What's Really Behind the Apple-Intel Alliance - New York TimesJune 11, 2005
What's Really Behind the Apple-Intel Alliance
By JOHN MARKOFF
SAN FRANCISCO, June 10 - Nearly a quarter-century ago, Apple Computer ran a snarky ad after its onetime rival encroached on its territory: "Welcome, I.B.M. Seriously." This week, however, Steven P. Jobs had a different message for Big Blue, which had since become a chief ally: "Goodbye. Seriously."
Mr. Jobs, 50, a co-founder of Apple, is famously brash and mercurial. Even so, the Apple faithful - not to mention I.B.M. itself - were caught by surprise by Apple's decision to end its 14-year relationship with I.B.M. and team with Intel for its computer chip needs.
The buzz that began Monday among developers, bloggers, analysts and Apple followers trying to guess Mr. Jobs' true designs has not let up. After all, Mr. Jobs is a legend in no small part because he defied the monster combination that is Wintel - as the digerati call the Windows and Intel alliance - and lived to talk about it.
Apple's decision in the 1980's to use a different chip from the one put in most personal computers "fit in with the idea of Think Different," Stephen G. Wozniak, who founded Apple with Mr. Jobs in 1976, said in an e-mail exchange. "So it's hard for some people to accept this switch."
So what could a Macintel possibly hope to accomplish?
Potentially, quite a lot. In striking the deal, Mr. Jobs, Apple's chief executive, has opened a range of tantalizing new options for his quirky company.
Many people in the industry believe that Mr. Jobs is racing quietly toward a direct challenge to Microsoft and Sony in the market for digital entertainment gear for the living room. Indeed, Sony's top executives had tried to persuade Mr. Jobs to adopt a chip that I.B.M. has been developing for the next-generation Sony PlayStation.
An Intel processor inside a Macintosh could put the vast library of Windows-based games and software programs within the reach of Mac users - at least those who are willing to run a second operating system on their computers.
Moreover, having Intel Inside might solve an important perception problem that has long plagued Apple in its effort to convert consumers who are attracted to the company's industrial design, but who have stayed away because the computers do not run Windows programs.
There is an immediate risk in the tie-up with Intel, however: Mr. Jobs could soon find himself trapped if his best customers stop buying I.B.M.-based Macintoshes while they wait for more powerful Intel-based systems, which are likely to begin arriving in January 2006.
"There is going to be a long wait," said Mark D. Stahlman, a Wall Street analyst at Caris & Company. The power-conserving 64-bit Intel chips that Apple is counting on to rejuvenate its laptop products will not be available until early 2007, he pointed out.
In an interview, Mr. Jobs rejected the notion that Apple might suffer from what is known as the "Osborne Effect," a term that describes the fate of the computer pioneer Adam Osborne whose firm went bankrupt when he announced a successor to his pioneering portable computer before it was available.
At Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference on Monday, Mr. Jobs talked of a transition that would appear almost seamless to customers. "As we look ahead we can envision some amazing products we want to build for you and we don't know how to build them with the future PowerPC road map," he said.
Nothing was seamless about how the deal with Intel came together.
Several executives close to the last-minute dealings between Apple and I.B.M. said that Mr. Jobs waited until the last moment - 3 p.m. on Friday, June 4 - to inform Big Blue. Those executives said that I.B.M. had learned about Apple's negotiations with Intel from news reports and that Apple had not returned phone calls in recent weeks.
Each side disputes what led to the breakup. People close to I.B.M. said pricing was a central issue, while Mr. Jobs insisted on stage Monday that I.B.M. had failed to meet promised performance measures.
On stage, Mr. Jobs noted that he had promised both a 3-gigahertz Macintosh as well as a more powerful PowerPC-based portable computer, promises that he had not been able to deliver.
In the end, Mr. Jobs was given no choice but to move his business to Intel, when I.B.M. executives said that without additional Apple investment they were unwilling to pursue the faster and lower-power chips he badly needs for his laptop business.
"Technical issues were secondary to the business issues," said an executive close to the I.B.M. side of the negotiations. Because the business was not profitable, I.B.M. "decided not to continue to go ahead with the product road map."
But Mr. Jobs disputed this assessment, simply stating that I.B.M. had failed to meet its technology road map. The issues in the end, he said, came down to speed and the absence of a chip that consumed less electricity than traditional processors designed for PC's.
"As soon as I heard Steve say that the factor where Intel's road map was superior was processing power per [watt] I knew right away that it was exactly what I have been reading and saying and so have many others, that this is the real key to the future of high performance computers," Mr. Wozniak wrote.
As it happens, Intel's was not the only alternative chip design that Apple had explored for the Mac. An executive close to Sony said that last year Mr. Jobs met in California with both Nobuyuki Idei, then the chairman and chief executive of the Japanese consumer electronics firm, and with Kenichi Kutaragi, the creator of the Sony PlayStation.
Mr. Kutaragi tried to interest Mr. Jobs in adopting the Cell chip, which is being developed by I.B.M. for use in the coming PlayStation 3, in exchange for access to certain Sony technologies. Mr. Jobs rejected the idea, telling Mr. Kutaragi that he was disappointed with the Cell design, which he believes will be even less effective than the PowerPC.
Now that Mr. Jobs has broken with I.B.M., however, Apple is free to pursue a potentially intriguing consumer electronics strategy with Intel.
Intel has been looking for ways to get its chips into devices that can compete with game consoles as living-room entertainment hubs. In fact, all three next-generation video game machines made by Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony are based on I.B.M. chips. And analysts say that both Microsoft's Xbox 360 and the Sony PlayStation 3, scheduled to arrive next spring, will be positioned as home media hubs in addition to being video game machines - and priced far lower than the Intel-powered, Windows Media Center PC's that are also aimed at the living room.
Should the new consoles find wide acceptance as broad-based entertainment engines, Intel will need to respond - and one attractive alternative would be an inexpensive Macintosh Mini based on an Intel processor, able to run the vast library of PC games.
Before he can set his sights on that new market, Mr. Jobs faces the task of shoring up his base, his customers and developers. On Monday, he made the case to the software designers who must be willing to rewrite their software for the new Macintel world.
Early indications are that he made a convincing presentation.
"The reason people buy Mac is the software, and I think the real fun is yet to come," said Scott Love, the president of AquaMinds, a software concern in Palo Alto that sells a Macintosh program called NoteTaker used by writers, researchers and students. "We'll be able to develop a program that will just work on both I.B.M. and Intel-based computers."
Even more important will be Mr. Jobs' ability to persuade the Macintosh faithful to join him in his journey from I.B.M. to Intel. That is where he has an advantage over virtually every other executive.
"He is still committed to the idea of an Apple culture," said Peter Schwartz, the co-founder and chairman of the Global Business Network, a consulting firm in Emeryville, Calif. "It is the counterculture to the dominant Windows culture."
Indeed, Mr. Jobs has always set himself apart from other corporate executives. After all, which other American business executive would have thought to name the holding company for his executive jet airplane "Marmalade Skies"?
Steve Lohr contributed reporting from New York for this article..
Sunday, June 12, 2005
Thursday, June 09, 2005
AT&T CallVantage Intro - AT&T CallVantage review - VoIP - CNET Reviews
AT&T CallVantage Intro - AT&T CallVantage review - VoIP - CNET ReviewsReviewed by Neil Randall
Edited by Matthew Elliott
Reviewed June 28, 2004
(updated March 22, 2005)
Editors' rating:
Excellent
8.0
out of 10
How we rate
If you've been harboring any doubt about the viability of VoIP services, you can put them to rest. AT&T, once the center of the telephone universe in the United States, rolled out its own VoIP service, CallVantage, last year, and it has since added to and improved the service. The company launched CallVantage with a lone calling plan but now offers three plans that range in price from $19.99 to $49.99 per month. At $29.99 per month, its unlimited-minutes plan is pricier than those of competitors such as Lingo and Packet8, but CallVantage was one of the strongest performers on CNET Labs' voice-quality tests. You also have a host of features at your disposal, including virtual numbers, conference calling, call filtering, and call forwarding. In addition to a standard telephone adapter that requires a connection to a broadband router, you can choose to combine those two devices with a VoIP-enabled Linksys wireless router. It'll save you from having to buy a router if you don't already own one, and it's well equipped to juggle voice and data traffic on your network. AT&T CallVantage costs a bit more per month than its competitors, but it's worth the premium for its long list of features and excellent call quality.
Installation and interface
Unlike services such as Broadvox, which require only that you connect a phone adapter to your router, wall outlet, and phone before making calls, AT&T CallVantage requires you to hop through a few more hoops. Granted, our test bed was a little more complicated than some: We added the D-Link telephone adapter (TA), which is used to connect a standard telephone to your broadband connection, to a small network with DSL service instead of to a single computer with a cable connection. This same arrangement, however, presented no problem with other VoIP services: run an Ethernet cable from the telephone adapter to the router, and--presto! Instant telephone.
The online Personal Call Manager gives you access to your account settings and features such as call logs and contacts.
With CallVantage, however, the sequence proved more tedious. First, we had to find a space for the included D-Link TA, the largest of these devices we've seen so far. Next, we had to power down the computer, the router, and the DSL modem and run the included Ethernet cable from the TA's Ethernet port to the router's WAN port and another from the DSL modem to the TA's WAN port, which places the TA between the modem and the router. The next step was to power up the modem, wait for it to initialize, then plug in the TA and wait for its status light to blink. Then, as instructed, we powered on the router, at which point a cable user would have been finished. A DSL connection requires a further step: logging in to the TA's Web administration utility and entering the PPPoE username and password. The final step requires you to log in to your account on the CallVantage Web site and step through the TA activation process.
Once you are set up and have a dial tone, the next step is to log on to the CallVantage Web site and customize your settings. From the Personal Call Manager, you can access help pages, a screen of usage tips, and all of the configurable features. You also get a brief summary of new messages, calls made, and information on whether certain features have been activated. Although this interface appears busy on first glance, it provides quite possibly the most useful VoIP account interface we've seen.
By comparison, Broadvox is easy to set up; without an Ethernet pass-through, however, it can't connect between your broadband modem and your router, meaning it won't prioritize voice traffic under heavy network conditions. VoicePulse works similarly. The CallVantage method performs this prioritization to insure voice quality, but you might find it frustrating if you don't have some experience setting up small networks and especially if you're a DSL customer. Call quality with the D-Link TA was strong in our anecdotal tests.
Order residential CallVantage service online, and you'll receive the D-Link TA or a TA from Centillium. If you order the Small Office plan, you'll get a Linksys unit that's a wired router and a TA. CallVantage hardware is also sold at retail. For CNET Labs' voice-quality tests, AT&T sent us the Linksys WRT54GP2A, which is a TA and a wireless router.
Features
Since AT&T first launched its CallVantage VoIP service last year, the company has added a host of useful features and two additional calling plans. The service we suspect will appeal to most users is the $29.99-per-month, residential unlimited-minutes plan. It's $10 more per month than competing plans from Packet8 and $5 more a month than Vonage. But only Vonage rivals CallVantage in terms of voice quality. For $19.99 a month, the CallVantage Local Plan provides unlimited local calls and costs 4 cents per minute for long distance. The $49.99 Small Office Plan gives businesses two lines (both the D-Link telephone adapter and the Linksys TA/router have two phone jacks). You get unlimited minutes on line one and 500 long-distance minutes on line two, and you can connect a fax machine to either. Unlimited minutes for all three plans cover calls within the United States and Canada. All three plans include a $29.99 activation fee. If you order the $29.99 unlimited-minutes plan online, the first month is free, which covers the activation fee. If you cancel within the first year, you'll avoid a cancellation fee as long as you return the telephone adapter.
When you sign up for your service, you specify whether you want to get a new phone number or transfer your existing number. Your odds of being able to get a number in your area code has greatly increased since AT&T first introduced CallVantage; area codes in 39 states are available. If you are a DSL subscriber and you want to cancel your current phone service altogether for AT&T CallVantage, you can't transfer the phone number to which your DSL service is attached (this limitation is standard for all VoIP providers, however). Note also that transferring your existing AT&T number to CallVantage means you lose the ability to gain points in AT&T rewards programs, and your AT&T calling cards and Easy Reach 800 service will no longer function, either.
CallVantage now offers virtual numbers, which it calls Simple Reach Numbers, for $4.99 a month. A Simple Reach Number gives you a second number outside your own area code so that callers in that area--your mother or business partner, for instance--can make locals calls to you. You can also add a second line to either the unlimited-minutes or local home plan for $29.99 and $19.99, respectively.
AT&T CallVantage offers emergency 911 support, a feature not found with all VoIP services at this time. AT&T uses the address you provide upon signing up to direct any 911 calls to the proper answering point. Like most VoIP services that provide 911 service, the process differs from 911 calls from a traditional landline phone. Instead of connecting to a 911 emergency response center, 911 calls on CallVantage go to a PSAP (public safety answering point), and you'll need to provide your address when you call. This difference might not sound like too big a deal, but families with small children (and babysitters) might feel more comfortable knowing their 911 service is as quick and efficient as possible. Another safety feature: you can enter a phone number (your cell phone, for example) on the CallVantage Web site where calls will be forwarded in the event of a power failure or Internet outage.
With your CallVantage service, you get a standard voicemail in-box. When you're away from home, you can have e-mail alerts sent to you when you receive a voicemail or have the message e-mailed to you as a WAV file attachment. A feature called Locate Me lets you specify up to five phone numbers that CallVantage will use to attempt to reach you, should you not answer your phone. This feature essentially amends your voicemail service with a message replacing the voicemail greeting, informing your callers that the system is trying to reach you, then it either cycles through the specified phone numbers or rings all of the phones simultaneously. Your callers can press 1 to bypass the Locate Me feature and leave a standard voice message.
You can schedule conferences on the fly or for a future date.
Three-way calling is free with any calling plan, and you can conference between 4 and 10 people for 35 cents a minute. Also included with CallVantage are standard features including caller ID, call waiting, call forwarding, and three-way calling, all of which function much like those on a standard phone service. The Do Not Disturb feature is handy for keeping, say, telemarketers at bay during your dinner hour, and for $1.99 a month, the Call Filtering feature lets you set exceptions so that certain callers (your daughter away at school, for example) are let through.
Performance
We judge a VoIP service's performance on how calls sound under baseline conditions, as well as during data uploads and data downloads. The overall weighted average is based on calls made under these three conditions. Baseline conditions are given the highest weight of 66 percent; audio quality during data uploads and data downloads each factor 17 percent of the weightings. The scale for the voice-quality ratings is from 0 to 10.0, with a perfect score of 10.0 equaling our reference analog connection.
Voice-quality rating
(Higher scores are better)
Overall weighted average
All PCs off
During download
During upload
Baseline (landline)
10.0
AT&T CallVantage (TA/router: Linksys WRT54GP2A)
9.0
9
9
9
Vonage (TA/router: Linksys RT31P2)
9.0
9
9
9
BroadVoice (TA: Sipura SPA-1001)
7.3
8
8
4
Packet8 (TA: 8x8 DTA310)
7.3
8
8
4
Broadvox (TA: Mediatrix 2102)
6.5
7
7
4
Verizon VoiceWing (TA: Linksys PAP2-VN)
6.5
7
6
5
Lingo (TA: Lingo iAN-02EX)
6.3
7
7
3
In our experience, nearly all the VoIP services we've tested deliver baseline audio quality that is almost indistinguishable from regular analog (landline) telephone connections. (We define baseline quality as the audio quality of the VoIP service when the telephone adapter (TA) is the only device sending and receiving substantial amounts of data over the local network on our tests. During these tests, the only other devices permitted to transmit and receive network traffic are the broadband modem and router.) In the case of AT&T CallVantage, the audio quality is so clear that it equals that of what we're used to from analog connections--even during heavy network traffic conditions. The only other VoIP service we've tested in which the same can be said is Vonage.
The Achilles' heel of the VoIP services we've tested, however, is that all of them exhibit a certain amount of background noise during calls. This noise amounts to a very faint hiss with CallVantage, which is perceptible only by the person on the CallVantage end of the call; the person on the other end did not hear the noise during testing. Users less sensitive to such auditory distractions might not even notice it, and it did not affect our ability to make or receive calls.
Unique among the VoIP services we've reviewed, AT&T CallVantage is the only service to come with a TA that is integrated into a wireless broadband router: The Linksys WRT54GP2A lets you connect your phone to it for use on the CallVantage service, and it's also an 802.11b/g wireless and four-port wired Ethernet router. Combining the TA and router into a single device permits the TA to have much more control over how the voice data packets are given priority in relation to other network traffic. This helps minimize the potential loss of VoIP audio quality when the local network bandwidth starts filling up with other types of data traffic, such as files being uploaded to the Internet from a PC.
Network bandwidth is a significant issue for most small-business and home-broadband users, whose upstream data throughput is not large enough to support both voice and data packets simultaneously. With many of the VoIP services we've tested, the end result is that VoIP audio quality is seriously degraded--often to the point of unintelligibility--during phone calls when a user is simultaneously generating a lot of upstream traffic from a PC (such as uploading photographs to an online photo-finishing service) while conducting a VoIP call. CallVantage did not suffer from this problem because the Linksys TA/router is designed specifically to avoid such issues; audio quality was maintained despite the additional traffic we placed on the network.
The trade-off is that the Internet data throughput speeds of your PC(s) drop precipitously when you make or receive VoIP calls. Upstream throughput saw more than an eightfold drop in performance; our 1.37MB photo upload to Ofoto.com, which usually takes only about 35 seconds, took more than five minutes to complete when a VoIP call was active. Even downstream throughput took more than a 50 percent nosedive. These throughput performance drops are the worse we've seen from any VoIP service we've tested, which is good news for voice traffic. CallVantage obviously puts its highest priority in maintaining the integrity of audio quality, even at the expense of data throughput. We saw a similar effect with Vonage, but its throughput performance hit wasn't as severely while still maintaining the audio quality. How frequently you use your PC for Internet access or upload files from your computer will help dictate if you can live with this limitation.
We also measure how quickly calls are connected by timing how long it takes from the moment the last digit of a phone number is dialed to the moment we hear ringing. CallVantage was the speediest of all the VoIP services we've tested in connecting calls. In fact, its consistent connect time of about two seconds matched that of our reference analog telephone line.
Since the Linksys WRT54GP2A is also an 802.11b/g wireless router, we tested how well it performs as a wireless router, using the CNET Labs test procedures for access points. In 802.11g mode, the WRT54GP2A-AT wireless router has one of the fastest throughput rates (25Mbps) we've seen from an 802.11g wireless router. It also has excellent range capabilities, able to sustain an 11.3Mbps throughput rate at a distance of 200 feet in 802.11g mode. In mixed mode (802.11g and 802.11b), its performance drops somewhat, as is typical for most mixed-mode routers. The throughput rate of 15.1Mbps in mixed mode is respectable, but other routers have speedier mixed-mode performance.
Performance analysis written by CNET Labs manager Daniel A. Begun and lab technician Matthew Wood.
Find out more about how we test VoIP.
Service and support
Although it lacks features and ease of installation, AT&T CallVantage shines in services and support. With your account, you get 24/7 technical or repair assistance through a toll-free phone number, and 8 a.m. to 9 p.m., toll-free billing or service-management support. In addition, the CallVantage Web site hosts separate forms for both types of issues, and the installation guide and the user guide are downloadable directly from the contact page.
Edited by Matthew Elliott
Reviewed June 28, 2004
(updated March 22, 2005)
Editors' rating:
Excellent
8.0
out of 10
How we rate
If you've been harboring any doubt about the viability of VoIP services, you can put them to rest. AT&T, once the center of the telephone universe in the United States, rolled out its own VoIP service, CallVantage, last year, and it has since added to and improved the service. The company launched CallVantage with a lone calling plan but now offers three plans that range in price from $19.99 to $49.99 per month. At $29.99 per month, its unlimited-minutes plan is pricier than those of competitors such as Lingo and Packet8, but CallVantage was one of the strongest performers on CNET Labs' voice-quality tests. You also have a host of features at your disposal, including virtual numbers, conference calling, call filtering, and call forwarding. In addition to a standard telephone adapter that requires a connection to a broadband router, you can choose to combine those two devices with a VoIP-enabled Linksys wireless router. It'll save you from having to buy a router if you don't already own one, and it's well equipped to juggle voice and data traffic on your network. AT&T CallVantage costs a bit more per month than its competitors, but it's worth the premium for its long list of features and excellent call quality.
Installation and interface
Unlike services such as Broadvox, which require only that you connect a phone adapter to your router, wall outlet, and phone before making calls, AT&T CallVantage requires you to hop through a few more hoops. Granted, our test bed was a little more complicated than some: We added the D-Link telephone adapter (TA), which is used to connect a standard telephone to your broadband connection, to a small network with DSL service instead of to a single computer with a cable connection. This same arrangement, however, presented no problem with other VoIP services: run an Ethernet cable from the telephone adapter to the router, and--presto! Instant telephone.
The online Personal Call Manager gives you access to your account settings and features such as call logs and contacts.
With CallVantage, however, the sequence proved more tedious. First, we had to find a space for the included D-Link TA, the largest of these devices we've seen so far. Next, we had to power down the computer, the router, and the DSL modem and run the included Ethernet cable from the TA's Ethernet port to the router's WAN port and another from the DSL modem to the TA's WAN port, which places the TA between the modem and the router. The next step was to power up the modem, wait for it to initialize, then plug in the TA and wait for its status light to blink. Then, as instructed, we powered on the router, at which point a cable user would have been finished. A DSL connection requires a further step: logging in to the TA's Web administration utility and entering the PPPoE username and password. The final step requires you to log in to your account on the CallVantage Web site and step through the TA activation process.
Once you are set up and have a dial tone, the next step is to log on to the CallVantage Web site and customize your settings. From the Personal Call Manager, you can access help pages, a screen of usage tips, and all of the configurable features. You also get a brief summary of new messages, calls made, and information on whether certain features have been activated. Although this interface appears busy on first glance, it provides quite possibly the most useful VoIP account interface we've seen.
By comparison, Broadvox is easy to set up; without an Ethernet pass-through, however, it can't connect between your broadband modem and your router, meaning it won't prioritize voice traffic under heavy network conditions. VoicePulse works similarly. The CallVantage method performs this prioritization to insure voice quality, but you might find it frustrating if you don't have some experience setting up small networks and especially if you're a DSL customer. Call quality with the D-Link TA was strong in our anecdotal tests.
Order residential CallVantage service online, and you'll receive the D-Link TA or a TA from Centillium. If you order the Small Office plan, you'll get a Linksys unit that's a wired router and a TA. CallVantage hardware is also sold at retail. For CNET Labs' voice-quality tests, AT&T sent us the Linksys WRT54GP2A, which is a TA and a wireless router.
Features
Since AT&T first launched its CallVantage VoIP service last year, the company has added a host of useful features and two additional calling plans. The service we suspect will appeal to most users is the $29.99-per-month, residential unlimited-minutes plan. It's $10 more per month than competing plans from Packet8 and $5 more a month than Vonage. But only Vonage rivals CallVantage in terms of voice quality. For $19.99 a month, the CallVantage Local Plan provides unlimited local calls and costs 4 cents per minute for long distance. The $49.99 Small Office Plan gives businesses two lines (both the D-Link telephone adapter and the Linksys TA/router have two phone jacks). You get unlimited minutes on line one and 500 long-distance minutes on line two, and you can connect a fax machine to either. Unlimited minutes for all three plans cover calls within the United States and Canada. All three plans include a $29.99 activation fee. If you order the $29.99 unlimited-minutes plan online, the first month is free, which covers the activation fee. If you cancel within the first year, you'll avoid a cancellation fee as long as you return the telephone adapter.
When you sign up for your service, you specify whether you want to get a new phone number or transfer your existing number. Your odds of being able to get a number in your area code has greatly increased since AT&T first introduced CallVantage; area codes in 39 states are available. If you are a DSL subscriber and you want to cancel your current phone service altogether for AT&T CallVantage, you can't transfer the phone number to which your DSL service is attached (this limitation is standard for all VoIP providers, however). Note also that transferring your existing AT&T number to CallVantage means you lose the ability to gain points in AT&T rewards programs, and your AT&T calling cards and Easy Reach 800 service will no longer function, either.
CallVantage now offers virtual numbers, which it calls Simple Reach Numbers, for $4.99 a month. A Simple Reach Number gives you a second number outside your own area code so that callers in that area--your mother or business partner, for instance--can make locals calls to you. You can also add a second line to either the unlimited-minutes or local home plan for $29.99 and $19.99, respectively.
AT&T CallVantage offers emergency 911 support, a feature not found with all VoIP services at this time. AT&T uses the address you provide upon signing up to direct any 911 calls to the proper answering point. Like most VoIP services that provide 911 service, the process differs from 911 calls from a traditional landline phone. Instead of connecting to a 911 emergency response center, 911 calls on CallVantage go to a PSAP (public safety answering point), and you'll need to provide your address when you call. This difference might not sound like too big a deal, but families with small children (and babysitters) might feel more comfortable knowing their 911 service is as quick and efficient as possible. Another safety feature: you can enter a phone number (your cell phone, for example) on the CallVantage Web site where calls will be forwarded in the event of a power failure or Internet outage.
With your CallVantage service, you get a standard voicemail in-box. When you're away from home, you can have e-mail alerts sent to you when you receive a voicemail or have the message e-mailed to you as a WAV file attachment. A feature called Locate Me lets you specify up to five phone numbers that CallVantage will use to attempt to reach you, should you not answer your phone. This feature essentially amends your voicemail service with a message replacing the voicemail greeting, informing your callers that the system is trying to reach you, then it either cycles through the specified phone numbers or rings all of the phones simultaneously. Your callers can press 1 to bypass the Locate Me feature and leave a standard voice message.
You can schedule conferences on the fly or for a future date.
Three-way calling is free with any calling plan, and you can conference between 4 and 10 people for 35 cents a minute. Also included with CallVantage are standard features including caller ID, call waiting, call forwarding, and three-way calling, all of which function much like those on a standard phone service. The Do Not Disturb feature is handy for keeping, say, telemarketers at bay during your dinner hour, and for $1.99 a month, the Call Filtering feature lets you set exceptions so that certain callers (your daughter away at school, for example) are let through.
Performance
We judge a VoIP service's performance on how calls sound under baseline conditions, as well as during data uploads and data downloads. The overall weighted average is based on calls made under these three conditions. Baseline conditions are given the highest weight of 66 percent; audio quality during data uploads and data downloads each factor 17 percent of the weightings. The scale for the voice-quality ratings is from 0 to 10.0, with a perfect score of 10.0 equaling our reference analog connection.
Voice-quality rating
(Higher scores are better)
Overall weighted average
All PCs off
During download
During upload
Baseline (landline)
10.0
AT&T CallVantage (TA/router: Linksys WRT54GP2A)
9.0
9
9
9
Vonage (TA/router: Linksys RT31P2)
9.0
9
9
9
BroadVoice (TA: Sipura SPA-1001)
7.3
8
8
4
Packet8 (TA: 8x8 DTA310)
7.3
8
8
4
Broadvox (TA: Mediatrix 2102)
6.5
7
7
4
Verizon VoiceWing (TA: Linksys PAP2-VN)
6.5
7
6
5
Lingo (TA: Lingo iAN-02EX)
6.3
7
7
3
In our experience, nearly all the VoIP services we've tested deliver baseline audio quality that is almost indistinguishable from regular analog (landline) telephone connections. (We define baseline quality as the audio quality of the VoIP service when the telephone adapter (TA) is the only device sending and receiving substantial amounts of data over the local network on our tests. During these tests, the only other devices permitted to transmit and receive network traffic are the broadband modem and router.) In the case of AT&T CallVantage, the audio quality is so clear that it equals that of what we're used to from analog connections--even during heavy network traffic conditions. The only other VoIP service we've tested in which the same can be said is Vonage.
The Achilles' heel of the VoIP services we've tested, however, is that all of them exhibit a certain amount of background noise during calls. This noise amounts to a very faint hiss with CallVantage, which is perceptible only by the person on the CallVantage end of the call; the person on the other end did not hear the noise during testing. Users less sensitive to such auditory distractions might not even notice it, and it did not affect our ability to make or receive calls.
Unique among the VoIP services we've reviewed, AT&T CallVantage is the only service to come with a TA that is integrated into a wireless broadband router: The Linksys WRT54GP2A lets you connect your phone to it for use on the CallVantage service, and it's also an 802.11b/g wireless and four-port wired Ethernet router. Combining the TA and router into a single device permits the TA to have much more control over how the voice data packets are given priority in relation to other network traffic. This helps minimize the potential loss of VoIP audio quality when the local network bandwidth starts filling up with other types of data traffic, such as files being uploaded to the Internet from a PC.
Network bandwidth is a significant issue for most small-business and home-broadband users, whose upstream data throughput is not large enough to support both voice and data packets simultaneously. With many of the VoIP services we've tested, the end result is that VoIP audio quality is seriously degraded--often to the point of unintelligibility--during phone calls when a user is simultaneously generating a lot of upstream traffic from a PC (such as uploading photographs to an online photo-finishing service) while conducting a VoIP call. CallVantage did not suffer from this problem because the Linksys TA/router is designed specifically to avoid such issues; audio quality was maintained despite the additional traffic we placed on the network.
The trade-off is that the Internet data throughput speeds of your PC(s) drop precipitously when you make or receive VoIP calls. Upstream throughput saw more than an eightfold drop in performance; our 1.37MB photo upload to Ofoto.com, which usually takes only about 35 seconds, took more than five minutes to complete when a VoIP call was active. Even downstream throughput took more than a 50 percent nosedive. These throughput performance drops are the worse we've seen from any VoIP service we've tested, which is good news for voice traffic. CallVantage obviously puts its highest priority in maintaining the integrity of audio quality, even at the expense of data throughput. We saw a similar effect with Vonage, but its throughput performance hit wasn't as severely while still maintaining the audio quality. How frequently you use your PC for Internet access or upload files from your computer will help dictate if you can live with this limitation.
We also measure how quickly calls are connected by timing how long it takes from the moment the last digit of a phone number is dialed to the moment we hear ringing. CallVantage was the speediest of all the VoIP services we've tested in connecting calls. In fact, its consistent connect time of about two seconds matched that of our reference analog telephone line.
Since the Linksys WRT54GP2A is also an 802.11b/g wireless router, we tested how well it performs as a wireless router, using the CNET Labs test procedures for access points. In 802.11g mode, the WRT54GP2A-AT wireless router has one of the fastest throughput rates (25Mbps) we've seen from an 802.11g wireless router. It also has excellent range capabilities, able to sustain an 11.3Mbps throughput rate at a distance of 200 feet in 802.11g mode. In mixed mode (802.11g and 802.11b), its performance drops somewhat, as is typical for most mixed-mode routers. The throughput rate of 15.1Mbps in mixed mode is respectable, but other routers have speedier mixed-mode performance.
Performance analysis written by CNET Labs manager Daniel A. Begun and lab technician Matthew Wood.
Find out more about how we test VoIP.
Service and support
Although it lacks features and ease of installation, AT&T CallVantage shines in services and support. With your account, you get 24/7 technical or repair assistance through a toll-free phone number, and 8 a.m. to 9 p.m., toll-free billing or service-management support. In addition, the CallVantage Web site hosts separate forms for both types of issues, and the installation guide and the user guide are downloadable directly from the contact page.
PCWorld.com - AT&T's CallVantage: Excellent Phone Service on the Cheap
PCWorld.com - AT&T's CallVantage: Excellent Phone Service on the CheapAT&T's CallVantage: Excellent Phone Service on the Cheap
AT&T's VoIP service came with major installation hassles, but offered landline-like voice quality, most of the time.
Michael S. Lasky, special to PC World
Monday, May 23, 2005
Tired of being nickeled and dimed by your local phone company? I am. When I realized that I was paying more than I had to for my basic, local landline service, I decided the time was right to test out one of the slew of VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) services that are popping up like mushrooms.
Most VoIP companies offer feature-laden packages, which include unlimited local and long distance calling, plus extras like voice mail, call forwarding, and online access to your account. But how do you know which company offers reliable service and tech support? After all, an Internet phone can involve fiddling with your network settings.
My editor asked me to try out AT&T's CallVantage Service. I figured that if anyone knows phone service, Alexander Graham Bell's original telco should. (Of course, I kept my landline phone service running.)
Like many other VoIP services, such as Vonage and 8x8's Packet8, AT&T promises unlimited calls anywhere in the United States and Canada for a set monthly fee. AT&T's package costs $30, while Vonage's and 8x8's cost $25 and $20 respectively. Because calls are digitized and sent over broadband DSL or cable Internet connections instead of regular phone lines, the VoIP fees include extras such as voice mail, caller ID, call forwarding, and three-way calling.
Ordering the service online was delightfully easy and convenient. Between the well-designed CallVantage Web site and the immediate follow-up e-mails I received after signing up, I felt well taken care of.
Using the CallVantage site, I was able to select the area code and prefix of my new Internet phone number--a particularly handy feature of VoIP phones. I live in the San Francisco Bay Area, but my immediate family resides in south Florida. CallVantage allowed me to select a phone number that would be based in my family's town. That way, they can dial a local number to call me.
Follow-up e-mails from AT&T notified me of my new number and let me know when I would receive the analog telephony adapter (ATA) box that I would connect to my broadband modem and phone handset.
Installation Woes: Mr. Watson--Come Here, I Want You
Talk about misleading advertising: AT&T described the installation procedure as an easy four-step process, but the whole setup experience turned into a lost weekend. Because everyone's network system is configured differently, there is always the risk of startup difficulties with VoIP.
The startup package, which arrived within five days of my placing the order, consisted of the telephone adapter ( ATA box), the power cord, ethernet and phone cables, and installation instructions. Basically, with your equipment turned off, you connect the adapter to your cable or DSL modem and then connect the supplied Ethernet cable from the adapter to your PC. You also can connect the adapter directly to your router. You then connect the phone cable to a standard phone handset. (After the initial setup, your PC does not need to be turned on to send and receive calls.)
Then when you power up all of your equipment, the adapter should connect to the Internet, upload any necessary firmware updates, and voilà, you should have a dial tone. But, alas, no dial tone.
So I picked up my landline phone to call tech support. My call was answered on the first ring--no waiting, folks--and the extremely polite woman who answered graciously tried to help me, but only as far as her computerized script could take her. When I mentioned that unlike most broadband users I had a static IP address instead of a more common dynamic IP address (which changes each time you log on), her script seemed to end. She hemmed and hawed and finally put me on hold while she scrambled to find help.
She walked me through the old routine of rebooting my DSL modem (which higher-level tech support personnel told me later was necessary only with cable modems), adapter, and PC. Still no service.
I was promised a callback from a higher-level support technician. As it was a Saturday, I was out of luck--and service--until Monday. But promptly on Monday morning, I got the call. It took an extensive trial and error process with the tech support rep, but I finally got VoIP service. My problem, it ends up, was unusual, and was due to the static IP address supplied by my DSL service provider. The technician helped me change the primary DNS address from the one supplied by my ISP to the one suggested by CallVantage support. After that, the ATA box was able to connect and perform its initialization, and I have my VoIP service.
And apart from a few dropped calls here and there, I haven't looked back.
Calling From Next Door?
I can imagine how ecstatic Alexander Graham Bell must have felt when his first phone call actually went through. That's how I felt when I finally got up and running and made my first VoIP phone call.
The first call was to my mother, the critic. It was flawless. "It sounds like you are next door," she said. For the most part, the calls I have made or received using the service have been of landline phone quality. Over a two-week period, I made more than 50 calls, of which 3 were dropped.
I was warned by tech support that for the first few days browsing might slow down my VoIP service. The service needed time to judge the type of throughput for data versus voice that I needed, they said. But this was never an issue: I streamed a video while talking, and found not a blip or hiccup in the video or the phone call.
Most of the time, the service was excellent. But I did encounter a few dropped calls, which were rather annoying--and because my ethernet cable was plugged into the ATA box (with its built-in router), when the calls were dropped so was my PC's Internet connection. AT&T told me to expect something like this in the first week of service as it adjusts your needs between data and voice bandwidth. And that's something to remember: With VoIP you are still at the mercy of the many Internet servers on which your Web connection relies.
The extra features were first-class. All of these were included with my basic VoIP service, but each would have cost extra had I ordered them from the local phone company:
* CallVantage allows you to see a list of incoming and outgoing calls, as well as the time and date they occurred. Call Management: You can see all incoming and outgoing calls, the time and date they occurred.
* Locate Me: On my account Web page, I was able to list numbers where I could be reached when I'm not near the VoIP phone. After a set number of rings, my calls were forwarded to my office phone and my cell phone, either simultaneously or in the order I designated. This proved to be a major convenience, since I never needed to be tethered to one particular phone to get my calls. And if I am talking on the VoIP line, I can have other incoming calls redirected to other phones.
* CallVantage allows you to forward voicemail messages via e-mail, as .wav files. Voicemail: Full-featured voicemail can be set up either via your account page at the CallVantage Web site or via voice menus on the phone. You can create a personalized greeting and also set up e-mail notification of incoming messages--either from select phone numbers or all numbers. I was most taken with the ability to forward voicemail messages to my e-mail with the actual voice message attached as a .wav file. This too can be activated either for numbers you select or for all calls.
* Do Not Disturb: I was able to set the phone to "do not disturb" for set periods of time and all calls were diverted silently to my voicemail. On my account page I could even schedule future or recurring do-not-disturb times.
* Standard features such as speed-dial, call waiting, call forwarding, three-way calling, and even conference calls for up to ten people (at 35 cents per minute), can all be set up online or triggered from the phone itself. Speed-dialing for up to nine numbers did, however, require dialing A-T-T and then the memory number. While shorter than dialing a ten-digit number, this sequence was not exactly speedy.
* Emergency 911: Because VoIP services, like cell phones, are not always fixed at one physical location, 911 calls have been difficult to place. AT&T CallVantage offers 911 service, but has recently begun offering E911 service, also known as Enhanced 911. Without E911, 911 calls may be routed to a dispatcher who can't see where you're calling from. E911 gets around that limitation and provides your physical location, which can be vital information in case of an emergency. E911 works only with the physical address you register with the phone when you sign up for your service. If you take your adapter with you, to, say, a vacation home, you would need to call 911 from a different phone since the VoIP service would only direct emergency services to the local responders near your registered address.
Is It Worth the Price?
Other than my particular installation hassle (which shouldn't be one for the majority of DSL and cable modem users), AT&T's CallVantage service has been superb, generally speaking--and the company is generous with its features, particularly when you consider what you get for $30 a month. While cellular phone service includes many similar features, landline service charges extra for every one of them and most do not offer the Internet-based features at all. For a landline equivalent, to get the entire package of features included in the CallVantage $30 plan, you would have to pay about $30 to $40 on top of your basic landline rate. And that's before any toll and long distance calls you make. I figured I have saved and will be saving at least $40 to $50 a month compared with what I pay for my landline service.
As mentioned, Vonage's VoIP service costs $25 for unlimited U.S./Canada calls (or $15 for 500 minutes). International rates on CallVantage are about 4 cents a minute and up, depending where you are calling. Calls to mobile phone numbers overseas cost more. Vonage charges a range of 3 to 9 cents per minute to most locations. Upstart service Lingo offers unlimited U.S./Canada service plus calls to Western Europe for $20 a month. Calls to the Middle East cost 8 cents and Japan 3 cents. Calls to Antarctica are 70 cents a minute. Both Vonage and Lingo match the extra features offered by AT&T.
While I did not try out the other services, I can say that I am extremely pleased with AT&T's service and consistent call quality, and even though other VoIP plans may be cheaper, AT&T's overall package is worth the cost.
AT&T's VoIP service came with major installation hassles, but offered landline-like voice quality, most of the time.
Michael S. Lasky, special to PC World
Monday, May 23, 2005
Tired of being nickeled and dimed by your local phone company? I am. When I realized that I was paying more than I had to for my basic, local landline service, I decided the time was right to test out one of the slew of VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) services that are popping up like mushrooms.
Most VoIP companies offer feature-laden packages, which include unlimited local and long distance calling, plus extras like voice mail, call forwarding, and online access to your account. But how do you know which company offers reliable service and tech support? After all, an Internet phone can involve fiddling with your network settings.
My editor asked me to try out AT&T's CallVantage Service. I figured that if anyone knows phone service, Alexander Graham Bell's original telco should. (Of course, I kept my landline phone service running.)
Like many other VoIP services, such as Vonage and 8x8's Packet8, AT&T promises unlimited calls anywhere in the United States and Canada for a set monthly fee. AT&T's package costs $30, while Vonage's and 8x8's cost $25 and $20 respectively. Because calls are digitized and sent over broadband DSL or cable Internet connections instead of regular phone lines, the VoIP fees include extras such as voice mail, caller ID, call forwarding, and three-way calling.
Ordering the service online was delightfully easy and convenient. Between the well-designed CallVantage Web site and the immediate follow-up e-mails I received after signing up, I felt well taken care of.
Using the CallVantage site, I was able to select the area code and prefix of my new Internet phone number--a particularly handy feature of VoIP phones. I live in the San Francisco Bay Area, but my immediate family resides in south Florida. CallVantage allowed me to select a phone number that would be based in my family's town. That way, they can dial a local number to call me.
Follow-up e-mails from AT&T notified me of my new number and let me know when I would receive the analog telephony adapter (ATA) box that I would connect to my broadband modem and phone handset.
Installation Woes: Mr. Watson--Come Here, I Want You
Talk about misleading advertising: AT&T described the installation procedure as an easy four-step process, but the whole setup experience turned into a lost weekend. Because everyone's network system is configured differently, there is always the risk of startup difficulties with VoIP.
The startup package, which arrived within five days of my placing the order, consisted of the telephone adapter ( ATA box), the power cord, ethernet and phone cables, and installation instructions. Basically, with your equipment turned off, you connect the adapter to your cable or DSL modem and then connect the supplied Ethernet cable from the adapter to your PC. You also can connect the adapter directly to your router. You then connect the phone cable to a standard phone handset. (After the initial setup, your PC does not need to be turned on to send and receive calls.)
Then when you power up all of your equipment, the adapter should connect to the Internet, upload any necessary firmware updates, and voilà, you should have a dial tone. But, alas, no dial tone.
So I picked up my landline phone to call tech support. My call was answered on the first ring--no waiting, folks--and the extremely polite woman who answered graciously tried to help me, but only as far as her computerized script could take her. When I mentioned that unlike most broadband users I had a static IP address instead of a more common dynamic IP address (which changes each time you log on), her script seemed to end. She hemmed and hawed and finally put me on hold while she scrambled to find help.
She walked me through the old routine of rebooting my DSL modem (which higher-level tech support personnel told me later was necessary only with cable modems), adapter, and PC. Still no service.
I was promised a callback from a higher-level support technician. As it was a Saturday, I was out of luck--and service--until Monday. But promptly on Monday morning, I got the call. It took an extensive trial and error process with the tech support rep, but I finally got VoIP service. My problem, it ends up, was unusual, and was due to the static IP address supplied by my DSL service provider. The technician helped me change the primary DNS address from the one supplied by my ISP to the one suggested by CallVantage support. After that, the ATA box was able to connect and perform its initialization, and I have my VoIP service.
And apart from a few dropped calls here and there, I haven't looked back.
Calling From Next Door?
I can imagine how ecstatic Alexander Graham Bell must have felt when his first phone call actually went through. That's how I felt when I finally got up and running and made my first VoIP phone call.
The first call was to my mother, the critic. It was flawless. "It sounds like you are next door," she said. For the most part, the calls I have made or received using the service have been of landline phone quality. Over a two-week period, I made more than 50 calls, of which 3 were dropped.
I was warned by tech support that for the first few days browsing might slow down my VoIP service. The service needed time to judge the type of throughput for data versus voice that I needed, they said. But this was never an issue: I streamed a video while talking, and found not a blip or hiccup in the video or the phone call.
Most of the time, the service was excellent. But I did encounter a few dropped calls, which were rather annoying--and because my ethernet cable was plugged into the ATA box (with its built-in router), when the calls were dropped so was my PC's Internet connection. AT&T told me to expect something like this in the first week of service as it adjusts your needs between data and voice bandwidth. And that's something to remember: With VoIP you are still at the mercy of the many Internet servers on which your Web connection relies.
The extra features were first-class. All of these were included with my basic VoIP service, but each would have cost extra had I ordered them from the local phone company:
* CallVantage allows you to see a list of incoming and outgoing calls, as well as the time and date they occurred. Call Management: You can see all incoming and outgoing calls, the time and date they occurred.
* Locate Me: On my account Web page, I was able to list numbers where I could be reached when I'm not near the VoIP phone. After a set number of rings, my calls were forwarded to my office phone and my cell phone, either simultaneously or in the order I designated. This proved to be a major convenience, since I never needed to be tethered to one particular phone to get my calls. And if I am talking on the VoIP line, I can have other incoming calls redirected to other phones.
* CallVantage allows you to forward voicemail messages via e-mail, as .wav files. Voicemail: Full-featured voicemail can be set up either via your account page at the CallVantage Web site or via voice menus on the phone. You can create a personalized greeting and also set up e-mail notification of incoming messages--either from select phone numbers or all numbers. I was most taken with the ability to forward voicemail messages to my e-mail with the actual voice message attached as a .wav file. This too can be activated either for numbers you select or for all calls.
* Do Not Disturb: I was able to set the phone to "do not disturb" for set periods of time and all calls were diverted silently to my voicemail. On my account page I could even schedule future or recurring do-not-disturb times.
* Standard features such as speed-dial, call waiting, call forwarding, three-way calling, and even conference calls for up to ten people (at 35 cents per minute), can all be set up online or triggered from the phone itself. Speed-dialing for up to nine numbers did, however, require dialing A-T-T and then the memory number. While shorter than dialing a ten-digit number, this sequence was not exactly speedy.
* Emergency 911: Because VoIP services, like cell phones, are not always fixed at one physical location, 911 calls have been difficult to place. AT&T CallVantage offers 911 service, but has recently begun offering E911 service, also known as Enhanced 911. Without E911, 911 calls may be routed to a dispatcher who can't see where you're calling from. E911 gets around that limitation and provides your physical location, which can be vital information in case of an emergency. E911 works only with the physical address you register with the phone when you sign up for your service. If you take your adapter with you, to, say, a vacation home, you would need to call 911 from a different phone since the VoIP service would only direct emergency services to the local responders near your registered address.
Is It Worth the Price?
Other than my particular installation hassle (which shouldn't be one for the majority of DSL and cable modem users), AT&T's CallVantage service has been superb, generally speaking--and the company is generous with its features, particularly when you consider what you get for $30 a month. While cellular phone service includes many similar features, landline service charges extra for every one of them and most do not offer the Internet-based features at all. For a landline equivalent, to get the entire package of features included in the CallVantage $30 plan, you would have to pay about $30 to $40 on top of your basic landline rate. And that's before any toll and long distance calls you make. I figured I have saved and will be saving at least $40 to $50 a month compared with what I pay for my landline service.
As mentioned, Vonage's VoIP service costs $25 for unlimited U.S./Canada calls (or $15 for 500 minutes). International rates on CallVantage are about 4 cents a minute and up, depending where you are calling. Calls to mobile phone numbers overseas cost more. Vonage charges a range of 3 to 9 cents per minute to most locations. Upstart service Lingo offers unlimited U.S./Canada service plus calls to Western Europe for $20 a month. Calls to the Middle East cost 8 cents and Japan 3 cents. Calls to Antarctica are 70 cents a minute. Both Vonage and Lingo match the extra features offered by AT&T.
While I did not try out the other services, I can say that I am extremely pleased with AT&T's service and consistent call quality, and even though other VoIP plans may be cheaper, AT&T's overall package is worth the cost.
Thursday, May 19, 2005
ThinkPad X41 Intro - ThinkPad X41 review - Notebooks - CNET Reviews
ThinkPad X41 Intro - ThinkPad X41 review - Notebooks - CNET ReviewsNET editor's take
Reviewed by Brian Nadel
Edited by Michelle Thatcher
Reviewed May 19, 2005
Editors' rating:
Good
6.7
out of 10
How we rate
Editors' note: Lenovo completed its purchase of IBM's PC division on April 2, 2005, so you will no longer see the familiar letters IBM in front of ThinkPad laptops--they are now known as simply ThinkPad products. Lenovo may introduce products under its name in the future. ThinkPad notebooks are being sold by the same outlets as before, and the same support staff will service both new and existing ThinkPads. (5/2/05)
The latest in a long line of ThinkPad X notebooks, the ThinkPad X41 delivers the best combination yet of performance, battery life, and features. Though it's a little heavier than the ThinkPad X40, it's still one of our favorite notebooks for business travelers, offering dependable, secure, high-performance computing in a small, elegant case. The X41's high price may cause some corporate buyers to balk, but we think it's worth it.
One of the smallest and lightest ultraportable notebooks available, the black wedge-shape ThinkPad X41 has a petite, 8.2-inch-by-10.4-inch footprint; the front edge measures a razor-sharp 0.9 inch thick, although the rear bulges to a full inch. At 2.5 pounds, it's about an ounce heavier than the ThinkPad X40, but on a par with the Dell Latitude X1. Add an extended-capacity battery, and the ThinkPad X41 grows an inch deeper and gains 0.7 pound. With its enviably small AC adapter, it has a travel weight of 3.9 pounds.
It may be small, but the ThinkPad X41 includes many of the creature comforts of bigger systems. Forget about a cramped, puny keyboard, because this laptop has full-size keys with a generous 2mm of depth. Those who like pointing sticks will love the ThinkPad X41's TrackPoint, which comes with three different tip options and has a handy scroll button. For those who burn the midnight oil, a keyboard light provides helpful illumination.
The ThinkPad X41's basic connections for the office or the road include external VGA monitor, audio, and two USB 2.0 ports. In addition to the requisite modem and Gigabit Ethernet, the machine has a Secure Digital card slot as well as one for a PC Card--though we would have liked an additional CompactFlash slot, as found on the Latitude X1. With an Intel 802.11b/g Wi-Fi card, the ThinkPad X41 connected with a variety of wireless LANs and stayed online 100 feet from our access point in our anecdotal tests. Still, we wish it had an external on/off switch to quickly turn off Wi-Fi for takeoffs and landings or when in a sensitive corporate area. Snapping the ThinkPad X41 into the included X4 UltraBase Dock adds a swappable bay for an optical drive, a second hard drive, or an extra battery pack, as well as three USB 2.0, parallel, serial, and PS/2 connectors and a pair of speakers. On the downside, the dock makes the ultraportable computer into a 5-pound slug that's 1.6 inches thick.
Designed for corporate users, the ThinkPad X41 also offers some of the best data protection and security features you can find in a notebook. Like older X models, it has a dedicated internal security chip that can block access and encrypt key data. And although it lacks a smart-card reader, the ThinkPad X41 does feature a fingerprint scanner: not only can it assure a user's identity for the corporate network logon routine, the fingerprint reader can handle passwords for applications ranging from eBay to e-mail. After a little practice using the device, swiping a finger becomes second nature.
Whether you're purchasing 1 or 100 notebooks, it all comes down to price, and the X41 is one of the most expensive on a per-pound basis. At $2,149 (as of May 2005), our test machine, which included a dock with a DVD/CD-RW drive, is on a par with the ThinkPad X40 model it replaces, but it costs more than the Dell Latitude X1. Still, we think the ThinkPad X41 is the better choice for the corporate road warrior.
Based on Intel's latest-generation Centrino architecture, the ThinkPad X41 uses a low-voltage Pentium M processor that tops out at 1.5GHz, which is quite a bit faster than the Latitude X1's 1.1GHz Pentium M. Unlike the Latitude X1, the ThinkPad X41 has a cooling fan--it's not particularly noisy, but it doesn't prevent the bottom of the notebook from heating up. Our test system came with 512MB of DDR2 memory (it can hold up to 1.5GB), and a 40GB hard drive spinning at a pedestrian 4,200rpm. With a 1,024x768 native resolution, the 12.1-inch display is clear and sharp, but not nearly as bright as that of the Latitude X1.
All this high-powered hardware adds up to one of the top-performing notebooks in its class. Its performance in CNET Labs' mobile benchmarks was much faster than that of the ThinkPad X40 and was virtually tied with the Dell Latitude X1, which had a much slower CPU. However, the ThinkPad X41 delivered an excellent 5 hours, 26 minutes of battery life--about equal to the X40's span, but nearly twice as long as the Latitude X1's smaller battery lasted. Only the amazing 6-hour, 24-minute battery life of the Sony VAIO VGN-T250 runs longer in this class of mighty mites.
The machine comes with Windows XP Pro, as well as a phalanx of utilities for security, online connections, keyboard customization, and data backup. Happily, the system includes Watergate Software's PC Doctor, which can help diagnose problems with any of the computer's components. But its ace in the hole is the anachronous (given that IBM no longer owns the ThinkPad line) Access IBM button above the keyboard, which connects the machine with Lenovo's help desk or contacts your own company's support site, when you configure it to do so. The machine comes with a three-year warranty, and it includes lifetime support through a 24/7 toll-free hotline or via e-mail. While a tad complicated, the company's online support resources are complete and up-to-date, with spare parts, downloads, FAQs, and troubleshooting tip
Reviewed by Brian Nadel
Edited by Michelle Thatcher
Reviewed May 19, 2005
Editors' rating:
Good
6.7
out of 10
How we rate
Editors' note: Lenovo completed its purchase of IBM's PC division on April 2, 2005, so you will no longer see the familiar letters IBM in front of ThinkPad laptops--they are now known as simply ThinkPad products. Lenovo may introduce products under its name in the future. ThinkPad notebooks are being sold by the same outlets as before, and the same support staff will service both new and existing ThinkPads. (5/2/05)
The latest in a long line of ThinkPad X notebooks, the ThinkPad X41 delivers the best combination yet of performance, battery life, and features. Though it's a little heavier than the ThinkPad X40, it's still one of our favorite notebooks for business travelers, offering dependable, secure, high-performance computing in a small, elegant case. The X41's high price may cause some corporate buyers to balk, but we think it's worth it.
One of the smallest and lightest ultraportable notebooks available, the black wedge-shape ThinkPad X41 has a petite, 8.2-inch-by-10.4-inch footprint; the front edge measures a razor-sharp 0.9 inch thick, although the rear bulges to a full inch. At 2.5 pounds, it's about an ounce heavier than the ThinkPad X40, but on a par with the Dell Latitude X1. Add an extended-capacity battery, and the ThinkPad X41 grows an inch deeper and gains 0.7 pound. With its enviably small AC adapter, it has a travel weight of 3.9 pounds.
It may be small, but the ThinkPad X41 includes many of the creature comforts of bigger systems. Forget about a cramped, puny keyboard, because this laptop has full-size keys with a generous 2mm of depth. Those who like pointing sticks will love the ThinkPad X41's TrackPoint, which comes with three different tip options and has a handy scroll button. For those who burn the midnight oil, a keyboard light provides helpful illumination.
The ThinkPad X41's basic connections for the office or the road include external VGA monitor, audio, and two USB 2.0 ports. In addition to the requisite modem and Gigabit Ethernet, the machine has a Secure Digital card slot as well as one for a PC Card--though we would have liked an additional CompactFlash slot, as found on the Latitude X1. With an Intel 802.11b/g Wi-Fi card, the ThinkPad X41 connected with a variety of wireless LANs and stayed online 100 feet from our access point in our anecdotal tests. Still, we wish it had an external on/off switch to quickly turn off Wi-Fi for takeoffs and landings or when in a sensitive corporate area. Snapping the ThinkPad X41 into the included X4 UltraBase Dock adds a swappable bay for an optical drive, a second hard drive, or an extra battery pack, as well as three USB 2.0, parallel, serial, and PS/2 connectors and a pair of speakers. On the downside, the dock makes the ultraportable computer into a 5-pound slug that's 1.6 inches thick.
Designed for corporate users, the ThinkPad X41 also offers some of the best data protection and security features you can find in a notebook. Like older X models, it has a dedicated internal security chip that can block access and encrypt key data. And although it lacks a smart-card reader, the ThinkPad X41 does feature a fingerprint scanner: not only can it assure a user's identity for the corporate network logon routine, the fingerprint reader can handle passwords for applications ranging from eBay to e-mail. After a little practice using the device, swiping a finger becomes second nature.
Whether you're purchasing 1 or 100 notebooks, it all comes down to price, and the X41 is one of the most expensive on a per-pound basis. At $2,149 (as of May 2005), our test machine, which included a dock with a DVD/CD-RW drive, is on a par with the ThinkPad X40 model it replaces, but it costs more than the Dell Latitude X1. Still, we think the ThinkPad X41 is the better choice for the corporate road warrior.
Based on Intel's latest-generation Centrino architecture, the ThinkPad X41 uses a low-voltage Pentium M processor that tops out at 1.5GHz, which is quite a bit faster than the Latitude X1's 1.1GHz Pentium M. Unlike the Latitude X1, the ThinkPad X41 has a cooling fan--it's not particularly noisy, but it doesn't prevent the bottom of the notebook from heating up. Our test system came with 512MB of DDR2 memory (it can hold up to 1.5GB), and a 40GB hard drive spinning at a pedestrian 4,200rpm. With a 1,024x768 native resolution, the 12.1-inch display is clear and sharp, but not nearly as bright as that of the Latitude X1.
All this high-powered hardware adds up to one of the top-performing notebooks in its class. Its performance in CNET Labs' mobile benchmarks was much faster than that of the ThinkPad X40 and was virtually tied with the Dell Latitude X1, which had a much slower CPU. However, the ThinkPad X41 delivered an excellent 5 hours, 26 minutes of battery life--about equal to the X40's span, but nearly twice as long as the Latitude X1's smaller battery lasted. Only the amazing 6-hour, 24-minute battery life of the Sony VAIO VGN-T250 runs longer in this class of mighty mites.
The machine comes with Windows XP Pro, as well as a phalanx of utilities for security, online connections, keyboard customization, and data backup. Happily, the system includes Watergate Software's PC Doctor, which can help diagnose problems with any of the computer's components. But its ace in the hole is the anachronous (given that IBM no longer owns the ThinkPad line) Access IBM button above the keyboard, which connects the machine with Lenovo's help desk or contacts your own company's support site, when you configure it to do so. The machine comes with a three-year warranty, and it includes lifetime support through a 24/7 toll-free hotline or via e-mail. While a tad complicated, the company's online support resources are complete and up-to-date, with spare parts, downloads, FAQs, and troubleshooting tip
EETimes.com - Taiwan companies among fastest-growing U.S. patent holders
EETimes.com - Taiwan companies among fastest-growing U.S. patent holdersTaiwan companies among fastest-growing U.S. patent holders
Mike Clendenin
(05/18/2005 12:20 PM EDT)
URL: http://www.eetimes.com/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=163105346
MANHASSET, N.Y. — Among the technology companies with more than 50 U.S. patent awards in 2004, according to IFI Claims Patent Services, three Taiwanese companies ranked among the top 10 performers in percentage gains over their 2003 patent totals: DRAM maker Nanya Technology, chip set specialist Via Technologies and LCD manufacturer AU Optronics.
Mike Clendenin
(05/18/2005 12:20 PM EDT)
URL: http://www.eetimes.com/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=163105346
MANHASSET, N.Y. — Among the technology companies with more than 50 U.S. patent awards in 2004, according to IFI Claims Patent Services, three Taiwanese companies ranked among the top 10 performers in percentage gains over their 2003 patent totals: DRAM maker Nanya Technology, chip set specialist Via Technologies and LCD manufacturer AU Optronics.
ThinkPad T40 (Pentium M, 1.60GHz, 512MB, 80GB) review - Product brief - Notebooks - CNET Reviews
ThinkPad T40 (Pentium M, 1.60GHz, 512MB, 80GB) review - Product brief - Notebooks - CNET Reviews ThinkPad T40 (Pentium M, 1.60GHz, 512MB, 80GB)
CNET Product Brief (beta)
Description: This configuration of the - ThinkPad T40 is a 4.5-pound, thin-and-light notebook computer. Compared to other thin-and-light notebooks on the market, it is midpriced at around $1,995. Has Wi-Fi (wireless connectivity) built-in. Features ATI Mobility Radeon 9000 graphics with 32MB of video RAM.
Pros: Has an 80GB hard drive, which is somewhat larger than some similarly priced notebooks. Also, this notebook has 1400 x 1050 native screen resolution, which is somewhat higher than some similarly priced notebooks. The CD-RW/ DVD-ROM is housed in a modular plug-in drive bay, which is more upgradeable and gives you more options than an integrated drive.
Cons: None noted, given available product data.
Suitability: A thin-and-light notebook, suited for business computing. Comes with a DVD player for watching movies. This notebook also has a CD writer, allowing you to compile your own mp3 CDs or video CDs. Comes with office-grade word processing software; whether you regularly create tables of content, elaborate footnotes, or complex newsletters this software can handle it all. With 32MB of dedicated video RAM, this machine will do OK with some games and multimedia applications, but will fall short of satisfying the serious gaming enthusiast. This notebook comes with its own tiny LED flashlight to illuminate the keys, for when you need to type in dim locations. If you have a wireless network at home, wirelessly browse the Web from any room in your house with this Wi-Fi enabled notebook.
Value: Overall, this notebook's features are in line with its price.
Suggestions: (1) Given this device's Wi-Fi capability, you may want to get a wireless access point for your home, so that you can browse the Web more conveniently from any room. (2) This portable computer comes with an expansion device that makes it easy to plug in at a permanent workstation, where you may have an external monitor, keyboard, printer, etc. (3) To get the most out of this notebook's Bluetooth capability, you could have a Bluetooth-enabled headset, handheld or other device, and be able to link it wirelessly to your computer within a range of 20-or-so feet inside the same room. (4) You can take advantage of this notebook's USB 2.0 support, which allows faster data transfer between peripherals, but also maintains compatibility with USB 1.1 devices. (5) For help in deciding if this is the right notebook for you, see CNET's buying guide for notebooks.
CNET Product Brief (beta)
Description: This configuration of the - ThinkPad T40 is a 4.5-pound, thin-and-light notebook computer. Compared to other thin-and-light notebooks on the market, it is midpriced at around $1,995. Has Wi-Fi (wireless connectivity) built-in. Features ATI Mobility Radeon 9000 graphics with 32MB of video RAM.
Pros: Has an 80GB hard drive, which is somewhat larger than some similarly priced notebooks. Also, this notebook has 1400 x 1050 native screen resolution, which is somewhat higher than some similarly priced notebooks. The CD-RW/ DVD-ROM is housed in a modular plug-in drive bay, which is more upgradeable and gives you more options than an integrated drive.
Cons: None noted, given available product data.
Suitability: A thin-and-light notebook, suited for business computing. Comes with a DVD player for watching movies. This notebook also has a CD writer, allowing you to compile your own mp3 CDs or video CDs. Comes with office-grade word processing software; whether you regularly create tables of content, elaborate footnotes, or complex newsletters this software can handle it all. With 32MB of dedicated video RAM, this machine will do OK with some games and multimedia applications, but will fall short of satisfying the serious gaming enthusiast. This notebook comes with its own tiny LED flashlight to illuminate the keys, for when you need to type in dim locations. If you have a wireless network at home, wirelessly browse the Web from any room in your house with this Wi-Fi enabled notebook.
Value: Overall, this notebook's features are in line with its price.
Suggestions: (1) Given this device's Wi-Fi capability, you may want to get a wireless access point for your home, so that you can browse the Web more conveniently from any room. (2) This portable computer comes with an expansion device that makes it easy to plug in at a permanent workstation, where you may have an external monitor, keyboard, printer, etc. (3) To get the most out of this notebook's Bluetooth capability, you could have a Bluetooth-enabled headset, handheld or other device, and be able to link it wirelessly to your computer within a range of 20-or-so feet inside the same room. (4) You can take advantage of this notebook's USB 2.0 support, which allows faster data transfer between peripherals, but also maintains compatibility with USB 1.1 devices. (5) For help in deciding if this is the right notebook for you, see CNET's buying guide for notebooks.
Full specs
| Processor | |
| Processor type | Pentium M |
 | |
| Clock speed | 1.60 GHz |
| |
| Processor manufacturer | Intel |
| RAM | |
| RAM installed size | 512 MB |
| |
| Max supported RAM | 2 GB |
| |
| Memory speed | 266 MHz |
| |
| RAM technology | DDR SDRAM |
| Storage Hard Drive | |
| Hard drive size | 80 GB |
| |
| Hard drive | 80 GB IDE Internal |
| |
| Hard drive installed qty | 1 |
| |
| Hard drive type | Portable |
| OS Provided | |
| OS provided | Microsoft Windows XP Professional |
| Optical Storage | |
| CD / DVD type | CD-RW / DVD-ROM |
| |
| CD / DVD drive | CD-RW / DVD-ROM Plug-in module |
| |
| CD / DVD read speed | 24x (CD) / 8x (DVD) |
| |
| CD / DVD rewrite speed | 10x |
| |
| CD / DVD write speed | 16x |
| |
| Optical storage enclosure type | Plug-in module |
| Optical Storage (2nd) | |
| 2nd optical storage type | None |
| Audio Output | |
| Audio output compliant standards | AC '97, DirectSound, SoundMAX with SPX |
| |
| Audio output type | Sound card |
| Audio Input | |
| Audio input type | Microphone |
| Battery | |
| Battery capacity | 6.6 Ah |
| |
| Battery technology | Lithium ion |
| |
| Installed battery qty | 1 |
| |
| Max supported batteries | 2 |
| |
| Mfr estimated battery life | 7.5 hour(s) |
| Cabinet (Chassis) | |
| Cabinet form factor | Portable |
| Cache Memory | |
| Cache size | 1 MB |
| |
| Cache type | L2 cache |
| Modem | |
| Max transfer rate | 56 Kbps |
| |
| Modem interface type | CDC |
| |
| Modem protocols & specifications | K56Flex, ITU V.92 |
| |
| Modem type | Fax / modem |
| Mainboard | |
| Chipset type | Intel 855PM |
| |
| Data bus speed | 400 MHz |
| Video Output | |
| Graphics processor | ATI MOBILITY RADEON 9000 |
| |
| Max resolution (external) | 2048 x 1536 |
| |
| Video output interface type | AGP 4x |
| Display (Projector) | |
| Display (projector) diagonal size | 14.1 in |
| |
| Display (projector) technology | TFT active matrix |
| |
| Max resolution | 1400 x 1050 |
| General | |
| Localization | English |
| |
| Model | 2373 |
| |
| Packaged quantity | 1 |
| |
| Product line | IBM ThinkPad T40 |
| Networking | |
| Data link protocol | Ethernet, Bluetooth, IEEE 802.11b, Fast Ethernet, Gigabit Ethernet |
| |
| Networking compliant standards | IEEE 802.11b |
| |
| Networking type | Network adapter |
| |
| Remote management protocol | CIM, DMI 2.0 |
| Dimensions & Weight | |
| Depth | 10.9 in |
| |
| Height | 1.2 in |
| |
| Weight | 4.5 lbs |
| |
| Width | 12.2 in |
| System | |
| Designation | Small business, Corporate business |
| |
| Notebook type | Notebook |
| Miscellaneous | |
| Features | IBM Security Chip |
| |
| Miscellaneous compliant standards | CE, CUL, NOM, BSMI, MPR II, VCCI-II, ACPI 2.0, ACPI 1.0b, FCC Class B certified |
| Storage Floppy Drive | |
| Floppy drive type | None |
| Input Device | |
| Input device type | UltraNav |
| Interface Provided | |
| Interface provided | 2 Hi-Speed USB, 1 Parallel IEEE 1284 (EPP/ECP), 1 Display / video VGA, 1 Infrared, 1 Modem Phone line, 1 Network Ethernet 10Base-T/100Base-TX/1000Base-T, 1 Display / video S-video output, 1 Docking / port replicator, 1 Microphone Input, 1 Audio Line-out/headphones |
| Environmental Parameters | |
| Max operating altitude | 9840 ft |
| |
| Max operating temperature | 95 ° |
| |
| Min operating temperature | 41 ° |
| |
| Operating humidity range | 8 - 80% |
| |
| Sound emission | 36 dB |
| Video Memory | |
| Video RAM installed | 32 MB |
| |
| Video memory technology | DDR SDRAM |
| |
| Video memory type | Video adapter memory |
| Power Device | |
| Power device form factor | External |
| |
| Power device frequency required | 50/60 Hz |
| |
| Power device type | Power adapter |
| |
| Power provided | 72 Watt |
| Storage Removable | |
| Removable storage type | None |
| Slot Provided | |
| Slot provided | 2 (1 free) Memory SO DIMM 200-pin, 1 (1 free) CardBus Type III (2 x type I / II) |
| Software | |
| Software type | PC Doctor, Access IBM, IBM RecordNow, IBM Access Support, Lotus Notes Client, Drivers & Utilities, Adobe Acrobat Reader, IBM Rapid Restore PC, IBM Update Connector, Norton AntiVirus 2003, IBM Access Connections, Lotus SmartSuite Millennium |
| Storage Controller | |
| Storage controller type | IDE |
| Service & Support | |
| Service & support type | 3 years warranty |
Wednesday, May 18, 2005
Sony DVDirect VRD-VC10 review by PC Magazine
Sony DVDirect VRD-VC10 review by PC Magazine: "
Sony DVDirect VRD-VC10
REVIEW DATE: 01.11.05
By Don Labriola
Most video-capturing DVD rewriters are designed to act like a single integrated device, but the early-production version of Sony's DVDirect that we tested behaves more like two independent components in a single box. When attached to a PC's USB bus, the DVDirect becomes a ringer for Sony's popular DRU-710A 16X dual-layer DVD-rewriter—complete with an updated version of the 710A's unbeatable Nero 6.6 software bundle—but can't be used to capture video.
Like the DRU-710A, our DVDirect test unit recorded a full single-layer 16X DVD+R disc in about 6 minutes, a 2.4X double-layer disc in just under 43 minutes, and a 30-minute VideoCD in a mere 1:48. But it took about 8:10 to rip a 67-minute audio CD to MP3 files. The only significant performance difference between the two drives was their DVD-ripping speed. The DVDirect required a disappointing 10:32 to copy a 4.7GB DVD-Video disc to a hard-drive folder, but still outperformed the DRU-710 on this test by about two minutes.
When you unplug the DVDirect from your PC, its front control panel and small LCD display become active, allowing you to use the device as a standalone direct-to-disc video recorder. In this mode, it can capture analog video directly to DVD+R and DVD+RW media, but loses its ability to perform other types of DVD-recording and playback functions. Standalone mode also lacks a way to preview and cue incoming video streams, so if your VCR, camcorder, or other source device doesn't provide a second video output that can be plugged into a monitor, you'll have no way to know when to start and stop recording.
In most other ways, the DVDirect's elegantly designed standalone-mode interface makes it trivially easy to capture multiple video clips to disc. The DVDirect doesn't attempt to duplicate the full functionality of a $500 set-top DVD recorder, but aside from a slight loss of color intensity, we found its recorded video quality to be limited primarily by that of our VHS source material.
The DVDirect's inability to capture video while connected to a PC limits its appeal, but this is merely a growing pain that Sony expects to resolve soon. Once that upgrade is implemented, this unique new device could easily become a category leader.
Sony DVDirect VRD-VC10
REVIEW DATE: 01.11.05
By Don Labriola
Most video-capturing DVD rewriters are designed to act like a single integrated device, but the early-production version of Sony's DVDirect that we tested behaves more like two independent components in a single box. When attached to a PC's USB bus, the DVDirect becomes a ringer for Sony's popular DRU-710A 16X dual-layer DVD-rewriter—complete with an updated version of the 710A's unbeatable Nero 6.6 software bundle—but can't be used to capture video.
Like the DRU-710A, our DVDirect test unit recorded a full single-layer 16X DVD+R disc in about 6 minutes, a 2.4X double-layer disc in just under 43 minutes, and a 30-minute VideoCD in a mere 1:48. But it took about 8:10 to rip a 67-minute audio CD to MP3 files. The only significant performance difference between the two drives was their DVD-ripping speed. The DVDirect required a disappointing 10:32 to copy a 4.7GB DVD-Video disc to a hard-drive folder, but still outperformed the DRU-710 on this test by about two minutes.
When you unplug the DVDirect from your PC, its front control panel and small LCD display become active, allowing you to use the device as a standalone direct-to-disc video recorder. In this mode, it can capture analog video directly to DVD+R and DVD+RW media, but loses its ability to perform other types of DVD-recording and playback functions. Standalone mode also lacks a way to preview and cue incoming video streams, so if your VCR, camcorder, or other source device doesn't provide a second video output that can be plugged into a monitor, you'll have no way to know when to start and stop recording.
In most other ways, the DVDirect's elegantly designed standalone-mode interface makes it trivially easy to capture multiple video clips to disc. The DVDirect doesn't attempt to duplicate the full functionality of a $500 set-top DVD recorder, but aside from a slight loss of color intensity, we found its recorded video quality to be limited primarily by that of our VHS source material.
The DVDirect's inability to capture video while connected to a PC limits its appeal, but this is merely a growing pain that Sony expects to resolve soon. Once that upgrade is implemented, this unique new device could easily become a category leader.
Sunday, May 15, 2005
Blogging, as in Slogging - New York Times
Blogging, as in Slogging - New York TimesMay 15, 2005
Blogging, as in Slogging
By DAVID GREENBERG
"YOU should have a blog."
Apparently I push my opinions on my friends rather aggressively, because I often hear this remark.
Last week, I had my chance. My wife and I agreed to be "guest bloggers" - the online equivalent of what David Brenner used to do for Johnny Carson - for Dan Drezner, a political scientist at the University of Chicago, who runs a popular libertarian-conservative blog, DanielDrezner.com.
How hard could blogging be? You roll out of bed, turn on your computer, scan the headlines, think up some clever analysis while brushing your teeth, type it onto your site and you're off.
But as I discovered, blogging is no longer for amateurs or the faint of heart. Blogging - if it's done well - has evolved into an all-consuming art.
Last Sunday, after a cup of coffee, I made my first offering, a smart critique, I thought, of an article about liberal politics in The New York Review of Books by Thomas Frank, the author of "What's the Matter With Kansas?"
I checked back a while later. There were, I think, three responses. Later, another post generated eight replies. Another, two. A couple got zero.
I checked the responses to Dan's posts. He seemed to average about 50. Sure, my wife, Suzanne, had been blogging for weeks on her own site, democracyarsenal.org, but still how was she getting 12, 19, even 34 replies?
I started to worry. It wasn't just my ego. I didn't want to send Dan's robust traffic numbers into a downward plunge.
As I thought about what else to opine about, I started to see that blogging wasn't as easy as it looked. Who were these people, blogging on other sites, who so confidently tossed about obscure minutiae relating to North Korea's nuclear program or President Bush's proposed revisions to Social Security benefits? Where did they find the time? (To say nothing of the readers.)
Serious bloggers, I realized, aggressively report a pet issue, updating their sites throughout the day. They scavenge the Internet for every shard of information on a hot topic, like John R. Bolton's chances of becoming ambassador to the United Nations or Tom DeLay's ethical troubles.
Since I wasn't going to make myself expert on these subjects anytime soon, I decided to write about what I knew, history.
On Tuesday, I posted a link to a piece I'd written for the online magazine Slate, faulting President Bush for his remarks criticizing the 1945 Yalta agreement, in which he said that Europe was unjustly carved up by Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin.
This time I got a lot of responses - abusive ones. Sample: "Anyone who thinks its 'ugly' to point out what was done to millions of people at Yalta is a moral cretin."
I posted again to clarify my point - that the Yalta agreement wasn't what consigned Eastern Europe to Soviet oppression. But I wasn't looking forward to the next fusillade of invective.
I did have sympathy for the audience. They expected their usual diet of conservative commentary. Instead, they got a liberal foreign policy expert (Suzanne) and a liberal historian linking to Arts & Letters Daily (aldaily.com) and the History News Network (hnn.us).
One Dreznerite vilified me for linking to a piece by the liberal journalist Joe Conason ("Why on earth would you think that gutter-dwelling hack would have any credibility on this blog?").
At one point, Dan took time out from real surfing in Hawaii to post a note informing readers that he had two liberals subbing for him. He must have been watching the train wreck on his beloved blog with horror.
I posted an item thanking readers for their indulgence.
"Could you please stop with these silly remarks about how you 'liberals' have to deal with Dan's 'conservative' readers?" came the reply. "I'm liberal, and I regularly read Dan's blog."
As I checked other sites for ideas, I now realized that I didn't need only new information. I needed a gimmick - a motif or a running joke that would keep the blog rolling all week. All of a sudden, I was reading other blogs, not for what they had to say, but for how they said it.
The best bloggers develop hobbyhorses, shticks and catchphrases that they put into wider circulation. Creating your own idiosyncratic set of villains to skewer and theories to promote - while keeping readers interested - requires as much talent as sculpting a magazine feature or a taut op-ed piece.
I'd always enjoyed kausfiles.com, for example, but I had taken for granted the way my friend Mickey Kaus paced his entries and mixed his news topics (Social Security) with personal obsessions (Jonathan Klein, the CNN honcho).
I knew I wasn't going to master the art in my few remaining days. And the vicious replies were wearing me down. I've gotten nasty responses to my articles before, but blogging is somehow more personal.
When Dan Drezner guest-blogged at the Washington Monthly site, one reader wished bodily harm on his family members. I found the blood lust jarring - especially when it started arriving in bulk, daily. (Suzanne cheerfully said, "Oh, just ignore them!" and kept posting thousand-word items by night.)
It's not that the readers were dim. Some forced me to refine or clarify my arguments. But the responses certainly got reductive, very quickly. And for all the individuality that blogs are supposed to offer, there was an amazing amount of groupthink - since some of them were getting their talking points from ... other blogs.
By the end of the week, with other deadlines looming and my patience exhausted, I began to post less and less. There was a piece for Slate due, a book chapter to finish, my baby boy, Leo, to entertain and a piece to write for the Week in Review.
I wasn't the only newcomer to blogging last week. On the ballyhooed "Huffington Post," Gary Hart, Walter Cronkite and David Mamet dipped their toes in the blogosphere as well.
I don't know how they'll fare, but I doubt that celebrity will attract readers for long. To succeed in blogging you need to understand it's a craft, with its own tricks of the trade. You need a thick skin. And you must put your life on hold to feed an electronic black hole.
What else did I learn by sitting in for Dan Drezner? That I'm not cut out for blogging.
David Greenberg teaches at Rutgers University and is the author of "Nixon's Shadow: The History of an Image."
Blogging, as in Slogging
By DAVID GREENBERG
"YOU should have a blog."
Apparently I push my opinions on my friends rather aggressively, because I often hear this remark.
Last week, I had my chance. My wife and I agreed to be "guest bloggers" - the online equivalent of what David Brenner used to do for Johnny Carson - for Dan Drezner, a political scientist at the University of Chicago, who runs a popular libertarian-conservative blog, DanielDrezner.com.
How hard could blogging be? You roll out of bed, turn on your computer, scan the headlines, think up some clever analysis while brushing your teeth, type it onto your site and you're off.
But as I discovered, blogging is no longer for amateurs or the faint of heart. Blogging - if it's done well - has evolved into an all-consuming art.
Last Sunday, after a cup of coffee, I made my first offering, a smart critique, I thought, of an article about liberal politics in The New York Review of Books by Thomas Frank, the author of "What's the Matter With Kansas?"
I checked back a while later. There were, I think, three responses. Later, another post generated eight replies. Another, two. A couple got zero.
I checked the responses to Dan's posts. He seemed to average about 50. Sure, my wife, Suzanne, had been blogging for weeks on her own site, democracyarsenal.org, but still how was she getting 12, 19, even 34 replies?
I started to worry. It wasn't just my ego. I didn't want to send Dan's robust traffic numbers into a downward plunge.
As I thought about what else to opine about, I started to see that blogging wasn't as easy as it looked. Who were these people, blogging on other sites, who so confidently tossed about obscure minutiae relating to North Korea's nuclear program or President Bush's proposed revisions to Social Security benefits? Where did they find the time? (To say nothing of the readers.)
Serious bloggers, I realized, aggressively report a pet issue, updating their sites throughout the day. They scavenge the Internet for every shard of information on a hot topic, like John R. Bolton's chances of becoming ambassador to the United Nations or Tom DeLay's ethical troubles.
Since I wasn't going to make myself expert on these subjects anytime soon, I decided to write about what I knew, history.
On Tuesday, I posted a link to a piece I'd written for the online magazine Slate, faulting President Bush for his remarks criticizing the 1945 Yalta agreement, in which he said that Europe was unjustly carved up by Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin.
This time I got a lot of responses - abusive ones. Sample: "Anyone who thinks its 'ugly' to point out what was done to millions of people at Yalta is a moral cretin."
I posted again to clarify my point - that the Yalta agreement wasn't what consigned Eastern Europe to Soviet oppression. But I wasn't looking forward to the next fusillade of invective.
I did have sympathy for the audience. They expected their usual diet of conservative commentary. Instead, they got a liberal foreign policy expert (Suzanne) and a liberal historian linking to Arts & Letters Daily (aldaily.com) and the History News Network (hnn.us).
One Dreznerite vilified me for linking to a piece by the liberal journalist Joe Conason ("Why on earth would you think that gutter-dwelling hack would have any credibility on this blog?").
At one point, Dan took time out from real surfing in Hawaii to post a note informing readers that he had two liberals subbing for him. He must have been watching the train wreck on his beloved blog with horror.
I posted an item thanking readers for their indulgence.
"Could you please stop with these silly remarks about how you 'liberals' have to deal with Dan's 'conservative' readers?" came the reply. "I'm liberal, and I regularly read Dan's blog."
As I checked other sites for ideas, I now realized that I didn't need only new information. I needed a gimmick - a motif or a running joke that would keep the blog rolling all week. All of a sudden, I was reading other blogs, not for what they had to say, but for how they said it.
The best bloggers develop hobbyhorses, shticks and catchphrases that they put into wider circulation. Creating your own idiosyncratic set of villains to skewer and theories to promote - while keeping readers interested - requires as much talent as sculpting a magazine feature or a taut op-ed piece.
I'd always enjoyed kausfiles.com, for example, but I had taken for granted the way my friend Mickey Kaus paced his entries and mixed his news topics (Social Security) with personal obsessions (Jonathan Klein, the CNN honcho).
I knew I wasn't going to master the art in my few remaining days. And the vicious replies were wearing me down. I've gotten nasty responses to my articles before, but blogging is somehow more personal.
When Dan Drezner guest-blogged at the Washington Monthly site, one reader wished bodily harm on his family members. I found the blood lust jarring - especially when it started arriving in bulk, daily. (Suzanne cheerfully said, "Oh, just ignore them!" and kept posting thousand-word items by night.)
It's not that the readers were dim. Some forced me to refine or clarify my arguments. But the responses certainly got reductive, very quickly. And for all the individuality that blogs are supposed to offer, there was an amazing amount of groupthink - since some of them were getting their talking points from ... other blogs.
By the end of the week, with other deadlines looming and my patience exhausted, I began to post less and less. There was a piece for Slate due, a book chapter to finish, my baby boy, Leo, to entertain and a piece to write for the Week in Review.
I wasn't the only newcomer to blogging last week. On the ballyhooed "Huffington Post," Gary Hart, Walter Cronkite and David Mamet dipped their toes in the blogosphere as well.
I don't know how they'll fare, but I doubt that celebrity will attract readers for long. To succeed in blogging you need to understand it's a craft, with its own tricks of the trade. You need a thick skin. And you must put your life on hold to feed an electronic black hole.
What else did I learn by sitting in for Dan Drezner? That I'm not cut out for blogging.
David Greenberg teaches at Rutgers University and is the author of "Nixon's Shadow: The History of an Image."
Saturday, May 14, 2005
Netscape Browser 8.0 (beta) review by PC Magazine
Netscape Browser 8.0 (beta) review by PC MagazineNetscape Browser 8.0 (beta)
REVIEW DATE: 05.16.05
Total posts: 1
The new Netscape 8.0 is more than just a browser; it's an information platform. Chief among this version's enhancements is the Multibar, a feature that lets you customize up to ten different browser toolbars that can be accessed within a click or two. Such toolbars can provide quick access to live news feeds, stock feeds, weather, shopping, or anything else that you add to them. You can also use them to view RSS feeds on the fly. Customization is easy and can be done mainly via Netscape's drag-and-drop interface.
Netscape's tabbed interface is plain-Jane in terms of organizing and working with tabs, but like Opera, it can be configured to open a group of tabbed pages at start-up. At installation, Netscape did a perfect job of importing bookmarks, history, and passwords from Firefox. The My Sidebar feature also returns, in much the same format as in earlier versions of Netscape. With tabs for News, Search, Bookmarks, History, and access to integrated AOL instant messenger, My Sidebar is another feature that puts a great deal of functionality right in the browser window.
From the "if you can't beat them, join them" department, Netscape offers a choice of the Gecko rendering engine (the same used by Firefox) or the IE rendering engine. You choose between them simply by checking a radio button. This feature is unique to Netscape and removes the problem of not being able to run ActiveX or VB script or to display pages with proprietary HTML tags.
One interesting feature is Netscape's Trust Ratings (displayed on a page's tab), a service that catalogs Web sites on a regular basis. Sites fall into the categories of "I trust this site," "I'm not sure," and "I don't trust this site"; security levels are adjusted accordingly. For example, some sites are verified for browsing and exchanging sensitive information, while others are placed on warning lists due to their malicious intent. This information is updated dynamically and can be manually overridden. Security settings, such as whether to allow ActiveX or JavaScript, can be set on a site-by-site basis.
Like Opera, Netscape offers password and form-data management. Where Opera uses its Wand feature, Netscape offers datacards and passcards. Datacards contain site-specific form information, and passcards contain username and password information. And of course, Netscape (as does Opera) lets you control which information is submitted and when.
With its multibar setup, Netscape becomes more of an information platform rather than a simple browser. This can be a drawback, as its interface can become cluttered and confusing—the exact opposite of Firefox. But if you want this kind of all-encompassing platform, it's a solid choice.
REVIEW DATE: 05.16.05
Total posts: 1
The new Netscape 8.0 is more than just a browser; it's an information platform. Chief among this version's enhancements is the Multibar, a feature that lets you customize up to ten different browser toolbars that can be accessed within a click or two. Such toolbars can provide quick access to live news feeds, stock feeds, weather, shopping, or anything else that you add to them. You can also use them to view RSS feeds on the fly. Customization is easy and can be done mainly via Netscape's drag-and-drop interface.
Netscape's tabbed interface is plain-Jane in terms of organizing and working with tabs, but like Opera, it can be configured to open a group of tabbed pages at start-up. At installation, Netscape did a perfect job of importing bookmarks, history, and passwords from Firefox. The My Sidebar feature also returns, in much the same format as in earlier versions of Netscape. With tabs for News, Search, Bookmarks, History, and access to integrated AOL instant messenger, My Sidebar is another feature that puts a great deal of functionality right in the browser window.
From the "if you can't beat them, join them" department, Netscape offers a choice of the Gecko rendering engine (the same used by Firefox) or the IE rendering engine. You choose between them simply by checking a radio button. This feature is unique to Netscape and removes the problem of not being able to run ActiveX or VB script or to display pages with proprietary HTML tags.
One interesting feature is Netscape's Trust Ratings (displayed on a page's tab), a service that catalogs Web sites on a regular basis. Sites fall into the categories of "I trust this site," "I'm not sure," and "I don't trust this site"; security levels are adjusted accordingly. For example, some sites are verified for browsing and exchanging sensitive information, while others are placed on warning lists due to their malicious intent. This information is updated dynamically and can be manually overridden. Security settings, such as whether to allow ActiveX or JavaScript, can be set on a site-by-site basis.
Like Opera, Netscape offers password and form-data management. Where Opera uses its Wand feature, Netscape offers datacards and passcards. Datacards contain site-specific form information, and passcards contain username and password information. And of course, Netscape (as does Opera) lets you control which information is submitted and when.
With its multibar setup, Netscape becomes more of an information platform rather than a simple browser. This can be a drawback, as its interface can become cluttered and confusing—the exact opposite of Firefox. But if you want this kind of all-encompassing platform, it's a solid choice.
Thursday, May 12, 2005
BBC NEWS | Technology | BBC eases rules on news feed use
BBC NEWS | Technology | BBC eases rules on news feed use BBC eases rules on news feed use
The BBC has opened up its content more so that people can use news stories and headlines on their own sites via RSS.
Revised licence terms mean other sites can integrate RSS feeds from the BBC without offline contract negotiations, as was previously the case.
RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication. It is a way of keeping automatically aware of website updates.
BBC News and Sport have made their content available for online news reader programs via RSS since 2003.
But this relaxing of the licence means a much more open approach, according to the BBC News website editor, Pete Clifton.
"We've raised the profile of how we are promoting them and are much more relaxed about other sites making use of feeds, which is an important step," he said.
"We want to share as much of our information as we can and reduce the restrictions we put on sites that can access them. We are making it much clearer and more simple for people to understand how they do this."
It is only right we build in some safeguards so that if they appear on sites we feel are completely beyond the pale, we can act
Pete Clifton, editor BBC News website
He explained that previously the approach was to encourage people to use the feeds for personal use, using news reader programs.
Now, the approach is more open so that people can put BBC content on their own websites. It also allows people to interact much more with the content that the BBC produces.
Mr Clifton added that the BBC had been "cautious" since introducing RSS to the site, but that there was now a real demand for news delivered to people in this way.
Like sushi restaurant conveyor belts, RSS delivers content to people so they can easily pick what they want to read.
"If we are to build public value it's important that we respond to this demand," he said.
Mr Clifton said that RSS had already proved to be a big driver of traffic to the website.
Figures for April 2005 showed that 18 million click-throughs - the number of hits generated by links to the site - were driven by the feeds to the news and sport websites.
Safeguards in place
Initially, the RSS feeds will be available from the BBC's news and sport websites.
The revised licensing agreement lays out certain terms and restrictions to use, including the appropriateness of the sites carrying BBC content, which Mr Clifton said was a necessary safeguard.
Sites that incite racial hatred or promote, facilitate or encourage illegal activity, for instance, are not permitted to display BBC content.
But in reality, said Mr Clifton, policing all sites in any substantial way would be restricted.
"It is only right we build in some safeguards so that if they appear on sites we feel are completely beyond the pale, we can act; although we can't ever claim we are going to be watching every use of it," he said.
"We will keep an eye on where they are going though."
Other BBC websites are to join the initiative in the next few months.
This means content such as film reviews and chart news could be available as RSS feeds to external sites.
Weblogs and global news sites are making much more use of RSS, and net users are becoming increasingly aware of the technology as small orange icons carrying RSS/XML text appear on sites.
There is also a plethora of news reader programs available for free through which the feeds can be collected and read at leisure.
Some news organisations, such as the UK's Guardian Online, have created bespoke news reader and aggregator programs for subscribers to use.
Mr Clifton said the BBC had considered producing its own news reader program, but felt that there was no need because there were so many other good aggregators already freely available.
Other news providers, such as the New York Times, Yahoo and Reuters offer similar services.
Story from BBC NEWS:
The BBC has opened up its content more so that people can use news stories and headlines on their own sites via RSS.
Revised licence terms mean other sites can integrate RSS feeds from the BBC without offline contract negotiations, as was previously the case.
RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication. It is a way of keeping automatically aware of website updates.
BBC News and Sport have made their content available for online news reader programs via RSS since 2003.
But this relaxing of the licence means a much more open approach, according to the BBC News website editor, Pete Clifton.
"We've raised the profile of how we are promoting them and are much more relaxed about other sites making use of feeds, which is an important step," he said.
"We want to share as much of our information as we can and reduce the restrictions we put on sites that can access them. We are making it much clearer and more simple for people to understand how they do this."
It is only right we build in some safeguards so that if they appear on sites we feel are completely beyond the pale, we can act
Pete Clifton, editor BBC News website
He explained that previously the approach was to encourage people to use the feeds for personal use, using news reader programs.
Now, the approach is more open so that people can put BBC content on their own websites. It also allows people to interact much more with the content that the BBC produces.
Mr Clifton added that the BBC had been "cautious" since introducing RSS to the site, but that there was now a real demand for news delivered to people in this way.
Like sushi restaurant conveyor belts, RSS delivers content to people so they can easily pick what they want to read.
"If we are to build public value it's important that we respond to this demand," he said.
Mr Clifton said that RSS had already proved to be a big driver of traffic to the website.
Figures for April 2005 showed that 18 million click-throughs - the number of hits generated by links to the site - were driven by the feeds to the news and sport websites.
Safeguards in place
Initially, the RSS feeds will be available from the BBC's news and sport websites.
The revised licensing agreement lays out certain terms and restrictions to use, including the appropriateness of the sites carrying BBC content, which Mr Clifton said was a necessary safeguard.
Sites that incite racial hatred or promote, facilitate or encourage illegal activity, for instance, are not permitted to display BBC content.
But in reality, said Mr Clifton, policing all sites in any substantial way would be restricted.
"It is only right we build in some safeguards so that if they appear on sites we feel are completely beyond the pale, we can act; although we can't ever claim we are going to be watching every use of it," he said.
"We will keep an eye on where they are going though."
Other BBC websites are to join the initiative in the next few months.
This means content such as film reviews and chart news could be available as RSS feeds to external sites.
Weblogs and global news sites are making much more use of RSS, and net users are becoming increasingly aware of the technology as small orange icons carrying RSS/XML text appear on sites.
There is also a plethora of news reader programs available for free through which the feeds can be collected and read at leisure.
Some news organisations, such as the UK's Guardian Online, have created bespoke news reader and aggregator programs for subscribers to use.
Mr Clifton said the BBC had considered producing its own news reader program, but felt that there was no need because there were so many other good aggregators already freely available.
Other news providers, such as the New York Times, Yahoo and Reuters offer similar services.
Story from BBC NEWS:
The New York Times > Technology > Circuits > Basics: Now, Audio Blogs for Those Who Aspire to Be D.J.'s
The New York Times > Technology > Circuits > Basics: Now, Audio Blogs for Those Who Aspire to Be D.J.'sBASICS
Now, Audio Blogs for Those Who Aspire to Be D.J.'s
By JOHN R. QUAIN
What do the pope and Paris Hilton have in common? They're both podcasters - and you can be one too.
Ranging from the sublime to the ridiculous, podcasts are essentially do-it-yourself recorded radio programs posted online. Anyone can download them free, and, using special software, listeners can subscribe to favorite shows and even have them automatically downloaded to a portable digital music player.
Despite what the name suggests, podcasts can be played not just on iPods but on any device that has an MP3 player program, including PC's and laptops.
Podcasts are the natural technological offspring of Web logs or blogs, those endlessly meandering personal Web musings that now seem to be everywhere online. Similarly, many podcasters have a diaristic bent, ranging from Mr. X, in upstate New York (ifthensoftware.blogspot.com), who has recorded his ruminations while driving to work, to Dan Klass, an underemployed actor in California whose podcast, "The Bitterest Pill" (www.thebitterestpill.com), has been known to feature invectives against Elmo.
There are celebrity podcasts like Paris Hilton's (houseofwaxmovie .warnerbros.com), intended to promote movies. Another, more high-minded site, Catholic Insider (www.catholicinsider.com), links to podcasts of Pope Benedict XVI from Vatican Radio.
Many radio stations are embracing the technology. WGBH in Boston, Q107 in Toronto and BBC Radio are already offering regular podcasts. Tomorrow, Sirius Satellite Radio will begin broadcasting a best-of-podcasting program with the podfather of podcasting, Adam Curry, formerly of MTV, as host.
Taking the experiment a step further, Infinity Broadcasting plans to restart its San Francisco talk station KYCY-AM (1550) with an all-podcasting format beginning Monday. KYCY's broadcasts will feature amateur programs from around the Web, but because of Federal Communications Commission regulations, each will be screened in advance.
Record companies are also beginning to use podcasts to fish for fans. "We think podcasts are a great way to form a relationship with our fans," said Damian Kulash, the lead singer of the rock band OK Go, which has an album coming out this summer on Capitol Records. When the band is on tour, OK Go phones in its podcasts (www.okgo.net).
Finding and Listening
For those wanting to find a podcast, there are online directories that list thousands of them, including Podcast.net (www.podcast.net), Podcasting News (podcastingnews.com), Podcast Alley (www.podcastalley.com) and iPodder.org (www.ipodder.org).
Several free software programs - like Doppler (www.dopplerradio.net) and iPodder (www.ipodder.org) - help users subscribe to and download podcasts. IPodder comes in Windows and Mac versions. The program includes a directory of podcasts available for subscribing on a scheduled basis or for downloading at will. The Web address of a podcast that is not listed can be cut and pasted into iPodder to add it to a user's roster of subscriptions.
Podcasts are usually indicated by an orange logo with the initials RSS (for really simple syndication) or XML (for extensible markup language), standing for the technologies that make such subscriptions possible.
IPod enthusiasts and Mac owners might also consider iPodderX (www.ipodderx.com), a $19.95 program that not only downloads programs but also puts them directly into the iTunes manager so that they can be automatically copied to a connected iPod player.
Unencumbered by professional standards or government broadcast rules, podcasts can devolve into fits of uncontrollable giggling and include more than their share of expletives. (Family Friendly Podcasts, at www.familyfriendlypodcasts.com, has some suggestions for those who prefer tamer shows.) Still, it is the freedom that has inspired many homegrown podcast producers.
"The whole beauty of it is that I don't have to censor myself," says Jason Evangelho, host of "Insomnia Radio," which showcases independent radio (hardcoreinsomniaradio.blogspot.com). "And I can say 'um.' "
Programs dedicated to music still dominate the podcast universe. Many offer an eclectic mix of underground music, but there are also classical music shows like "Your Daily Opera." While most get only a handful of listeners, some programs have developed a devoted fan base.
"I'm averaging about 10,000 to 11,000 listeners per show," says Brian Ibbott, whose "Coverville" (www.coverville.com) originates from his basement outside Denver. Mr. Ibbott's podcasts feature rare and unusual cover songs. He has a sponsor to offset the $30 to $40 a month he says he pays his hosting service for the extra traffic that his listeners create downloading his shows.
Making and Distributing
In addition to the chance to be heard by millions of Internet users, the relative ease of producing a show has driven the popularity of podcasting. A group of college friends unable to get their film careers off the ground, for example, decided to tell their stories, which are a cross between Firesign Theater and Hunter S. Thompson, in a podcast at the Peanut Gallery (www.thepeanutgallery.info). Those looking for a similar creative outlet need only a computer with a connected microphone and Web access.
Stay-at-home disc jockeys can record tracks using the basic recording software included with the Mac and Windows operating systems. Free software like EasyPodcast (www.easypodcast.com) can help upload efforts to a Web site. Services like Liberated Syndication (www.libsyn.com) will provide Web hosting for as little as $5 a month.
Many podcasters end up creating digital studios, using more expensive microphones, mixers and audio editing software, like Adobe Audition ($299, www.adobe.com). Audition lets a podcaster carefully edit voiceovers, mix up to 128 stereo sound tracks and even correct the pitch of a recording. Unfortunately, Audition does not include the tools for uploading to the Web.
Consequently, a new class of software designed for podcasters is beginning to emerge. Two noteworthy examples are Propaganda ($49.95, www.makepropaganda.com) and iPodcast Producer ($149.95, www.industrialaudiosoftware.com). Both Windows applications enable producers to record, mix multiple tracks and automatically post shows to the Web.
Of course, unlike a live radio broadcast or streaming music online, podcasts are downloaded and stored in their entirety. So the programs have the potential to generate thousands of copies of songs, raising legal issues. "Podcasters, like the users of any other sound recordings, must obtain the appropriate licenses from the copyright owners, or their designees," the Recording Industry Association of America said.
At "Insomnia Radio," Mr. Evangelho plays only independent bands that own the rights to their own songs, and gets permission directly from the artists to play their music. At "Coverville," to satisfy the royalties owed to songwriters and composers, Mr. Ibbott pays annual licensing fees totaling about $500 to Ascap and B.M.I. The R.I.A.A. has not specified if or how podcasters should pay the labels.
The programs are stored in the MP3 file format, and companies that use MP3 compression must pay a licensing fee to Thomson, a co-creator of the technology. But according to Rocky Caldwell at Thomson's licensing unit, fees are not applicable unless users make at least $100,000 a year from their podcasts. Now that's the kind of problem many podcasters wish they had.
Now, Audio Blogs for Those Who Aspire to Be D.J.'s
By JOHN R. QUAIN
What do the pope and Paris Hilton have in common? They're both podcasters - and you can be one too.
Ranging from the sublime to the ridiculous, podcasts are essentially do-it-yourself recorded radio programs posted online. Anyone can download them free, and, using special software, listeners can subscribe to favorite shows and even have them automatically downloaded to a portable digital music player.
Despite what the name suggests, podcasts can be played not just on iPods but on any device that has an MP3 player program, including PC's and laptops.
Podcasts are the natural technological offspring of Web logs or blogs, those endlessly meandering personal Web musings that now seem to be everywhere online. Similarly, many podcasters have a diaristic bent, ranging from Mr. X, in upstate New York (ifthensoftware.blogspot.com), who has recorded his ruminations while driving to work, to Dan Klass, an underemployed actor in California whose podcast, "The Bitterest Pill" (www.thebitterestpill.com), has been known to feature invectives against Elmo.
There are celebrity podcasts like Paris Hilton's (houseofwaxmovie .warnerbros.com), intended to promote movies. Another, more high-minded site, Catholic Insider (www.catholicinsider.com), links to podcasts of Pope Benedict XVI from Vatican Radio.
Many radio stations are embracing the technology. WGBH in Boston, Q107 in Toronto and BBC Radio are already offering regular podcasts. Tomorrow, Sirius Satellite Radio will begin broadcasting a best-of-podcasting program with the podfather of podcasting, Adam Curry, formerly of MTV, as host.
Taking the experiment a step further, Infinity Broadcasting plans to restart its San Francisco talk station KYCY-AM (1550) with an all-podcasting format beginning Monday. KYCY's broadcasts will feature amateur programs from around the Web, but because of Federal Communications Commission regulations, each will be screened in advance.
Record companies are also beginning to use podcasts to fish for fans. "We think podcasts are a great way to form a relationship with our fans," said Damian Kulash, the lead singer of the rock band OK Go, which has an album coming out this summer on Capitol Records. When the band is on tour, OK Go phones in its podcasts (www.okgo.net).
Finding and Listening
For those wanting to find a podcast, there are online directories that list thousands of them, including Podcast.net (www.podcast.net), Podcasting News (podcastingnews.com), Podcast Alley (www.podcastalley.com) and iPodder.org (www.ipodder.org).
Several free software programs - like Doppler (www.dopplerradio.net) and iPodder (www.ipodder.org) - help users subscribe to and download podcasts. IPodder comes in Windows and Mac versions. The program includes a directory of podcasts available for subscribing on a scheduled basis or for downloading at will. The Web address of a podcast that is not listed can be cut and pasted into iPodder to add it to a user's roster of subscriptions.
Podcasts are usually indicated by an orange logo with the initials RSS (for really simple syndication) or XML (for extensible markup language), standing for the technologies that make such subscriptions possible.
IPod enthusiasts and Mac owners might also consider iPodderX (www.ipodderx.com), a $19.95 program that not only downloads programs but also puts them directly into the iTunes manager so that they can be automatically copied to a connected iPod player.
Unencumbered by professional standards or government broadcast rules, podcasts can devolve into fits of uncontrollable giggling and include more than their share of expletives. (Family Friendly Podcasts, at www.familyfriendlypodcasts.com, has some suggestions for those who prefer tamer shows.) Still, it is the freedom that has inspired many homegrown podcast producers.
"The whole beauty of it is that I don't have to censor myself," says Jason Evangelho, host of "Insomnia Radio," which showcases independent radio (hardcoreinsomniaradio.blogspot.com). "And I can say 'um.' "
Programs dedicated to music still dominate the podcast universe. Many offer an eclectic mix of underground music, but there are also classical music shows like "Your Daily Opera." While most get only a handful of listeners, some programs have developed a devoted fan base.
"I'm averaging about 10,000 to 11,000 listeners per show," says Brian Ibbott, whose "Coverville" (www.coverville.com) originates from his basement outside Denver. Mr. Ibbott's podcasts feature rare and unusual cover songs. He has a sponsor to offset the $30 to $40 a month he says he pays his hosting service for the extra traffic that his listeners create downloading his shows.
Making and Distributing
In addition to the chance to be heard by millions of Internet users, the relative ease of producing a show has driven the popularity of podcasting. A group of college friends unable to get their film careers off the ground, for example, decided to tell their stories, which are a cross between Firesign Theater and Hunter S. Thompson, in a podcast at the Peanut Gallery (www.thepeanutgallery.info). Those looking for a similar creative outlet need only a computer with a connected microphone and Web access.
Stay-at-home disc jockeys can record tracks using the basic recording software included with the Mac and Windows operating systems. Free software like EasyPodcast (www.easypodcast.com) can help upload efforts to a Web site. Services like Liberated Syndication (www.libsyn.com) will provide Web hosting for as little as $5 a month.
Many podcasters end up creating digital studios, using more expensive microphones, mixers and audio editing software, like Adobe Audition ($299, www.adobe.com). Audition lets a podcaster carefully edit voiceovers, mix up to 128 stereo sound tracks and even correct the pitch of a recording. Unfortunately, Audition does not include the tools for uploading to the Web.
Consequently, a new class of software designed for podcasters is beginning to emerge. Two noteworthy examples are Propaganda ($49.95, www.makepropaganda.com) and iPodcast Producer ($149.95, www.industrialaudiosoftware.com). Both Windows applications enable producers to record, mix multiple tracks and automatically post shows to the Web.
Of course, unlike a live radio broadcast or streaming music online, podcasts are downloaded and stored in their entirety. So the programs have the potential to generate thousands of copies of songs, raising legal issues. "Podcasters, like the users of any other sound recordings, must obtain the appropriate licenses from the copyright owners, or their designees," the Recording Industry Association of America said.
At "Insomnia Radio," Mr. Evangelho plays only independent bands that own the rights to their own songs, and gets permission directly from the artists to play their music. At "Coverville," to satisfy the royalties owed to songwriters and composers, Mr. Ibbott pays annual licensing fees totaling about $500 to Ascap and B.M.I. The R.I.A.A. has not specified if or how podcasters should pay the labels.
The programs are stored in the MP3 file format, and companies that use MP3 compression must pay a licensing fee to Thomson, a co-creator of the technology. But according to Rocky Caldwell at Thomson's licensing unit, fees are not applicable unless users make at least $100,000 a year from their podcasts. Now that's the kind of problem many podcasters wish they had.
Wednesday, May 11, 2005
MS MOBILES > HTC breaks tradition
HTC breaks tradition
May 11, 2005 [Pocket PC phone]
HTC never ever did it before. Yesterday was the first time. HTC is the bigest manafucturer of Windows Mobile powered cell phones and it produces devices that are later on branded by operators (like T-Mobile, Vodafone, Orange, etc) and by distributors (like i-mate, Qtek, etc).
(click here to read mobile version of this page - if you have problems reading this news item due to ultra-high resolution photo included)
By now website of HTC was very poor and never included information about individual products. Yesterday, for the first time ever, HTC has broken the tradition of presenting products on their website and published in a press release information about one individual product: HTC Universal (also known as MDA IV, VPA IV, 3G SPV, etc):
HTC Announces The World's First Windows Mobile 5.0 Based 3G Device Global distribution expected in the second half of 2005
Taoyuan, Taiwan and Las Vegas, United States -High Tech Computer Corp. announced its plans to release the world's first 3G Windows Mobile 5.0-based device, the HTC Universal. The Universal will enable customers to be more productive while having powerful multimedia and internet browsing capabilities. Global distribution plans for the device are expected in the second half of 2005 with mobile operators in Europe, North America, and Asia.
Microsoft Corp. chairman and chief software architect, Bill Gates, unveiled Windows Mobile 5.0 during his keynote at Microsoft Mobile & Embedded DevCon 2005 in Las Vegas and displayed its versatility on the HTC Universal.
"This is the first time we are seeing the same internet experience, which you can only have in your office, with universal 3G high speed wireless data capability and large VGA display legibility. The new features from Windows Mobile 5.0 will greatly improve the keyboard experience and persistent storage feature will keep user data forever." said Peter Chou, president of HTC.
Certain technological breakthroughs are seen in the HTC Universal featuring improved support of more multimedia and productivity applications, broad integration of digital multimedia features, and faster connections to the Internet and email servers. With seamless synchronization to Office applications, faster connection speeds and versatile multimedia features customers can be more productive and have fun anywhere, anytime.
"The familiarity and flexibility of Windows Mobile 5.0 enables industry partners like HTC to differentiate itself themselves and provide extremely compelling mobile solutions for its customers," said Pieter Knook, senior vice president for the Mobile and Embedded Devices Division at Microsoft. "We look forward to our continued work with HTC to deliver forward-thinking and advanced mobile device solutions."
The HTC Universal is a 3G-enabled device that takes advantage of the advanced Windows Mobile 5.0 features, The built-in keyboard enables users to create and edit files with Microsoft Office applications. For phone and communications, the latest video telephony and dual-camera functionality facilitate high-speed connections and videoconferencing. The clamshell design of the device features a 180 degree pivot screen. With its new user interface boasting portrait and landscape modes, the new 3G phone will automatically change to the best interface. Users can also switch between the two display modes at their own discretion. In addition, users can send and receive pictures and video files at more rapid connection speeds. With its dual speaker stereophonic sound system, users can enjoy smooth and high-resolution videos at anytime.
Note : The names of actual companies and products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.
May 11, 2005 [Pocket PC phone]
HTC never ever did it before. Yesterday was the first time. HTC is the bigest manafucturer of Windows Mobile powered cell phones and it produces devices that are later on branded by operators (like T-Mobile, Vodafone, Orange, etc) and by distributors (like i-mate, Qtek, etc).
(click here to read mobile version of this page - if you have problems reading this news item due to ultra-high resolution photo included)
By now website of HTC was very poor and never included information about individual products. Yesterday, for the first time ever, HTC has broken the tradition of presenting products on their website and published in a press release information about one individual product: HTC Universal (also known as MDA IV, VPA IV, 3G SPV, etc):
HTC Announces The World's First Windows Mobile 5.0 Based 3G Device Global distribution expected in the second half of 2005
Taoyuan, Taiwan and Las Vegas, United States -High Tech Computer Corp. announced its plans to release the world's first 3G Windows Mobile 5.0-based device, the HTC Universal. The Universal will enable customers to be more productive while having powerful multimedia and internet browsing capabilities. Global distribution plans for the device are expected in the second half of 2005 with mobile operators in Europe, North America, and Asia.
Microsoft Corp. chairman and chief software architect, Bill Gates, unveiled Windows Mobile 5.0 during his keynote at Microsoft Mobile & Embedded DevCon 2005 in Las Vegas and displayed its versatility on the HTC Universal.
"This is the first time we are seeing the same internet experience, which you can only have in your office, with universal 3G high speed wireless data capability and large VGA display legibility. The new features from Windows Mobile 5.0 will greatly improve the keyboard experience and persistent storage feature will keep user data forever." said Peter Chou, president of HTC.
Certain technological breakthroughs are seen in the HTC Universal featuring improved support of more multimedia and productivity applications, broad integration of digital multimedia features, and faster connections to the Internet and email servers. With seamless synchronization to Office applications, faster connection speeds and versatile multimedia features customers can be more productive and have fun anywhere, anytime.
"The familiarity and flexibility of Windows Mobile 5.0 enables industry partners like HTC to differentiate itself themselves and provide extremely compelling mobile solutions for its customers," said Pieter Knook, senior vice president for the Mobile and Embedded Devices Division at Microsoft. "We look forward to our continued work with HTC to deliver forward-thinking and advanced mobile device solutions."
The HTC Universal is a 3G-enabled device that takes advantage of the advanced Windows Mobile 5.0 features, The built-in keyboard enables users to create and edit files with Microsoft Office applications. For phone and communications, the latest video telephony and dual-camera functionality facilitate high-speed connections and videoconferencing. The clamshell design of the device features a 180 degree pivot screen. With its new user interface boasting portrait and landscape modes, the new 3G phone will automatically change to the best interface. Users can also switch between the two display modes at their own discretion. In addition, users can send and receive pictures and video files at more rapid connection speeds. With its dual speaker stereophonic sound system, users can enjoy smooth and high-resolution videos at anytime.
Note : The names of actual companies and products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.
Tuesday, May 10, 2005
BBC NEWS | Technology | Critical flaws found in Firefox
BBC NEWS | Technology | Critical flaws found in Firefox Critical flaws found in Firefox
The Mozilla Foundation has said it is "working aggressively" to fix two flaws in its open source Firefox browser.
The vulnerabilities, reported on Saturday, were identified as "very critical", but no cases had been reported of them being exploited.
Several security firms identified the flaws which could let websites run malicious code on a person's computer.
Mozilla has responded by changing its update service and says people should temporarily turn off JavaScript code.
Manual downloads
The first flaw reported fools the browser into thinking software is being installed by a legitimate, or safe, website.
The second flaw happens when the software installation trigger does not properly check icon web addresses which contain JavaScript code.
A hacker could potentially take advantage of the security flaws to secretly launch malicious code or programs.
Mozilla advised people to download add-ons to its software manually from the Foundation's site.
Danish security firm Secunia said called the flaws "extremely critical" because cookie and history information could be used to get access to personal information or gain access to sites previously visited.
The Mozilla Foundation, which developed the browser, said it was working hard to provide a comprehensive and more permanent fix for the problems.
Main competition
Last week, Firefox celebrated its 50 millionth download since its official launch in November.
Firefox is Microsoft Internet Explorer's (IE) main rival in the browser market. Many like it because it is easily customised, and others say it has fewer security flaws than IE.
Being open source means people can adapt the software's core code to create innovative features, such as add-ons, RSS news feed readers, or extensions to the program.
The Mozilla Foundation was set up by former browser maker Netscape in 1998. Netscape dominated the browser market in the early 1990s.
Microsoft releases its next-generation IE7 later this year which promises to be more secure.
The Mozilla Foundation has said it is "working aggressively" to fix two flaws in its open source Firefox browser.
The vulnerabilities, reported on Saturday, were identified as "very critical", but no cases had been reported of them being exploited.
Several security firms identified the flaws which could let websites run malicious code on a person's computer.
Mozilla has responded by changing its update service and says people should temporarily turn off JavaScript code.
Manual downloads
The first flaw reported fools the browser into thinking software is being installed by a legitimate, or safe, website.
The second flaw happens when the software installation trigger does not properly check icon web addresses which contain JavaScript code.
A hacker could potentially take advantage of the security flaws to secretly launch malicious code or programs.
Mozilla advised people to download add-ons to its software manually from the Foundation's site.
Danish security firm Secunia said called the flaws "extremely critical" because cookie and history information could be used to get access to personal information or gain access to sites previously visited.
The Mozilla Foundation, which developed the browser, said it was working hard to provide a comprehensive and more permanent fix for the problems.
Main competition
Last week, Firefox celebrated its 50 millionth download since its official launch in November.
Firefox is Microsoft Internet Explorer's (IE) main rival in the browser market. Many like it because it is easily customised, and others say it has fewer security flaws than IE.
Being open source means people can adapt the software's core code to create innovative features, such as add-ons, RSS news feed readers, or extensions to the program.
The Mozilla Foundation was set up by former browser maker Netscape in 1998. Netscape dominated the browser market in the early 1990s.
Microsoft releases its next-generation IE7 later this year which promises to be more secure.
Top Tech News - Tech Trends - Bloodbath at IBM - 13,000 Fired
Top Tech News - Tech Trends - Bloodbath at IBM - 13,000 Fired: "Bloodbath at IBM - 13,000 Fired
Bloodbath at IBM - 13,000 Fired By Jay Wrolstad
May 5, 2005 11:23AM
This reorganization effort is a clear indication that the I.T. industry is in transition, said Yankee Group analyst Dana Gardner. 'The competition worldwide is moving quickly up the food chain. Open source technology, outsourcing and enterprise buying decisions are putting the pressure on IBM, Sun, HP, Seibel, among others,' he said. "
Bloodbath at IBM - 13,000 Fired By Jay Wrolstad
May 5, 2005 11:23AM
This reorganization effort is a clear indication that the I.T. industry is in transition, said Yankee Group analyst Dana Gardner. 'The competition worldwide is moving quickly up the food chain. Open source technology, outsourcing and enterprise buying decisions are putting the pressure on IBM, Sun, HP, Seibel, among others,' he said. "
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