Cell phone PDA boom

Have you noticed lately that the cell phone PDA technology has taking off like gangbuster over the last year or so.  Starting with the iPhone, that was a major marketing revenue generating marketing program. Now the iPhone has now past the Razor phone as the most owned or poplular phone. Lets not forget the gPhone from Google, a cell phone pda phone with Google software built-in.  Do you think Google wil make their employees get rid of an Apple iPhone and get a gPhone now they have one??? That would nice to be a fly on the wall at that meeting.  The cell phone pda accessories for these phones should be a hot item for the holidays.  Do not forget the Blackberry is coming up a new phone on Nov. 21.  Great for us consumers

We can always use more memory

The carbon based life forms and computers both depend on memory. Life-forms use memory to do most every activity that is done on a daily basis, if were not for your memory then you would start every day like a new born baby because you had no memory of doing anything. Now on the computer side, the harddrive store the computer data or like carbon based life memory, but computers use their memory like a working chalk board, you do what you need to do in the memory then when you are through you erase the computer memory of the hardware or software task and start over to the next project with a clear working area or clean slate. As we get older and as the computer gets older You can do with a memory upgrade and get a new lease on life.

Too Lock or to UnLock that is the question

Now that the iPhone has been out for awhile, even with an upgrade 3GB version that the people that bought the first time, bought it again. The big push now is to get an unlocked phone. Once your phone is unlocked then you can utilize other services and other software. I think from a phone stand point this hacking into a phone is getting kind of rediculous from the stand point of almost insanity.   With electronic manufactures knowing the equipment can be hacked into and changed, this is why the ones of us that do not hack into phones suffer. We are reduced on phone options do to hacking mess.  Time to go watch my cable TV, little fuzzy today, then you cannot complain when it is free :).

Just Joking

Deer control for your Garden

For years my father has lived in the country area city. He likes to grow flowers and food. Some of the food he grows is corn, tomatoes, carrots and other produce for his own consumption.  One of his biggest issues has been keeping critters out of the garden. The biggest one is the deer. What? The small hoof prints with the ability to reach over the four-foot fence to pull up and damage the garden produce.  The deer damage was two fold, one the fencing around the garden has to be repaired every other day, two the lose of produce that you have spent money, blood, sweat and tears getting the food developed to eat. Lets also mention the destruction of flower plants and grass destruction.

Then on March I went to the annual Home and Garden show, at the HG show there was a product that you could sprinkle around your garden. This mixture works like mothballs that repel moths, the grain mixture was a deer repellent supposed to keep the deer intruders away from your garden. It works for a while until he could harvest the produce. Then when produce gone the deer damage went away. But as the planting season comes back around the deer comes back. Now there are electronic  deer repellent for your garden along with DeerOff repellent from the folks of Havahart. They have available many different quantities sizes of their DeerOff products and a couple of electronic repllants that I am interested in trying one of those.  It getting cooler Deers beware.

TV, HDTV, High Def and TV Lift furniture

TV’s migrating to all Flat Screen HDTV

Electronic TV’s migrating to all Flat Screen HDTV. The other day I was shopping for just a electronic TV non-HDTV type and not flat screen. We always first visit W-mart to find out what the going rate for electronics. To my surprise in the electronic section there were not picture tub TV, just Flat screens, I guess they are changing due to everyone having to have a HDTV or HD converter for their TV’s in February of next year.

The one thing I found during my search for a TV, is a piece of furniture that I want in my bedroom is one of those dresser looking pieces of furniture with a  tv lifts. The flat screen HDTV would raise  out of the base with a push of a button. This is a very cool piece of furniture.  I was thinking to have it at the end of the bed.  They even have them ready to handle a 60 inch HDTV LCD flat screen. I do not see much furniture that is worth buying until this.

Back to my TV search I found that all the non-flat screens are selling at the smaller stores and as convience to customers. The 27″ TV I was looking for was only $139. This is a great price and good for playing your XBOX or Playstation on.  Nice to see something going cheaper.

Technology, Cameras, Electronics and Change

I have lived in an interesting part of technology development on the planet. Growing up The major technology break though was the cassette player and instamatic camera. Then the moon missions came an pushed the limits of micro-technology with writing pens you could use while laying upside-down, Teflon on cookware, the 35mm camera craze, calculators, LED watches and lets not for get computers.

One of the other changes that I have seen has been the change in marketing products to customers. I have for years gotten promotions via catalog on clothes, electronics, cameras, music, books and many other things you could purchase though the mail. It was always easy to call an 800 number if you could not wait for the product and was in a hurry.

Back when the bulk of all catalog advertising that I received was about cameras and electronic stuff. You could spend hours and hours going through all of the different products. Then came the time to compare prices of other cameras or products to see when catalog company offered the best deal. One catalog that came back to mind was from a New York Camera Store that sells audio and Video electronics along with digital cameras. The camera store in question is 42 Street Photo. They had some of the best catalogs on camera stuff, now I found them reaching broader audience via 42Photo.com. 42 Street Photo is one company that has changed with times from cameras and photo reproduction sales to more of camcorder sales, digital camera sales and mp3 player sales. There business is still about cameras; it is just that cameras have changed so much just in the last few years. Nice to see a business make it through the technology of change.

Not sure about if I like the old catalogs or being able to see the product from the Internet. Both would be better.

Electronics : Boom to Productivity

I was reading the sunday paper yesterday and checked out the latest in greatest in electronic digital HDTV’s. This HDTV’s are getting thinner and taking up less room. The large screen HDTV I bought a couple of years ago compared to the large screen HDTV of today, the enhancements have increase 20-25 percent. This seems the be the trend in electronics, better picture, thinner, lighter and most of the time less expensive. I wish the automobile manufacturers and the home builders could take the same steps in their manufacturering processes. Maybe one day.

Life’s little Enjoyment: iPod

We have gone from a CD listening lifestyle to an electronic digital music playing world. The world was created via MP3. Then the New world evolved with the Apple iPod. All my nephew’s and Nieces live with their ipods straped to their side.  The newer devices are coming out with iPod nano’s with video. It is so called the world’s most popular music player, It is now that zune is backing down development. Now it will be called the world’s most popular video player. I am not sure about watching movies on a two-inch display.

Anyway as long as my nephew’s, niece’s and children like them.

IT, Computer and Internet companies love the Olympics

The final testing of the computer systems for the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing, has began, the system testing has been going on for the past year perparing for the big stage on August 8.

As we all know in IT, the computer system testing is key to the success of the IT systems during the games. Each sport, from archery to basketball to sailing and weight lifting has been allocated its own set of IT gear, and each of those systems have been tested for the past year until the start of the Olympic games.

The price tag for IT and communications at the world’s biggest sporting event will run to around $400 million USD and e will use the expertise of thousands of IT managers and engineers.

Atos Origin SA has been responsible for building the IT systems at the past few Olympic Games and is responsible for the design, build and operation of the IT systems in Beijing. Atos has said work on the IT systems used for the 2006 Winter Olympic Games in Torino, Italy, started two and a half years before the event and underwent 100,000 hours of testing.

Beijing and six other cities will host 302 sporting events, meaning the IT systems will have to track all aspects affecting athletes: qualifications, transportation to competition sites, ensuring uniforms and equipment arrive on time as well as tallying scores for press and spectators.

But IT has an even bigger task. That Task is to baby sit close to 20,000 reporters and other media that will attend the Olympic Games as well as workers and fans. All will create demand for IT work, including venue administration, information distribution, network security, e-mail, Internet and mobile access to scores, logistics, commentator information systems and more.

Volunteers and sponsorship will play a major part in the Olympic Games. There will be 2,000 to 3,000 paid IT workers at the Beijing games, and 3,000 volunteers.

The Olympic Games have now turned into the cutting edge of getting information about the events to press and viewers.    400 Million is a lot of bandwith.

* 28 sports (302 events)
* 60 venues (31 for competition)
* 10,708 athletes
* 5,000 person IT team (including volunteers
* 12,800 computers
* 2000 printers

The IT used and maintained during the Olympics is kinda like the Super Bowl of how IT should be utilized at a major international event.  :)

Time to Get HD : For my Car - Digital Radio

I drive for 45 minutes one-way to work. It is not a bad drive, goes by very quickly in morning and slow in afternoon. I also listen to allot of radio. The only issue I have is the static that comes over the radio when I am my downtown area some 40 miles away for the radio staion, it can get a little annoying. I heard about the new use of HD for radio that is coming out. Radio was meant to be free.

HD Radio is the registered trademark for the in-band on-channel (IBOC) technology selected by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in 2002 for terrestrial digital audio broadcasting in the United States. The IBOC technology was developed by iBiquity Digital Corporation, and it allows stations to simulcast MP3-quality compressed digital audio that can use a iPod dock with iTunes Tagging, with ability to download songs from your HD Radio receiver to your iPod for later purchase.

There are more than 1200 AM and FM stations broadcasting with HD Radio technology, with more than 550 FM stations offering Multicast channels, thus doubling or `tripling the number of programs available to listen in HD. Most of the HD stations that have adopted the technology are FMs, HD is started very heavy in New York High Definition Radio stations market. As with traditional AM, FM and TV broadcasting, HD Radio programming is free and supported by commercial advertising. However, as is the case with the new ATSC DTV standards, you have to replace your old radio and upgrade to a new HD Radio receiver in order to receive the digital broadcasts. I need to start shopping for a new receiver right away.

Digitalelife

Drum roll please : APPLE iPHONE 3G

It is here, it is here the new Apple 3G iPhone is here, the announcement today from Steven Jobs that the 3G iPhone is coming next month. The new iPhone is using iPhone 2.0 firmware update. It is amazing that one digital device has created such a buzz and the money it has generated for AT&T and Apple. Let just say keep up the good work

The new iPhone 3G highlights

* 3G data 2.8 times faster
* iPhone is thinner
* Flush headphone jack
* Price drop: $199 for 8GB, 2.99 for 16GB
* Support for Microsoft Exchange
* Maps with GPS
* App Store for browsing and downloading applications
* The 16GB model also available in white
* Shipping to 22 countries on July 11

firmware 2.0:

* Complete support for Office docs Word, Excel and PowerPoint
* Parental controls
* Temendous language support
* Asian language support, including character recognition
* Auto-discovery
* Global address look-up
* Remote wipe
* WPA/WPA2 Enterprise wireless
* 802.1x authentication
* Push email
* Push contacts
* Push calendar
* Auto-discovery
* LEAP, PEAPv0, PEAPv1
* Contact search with live searching
* Full iWork document support
* Bulk delete & move messages
* Ability to save received images
* New calculator with scientific mode
* Free for original iPhone owners
* US$9.99 for iPod Touch owners

Time to get out check book for a 16GB Model.

DigitaleLife

Zune Does Flash

New Zune Lineup does flash, Wireless Syncing

Microsoft’s new Zune lineup includes 4GB and 8GB flash players, an 80GB hard-drive model, and wireless syncing with your PC.
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Zune Does Flash

Red, green, pink, and black flash players

Time for some increased portability. The 4GB and 8GB flash-based Zunes come in black, green, pink, and red. Each sports a 1.8-inch glass screen and the same touch-sensitive control as the new hard drive player.

Both models let you view photos or play video, share or sync tunes using their included Wi-Fi connections, and listen to FM radio. If you own a Media Center or Vista PC that records TV, any of the Zune players will be able to automatically sync those recordings as well.

Ever since Wi-Fi-equipped media players like the Zune came out, users have been clamoring for wireless syncing. Few players have delivered, so Microsoft will undoubtedly make some waves by adding it to the Zune lineup.

Some new tweaks to the Zune’s wireless music sharing feature. Originally, shared tracks could only be played three times over a period of three days and couldn’t be passed on. After the new players arrive, you’ll be able to pass along shared tracks to other users and play them up to three times over any time period you like.

Return of the Social

Break out the ice cream. The Zune’s oddly named Social is heading for its own set of upgrades, which take a page from the Gamer card feature on the Xbox’s Xbox live online service.  Zune Cards will allow you to collect and share information about the music you’re playing, much like services such as Last.fm.

Revamped Zune software

Rounding out the list of Zune updates are some significant changes to the look of the Zune software and the Zune Marketplace music store that goes with it. The app and the store come with a cleaner look (right), and when the new version launches in mid November, Microsoft will add a selection of over one million DRM-free MP3s to its catalog.

It’s clear that Microsoft has at least attempted to address many of the concerns about the original Zune. As soon as we can get our hands on the new hardware, we’ll let you know if their updates can turn the player into a real competitor to Apple’s iPods.  This is the one for me, I saw a bronze colored one that I would like.

I am wait for another software upgrade.

New Organic Light-Emitting Diode TV is Here

Sony Unveils First OLED TV. The superthin-screen unit, launched at CEATEC show, is scheduled to ship in December. I have got to have one of these TV’s. I am afraid they will be expensive. Who care lets get one anyway. But I will have to move to Japan to get one.

Sony unveiled the world’s first OLED (organic light-emitting diode) television on Monday, pushing the limits of thin-screen displays further than ever before.

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This TV is aimed at the top end of the consumer market, Sony’s XEL-1 television offers an 11-inch OLED screen that is just 3-millimeters thick and will go on sale in December. The screen is thinner than a LCD or  (plasma display panel) set because no backlight is required: OLED materials, which are carbon-based, emit light on their own when an electric current is applied.

The XEL-1 will accept up to a 1080p video image, although the 11-inch screen has a resolution of just 960 pixels by 540 pixels. Just what is need for a good computer monitor or TV screen.

OLEDs offer other advantages over LCD and PDP technology, including wider viewing angles, faster response time, and better contrast and colors. However, the technology is difficult to manufacture and the OLED material degrades over time.

The XEL-1 has a viewing life of 30,000 hours, which allows a user to watch eight hours of television each day for 10 years. The television goes on sale in Japan on Dec. 1, and will cost US$1,740. Currently, there are no plans to sell the television outside Japan, Darn,  Sony plans to manufacture just 2,000 sets each month.

I will put this on wish list for the next chrismas