of Wifi in cities.
A compromise would be to use very focussed Wifi beams at minimum necessary power to link floors, which would reduce contention and incidentally increase security.
The most interesting aspect of UWB monitor links is the knock-on effect it could have on mobile computing. Notebook users today carry a nearly full-sized monitor around with them, which adds to the weight and battery drain. They are hardly likely to do this if they can use any available TV or monitor.
So think again if you regard ultra-mobile PC screens as too small. Their day will come.
Iomega 2TB drive available
We flagged the US release of Iomega's 2TByte Storcenter Pro NAS 150d Server drive last month. It is now shipping in Europe for £775 ex Vat, with a 1TByte version costing £535.
It will act as a server for up to four printers connected via its USB 2.0 ports and Iomega says it one of the first products of this class to support hot-swapping of any of its four internal hard drives.
First AMD Fusion chips like Geodes?
AMD's first Fusion chip will only contain one CPU and one GPU, if a slip by Giuseppe Amato, technical director of sales and marketing at AMD is true.
The combined CPU/GPU chip should launch in 2009 and Amato said it would only have one CPU and one GPU on a single piece of silicon. When I asked him to confirm this he said a very definitive yes, but later backtracked saying he would rather not talk about the issue and that actually the first Fusion chips might have multiple CPU cores.
From this, I'd suggest a basic birth for the new processor. Getting one CPU and one GPU talking to each other on one piece of silicon is no small feat and this has to be the first step before you start adding multiple CPUs, crossbars and caches.
Additionally, talk of multiple GPUs on one die (internal-crossfire, say) should never become an talking point, since multiple GPUs on the same die are just an amalgamation of pipelines into a bigger stream processor, unlike multicore CPUs.
During a different part of his presentation, Amato spoke about the $100 one laptop per child initiative. Fascinatingly, if you delve into its specs it quickly becomes clear that AMD is already using its Fusion ideas in developing the $100 laptop CPU, the Geode GX-500.
It has an integrated graphics controller and unified memory architecture, so AMD already has some experience in doing CPUGPUs. A small number of these laptops are already knocking about, although they won't officially ship until 2008.
Finally, and we all know it's coming, Amato dropped some hints about ATI chips being made in AMD fabs. ATI, now know internally as AMD north since they're Canadians, will transition its stuff to AMD foundries "where it makes sense to do it". Originally AMD kept schtum on the issue, perhaps because it didn't want to piss off TMSC and UMC, which currently manufacture the graphics chips.
Microsoft Home Media Server beta could run on your old PC
Microsoft has reached the Beta 2 stage with the Home Media Server product that it announced at the Consumer Electronics Show in January. The idea is to have a box for sharing digital content around the home, and eventually the software will sell with dedicated hardware.
But, judging from a blog from the project's general manager Charles Kindel, the hardware requirements are fairly modest and you could probably adapt an old PC for the purpose - though you may need to upgrade to USB 2.0.
He says he has run it on a 550MHz Pentium III but recommends a processor of roughly the same power as a 1GHz PIII, with at least 512Mb of Ram, 100Mbit Ethernet, minimum 80Gbyte hard disk, and "some sort of cheapo" graphics processor - you won't need a monitor when the machine is set up.
Kindel warns that many motherboards with integrated graphics use system memory so that "if you only have 512MB of RAM you might need to change the BIOS settings to use the minimum amount of system memory."
You also need an internal or external DVD driver and a BIOS that supports booting from a DVDs.
You may have to wait for the software, though, because Microsoft is currently inviting you to register for notification when the software is available. The link is not yet active but may be by the time you read this.
Microsoft hits back over Open XML standards application
Below is the full statement from Microsoft, quoted in our news story today, in response to news that the UK's British Standards Institute has submitted a 'contradiction' to its bid to get the new Open XML formats accepted as a global standard.
To translate some of the acronyms: ISO is the International Standards Organisation; IEC is the International Electrotechnical Committee; JCT presumably means Joint Committee on Technology but we can't find it spelled out; ECMA 376 refers to the European Computer Manufacturer's Association standardisation of Open XML, which may not be recognised in itself by some government organisations but can fast-track acceptance by the ISO.
Microsoft's statement reads:
The evolution of Apple: Steve Wozniak interview (audio)
We interviewed Steve Wozniak a while ago, who talked about his early days with Apple, designing the first computers and how the company has since evolved.
Our news editor Clive Akass recorded it for his notes, but we thought Apple fans might like to hear what Steve had to say. So the sound quality is not great, as we never intended it to be broadcast.
I've left much of it in, just chopping out rambling questions/answers that went off on a tangent and the waitress asking what they wanted to drink! The ending, by the way, is genuine - after that Steve and Clive started talking about digital voice recorders.
To give you an outline of the flow, here's what Steve talked about:
- Making the Apple 1
- The Apple 2
- Bill Gates in the 70s
- His plane crash/the Macintosh project
- Leaving Apple
- Going into teaching
- His view of Apple now
- The iPod
- Shafted by Jobs
- The Mac architecture
Dell Vista CDs not shipping until late February
Dell has said it won't be sending out Vista upgrade CDs until late February. The delay will affect customers who bought 'Vista capable' Dell PCs with Windows XP installed after October 26th 2006.
The news comes after a series of failures, previously reported by PCW, owing to a massive uptake of the Vista upgrade CD which saw Moduslink, who handles most manufacturers' Vista upgrades, telephone line go down and Dell and Toshiba's websites halt for more than 24 hours.
In a statement to PCW Dell said it "expects to begin shipping the upgrade in the latter part of February. The upgrade availability for some systems like the XPS 710 and 710 H2C will take longer. We're still validating some drivers for high-end graphics cards and gaming peripherals, and still testing compatibility with some gaming software.
"[Dell will] focus on shipping orders based on when they are processed. If customers are not sure whether their order was processed, we suggest they visit www.dellvistaupgrade.com and click on Order Status. If their order was not processed, they should return to the home page at www.dellvistaupgrade.com and resubmit the order."
A disgruntled PCW reader first gave an indication of delays when he was told by Dell that it wouldn't begin shipping the Vista CDs until 'late February'.
Dell apologised on its blog and said it will extend the period for cashing in the Vista Express Upgrade voucher until March 31st instead of the 15th.
We have been unable to get a comment from Moduslink about the similar problems it has been suffering.
Update 15/02/07: We've published Moduslink's response, denying that delays are its fault, here.
Update 8/03/07: Microsoft has apologised for the delays customers have been experiencing over this fiasco. In an interview with PCW Microsoft wouldn't say if Moduslink had done a good or bad job distributing Vista disks. It is also happy about the fees retailers are charging for the 'free' upgrade.
Samsung travel guide for cameras
There is an interesting battle emerging in the convergence arena. Yes, it's that buzz word most of us have come to hate since 'convergence' usually means jack of all trades, master of none.
Mobile phones trying to become mp3 players/low resolution cameras have been around for a while now. The iPhone will add basic phone and camera functions to its pedigree in music playback to woo us and the final contender is the digital camera trying to do some of the same – act as decent music and video player (ok, so no phone functions… yet).
Samsung announced today it hopes to have 20 per cent of the UK camera market by 2009.
To do that it's gone wild trying to release as many new products as possible. In addition to the seven cameras it announced at the beginning of January it has since added the S1030, a cheaper 10megapixel camera than the S1050, the L74 Wide, which has a 28mm wide-angle lens for wide pics and the 10megapixel NV11.
Perhaps the most intriguing digital camera is the L77, which is one of the first true convergence products from the digital camera space. Depending on how you flip the screen it will act as a movie player, mp3 player or digital camera.
The movie mode is very average and has a mangled aspect ratio. The mp3 player is fine, except you have to use a 2.5mm headphone jack which, as any PDA owner will know, is about as useful as public transport on a snowy day in London.
It also features Samsung's new Tour Guide software that is a kind of mini-travel encyclopaedia for its digital cameras. The software currently indexes 2,600 cities across the world with travel, sight-seeing and historical information as well as a few pictures of major landmarks.
I think this is a good idea for travellers who run about snapping up their vacations but the software crashed when we tried it and a Samsung official subsequently whisked the device away.
Considering you can download pretty much all of Wikipedia minus images in a 1.4GB file, ideal for PDAs, it seems bizarre that Samsung is trying to start from scratch.
Here's a quick clip of the software (working):
Sony Vaio UX1 - first impressions
We've got our hands on the first sample of Sony's new UX1 Vaio (full name: VGN-UX1XN), rival to Samsung's Q1, and can now bring you our first impressions.
UPDATE: Full Samsung UX1 review now live
It runs the Business edition of Vista and, with an Intel Core Solo ULV U1500 processor and 1GB of Ram, manages to cope with the Aero effects admirably. However, the slow processor struggles when multiple applications are running simultaneously.
Instead of a standard hard disk, the UX1 uses 32GB of flash memory. This makes it faster to boot, but you're not left with much space to install applications. Both CompactFlash and MemoryStick slots are available to boost the capacity.
In terms of usability, the qwerty keyboard (revealed by sliding the screen up) takes a bit of getting used to. Its small size also means you have to use your thumbs to type. The included stylus lets you write on the screen using Vista's Tablet functionality, but neither method is great when it comes to writing more than short notes.
With a resolution of 1,024x600, the display is crisp and bright, but it does sometimes leave you squinting.
Battery life is always a big concern with devices such as this, and although we're yet to run our formal tests, it looks as if it will be good for roughly two hours of general usage. For a device that's designed to be carried around with you all day, this isn't great.
It will hit the market later this month, and you can pre-order one on the SonyStyle site now - if you're willing to meet the staggering £1,999 asking price that is.
Read our full Samsung UX1 review.
Steve Jobs: DRM is Europe's fault
In a lengthy article posted on the Apple website, Steve Jobs has posted his "Thoughts on Music", much of which is a rant against the evil European music companies that he says have forced Apple's iTunes to implement DRM on digital music downloads.
"Much of the concern over DRM systems has arisen in European countries. Perhaps those unhappy with the current situation should redirect their energies towards persuading the music companies to sell their music DRM-free. For Europeans, two and a half of the big four music companies are located right in their backyard. The largest, Universal, is 100% owned by Vivendi, a French company. EMI is a British company, and Sony BMG is 50% owned by Bertelsmann, a German company. Convincing them to license their music to Apple and others DRM-free will create a truly interoperable music marketplace. Apple will embrace this wholeheartedly."
Well, glad to see that's been cleared up then.
Vista driver watch: Hauppauge WinTV Nova-T 500 dual Freeview tuner
We're trying out assorted hardware on Vista as and when we get the chance, to check out the state of drivers. It's especially fun for stuff that doesn't have any Vista compatible stickers on the box, such as Hauppauge's dual DVB-T PCI TV tuner, the WinTV Nova-T 500. This was released in the latter half of 2006.
The Nova-T 500 gets the thumbs-up, but with a couple of provisos. Make sure you first download the 3.3c version of the driver CD (30MB) - earlier versions, like the 2.5 WHQL version supplied with our model, don't have Vista support, although we found that Vista Ultimate will install them - it was only when we tried to unsuccessfully scan for channels we realised something wasn't right. This could confuse new owners if they've bought an old-stock retail box.
Running the supplied Hwclear utility to get rid of the old drivers, rebooting and pointing Vista at the newly-downloaded drivers (they're in the /Drivers directory in the zip file) sorted everything out perfectly, apart from the fact that the drivers are still digitally unsigned and not WHQL certified. Note also that there are no Vista 64-bit drivers available yet.
Both tuners and the infrared remote control dongle were recognised by Vista Media Center and are working flawlessly. The remote control itself also works fine. We did try leaving our old Twinhan DVB-T card installed to see what would happen, but Media Center won't let you use more than two tuners simultaneously.
We haven't tried Hauppauge's own WinTV2000 software yet, but it's supposed to work in Vista too. We'll post an update when we get round to installing it.
UPDATE 7 Feb: Hauppauge's PR has informed us that there is a beta 64-bit Vista driver available for the Nova-T 500. Also, there is an old and complicated MCE hack to allow more than two tuners, but we haven't tried it in Vista yet.
Panasonic CF-W5 toughbook drop test
This is the Panasonic Toughbook CF-W5 drop test, which formed part of our written review you can read here.
In summary this laptop made us smile every time we used it, perhaps because of its diminutive dimensions or perhaps because of the iPod-like scroll wheel at the edge of the circular mousepad.
Backlight bleeding and a ridiculous price held it back though.
Apple gets more out of Vista
Apple is telling Windows users to put off upgrading to Vista until it has a compatible version of its iTunes software ready, according to the BBC.
Apparently music and video purchased from the online store can fail to play. Other problems supposedly include poor animation and other media, contact and calendar synchronisation problems.
The announcement comes as Bill Gates added fuel to the fire by slating Apple's amusing 'get a Mac' ads. No news is bad news and, like every other Vista story, Gates has given Apple credence by commenting on OS X.
On a side note, type in Bill Gates vs. Steve Jobs into Google and you get a fascinating array of articles criticising Jobs for doing so little for charity, despite having a $4bn fortune. As a show-man I'm sure he could stir up hysteria about a charity in the same way he made Apple fan boys go crazy for iPhones... think iCharity.