News for Friday, 14 May 2004

iPod mini: a nice video, maybe the best marketing campaign

By linathael. Original by Lionel - 14/05/2004 22:58:37 CEST - Category: Internet

Some words from Philippe

I am the admin of a web site dedicated to mobile devices:
http://www.pdavideonews.com
Our goal is to provide news and info via short video demo.
Here, I just want to tell you that we have placed onlin a video concerning the iPod mini.

This is a nice piece of work which could compete with any Apple official marketing campaign...maybe they should look at it...

http://www.pdavideonews.com/

Software patents, the return..

By linathael. Original by Lionel - 14/05/2004 22:56:56 CEST - Category: Software - Source: http://www.silicon.fr

The President of the French Republic seems to be against software patents, we had hoped that this project was buried away. It is not so.
A European directive will be modified on May 17th to include this new patent notion.
If the directive is passed, this law might make software developers spend more time in court than in front of their computers.

France Telecom: 20 millions euro of penalities for its monopoly

By linathael. Original by Lionel - 14/05/2004 22:54:04 CEST - Category: Internet

France Télécom will have to pay 20 millions euro after being judged by the French Council for business control, to have protected its monopoly on internet via ADSL solutions from other internet providers.

Alchemy TV DVR 2.1

By linathael. Original by Gotchi - 14/05/2004 22:48:21 CEST - Category: Software

We let Eric speak :

Available today on Miglia's website.. the awaited Alchemy TV DVR version 2.1.
in no particular order:
***new functionalities***
- the possibility to trim the image. this functionality lets you remove the black stripes on top and bottom of widescreen films or to eliminate parasites that may appear on top/bottom of the screen
- presets for the trimming of the screen: TV, TV Widescreen, Widescreen
- option to show the TV window on the foreground
- option to adjust the transparency of the TV window
- new design for the programmed recording window. The detail button gives extra info on the recording
- open a file recorded via Alchemy TV DVR
- checks for updates on application launch
- French version now available
- new start up assistant
- the TV window is now integrated in the Alchemy TV DVR application. You won't need to use AlchemyTV anymore
- new function for image optimisation available within preferences. the quality of moving images is well improved
- supports 48 KHz audio with DVRPCI-SIL (G4/G5 version), TVPCI-SIL, DVR-NTSC. The TVPCI-PALSEC and DVR-PALSEC versions (G4 PAL/SECAM models) are limited to 32 KHz
- New remote control. Numerous functions available through extended remote control

Team Macbidouille 7th

By linathael. Original by Lionel - 14/05/2004 22:11:43 CEST - Category: MacBidouille

Since this morning, the MacBidouille RC5 team has climbed up one step to the 7th place worldwide.
A big thank you to the people who participate in this adventure.

Roberto and Pépita episode 8

By Kalomir. Original by Lionel - 14/05/2004 10:33:55 CEST - Category: Internet

If you'vee already read the first episodes of the adventures of Roberto and Pépita, Vincent Lacroix just finished the 8th Episode (in English too).
http://macfr.com/communaute/Roberto/

A flaw found in 802.11b

By kurisu. Original by Lionel - 14/05/2004 06:49:37 CEST - Category: Network - Source: MacCentral

Quite a few companies now run with a 802.11b wireless network. Some of them really rely on the availability and the uptime of their network. A researcher from the Queensland University of Technology, found a flaw in the broadly used 802.11b protocol. (802.11g is not affected).
It is possible to completely disrupt the traffic of such network with fairly common equipment, even from 1km away. It seems all that is required is to send a certain type of data.
No need to do all that to bring an Airport wireless network to its knees, though. During the 2003 Apple Expo, some of our team members played with a 30db pringle antenna.
You just needed to point it to one direction, and all the wireless networks in its path were knocked out :)

40 hours of iPod battery life

By kurisu. Original by Lionel - 14/05/2004 06:40:38 CEST - Category: Peripheral

BTI (Battery Technology) just released an external battery system for iPod 3G and iPod mini.
It does not charge the internal battery, but extends its autonomy to 40 hours.
We think however that it still has a few disadvantages...

1) It's a fridge! it's a ship ! it's ... huge !
2) It is rated for only 400 charge cycles.
3) It does not work with 1G iPod, which would definitely enjoy the extra hours.
Those who hit the road often, with solid and deep pockets (or kevlar belts...) will probably find it useful.
http://www.batterytech.com/ipod_info
PS: What about one that is a fourth of this size and runs for 10hours ?

A Few Hiccups with DDR 2

By kurisu. Original by Lionel - 14/05/2004 06:33:39 CEST - Category: Peripheral

Even with Intel having invested almost US$600million in DDR2 RAM manufacturers, this product doesn't seem ready from prime time. There might be an intermediary step, with DDR 500.
A few facts are folding the same way :
-DDR2 will cost more than the already expensive DDR
-Contrary to the expectations, DDR2 is not much less power hungry than DDR, the performance increase should be around 3%.
-The CAS of DDR2 is a bit high, meaning that only the future DDR2 667MHz should bring noticable performance gains. However the entry level DDR should be running at 400 and 533MHz.
-The slots are not pin to pin compatible with DDR ones (240 pins vs 184 for DDR), which implies a total redesign.
All of the above lead the chip manufacturers not to be in much of a hurry, when Intel will soon desperately need that type of memory.
Of course, nothing has emerged from the Apple side. But seeing how the G5 likes very broad bandwidths, one can think that they will switch to DDR2 as soon as possible.