Tech Stream
Archive for the ‘ Reviews’ Category
Tech Stream 043
12 March 2010
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A new type of solar module promising greater efficiency and reduced costs. Image from Technique Solar.
This week in the Tech Stream, the latest on the National Broadband Network in Australia. We’ll find out why there is opposition to the government’s plan to split Telstra, which it argues is essential to creating a more level playing field. A new undersea internet cable is being built to link New Zealand and the US, but could it also connect countries in the Pacific along the way?
We’ll shine a light on new solar panels, developed in Australia, that promise to be more efficient and cheaper to produce than current technology. And an update on the Mariposa botnet and calls for computer manufacturers to be held responsible for selling products vulnerable to attacks from cyber criminals. Finally Bajo joins us with a review of the multiplayer-focused war-game Battlefield: Bad Company 2. Full details after the jump, or follow the MP3 link above to hear the program.
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 040
19 February 2010
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Phones on display in Barcelona at the Mobile World Congress. Photo by Jon Jordan from Flickr.
We head to Barcelona, Spain, this week for the GSM Mobile World Congress. We’ll find out why Google and Microsoft captured all the headlines and check out the handsets likely to make an impact in Asia. We also ask why Al Jazeera wants you to mashup their video content and test-run the web game the whole family can’t play – Chatroulette. It’s so hot right now. Plus the Multimedia Content Bill in Indonesia that has the country’s bloggers and media activists crying “censorship!” …and Hex returns with a review of Bioshock 2. More details after the jump or dive right in with the MP3 link above.
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 031
18 September 2009
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Photo from Flickr by Martin Hopkins.
The splitting of Telstra, 3D technology in the loungeroom and does the iPhone stack up as gaming platform? It’s in the Tech Stream, program #31. Full details after the jump or get stuck straight in with the MP3 link above.
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 015
29 May 2009
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In the Tech Stream this week: Dr James Chon from Swinburne University in Melbourne discussing their research breakthrough in optical disc storage. As reported on ABC News Online, the new technique uses gold nanorods and could potentially allow storage of up to 1.6 terabytes of data on a single DVD disc.
We also meet Professor John Hullet who, along with his colleagues from the University of Western Australia, invented a solution to broadband congestion called “Early Packet Discard” without which the internet as we know it would not function. They are now working on new ways to minimise delay in real-time communications online. You can also read more about their recent award on our Radio Australia program Innovations.
Simon Goodrich from Portable Content joins me for breakfast and we discuss a service called oDesk and trends in digital outsourcing in the region. And finally Bajo rockets in from Good Game on ABC TV to review the new Quake Live browser game. Fragadelic!
Tech Stream 011
1 May 2009
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Voxopop’s audio message boards are popular with people learning English.
In the Tech Stream this week, Firemint’s Robert Murray talks about their mobile game Flight Control which is a #1 worldwide hit; discover a social-networking discussion site Voxopop.com which allows people to start audio-based forums and has been taken up by English language learners across the world; Danny Gorog takes us under the hood of the Kindle 2 eBook reader; we learn how to reduce the impact our PCs have on the environment; and the increasing popularity of shanzhai phones in China.
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!
A little light reading
23 April 2009
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Photo from Flickr by Phillip Torrone.
It took us a while, but finally we have our filthy mits on Amazon’s new e-Book reader the Kindle 2. The reason for the delay is that it is actually not for sale anywhere but the USA. That’s right, in spite of all the tech-hype around the gadget, Americans are the only people able to buy it and use it to its full potential.