On the Net

with Chris Goh

The world in your pocket

Travelling around the globe made me realise how accessible new pocket multimedia devices, like iPods, have become. It's due to two key factors - longer battery life and the low cost of memory. (Suddenly, Energizer and Duracell have entered the rechargeable market - something they considered unthinkable a decade ago, because it would have killed its main revenue stream.)

An iPod's ability to store thousands of songs in a small box is only the tip of a large iceberg. In Singapore, paradise for a tech-head is standing at the bottom of the Funan IT mall ready to investigate seven floors worth of IT equipment. Even I hadn't realised just how wide the choice of digital multimedia really is. Many manufacturers are now incorporating it into their product offerings, while traditional players like Sony have been caught unaware by this media revolution. You'd think they'd be some lessons learnt from the digital camera revolution.

MP3 players are now standard on most Honda and Toyota vehicles. And DVD and even USB memory keys are likely to feature in many vehicles from next year. But after seeing multimedia mobile phones, Creative and Apple's new range of movie and picture players and pocket PCs, I'm waiting for that ultimate convergence machine. It's so possible right now, but no product has dared to do everything and anything properly.

I have seen something that comes pretty close. The new Nokia 9300 and 9500 marks the evolution of the total pocket multimedia and telecommunications device. All the phone's functions already existed, but the art was putting it in a converged package - and the execution is excellent. Have a look at www.nokia.com/nokia/0,,60764,00.html and you'll see why.

Nokia lost considerable market share in recent years, but its acquisition of the Symbian Operating System has allowed them to extend phone functionality in ways that outstrip their rivals.

Hotnews

The Finnish Communications Regulatory Authority has told Finnish computer users to try a different browser to Internet Explorer due to a banner ad virus known as the Bofra exploit, which infects a PC with a virus if you click on the ad.

40 days seems like forever now - millionaire Steve Fossett - of around the world in a balloon fame - is now planning a non-stop solo flight around the world in just three days. His plane, Global Flyer, is based on the Voyager craft (now in the Smithsonian) and will have 13 fuel tanks to get him there.

NASA has turned to competitions for ideas, offering US$10 to $50 million US in prize money for competitions that will speed up research and development for the agency. They're looking for solutions in the development of a space craft that can stay in orbit using solar sails; a delivery mechanism that would allow experiments to be shot back to earth and get small robotic vehicles on to a moon's surface.

Jewelocity, eBay's jewellery store based in Victoria, has gone bankrupt. The crash has affected 500 people who bought an estimated $135,000 worth of jewellery through the system, but now won't be getting the goods they paid for.

The Victorian Department of Justice is investigating and the crash could see eBay paying compensation to customers

Hotsites

www.microsoft.com/australia/piracy/productid/default.aspx

Microsoft Product Identification Service checks whether you have a valid operating system license for your PC. Rampant pirating of the MS OS, primarily in new PCs, has meant that the service, which Microsoft anticipated would be used by around 20,000 customers, has already seen 80,000 people use it. If you have, Microsoft will grant a real license on the basis the software was bought before November 1.

www.pdf995.com
www.cutepdf.com/Products/CutePDF/writer.asp

I've been waiting for this for ages. Finally, a PDF distiller and editor for free. No longer do you have to fork out hundreds of dollars to distil a simple word document - PDF995 does it for you. This version is used by companies such as Ford to create PDFs.

www.mrfreefree.com

Mr Free is a bit daggy, but its intentions are good - it aims to promote things that are free. I mostly go here to check out software, though there are a lot of other things on offer (although many are from the US).