Thursday 25 September 2008
If you were a mathemagician, and you wanted to find out the smallest Boolean subset you could, then Foxtel's newest promotion may have found it for you: World of Warcraft fans who watch cable sports.
If you're not too busy playing WoW, you can check out BlizzCon live on Foxtel. (Credit: Blizzard)
In what seems to us as an unusual move, Foxtel is broadcasting both days of this year's BlizzCon on pay-per-view channel Main Event. The event will be shown live on 11 and 12 October, and we'll grant you there are more games to see this year than in previous years, with Diablo III, World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King and Starcraft 2 all on the horizon.
True, they do televise LAN events on ESPN, and they usually feature the world's best promoted, but worst speaking-voiced, gamer Fatal1ty squeak mono-syllables over the top.
One day will cost you $14.95 for eight hours of coverage, but the worst thing is that the coverage starts at 4am. We're not going to knock WoW players, having been amongst them ourselves, but 4am is usually when they go to sleepy bo-bos.
For the not-so-dedicated, the event will be replayed at 3pm, and if you sign up for both days you get an "exclusive in-game polar bear mount, complete with a BlizzCon-flag-waving murloc"!!!! </sarcasm>
However, if you need your fill of the latest Blizzard news and were disappointed to miss out on a ticket to BlizzCon (they sold out last week), this could be the next best thing. Or you could just browse the games sites for free.
(Credit: Nokia)
Having class leading features isn't enough for Nokia's new flagship mobile; the N96 now comes with a full BBC television series.
At the Australian launch of the N96, Nokia announced an exclusive partnership with BBC Worldwide to provide long-form video content for customers purchasing this latest N-Series handset. Four full BBC television series will be available; Little Britain, The Catherine Tate Show, Yes Minister, and Walking with Dinosaurs. A voucher in the phone's retail package will allow users to choose one of the programs, download it to a PC then side-load the series onto the handset.
This deal answers one of our main questions leading up to the launch of the N96. Overseas, Nokia will spruik this phone's built-in DVB-H TV tuner, which essential turns the phone into a mobile TV set capable of receiving a signal similar to a free-to-air TV broadcast. In Australia, we're still waiting for the government to release the portion of the spectrum required to establish a DVB-H service, and Nokia's deal with the BBC is a welcomed fall-back in the interim.
The N96 is the successor to Nokia's extremely popular N95, a handset which Nokia estimates sold in excess of 10 million units worldwide. The N96 will have the same basic feature set as its predecessor including HSDPA, Wi-Fi, GPS and access to a range of Nokia's Ovi content services including Nokia Maps and the Nokia Music Store. The newer model improves on the previous with a large increase in user accessible storage — 16GB on-board plus microSD expansion to add a further 8GB.
In Australia, the N96 will be available from all the major carriers from 26 September and will retail for AU$1,349.
Wednesday 24 September 2008
(Credit: Apple/
CNET AU)
Australian owners of Apple's iPhone 3G download significantly more than users of other mobile phones, view more Web pages and spend more time on each page according to a study of mobile internet usage by industry analysts Amethon Solutions.
The study, which collates data from Amethon's client base, shows iPhone users downloading an average of 2.07MB of data per browsing session, with internet use by owners of other mobile phones averaging at 0.30MB per session. While a part of this increase can be attributed to iPhone users spending longer online, the main contributing factor is that the iPhone accesses desktop versions of websites more frequently, rather than being redirected to a data efficient mobile Web page.
[? template('/'.constant('CMS_VHOST').'/common/poll/display_poll.htm', 1620742206) ?]"iPhone owners are very likely to be surprised by incredibly high data usage," says Amethon CTO James Cleary. "Our belief is that many will adjust their browsing habits as the novelty wears off."
The data usage in the report represents downloads from viewing Web pages and does not include streaming video through sites such as YouTube, or the data used downloading software via Apple's App Store.
One quirky fact that has appeared in the report is that iPhone users are more likely to browse the internet earlier in the morning, but not as likely to be browsing late at night. Mobile Web browsing on other mobile handsets experience a sharp peak at around 10pm, while iPhone Web browsing remains consistent, and lower, from mid-afternoon to the evening.
What's the deal with iPhone users getting up and going to bed early? What happened to the idea that iPhone owners are uber-cool party people, laughing in the face of the concept of time and work? If you've got an answer to explain this interesting statistic be sure to drop us a line on the forums, or leave a comment below.
Friday 19 September 2008
(Credit: Apple)
They weren't mentioned at this month's Apple launch event and you won't see them on Apple's website, but 4GB fourth-generation iPod Nanos are turning up on retail shelves across Australia.
The 4GB player is being advertised as "limited release" and is selling for AU$169 at resellers including Dick Smith Electronics, Myer and JB Hi-Fi. It is not available from Apple online or via the company's retail stores in Sydney or Melbourne.
By comparison, the recommended retail price of the 8GB model is AU$199, while the 16GB version sells for AU$279.
Australia is not the sole market for the mysterious 4GB Nanos — the little critters have also been spotted in Europe, according to Engadget. Thus far there have been no reports of the players appearing in the United States.
Thursday 18 September 2008
It's the nature of television programming, Tuesday nights are chock-a-block with good, and usually overlapping, stuff, while Wednesdays are boring. Foxtel has heard this complaint and decided to finally release a patch to open all four tuners on its iQ2 box.
iQ2 becomes iQ2 plus one
(Credit: Foxtel)
This means users will be able to "tape" two simultaneous shows while watching another "live" one. Gosh.
At present only two are working which means you can only watch or record two channels at once. So, you get a whole extra channel for free!
Hang on you say, while counting on your fingers, that's only three. What happened to the fourth tuner? It's dedicated to On Demand, and according to Foxtel you can only use three tuners at once. So you can record two shows, and either watch live TV or an On Demand program.
But there's only one catch: you may have to wait until 1 December to get it. Foxtel is doing a progressive roll-out from today, but were unable to tell us who would get it first.
Also, we're awaiting the firmware version number so you can more easily check if your box has been updated. At the moment the only way you can check is to set up two recordings and then try changing the channel. We'll keep you posted…
Update: From our friends at Foxtel: "The software version numbers are displayed in three parts and it's the middle number (208) to look for, once an iQ2 subscriber has the software upgrade it will be displayed as - xx.208.xx. The automatic software upgrades are completed in a random order."
Monday 15 September 2008
The SingStar franchise is developing into one of the widest-ranging series around. Since its arrival on the PlayStation 2 in 2004, it has grown to encompass widely varied music genres within its karaoke-based gameplay, where players aim to sing along to the songs and keep in tune. From SingStar Bollywood to SingStar '80s, the game has left almost no musical stone unturned and has sold over 13 million copies in PAL territories. SingStar arrived on the PlayStation 3 in 2007 and continues to expand via downloadable content in the online SingStore.
However, it seems there are still new high notes to hit. Sony has just announced SingStar ABBA for both the PS2 and PlayStation 3.
The collaboration with ABBA will see not only the release of SingStar ABBA, but also an agreement with the Swedish band's rights owners, Universal Music Group, of "exclusivity for disc-based PlayStation titles until December 2009". ABBA has sold over 350 million units worldwide since it emerged in 1972 and has had a recent boost from the success of the musical and movie Mamma Mia!. The game will feature many of ABBA's greatest hits, including "Mamma Mia", "Gimme Gimme Gimme", "Waterloo", and "Dancing Queen".
Fans who can't wait to sing along to the hits that have graced many a wedding disco will be able to get their hands on SingStar ABBA in time for Christmas.
Unleash your inner Agnetha. (Credit: Sony Computer Entertainment)
Wednesday 10 September 2008
Nokia has unlocked its online door to Ovi, and opened the site to the public for beta testing.
The Ovi landing page
The new site lets Nokia phone owners back-up contacts and calendar entries from their phone to the site, plus add and edit entries on the site before synchronising the new data back to their handset.
Ovi also features online storage, called Anytime Files, with the emphasis on allowing users to view synced files remotely via their phone's Web browser. Different from similar services like Apple's MobileMe which rely on dedicated clients, Nokia's files storage is accessible via any Web browser — this means you don't need a specific device, or brand of phone, to access your files.
After announcing the Ovi service late last year, Nokia has been trickling its content services out one by one in preparation for the release of Ovi as the unifying interface. To date we've seen the release of Nokia Maps, Nokia Share, the Nokia Music Store and the N-Gage gaming platform, with services including an improved email service still to come.
The Ovi website offers shortcuts to these existing content services, but strangely doesn't incorporate them. Selecting the N-Gage shortcut, for example, leaves the Ovi portal and directs the browser to the dedicated N-Gage website. Without integration the links to Maps, Music and N-Gage are little more than advertising at this stage.
Subscriptions for the Anytime Files service on Ovi costs US$9.95 per month for 10GB or US$19.95 per month for 30GB. Users of Nokia Series 60 handsets can register now to use the Ovi service for free at the Ovi website.
Tuesday 09 September 2008
After years of to-ing and fro-ing, the radio industry has finally set a date for digital radio to go live across the nation: May 2009.
According to industry body Commercial Radio Australia (CRA), all of the current commercial and national broadcasters in Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Brisbane and Perth will start transmitting in the DAB+ standard. This will include both AM and FM stations.
The deadline was originally set at 1 January, 2009, but the Rudd Government has apparently given the industry some wiggle room. Though not too much, as according to Melissa Fleming from CRA, the government is looking to table a "use it or lose it" law which means stations will need to be up and running by July 2009 or lose the chance to go digital.
Australia was the first country in the world to test and incorporate the DAB+ standard — which doesn't require analog TV spectrum to work — and according to Fleming it's now starting to be used in Europe.
Manufacturers expected to release compatible equipment in the new year include Pure Digital, iRiver, Sangean, Yamaha and Intempo.
The advantages of digital over analog are the potential for improved audio quality and less noise — particularly on AM stations — and advanced features such as song title scrolling.
The Intempo RDI is a forthcoming iPod dock with a DAB+ tuner.
Friday 05 September 2008
Apple announced the news on its website.
Victorians are set to get a taste of the Apple retail action, with the company's third Australian store opening in Melbourne's Chadstone shopping centre.
Chadstone's outlet joins Apple's flagship store in Sydney's George Street and a smaller outlet in the city's Chatswood Chase shopping centre. Like every other Apple retail store, it will offer training sessions, workshops and technical support via its Genius Bar.
The Chadstone store will open to the public at 10am on Saturday 13 September. As with the launch events at stores in New South Wales, the first batch of customers will receive a gift from Apple.
The opening of the store has been timed to coincide with an Apple media event that will likely see the announcement of a refreshed iPod line. It was a similar story with the launch of the Apple store in Sydney's CBD, which was unveiled in time for the release of the 3G iPhone.
Monday 01 September 2008
Consumer technology can be an intriguing passion. CNET's editors are exposed to a wide variety of gadgets, from commonplace products like TVs and laptops, to the unusual lifestyle accessories, like vibrating gaming chairs and mobile phone condoms. However, every so often we discover something life changing.
The KNFB (Kurzweil Technologies and the National Federation of the Blind) Reading software falls into this latter category for the people with vision impairments it services. From the anecdotal reports we've heard, the software has offered some people suffering total blindness with their first experience of autonomy in everyday situations like ordering food off the menu in a restaurant, or by reading their bills without assistance.
The software uses technology known as Optical Character Recognition (OCR) to decipher printed words and uses text-to-speech synthesis to speak what it reads back to the user. The software is capable of reading across a full page of text as well as down columns of print, such as in a newspaper or magazine. Because of the intelligence of the OCR technology, the software can read print even if it is aligned at an angle to the camera.
OCR and reading software for computers are not new technologies, software of this kind has been developed since the late 1970s. In 2005 the partnership between Kurzweil Technologies and the National Federation of the Blind produced the first portable reading device, which then was the size of a large PDA.
Today the software has been modified further and is now available on Nokia's N82 mobile phone handset. People with vision impairments can use the phone to make calls and send messages as per usual, and also have access to this amazing software without having to carry an extra larger device. As you can see in the video above, we've had a chance to test the KNFB reader software and were amazed at the accuracy of the character recognition. The Reader may sometimes stumble over technical terminology (it called the iPhone "if-on") but in the majority of our tests it conveyed the message from the text clearly.
In Australia the KNFB Reading technology is sold pre-installed on a Nokia N82 handset for AU$3,450. More information is available from the software's Australian distributor Pacific Vision or from the KNFB Reader website.
