Technology Simplified

Authors Sue Google Over Book Plan

2005-09-25T17:45:00.001Z

A US writers' group is suing internet search engine Google, claiming that its plan to digitise major library book collections infringes author copyright.

The Authors Guild has filed a lawsuit in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York.

The lawsuit seeks class action status, seeks damages and demands an injunction against further infringements.

Google said it regretted the Authors Guild action, asked for more talks, and claimed its plans benefited writers.

The suit names as co-plaintiffs The Authors Guild and writers Herbert Mitgang, Betty Miles and Daniel Hoffman.

Google has a grand plan of "organizing the world's information and making it more universally accessible and useful".

It hopes to pump $200m (£110m) into creating a digital archive of millions of books from four top US libraries - the libraries of Stanford, Michigan and Harvard universities, and of the New York Public Library - by 2015.

It is also digitising out-of-copyright books from the UK's Oxford University.

'Brazen violation'

However it has temporarily stopped scanning copyrighted texts until November to allay concerns about the plan, after several groups complained about copyright violation.

The action by the 86-year-old Authors Guild is part of a push by the organization to roll back efforts by Web sites to make the contents of books freely available online.

Google has said copyright holders who contact the company and ask for their books to be withheld from the project, will be respected.

But critics say that moves the onus from Google to the writers.

"This is a plain and brazen violation of copyright law," Nick Taylor, president of the 8,000-member New York-based Authors Guild, said in a statement.

"(Authors), not Google, have the exclusive rights to... authorize such reproduction, distribution and display of their works," the guild's complaint says.

But Google said its project "directly benefits authors and publishers by increasing awareness of and sales of the books in the programme".

"Only small portions of the books are shown unless the content owner gives permission to show more," it added.

Napster Boss On Life After Piracy

2005-09-25T17:45:00.000Z

In the second of a series of occasional interviews with key players in the entertainment industry, the BBC News website speaks to Brad Duea, president of online music service Napster.

The last two years have seen the virtual transformation of the global music industry due to physical and online piracy, falling sales of CDs, and the rise of legal downloads and portable music players such as the iPod.

But the impact has been as great on consumers, who have seen the way they can buy and use music change just as radically.

No company represents that shift in the music industry better than Napster.

Once a byword for piracy, it is now a firm at the vanguard of online services.

Napster has around 410,000 subscribers who pay up to £14.95 each month to gain access to about 1.5 million songs.

It was once a file-sharing service that let people exchange music, usually pirated, and other files. But after the US courts shut it down, the power of its brand remained.

'Way down'

Mr Duea says: "The number one brand attribute at the time Napster was shut down was innovation. The second highest characteristic was actually 'free'.

"The difference now is that the number one attribute is still innovation. Free is now way down on the list."

Technology firm Roxio bought the Napster brand from the ruins that was left of the file-sharing service and relaunched it as a paid-for operation.

The global music market is now worth $33 billion (£18.3 billion) a year while the online music market accounted for around 5% of all sales in the first half of 2005.

Just a handful of legitimate online music stores were in existence two years ago - now there are around 300 different services up and running.

Mr Duea says the online music industry will become an "exploding multi-billion dollar space in the next two years".

Flat sales

"It's larger than a niche but not yet mainstream," he says.

As CD sales remain either flat or falling in many countries, some observers are predicting that digital sales will outstrip physical sales in the near future.

But Mr Duea says that day has already come for hundreds of thousands of people.

"Many people have moved beyond buying plastic at retail and have moved to digital only already," he says.

"People are able to search for more music than was ever possible at retail, even in the largest megastore."

Mr Duea talks about Napster as an "experience" rather than as a retailer.

With features such as friends' lists, recommendations, the ability to swap playlists, access to more than a million songs and carry potentially tens of thousands of songs with you wherever you go, it is clear that use of a service like Napster has little in common with popping into HMV or Virgin to buy a record.

'Forced bundle'

Many CDs, says Mr Duea, are "a forced bundle by the labels".

"If you are a subscriber you can listen to the latest CDs and never again be caught buying a bad CD which has one hit song and all the rest are crap.

"The consumer got caught buying CDs which only had one good song. Now what it will move to is rewarding those artists that put out great music that people listen to."

Mr Duea says online music sales can transform the whole spectrum of music production and consumption - from artist to music lover.

The most high profile of all the services is probably Apple's iTunes, which has a very different model to Napster's.

There are no subscribers to iTunes, users purchase songs either on a per track basis or in the form of albums.

It has sold more than 500 million songs world-wide, but Mr Duea is critical of the approach Apple has taken.

He says Apple boss Steve Jobs has "tricked people into buying a hardware trap" as iTunes songs can only be taken away and played on an iPod.

And the ubiquitous iPod itself can play paid-for songs with copy protection that are bought from iTunes and none of the other services, but it can play any MP3s.

'Work seamlessly'

Apple's approach means the market remains essentially cut down the middle - between the iTunes service, which works only on the iPod, and services which use a Windows Media format, essentially everyone else.

"The dream is that Napster would work on any PC, any player in any territory and work seamlessly," said Mr Duea.

Napster's subscription model has been criticised by some because users do not "own" the music. It remains as part of their collection - either on a PC or on a portable player - for only as long as they continue to subscribe.

"A lot of time people think of ownership as this ultimate thing with music.

"Has owning cassettes in the past really benefited people? In many cases they have had to repurchase music in a new format.

"I do not think the argument about ownership is such a wonderful thing. What do you really want as a music fan? It's to access music and listening to music."

Despite the explosion in legitimate music services, the industry has been criticised for reacting slowly to new technologies.

Mr Duea says: "There are still people with a myopic view of music and are fearful of a cannibalistic effect of digital on their cash cow plastic retail business."

Anti-Music Swapping Tool Launched

2005-09-25T16:45:00.001Z

A free software program aimed at preventing illegal internet music and movie file-swapping has been launched by a recording industry group.

The International Federation of Phonographic Industries has released Digital File Check to help people remove unwanted file-sharing programs.

The program is also designed to help firms detect if staff are using work computers for illegal file swapping.

The group said 900m tracks were traded illegally in the six months to June.

Digital File Check also helps users delete copyrighted music and video files from the "shared folders" of computers.

The program is being released online and on CD in eight European countries including the UK.

Possible fines

IFPI chairman John Kennedy said the program was an educational tool aimed at "making life easier for people who want to enjoy music responsibly and legally on the internet".

"This initiative comes at a time when downloading music legally has never been easier, with over 350 sites offering over a million tracks," he said.

In a separate move, the IFPI is sending out a new copyright guide to IT managers at the UK's biggest employers to encourage them to ensure that their computer networks are not used for illegal activity.

The guide is backed by record companies' group the International Chamber of Commerce, the Motion Picture Association and the International Video Federation.

Guides will be sent out to businesses in eight other countries, including Sweden and Thailand.

Warning letters

Meanwhile, two file-sharing networks appear to have responded to a "cease and desist" letter sent out by Recording Industry Association of America.

File-sharing site WinMX.com appears to have ceased operating and the New York office of another, eDonkey.com, is reported to have closed.

Both firms were believed to be among the seven undisclosed recipients sent letters by the RIAA last week.

The RIAA letters were sent out after the US Supreme Court ruled in June that anyone who distributed a device used to infringe copyright would be liable for resulting acts of infringement by others.

The Old New

2005-09-25T16:45:00.000Z

Why should a transistor radio from 1954 be causing a buzz online? Could it be part of a realisation that, amid talk of invention, no novelty is completely new? John Ousby's Brilliant Brainwave

The Old Testament Book of Ecclesiastes has a few words to say about novelty, fashion and innovation.

"The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be:
And that which is done is that which shall be done:
And there is no new thing under the sun."

The Regency TR-1 transistor radio, made in 1954, had a decent claim to be a genuine piece of innovation, however. It was, by popular agreement, the world's first commercially sold transistor pocket radio.

Small enough to hold in your hand, and powered by batteries, it came in a variety of delicious colours, including green, pearlescent blue, lavender, white and red.

The device went on sale just in time for hip young gadget freaks to hear Elvis Presley singing That's All Right - recognised by many as the moment at which rock'n'roll was born.

The TR-1 was marketed under the slogan "See it! Hear it! Get it!"

Hi-tech, trendy colours, rock music, punchy slogans... remind anyone of anything? When technology watcher John Ousby realised the modern day parallels, he knew he had to do something.

"I did a bit of digging around," he says, "and found a good website on vintage electronics. I then matched photos of the transistor with photos of the iPod Mini."

He then posted the above picture on the photo-sharing website Flickr. "Normally my photos there are viewed less than 100 times. But I was away for couple of days and came back to see there had been more than 15,000," he says.

The similarity between the two has "created quite a stir", he says, particularly in the Mac community. He is, however, at pains to point out that he believes the similarity between the 50s radio and the iPod mini is purely coincidental.

Apple declined to comment; some of those stirred by the debate definitely see the parallels.

"I'd say a good engineer learns from a good thing, not to say they copy it," says one member of community discussion site Digg.

"It'd also be decently safe to say that [Apple boss Steve] Jobs likes his old school design work, think about the iMac G4 for a sec; you've all heard the classic desk lamp reference. I could be really off base here, but look at how [animation firm] Pixar depicts certain common appliances/cars in films, pretty retro."

Another adds: "Even Picasso was influenced by artists before him."

Other readers might simply conclude that however new something seems - and even the iPod mini has now been replaced by a newer model - everything has its roots somewhere.

Perhaps a thought for anyone who, flaunting their headphones in public, thinks they are being in any way "now".

Microsoft Facing Mid-Life Crisis As It Turns 30

2005-09-25T16:15:00.000Z

In the middle of the 1990s Bill Gates - already well on his way to becoming the world's richest man - decided to turn his hand to writing.

Insights gleaned from building up software giant Microsoft helped propel his books, The Road Ahead and Business @ the Speed of Thought, into the bestseller lists.

Here was a man who had helped to fuel the technology revolution, seen the potential for computers and made them usable for all but the most technologically confused.

Today, as Microsoft celebrates its 30th birthday, his critics are less kind.

Battle lines

Many of the plaudits have turned to catcalls and the company stands accused of bullying and uncompetitive behaviour, of growing too big and of becoming bureaucratic, sluggish and complacent.

Rivals are lining up to take pot-shots, rubbing their hands at the market leader's problems and setting themselves up as the next big thing.

Their argument is simple - why pay for Microsoft's big, expensive bundles of software like Office and Windows when you can find cheaper or free versions that do more of what the consumer wants elsewhere?

"Open source" projects - which are developed by legions of volunteers but backed by big and small corporate players like IBM and Red Hat - are undermining Microsoft's hold on the business world and reducing its revenues from licence sales.

Leading this pack is Linux, an operating system which has been winning support from such diverse places as the city council of Munich to the government offices of Sao Paulo.

At the same time, Microsoft is accused of being slow to develop its internet search technology and so losing ground to Google; while its online music product loses listeners to Apple; and users desert its instant messaging system for AOL.

At the same time its Internet Explorer browser is fighting off the increasingly popular open source web browser Mozilla Firefox, and there are questions about the security of its products, which are easily hacked and regularly fall victim to viruses.

Layer cake

"Microsoft has always been terrified that there would be a big change in software like this," George Colony, chief executive of research firm Forrester, said in an interview with the Sunday Times newspaper.

The work being done by companies like Google "begins to push Microsoft off the PC", he explained.

Microsoft all but admitted that it needs to change the way it does business earlier this week when it launched a reorganisation of its operations.

The firm will cut its current seven divisions down to three - a move chief executive Stephen Ballmer believes will make decision making more nimble and give managers greater autonomy to get things done.

Mr Gates is also said to be taking a more central role in the decision making process.

If anything, Microsoft argues, its size helps more than it hinders and the company is looking to offer a wide range of products to consumers including media centres and computer game consoles.

"We've always wanted to be a company that got the benefit of the scale, going back to the beginning where we said: 'Hey we're not a one-product company'," Mr Gates explained.

"So is it a benefit to us that we work across these realms that we can expose you to the same user interface at home that you get at work? We think so."

Analysts agree, saying that the shake-up will allow Microsoft to shed its image as the "big daddy" of office software and broaden revenue streams.

Under the radar

Despite his core software products coming under pressure, Mr Gates is not unduly worried because "some things that are actually the biggest opportunity for us I think people miss".

He contends that businesses will always be interested in becoming more efficient and that Microsoft is one of the few companies asking "how can scheduling be better, how can meetings be better"?

These may be less headline grabbing avenues of growth, but ultimately they may prove to be far more rewarding.

And the group is expecting to rake in sales of more than $44bn (£26bn) during its current fiscal year - giving it the time and cash to get things right.

Analysts say that Microsoft has never been one of the great innovators. But what it does do extremely well is market its products and protect its position.

"The next 10 years we'll make as many advances as we've made in the last 30," Mr Gates predicts.

If he is right, the company that started out as a two-man show in Albuquerque, New Mexico, is unlikely to relinquish its top spot any time soon.

Deadly Plague Hits Warcraft World

2005-09-25T16:00:00.001Z

A deadly virtual plague has broken out in the online game World of Warcraft.

Although limited to only a few of the game's servers the numbers of characters that have fallen victim is thought to be in the thousands.

Originally it was thought that the deadly digital disease was the result of a programming bug in a location only recently added to the Warcraft game.

However, it now appears that players kicked off the plague and then kept it spreading after the first outbreak.

Since its launch in November 2004, World of Warcraft (Wow) has become the most widely played massively multiplayer online (MMO) game in the world.

Its creator, Blizzard, claims that now more than four million people are regular players.

Last rites

Wow is an online game that gives players the chance to adventure in the fantasy world of Azeroth that is populated by the usual mixture of humans, elves, orcs and other fantastic beasts.

As players explore the world, the characters they control become more powerful as they complete quests, kill monsters and find magical items and artefacts that boost abilities.

To give these powerful characters more of a challenge, Blizzard regularly introduces new places to explore in the online world.

In the last week, it added the Zul'Gurub dungeon which gave players a chance to confront and kill the fearsome Hakkar - the god of Blood.

In his death throes Hakkar hits foes with a "corrupted blood" infection that can instantly kill weaker characters.

The infection was only supposed to affect those in the immediate vicinity of Hakkar's corpse but some players found a way to transfer it to other areas of the game by infecting an in-game virtual pet with it.

This pet was then unleashed in the orc capital city of Ogrimmar and proved hugely effective as the Corrupted Blood plague spread from player to player.

Although computer controlled characters did not contract the plague, they are said to have acted as "carriers" and infected player-controlled characters they encountered.

Body count

The first server, or "realm" as Blizzard calls them, affected by the plague was Archimonde; but it is known to have spread to at least two others.

The spread of the disease could have been limited by the fact that Hakkar is difficult to kill, so some realms may not yet have got round to killing him and unleashing his parting shot.

The digital disease instantly killed lower level characters and did not take much longer to kill even powerful characters.

Many online discussion sites were buzzing with reports from the disaster zones with some describing seeing "hundreds" of bodies lying in the virtual streets of the online towns and cities.

"The debate amongst players now is if it really was intentional although due to the effects of the problem it seems unlikely," Paul Younger, an editor on the unofficial worldofwar.net site, told the Technology Simplified Website.

"It's giving players something to talk about and could possibly be considered the first proper 'world event'", he said.

Luckily the death of a character in World of Warcraft is not final so all those killed were soon resurrected.

Blizzard tried to control the plague by staging rolling re-starts of all the servers supporting the Warcraft realms and applying quick fixes.

However, there are reports that this has not solved all the problems and that isolated pockets of plague are breaking out again.

The "Corrupted Blood" plague is not the first virtual disease to break out in online worlds. In May 2000 many players of The Sims were outraged when their game characters died because of an infection contracted from a dirty virtual guinea pig.

Ask Jeeves Decides To Axe Jeeves

2005-09-25T16:00:00.000Z

Search site Ask Jeeves is getting rid of the iconic valet that has been its companion since its earliest days.

Citing "user confusion" over what the butler character represents the search site has said that Jeeves will soon be phased out.

There is no firm date for when the character will disappear from the Ask site, but it will soon stop being the brand's most prominent icon.

No decision has been made about a new name for the Ask search site.

Butler begone

The decision about the axing of the Jeeves valet character was revealed in a Goldman Sachs investor conference by Ask owner Barry Diller.

Mr Diller's Inter-Active Corp bought the Ask Jeeves group in May 2005 for $1.85bn (£1.03bn).

In a statement Ask said that over the last year it had been investigating user perceptions of the Jeeves character.

Jeeves is named after the extraordinarily knowledgeable and helpful valet character created by celebrated comic novelist P G Wodehouse.

However, Ask's research revealed that Jeeves was getting in the way of people realising that the search site had changed and that it can handle many more types of queries than just straightforward questions.

"As a result," said the Ask statement, "the character may be phased out as the prominent icon of the brand, although no timeline or details have been determined."

In line with a series of changes made to the Ask site last year, Jeeves got a makeover which saw him get slimmer and more tanned.

In its statement Ask said that no decision had yet been made on the new brand name it will adopt to show how the search site had evolved.

Close Circuits

2005-08-26T12:00:00.000Z

Computer industry giant Sun Microsystems is working on a revolutionary technology that will allow computer processors to communicate with each other without wires or circuit boards.

'Proximity Communication' lets chips transmit information directly, cutting out the need for many of the parts that make up modern computers. If the technology is successful, it could mean huge increases in performance because direct communications would make data transfer much quicker. Such computers would use less power and produce less heat.

The technique could lead to lower prices because there are fewer parts involved. However, it could be several years before the chips appear in home computers.

UK Takes Lead In Spam Fight

2005-08-26T11:45:00.000Z

The UK has put spam and internet scams high on the agender after taking over the presidency of the International Consumer Protection and Enforcement Network (ICPEN).

The group consists of government and law enforcement agencies and aims to help the enforcement of consumer laws across borders, including a co-ordinated annual internet sweet for rogue websites.

Chritine Wade, the Office of Fair Trading's (OFT) director for Consumer Regulation Enforcement, who will lead the UK's presidency, said:
"We have to find a way to keep ahead of those who target consumers with unfair or illegal trading practices."
"Effective exchange of intelligence and a focused view on what can be achieved by drawing global enforcers together will both be key prioritys for the year," she added.

The OFT will be co-hosting a spam workshop with the US Federal Trade Commission. The workshop will look at how to achieve globally co-ordinated enforcement against unlawful and deceptive spam.

The UK will also host conferences in London and in Edinburgh, to which delegates from more than 30 countries have been invited to attend.

The conferences will focus on what are seen as the most common problems, such as fake lottery and prize draw scams.

Technology Simplified Moves!

2005-08-26T10:30:00.000Z

In a couple of days, maybe even as soon as monday we are moving to www.simonlenton.info!

As always we will keep you updated!

How To Get Talking With Google

2005-08-24T16:15:00.000Z

What is Google Talk?

Google Talk is part-way between a telephone service and a web-based instant messaging service, such as Skype and MSN Messenger. It allows any two people with the right equipment to speak to each other, wherever they are in the world, at no cost. But it cannot yet replace a conventional telephone. It doesn’t allow you to speak to people who are not Google Talk users, it does not support calls to the emergency services and you can only contact people when they have their PCs switched on.

How do I use it?

The application looks similar to many instant messaging programs. Using the contacts from your Gmail address book (you need to have Gmail to get Google Talk), the system presents you with a list of your friends and indicates whether they are online. To establish a connection you click on the name of the person you wish to call and to end the call you press another button. There is no time limit on calls and no geographical limit on where callers can be, as long as they have an internet connection.

How does it differ from other internet-based telephone services?

In its current incarnation, Google Talk more closely resembles a voice-based instant messaging system than a telephone network. Skype uses similar technology but also allows you to call landlines using a service called Skype Out, which uses the internet to carry the call as far as the local exchange of the person you are calling, and then diverts the call to the standard telephone network (for a fee). Vonage uses the broadband internet network to carry phone calls, but works independently from your computer. You can use your existing phone and make calls to UK and international numbers at reduced rates, but you do have to pay a monthly subscription charge.

What equipment will I need to use Google Talk?

You will need a Windows PC with a speaker and microphone, as well as the Google Talk software, which can be downloaded here. Broadband is recommended, but the service will work with a 56k modem, although the voice quality may be reduced. You also need to be a member of Gmail, Google’s e-mail service, which is currently available by invitation only. Anyone with a Gmail account can invite you to join Gmail and Google Talk, but the company said it does not know when the Gmail service will be made more widely available. It said Google Talk will be adapted for Macintosh and Linux operating systems in the future, although it did not say when.

Is it really free?

There is no charge for the software or for any calls made using the system, so the only expense incurred will be the cost of any new equipment required, such as a microphone and speaker, plus your standard internet connection charges.

Does Google monitor calls?

Google says it will keep a log of connections made using the system, but only to monitor usage and improve the service, and says it does not monitor the content of calls or text-based conversations using the instant messaging service. Mobile phone companies also keep a log of calls made using their networks.

How secure is the service?

Calls made using Google Talk are not encrypted, so there is a risk that they could be intercepted (although calls made using fixed or mobile telephones are also vulnerable to interception). Future versions of the product will support encryption, which will boost security beyond most conventional telephone systems.

Crackdown On Wi-Fi Boasts

2005-08-24T11:25:00.000Z

Wireless networking devices that interfere with other wireless products will be stripped of their certified status, the industry's governing body said.

The Wi-Fi Alliance, a non-profit organisation that controls and promotes wireless networking products, said any products that cause problems with other pieces of wireless networking kit will no longer be able to claim they are "Wi-Fi Certified."

The certificates are designed to show consumers that the product they are buying is fully compatible with other Wi-Fi products. Some manufacturers of Wi-Fi-Certified products add features to their equipment that is not included in the internationally agreed standard. These can cause interference, meaning that some pieces of equipment can't 'talk' to others.

The Wi-Fi Alliance said it may withhold or revoke certification from wireless products that "significantly impact the ability of other Wi-Fi-Certified equipment to operate as intended."

The move comes after complaints made by manufacturer Broadcom about products from its rival Atheros. Broadcom claimed that some Atheros products - that used a 'Turbo Mode' to boost their speed to double that of normal Wi-Fi connections - prevented devices made by Broadcom and others from working properly.

www.wi-fi.org

Now Google Is Tackling Talk

2005-08-24T11:15:00.000Z

The search giant will launch instant-messaging and Net-telephony products that promise to work with existing services -- if AOL and others agree

Add yet another offering, actually two, from Google (GOOG ) that takes the search giant even further beyond its find-anything-on-the-Web roots. On Aug. 24 it announced a broad-ranging effort to attack both the instant-messaging and Internet voice-calling markets with a service called Google Talk.

Available as a software download, the service could turn the long-divided IM market on its ear by creating the potential for interoperability not only with offerings from established players, including Time Warner's America Online, Microsoft's MSN, and Yahoo!, but also with lesser-known services such as Trillian, Apple Computer's iChat, and GAIM, an IM client for Linux users.

Georges Harik, Google's director of product management, says the company has opened communications with AOL and Yahoo, offering them interoperability on the Google Talk network free, and it will soon contact Microsoft. It remains to be seen whether these big players, especially AOL, which runs both its AOL Instant Messenger service and the globally popular ICQ service, will take Google up on its offer.

"WE'RE WORKING ON IT"
"Our network will be open. We want to make all instant messaging networks interoperable," Harik says. Users of other IM clients would be able to connect friends to Google Talk just by adding their Gmail user names. No agreements have been struck yet. "We don't know what their reaction will be," Harik says.

Google does have one willing IM partner: Earthlink. The Atlanta-based Internet service provider recently debuted an IM and voice-calling software of its own called Vling. Google and Earthlink have committed to making their software interoperable, says Earthlink executive Stephen Currie. "The compatibility won't be available right away," Curries says. "But we're working on it."

One thing Harik says Google Talk won't have is advertising. "You have to be careful about advertising with IM," he says. "It's not necessarily the right platform to insert advertisements." Yet it's an important question for all the IM players because although millions of people use IM, so far it has yet to be a significant profit center for any of the services.

SIP SUPPORT
With the launch of its IM software, Google also plans to become an important force in the growing market for Internet-based voice calls. Harik says Google is looking seriously at adding technical support for SIP, or session initiation protocol, an industry standard used to make phone calls over the Internet. When it adds the support, its network would become compatible with such Net-telephony services as Vonage, SIPphone, and others that use SIP.

Google is already "deep into conversations" with ISP Earthlink and SIPphone, a San Diego-based Internet-calling startup launched by Michael Robertson, the entrepreneur behind a consumer-friendly version of Linux called Linspire.

Although it's not compatible with Skype, one of the biggest Net-telephony currently, Robertson says SIPphone's Gizmo Project service already has 250,000 customers and that it interoperates with 20 different voice services, primarily those of smaller players such as Global Village and Earthlink. "Google is working on the SIP interchange," Robertson says. "And we're working on it with them."

PHONE CHECK
Google Talk will be tightly intertwined with Gmail, Google's 16-month-old free Web-based e-mail service, known for its unlimited capacity to store messages. Gmail has been in a wide pubic beta-test for that entire time, open only to users who get invited by other users. The service now has more than 2 million users, Harik says.

But starting today, invites are no longer needed to get a Gmail account. In a separate announcement, Google says it will take the wraps off the service for users in the U.S. Gmail will be open and free to U.S. users but will require that they use a mobile phone capable of receiving text messages to prove they're legitimate users. When they sign up, Harik says, Google will send their phone a text message. While it may not be fail-safe, Harik says the measure is an effort to minimize Gmail being used by spammers and for other types of abuse.

www.google.com

Apple Macintosh 17in PowerBook

2005-08-24T11:00:00.000Z

A very large, very expensive widescreen notebook with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth built in

There's no doubt that Apple's latest notebook computer is a joy to look at. The enormous 17in widescreen means you can watch films on it at a size aproaching that of a television, and the brushed aluminium finish is undeniably stylish.

The main problem, of course, is one thats long affected Apple computers: nearly everyone else uses PCs. This isn't as big an issue as it used to be, however, as there are Mac versions of most PC software, including Microsoft Office and Internet Explorer.

On the flipside, Macs are renowned for their ease of use, and the latest version of the operating system, OS X, is easier than ever. If Windows XP was a step forward, OS X represents a leap into the future - wireless networking using Bluetooth or Wi-Fi is a piece of cake, as are most tasks.

It can take a while to get used to how the Mac does things, though. There is no Start menu; instead, a pop-up menu bar appears at the bottom of the screen. There you'll find the wealth of applications that the Mac is supplied with. Among others, you get iTunes, GarageBand, iPhoto, iMovie and iDVD, which between them let you play, edit, and create music, photos, movies and DVDs.

It has a full complement of ports - USB2, FireWire, Modem, PC Card, S-Video Out, DVI and a very fast network port!

The screen is sharp and has good contrast. In fact, the overall look and feel is superb and this undoubtedly one of the most attractive computers available today, elegantly designed with rounded curves in keeping with the look of OS X.

Our PowerBook was supplied with an enormous 2GB of memory, which meant it performed extreamly well. The standard 512MB offering is more than enough for most tasks particularly in combination with the ATI Mobility Radeon 9700 graphics card and 80GB hard disk.

Being a 17in widescreen notebook, the PowerBook is not the most portable of computers, and its size means that you might find it hard to work on a train or aeroplane. It is heavy, too, although not so much that it stops being portable. Apple has taken advantage of the wide screen to fit in extra hand rest space below the keyboard, although this makes the keyboard a little small. The Enter key, for example, is tiny and, tucked away on the edge, is easy to miss!

The battery life is good, allowing over three hours for office tasks, or less if you're using Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and/or the recordable DVD drive.

The 17in PowerBook is a notebook computer that will be of maximum use to only a few people, but is quite stunning to look at and a joy to use.

We Say...

GOOD POINTS: Huge screen; Very stylish looks; Plenty of built-in functions
BAD POINTS: Not very portable for a notebook; Pricey; Not as much software as Windows Computers

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It's beautifully designed and a supreamly powerful notebook

OVERALL 5/5

www.apple.com

New Standard For Cartridges

2005-08-24T10:15:00.000Z

Canon, Epson, HP and Lexmark have thrown their weight behind a new standard that could help consumers judge which mono laser printer is best for them.

The companies claim that the test, called ISO 19752, will help customers evaluate how many pages each cartridge can produce.

The ISO standard is designed to define the key factors that affect how many pages a print cartridge can produce so that cartridges can be compared. It is hoped this information will be made available for consumers at the point of sale.

The test will take account of potential manufacturing errors in both printers and cartridges so that the results will more accurately reflect actual consumer experience.

For example, instead of testing one or two cartridges on a single printer, the standard requires that averages be taken from at least nine cartridges tested on a minimum of three seperate printers.

The test can be applied to help evaluate branded, remanufactured and refill toner cartridges.

A Canon representative said the standard for black-and-white printing could help the industry pin down an objective method for testing colour inkjet yields.

"The new ISO standard for determining monochrome toner yield puts solid foundation in place to evolve standards for colour laser and inkjet technology," said Mogens Molgaard Jensen, head of consumer imaging at Canon Europe.

The four manufacturers faced criticism from the Office of Fair Trading over the paucity of information available to consumers on the longevity of inkjet cartridges. It called on the industry to develop a standard that would help consumers decide which printer was appropriate for their needs.

www.iso.org

Gates Gets Under Your Skin

2005-08-23T19:30:00.000Z

Microsoft has been awarded a patent for a system that could harness the natural electrical conductivity of the human body to form a network for computing devices.

The patent for "a method and apparatus for transmitting power and data using the human body" was filed in 2000 and awarded earlier last year. (2004)

Microsoft proposed that it would be possible to link devices such as keyboards, speakers for a handheld PC or digital radio and watches using electrodes connected to a power source carried on the body. Data and audio signals could be transmitted over the same power signal.

Microsoft argued the technology could significantly reduce the need for multiple batteries, as well as the need for output devices such as speakers to a single source. It could also reduce the interference between wireless devices.

Microsoft said it had no plans to develop the technology for further applications right now, but could license it to other companies.

Chris Bucke, professor of biotechnology at the University of Westminster, said that the idea wasn't beyond the realms of the possible.

"It is not implausible that information could be transmitted using that system. If you think about acupuncture,'information' is inserted at one part of the body to have effects elswhere and does not apparently have harmful effects."

"How one would make practical uses of the type that Microsoft are involved in using skin cells remains to be seen. But this is not a totally batty idea."

www.microsoft.com