Author: Duncan Geere
Amazon launches e-book buying and reading app for iPhones
Today, Amazon plans to release an application for the iPhone that’ll allow users to buy and download eBooks, outside of its homegrown Kindle ecosystem. The application will be able to be downloaded free of charge, and will also keep track of your page across both a Kindle and an iPhone, so no more wondering where you left off.
There’s competition in the market, from the likes of Indigo Books and Shortcovers, and Google recently launched a free mobile product too. When asked about whether the app might cannibalise Kindle sales, Amazon VP Ian Freed says he’s “not at all concerned”, saying that it’s actually likely to help, presumably because the Kindle offers a better eBook expeirnece.
Unfortunately for the moment, the application isn’t available outside the US, presumably for licensing reasons. We’ll keep a close eye and let you know when you can get it on these shores.
(via Wall St Journal)
Asus unleashes ultra-thin U and UX series of laptops
We’ve just been dropped word of some new laptops from Asus, the U and UX series. I normally strip out press release fluff, but there’s an amazing bit here that I’ll quote to you:
“Each of them a masterpiece so immensely desirable, the U and UX Series takes modern day computing to the streets, bringing delight to the users’ senses and allowing them to work or play in style.”
Hilarious. That’s not the only ridiculous section, it’s all insane. Go read it here. If you’re more into hard specs, though, then here’s the skinny. Both models have backlit keyboards, and the U series has a 15.6″ display, Core 2 Duo processor, 500GB hard drive, 512MB of GeForce G105M graphics, illuminated trackpad and Altec Lansing speakers.
The UX, on the other hand, we don’t have any info about beyond the fact that it has a slot-in optical drive and a combination of matte and gloss finishes. Let’s hope we get a bit more info soon, as well as a video of that illuminated trackpad on the U series. Pricing and availability info TBC.
Asus Press Release
Skype gives away its SILK speech codec for free
Skype has just announced that it’s giving away its SILK speech codec, which is the bit of software that processes your voice into a small enough stream of data for you to be able to communicate over a slow internet connection. A codec is basically a balancing act between file size and audio quality.
The SILK codec has been in development for three years at Skype and was finally bundled with the most recent release of the software – Skype 4. It’s a major step forward in audio quality and scales depending on the bandwidth available.
So if it’s so great, then why is Skype giving it away royalty-free to its competitors? Good question. My best guess is that Skype has the VoIP market so firmly tied up that it wants some competition to help grow the whole market. Then, I suppose, it’s confident enough that those users will switch to Skype thanks to its fantastic software.
It might also be a sign that Skype’s considering offering an API. Opening up the service, which is famously closed, would mean that other programs could be able to make Skype calls natively, without people having to open and install Skype itself. It could mean that you’ll just be able to highlight phone numbers on websites and right-click to call them from the browser.
More information’s available on the SILK website, and TechCrunch has an interesting take too.
Google CEO calls Twitter a "Poor Man's Email System"
When Google CEO Eric Schmidt was asked what he thought of Twitter, at a technology conference hosted by Morgan Stanley yesterday, he came out with the following gem: “Speaking as a computer scientist, I view all of these as sort of poor man’s email systems”.
Ouch. Now that’s the sound of a man hurting. Hurting because his company didn’t see the microblogging revolution coming? Hurting because they did, and backed the wrong horse – buying up Jaiku rather than Twitter? Maybe he’s just hurting because people are hacking Google to display Twitter results.
He went on:
“In other words, they have aspects of an email system, but they don’t have a full offering. To me, the question about companies like Twitter is: Do they fundamentally evolve as sort of a note phenomenon, or do they fundamentally evolve to have storage, revocation, identity, and all the other aspects that traditional email systems have? Or do email systems themselves broaden what they do to take on some of that characteristic?”
“I think the innovation is great. In Google’s case, we have a very successful instant messaging product, and that’s what most people end up using. Twitter’s success is wonderful, and I think it shows you that there are many, many new ways to reach and communicate, especially if you are willing to do so publicly.”
He also gave a quick mention of Google’s new Twitter account, but got a little confused by the character limit, claiming @google is somewhere to “go ahead and listen to our ruminations as to where we are and what we’re doing in 160 characters or less”. Actually Eric, it’s 140.
(via Business Insider)
Happy Square Root day!
Apple’s product release earlier seemed to happen at exactly 13:37GMT, which I’ve always had in my head as l33t-o’clock. I wondered briefly if that was intentional on Apple’s behalf, and then put the thought aside after remembering that Apple probably doesn’t run on GMT.
That disappointment was shortlived as various tweeters starting noting that it was Square Root day. Square Root Day occurs just nine times each century, and is when the day and the month are the same number, and when multiplied together make up the last two digits of the year?
So basically, today – 3/3/09 is like saying 3 * 3 = 9. The first of the century was the 1st Jan 2001, and then there was the 2nd Feb 2004. Before that, it’d been 20 years since 9th September 1981. After today, the next square root day will be the 4th April 2016.
People celebrating the occasion are expected tonight to carve square root signs into fruit and vegetables and burn them in a massive pyre. I’ll be taking part. See you in Hyde Park at 10pm, yeah? We won’t let some rubbish drizzle dampen our mathematical spirits!
Mac Mini refresh finally announced
There’s been rumours of a an upgrade of the Mac Mini for ages. First, back in December we thought it’d come at Macworld. Then, in Feb, we tracked down an image with a surfeit of USB ports and some basic specs. Then, yesterday, we thought the refresh would come at the end of this month.
Well, Apple has confounded all our expectations, and has announced a new Mac Mini, with the following specs:
- 5x USB
- 1x FireWire 800
- 1x mini DVI
- 1x Display poort
- Nvidia chipset (like the newest MacBook)
- starting at Intel Core 2 Duo 2.0 Ghz
- 2 GB DDR3 memory (max 4 GB)
- 120 GB hard disk (max 320 GB)
Not bad eh? Not face-meltingly good specs, but they’ll do. As with every Apple product announced ever, it’s available now, and costs £XXX.
Apple UK
Retro: PC Plus from 1986 now online
If, like me, you get slightly weepy-eyed thinking about computers from 1986, then have I got a link for you. PC Plus magazine has put up its first issue ever online for you to flick through at your leisure.
There’s discussion of Word Processors, printers reviewed and tested, and in the ads at the back is a computer with an 8MHz motherboard, monochrome monitor, serial port, and floppy drive for £400.
Most intriguingly of all, in the back is a review of a game called “Leather Goddesses of Phobos” that comes in three modes – “Tame”, “Suggestive” and “Lewd”, and is accompanied in the box by a pair of 3D glasses and a scratch and sniff card(!). The conclusion? “Should keep you busy for months”.
Go check it out and remind yourself of the days when a help section offered advice on creating batch files, and the handy hint: “One thing to avoid at all costs is typing “DEL ” at the command prompt”. Brilliant.
PC Plus (via @richardcobbett)
Zavvi lives on, online
Zavvi – the remains of the Virgin Megastore brand – eventually closed a few weeks back, selling the majority of its remaining bricks-and-mortar stores to HMV and Head Group.
The name, however, has been bought by the Hut Group, which sees them taking ownership of Zavvi.co.uk domain. That domain has re-launched today, offering a much broader range of products.
Although the original site concentrated mainly on music, games and DVDs, the new version will be more like Amazon – selling electrical and computing goods, books, sports and leisure stuff, perfumes and lingerie as well as aforementioned music/games/DVDs trio.
The site is live right now, and have very similar prices to the old site – i.e. slightly higher than competitors Amazon and Play.com. Still, it’s worth a look. Especially if you’re into buying lingerie online.
Chuck Norris' PDA – the Getac PS535F
Do you work in a field where you need rugged equipment? Perhaps you’re a field engineer, a geologist, or maybe even a stuntman? Well, then the Getac PS535F is right up your alley. It’s a super-rugged PDA for use in tough environments.
It comes equipped with a GPS, 3.5″ VGA touchscreen, 3-megapixel camera, altimeter, electronic compass and Windows Mobile 6.1. There’s no modem, annoyingly, but it does have Bluetooth, and Wi-Fi. There’s 2GB of onboard memory.
The device weighs 300g, has battery for 8 hours and in keeping with its rugged design, it’s resistant to drops, water, dust and extreme temperatures. I’ve got an email in to Getac asking how much it’ll cost and when it’ll be available, so I’ll update this post when I know more.
Japanese disaster recovery robot
A coffin with tank treads. That’s what this thing looks like. Japanese city Yokohama’s disaster recovery department has come up with it as a way to ferry people from danger zones back to safety.
Basically, you stuff an injured person in the tube, and he can then be moved around remotely thanks to the onboard infrared camera. It’ll monitor the patient’s blood flow and vital signs, but I can’t help but think that it doesn’t look terribly cushioned, and there’s a good chance that the occupant might slide out if the robot goes up too steep an incline.
If you were lying in a disaster area with two broken legs, a concussion and a dislocated shoulder, would you get in this thing? Or would you rather walk? I know which I’d pick.
