Old tech meets new with the BioLite.
I admit it – I’m a geek. I love technology, especially gadgets that do the unexpected, that make life ‘easier’, or that are just plain cool.
So it was no surprise that I was impressed by a gadget that a colleague of mine showed me a few months ago, which not only worked as a fuel efficient wood stove, but could also produces electricity.
While most of the world knew Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple Computers, was ill, we were all shocked when the news came through that he died.
Normally this sort of story is part of my beat at the ABC, but with the Technology Editor away on leave, I ended up doing my far share of commentary.
Here I am chatting to Mark Holden on ABC 774 Melbourne.
A friend of mine at work recently asked a few of us for their favourite iPhone apps.
Admittedly, I have an iPod Touch, but I do use my partner’s iPhone occasionally. So here’s a list of the apps that flooded back her way – not surprisingly most of them are free. Continue reading
After a year or two of dominance in the geocaching field, Garmin is finding some ‘old’ players are re-entering the handheld GPS receiver market. I was fortunate enough to test out Lowrance’s latest offering, the Endura Sierra.
When you take the Endura Sierra out of the box it is a good fit in the hand. The size is about right and there is adequate rubber grip on the sides and back. With batteries (2 x AA) the unit is a little heavier than other units of similar ilk, but it is well balanced. The space for the batteries is tight and it a few attempts to get the correct angle for closing the back panel.
SMARTER mobile phones, smaller memory sticks, flashing T-shirts and barcodes on every corner: a look into the world of technology in 2008.
Leaner chips for smaller PCs, smarter phones
When Apple released the iPhone, they proved you can develop a mobile phone with an easy to use interface in a sleek, sexy package.
But one of the most exciting features of the iPhone is that it functions like a computer – a true smartphone.
This has been made possible by the development of smarter, smaller, less power hungry computer chips, and the field is set for even better models.
Intel’s Silverthorne 45nm processor, scheduled for release in the first half of 2008, delivers computer performance comparable to a desktop or laptop computer, on a 74mm x 143mm sized motherboard.
The Silverthorne processor uses 10 times less power than today’s low power processors and can work alongside WiFi, 3G and WiMAX.
Expect many more smart phones, including the Australian version of the iPhone, and an avalanche of paperback-sized laptops to hit the market in 2008.
An Australian music expert believes voice recognition systems need to tune into our emotions.
“There are several problems with voice recognition technology,” says University of NSW Australian research fellow Dr Emery Schubert.
“The best ones are around the 80-90 per cent mark, but that’s with a nice stable voice with a clear accent.”
Accuracy becomes much worse when it has to deal with emotionally charged voices or strong accents.
Schubert, who is chairing the inaugural International Conference on Music Communication Science being held in Sydney, believes the secret to developing a better voice recognition system may lie in music.
Move over desktop computers, the laptop is set to conquer the world.
During the past 10 years, notebooks have increased from a 20% market share to almost 50%, and they are expected to outsell desktop computers by the end of the decade, according to Intel developers attending a Forum in Taipei last month.
Mooly Eden, Intel vice president and general manager of the Mobility Platforms Group, believes the internet is the main driver behind the growth in laptop computers.
“If you believe that one of the most persuasive things today is to be connected to the internet, (then you’ll know) it’s unnatural for us to be tethered to a desktop,” he said.
He says the popularity of the mobile phone also proves that people want to stay in touch with the world while they’re on the move.
Transferring files from your digital video camera to your computer will happen in an instant as USB enters a new generation.
The head of the USB Implementers Forum, Jeffery Ravencraft, said last month that USB had become the standard for connecting devices to computers. He said the formation of the USB 3.0 Promoter Group would help deliver a “faster sync-n-go capability”.
“USB is the most successful interface in the history of computing. Last year 2.1 billion USB connections [were shipped] and to date over six billion units [have been sold],” Ravencraft said at the Intel Development Forum in Taiwan in October.
Read more on SMH.com.au
Plasma and LCD TVs are in the sights of environmentalists after a study showed exactly how much power they munch.
Flat screen television manufacturers will have to become greener after the release of a government discussion paper suggested many plasma and some LCD TVs could be banned for being energy hungry.
The paper, which was prepared by consulting firm Digital CEnergy Australia and commissioned by the Australian Greenhouse Office, was presented at an industry meeting last week.
It was suggested a set of minimum energy performance standards (MEPS) and a star-based energy rating program be applied to televisions from October 2008, banning from the Australian market any product that failed to achieve a single star rating.
For many technology geeks it’s a given that Australia sits at the end of the roll-out queue. But it hasn’t stopped many from getting their hands on Apple’s iPhone.
Since it was launched six weeks ago, hundreds of examples have made their way to our shores and Australians are paying a high price to get their hands on one.
The 8GB model initially went on sale in the US for $US599 ($713).
Despite this, people aren’t hanging around until 2008, when the iPhone will probably be released in the Asia-Pacific region (Apple won’t say any more than this about the Australian release date). Bids on eBay auctions in Australia have been consistently hitting well over $1000.
Read more at smh.com.au