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Virgin Radio offers 3G broadcast
UK broadcaster Virgin Radio says it will become the first station in the world to offer radio via 3G mobiles.
The radio station, in partnership with technology firm Sydus, will broadcast on selected 2G and high-speed 3G networks. Later this year listeners will be able to download software from the Virgin website which enables the service. James Cridland, head of new media at Virgin Radio, said: "It places radio at the heart of the 3G revolution." Virgin Radio will be the first station made available followed by two digital stations, Virgin Radio Classic Rock and Virgin Radio Groove.
Mr Cridland said: "This application will enable anyone, anywhere to listen to Virgin Radio simply with the phone in their pocket. "This allows us to tap into a huge new audience and keep radio relevant for a new generation of listeners." Saumil Nanavati, president of Sydus, said, "This radio player is what the 3G network was built for, giving consumers high-quality and high-data products through a handset in their pocket." Virgin says an hour's listening to the station via mobile would involve about 7.2MB of data, which could prove expensive for people using pay as you download GPRS or 3G services. Some networks, such as Orange, charge up to £1 for every one megabyte of data downloaded. Virgin says radio via 2G or 3G mobiles is therefore going to appeal to people with unlimited download deals. There are 30 compatible handsets available from major manufacturers including Nokia and Samsung while Virgin said more than 14.9 million consumers across the globe can use the service currently.
| James Cridland, head of new media at Virgin Radio, said: "It places radio at the heart of the 3G revolution."UK broadcaster Virgin Radio says it will become the first station in the world to offer radio via 3G mobiles.Virgin Radio will be the first station made available followed by two digital stations, Virgin Radio Classic Rock and Virgin Radio Groove.Virgin says radio via 2G or 3G mobiles is therefore going to appeal to people with unlimited download deals.The radio station, in partnership with technology firm Sydus, will broadcast on selected 2G and high-speed 3G networks. |
Why Cell will get the hard sell
The world is casting its gaze on the Cell processor for the first time, but what is so important about it, and why is it so different?
The backers of the processor are big names in the computer industry. IBM is one of the largest and most respected chip-makers in the world, providing cutting edge technology to large businesses. Sony will be using the chip inside its PlayStation 3 console, and its dominance of the games market means that it now has a lot of power to dictate the future of computer and gaming platforms. The technology inside the Cell is being heralded as revolutionary, from a technical standpoint. Traditional computers - whether they are household PCs or PlayStation 2s - use a single processor to carry out the calculations that run the computer. The Cell technology, on the other hand, uses multiple Cell processors linked together to run lots of calculations simultaneously.
This gives it processing power an order of magnitude above its competitors. Whilst its rivals are working on similar technology, it is Sony's which is the most advanced. The speed of computer memory has been slowly increasing over the last few years, but the memory technology that accompanies the Cell is a huge leap in performance.
Using a technology called XDR, created by American firm Rambus, memory can run up to eight times faster than the current standard being promoted by Intel. Perhaps more important than any of the technology is the Cell's role in the imminent "war on living rooms". The big trend predicted for this year is the convergence of computers with home entertainment devices such as DVD players and hi-fis. Companies like Microsoft and Sony believe that there is a lot of money to be made by putting a computer underneath the TV of every household and then offering services such as music and video downloads, as well as giving an individual access to all the media they already own in one place.
Microsoft has already made its first tactical move into this area with its Windows Media Center software, which has been adopted by many PC makers. Sony had a stab at something similar with the PSX - a variation on the PlayStation - last year in Japan, although this attempt was generally seen as a failure. Both companies believe that increasing the capabilities of games consoles, to make them as powerful as PCs, will make the technology accessible enough to persuade buyers to give them pride of place on the video rack.
Sony and IBM want to make sure that the dominance of the PC market enjoyed by Microsoft and Intel is not allowed to extend to this market. By creating a radically new architecture, and using that architecture in a games console that is sure to be a huge seller, they hope that the Cell processor can become the dominant technology in the living room, shutting out their rivals. Once they have established themselves under the TV, there is no doubt that they hope to use this as a base camp to extend their might into our traditional PCs and instigate a regime change on the desktop. Cell is, in fact, specifically designed to be deployed throughout the house. The links between the multiple processors can also be extended to reach Cell processors in entirely different systems.
Sony hopes to put Cells in televisions, kitchen appliances and anywhere that could use any sort of computer chip. Each Cell will be linked to the others, creating a vast home network of computing power. Resources of the Cells across the house can be pooled to provide more power, and the links can also be used to enable devices to talk to each other, so that you can programme your microwave from your TV, for example. This digital home of the future depends on the widespread adoption of the Cell processor and there are, as with all things, a number of reasons it could fail. Because the processor is so different, it requires programmers to learn a different way of writing software, and it may be that the changeover is simply too difficult for them to master. You can also guarantee that Microsoft and Intel are not going to sit around and let Cell take over home computing without a fight. Microsoft is going to be pushing its Xbox 2 as hard as possible to make sure that its technology, not Sony's, will be under your tree next Christmas. Intel will be furiously working on new designs that address the problems of its current chips to create a rival technology to Cell, so that it doesn't lose its desktop PC dominance. If Cell succeeds in becoming the living room technology of choice, however, it could provide the jump-start to the fully digital home of the future. The revolution might not be televised, but it could well be played with a videogame controller.
| The Cell technology, on the other hand, uses multiple Cell processors linked together to run lots of calculations simultaneously.If Cell succeeds in becoming the living room technology of choice, however, it could provide the jump-start to the fully digital home of the future.By creating a radically new architecture, and using that architecture in a games console that is sure to be a huge seller, they hope that the Cell processor can become the dominant technology in the living room, shutting out their rivals.The speed of computer memory has been slowly increasing over the last few years, but the memory technology that accompanies the Cell is a huge leap in performance.The links between the multiple processors can also be extended to reach Cell processors in entirely different systems.The world is casting its gaze on the Cell processor for the first time, but what is so important about it, and why is it so different?Intel will be furiously working on new designs that address the problems of its current chips to create a rival technology to Cell, so that it doesn't lose its desktop PC dominance.The technology inside the Cell is being heralded as revolutionary, from a technical standpoint.This digital home of the future depends on the widespread adoption of the Cell processor and there are, as with all things, a number of reasons it could fail.Sony will be using the chip inside its PlayStation 3 console, and its dominance of the games market means that it now has a lot of power to dictate the future of computer and gaming platforms.Traditional computers - whether they are household PCs or PlayStation 2s - use a single processor to carry out the calculations that run the computer.Each Cell will be linked to the others, creating a vast home network of computing power.You can also guarantee that Microsoft and Intel are not going to sit around and let Cell take over home computing without a fight. |
Yahoo moves into desktop search
Internet giant Yahoo has launched software to allow people to search e-mail and other files on their PCs.
The firm is following in the footsteps of Microsoft, Google and Ask Jeeves, which have offered similar services. Search has become a lucrative and hotly-contested area of expansion for net firms, looking to extend loyalty beyond the web. With hard drives providing bigger storage, users could need more help to locate important files, such as photos.
The desktop search technology has been licensed from a US-based firm X1 Technologies. It is designed to work alongside Microsoft's Outlook and Outlook Express e-mail programs. Searching e-mail effectively is becoming increasingly important, especially as the amount of spam increases. According to research from message analysts the Radicati Group, up to 45% of businesses' critical information is stored in e-mail and attachments. Yahoo's software can also work separately on the desktop, searching for music, photos and other files. Users can search under a variety of criteria, including file name, size, date and time. It doesn't yet incorporate web searching, although Yahoo has promised that future versions will allow users to search both web-based and desktop data. "We are all getting more and more files on our desktop but the real commercial opportunity lies with linking this through to web content," said Julian Smith, an analyst with research firm Jupiter. "It is all about extending the idea of search and getting a closer relationship with consumers by organising not just how they search on the internet but the files on your computer as well," he said. Search engines are often the first port of call for users when they go onto the web. The new foray into desktop search has rung alarm bells for human rights groups, concerned about the implications to privacy. And not everyone is impressed with the functionality of such services. Alexander Linden, vice president of emerging technologies at analyst firm Gartner,downloaded the Google product but has since removed it. "It was just not very interesting," he said. He believes the rush to enter the desktop business is just a way of keeping up with rivals. "Desktop search is just one of many features people would like but I'm suspicious of its usefulness," he said. More useful would be tools that can combine internet, intranet and desktop search alongside improvements to key word searching, he said.
| The desktop search technology has been licensed from a US-based firm X1 Technologies.It doesn't yet incorporate web searching, although Yahoo has promised that future versions will allow users to search both web-based and desktop data.More useful would be tools that can combine internet, intranet and desktop search alongside improvements to key word searching, he said.Internet giant Yahoo has launched software to allow people to search e-mail and other files on their PCs."It is all about extending the idea of search and getting a closer relationship with consumers by organising not just how they search on the internet but the files on your computer as well," he said."Desktop search is just one of many features people would like but I'm suspicious of its usefulness," he said."We are all getting more and more files on our desktop but the real commercial opportunity lies with linking this through to web content," said Julian Smith, an analyst with research firm Jupiter.The new foray into desktop search has rung alarm bells for human rights groups, concerned about the implications to privacy.Search has become a lucrative and hotly-contested area of expansion for net firms, looking to extend loyalty beyond the web. |
Peer-to-peer nets 'here to stay'
Peer-to-peer (P2P) networks are here to stay, and are on the verge of being exploited by commercial media firms, says a panel of industry experts.
Once several high-profile legal cases against file-sharers are resolved this year, firms will be very keen to try and make money from P2P technology. The expert panel probed the future of P2P at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas earlier in January. The first convictions for P2P piracy were handed out in the US in January. William Trowbridge and Michael Chicoine pleaded guilty to charges that they infringed copyright by illegally sharing music, movies and software. Since the first successful file-sharing network Napster was forced to close down, the entertainment industry has been nervous and critical of P2P technology, blaming it for falling sales and piracy. But that is going to change very soon, according to the panel.
The music and film industries have started some big legal cases against owners of legitimate P2P networks - which are not illegal in themselves - and of individuals accused of distributing pirated content over networks. But they have slowly realised that P2P is a good way to distribute content, said Travis Kalanick, founder and chairman of P2P network Red Swoosh, and soon they are all going to want a slice of it. They are just waiting to come up with "business models" that work for them, which includes digital rights management and copy-protection standards.
But, until the legal actions are resolved, experimentation with P2P cannot not happen, said Michael Weiss, president of StreamCast Networks. Remembering the furore around VCRs when they first came out, Mr Weiss said: "Old media always tries to stop new media. "When they can't stop it, they try to control it. Then they figure out how to make money and they always make a lot of money." Once the courts decided that the VCR in itself was not an illegal technology, the film studios turned it into an extremely lucrative business. In August 2004, the San Francisco-based US Court of Appeals ruled in favour of Grokster and StreamCast, two file-sharing networks. The court said they were essentially in the same position that Sony was in the 1980s VCR battle, and said that the networks themselves could not be deemed as illegal.
P2P networks usually do not rely on dedicated servers for the transfer of files. Instead it uses direct connections between computers - or clients. There are now many different types of P2P systems than work in different ways. P2P nets can be used to share any kind of file, like photos, free software, licensed music and any other digital content. The BBC has already decided to embrace the technology. It aims to offer most of its own programmes for download this year and it will use P2P technology to distribute them. The files would be locked seven days after a programme aired making rights management easier to control. But the technology is still demonised and misunderstood by many. The global entertainment industry says more than 2.6 billion copyrighted music files are downloaded every month, and about half a million films are downloaded a day. Legal music download services, like Apple iTunes, Napster, have rushed into the music marketplace to try and lure file-sharers away from free content. Sales of legally-downloaded songs grew tenfold in 2004, with 200 million tracks bought online in the US and Europe in 12 months, the IFPI reported this week. But such download services are very different from P2P networks, not least because of the financial aspect.
There are several money-spinning models that could turn P2P into a golden egg for commercial entertainment companies. Paid-for-pass-along, in which firms receive money each time a file is shared, along with various DRM solutions and advertiser-based options are all being considered. "We see there are going to be different models for commoditising P2P," said Marc Morgenstern, vice president of anti-piracy firm Overpeer.
"Consumers are hungry for it and we will discover new models together," agreed Mr Morgenstern. But many net users will continue to ignore the entertainment industry's potential controlling grip on content and P2P technology by continuing to use it for their own creations. Unsigned bands, for example, use P2P networks to distribute their music effectively, which also draws the attention of record companies looking for new artists to sign. "Increasingly, what you are seeing on P2P is consumer-created content," said Derek Broes, from Microsoft. "They will probably pay an increasing role in helping P2P spread," he said. Looking into P2P's future, file sharing is just the beginning for P2P networks, as far as Mr Broes is concerned. "Once some of these issues are resolved, you are going to see aggressive movement to protect content, but also in ways that are unimaginable now," he said. "File-sharing is the tip of the iceberg."
| But they have slowly realised that P2P is a good way to distribute content, said Travis Kalanick, founder and chairman of P2P network Red Swoosh, and soon they are all going to want a slice of it.Once several high-profile legal cases against file-sharers are resolved this year, firms will be very keen to try and make money from P2P technology.The music and film industries have started some big legal cases against owners of legitimate P2P networks - which are not illegal in themselves - and of individuals accused of distributing pirated content over networks.Since the first successful file-sharing network Napster was forced to close down, the entertainment industry has been nervous and critical of P2P technology, blaming it for falling sales and piracy.It aims to offer most of its own programmes for download this year and it will use P2P technology to distribute them."We see there are going to be different models for commoditising P2P," said Marc Morgenstern, vice president of anti-piracy firm Overpeer.But, until the legal actions are resolved, experimentation with P2P cannot not happen, said Michael Weiss, president of StreamCast Networks."Increasingly, what you are seeing on P2P is consumer-created content," said Derek Broes, from Microsoft.P2P nets can be used to share any kind of file, like photos, free software, licensed music and any other digital content.The first convictions for P2P piracy were handed out in the US in January.But many net users will continue to ignore the entertainment industry's potential controlling grip on content and P2P technology by continuing to use it for their own creations.Looking into P2P's future, file sharing is just the beginning for P2P networks, as far as Mr Broes is concerned.But such download services are very different from P2P networks, not least because of the financial aspect."They will probably pay an increasing role in helping P2P spread," he said.Peer-to-peer (P2P) networks are here to stay, and are on the verge of being exploited by commercial media firms, says a panel of industry experts.Unsigned bands, for example, use P2P networks to distribute their music effectively, which also draws the attention of record companies looking for new artists to sign. |
Supercomputer breaks speed record
The US is poised to push Japan off the top of the supercomputing chart with IBM's prototype Blue Gene/L machine.
It is being assembled for the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, a US Department of Energy (DOE) lab. DOE test results show that Blue Gene/L has managed speeds of 70.72 teraflops. The current top machine, Japan's NEC Earth Simulator, clocks up 35.86. Due next week, the Top 500 list officially charts the fastest computers in the world. It is announced every six months and is worked out using an officially recognised mathematical speed test called Linpack which measures calculations per second. The speeds will most likely make it the fastest computer system on the planet, yet the chip technology powering the machine is the kind which can be found in familiar devices such as games consoles.
The US Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham confirmed that the machine had reached the breakneck speed, according to the Linpack benchmark. Until the official list is published, however, Blue Gene/L's position will not be confirmed, and there are expected to be some other new entries. But the test results raise the bar of supercomputing enormously and signal a remarkable achievement. Surpassing the 40 trillion calculations per second (teraflop) mark has been considered a landmark for some time.
The IBM Blue Gene/L is only a prototype and is one 5th the speed of the full version, due to be completed for the Livermore labs in 2005. Its peak theoretical performance is expected to be 360 teraflops, and will fit into 64 full racks. It will also cut down on the amount of heat generated by the massive power, a big problem for supercomputers. The final machine will help scientists work out the safety, security and reliability requirements for the US's nuclear weapons stockpile, without the need for underground nuclear testing. The Earth Simulator has held on to the top spot since June 2002. It is dedicated to climate modelling and simulating seismic activity. But in September, IBM said that another Blue Gene/L machine clocked up 36.01 teraflops, marginally surpassing the Earth Simulator's performance. This was achieved during internal testing at IBM's production facility in Rochester, Minnesota, though, so was not an official record. Another giant to enter the fray is Silicon Graphics' Columbia supercomputer based at Nasa's Ames Research Center in California. It would be used to model flight missions, climate research, and aerospace engineering. The Linux-based machine was reported to have reached a top speed of 42.7 teraflops in October.
Supercomputers are hugely important for working out very complex problems across science and society. Their massive simulation and processing power means they can improve the accuracy of weather forecasts, help design better cars, and improve disease diagnosis. IBM's senior vice president of technology and manufacturing, Nick Donofrio, believes that by 2006, Blue Gene will be capable of petaflop computing. This means it would be capable of doing 1,000 trillion operations a second. "When you get a computer as large as a petaflop, you can start to think of simulations that might complement the physical world," Mr Donofrio recently told the BBC News website.
"You can start to be more proactive, more interactive and more innovative." One area where Mr Donofrio sees supercomputing - and Blue Gene machines in particular - as crucial is health. He believes the machines can help scientists understand one of the greatest challenges of the 21st Century: protein folding. "Health is one of the most important problems, not just mapping the human genome, but also protein structures. "We are a great believer in simulation. It gives you another tool," he said. Once the structures of proteins are understood fully, then drugs can be tailor-made to fight diseases more effectively. Compared with the current fastest supercomputers, Blue Gene is designed to consume one 15th the power and be 10 times more compact. Since the first supercomputer, the Cray-1, was installed at Los Alamos National Laboratory in 1976, computational speed has leaped 500,000 times. The Cray-1 was capable of 80 megaflops (80 million operations a second). The Blue Gene/L machine that will be completed next year will be five million times faster. Started in 1993, the Top 500 list is decided by a group of computer science academics from around the world. It is presented at the International Supercomputer Conference in Pittsburgh.
| The US is poised to push Japan off the top of the supercomputing chart with IBM's prototype Blue Gene/L machine.But in September, IBM said that another Blue Gene/L machine clocked up 36.01 teraflops, marginally surpassing the Earth Simulator's performance.DOE test results show that Blue Gene/L has managed speeds of 70.72 teraflops.The Linux-based machine was reported to have reached a top speed of 42.7 teraflops in October.One area where Mr Donofrio sees supercomputing - and Blue Gene machines in particular - as crucial is health.The IBM Blue Gene/L is only a prototype and is one 5th the speed of the full version, due to be completed for the Livermore labs in 2005.The Blue Gene/L machine that will be completed next year will be five million times faster.Compared with the current fastest supercomputers, Blue Gene is designed to consume one 15th the power and be 10 times more compact.The current top machine, Japan's NEC Earth Simulator, clocks up 35.86.Since the first supercomputer, the Cray-1, was installed at Los Alamos National Laboratory in 1976, computational speed has leaped 500,000 times.Due next week, the Top 500 list officially charts the fastest computers in the world.He believes the machines can help scientists understand one of the greatest challenges of the 21st Century: protein folding.The US Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham confirmed that the machine had reached the breakneck speed, according to the Linpack benchmark.The Cray-1 was capable of 80 megaflops (80 million operations a second).IBM's senior vice president of technology and manufacturing, Nick Donofrio, believes that by 2006, Blue Gene will be capable of petaflop computing.This means it would be capable of doing 1,000 trillion operations a second. |
Web helps collect aid donations
The web is helping aid agencies gather resources to help cope with the aftermath of the tsunami disaster.
Many people are making donations via websites or going online to see how they can get involved with aid efforts. High-profile web portals such as Google, Yahoo, Ebay and Amazon are gathering links that lead people to aid and relief organisations. So many were visiting some aid-related sites that some webpages were struggling to cope with the traffic. An umbrella organisation called the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) has been set up by a coalition of 12 charities and has been taking many donations via its specially created website. It urged people to go online where possible to help because donations could be processed more quickly than cash donated in other ways, meaning aid could be delivered as quickly as possible. The site has so far received almost £8 million, with more than 11,000 donations being made online every hour.
Telco BT stepped in to take over the secure payments on the DEC site and provided extra logistical support for phone and online appeals after it was initially crippled with online donations. It has also provided space in London's BT tower for one of the call centres dealing with donations.
Some of the web's biggest firms are also helping to channel help by modifying their homepages to include links to aid agencies and organisations collecting resources. On its famously sparse homepage Google has placed a link that leads users to a list of sites where donations can be made. Among the 17 organisations listed are Oxfam, Medecins sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders) and Network for Good. Many of the sites that Google lists are also taking online donations. Online retailer Amazon has put a large message on its start page that lets people donate money directly to the American Red Cross that will be used with relief efforts. Auction site eBay is giving a list of sites that people can either donate directly to, divert a portion of their profits from anything they sell on eBay to the listed organisations or simply buy items that direct cash to those in the list. Yahoo is proving links direct to charities for those that want to donate. The Auction Drop website is asking people to donate old digital cameras, computers and other gadgets they no longer want that can be auction to raise cash for the aid effort. Sadly, the outpouring of goodwill has also encouraged some conmen to try to cash in. Anti-fraud organisations are warning about e-mails that are starting to circulate which try to convince people to send money directly to them rather than make donations via aid agencies. Those wanting to give cash were urged to use legitimate websites of charities and aid agencies.
| Many of the sites that Google lists are also taking online donations.Many people are making donations via websites or going online to see how they can get involved with aid efforts.On its famously sparse homepage Google has placed a link that leads users to a list of sites where donations can be made.Auction site eBay is giving a list of sites that people can either donate directly to, divert a portion of their profits from anything they sell on eBay to the listed organisations or simply buy items that direct cash to those in the list.An umbrella organisation called the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) has been set up by a coalition of 12 charities and has been taking many donations via its specially created website.The site has so far received almost £8 million, with more than 11,000 donations being made online every hour.High-profile web portals such as Google, Yahoo, Ebay and Amazon are gathering links that lead people to aid and relief organisations.Anti-fraud organisations are warning about e-mails that are starting to circulate which try to convince people to send money directly to them rather than make donations via aid agencies. |
'Ultimate game' award for Doom 3
Sci-fi shooter Doom 3 has blasted away the competition at a major games ceremony, the Golden Joystick awards.
It was the only title to win twice, winning Ultimate Game of the year and best PC game at the awards, presented by Little Britain star Matt Lucas. The much-anticipated sci-fi horror Doom 3 shot straight to the top of the UK games charts on its release in August. Other winners included Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas which took the Most Wanted for Christmas prize. Only released last week, it was closely followed by Halo 2 and Half-Life 2, which are expected to be big hits when they are unleashed later this month.
But they missed out on the prize for the Most Wanted game of 2005, which went to the Nintendo title, The Legend of Zelda. The original Doom, released in 1994, heralded a new era in computer games and introduced 3D graphics. It helped to establish the concept of the first-person shooter. Doom 3 was developed over four years and is thought to have cost around $15m (£8.3m). The top honour for the best online game of the year went to Battlefield Vietnam. The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay was handed the Unsung Hero Game of 2004. Its release was somewhat eclipsed by Doom 3, which was released on the same week. It was, however, very well received by gamers and was praised for its storyline which differed from the film released around the same time. Electronic Arts was named top publisher of the year, taking the crown from Nintendo which won in 2003. The annual awards are voted for by more than 200,000 readers of computer and video games magazines. Games awards like this have grown in importance. Over the last six years, the UK market for games grew by 100% and was worth a record £1,152m in 2003, according to a recent report by analysts Screen Digest.
| It was the only title to win twice, winning Ultimate Game of the year and best PC game at the awards, presented by Little Britain star Matt Lucas.Its release was somewhat eclipsed by Doom 3, which was released on the same week.The original Doom, released in 1994, heralded a new era in computer games and introduced 3D graphics.Doom 3 was developed over four years and is thought to have cost around $15m (£8.3m).The much-anticipated sci-fi horror Doom 3 shot straight to the top of the UK games charts on its release in August.The top honour for the best online game of the year went to Battlefield Vietnam.The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay was handed the Unsung Hero Game of 2004. |
Text messages aid disaster recovery
Text messaging technology was a valuable communication tool in the aftermath of the tsunami disaster in Asia.
The messages can get through even when the cell phone signal is too weak to sustain a spoken conversation. Now some are studying how the technology behind SMS could be better used during an emergency. Sanjaya Senanayake works for Sri Lankan television. The blogging world, though, might know him better by his online name, Morquendi. He was one of the first on the scene after the tsunami destroyed much of the Sri Lankan coast. Cell phone signals were weak. Land lines were unreliable. So Mr Senanayake started sending out text messages. The messages were not just the latest news they were also an on-the-ground assessment of "who needs what and where". Blogging friends in India took Mr Senanayake's text messages and posted them on a weblog called Dogs without Borders. Thousands around the world followed the story that unfolded in the text messages that he sent.
And that's when Mr Senanayake started to wonder if SMS might be put to more practical use. "SMS networks can handle so much more traffic than the standard mobile phone call or the land line call," he says.
"In every rural community, there's at least one person who has access to a mobile phone, or has a mobile phone, and can receive messages." Half a world away, in the Caribbean nation of Trinidad and Tobago, Taran Rampersad read Morquendi's messages. Mr Rampersad, who used to work in the military, knew how important on the ground communication can be in times of disaster. He wondered if there might be a way to automatically centralise text messages, and then redistribute them to agencies and people who might be able to help. Mr Rampersad said: "Imagine if an aid worker in the field spotted a need for water purification tablets, and had a central place to send a text message to that effect. "He can message the server, so the server can send out an e-mail message and human or machine moderators can e-mail aid agencies and get it out in the field." He added: "Or, send it at the same time to other people who are using SMS in the region, and they might have an excess of it, and be able to shift supplies to the right places."
Mr Rampersad and others had actually been thinking about such a system since Hurricane Ivan ravaged the Caribbean and the southern United States last September. Last week, he sent out e-mail messages asking for help in creating such a system for Asia.
In only 72 hours, he found Dan Lane, a text message guru living in Britain. The pair, along with a group of dedicated techies, are creating what they call the Alert Retrieval Cache. The idea is to use open-source software - software can be used by anyone without commercial restraint - and a far-flung network of talent to create a system that links those in need with those who can help. "This is a classic smart mobs situation where you have people self-organizing into a larger enterprise to do things that benefit other people," says Paul Saffo, a director at the California-based Institute for the Future. "You may be halfway around the world from someone, but in cyberspace you're just one click or one e-mail away," he said, "That's put a whole new dimension on disaster relief and recovery, where often people halfway around the world can be more effective in making something happen precisely because they're not right on top of the tragedy." It is still very early days for the project, though. In an e-mail, Dan Lane calls it "an early proof of concept." Right now, the Alert Retrieval Cache can only take a text message and automatically upload it to a web-page, or distribute it to an e-mail list. In the near future, the group says it hopes to take in messages from people in affected areas, and use human moderators to take actions based on the content of those messages. But there's still another challenge. You have to get people to know that the system is there for them to use. "It's amazing how difficult it is to find someone to pass it along to, and say, look this is what we're trying to do and everything like that," says Mr Rampersad. "So the big problem right now is the same problem we're trying to solve - human communication." He is optimistic, however. He thinks that the Alert Retrieval Cache is an idea whose time has come and he hopes governments, too, will sit up and take notice. And he stands by his motto, courtesy of Michelangelo: criticise by creating.
Clark Boyd is technology correspondent for The World, a BBC World Service and WGBH-Boston co-production.
| Right now, the Alert Retrieval Cache can only take a text message and automatically upload it to a web-page, or distribute it to an e-mail list.So Mr Senanayake started sending out text messages.Last week, he sent out e-mail messages asking for help in creating such a system for Asia.Thousands around the world followed the story that unfolded in the text messages that he sent."He can message the server, so the server can send out an e-mail message and human or machine moderators can e-mail aid agencies and get it out in the field."In the near future, the group says it hopes to take in messages from people in affected areas, and use human moderators to take actions based on the content of those messages.Mr Rampersad said: "Imagine if an aid worker in the field spotted a need for water purification tablets, and had a central place to send a text message to that effect.He wondered if there might be a way to automatically centralise text messages, and then redistribute them to agencies and people who might be able to help.The messages can get through even when the cell phone signal is too weak to sustain a spoken conversation.And that's when Mr Senanayake started to wonder if SMS might be put to more practical use.Blogging friends in India took Mr Senanayake's text messages and posted them on a weblog called Dogs without Borders."SMS networks can handle so much more traffic than the standard mobile phone call or the land line call," he says.In only 72 hours, he found Dan Lane, a text message guru living in Britain.You have to get people to know that the system is there for them to use."You may be halfway around the world from someone, but in cyberspace you're just one click or one e-mail away," he said, "That's put a whole new dimension on disaster relief and recovery, where often people halfway around the world can be more effective in making something happen precisely because they're not right on top of the tragedy."Mr Rampersad, who used to work in the military, knew how important on the ground communication can be in times of disaster. |
Domain system opens door to scams
A system to make it easier to create website addresses using alphabets like Cyrillic could open a back door for scammers, a trade body has warned.
The Internationalised Domain Names system has been a work in progress for years and has recently been approved by the Internet Engineering Task Force. But the UK Internet Forum (UKIF) is concerned that the system will let scammers create fake sites more easily. The problem lies in the computer codes used to represent language.
Registering names that look like that of legitimate companies but lead users to fake sites designed to steal passwords and credit card details could become a whole lot easier for determined scammers, says Stephen Dyer, director of UKIF. Domain names are the "real language" addresses of websites, rather than their internet protocol address, which is a series of numbers. They are used so people can more easily navigate the web. So-called ASCII codes are used to represent European languages but for other languages a hybrid of a system called Unicode is used. So, for example, website PayPal could now be coded using a mixture of the Latin alphabet and the Russian alphabet. The resulting domain as displayed to the users would look identical to the real site as a Russian 'a' look just like an English 'a'. But the computer code would be different, and the site it would lead users to could be a fake. This is more than just a theory. A fake Paypal.com has already been registered with net domain giant Verisign by someone who has followed the debate around the Internationalised Domain Name (IDN) system, said Mr Dyer. As the idea was to prove a point rather than be malicious the fake domain has now been handed back to Paypal but it sets a worrying precedent, Mr Dyer said. "Although the IDN problem is well known in technical circles, the commercial world is totally unaware how easily their websites can be faked," said Mr Dyer.
"It is important to alert users that there is a new and invisible and almost undetectable way of diverting them to what looks like a perfectly genuine site," he added. There are solutions. For instance, browsers could spot domains that use mixed characters and display them in different colours as a warning to users. Mr Dyer acknowledged that it would be a huge undertaking to update all the world's browsers. Another solution, to introduce IDN-disabled browsers could be a case of "throwing out the baby with the bath water," he said. CENTR, the Council of European National Top Level Domain Registries, agrees. "A rush to introduce IDN-disabled browsers into the marketplace is an overly-zealous step that will harm public confidence in IDNs - a technology that is desperately needed in the non-English speaking world," the organisation said in a statement.
| A fake Paypal.com has already been registered with net domain giant Verisign by someone who has followed the debate around the Internationalised Domain Name (IDN) system, said Mr Dyer.But the computer code would be different, and the site it would lead users to could be a fake.As the idea was to prove a point rather than be malicious the fake domain has now been handed back to Paypal but it sets a worrying precedent, Mr Dyer said.The resulting domain as displayed to the users would look identical to the real site as a Russian 'a' look just like an English 'a'.A system to make it easier to create website addresses using alphabets like Cyrillic could open a back door for scammers, a trade body has warned.Registering names that look like that of legitimate companies but lead users to fake sites designed to steal passwords and credit card details could become a whole lot easier for determined scammers, says Stephen Dyer, director of UKIF.So-called ASCII codes are used to represent European languages but for other languages a hybrid of a system called Unicode is used.But the UK Internet Forum (UKIF) is concerned that the system will let scammers create fake sites more easily.The Internationalised Domain Names system has been a work in progress for years and has recently been approved by the Internet Engineering Task Force. |
Go-ahead for new internet names
The internet could soon have two new domain names, aimed at mobile services and the jobs market.
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (Icann) has given preliminary approval to two new addresses - .mobi and .jobs. They are among 10 new names being considered by the net's oversight body. Others include a domain for pornography, an anti-spam domain as well as .post and .travel, for the postal and travel industries.
The .mobi domain would be aimed at websites and other services that work specifically around mobile phones, while the .jobs address could be used by companies wanting a dedicated site for job postings. The process to see the new domain names go live in cyberspace could take months and Icann officials warned that there were no guarantees they would ultimately be accepted. Applicants paid £23,000 apiece to have their proposals considered. The application for .mobi was sponsored by technology firms including Nokia, Microsoft and T-Mobile.
Of the 10 currently under consideration, the least likely to win approval is the .xxx domain for pornographic websites. There are currently around 250 domain names in use around the globe, mostly for specific countries such as .fr for France and .uk for Britain. Perhaps unsurprisingly, .com remains the most popular address on the web.
| The internet could soon have two new domain names, aimed at mobile services and the jobs market.The .mobi domain would be aimed at websites and other services that work specifically around mobile phones, while the .jobs address could be used by companies wanting a dedicated site for job postings.The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (Icann) has given preliminary approval to two new addresses - .mobi and .jobs.The process to see the new domain names go live in cyberspace could take months and Icann officials warned that there were no guarantees they would ultimately be accepted.They are among 10 new names being considered by the net's oversight body. |
Mobile picture power in your pocket
How many times have you wanted to have a camera to hand to catch an unexpected event that would make headlines?
With a modern mobile phone that has a camera built in, you no longer need to curse, you can capture the action as it happens. Already on-the-spot snappers are helping newspapers add immediacy to their breaking news stories headlines, where professional photographers only arrive in time for the aftermath. Celebrities might not welcome such a change because they may never be free of a new breed of mobile phone paparazzi making their lives a bit more difficult. Already one tabloid newspaper in LA is issuing photographers with camera phones to help them catch celebrities at play. It could be the start of a trend that only increases as higher resolution phone cameras become more widespread; as video phones catch on and millions of people start carrying the gadgets around.
Only last week, the world media highlighted the killing of the Dutch film maker Theo van Gogh, notorious after making a controversial film about Islamic culture.
One day later De Telegraaf, a daily Amsterdam newspaper, became news on its own when it published a picture taken with a mobile phone of Mr van Gogh's body moments after he was killed. "This picture was the story", said De Telegraaf's image editor, Peter Schoonen. Other accounts of such picture phone users witnessing news events, include:
- A flight from Switzerland to the Dominican Republic which turned around after someone took a picture of a piece of metal falling from the plane as it took off from Zurich (reported by the Swiss daily Le Matin).
- Two crooks who robbed a bank in Denmark were snapped before they carried out the crime waiting for the doors of the building to be opened (reported by the Danish regional paper Aarhus Stiftstidende).
But this is not just about traditional media lending immediacy to their stories with content from ordinary people, it is also about first-hand journalism in the form of online diaries or weblogs.
It has been called "open source news" or even "moblog journalism" and it has flourished in the recent US election campaign. "Not many people walk around with their cameras, but they always have their mobile phones with them. If something happens, suddenly all these mobiles sort of appear from nowhere, and start taking pictures," said digital artist Henry Reichhold. He himself uses mobile phone pictures to create huge panoramic images of events and places. "You see it in bars, you see it everywhere. It's a massive thing," Mr Reichhold told the BBC News website.
With some picture agencies already paying for exclusive phone pictures, especially of celebrities, there are also fears about the possible downside of this phenomenon.
It could become a nuisance for public figures as higher resolution picture phones hit the market, with five megapixel models already being launched in Asia. Already on US photojournal site, Buzznet, there is a public album full of snaps of celebrities, many of which were taken with camera phones. Tabloid newspapers in the UK and many monthly magazines invite readers to send in images of famous people they have seen and snapped. But there are other positive uses of picture mobile phones that may balance these uses. For instance, in Alabama, in the US, camera phones will be used to take snaps at crime scenes involving children, and help the authorities to arrest and prosecute paedophiles. And in China's capital Beijing, courts have adopted mobile phone photos as formal evidence. For Henry Reichhold, this is progress: "That's the whole thing about the immediacy of the thing. I can see that happening a lot more."
| But there are other positive uses of picture mobile phones that may balance these uses.He himself uses mobile phone pictures to create huge panoramic images of events and places."Not many people walk around with their cameras, but they always have their mobile phones with them.One day later De Telegraaf, a daily Amsterdam newspaper, became news on its own when it published a picture taken with a mobile phone of Mr van Gogh's body moments after he was killed.It could be the start of a trend that only increases as higher resolution phone cameras become more widespread; as video phones catch on and millions of people start carrying the gadgets around.Already one tabloid newspaper in LA is issuing photographers with camera phones to help them catch celebrities at play.With a modern mobile phone that has a camera built in, you no longer need to curse, you can capture the action as it happens.With some picture agencies already paying for exclusive phone pictures, especially of celebrities, there are also fears about the possible downside of this phenomenon.It could become a nuisance for public figures as higher resolution picture phones hit the market, with five megapixel models already being launched in Asia.For instance, in Alabama, in the US, camera phones will be used to take snaps at crime scenes involving children, and help the authorities to arrest and prosecute paedophiles.Celebrities might not welcome such a change because they may never be free of a new breed of mobile phone paparazzi making their lives a bit more difficult. |
Format wars could 'confuse users'
Technology firms Sony, Philips, Matsushita and Samsung are developing a common way to stop people pirating digital music and video.
The firms want to make a system that ensures files play on the hardware they make but also thwarts illegal copying. The move could mean more confusion for consumers already faced by many different, and conflicting, content control systems, experts warned. They say there are no guarantees the system will even prevent piracy.
Currently many online stores wrap up downloadable files in an own-brand control system that means they can only be played on a small number of media players. Systems that limit what people can do with the files they download are known as Digital Rights Management systems. By setting up the alliance to work on a common control system, the firms said they hope to end this current fragmentation of file formats. In a joint statement the firms said they wanted to let consumers enjoy "appropriately licensed video and music on any device, independent of how they originally obtained that content". The firms hope that it will also make it harder for consumers to make illegal copies of the music, movies and other digital content they have bought. Called the Marlin Joint Development Association, the alliance will define basic specifications that every device made by the electronics firms will conform to. Marlin will be built on technology from rights management firm Intertrust as well as an earlier DRM system developed by a group known as the Coral Consortium.
The move is widely seen as a way for the four firms to decide their own destiny on content control systems instead of having to sign up for those being pushed by Apple and Microsoft. Confusingly for consumers, the technology that comes out of the alliance will sit alongside the content control systems of rival firms such as Microsoft and Apple. "In many ways the different DRM systems are akin to the different physical formats, such as Betamax and VHS, that consumers have seen in the past," said Ian Fogg, personal technology and broadband analyst at Jupiter Research. "The difference is that it is very fragmented," he said. "It's not a two-horse race, it's a five, six, seven or even eight-horse race" Mr Fogg said consumers had to be very careful when buying digital content to ensure that it would play on the devices they own. He said currently there were even incompatibilities within DRM families. Although initiatives such as Microsoft's "Plays for Sure" program could help remove some of the uncertainty, he said, life was likely to be confusing for consumers for some time to come.
Shelley Taylor, analyst and author of a report about online music services, said the locks and limits on digital files were done to maximise the cash that firms can make from consumers. Apple's iTunes service was a perfect example of this, she said. "Although iTunes has been hugely successful, Apple could not justify its existence if it did not help sell all those iPods," she said.
She said rampant competition between online music services, of which there are now 230 according to recent figures, could drive more openness and freer file formats. "It always works out that consumer needs win out in the long run," she said, "and the services that win in the long run are the ones that listen to consumers earliest." Ms Taylor said the limits legal download services place on files could help explain the continuing popularity of file-sharing systems that let people get hold of pirated pop. "People want portability," she said, "and with peer-to-peer they have 100% portability." Cory Doctorow, European co-ordinator for the Electronic Frontier Foundation which campaigns for consumers on many cyber-rights issues, expressed doubts that the Marlin system would achieve its aims. "Not one of these systems has ever prevented piracy or illegal copying," he said. He said many firms readily admit that their DRM systems are little protection against skilled attackers such as the organised crime gangs that are responsible for most piracy. Instead, said Mr Doctorow, DRM systems were intended to control the group that electronics firms have most hold over - consumers. "The studios and labels perceive an opportunity to sell you your media again and again - the iPod version, the auto version, the American and UK version, the ringtone version, and so on."
| Instead, said Mr Doctorow, DRM systems were intended to control the group that electronics firms have most hold over - consumers.By setting up the alliance to work on a common control system, the firms said they hope to end this current fragmentation of file formats.He said many firms readily admit that their DRM systems are little protection against skilled attackers such as the organised crime gangs that are responsible for most piracy.Shelley Taylor, analyst and author of a report about online music services, said the locks and limits on digital files were done to maximise the cash that firms can make from consumers."Not one of these systems has ever prevented piracy or illegal copying," he said.In a joint statement the firms said they wanted to let consumers enjoy "appropriately licensed video and music on any device, independent of how they originally obtained that content".Ms Taylor said the limits legal download services place on files could help explain the continuing popularity of file-sharing systems that let people get hold of pirated pop.Confusingly for consumers, the technology that comes out of the alliance will sit alongside the content control systems of rival firms such as Microsoft and Apple."In many ways the different DRM systems are akin to the different physical formats, such as Betamax and VHS, that consumers have seen in the past," said Ian Fogg, personal technology and broadband analyst at Jupiter Research.The firms want to make a system that ensures files play on the hardware they make but also thwarts illegal copying.The move is widely seen as a way for the four firms to decide their own destiny on content control systems instead of having to sign up for those being pushed by Apple and Microsoft.The firms hope that it will also make it harder for consumers to make illegal copies of the music, movies and other digital content they have bought. |
Anti-spam screensaver scrapped
A contentious campaign to bump up the bandwidth bills of spammers by flooding their sites with data has been dropped.
Lycos Europe's Make Love, Not Spam campaign began in late November but its tactics proved controversial. Lycos has shut down the campaign saying it had been started to stimulate debate about anti-spam measures and had now achieved this aim. The anti-spammer screensaver came under fire for encouraging vigilante activity and skirting the edge of the law.
Through the Make Love, Not Spam website, users could download a screensaver that would endlessly request data from the net sites mentioned in many junk mail messages. More than 100,000 people are thought to have downloaded the screensaver that Lycos Europe offered.
The company wanted to keep the spam sites running at near total capacity to make it much less financially attractive to spammers to operate the sites. But the campaign was controversial from the moment it kicked off and many net veterans criticised it for using spamming-type tactics against the senders of junk mail. Some net service firms began blocking access to the Lycos Europe site in protest at the action. Monitoring firm Netcraft found that the anti-spam campaign was proving a little too successful. According to response-time figures gathered by Netcraft, some of the sites that the screensaver targeted were being knocked offline by the constant data requests. In a statement from Lycos Europe announcing the scrapping of the scheme, the company denied that this was its fault. "There is nothing to suggest that Make Love, Not Spam has brought down any of the sites that it has targeted," it said. "At the time that Netcraft measured the sites it claims may have been brought down, they were not in fact part of the Make Love, Not Spam attack cycle," it added. The statement issued by Lycos also said that the centralised database it used ensured that traffic to the target sites left them with 5% spare capacity. "The idea was simply to slow spammers' sites and this was achieved by the campaign," the company said. Many security organisations said users should not participate in the Lycos Europe campaign. The closure comes only days after the campaign was suspended following the outbreak of criticism.
| "The idea was simply to slow spammers' sites and this was achieved by the campaign," the company said.Lycos Europe's Make Love, Not Spam campaign began in late November but its tactics proved controversial.Many security organisations said users should not participate in the Lycos Europe campaign."There is nothing to suggest that Make Love, Not Spam has brought down any of the sites that it has targeted," it said.Through the Make Love, Not Spam website, users could download a screensaver that would endlessly request data from the net sites mentioned in many junk mail messages.Some net service firms began blocking access to the Lycos Europe site in protest at the action.A contentious campaign to bump up the bandwidth bills of spammers by flooding their sites with data has been dropped.In a statement from Lycos Europe announcing the scrapping of the scheme, the company denied that this was its fault. |
Microsoft gets the blogging bug
Software giant Microsoft is taking the plunge into the world of blogging.
It is launching a test service to allow people to publish blogs, or online journals, called MSN Spaces. Microsoft is trailing behind competitors like Google and AOL, which already offer services which make it easy for people to set up web journals. Blogs, short for web logs, have become a popular way for people to talk about their lives and express opinions online.
MSN Spaces is free to anyone with a Hotmail or MSN Messenger account. People will be able to choose a layout for the page, upload images and share photo albums and music playlists. The service will be supported by banner ads. "This is a simple tool for people to express themselves," said MSN's Blake Irving. This is Microsoft's first foray into blogging, which has taken off as a web phenomenon in the past year. Competitors like Google already offer free services through its Blogger site, while AOL provides its members with journals. Accurate figures for the number of blogs in existence are hard to come by. According to blog analysis firm Technorati, the so-called blogosphere, has doubled every five and a half months for the last 18 months. It now estimates that the number of blogs in existence has exceeded 4.8 million, although some speculate that less than a quarter are regularly maintained.
| Microsoft is trailing behind competitors like Google and AOL, which already offer services which make it easy for people to set up web journals.It is launching a test service to allow people to publish blogs, or online journals, called MSN Spaces.Competitors like Google already offer free services through its Blogger site, while AOL provides its members with journals.Blogs, short for web logs, have become a popular way for people to talk about their lives and express opinions online.It now estimates that the number of blogs in existence has exceeded 4.8 million, although some speculate that less than a quarter are regularly maintained.Accurate figures for the number of blogs in existence are hard to come by. |
Cheaper chip for mobiles
A mobile phone chip which combines a modem and a computer processor on one bit of silicon instead of two could make phones cheaper and more powerful.
The specially-designed chip, developed by Texas Instruments, could drive down the cost of making mobiles capable of 3D gaming and 30-frame-a-second video. Currently, rich multimedia features tend to be on more expensive handsets. The technology, OMAP-Vox, is being tested by firms in Europe and Asia and could appear by the end of the year. Texas, which makes computer chips for more than half the world's mobile phones, said it was keen to make multimedia functions like video and gaming more affordable. "We're going to drive them down into meat-and-potatoes phones that have the largest market share," said Doug Rasor, a marketing vice president at Texas. The chip also uses much less power than conventional chips, said Texas, which means less strain on mobile battery life.
More than 50 million people own a mobile in the UK, but mobile operators are keen to encourage people to move onto more sophisticated handsets that can do more. Texas is keen to cash in on the third generation (3G) of mobile technology, which offers high-speed networks for video streaming and other multimedia functions. But it faces stiff competition from the likes of Intel which is also looking to provide better chips for high-end mobiles.
Competition to get people using 3G mobiles will grow in the next year as almost all of the UK's operators have now launched third generation networks. A recent survey by Sony Ericsson predicted that the number of 3G handsets sold in 2005 would double from 2004 to account for 10% of all phones sold. Many consumers are still to be convinced though. A further recent survey said that only 4% of mobile owners were thinking of upgrading to 3G phones. Many said they were confused about the different ways to pay for phones and the vast array of features most have onboard.
But there will be continued demand for better chips as the industry continues to develop new standards and future networks. Earlier in January, NTT DoCoMo and Vodafone joined forces to develop the next generation of high-speed networks, known as "super 3G", intended to be 10 times faster than 3G services. The first stage of development is to be completed by 2007, but no date has been set for a commercial launch The newly-designed OMAP-Vox chip set was announced ahead of the start of a major mobile industry conference, 3GSM, which takes place in Cannes, France this week.
| Texas, which makes computer chips for more than half the world's mobile phones, said it was keen to make multimedia functions like video and gaming more affordable.Texas is keen to cash in on the third generation (3G) of mobile technology, which offers high-speed networks for video streaming and other multimedia functions.A further recent survey said that only 4% of mobile owners were thinking of upgrading to 3G phones.The specially-designed chip, developed by Texas Instruments, could drive down the cost of making mobiles capable of 3D gaming and 30-frame-a-second video.Competition to get people using 3G mobiles will grow in the next year as almost all of the UK's operators have now launched third generation networks.A mobile phone chip which combines a modem and a computer processor on one bit of silicon instead of two could make phones cheaper and more powerful.The chip also uses much less power than conventional chips, said Texas, which means less strain on mobile battery life.More than 50 million people own a mobile in the UK, but mobile operators are keen to encourage people to move onto more sophisticated handsets that can do more. |
Mac Mini heralds mini revolution
The Mac Mini was launched amid much fanfare by Apple and great excitement by Apple watchers last month. But does the latest Macintosh justify the hype? Let us get a few things dealt with at the outset - yes, the Mac Mini is really, really small, and yes, it is another piece of inspired Apple design. There is more to be said on the computer's size and design but it is worth highlighting that the Mac Mini is a just a computer. Inside that small box there is a G4 processor, a CD/DVD player, a hard drive, some other technical bits and bobs and an operating system. A DVD burner, wireless and bluetooth technologies can be bought at extra cost. And if you do not have a monitor, keyboard or mouse then you will need to purchase those also.
It is not the fastest computer for the money but for under £400 you are getting something more interesting than mere technical specifications - Apple software. The Mac Mini comes bundled with Mac OS X, the operating system, as well as iLife 05, a suite of software which includes iTunes, web browser Safari, iPhoto, Garage Band and iDVD. I doubt many PC lovers would seriously argue that Windows XP comes with a better suite of programs than Mac OS X.
Of course, users of open source operating system Linux draw up their own menu of programs. For people who want to do interesting things with their music, photos and home movies then a Mac Mini is an ideal first computer or companion to a main computer. "It's a good little machine with a reasonable amount of power and just perfect for the average computer user who wants to leave the tyranny of Window and viruses," said Mark Sparrow, technical and reviews editor at Mac Format magazine. He added: "In essence, it's a laptop in a biscuit tin, minus the screen and the keyboard. "The software bundle that comes with the mini makes your average budget PC look a bit sick." The relatively low price of the machine has also encouraged the more technically-savvy to experiment with their Macs. One user has already created a "dock" to enable him to plug in and out his Mac Mini in his car.
The small size of the machine makes it a practical solution for in-car entertainment - playing movies and music - as well as navigation. Another user has mounted his Mac Mini to the back of his large plasma screen and then controls the computer via a wireless keyboard and mouse. When it was first announced some pundits thought the Mini was designed as a sort of stealth media centre - ie the machine would be used to serve TV programmes, music, films and photos - partly due to its small, living room friendly design. But there are obvious reasons why this is not the case - at least not in the here and now The hard drive - at 80GB for the larger model - is too small to be realistically used as media centre.
While commercial Personal Video Recorders are on the market with smaller than 80GB hard drives it is worth remembering that they only store TV content. A media centre computer has to store music, files and photos and as such 80GB just seems too small. Most PCs running Windows Media Center have at least 120GB hard disks. Coupled with the lack of a TV tuner card, a digital audio out and any kind of media centre software bundled with the machine then the Mac Mini should be judged on what it is, not what it is not. But that has not stopped more enterprising users from adapting the Mac Mini to media centre uses. So - is the Mac Mini just another computer or a revolution in computing? Graham Barlow, editor of Mac Format, understandably has a rather partisan viewpoint. "It's just a Mac, but we should be very excited - it's revolutionary in its size (smaller than PCs), looks (looks better than PCs), and the fact that it's the first Mac designed to really go for the low-cost PC market." The design of the Mac Mini is further evidence of a future when PCs are more than just bland, bulky boxes. There are a number of companies who already produce miniature PCs based on mini-ITX motherboards. But at the moment these PCs tend to be either for the home-build enthusiast or expensive pre-built options based around Microsoft's Media Center software. But for the value the Mac Mini offers, bringing some of the best software packages within reach of more consumers than ever before, Apple is to be congratulated. Let us say then that if the Mac Mini is not a fully fledged revolution - it is a mini revolution.
| Another user has mounted his Mac Mini to the back of his large plasma screen and then controls the computer via a wireless keyboard and mouse.So - is the Mac Mini just another computer or a revolution in computing?But that has not stopped more enterprising users from adapting the Mac Mini to media centre uses.There is more to be said on the computer's size and design but it is worth highlighting that the Mac Mini is a just a computer.The Mac Mini comes bundled with Mac OS X, the operating system, as well as iLife 05, a suite of software which includes iTunes, web browser Safari, iPhoto, Garage Band and iDVD.The design of the Mac Mini is further evidence of a future when PCs are more than just bland, bulky boxes.One user has already created a "dock" to enable him to plug in and out his Mac Mini in his car.For people who want to do interesting things with their music, photos and home movies then a Mac Mini is an ideal first computer or companion to a main computer.Coupled with the lack of a TV tuner card, a digital audio out and any kind of media centre software bundled with the machine then the Mac Mini should be judged on what it is, not what it is not.Let us say then that if the Mac Mini is not a fully fledged revolution - it is a mini revolution."It's just a Mac, but we should be very excited - it's revolutionary in its size (smaller than PCs), looks (looks better than PCs), and the fact that it's the first Mac designed to really go for the low-cost PC market."Let us get a few things dealt with at the outset - yes, the Mac Mini is really, really small, and yes, it is another piece of inspired Apple design.But for the value the Mac Mini offers, bringing some of the best software packages within reach of more consumers than ever before, Apple is to be congratulated.A media centre computer has to store music, files and photos and as such 80GB just seems too small. |
Podcasts mark rise of DIY radio
An Apple iPod or other digital music players can hold anything up to 10,000 songs, which is a lot of space to fill.
But more and more iPod owners are filling that space with audio content created by an unpredictable assortment of producers. It is called "podcasting" and its strongest proponent is former MTV host and VJ (video jockey) Adam Curry. Podcasting takes its name from the Apple iPod, although you do not need an iPod to create one or to listen to a podcast. A podcast is basically an internet-based radio show which podcasters create, usually in the comfort of their own home. They need only a microphone, a PC, and some editing software. They then upload their shows to the internet and others can download and listen to them, all for free. Using technology based on XML computer code and RSS - Really Simple Syndication - listeners can subscribe to podcasts collected automatically in a bit of software, which Mr Curry has pioneered. The latest MP3 files of shows can then be picked up by a music playing device automatically.
Mr Curry records, hosts, edits and produce a daily, 40 minute podcast called The Daily Source Code. He wants to make podcasting "the Next Big Thing" and says it is an extension of his childhood love of radio gadgetry. "I was always into technologies and wires," he explains. "My parents gave me the Radio Shack 101 project kit, which allows you to build an AM transmitter and subsequently an FM transmitter. "I had my mom drive me around the block, see how far it would reach on the car radio."
Mr Curry is American, but he grew up in the Netherlands where he hosted illegal, pirate radio shows in the Dutch capital. He tried university in the US, and ended up back in Holland where he hosted a music video show. He spent the next seven years in New York where he worked at MTV hosting the Top 20 Video Countdown, but spent most of his hours tinkering with this new thing called the internet. "At a certain point in 1995, I was driving in on a Friday afternoon, beautiful blue sky, one of those beautiful days thinking, this is so stupid. "You know, I'm going do the Top 20 Countdown, take the cheque, go home, and sit on the internet until three in the morning. "So, after I finished the show, I quit. I said, on air, it's been great, I've been here for seven years at that point, there's something on the internet, I've got to go find it, and I'll see you later."
But Mr Curry's technology and broadcast interests started to gel a couple of years ago when computer storage was growing exponentially and high-speed internet connections were becoming more widely available. The MP3 format also meant that people could create and upload audio more cheaply and efficiently than ever before.
Most importantly, Mr Curry says, people across the globe were bored with the radio they were hearing. "Listen to 99% of the radio that you hear today, it's radio voices, and it's fake, it's just fake." He wanted to make it easier for people to find "real voices" on the internet. He wanted software that would automatically download new audio content directly onto players like, iPods. Mr Curry is not a computer programmer, so he asked others to create one for him. No one did, so he tried to write one himself. He finished it a few months ago and says it "totally sucked." He put it up on the net as open source software and now dozens of coders and audio junkies are refining it; the result is a work in progress called "ipodder". Doug Kaye, a California-based podcaster, praises the former MTV VJ for what he has done. "Adam created a simple script that solved what we call the last mile problem. Ipodder takes audio from the web and brings it all the way down to the MP3 player," he explains. "People can wake up in the morning, pick up their iPods as they go to work or before they go exercise, and discover that there's all this new content automatically put onto their players." It is created an explosion in podcasting content and podcasters are springing up in Australia, Finland, Brazil, even Malaysia. One couple broadcasts theirs, The Dawn and Drew Show, from Wisconsin in the US, sometimes even from the comfort of their own bed. Topics range from the comfort of their bed, to the latest films or music and have thousands of listeners.
Already, websites are springing up that point listeners in the right direction of good podcasts.
Chris McIntyre runs Podcast Alley and says that there are good sites out there but that not everyone has the technological know-how to simply listen. "If I were to tell my mom, or my mother-in-law to copy an XML or RSS file to their podcast aggregator, they would think I was speaking a foreign language," Mr McIntyre says. Along with technical challenges, there may be legal challenges to podcasters who air their favourite, albeit copyrighted, music. Some in podcasting also worry that too much attention may turn what they see as the "anti-radio" into something that is more like conventional broadcasting. Already there is interest in podcasting from the corporate world. Heineken is doing its own podcast now, and so is Playboy. For his part, Adam Curry's pressing ahead with his own vision of what podcasting should be. He loves doing The Daily Source Code because it is about introducing good music and cool ideas to new audiences. He has even been called the Ed Sullivan or Johnny Carson of podcasting which, he says, "is a badge I'll wear with great honour. "To be the Johnny Carson, or Ed Sullivan of anything is wonderful. And you know what? You don't need a hell of a lot of talent. "You just have to be nice, have your ears open, and let people shine. And that's good for me."
Clark Boyd is technology correspondent for The World, a BBC World Service and WGBH-Boston co-production.
| Podcasting takes its name from the Apple iPod, although you do not need an iPod to create one or to listen to a podcast.A podcast is basically an internet-based radio show which podcasters create, usually in the comfort of their own home.Most importantly, Mr Curry says, people across the globe were bored with the radio they were hearing.Mr Curry is American, but he grew up in the Netherlands where he hosted illegal, pirate radio shows in the Dutch capital.Mr Curry is not a computer programmer, so he asked others to create one for him.Using technology based on XML computer code and RSS - Really Simple Syndication - listeners can subscribe to podcasts collected automatically in a bit of software, which Mr Curry has pioneered.It is called "podcasting" and its strongest proponent is former MTV host and VJ (video jockey) Adam Curry.He wanted software that would automatically download new audio content directly onto players like, iPods.He has even been called the Ed Sullivan or Johnny Carson of podcasting which, he says, "is a badge I'll wear with great honour.They then upload their shows to the internet and others can download and listen to them, all for free.Mr Curry records, hosts, edits and produce a daily, 40 minute podcast called The Daily Source Code.The latest MP3 files of shows can then be picked up by a music playing device automatically.He wants to make podcasting "the Next Big Thing" and says it is an extension of his childhood love of radio gadgetry.But Mr Curry's technology and broadcast interests started to gel a couple of years ago when computer storage was growing exponentially and high-speed internet connections were becoming more widely available.One couple broadcasts theirs, The Dawn and Drew Show, from Wisconsin in the US, sometimes even from the comfort of their own bed.He loves doing The Daily Source Code because it is about introducing good music and cool ideas to new audiences.He tried university in the US, and ended up back in Holland where he hosted a music video show.It is created an explosion in podcasting content and podcasters are springing up in Australia, Finland, Brazil, even Malaysia."If I were to tell my mom, or my mother-in-law to copy an XML or RSS file to their podcast aggregator, they would think I was speaking a foreign language," Mr McIntyre says.Chris McIntyre runs Podcast Alley and says that there are good sites out there but that not everyone has the technological know-how to simply listen."People can wake up in the morning, pick up their iPods as they go to work or before they go exercise, and discover that there's all this new content automatically put onto their players."Already there is interest in podcasting from the corporate world. |
Beckham virus spotted on the net
Virus writers are trading on interest in David Beckham to distribute their malicious wares.
Messages are circulating widely that purport to have evidence of the England captain in a compromising position. But anyone visiting the website mentioned in the message will not see pictures of Mr Beckham but will have their computer infected by a virus. The pernicious program opens a backdoor on a computer so it can be controlled remotely by malicious hackers.
The appearance of the Beckham Windows trojan is just another example in a long line of viruses that trade on interest in celebrities in an attempt to fuel their spread. Tennis player Anna Kournikova, popstars Britney Spears and Avril Lavigne as well as Arnold Schwarzenegger have all been used in the past to try to con people into opening infected files. The huge amount of interest in Mr Beckham and his private life and the large number of messages posted to discussion groups on the net might mean that the malicious program catches a lot of people out. "The public's appetite for salacious gossip about the private life of the Beckhams might lead some into an unpleasant computer infection," said Graham Cluley from anti-virus firm Sophos. Simply opening the message will not infect a user's PC. But anyone visiting the website it mentions who then downloads and opens the fake image file stored on that site will be infected. The program that installs itself is called the Hackarmy trojan and it tries to recruit PCs into so-called 'bot networks that are often used to distribute spam mail messages or to launch attacks across the web. Computers running Microsoft Windows 95, 98, 2000, NT and XP are vulnerable to this trojan. Many anti-virus programs have been able to detect this trojan since it first appeared early this year and have regularly been updated to catch new variants.
| But anyone visiting the website mentioned in the message will not see pictures of Mr Beckham but will have their computer infected by a virus.The huge amount of interest in Mr Beckham and his private life and the large number of messages posted to discussion groups on the net might mean that the malicious program catches a lot of people out.The appearance of the Beckham Windows trojan is just another example in a long line of viruses that trade on interest in celebrities in an attempt to fuel their spread.Virus writers are trading on interest in David Beckham to distribute their malicious wares.The program that installs itself is called the Hackarmy trojan and it tries to recruit PCs into so-called 'bot networks that are often used to distribute spam mail messages or to launch attacks across the web.The pernicious program opens a backdoor on a computer so it can be controlled remotely by malicious hackers. |
Games help you 'learn and play'
'God games' in which players must control virtual people and societies could be educational, says research.
A US researcher has suggested that games such as The Sims could be a good way to teach languages. Ravi Purushotma believes that the world of The Sims can do a better job of teaching vocabulary and grammar than traditional methods. The inherent fun of game playing could help to make learning languages much less of a chore, said Mr Purushotma.
There must be few parents or teachers that do not worry that the lure of a video game on a computer or console is hard to resist by children that really should be doing their homework. But instead of fearing computer games, Ravi Purushotma believes that educationalists, particularly language teachers should embrace games. "One goal would be to break what I believe to be the false assumption that learning and play are inherently oppositional," he said. He believes that the "phenomenal ability" of games such as The Sims and others to capture the interest of adolescent audiences is ripe for exploitation. The hard part of learning any language, said Mr Purushotma, were the basic parts of learning what different words refer to and how they are used to build up sentences. Boring lessons drumming vocabulary into pupils couched in terms they do not understand has made many languages far harder to learn than they should be. "The way we often teach foreign languages right now is somewhat akin to learning to ride a bike by formally studying gravity," he said.
By contrast, said Mr Purushotma, learning via something like The Sims may mean students do not feel like they are studying at all. This was because The Sims does not rely solely on words to get information across to players. Instead the actions of its computer controlled people and how they interact with their world often makes clear what is going on. The incidental information about what a Sim was doing could reinforce what a player or student was supposed to be learning, said Mr Purushotma. By contrast many language lessons try to impart information about a tongue with little context. For instance, he said, in a version of The Sims adapted to teach German, if a player misunderstood what was meant by the word "energie" the actions of a tired Sim, stumbling then falling asleep, would illustrate the meaning. If necessary detailed textual information could be called upon to aid players' or students' understanding.
One of the drawbacks of The Sims, said Mr Purushotma, was the lack of spoken language to help people brush up on pronunciation. However, online versions of The Sims, in which people have to move in, meet the neighbours and get to know the local town, could be adapted to help this. Although not wishing to claim that he is the first to suggest using a game can help people learn, Mr Purushotma believes that educationalists have missed the potential they have to help.
Getting a simulated person to perform everyday activities in a make-believe world and having them described in a foreign language could be a powerful learning aid, he believes. Before now, he said, educational software titles suffer by comparison with the slick graphics and rich worlds found in games. But, he said, using pre-prepared game worlds such as The Sims has never been easier because tools have been made by its creators and fans that make it easy to modify almost any part of the game. This could make it easy for teachers to adapt parts of the game for their own lessons. "I'm hoping now to re-create a well-polished German learning mod for the sequel by this summer," he told the BBC News website. "I'm encouraged to hear that others are thinking of experimenting with Japanese and Spanish." Earlier work with a colleague on using Civilisation III to teach students about history showed that it could be a powerful way to get them to realise that solving a society's problems can not always come from making a single change. A report on the experiment said: "Students began asking historical and geographical questions in the context of game play, using geography and history as tools for their game, and drawing inferences about social phenomena based on their play." Mr Purushotma's ideas were aired in an article for the journal Language Learning and Technology.
| The inherent fun of game playing could help to make learning languages much less of a chore, said Mr Purushotma.One of the drawbacks of The Sims, said Mr Purushotma, was the lack of spoken language to help people brush up on pronunciation.The incidental information about what a Sim was doing could reinforce what a player or student was supposed to be learning, said Mr Purushotma.The hard part of learning any language, said Mr Purushotma, were the basic parts of learning what different words refer to and how they are used to build up sentences.But, he said, using pre-prepared game worlds such as The Sims has never been easier because tools have been made by its creators and fans that make it easy to modify almost any part of the game.By contrast, said Mr Purushotma, learning via something like The Sims may mean students do not feel like they are studying at all.A US researcher has suggested that games such as The Sims could be a good way to teach languages."The way we often teach foreign languages right now is somewhat akin to learning to ride a bike by formally studying gravity," he said.This could make it easy for teachers to adapt parts of the game for their own lessons.Although not wishing to claim that he is the first to suggest using a game can help people learn, Mr Purushotma believes that educationalists have missed the potential they have to help.Getting a simulated person to perform everyday activities in a make-believe world and having them described in a foreign language could be a powerful learning aid, he believes.But instead of fearing computer games, Ravi Purushotma believes that educationalists, particularly language teachers should embrace games. |
Sun offers processing by the hour
Sun Microsystems has launched a pay-as-you-go service which will allow customers requiring huge computing power to rent it by the hour.
Sun Grid costs users $1 (53p) for an hour's worth of processing and storage power on systems maintained by Sun. So-called grid computing is the latest buzz phrase in a company which believes that computing capacity is as important a commodity as hardware and software. Sun likened grid computing to the development of electricity.
The system could mature in the same way utilities such as electricity and water have developed, said Sun's chief operating officer Jonathan Schwartz. "Why build your own grid when you can use ours for a buck an hour?" he asked in a webcast launching Sun's quarterly Network Computing event in California. The company will have to persuade data centre managers to adopt a new model but it said it already had interest from customers in the oil, gas and financial services industries.
Some of them want to book computing capacity of more than 5,000 processors each, Sun said. Mr Schwartz ran a demonstration of the service, showing how data could be processed in a protein folding experiment. Hundreds of servers were used simultaneously, working on the problem for a few seconds each.
Although it only took a few seconds, the experiment cost $12 (£6.30) because it had used up 12 hours' worth of computing power. The Sun Grid relies on Solaris, the operating system owned by Sun. Initially it will house the grid in existing premises and will use idle servers to test software before shipping it to customers. It has not said how much the system will cost to develop but it already has a rival in IBM, which argues that its capacity on-demand service is cheaper than that offered by Sun.
| Sun likened grid computing to the development of electricity.Sun Grid costs users $1 (53p) for an hour's worth of processing and storage power on systems maintained by Sun.The Sun Grid relies on Solaris, the operating system owned by Sun.Some of them want to book computing capacity of more than 5,000 processors each, Sun said.Sun Microsystems has launched a pay-as-you-go service which will allow customers requiring huge computing power to rent it by the hour.So-called grid computing is the latest buzz phrase in a company which believes that computing capacity is as important a commodity as hardware and software. |
Mobile gaming takes off in India
Gaming on the move is one of the fastest-growing activities among the tech-savvy in India, says a report.
The Indian mobile gaming market is expected to generate about $26m (£13.8m) by the end of 2004, according to market analysts In-Stat/MDR. In October, mobile phone users grew by 1.4 million to 44.9 million, overtaking the number of landlines, said the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India. Analysts say cheap rates and a huge youth market is driving the market. India has a large population of under-25s, and many in urban areas are fast adopting mobiles as must-have gadgets.
India's mobile gaming market will bring in about $336m (£178m) by 2009, according to the report. Mobile gaming is expected to explode globally over the next few years. Analysts predict that 220 million people will be playing games on phones by 2009, generating billions for mobile companies.
Services other than just voice calls which are offered by mobile operators in India have, as a result of the huge rise in subscribers, grown significantly and rapidly. "The growth of this market sector has attracted publishers, developers, animators, musicians, and content providers, and is also stimulating the development of innovative business models," said Clint Wheelock, director of In-Stat/MDR's wireless research group.
"Mobile gaming is not just about fun; it also represents one key element of a rich mobile entertainment experience for consumers, and a lucrative market opportunity for industry players." Currently, India has six big games developers and four mobile operators that offer games to their subscribers, said the report. According to In-Stat/MDR, it is tipped to make up one of the most important markets in the next wave of mobile multimedia growth.
In January 2003, there were only 10 million mobile subscribers in India. Many choose mobiles in rural areas in order to bypass poorer telecoms infrastructure. Despite this, the penetration rate is still much lower that other countries. Less than 20% of India's total population own a mobile in India, compared to well over 50% in most European countries. The trend echoes the uptake of mobiles in many developing economies, which continues to grow as people opt to leapfrog slower and more expensive state-run fixed-line operators.
| India's mobile gaming market will bring in about $336m (£178m) by 2009, according to the report.In January 2003, there were only 10 million mobile subscribers in India.The Indian mobile gaming market is expected to generate about $26m (£13.8m) by the end of 2004, according to market analysts In-Stat/MDR."Mobile gaming is not just about fun; it also represents one key element of a rich mobile entertainment experience for consumers, and a lucrative market opportunity for industry players."According to In-Stat/MDR, it is tipped to make up one of the most important markets in the next wave of mobile multimedia growth.Less than 20% of India's total population own a mobile in India, compared to well over 50% in most European countries.Mobile gaming is expected to explode globally over the next few years.Currently, India has six big games developers and four mobile operators that offer games to their subscribers, said the report. |
Apple sues to stop product leaks
Computer firm Apple has issued a lawsuit to prevent online leaks of information about future products.
The lawsuit, against an unidentified individual, comes just weeks before the MacWorld conference in San Francisco, used to showcase new products. The complaint said an "unidentified individual... has recently misappropriated and disseminated confidential information". The lawsuit was filed with the Santa Clara California Superior Court. Apple is famously secretive about its future product launches while Apple users are equally famous for speculating about new technology from the company. Fans have speculated in recent weeks about the possibility of a new type of iPod being announced at the MacWorld conference.
Apple said in the seven-page complaint, filed on 13 December, that it did not know the "true names or capacities, whether individual, associate, corporate or otherwise," of the defendants. The company said it would amend the complaint once they had discovered the names of those who had allegedly leaked information. It is not the first time Apple has sued people who have posted information about future products on the internet. In December 2002, Apple sued a former contractor who allegedly posted online drawings, images and engineering details of the company's PowerMac G4 computer. In a statement, Apple said of the current lawsuit: "Apple has filed a civil complaint against unnamed individuals who we believe stole our trade secrets and posted detailed information about an unannounced Apple product on the internet."
| In a statement, Apple said of the current lawsuit: "Apple has filed a civil complaint against unnamed individuals who we believe stole our trade secrets and posted detailed information about an unannounced Apple product on the internet."Computer firm Apple has issued a lawsuit to prevent online leaks of information about future products.It is not the first time Apple has sued people who have posted information about future products on the internet.The complaint said an "unidentified individual... has recently misappropriated and disseminated confidential information".Apple said in the seven-page complaint, filed on 13 December, that it did not know the "true names or capacities, whether individual, associate, corporate or otherwise," of the defendants. |
Digital guru floats sub-$100 PC
Nicholas Negroponte, chairman and founder of MIT's Media Labs, says he is developing a laptop PC that will go on sale for less than $100 (£53).
He told the BBC World Service programme Go Digital he hoped it would become an education tool in developing countries. He said one laptop per child could be " very important to the development of not just that child but now the whole family, village and neighbourhood". He said the child could use the laptop like a text book. He described the device as a stripped down laptop, which would run a Linux-based operating system, "We have to get the display down to below $20, to do this we need to rear project the image rather than using an ordinary flat panel.
"The second trick is to get rid of the fat , if you can skinny it down you can gain speed and the ability to use smaller processors and slower memory." The device will probably be exported as a kit of parts to be assembled locally to keep costs down. Mr Negroponte said this was a not for profit venture, though he recognised that the manufacturers of the components would be making money. In 1995 Mr Negroponte published the bestselling Being Digital, now widely seen as predicting the digital age. The concept is based on experiments in the US state of Maine, where children were given laptop computers to take home and do their work on.
While the idea was popular amongst the children, it initially received some resistance from the teachers and there were problems with laptops getting broken. However, Mr Negroponte has adapted the idea to his own work in Cambodia where he set up two schools together with his wife and gave the children laptops. "We put in 25 laptops three years ago , only one has been broken, the kids cherish these things, it's also a TV a telephone and a games machine, not just a textbook." Mr Negroponte wants the laptops to become more common than mobile phones but conceded this was ambitious. "Nokia make 200 million cell phones a year, so for us to claim we're going to make 200 million laptops is a big number, but we're not talking about doing it in three or five years, we're talking about months." He plans to be distributing them by the end of 2006 and is already in discussion with the Chinese education ministry who are expected to make a large order. "In China they spend $17 per child per year on textbooks. That's for five or six years, so if we can distribute and sell laptops in quantities of one million or more to ministries of education that's cheaper and the marketing overheads go away."
| He said one laptop per child could be " very important to the development of not just that child but now the whole family, village and neighbourhood".He said the child could use the laptop like a text book.Mr Negroponte wants the laptops to become more common than mobile phones but conceded this was ambitious.That's for five or six years, so if we can distribute and sell laptops in quantities of one million or more to ministries of education that's cheaper and the marketing overheads go away."Nicholas Negroponte, chairman and founder of MIT's Media Labs, says he is developing a laptop PC that will go on sale for less than $100 (£53).The concept is based on experiments in the US state of Maine, where children were given laptop computers to take home and do their work on.However, Mr Negroponte has adapted the idea to his own work in Cambodia where he set up two schools together with his wife and gave the children laptops."Nokia make 200 million cell phones a year, so for us to claim we're going to make 200 million laptops is a big number, but we're not talking about doing it in three or five years, we're talking about months." |
Game firm holds 'cast' auditions
Video game firm Bioware is to hold open auditions for people to become cast members for future games.
The company, which makes role playing games such as Knights of the Old Republic and Neverwinter Nights, is seeking people aged 18 to 99. The Canada-based company says it was looking for "a wide variety of people to use as face models for characters". Everyone chosen to appear in a video game will receive a performer's fee for the use of their image. The company is inviting people to come along to a shopping mall in West Edmonton, Alberta, on Friday and Saturday, bringing along a piece of photo identification.
"There are hundreds and hundreds of characters in a typical Bioware game," said Shauna Perry, Bioware's audio and external resources producer. "Those people live in any city and village and so we need ordinary people, people with interesting faces." She added: "Not everyone is a model in the world so we don't want just models in our games." People chosen to appear in a game will have their head scanned in three dimensions. Hundreds of photos of the person's head are taken so that a model of the head can be generated in 3D. "The 3D model will look exactly like the person - it's really quite incredible how detailed they are," said Ms Perry. She said chosen participants will have no control over how the image is used in a computer game. "We cannot give people any control over how the images are used. "But their face could be used in multiple games - so they could be the hero in one, the villain in another and just a merchant in a third."
| People chosen to appear in a game will have their head scanned in three dimensions.She said chosen participants will have no control over how the image is used in a computer game."We cannot give people any control over how the images are used.Everyone chosen to appear in a video game will receive a performer's fee for the use of their image.Video game firm Bioware is to hold open auditions for people to become cast members for future games.The Canada-based company says it was looking for "a wide variety of people to use as face models for characters". |
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