Tech Stream
Archive for the ‘ Desktop Computers’ Category
Tech Stream 044
19 March 2010
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The Martin Jetpack, developed in New Zealand. Photo from Flickr. Strong men not included.
This week in the Tech Stream, the futuristic transport we’ve all been dreaming about is here: JETPACKS! We’ll meet a New Zealand man who says he’s turned his childhood fantasy (and mine) into a legal, almost affordable aircraft for one. We’ll also find out how to use our laptop to measure, map and even predict earthquakes. And Twitter expands into richer geo-location services and spreads our conversations across the web… but is it innovating or just playing catch-up?
Follow the MP3 link above to start listening, or take the jump to find out more.
Tech Stream 042
5 March 2010
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USB ports – Photo from Flickr by Philippa Willitts.
This week in the Tech Stream we’ll find out whether “Green IT” is still the buzz phrase for business that it was 12 months ago and look at moves by one company in Asia to convert internet cable landing stations into next generation data centres. These will be capable of satisfying a growing demand for high bandwidth content in the region. Plus we road-test the latest USB3 enabled technology; and Bajo from Good Game looks at why we don’t finish our video games and what developers are doing to keep us hooked. Plus all the latest technology news from the week, just click the MP3 link at the top of this story to listen or read on after the jump for more details.
Tech Stream 035 – Year in Review
18 December 2009
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What an incredible year to start covering technology news. I’ve heard 2009 described as being the “year of the internet”. And I’d have to agree. I spent a couple of weeks in the Solomon Islands and Japan where I lost access to the internet on my mobile and it really hit home just how important and valuable this connectivity was to me. So it’s no surprise that I’ve often been drawn to stories this year that related to how we connect with each other via the web. Sometimes this related to new mobile or PC technology. At other times it related to the underlying backbone of the network.
So in the Pacific we had more solid news about new undersea cables that could see the cost of internet access drop as speeds increase. The infrastructure isn’t yet in place though, and its still a struggle to access the kind of internet experience that most people in Australia, for example, now take for granted.
Domestically, here in Australia, we had two major announcements from the federal government – the splitting up of the country’s largest telecommunications provider, Telstra, as part of their National Broadband Network (NBN). And the government’s decision, the details of which became clearer this week, to filter banned content on the internet at an ISP level. Both of these stories are covered in the beginning of our special Year In Review program which you can listen to via the MP3 link above. Or continue reading on for more information.
Tech Stream 023
24 July 2009
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Mobile money, Google vs Microsoft and gaming in the Wild West. Its a mixed bag in the Tech Stream this week. You can listen to the full program with the MP3 link above or read more after the jump…
Tech Stream 021
10 July 2009
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With more smartphones featuring GPS, maps and navigation applications what does the future hold for dedicated sat-nav devices? Photo from Flickr by tripu.
We hit the wide open road in the Tech Stream this week with some of the latest GPS satellite navigation applications for mobile phones.
Technology journalist Adam Turner has had a chance to try an Australian sat-nav mobile maps application for the iPhone called Sygic (you can read a full review on his blog). But it seems we shouldn’t be throwing out our dedicated sat-nav devices just yet.
Plus we ask, what exactly is GPS and where did it come from? We have an expert in the field with us to answer our questions: Professor Chris Rizos, Head of the School of Surveying & Spatial Information Systems at the University of New South Wales. You can also read more about GPS – the Global Positioning System – on ABC Science Online.
We also briefly mention the news about Google launching its own PC operating system called Chrome OS. Details are still sketchy but the company has posted this FAQ and blog-post about it.
And finally to gaming and EA’s Sims 3 – the latest in the world’s most successful computer games series. Bajo from Good Game on ABC TV in Australia reviews it for us and says its strongest selling point is the way if fosters an active online community who can use the game to create their own content, including videos.
You can listen to the full Tech Stream program with the MP3 link above or the “Listen Now” link on the right. Feel free to comment on any of these stories or suggest something we can follow up in future programs. You can also subscribe to the podcast too!
Cracks appear in China’s Green Dam
16 June 2009
It seems having the most sophisticated internet filtering and blocking system in the world is simply not enough for the authorities in China. Now they are seeking to implement a more thorough and universal solution at the user-end which they say is aimed at blocking access to pornographic and violence-oriented websites. But of course it’s being viewed, both inside and outside China, as a bid at mass censorship and a threat to personal privacy. More after the jump…
New Windows
6 May 2009
Microsoft’s much hyped, long-awaited new operating system, Windows 7, has been released to the public for testing. The “Release Candidate” version can be downloaded in English, German, Japanese, French, and Spanish but expires on the 1st of June 2010. They are recommending a certain level of tech-savviness or IT skills – the ability to properly backup your data for example, so think a little before jumping in at the deep end with an operating system that could still be buggy. But it will be the final testing version of the software before Microsoft ships it to computer makers to install on new PCs for sale. The release comes as Microsoft announces a second round of layoffs (their own beta-testers perhaps?) after disappointing financial results for the first quarter of 2009.
I think I’ll run a story on this in the Tech Stream radio program this week – so I’m keen to hear your thoughts on the new operating system, or whether you think sending out a beta version like this on such a grand scale is a good idea. Should they just release Windows 7 for free, now, in its current form, and continually upgrade and update it like many other OS and general software makers do?
Tech Stream 003
6 March 2009
Listen and download: MP3
In the Tech Stream radio and podcast program this week we chat with Danny Gorog about new Apple desktops and the Safari browser; think about green technology with sustainability expert Tony Hodgson; join Kate Sawrey from Triple J’s Hack behind the scenes with Aussie indie games companies; and Georgia Webster gives us the lowdown on textonyms. Use the MP3 link in this story or to the right to hear the full program.
We ran out of time to cover the rumours overnight about Youtube being blocked in China, and the announcement that the Beatles are coming to your gaming console in September. But apparently we can report that ninety-five percent of mobile phones in hospitals are infected with at least one kind of bacteria. Gross!
Apple updates desktop range
4 March 2009
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Mac users won’t get the 17 USB ports they really wanted. Fake photo from Boing Boing.
Its not the best time to be making desktop PCs. Research firm Gartner this week speculated that growth in desktop PC shipments will fall 31.9 percent. Laptops look to fair better, but not by much. The gloomy outlook hasn’t stopped Apple making some under the hood and cosmetic changes to its desktop range this week. Revenue from their desktops made up less than a third of total Mac revenue in the final quarter of last year, with shipments falling 25 percent as notebooks rose 34 percent. I spoke with technology journalist Danny Gorog about the latest announcement and also what we can expect from the new Safari 4 web browser. Use the MP3 link above to listen.
