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Commentary and discussion on the items that are on this geek's mind

Archive for January, 2006

The $100 laptop – batteries not included

Jan 26

Posted by Tejas in Computers | 5 Comments

MIT Laptop

So rather than spend the money researching on ways to improve the health of the world’s poor population, our geniuses at MIT spent the time working on a laptop. Then again having a laptop is definitely better than having all your limbs, right?

I don’t quite understand how develop $100 laptop will improve the daily life of the target audience – impoverished kids. I think the idea is heartfelt but really shouldn’t be the priority in the current world. When you have families that don’t even have enough money to pay for food and for medications to keep them alive, I don’t see them being ecstatic when the UN shows up at their door and hands them this green piece of plastic for their kids.

As if that was not enough, since it is targetted for regions where electricity is not guaranteed you have to power the thing with a handcrank! Talk about being interactive…

The laptops will run Linux and contain a 500mhz CPU, 128MB RAM, no hard drive but four USB ports which I assume will be used to attach memory. What’s surprising is that they will come with WiFi built-in which apart from the regular function of connecting to a hotspot (infrastructure) it will support mesh networks (ad-hoc) to allow laptops to connect to each other. Now kids can setup wireless networks and communicate with each other about how hungry they are, brilliant.

I’m not against the idea behind the laptop – to help provide an education tool for underprivileged kids – but I just think there are far better things the UN and MIT could be working on ahead of this.

More pics below – click on image for the full size.

MITLaptop4MITLaptop2MITLaptop3

The MIT Lab site has a lot more information and there’s also a brief article on News.com

By the way, before you run to your local Walmart, these are not going to be offered to consumers but will only be distributed to foundations, schools, etc.

HDTV – which is better, 720p or 1080i? Not what you may think

Jan 24

Posted by Tejas in Consumer Electronics | No Comments

HDTVLogoSmall

Nowadays, most consumers who buy new TVs are realizing it makes more sense to buy an HDTV rather than a SDTV (standard definition). Given the continuing drop of HDTV prices, it seems more and more likely that in the next one to two years, we could see the inevitable death of SDTV.

Most HDTVs support two resolutions that are considered to be “high-definition”, 720p and 1080i. Recently announced HDTVs are starting to support 1080p – but we’ll skip that for now to keep things simple.
The numbers preceding the letters are supposed to identify the number of lines that are displayed on the screen, so you would assume based on rudimentary math that 1080i is better than 720p – but this is where you would be partially wrong.

1080i (interlaced): In this mode, the HDTV displays half of the total lines (1080) or 540 lines per refresh. The best way to think about this is that for each frame of video the TV refreshes twice – once for the odd 540 lines and once for the even 540 lines. Since this happens so fast, to us mortals it looks like one image comprised of 1080 lines. Most HDTVs have a 60Hz refresh rate or can refresh themselves 60 times each second. Since with interlaced mode, the HDTV has to refresh at least twice per frame, the maximum frames/second it can display is 30.

  • 1080i is good for: Still images or scenes with little movement
  • 1080i is bad for: Fast moving images like watching Monday Night Football, playing a fast paced video game or watching action movies

720p (progressive): In this mode, the HDTV displays the whole frame (all 720 lines) at one time. Each frame in the video is refreshed on screen once, so doing the simple math, the HDTV is able to show 60 frames/second in this mode.

  • 720p is good for: Fast moving images like watching Monday Night Football, playing a fast paced video game or watching action movies
  • 720p is bad for: When viewing stills or scenes with little movement, the 720p will sacrifice some visual quality against watching the same thing at 1080i. The difference between the two is dependent on your particular HDTV – sometimes it is drastic and sometimes it is almost the same.

Summary: I recommend people try both and see what best suits you or perhaps even switch modes depending on what you’re viewing – but definitely give 720p a chance, in this case you can’t trust the numbers alone.

Here’s a great Link to a site with illustrations which explains how some consider 720p to be better than 1080i

Blogging via Blackberry

Jan 23

Posted by Tejas in Cell Phones, Personal | No Comments

Blackberry 7100g

I figured there had to be someone else out there who loved their Crackberry enough to want to be able to blog via email – send your post to a special email account and like magic, it shows up on the front page!

Just wanted to test the feature out so I wrote this post on my Blackberry, although you can use any email capable device. Recently learnt it was known as “moblogging” – was hoping for something more creative.

Here’s a very good page about how to setup Blog via Email with WordPress 2.0 (what I use).

By the way, in case you were wondering I added the graphic and link after my email was posted – can’t do all that yet from my Blackberry, not yet…

The iPod Killer Cometh

Jan 23

Posted by Tejas in MP3 Players | 1 Comment

VisionM1

I recently, after 4 years of abstaining went and bought a shiny new iPod Video 30GB. I have to say honestly that I have been very happy with it and it has slowly started to sway me towards Apple based purely on their impecable design, UI and ease of use.

One thing the iPod does lack in though is actual features which is where the new Creative Zen Vision:M.

Looks like Creative figured, if you can’t join them, beat them. If you don’t know what I mean by that, look at the Vision:M and an iPod side by side. Looks aside and it does look good in my opinion, this has all the features the iPod Video doesn’t have including:

  • Built in FM tuner – iPod now supports this using an external remote for $50 extra
  • Voice recorder – never really used this and can’t figure out who would but it’s there
  • Supports WMA, MP3, other popular sound codecs including those with Digital Rights Management so it can be used with Napster and other services
  • Supports DivX, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, WMV video codecs – iPod doesn’t currently support DivX or WMV
  • Similar size and shape to iPod – thicker and heavier but otherwise not much bigger
  • VGA screen – supposed to put the iPod videos screen to shame

So at the end of the day, I feel Apple has finally got some competition although it’s going to take more than this one player to eat into Apple’s 75% market share but it’s a start.

The Zen Vision:M is supposed to retail for $330 or so for 30G, about $30 more than a similar iPod Video.

I’m all for competition, it can only help the consumers – us. For now I’m happy with my iPod Video but the new Vision:M is definitely the one to watch.

VisionM2

Look familiar? :)

Windows on the Intel iMac? Why?

Jan 23

Posted by Tejas in Computers | No Comments

iMac-Intel

Can someone please explain to me why the moment that Apple decides to jump ship from the RISC PowerPC to Intel “Core Duo” CPUs that all of a sudden, there is a new fascination for people to run Windows XP on the new iMacs? Forget the fact that it currently isn’t possible since the new iMacs use a new Extensible Firmware Interface rather than the good old BIOS we know and love – what’s the attraction?

Most Apple fans are vehemently anti-Windows (maybe it’s a pre-requisite) so installing that very same OS that they have scoffed at for its various security holes onto their precious new iMacs seems almost insane.

I always felt one of the biggest attractions to Apple was the whole closed system – they make the hardware and they make the software – which is why things supposedly are more stable, better integrated, etc. etc.

Windows does not have this ability because the OS has to be able to support a multitude of hardware and software configurations from thousands of vendors, all of which Microsoft has some but little control over. This in turn leads to the infamous BSOD (blue screen of death) that shows up once in a while with Windows as well as other instabilities and issues.

No surprise that Microsoft has no issue with people installing Windows on the new iMac (as long as they pay for it), just more revenue and market share for Windows and with users who are probably die-hard Apple fans – a new untapped market.

I remember those ads that Apple ran a little while ago with the whole “switch” campaign of people switching from Windows to Mac OS…got to love the irony

Here’s a great FAQ on the situation from Cnet – Link

The Motorola H700 – nice things do come in small packages

Jan 22

Posted by Tejas in Cell Phones | 5 Comments

I’ve been using Bluetooth headsets for about 3 years now and I love them. I’m probably one of those people who walk down the street seemingly talking to myself until you notice the small piece of plastic and electronics hanging from my ear. Well I’ve been through quite a few headsets and as with any piece of technology they have improved significantly over time.

Recently, Motorola released the H700 Bluetooth headset in its popular open-boom form factor. Basically, the headsets boom open and closes to turn it on and off. There are lots of advantages to this unique setup:

  • The headset remains off when not in use – most BT headsets are designed to remain on so their standby time is limited by battery life. Given that the H700 can be turned on only when needed, the standby life can literally be weeks
  • When you do receive a call, you simply open the boom – the headset will connect to your phone and answer the call (in most cases). This allows you to carry it turned off in your pocket – again significantly increasing battery life
  • It’s by far the smallest Motorola BT headset using this open-close boom form factor. It’s comfortable on my ear (personal preferences vary of course) and it’s so light I can’t tell it’s there. This is obviously an objective area so try it for yourself
  • It features digital noise cancellation – not really sure how much it helps but it hasn’t hurt. People have reported that I come across loud and clear when using it and I can hear them perfectly fine
  • By pressing both the volume up and volume down buttons the headset is muted – independent of the phone so it will work irregardless of which phone you use it with
  • It can worn on either ear – the ear hook is easily removed and re-applied for either ear
  • It uses a standard mini-USB charger. This to me is a huge advantage because I can charge it by plugging it into any mini-USB charger, whether it be a wall socket or a laptop/PC USB port
  • The finish is nice – I find that it looks quite nice which of course matters a little bit.
  • Supports Bluetooth 1.1 and 1.2 – basically means will work with older BT phones as well as utilizing enhancements in the newer BT phones. Win-win situation.

The best part about this little wonder is that although the list price is $100 and major retailers like BestBuy and CircuitCity sell it for $120 - you can actually find it on Amazon.com for $70! That’s quite a bit in savings – over 30% to be exact.

So whether you are looking to replace an old BT headset or looking for a new one, I highly recommend you try the H700, especially if you can get it for $70 from Amazon.

Post questions or comments – I’d love to hear your impressions.

MotoH700

Pic 1: The H700 with the boom closed next to a US quarter

MotoH700 Open

Pic 2: Same US quarter but this time with the H700 boom open.

 Link to Amazon.com’s Motorola H700 Product Page

Note: As you will see on Amazon.com, it didn’t get the best user reviews. In situations like these, I would strongly suggest trying it yourself before making an opinon. You may or may not like it but you will only know for sure after you give it a shot.

My first blog – ever

Jan 22

Posted by Tejas in Personal | 1 Comment

After hearing so much about the phenomenon that is weblogging, I decided to take the plunge and setup my own blog.

Back a few years ago, I was intent on creating a fantastic website using static HTML – boy is that outdated now.

In any case, I am in the early stages of setting up the site but my goal is to use this as a forum to discuss the thing that really interests me – technology. I intend on posting reviews of items that I own so I can share my experience (positive or negative) with everyone as well as hopefully hear what you all have to say.

One small step for man…ok you get the idea, I’m psyched.