iPhone coming to UK, but not for another 7½ agonizing weeks

Well. Most of the rumours have proved to be true. The carrier of the UK iPhone will indeed be O2, and apart from O2 shops (including the recently-acquired The Link shops) the only independent retailer will be Carphone Warehouse. The phone will be identical to the $399 8GB US model.

As of 1pm GMT the only major Mac website reporting on this is TUAW. Some places still haven't got their act together - O2's official iPhone page was briefly visible at 11am GMT but has since been unavailable for over two hours since. Funnily enough Carphone's iPhone page is live and kicking.

The iPhone is priced at a surprisingly reasonable £269 (inc. VAT). Prior to the launch some people were predicting as much as £600! Tariffs start at a not-quite-so-reasonable £35 per month for 200mins/200texts with £45 for 600mins/500texts and £55 for 1200mins/600texts for the heavier users. All plans include unlimited internet usage. There is also apparently a deal with WiFi Hotspot outfit The Cloud, who specialise in providing paid WiFi access in pubs, restaurants, and city centres. The Cloud have a Hotspot finder here. The biggest news is probably the lack of 3G. This is allegedly due to the high power costs of using 3G on a mobile device. So we're all stuck with O2's currently-being-upgraded EDGE network, although for those of us who don't live or work in a major city don't care too much about 3G anyway. O2 have a website to check coverage in your part of the UK.

I can't wait to place my order

This post isn't about Twitter

Okay, I lie, it is ... kind of. Mike over at industry watcher TechDirt has an interesting article on the demise of Tello and corresponding rise of Twitter. As is the norm for TechDirt, the article is a densely-packed single head-expanding paragraph with very little 'fluff'.

MacBook Pro battery growing pains

A few days ago I noticed my 9-month-old MacBook Pro seemed to be wobbling slightly while I was typing. Since I use the laptop on my dining table I initially thought I had trapped either a coaster or the power lead underneath. However after a quick investigation I discovered that my battery was bulging out from the bottom of the machine! It might not be that obvious in my blurry photos, but it's the white pouch inside the battery that has expanded and forced the cover upwards.



Given the recent reports of a spectacular MacBook battery failure I decided the prudent course would be to operate the laptop solely on mains power for a while!

Airport Extreme 802.11n setup problems - solved

So ... the Airport Extreme 802.11n base station (mentioned last week) arrived safely. On the same day I received a new LaCie Porsche Design 320GB USB hard disk (don't laugh, this drive had the best dollars to gigabytes ratio out of all the major vendors' offerings). I was too busy to do anything with the equipment for the first few days but eventually found an hour to set it all up. Little did I know how much more time I would need ...

A little background first. My current setup consists of an Airport Express in my living room connected to ADSL and a stereo. I have a Canon MP750 multifunction printer but it's upstairs in the study meaning I have to take my MacBook Pro upstairs to print anything. I wanted to connect the printer wirelessly, but without running very long cables from the living room to the study. Also due to rapidly shrinking free hard disk space on my laptop I have lately been wanting to install a network hard drive, so when the Airport Extreme (from now on referred to as AEN) was announced it looked like just the thing since it would also solve my printer problem. My plan was to connect the AEN to the printer and a USB hard drive, while continuing to use the Express downstairs for the ADSL and stereo.


Connecting all the appropriate cables was very simple - just a power cord each for the hard drive and the AEN and a USB cable between them. Inserted the CD that comes with the AEN and installed the software. Beyond this point I was expecting a mostly-automated configuration via Airport Utility which 'just worked'. Unfortunately Airport Utility assumes you are setting up a new network and doesn't seem to allow for joining an existing one. This meant I had to configure it manually...

Two days later, and many boring hours trawling the internet, I am finally done. It's been a long and arduous journey! And not at all what I've come to expect from Apple gear. What follows is a brief description of the problems I encountered.

The actual setup
You might recall that I wanted to keep my Airport Express in its current role and add the new AEN to connect the printer and hard drive. Now I foolishly assumed this meant I should use the AEN to extend my existing network and wasted a couple of already-scarce hours troubleshooting the faulty setup. Once I finally realised that I needed to use a WDS network and set the Express to WDS Main mode and the AEN to WDS Remote mode things started to look up - a little. While both Airport units were visible on the same network, I couldn't see my hard drive. After more research on the Apple 802.11n forums I came across several recommendations to reformat the hard drive to fix non-visible drive issues. Following this advice I connected the drive directly to one of my Mac's USB ports and formatted it as Mac OS X Extended (not journalled) and - Eureka! - the drive was now visible in Airport Disk Utility and could be mounted with the name 'AirDisk'. The light on the AEN was still flashing orange, but I didn't care. Success! Or so I thought ...

Teething problems
One of the first things I did was to start copying my iTunes library to the newly mounted AirDisk. This was something I wanted to do anyway to free up some space on my laptop hard disk and I thought I could get a feel of the AirDisk's speed while copying many gigabytes of data. Within the first few minutes I knew what the speed felt like - it was pretty slow. Don't get me wrong - I knew I only had an 802.11g Mac but my transfer speed was only around 3.1 MB/sec, nothing like the almost 7 MB/sec which 54Mbps 802.11g should be capable of. Nevertheless I left it churning away and left it for an hour or two. However when I returned I found a dialog box saying the AirDisk had disconnected, and my file copy had been aborted.

Things went downhill from this point. Now nothing seemed to work. I couldn't re-mount the AirDisk even though I could see it with Airport Disk Utility. The AEN was behaving extremely erratically, disappearing from the Airport Utility panel before mysteriously reappearing some time later. I could reboot everything and the network would seem to work but the AirDisk was still not mountable. Then 10 minutes later the network would fall apart again. It was all quite annoying.

After much head-scratching, I eventually figured out that the network dropping out after a few minutes was the sort of thing that would happen if two devices on the same network are both acting as DHCP servers. Searching through the Internet panel of the AEN configuration screens I finally noticed a drop box to disable 'internet sharing' and activate 'bridge mode'. Bingo! This solved the dropped network issues, AND it turned the AEN light to a solid green.


But my AirDisk was still not working. At this point I began wondering if the drive had suffered some kind of catastrophic failure in its first day of use.

It eventually occurred to me to disconnect the AirDisk from the AEN and reconnect it to my laptop. The only reason I didn't do this earlier was the fact that I had only formatted the drive a couple of hours earlier! But once I connected the drive, lo and behold, nothing. It didn't show up in the Finder. I proceeded to check the drive with Disk Utility and immediately discovered the problem:

This 'invalid sibling link' could not be fixed by Disk Utility. I looked it up on Google but found precious little relevant information. Luckily the mighty DiskWarrior was up to the challenge and was able to fix the problem. One directory rebuild later, and the AirDisk was magically mounted on the Mac's desktop! I disconnected it from the Mac and plugged it back into the AEN via a USB hub. I remounted it wirelessly using Airport Disk Utility and everything now seems to be hunky-dory. Hopefully I'm not tempting fate by saying that. Watch this space.

The Printer
Getting the printer to work was pretty straightforward. Trying to print to my old printer profile resulted in a 'printer not found' error, but simply re-selecting my printer in the 'Bonjour' submenu of the print dialog box created a new working profile. I made that my default profile before deleting the old one. Job done. (Although my printer is a multifunction I don't expect scanning to work wirelessly and haven't bothered to test it).

Results
Well, I finally have the exact setup I was hoping for. My Airport Express is connected to the living room stereo and AirTunes works flawlessly. The Express is also sharing the ADSL signal. The AEN is upstairs connected to an unpowered USB hub which is in turn connected to my printer and the new hard drive. Everything is working, and I don't have any cables running through my walls! I'm very pleased. One thing I would mention to anyone contemplating this is that I took the opportunity to rearrange my iTunes library and copied 15GB of music to the AirDisk before adding it all to iTunes (iTunes was not set to copy files and not to keep the library organised). Since the files wouldn't be moved I figured that adding them to the library wouldn't take too long. Oh boy was I wrong about that - determining gapless playback over 802.11g for 15GB of music took around 14 hours! It all worked without dropping any connections though, so hopefully that's a good stress test of the AirDisk. One thing I have noticed is that the hard drive doesn't seem to spin down, and although it doesn't bother me this is something I would expect to be addressed by a firmware update. Some people claim that not spinning down reduces the life of the hard drive but - given that modern drives have a MTBF measured in hundreds of thousands of hours - I'm not one of them.

Despite complaining about the speed I should add that the system is still highly usable. iTunes plays over the 802.11g network just fine. Movies and music videos seem to play without problems. I am still experimenting with iPhoto but others have reported success. I've also copied a lot of stock photography to the AirDisk and despite a slight pause while the custom icons are displayed the responsiveness is excellent. I have also set up nightly scripts to backup important documents to a folder on the AirDisk. As a laptop user I find the convenience to be well worth the price of the hardware. Not to mention freeing up dozens of gigabytes on my already crammed laptop hard drive.

Conclusions
This is a great product with excellent benefits for us laptop-as-sole-computer types who don't want to be constantly connecting and disconnecting wires. Having said that however the actual product has a distinct 'version 1.0' feeling to it. I don't consider my single Airport Express network to be particularly unusual but adding the AEN to it was unreasonably difficult. Airport Utility's automatic configuration needs to be significantly improved for this device to be truly accessible to your average consumer. Nevertheless, I still love it

iPhone frenzy

Well, it's finally been announced, and it has far surpassed the expectations of even the most optimistic Apple fan! I wrote a lengthy piece about it on my mobile phone blog. I bet Bill Ray is feeling pretty foolish right about now

17" MacBook Pro in da house - one user's gripes

It's happened. I hinted at it several times before, but as of 7 days ago I am the proud owner of a new 17" 2.16GHz MacBook Pro with the 100GB 7200rpm drive. Once Apple announced the speed bump and price reductions across the line at the end of May I knew that it was time to splash the cash. Luckily for me the other half is a secondary school teacher, so we qualified for Apple's excellent education discount. Instead of paying £1900, we got the beast for a 'mere' £1750. Add in another £110 or so for a 1GB memory stick from Crucial (significantly better than the £200 Apple would have charged) and the grand total was around £1850. Not a small chunk of change by anyone's standards, but given that my venerable 667MHz Titanium Powerbook is definitely showing its age, it's a worthwhile buy.

Having had the machine for almost a week now, I can definitely say that the speed increase has been wonderful. Apps launch almost instantly. Spotlight is finally a useful tool. Web pages render with far more of that near-mythical 'snappy'. Programs that were as slow as molasses on the old laptop (Dreamweaver MX 2004 I'm lookin' at you) are now quite usable on the MacBook Pro even under Rosetta emulation. I am aware that these are all fairly subjective measurements, so as a test I whipped out my trusty old copy of DVD2OneX. The results were approximately what I expected, but it was still nice to see the results firsthand. Processing a 7GB DVD on the old Powerbook takes about an hour. Using the universal binary version of DVD2OneX on the MacBook Pro this now takes approximately 12 minutes! Absolutely fantastic, or as Jeremy Clarkson might say, "enough to give me a semi"

Despite all the good experiences of the last few days, there have been a few negatives. The MacBook Pro itself exhibits several of the problems reported by other people:

Heat
The MacBook Pro certainly gets quite hot. After a few hours of casual use the left palm rest gets very warm - not uncomfortable but enough to make your palm a bit sweaty! Also the strip of case between the keyboard and the screen (just above the air vent) gets extremely hot, to the point where extended contact is certainly uncomfortable, and even slightly painful. I have yet to run any lengthy CPU-intensive tasks, but I plan on remedying that situation in the next day or two. As long as it doesn't get any hotter than it is now I think it is fairly warm but acceptable.

Warped screen case
The case around the screen exhibits a slight warp when the lid is closed, i.e. when it is closed the gap between the screen and the body of the laptop isn't even. The gap is noticeably wider at the front corners of the machine than it is at the central latch area, i.e. perhaps 0.75mm at the latches and 1.5mm at the corners. This is also apparently a fairly common problem, but other than the slight annoyance of a cosmetic flaw in a £1850 laptop, it doesn't really bother me.
[Update: while taking these photos I've now concluded that the screen warp has at least partially corrected itself. As you can see from the photo above it is still noticeable, but it is not as bad as it was when I first unpacked the laptop.]

Other screen issues
I had previously noticed the new (compared to the Powerbook) hinge design during my last visit to an Apple Store. While I can see the logic of the new design in that it reduces the depth of the laptop, I wasn't so happy to find that I could no longer really use my laptop while standing up because the screen cannot fold back nearly as far as my Powerbook. This results in me having to bend down to properly read the screen.

Secondly, despite Apple offering a choice between glossy and matte screens, the matte screen of my MacBook Pro is noticeably glossier than the Powerbook's. Not a huge deal, but something I noticed immediately.

The third issue is the new hinge mechanism. It is far looser than the hinge on my almost-4-year-old Powerbook. Admittedly the MacBook Pro's screen glides very smoothly and is easily adjusted with a light push from a single finger while the Powerbook screen takes two hands to adjust (one to move the screen and one to hold the base of the laptop to stop it moving!). However there is a flaw - if you lie down on your back in bed or on a sofa with your knees bent, putting the MacBook Pro on your lap results in the screen falling down and closing itself! This was a feasible (and fairly comfortable!) position with my old Powerbook.

My final quibble is with the (admittedly cool) keyboard backlighting. This seems to be somehow connected to the ambient light screen brightness controller, in that when the keyboard backlight automatically turns off after a few minutes of non-use (despite being set to never turn off) the screen also gets significantly dimmer. I suspect that the light from the keyboard backlight is affecting the ambient light sensor for the screen brightness, so when the keyboard backlight switches off, the screen dims due to reduced ambient light. This may be the intended design, but I find it quite distracting.

Tiny return key, and other keyboard annoyances
I haven't seen anyone else mention this yet, but this is annoying the crap out of me. The return key on the MacBook Pro keyboard is positively tiny compared to one on the Titanium Powerbook. This is evidently so they could squeeze in an extra key (more on that later). I'm hoping that I will get used to the tiny key, but after a week it is still a bit of a lottery which key I will actually press when going for the return key. More often than not it is the backslash key. In fact the whole keyboard is taking some getting used to.

For some inexplicable reason Apple have also decided to move the tilde (~) key and replace it with a new key (which produces the § and ± symbols). Now I don't have a problem with this, but it certainly fucks up application switching. In the past we used command-tab to cycle forwards through applications, and command-tilde to cycle backwards. This was great when the tilde key was above the tab key, but is not so great with the tilde key's new position. It also screws up window switching within an application (command-tilde).

Strange noises
One of the major issues reported by hundreds of different users has been strange noises coming from their MacBook Pros. Most commonly this is reported as a high-pitched whine coming from the base of the screen, possibly from a power inverter. Others have reported a 'mooing' noise which seems to be related to a misaligned fan. I, of course, have a completely different noise What I get is a white noise/static sound coming from the right speaker. it sounds exactly like a vinyl record player on high volume when it is in between tracks on the record (i.e. a kind of hissing and popping noise). The noise lasts for around 5 or 10 seconds. It has only happened 5 or 6 times so far, almost always when I am booting the laptop or waking it from sleep. Rather worryingly, these are two things I rarely do - the laptop is usually powered-on and on a table 24/7. Strangely enough the strange noise has also occurred once when I was booting under Windows XP via Bootcamp. This makes me wonder if it is a hardware fault, rather than a speaker driver problem. The noise isn't solely restricted to bootup and waking from sleep though. I've also heard it once when launching an application. For me this noise is a show-stopper. If I cannot find a fix for it I shall be returning this machine.

Closing thoughts
I should note that this is far from a complete review of the 17" MacBook Pro. I'll leave that to others. This piece simply states my impressions of the laptop after a week of use. I should add that despite my extensive moaning above, this is far and away the fastest and slickest laptop I've ever used. It is, on the whole, a hell of an improvement on my aged Powerbook. The MacBook Pro looks great, and the performance is simply stunning. I will probably even get used to the keyboard eventually. It is just that for the hefty price tag I want a perfect machine. That means a laptop that doesn't get too hot to touch, doesn't have no stinkin' warped screen, and absolutely, positively, does not make inexplicable noises at seemingly random times.

Interesting video interview with Derek Franklin

If you have half an hour to spare (as well as decent broadband, 1 megabit minimum), I would urge you to watch this video interview with Derek Franklin. Franklin is a longtime Flash author as well as the creator of Search Automator and WhoNu.com. Not only is the interview interesting (Franklin comes across as a very engaging fellow), but the quality of the h264 video is simply stunning and well worth a look if you are interested in this sort of thing. Quicktime 7 required.

MacBook Pro hissing noises explained

The Mighty Ars is once again first off the mark with an explanation of the widely reported hissing/humming noises made by the MacBook Pro.

More on MacBook To Buy Or Not To Buy

This story from TUAW makes me glad I waited a few more days before brandishing the plastic. Hissing CPUs and bandy screens are most definitely not acceptable in a circa-£1500 laptop. In the meantime I shall continue to monitor the situation, and cross my fingers for the speedy introduction of a Rev-B model. I shudder to think what will happen to Apple stock if it turns out that every single MacBook has this hissing problem, and unfortunately for Apple it appears that this is very likely (at least according to TUAW's admittedly-anecdotal evidence and reader comments on the same).

OLED keys coming to the MacBook Pro?

Over the last couple of weeks I have pretty much decided that I am going to buy a MacBook Pro. All I've been waiting for were the first user reviews to start appearing on the web. The first have now started to appear, so it was only a matter of a few more days before I placed an order. But, as usual, it ain't that simple.

A new report from NewTechSpy suggests that Apple's next generation laptops will implement the OLED keys which we first saw on the Optimus mini keyboard. The idea is that Apple will replace all the function keys with OLED displays and also add three new OLED buttons on either side of the trackpad. This is supposed to happen as early as January 2007, which is blindingly cool, but remember this is still just a rumour. On the other hand it would certainly fit with Apple's reputation for adopting innovative new technologies.

Max OS X tablet for sale

An enterprising outfit named ThePlaceforitAll.com is selling these modified-to-order OS X tablet PCs on eBay. The tablets are based on a 1.33GHz G4 iBook with 512MB RAM and a 40GB hard disk. They swap the original screen for a touch-sensitive screen and stylus, although sadly the screen they use is not compatible with OS X handwriting recognition software Inkwell. They do suggest a couple of third party software solutions, but you'd think for a starting price of US$1500 they'd throw both of 'em in! It's also worth noting that the screen does not appear to rotate but is instead fixed in place. Via The Register.

The new MacBook, and why everyone should have one

Cometh the moment, cometh the MacBook
It's finally here - the much anticipated Intel-based Apple laptop! Despite December's rumour frenzy, the first portable Intel Mac was NOT the iBook. With an all-new dual core Intel processor running at 1.67 or 1.83 MHz and supporting up to 2 GB of RAM this is by far the fastest Apple laptop ever. Connectivity is via a Firewire 400 port, two USB 2.0 ports, Gigabit Ethernet, Bluetooth 2.0, 802.11g WiFi and optical audio input and output. The MacBook also ships with hard drives ranging from 80 to 120 GB at speeds of 5400 and 7200 rpm and comes with a built-in dual-layer DVD-RW/CD-RW drive. The machine boasts a 15.4" 1440 x 900 resolution display with VGA and dual-link DVI output powered by a ATI Mobility Radeon X1600 graphics processor, as well as a backlit keyboard with ambient light sensor and stereo speakers. As this is the first Mac laptop officially supported by Front Row it also comes with Apple's new remote control. The MacBook retains its predecessors' vaunted 1" thickness and weighs in at 5.6 lbs. On the software side Apple's usual full-featured package is included, with OS X Tiger, iLife '06, Front Row, and PhotoBooth all featuring prominently.

New hardware
Although the big news is the new dual-core Intel Core Duo processor (formerly known as 'Yonah'), the new MacBook also features an iSight video-conferencing camera built into the upper bezel of the screen. The bezel appears to be wider than previous models, presumably to house the camera's innards. This new mini-iSight is said to have the same specifications as a full-sized iSight, i.e. VGA resolution and auto-focus. Despite the relatively low resolution, the iSight image quality is widely considered to be superb (especially with some extra software). The laptop also benefits from high-end ATI Mobility Radeon X1600 graphics and a dual-link DVI connector for that 30" Apple Cinema Display we all secretly lust after. Apple have dropped the PCI card compatibility in favour of the smaller PCI Express - which is a mixed blessing given the lack of PCI Express cards currently available.

Power? No trip!
Apple are making a big deal of the new MagSafe power connector, which is a magnetized power connector which easily pops out if someone tugs (or trips over) the power cord. Whilst I've never had my PowerBook fly off my lap due to someone tripping over the power cable, it's a thoughtful design touch which embodies Apple's attention to the little details.

Yonah! Yonah! Yonah!
The Register has a nice round-up of the dual core Yonah processors here, but essentially the range includes the top-of-the-line 2.16GHz T2600, the 2GHz T2500, and the two chips used by the MacBook Pro, the 1.83GHz T2400 and 1.67MHz T2300. It seems sensible to assume that Apple opted for the two lower-speed chips due to volume requirements.

The BIG question
Can it run windows software at near-native speeds? No one seems to know. You might remember that Apple said this should be possible, but then again we never know when Apple will try and snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. If there is a way to maintain their exclusivity and alienate thousands of customers, I'm sure Apple will find it! Hopefully there will be no surprises, and Windows apps running at native speeds will be in our futures. Personally, I look forward to the day when I can hurl that slug known as Virtual PC into my virtual trash!

The Hyperbole
APPLE RELEASES FASTEST NOTEBOOK EVER! Or so proclaims MacRumors. They seem to have missed the fact that while Apple's high-end offering uses the 1.83MHz Core Duo, there is already a 2.16GHz version (the T2600) available in stores now. Nevertheless, expect much cheering for this new laptop (kind of like what I'm doing now ).

How much?
£1,429 (US$1,999) for the base model. It may seem like a slightly high price tag, but given the Core Duo competition it's not overly outrageous, especially when we consider that some features that used to cost extra are now standard across the line (Bluetooth, Airport, Superdrive, we're lookin' at you). Some Windows-based Core Duo laptops are significantly less expensive, but are missing a raft of features and software. Windows machines with similar specifications are possibly slightly less expensive, but it's still a coin toss depending on what features a user is looking for.

Core Duo here, Core Duo there, Core Duo everywhere
There's a nice roundup here, but with just a little research we see that the MacBook isn't priced out of the ballpark when compared to other Core Duo laptops, especially when we consider the added value provided by the iLife package and other Apple standard features.

For instance, the just-announced Acer Aspire and Travelmate laptops start at $1,500 and $2 grand respectively. The high-end model has a slightly higher resolution screen, more RAM and a bigger hard drive, but is otherwise not too dissimilar to the MacBook except it is heftier by exactly 1 pound.

Aspire 5670 will be available in a few different configurations starting at $1499, but the flagship model will feature 2GB of DDR2 memory, a 120GB hard disk, and an ATI Mobility Radeon X1400 graphics controller pushing a maximum resolution of 1200 by 800 to the 15.4-inch display.

The TravelMate 8200 notebook offers similar specifications to the Aspire 5650, including the same new camera functionality and system tools, but ships with superior 512MB ATI Mobility Radeon X1600 graphics delivering a resolution of 1680 by 1050 to its 15.4-inch screen

Dell's Inspiron 9400 is another Core-Duo-sporting laptop with a 2 grand starting price, although for this price you also get a 17" screen (this is Dell's only dual core offering). On the downside the thing is 1.6" thick and weighs 8 lbs.

Customers can opt for either an Intel Core Duo processor T2500 (2GHz) or a T2400 processor running at 1.83GHz. The unit's 17-inch widescreen display has a standard maximum resolution of 1400 by 1050 but a 1600-by-1200 UXGA option also is available. The Inspiron E1705 features NVidia's latest 256MB GeForce Go 7800 graphics controller, 802.11a/b/g Wi-Fi, a 60-100GB 7200-rpm SATA hard disk, and an optional USB 2.0 TV tuner that is compatible with its Windows Media Center Edition 2005 operating system.

For a low-end Core Duo system we turn to Gateway, whose dual core offering is the S-7510N at a base price of $1,150 which includes Windows XP and Microsoft Works. For that bargain price you get the slowest Core Duo processor, the T2300, a mere 40GB hard drive, a 15.4" 1280x800 screen, lousy onboard Intel graphics, no DVD burner or dual-layer DVD capability, no remote control, no camera and no Bluetooth. You do however get 512MB RAM, a modem, 4 USB 2.0 ports, and an integrated media card reader. Unfortunately it's also a bit of a brick, at a portly 1.31" thick and weighing 6.32 lbs.

Conclusions
The MacBook is a winner. This is a cutting edge laptop in terms of both design and speed without compromising its svelte 1" form factor. While I am sorely tempted to buy one RIGHT NOW I am trying, with difficulty, to restrain myself until there is an updated model to allow the inevitable kinks and bugs to be ironed out. I'd still like confirmation that it will indeed run Windows apps at near-native speeds, but given Apple's previous statements it seems likely that it will. If I was into rating things I'd give this beauty a 9 out of 10, but I'm not so let's just call it awesome . The only negatives that I can see is the lack of an internal modem and lack of Firewire800, and those are pretty minor quibbles in the grand scheme of things. In my eyes the price is perhaps 10% more than a comparable Windows-based laptop, but the Apple extras - slick design, iLife integration, security and lack of malware - make that extra money well worth spending.

Is that a mouse in your PC card slot?

This slick new mouse was featured on TUAW today. It's a Bluetooth mouse which slots neatly inside a laptop's PC card slot. The mouse also recharges via the slot. Finally a use for that wasted space in my Powerbook! The mouse has a small kickstand which flips out, and apparently the buttons are on the bottom of the mouse, so that pressing down the body causes a click (the lower end of the mouse is the front). It doesn't look particularly comfortable, but is still seems to be a great idea for those of us who aren't so keen on trackpads and have an unused PC card slot. The mouse is set to be introduced next month at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

Via TUAW, who had it from Engadget, who got it from Uber-Review, who give credit to GearLog (even though the article appears to have vanished from GearLog). Don't you just love blogs? In a strange twist of fate, GearLog is a blog from the editors of DigitalLife magazine

FlashPoint ShareDrive - thumbdrive with a brain

Now this is a good idea - a USB2 thumbdrive "with a brain". Just like any other thumbdrive, this device can be plugged into a computer's USB port and used to store data. Nothing amazing - yet. The kicker is that you can also plug into a non-computer USB-capable device and copy data to and fro! Just imagine - digital camera full but no computer handy to unload some pics? Simply use your camera's USB cable and plug it into the ShareDrive. With the press of a button you can now remove images from the camera! Ditto for mobile phones. The setup appears a little fiddly since users are required to move files into specially named 'load' and 'save' directories so that the ShareDrive knows what to copy, but hey it's a lot better than the alternatives. The drive is available in sizes up to 2GB.

Another stupid patent, do we need 'em?

Techdirt are reporting that Microsoft have been granted a patent on Kazaa-style music playlists. The relevant US Patent Office document weighs in at a hefty 43 pages, but one essential paragraph caught my eye - it is a series of example playlists that will be possible with this "invention":

• "My favs—All 4 and 5 star rated songs"Filter: Type=audio, UserRating>70, Sort: UserRating
• "My favs—64 Mb worth of 4+5 star rated songs"Filter: Type=audio, UserRating>70, LimitFilter=64 MB Sort: UserRating
• "My favs—128 Mb worth of 4+5 star rated songs"Filter: Type=audio, UserRating>70, LimitFilter=128 MB Sort: UserRating
• "My favs—One CD-R worth of 4+5 star rated songs"Filter: Type=audio, UserRating>70, LimitFilter=630 MB Sort: UserRating
• "My favs, that I've not heard of recent"Filter: Type=audio, UserRating>70, Sort: UserLastPlayedTime
• "Workday 100—Favorite Weekend songs"Filter: Type=audio, UserRating>70, Limit items to 100 Sort: UserPlaycountWeekend
• "Weekend 100—Favorite Weekdays songs"Filter: Type=audio, UserRating>70, Limit items to 100 Sort: UserPlaycountWeekday
• "Caffinated 100—Favorite Late Evening songs"Filter: Type=audio, UserRating>70, Limit items to 100 Sort: UserPlaycountNight
• "Recently Aquired Music"Filter: Type=audio, UserLastPlayedTime=
• "Recently Aquired Music (Yet to be rated)"Filter: Type=audio, AquisitionDate=
• "Songs I've not heard of recent"Filter: Type=audio Sort: User Rating, then UserLastPlayedTime (strongest sort)
• "Songs not yet rated"Filter: Type=audio, UserRating=
• "Sucky music—Songs I dislike and should delete"Filter: Type=audio, UserRating=<10 Sort: Album, then Artist (strongest sort)
• "Songs with digital rights management"Filter: Type=audio, Protected=Yes Sort: Album, then Artist (strongest sort)
• "Songs other users like"Filter: Type=audio, ServiceRating>70 Sort: UserRating
• "My Kazaa Music—All of it"Filter: Type=audio, PathFilter Contains "Kazaa"Sort: Album, then Artist (strongest sort)
• "My Kazaa Music—Recently Aquired"Filter: Type=audio, PathFilter Contains "Kazaa", AquisitionDate=
• "Hi-Res video clips"Filter: VIDEO_VIDEO_WIDTH>300 Sort: Title

Just hang on a second there. Even glossing over the fact that these playlists were implemented in Kazaa at least as far back as September 2002, and this Microsoft patent originated in September 2003, several of these playlists, including the very first one, are identical to iTunes smart playlists. Even if one argued that Kazaa wasn't very widespread (and thus somehow unworthy as 'prior art') you can hardly make the same comment about iTunes. Granted, some of the other playlists listed in the patent are not possible in iTunes, but surely there should be some acknowledgment that significant parts of this "invention" are already in common usage. It's akin to someone coming along and patenting the idea of using arrow keys on a wireless controller to change TV channels.

Comment
There really should be a rule about patenting ideas that have been already implemented in commercially available products (Apple's idiotic and futile 1988 GUI lawsuit against Microsoft comes to mind). Seemingly ignorant decisions like this one by the US Patent Office are what drive some Europeans to question the usefulness of software patents. I'd even go so far as to say that if a company cannot keep an idea secret long enough to patent it and bring it to market, then the idea is clearly so bleedin' obvious that it shouldn't be patentable. Does anyone agree?

HP no longer in the iPod business

It was bound to happen. HP and Apple both confirm the end of HP's iPod reseller deal. Yet again, Rob Enderle must be feeling pretty stupid.

Shoulders of giants

Great quote from a Slashdot comment today:

"If I have seen farther than others, it is because I was standing on the shoulders of giants."

- Isaac Newton

"If I have not seen as far as others, it is because giants were standing on my shoulders."

- Hal Abelson

"In computer science, we stand on each other's feet."

- Brian Reid

Password assistant

I've used Keychain Access for quite a while now, both to store logins and passwords for websites and for personal information such as banking and identification details. So it was a bit of a surprise when I finally clicked that key-shaped button next to the password field: Pretty nifty, especially in this day and age when ordinary people have to come up with more and more non-trivial passwords.

NASA TV online

NASA have announced that live coverage will henceforth be broadcast on the internet! This is great news - and given NASA's purpose seems eminently appropriate.

Developers' Intel-Macs much faster than expected

AppleInsider published a fascinating article yesterday, which contained some great information about the speed of the $999 for-developers-only Intel-based Macs. My favorite part:

"It's fast," said one developer source of Mac OS X running on Intel's Pentium processors. "Faster than [Mac OS X] on my Dual 2GHz Power Mac G5." In addition to booting Windows XP at blazing speeds, the included version of Mac OS X for Intel takes "as little as 10 seconds" to boot to the Desktop from when the Apple logo first displays on screen.

SlashDot discussion here.

Why Apple Really switched to Intel

David K Every posts a response to a recent Ars Technica article. I read the Ars article when it appeared a few days ago and had ambivalent feelings, but after reading Every's insightful report I'm convinced he's right. Well worth a read!

Sasser virus author sentenced, informants collect $250K

A teenager creates two of the bigger viruses of recent times, Sasser and NetSky, and gets off with 21 months probation, 30 hours community service, and a job. Meanwhile two of his mates collect $250,000 from Microsoft for turning him in. Does anyone else think that these three friends have done pretty well out of this?

Google Maps UK updated!

The internet colossus known as Google has finally got full resolution satellite imagery of the United Kingdom! Check it out. Truly amazing stuff.

How to beat the competition

Buy up your competitors' product suppliers, and then axe those products which your competitors relied on. Sounds unlikely you say? Not if you are Microsoft. Further discussion on Slashdot.

Home made laptop batteries

Roll your own for around half the price.

Mac Mini essential extra

MicroNet have announced a particularly drool-worthy Mac Mini accessory, essentially an extra hard drive and a port replicator in a Mini-like case. The device comes in flavours ranging from a US$149 80Gb model to a US$499 400Gb model, with the US$249 250GB model having the best gigabyte-to-dollar ratio.

Heinlein estate - evil moneygrubbers or benevolent patrons?

I read this Boing Boing article today with mixed feelings. On the one hand I have been a huge fan of late Robert Heinlein for over 20 years and have read and enjoyed every one of his books. On the other hand I think since his wife Virginia died there have been some questionable decisions motived by nothing more than a quick buck. Anyone who's seen Starship Troopers 2 will attest to that!

Back to the point - it appears that a relatively small publisher (their biggest names appear to be George R R Martin and Janny Wurts) is printing a 46 title collection of Heinlein's work entitled "The Virginia Collection". The price for this gem? A mere US$2,500. With a limited print run of 5000 we're looking at gross sales of US$12,500,000.

So ... is someone making money hand over fist here? Or is there something else going on? The obvious question is "where is the money going?" It appears to be (and I fervently hope it is) funding The Heinlein Prize - a trust fund that is dedicated to advancing "commercial space activity" (in light of Heinlein's sympathies this likely means 'non-governmental space activity' rather than 'for-profit space activity'). The trust has announced a US$500,000 prize to the first winner, but somewhat suspiciously there are as yet no nominees. Have the trustees not heard of SpaceShipOne's success in the X-Prize?

I will accordingly reserve judgment until they do actually hand out some money, although it does look authentic - there is even a Russian version of the site which makes sense if you have read any of Heinlein's non-fiction.

PowerBook Motion Sensor goodness

If you have a recent PowerBook with Apple's motion sensor, check out this series of software for some amazing, albeit frivolous, demonstrations of it in action.

Intel demos Mac mini lookalike

Hey! That looks familiar!

Mac Mini in a Lexus

How cool is this?

Sonos on a Mac

A while back I drooled over the Sonos Digital Music System - it appears that there have been reports of problems with Mac compatibility, but they've now been fixed.

PC makers desire OS X?

It's been mentioned in a few other places over the last couple of days, but this ArsTechnica article provides some insight. If true, this will be huge.

4.4GB photographs

Gadget Lounge picked up a truly amazing Wired story (try and ignore the hideously annoying audible flash adverts) . The photos are actually taken with 4000 dpi film and then scanned with a 4000 dpi scanner to produce a 4 gigapixel image. Each photo fills up an entire DVD!

That sounds better on my suitcase

This week's sign that the Apocalypse is nigh: Boom Bags.

I love this bit:

In addition, the bags include a microphone input with separate volume control. Anyone doing presentations can use their suitcase to provide speakers and amplification for a multimedia program, and for live narration at the same time.

I can see it now - we'll all be taking our empty suitcases to presentations .

OS X on PocketPC

This is pretty cool.

Ultimate digital music

Alan Graham at the O'Reilly Developer Weblogs had a write-up today of the best non-Apple products from the recent MacWorld. The one that he is most enthusiastic about is the Sonos Digital Music System. He's not wrong! This thing is truly lustworthy.

HP iPod doomed?

AppleInsider are reporting today that HP have refused to order any more iPods until they resolve a potential future pricing dispute. The article mentions that during the fourth quarter of 2004 HP iPods accounted for only 7% of total iPod sales. Rob Enderle must be feeling pretty stupid.

Security Cameras on Google

BoingBoing today mentioned a fascinating Google hack which locates unsecured webcams. Just plug the following term into the Google search box. Note that Safari does not support JPEG streaming - use FireFox instead. Note that you can pan and zoom the camera by clicking the controls on the left!

inurl:"ViewerFrame?Mode="

This discussion also produced a couple of variations on the theme:

inurl:"MultiCameraFrame?Mode="

inurl:/view/view.shtml?videos=

MacTheRipper defeats ARcoSS

Last month I mentioned the new ARcoSS protection scheme appearing on some DVDs in Europe. At the time I said there were no Mac DVD rippers which could defeat ARcoSS, but that the MacTheRipper team were working on it. Well, they've done it . MacTheRipper version 2.6 includes, among other things, the ability to rip ARcoSS discs.

3G networks? Pffft - 4G is coming

Unwired reported on DoCoMo's 4G tests today. The plan is for 1 Gbps mobile transfer rates. Apparently field trials will begin in early 2005, but given how much money the European mobile carriers have already spent on largely unused 3G bandwidth I'm not confident we'll be seeing 4G in Europe anytime soon. This C|Net report predicts commercial 4G services by 2010.

BitTorrent, analysed

The Register today published a very interesting scientific paper analysing BitTorrent as used via Suprnova.

20GB Digital Mind

One of my preferred Mac news sources, MacMinute, today reported on Digital Mind's DMC 8270 20GB audio jukebox.

I'm not too sure why this particular digital music player gets featured on a Mac news site in preference to countless other players, but let's just say the name caught my eye .

But wait ... just take a look at that thing! Is it just me or is that possibly the ugliest digital music player you've ever seen? There are enlarged images here and here. The specifications sound okay - the ogg support is noteworthy, and the voice recording and decent battery life might attract some people. The price is also pretty good. But ... please! Take another look at that thing! Perhaps it's just a really bad mock-up, but this thing looks suspiciously like it was made in someone's garage. The screen isn't even in line with the its body!

Archiving with Medical-Grade DVDs

MacInTouch had an interesting reader submission recommending Verbatim's MediDisc DVDs. Supposedly these are used for medical imaging and are certified for longevity.

I'm reproducing the entire entry here since by tomorrow MacInTouch's link will have broken:

I work in a small post-production studio and we use DVD media for archival purposes every day. Our brand of choice for Data archive is Verbatim's little known "MediDisc" line of DVD media. This media is DICOM certified for use in long-term medical records storage (including medical imaging) for compliance with HIPPA requirements.
Yes, the media is significantly more expensive than the consumer-grade 100pk DVD-R/+R spindles typically available at retailers such as WalMart & Best Buy, but is saving a buck really worth it when it comes to long-term data integrity?
Furthermore, we store the DVD discs in Tyvek disc envelopes (the same that Apple is now using for software distribution in packages such as Final Cut Pro HD) and place them upright in a light-tight storage container. Tyvek envelopes are currently regarded as the best storage option for protection of CD/DVD recordable media. Information Packaging is a good source for these envelopes.

Note that these DVDs aren't actually all that much expensive. I've seen them listed at a few places for as little as US$70 for 50 packs. Granted, a lot of those shops have been out of stock...

Treo 650? P910? Something else?

The recent arrival of the Sony-Ericsson P910 has made me think about upgrading my P800, but I've been reading more and more intriguing things about the Treo 650. However today's Gizmodo review of the Treo has tilted the balance back towards the Sony-Ericsson side of the fence. There are still things I don't like about the P910 though, notably reliance on Sony's MemorySticks. Perhaps I'll wait for the P1000.

YA iPod Killer

Yet another iPod Killer - Gizmodo had an insightful report on Archos' new G-Mini XS 200 digital music player. I particularly liked the comparison of the relationship between Apple and Archos with the relationship between OS X and Linux. The Gizmodo article linked to a more complete review. Engadget also covered it, but went with C|Net's review instead.

iPod killer

John Dvorak reports on X2's MEGA View 561. This device sounds great, think of it as the fusion of the iPod photo with TiVo. It looks good too - and all for US$399, although versions with larger hard drives would be welcome. Oddly enough, this device is smaller in every dimension than the Archos Gmini 400 but it has a 3.5" screen as opposed to the Gmini's 2.2". It's also quite a porker - it weighs in at about 50% more than the larger Gmini.

5 megapixel compact cameras

My in-laws have asked me for buying advice regarding 5 megapixel compact cameras. Unfortunately other than very occasionally downloading images from a Minolta Dimage X at work (someone else takes the photos), I have next to no experience with them. A bit of googling turned up quite a lot of reviews of individual cameras, but the most recent multiple camera comparison I found was from June 2003. Not so useful. Write-ups of something called the 2004 DIMA Digital Camera Shootout were mildly useful but lacked comparisons. Luckily I noticed in NetNewsWire today that Janet Tokerud over at Tech Ronin had written up a short comparison. Just what I was looking for! A review by a regular user who's opinion I feel I can trust.

New DVD player

The old Hitachi HTDK170 suddenly stopped working recently. For once a device of mine failed just before the guarantee ran out, rather than just after! Argos were very good about replacing it - it only took a few minutes and what's more they gave me an improved version - the HTDK185!! Not only does the new player have a built-in Freeview decoder, I discovered today that it recognises miniDVDs! In fact it was the same miniDVD that failed to play on the old HTDK170. The new player even put up a graphic saying 'miniDVD' when I inserted the disc.

Black Magic PB G4

How cool is this? With the white paint on the front rim of my PowerBook starting to chip away, I'm tempted to give it a try (if I wasn't so scared of cocking it up!)

Ripping a DVD, defined

I noticed in my RSS feed today this CultOfMac entry about Shepmaster's 'Ripping a DVD' tutorial. CultOfMac have also posted a rebuttal by one Alexander Malov.

The cause of this misunderstanding is a misuse of terms. 'Ripping' a DVD is merely copying a DVD to your harddisk - something you cannot do via drag and drop due to the CSS encryption on the DVD. As well as decrypting CSS, a good ripper should also remove any Macrovision protection and DVD region coding. Modern rippers like YadeX and MacTheRipper can also remove the more recent RCE protection. If you live in Europe, you also have to worry about the newly implemented ArccOS protection system. As far as I know, the only ripper able to defeat ArccOS is the next version of MacTheRipper, which is due Real Soon Now™.

What Shepmaster's tutorial is describing is ripping a DVD, followed by re-encoding the very large (usually 5 to 8 gigabytes) ripped DVD's mpeg2 video and (usually) ac3 audio streams into a much smaller 3ivX video and AAC audio file. This final file isn't playable on a normal DVD player, and is usually sized (by controlling the bitrate of the 3ivX) to fit onto 1 or 2 CD-Rs. On a 667MHz G4 I would expect this process to take anywhere from 12 to 24 hours.

What Alexander Malov's rebuttal is describing is ripping a DVD, followed by transcoding the mpeg2 video stream into another, lower bitrate, mpeg2 stream (small enough to fit onto a single layer 4.7 gigabyte DVD-R), and burning it onto DVD-R with Toast. This final disc is playable on a normal DVD player. On a 667MHz G4 I would expect this entire process to take about 2 hours.

Also worth noting is Alexander Malov's final comment suggesting DVDBackup. I simply cannot agree with this. MacTheRipper and YadeX are both well-supported, full featured, modern rippers. 0sex (that's a zero) is a slightly obsolete ripper but useful for its imaging functions. DVDBackup is irrelevant these days. All the other rippers can do everything DVDBackup does, but DVDBackup cannot remove RCE or ArccOS and has reported problems on OS X 10.3. I've personally experienced this problem, but to be fair it seems to only affect people who did upgrade installs of Panther.

But I digress ... the basic issue here is that Shepmaster's tutorial, despite being extremely thorough, has a misleading title. The tutorial itself is superb but strictly not for beginners. I can also personally verify that this particular tutorial has been on his website for at least several months, probably closer to a year.

P800 USB charger

While I was in Hong Kong last week I picked up one of these great little gadgets for about £2.50. It's a retractable cable which lets you recharge your P800 from a USB port on your laptop. I'm finding it very useful so far! Not only is it great when actually on the move, but simply having a second charger around the house is very useful (my phone charger lives near the front door so I don't forget my phone on the way out, but sometimes I need the phone at my Mac but it's low on power).

Remote control for AirTunes

While we're on the subject of Airport Express, Macworld had an article today about the Keyspan Express Remote. The setup consists of an infrared remote control and a receiver. The receiver plugs into the USB port of an Airport Express or the iTunes computer whilst the remote lets you control iTunes (and other media applications).

Airport Express

Well, my new Airport Express arrived yesterday. There are plenty of reviews around, so I'm not going to reinvent the wheel. The plan is to (eventually) set up wireless internet access for my laptop, but I'm still waiting for my ethernet ADSL modem to arrive (to replace the USB one that comes with BT's broadband service).

All I've used the Airport Express for so far is AirTunes. Again, this has been covered extensively elsewhere, so all I'm going to say is "Wow." This is one of those gadgets that make even non-geeks sit up and pay attention.

USB Printing via Airport Express

As well as setting up the Airport Express and AirTunes, I've been attempting to attach an old USB Lexmark Z52 printer to the Airport Express unit. This printer works when plugged directly into my Mac. However when I try to print wirelessly to it the print job spools to 100% and then stops itself. Opening the print queue shows my print job has stopped itself with a message which reads "Printer: Jobs Stopped".

Despite some extensive searching, I couldn't find the solution. I tried reinstalling the Lexmark drivers from Panther disc 2, a tedious job, but to no avail. This discussion describes my exact symptoms, but the given solution didn't improve my situation at all. After spending a couple of frustrating hours reading the Apple discussion forums, I stumbled across this page which lists Airport Express compatible printers, and the Z52 is not listed as being compatible. However I couldn't be sure since the Lexmark page on Airport compatibility has been down for the last several hours. To be honest, it's a relief to find out. At least I know how to fix the problem now! (The Z52 was a hand-me-down, and virtually not worth using in any case due to the extortionate cost of ink cartridges).

Edit: while typing up this entry, I attempted to print this page in order to double-check the exact wording of the print queue error. The printer name had a small exclamation mark next to it so I clicked 'Printers' and 'Rendezvous' and choose the Lexmark Z52 again. This created a new printer, and lo and behold, the damn page printed out! This is almost too annoying for words - I must have deleted and recreated the printer a dozen times using this exact same method without result, and now the damn thing decides to start working for no apparent reason. It's good to know it works, but I will still be replacing the printer shortly - it's too big and the ink costs almost 20 times as much as Canon cartridges.

Nokia 7710 and Series 90

Nokia recently announced this new phone. It looks very slick and improves on several of the flaws of the P800, notably the P800's lowly VGA camera and its distinctly average phone-related features (poor microphone, no profiles). Hopefully the 7710 will have the same great reception that my old Nokias all had (the P800's signal reception is noticeably worse). The Register has a write-up.

5 megapixel phone

Showing the rest of the world what we have to look forward to, this 5 megapixel phone will be available in Korea later this year. There are images of the device here. And lots of criticism here. The criticism is pretty harsh in my opinion - I for one would like this kind of camera in a UIQ phone.

Update: ArsTechnica has a review of the phone.

Mind games

There was an amazing article on News@Nature today about device implanted into the brain of a paraplegic which allows him to control his computer and television! Surely it won't be long now before this sort of thing becomes available to the general public. The possibilities boggle the mind - imagine answering and dialing your (implanted in your skull, naturally) mobile phone or unlocking your car and starting your engine. How about sending passwords and PIN numbers to computers, ATM machines or your home security system.

iMovie the VCR

There was a nifty little hint on MacOSXHints today about how to script iMovie to start recording TV shows at specified times. Unfortunately you need some sort of Analog-Digital bridge or a DV camera with DV passthrough (which my 6-year old Sony PC10 doesn't have).

575MB/sec

How does 575MB/sec transfer rate sound to you? If you're interested in editing uncompressed HD video you'll need transfer speeds not too far off this number. Mike Curtis over at HD for Indies had a very informative article on how to achieve this with a home-built 2.7TB RAID with a PowerMac G5 for under US$3,000.

10,000 zombie PCs

It's almost like something out of Neuromancer! An article at the Register today describes the discovery in Norway of a 10,000-strong network of PCs all infected with worms such as MyDoom and Bagle being controlled via Internet Relay Chat (IRC) for spamming or Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks. The article goes on to refer to a Ohio-based IRC provider shut down for acting as middleman in corporate DDoS attacks.

1.5GB mobile phone

Okay ... this is what I want my next phone to be like. This CultOfMac report on a new phone from Samsung sounds flippin' awesome. 320x240 colour screen, megapixel camera, 1.5GB harddisk, built in FM transmitter, TV output (!!!), and built-in stereo speakers. The original TechWorld report is here.

The phone is being discussed as an iPod killer. I don't know about that, 1.5GB translates to about 15 albums worth of 128Kbps MP3s - not enough for a real music freak. However for me the killer features are most definitely the hard disk, megapixel camera, FM transmitter, and TV out. While I probably won't go for a $800 Samsung phone, it should only be a matter of time before Nokia or SonyEricsson incorporate most of these features. The one probable drawback will be battery life. Neither of the articles discuss it, but with a built in hard disk I would be surprised if it could manage a whole day of moderate use.

One self-employed analyst, idiotic statement of the year

"The expectation on the iPod is that HP's version will probably outsell Apple's version relatively quickly ... due to HP's broad distribution at electronics retailers", said Rob Enderle. Mr Enderle runs an outfit with the grandiose-title of The Enderle Group. Some kind of umbrella company controlling a multitude of lesser corporations? Nah, it's him, his wife, and two buddies.

This guy is either smoking crack or is operating on the principle that there is no such thing as bad publicity. I can honestly say I don't remember the last time I even saw an HP product other than a printer at an "electronics retailer", but I usually see a prominent iPod display of some sort.

Secondly, I've lost count of the number of times I've been to shops that do not sell any Apple products of any sort, except for the iPod. Let me emphasize this - shops that sell only Wintel-based PCs and wouldn't touch an Apple Macintosh with a bargepole will have iPods on display. So much for his theory that HP's "broad distribution" will make a difference.

Finally there is the 'cool factor'. Go and grab an average young person (for simplicity's sake let's say someone between 15 and 29) and ask them who is cooler, Apple or Hewlett Packard. Dollars to doughnuts the answer won't be HP.

Archos' video iPod

Having had the chance to play with a relative's Archos Video Recorder early last year, I've kept an eye out for Archos news. The Video Recorder I played with was impressive despite the large size - the current 40GB model appears to be slightly smaller but still weighs in at 350g (12.5oz).

However, Archos' new product is in a different league. The €400 Gmini 400 weighs in at a mere 160g (5.6oz) and features a 20GB hard disk and 2.2" 220x176 pixel 262,000 colour screen. Interfaces include USB2.0 and a CompactFlash slot and it can play MP3, WMA and WAV audio and Mpeg4, Xvid and Divx video. It can also play Mophun games, either on the onboard screen or on a TV.

Overclocking eMacs

This is old news, but it was only today I followed a link to page by a guy named Leo Bodnar. Among other things he has posted an eMac Upgrade Guide. My favorite bit was the amazing photo of the resistors the author removed to uncripple his eMac's processor and ramp the speed up from 800MHz to 1.33GHz! After a bit of googling I also found a SpyMac discussion and a MacNN discussion about the upgrades.

Online DVD rentals in the UK

The Register today reported the merger of two of the UK's online DVD rental companies, MovieTrak and Qflicks, supposedly in preparation for US pioneer Netflix's arrival later this year. As mentioned elsewhere, I'm a fan of LoveFilm.com. Other outfits include Video Island and Screen Select. While looking up their websites I had a chuckle at the inevitable hyperbole:

Screen Select - "Join the UK's number 1 online DVD rental service"
Qflicks - "Largest DVD Selection in Europe - over 20,000 titles"
MovieTrak - "Europe's first online DVD rental company"
Video Island - "Rated UK's No.1 DVD rental service"
LoveFilm - no bold front-page claims, but the FAQ mentions "over 20,000 titles - that's virtually every DVD available in the UK"

GPRS in the UK

GPRS is mighty expensive in the UK, just a month or two ago I looked into it on my T-Mobile pay-as-you-go plan and prices started at £1.50 per megabyte or £40 a month for 'unlimited' usage (discretionary 100MB cap, 12 month contract). This is way too much for me to use it for my regular email, let alone browsing the web.

So when I noticed this I thought, what a great idea!. A text-based web browser almost makes me want to sign up for GPRS so I could use the P800 as a mobile modem for the laptop. I'd still have to lug the laptop around along with the phone though. All I need now is a similar program for the Symbian OS.

Never enough storage

I got a new 160GB external firewire hard disk recently. I was just sick of copying things to and from DVD-RWs in order to make space on my laptop drive. The new drive is from StorageDepot and it seems to perform well and looks good. The price was great too. I'm very satisfied with it and would use StorageDepot again. However after owning it for 5 days and installing all my software that I couldn't previously fit on my laptop there is only 60GB of free space left!

Pondering email

I just learned that SpyMac has recently started offering a free email and webspace offer (which includes a mountable volume known as SpyDisk, very similar to Apple's iDisk service). I've signed up for accounts for both Emma and myself. The service includes both SMTP and POP, which will be useful once we cancel our BT dialup account. My preferred email service, Fastmail, does not offer an SMTP server with their free service so I had been wondering how we were going to send emails.

Hello broadband!

Signed up for BT broadband this week. I was originally going to go for Tiscali based on their advertising (30% cheaper, 50MB webspace, free web SMS) but after spending a while reading reviews on the web I've abandoned that idea and gone for BT instead. The only other choice in this area is NTL cable, but Emma and I have had bad experiences with NTL customer support in the past.

Broadband will be great, but it'll mean canceling our BT dialup account. Stupidly BT have decided that although you get 50MB of webspace with dialup accounts, you don't get any with a broadband account. So I'm looking around for free webspace - I didn't pay for it before and I'll be damned if I'll pay for it now! The alternative I've been thinking about is serving this webpage from my own Mac. The broadband will be always on after all! I just have to get the hang of the Apache and MySQL on OS X ... we'll see how that goes.

A new home theatre package

This "DVD Digital Theatre System" is currently (November 2003) available as part of a £499 package at Argos in the United Kingdom. The package consists of a Hitachi HTDK170 UK DVD player with 5.1 surround sound (includes 5x 25W speakers and a 35W subwoofer), a Hitachi C28W440N 28" wide-screen CRT TV, and a Hitachi VT-FX340EUK R VCR. A two-shelf stand is supposed to be included, but at the time of purchase we were told that they had run out of two-shelf versions and asked if we would mind a single-shelf version (pictured). There is also a £699 version of this package which substitutes a 32" TV for the 28" one.

Since Argos is a kind of warehouse-store where you order an item through a catalog and it is subsequently delivered it is difficult to know exactly what you will be getting. I know that I spent several hours online trying to find out more about this particular model with virtually no success whatsoever (variations in model numbers on different websites didn't help). So my hope is that this page might illuminate a few people who are researching this particular combination of devices and help them make their choice. Although I will briefly discuss the TV and VCR, this review will concentrate on the DVD player (since that is the device where compatibility and features will be the biggest issue).

The Hitachi C28W440N 28" wide-screen TV
The TV is extremely bulky with dimensions of 532mm (D) x 777mm (L) x 468mm (H) and weighs in at a massive 33.4kg. The box it arrives in is at least 50% larger again in all dimensions (absolutely enormous! and resulted in me having to move a hallway bookshelf in order to get the box into the sitting room!). The TV has all the features I expected, with automatic aspect ratio detection as well as various manual settings (4:3, 4:3 widescreen, 4:3 letterbox, 14:9L and 14:9 zoom). The screen is obviously not perfectly flat (not for this price!) but it is completely acceptable. One negative is that there is a very slight moire effect on the edges of the screen when in widescreen format but it is barely noticeable unless you study it closely. On the plus side the built-in speakers work well - if anything they are too loud, I regularly have the volume set on 3 when the maximum is about 40!. And, probably most importantly, the price is right!

This TV accepts video inputs through a Euroscart connection and a regular RF video connection. It does not have an S-Video input (although higher-end models in this same range do). One thing I noticed is that the package comes with a regular television RF cable (instead of a Euroscart connection) to connect the VCR to the TV. However, upgrading this connection to a Euroscart cable didn't make any noticeable difference to the picture quality (admittedly I tested this with a cheapo £10 scart cable - the store had some that were £50!). However the documentation does say that if you want to watch a NICAM (dual language) VHS tape, then you need a Euroscart connection from VCR to TV. Oddly enough, there is no mention in the documentation of this model of TV working with the NTSC system used in the US and Japan. The included VCR and DVD player do (see below) but this TV apparently doesn't. Odd eh? I have not had the chance to test this since I don't have any NTSC tapes or discs handy. Edit: I have since tested an NTSC DVD and the TV does display NTSC, it's just not mentioned in the documentation.

Note that unlike some higher-end models this TV does not have a built-in decoder for digital terrestrial TV (Freeview in the UK).

The Hitachi VT-FX340EUK R VCR
The VCR is an unremarkable piece of machinery. One of the first things you notice when you see it is the silvery plastic casing which looks fine but feels decidedly cheap once you pick it up. It's also pretty noisy when inserting and ejecting tapes. However it does its real job without any problems. The VCR can playback PAL and NTSC formats and also accepts VideoPlus+® numbers for easy recording of TV programmes.

The video output choices of the VCR are RF out and Euroscart out. There are also RCA audio out sockets. Inputs are via a normal TV aerial socket or the second Euroscart connection. The second Euroscart is intended for input from satellite, cable, or digital terrestrial converters, but I have also had great quality VHS tape recordings from a digital video camera (Sony PC10) using the camera's S-Video output going through an S-Video/Euroscart adaptor and into the Euroscart input port.

The Hitachi HTDK170 UK
The HTDK170 UK DVD player - also known as the HTDK170UK, the HTD-K170 UK, and the HTDK170-UK - appears to have a decent build quality and feels much more sturdy than the included VCR. The front face of the machine is mirrored which looks fairly decent in a retro kind of way. The mirroring is the reason you cannot see the LCD display in the picture to the right. Overall I've had no complaints, except that the open/close button on the player itself is too sensitive (sometimes when I press it the player seems to see two separate presses and opens and closes the disc tray). I've had no complaints about the speakers either. They seem to work fine and sound great.

The video output choices are listed as PAL/NTSC CVBS, PAL/NTSC S-VIDEO, or RGB+CVBS through a Euroscart connector. I have not tested the S-Video output as I have no devices which accept SVCD input.

This player has a built in radio tuner but does not come with any antennas. Unless the signal in your area is particularly good you will need to purchase one.

Note that all commercial DVDs are protected from casual copying by CSS (content scrambling system) and Macrovision. Essentially this means that any analog recording will have a huge amount of static and interference making the film unwatchable. So you can forget any ideas you might have had about recording DVDs onto VHS tape. If you have a DVD burner in your computer you can visit this site for more information on making legal backups of DVDs you already own.

A variety of formats
The HTDK170 UK DVD player advertises itself as a DVD/VCD/CD player with AV Surround Receiver which supports DVD, VCD, CD-DA, CD-R, CD-RW, MP-3 and JPEG discs.

I have tested over a hundred commercial VCD and VCD 2.0 discs on this player (I used to live in Hong Kong where the VCD format is very popular) and all except one has played flawlessly. One thing I noticed is that with VCD 2.0 discs you can press play to stop fast-forwarding or rewinding, while on normal VCD (1.0) discs you have to use the rewind button to 'cancel' fast-forward. This might just be a limitation of the original VCD format, I don't know. Edit: I have since discovered that it is. I have also tested a large amount of CD-Rs and CD-RWs with both movies and music on them. The player has had no problems with any brand I've tried (Imation, Verbatim, Emtec, TDK, SKC, Memorex, Phillips).

The player has not had any problems with either purchased or rented DVDs (it had better not!). I have not tested CD-DA or JPEG discs. I have also not tried a MiniDVD (a CD with data in a DVD format on it), although I would like to sometime. I have also not yet tested XVCDs or XSVCDs (VCDs and SVCDs with non-standard video bitrates).

Edit: I have since tested a miniDVD and found that the player did not recognise it.

Not all DVD players are born equal
I would have been extremely disappointed if this DVD player had trouble with DVD-Rs. It would be pretty unusual for a modern player but you never know! Luckily I have found that the player happily accepts purple-dye Packard Bell (widely available here in the UK) and Ritek G04 DVD-Rs. On a slightly more surprising note, the player recognises and plays SVCD discs flawlessly! This is a bonus for me as I am a fan of the SVCD format (near-DVD quality movies on regular CDs, approximately 45 minutes of video per CD), and VCD compatibility doesn't always mean SVCD compatibility. However, not everything was rosy. The MP3 disc features of this player weren't so clear cut.

MP3 compatible (mostly)
After some experimentation, it seems that a CD-R or CD-RW with a bunch of MP3's at the top level of the directory plays OK, but putting MP3s into folders seems to cause a few problems. The DVD player on-screen menu has options for music playback consisting of Single Track, Repeat Track, Folder Normal, Folder Repeat, Disc Scan, Disc Normal, Disc Repeat, Random and Shuffle. However, if you have a disc full of folders containing MP3s, the Disc Normal and Disc Repeat modes seem unable to automatically start playing a new folder when the last song in the previous folder has been played. This is a serious drawback since it rules out continuous music due to having to manually switch folders (albums) when each one finishes. Random and Shuffle are restricted to songs within one folder. So my advice would be to forget using folders on your MP3 CDs. However if you are like me and would rather not have the TV on while playing music, folders aren't an option anyway (since you cannot navigate through the folders without having the TV on).

For those of us who don't want their TV on while listening to music, the player also displays track numbers and times on the LCD display on the player itself. The track counter can definitely display track numbers over 99 (I've tested with an MP3 CD with 150 songs on it), and there is also a fourth LCD digit so presumably it can also display track numbers over 999. Note that when inserting a 150-song MP3 CD, there is a pause of about 10 seconds before music starts (this appears to be due to the player having to read all the song titles from the CD - the pause is longer with more songs).

Note that it is not possible (on this player) to have music from regular stereo CDs or MP3s playing through all 5 surround sound speakers - only the two central speakers will emit sound. Only discs with 5.1 surround sound (generally this means DVDs only) will be able to take advantage of all 5 speakers and the subwoofer. On the other hand, if you have the TV turned to the AV channel, you will also get music out of the TV speakers.

Continuous music without folders
While I can accept having a CD of MP3s without any folders, when you get to the scale of a DVD it just seems crazy that the folder feature doesn't work properly. Renaming the approximately 150 MP3s you can fit onto one CD so they remain grouped into albums seems daunting enough; renaming the thousand or so that would fit onto a DVD-R sounds like my idea of a nightmare. Having said that, any decent music-playing software (iTunes is one) can take a selection of MP3s and burn them onto a CD, and keep them in order by adding sequential numbers to the beginning of the track names. This at least keeps the album songs together in clumps, although it doesn't indicate which song belongs to which album. However, if you did this on a DVD-R, you would still have to scroll through a thousand MP3s to play a track near the end of the list. Not fun.

Another MP3 DVD consideration
Playing MP3s that I had burned onto a DVD-RW resulted in the machine occasionally freezing while browsing through the MP3 list. This seemed to particularly happen when I was navigating between folders. The only way I found to escape from this freeze was to unplug the DVD player - which, as you can imagine, was extremely irritating. The fact that I had to move an extremely heavy television to unplug the DVD player didn't help either. I have yet to test this with a DVD-R, but I suspect the results will be the same (and I'd rather not waste a DVD-R).

Edit: I am now (December 2003) pretty convinced that this freeze is purely a result of having folders on the disc, and now suspect that a folderless DVD-RW would work. Still haven't tried it on a DVD though! Although I have tried a folderless CD-RW which seems to work just fine.

Yet another DVD question
I have only used DVD-R and DVD-RW discs with this player. I do not have a DVD writer that can burn DVD+R or DVD+RW discs, so I don't know how the player would react to them. Presumably it would be fine with them. It might be that using the + format would cure all my problems with MP3 DVDs (or it may make no difference, who knows?). Although having said that, home movies that I've transferred onto DVD-R have worked without any problems whatsoever.

A shot in the dark
I was curious if the DVD player would be able to recognise MP3s copied onto a DVD-RAM disc rather than a DVD-R or RW but, rather unsurprisingly, the player just spat the disc back out. However this DVD-RAM disc was not in UDF format, which may have been the problem (unlikely, it's far more likely that the player is just incapable of reading DVD-RAM discs).

Freedom of region
DVDs are 'protected' against international piracy by what is known as 'region-coding'. Essentially the world is split up into 7 regions where DVDs released in one region will not play on a player from a different region. As you can imagine I think this region business stinks - since it prevents you from buying off-the-shelf DVDs while abroad, and also prevents people like me from being able to send United Kingdom store-bought DVDs to family and friends back in Hong Kong.

What is needed is a hack to disable the region coding on our players to allow them to play DVDs from any region. Unfortunately there is at this time no known region hack for this particular model of DVD player - the hack for this DVD player's predecessor (the HTDK160 UK) does not work (if only it was so simple!). However people are constantly discovering new hacks for different players. You can check here to find out if someone has discovered a region-free hack for the HTDK170 UK.