Big news of the day is that Sky TV has finally confirmed it's going high definition "in the next eighteen to twenty-four months." It's yet to be decided which standard - 1920x1080i or 1280x720p - will be adopted. There's another technical issue, too. Your TV will naturally have to be high def capable, but it will also have to be HDCP (High-Bandwidth Digital Content Protection) compatible, and not all the expensive big screen tellys sold in this country are.

As the name implies, HDCP is a copy protection system that lets content providers place a 'tag' into their programmes (Sky's data stream for instance). It requires a digital connection such as DVI or, more commonly, HDMI to work, so we'd deduce that Sky's HD set top box won't work on any TV that only has component inputs (which can carry an HD signal but not the copy protected one).

Sky's move is a welcome one, though with no details about what it will cost punters to sign up (and you'd better believe it will cost a premium), we're still being cautiously welcoming. The move is also a predictable one, given that TVNZ and TV3 are (still) both working on plans to go digital; going HD is Sky's way of upping the ante. And with the explosion in the consumer electronics market for big, flat panel TVs (though as we've noted, not necessarily fully-specced big, flat panel TVs), we can't help thinking TVNZ, TV3 and the government - which for some reason wants all broadcasters to go digital - have jumped on the wrong boat here...

Posted by at 11:01 AM | Permalink | Comments ( 1 )

Now this really is convergence gone mad. Reuters reports that Nike is to create running shoes that will accommodate a computer chip to collect information such as distance travelled, speed and calories burnt. The info can then be transmitted to an iPod Nano. I realise I speak for myself here, but the last thing I need is my iPod telling me I need to go further and faster. Is the world honestly ready for smug MP3 players?

Read the full Reuters story here

Posted by at 2:27 PM | Permalink | Comments ( 0 )

IDG's Martyn Williams reports that Samsung will next month launch two portable computers that use flash memory in place of a hard-disk drive for data storage.

Flash memory has long been seen as a potential replacement for hard-disk technology because it works faster, is lighter and more shock-resistant, but it's still more expensive than a hard drive. Despite the costs, flash memory chip prices are coming down to a range that some specialist users might be willing to pay for the benefits.

Samsung has built 32GB of NAND flash memory into a case the same size as a 1.8in hard-disk drive. The so-called "solid state disk" (SSD) has the same interface as a normal laptop hard drive, so it can be directly substituted with little extra work required.

There are several benefits to using flash memory, said Samsung. The flash drives can withstand about twice the impact that would cripple a similar hard-disk, and are much less affected by harsh environmental conditions. Read speed is 300% faster and write speed 150% faster than a hard-disk drive, so the OS boots faster and data can be loaded more quickly. The solid-state disks also make no noise when in use.

Until now Samsung has been coy on the price of the drives but with the announcement of the two new computers — a version of its Q1 ultramobile PC and Q30 laptop — the price premium is clear.

The Q1-SSD will cost 2.3 million won (NZ$3888) and the Q30-SSD will cost 3.5 million won. Equivalent models of the same computers with hard drives cost 1.2 million won and around 2.6 million won respectively putting the SSD premium at between NZ$1500 and NZ$1800.

Samsung said nothing has been decided regarding an overseas launch of the SSD-based computers.

Other computer makers are expected to announce computers with flash memory-based drives soon. Samsung, which is a leading maker of flash memory, has started offering the drive to its customers. Sony last week said it plans to use an SSD in a new version of its UX50 portable PC due out around the middle of this year.

Posted by at 11:23 AM | Permalink | Comments ( 1 )

You can't buy it just yet but Sony Ericsson's new W850i Walkman phone looks hot.

Details we've been able to scare up about this tri-band 3G slider phone suggest you'll be able to buy the W850i in black or white and it comes equipped with the latest Walkman 2.0 player.
The player supports MP3, AAC, AAC+ and eAAC+ music format files. A song encoded in the eAAC+ format occupies just over 1MB of space. If the camera comes bundled with the rumoured 1GB Memory Stick PRO Duo card, that's room for 1,000 tracks. If that's not enough, cards of up to 4GB are supported.

The W850i also has a built-in RDS FM Stereo radio and the Walkman 2.0 player features a Track ID application that allows you to record a few seconds of a song and upload it to the Gracenote Mobile MusicID database for identification.

Rounding out the package is a 2-megapixel camera with an LED light, a 2-inch QVGA TFT 260k colour display and Bluetooth 2.0 with A2DP stereo audio so you can use a pair of wireless headphones.

Posted by at 2:10 PM | Permalink | Comments ( 2 )

Sony this week took the wraps off its Vaio UX50 ultracompact PC at a news conference in Tokyo. Martyn Williams of IDG News Service was at the event and got five minutes to play with the "ever-so-cool looking device". Here's what he had to say.

It's about the size of a paperback book, so it fits in a jacket pocket, but it runs the full Windows XP OS and is based on an Intel Centrino processor.

Dominating the front of the PC is the 4.5-inch LCD. This has a touch-screen so you can operate it like the previous Vaio U model as a tablet PC, but you can also slide up the display to reveal a full QWERTY keyboard underneath. The keyboard is backlit, which will be handy if you're using the machine in low light, but I found it a little difficult to use.

The keys are almost flush with the case and don't move much when pushed, so I never really got a good feel for them. They're also small -- the entire keyboard is only about 12cm wide -- so I constantly worried that my fingers were hitting neighboring keys, although in the brief time I used the computer I didn't get any misspellings.

The position of the "enter" key at the far right of the keyboard made it difficult to press. This was compounded by its slightly curved shape to match the case.

The screen is sharp and bright. It has 1,024 pixels by 600 pixels resolution so full-screen Web browsing is possible, but would be difficult for the poor of sight. Everything in the Windows menus and input boxes was readable -- nothing was so small that it became a mush -- but I did find myself squinting at some things.

There are a couple of handily located zoom buttons on the right hand side of the case. These helped, although the need to include zoom buttons shows how small everything on the screen is.

That may not be a huge problem because the UX50 seems to be more about fun, on-the-go computing than manipulating Excel files or writing novels. For many users the portability of the device will more than compensate for the small keys and small letters.

Because I had only a few minutes with the UX50 I wasn't able to test other features, although some of the more notable include a fingerprint sensor, built-in camera (just above the main display so you can video conference) and Bluetooth wireless. Sony is selling a companion Bluetooth GPS (global positioning system) receiver that feeds global positioning data to the PC.

It's difficult to hold the UX50 in your hands and not be impressed about the amount of technology crammed into it. It compares favorably with Samsung's Q1 ultra mobile PC, which is based on the recently-launched Origami platform, and will definitely draw looks when you use it in public.

At Tuesday's launch Sony said there's also a second version on the way. This will use flash memory in place of a hard-disk drive so it's likely to be a little lighter and more expensive. That should launch in the middle of this year.

The UX50 will go on sale in Japan on May 27 and in the U.S. in July. In Japan it will cost around ¥170,000 (NZ$2,458) and in the U.S. will cost about US$1,800 (NZ$2,892), Sony said.

Posted by at 10:48 AM | Permalink | Comments ( 0 )

Perreaux is one of those great companies that always makes us feel good about being Kiwis. At times New Zealand can feel a little backwards (we're talking to you, pitiful broadband connection), but there's never anything third world about Perreaux's hi-fi kit, which is up there with the best.

We're pleased to see, then, that the Mosgiel-based company has a new product. The SX60m is a 60W mono-aural power amp and is the latest in Perreaux's Silhouette series. At 216 x 178 x 58mm (w/d/h) and weighing just 3kg ít's a svelte wee thing, but Perreaux reckon that it's the most powerful A, AB or B class amp per cubic centimetre on the market. Just makes our chests swell with pride.

Expect to pay around $999.

More: Perreaux website

Posted by at 12:42 PM | Permalink | Comments ( 0 )

Just when you thought you had a handle on the whole high-definition war for world domination, Sony and Panasonic have announced a new format dubbed AVCHD which will provide for high-definition recording onto existing 8cm DVD discs. The format employs the MPEG-4/H.264 codec for video compression and Dolby Digital (AC-3) or Linear PCM for audio. But don't panic because...

AVCHD is aimed exclusively at the high-definition video camera market. Sony and Panasonic claim the format will allow manufacturers to develop compact video cameras with HD capability and they intend promoting it strongly to the industry via licensing deals. In theory, AVCHD-capable video cameras will be able to record 1080i at either 50 or 60 frames per second and 1080p at 24 frames per second. Lower resolutions are also supported and audio can be recorded in modes up to 7.1 channels.

As usual, there will be initial compatibility issues as consumer DVD players and PC drives will need special software to be able to play AVCHD discs. In the longer term, however, as the H.264 codec is at the heart of the both Blu-ray and HD-DVD video formats, AVCHD playback should be easy enough to implement in these players as they hit the shelves.
One other obvious limitation is that recording time will drop to 20 minutes at the "average" quality setting as compared to 30 minutes on a standard definition camera. On the upside, you do get the RAM-like capabilities of an optical disc format as opposed to the tape-only HD formats currently available for video cameras.
Sony already has an AVCHD camera in development and when asked why the company didn't just go the whole hog and dump a Blu-ray drive in a camera, a spokesman said that proposition still had to jump the hurdles of price, drive size and energy consumption.

Posted by at 2:01 PM | Permalink | Comments ( 0 )