North Lakes Mango Hill Queensland - Community Information Gadgets and Technology

Photo sharing services: To pay or not to pay?

northlakes.com.au — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 19:12:01 GMT

It's an all-too familiar scenario: buckets of photos sitting on your memory card and a long, arduous task ahead as you try and find the best way to share precious shots with friends and family.

We've covered a couple of ways to organise your snaps, but when you want to take your burgeoning gallery online there are even more options available to you.

There's no doubt that doing it on the cheap (or even for free) is better for your back pocket, but in terms of flexibility and capacity, paid online storage is a good option. Here's a selection of services that offer storage (and also printing) services, complete with pricing and what you get for your money. Most of the options here are also available as free variants with lesser functionality and/or storage capacity.

Kodak Gallery
Kodak's Gallery service ... After a rather unceremonious email notification at the end of March, Kodak Gallery announced it was beginning to charge users for its online photo storage by asking them to make a minimum annual spend on prints. This is not a new phenomenon — Snapfish, for example, provides unlimited storage on the proviso that you make at least one purchase a year.

Kodak Gallery stipulates you have to spend at least US$4.99 per year if you have less than 2GB of photos stored, and US$19.99 per year for any amount over 2GB. Once you have uploaded your photos it's a simple act of deciding what format you want your prints in (photo book, standard prints, gift cards and so on) and proceeding to the checkout with your order.

Flickr
Most photographers will be already acquainted with one of the stalwarts of the photo sharing scene, Flickr, which has a subscription service called Flickr Pro. For US$24.95 per year, users have unlimited storage and unlimited upload capacity, unlike standard (free) users who are limited to 100MB upload capacity per month.

Ordering prints of your photos from Flickr is a little more complex than the Kodak all-in-one model: they offer a choice of several third-party companies that will print all sorts of content using your photos. The major advantage of Flickr is the community features, such as groups and forums. You can also choose to upload your photos to groups to move beyond just sharing with your contacts.

Picasa
Picasa Web Albums, the online variant of Google's Picasa, allows you to store and share photos just like the other sites listed here. It's limited to 1GB storage for a free account, and you can purchase additional storage in upgrades all the way up to 400GB for US$500 per year. The big advantage with Picasa Web Albums is that you can automatically sync your albums from your computer with the Picasa stand-alone software, and share folders accordingly.

Source: cnet.com.au

Plasma vs LCD: Which is right for you?

northlakes.com.au — Tue, 05 May 2009 23:33:00 GMT

The two different camps of flat panel display standard will, of course, gladly spruik the advantages of their own standard and the deficiencies of the other. But which type of display, plasma or LCD, is better? And which will give you more bang for your buck?

1. Plasma and LCD technology - what's the difference?
Plasma and LCD panels may look similar, but the flat screen and thin profile is where the similarities end. Plasma screens, as its name suggests, uses a matrix of tiny gas plasma cells charged by precise electrical voltages to create a picture. LCD screens (liquid crystal display) are in layman's terms sandwiches made up of liquid crystal pushed in the space between two glass plates. Images are created by varying the amount electrical charge applied to the crystals. Each technology has its strengths and weaknesses, as you'll read below.

2. Is there a difference in picture quality between plasma and LCD screens and normal CRT TVs?
It's not what's happening behind the screen that's important — it's how the screen performs as a television that matters the most. In that regard, both plasma and LCD sets produce excellent pictures, although some home entertainment specialists and gamers still say CRTs produce the best overall images (although the latest plasmas are particularly good, and LCD sets are quickly catching up in terms of quality with advances like LED-backlighting).

Those same home entertainment specialists will tell you that for basic home theatre-like usage, plasma screens have a slight edge over LCDs. This is because plasma screens can display blacks more accurately than LCDs can, which means better contrast and detail in dark scenes. The nature of LCD technology, where a backlight shines through the LCD layer, means it's hard for it to achieve true blacks because there's always some light leakage from between pixels. This is steadily improving with every new generation of LCD, however.

3. What advantages does plasma have over LCD?
Apart from better contrast due to its ability to show deeper blacks, plasma screens typically have better viewing angles than LCD. Viewing angles are how far you can sit on either side of a screen before the picture's quality is affected. You tend to see some brightness and colour shift when you're on too far of an angle with LCDs, while a plasma's picture remains fairly solid. This is steadily changing, however, with more and more LCDs entering the market with viewing angles equal to some plasmas. Plasmas can also produce a brighter colour, once again due to light leakage on an LCD affecting its colour saturation.

Plasma pundits will also tell you that some LCD screens have a tendency to blur images, particularly during fast moving scenes in movies or in sports. While that was true for older generation LCD screens, newer models have improved significantly — so much so that the differences in performance between LCDs and plasmas in this regard is almost negligible. (While the pixel response time, measured in ms, can give you some indication of an LCD's performance with fast-moving scenes, it's not always reliable).

Traditionally, the biggest advantage plasmas have had over their LCD cousins is price, particularly in the large screen end of the market. Depending on the resolution, plasma is still able to beat most equivalently-priced LCD screens. Plasmas being sold in Australia generally run between 42-inches and 63-inches wide, with the cheapest 1024 x 768 standard definition 42-inch selling for approximately AU$1700. However, you can also find some 32-inch plasmas on the market, and they can be found for under AU$1,000, but we think LCDs offer a better deal at this size. 60-inch sets are becoming more mainstream, and are still cheaper than LCDs of the same size, e.g. the run-out Pioneer PDP-LX609A goes for about AU$12,500.

LCDs, on the other hand, generally top out around the 52-inch mark — though there there have been some ludicrously expensive 70-inch Sonys available. Price parity is starting to occur with plasmas and LCD with sizes over 50-inches.

4. What advantages does LCD have over plasma?
Apart from becoming increasingly price competitive, LCD has the edge over plasma in several other key areas. LCDs tend to have higher native resolution than plasmas of similar size, which means more pixels on a screen.

LCDs also tend to consume less power than plasma screens, with some of the newer "Eco" LCD panels able to use half of the power than equivalent plasmas, with the trade-off being lower brightness.

In terms of bulk, LCDs are also generally lighter than similar sized plasmas, making it easier to move around or wall mount. This is because LCDs use plastic in their screen makeup whereas plasmas tend to use glass.

LCD pundits point to the belief that LCDs have a longer lifespan than plasma screens. This may have been true of earlier plasma models, which would lose half of their brightness after more than 20,000 hours of viewing. However, many plasmas available on the market today quote a lifespan of about 60,000 hours, which is the same as LCD. This means they will last for almost seven years if left on 24-hours-a-day.

Last year, LCD finally caught up to the quality of plasma with the introduction of LED-backlighting. Instead of lighting the screen with fluorescent tubes, as is traditional, it uses banks of LED lights. There are two types of LED lighting: direct and edge. Direct back-lighting results in better images as manufacturers are able to turn sections of the screen lighting off &mash; meaning better contrast. Edge-lighting is as it sounds, using a series of LEDs along the edge of the screen to light the LCD panel. The TV then uses mirrors and light guides to illuminated the screen. Most thin LCDs will use this method. Look out for more LED-backlit screens this year, but they are NOT a new category of screen, and not to be confused with OLED.

You might have also heard that plasmas suffer from screen burn in, an affliction not commonly associated with LCDs. Screen burn in occurs when an image is left too long on a screen, resulting in a ghost of that image "burned in". Newer plasmas are less susceptible to this thanks to improved technology and features such as screen savers, but burn-in can still be a problem. However, after a few days most burnt-in images will fade &mash; they are no longer permanent.

5. Which is better value for me right now: plasma or LCD?
If you're in the market for a big screen television &mash; and we're talking 50-inches and above &mash; then we'd suggest plasma as a safe bet. Plasmas give you more bang for your buck at the big end of town, and while LCDs can give you better resolution, plasma still has the edge in terms of picture quality. One other thing to look for, whether you opt for plasma or LCD, is an integrated HD digital tuner — some TVs still have analogue tuners, which look pretty terrible on a large screen.

At the smaller end of things (17-inch to 42-inch TVs), LCD is the only way to go if you want something slim and tasteful. And the best thing is that LCDs are getting cheaper all the time.

There has also been a lot of debate surrounding use in bright environments versus dark, cinema-like conditions. The traditional wisdom is that LCD performs better during the day due to its backlighting sytem, and that plasma in a dark environment, as it uses a glass front. However, products like the Pioneer Kuro plasma and the upcoming LED-backlit LCD panels completely turn this logic on its head. That said, plasmas do generally perform better in the dark, but models with a anti-reflective coating are the best all-rounders.

If you're a true high-def junkie who's keen to see every pixel of a 1080p source reproduced as is, then LCDs are seemingly the way to go. However, 1080p is quickly becoming the norm, with many LCDs now featuring 1920 x 1080 pixel resolutions. Budget LCDs and plasmas on the other hand feature either 1366 x 768 or even 1024 x 768 (720p) resolutions. If you're buying a screen 50-inches or larger, there's now no reason to get anything less than 1080p.

However, despite the current HD buzz, there is still very little content available in 1080p — especially when compared to the infinite amount of SD content like TV programs and DVDs. At present, Blu-ray, and some HD downloads, are the only sources that can do 1080p, and free-to-air is only 1080i.

But it isn't all about the resolution — it's not the pixels, it's what you do with them. Most modern TVs, and even budget ones, will accept a 1080p input, and it depends on the quality of the scaler onboard as to how good a picture you'll get. The big names — Panasonic, Sony, Samsung and LG — usually have very good image processors that can resize the source content — whether it's a DVD, Blu-ray or FTA — to the resolution of your screen without a problem.

What's Bluetooth 3.0?

northlakes.com.au — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 19:08:06 GMT

Bluetooth 3.0+High Speed has been officially confirmed, with faster data transfer on the cards by the end of this year.

What's Bluetooth 3.0?
Why, hello, average consumer. Bluetooth 3.0 is the next generation of the technology that allows you to transfer data wirelessly between two devices, such as sending a photo from one phone to another or using a headset to talk on the phone.

Who says?
The new specification has been announced by the Bluetooth Special Interest Group.

Never heard of 'em.
The Bluetooth SIG is a non-profit organisation that decides on standards and branding, and generally cheerleads for the format.

Give me a B. Give me an L. Give me a U...
Yes, that sort of thing. What's interesting is that Bluetooth 3.0 will use the 802.11 radio protocol, which is the same as used by Wi-Fi.

That is interesting.
All right, don't take the proverbial. What this means for you is that Bluetooth 3.0 will pair the two methods of transferring data, but actual data transfer will take place over Wi-Fi at around 24Mbps. That means file transfer will be much faster than present Bluetooth speeds, and much larger files can be moved. Potentially, that means you could do things such as stream video from a camcorder to an HDTV or zap a batch of photos to a printer.

My phone's died again.
Concentrate, average consumer! Actually, that's relevant, because Bluetooth 3.0 is designed to avoid the battery-draining cost of leaving the current version on all the time. In fact, the 802.11 radio stays off until you actually start transferring data.

Can I have an ice cream?
Not until you finish your nuts. Bluetooth 3.0 will be backwards-compatible, so you'll be able to use new devices with your existing Bluetooth 2.1-toting gear. Chip makers Atheros and Broadcom are already working on 3.0 hardware, and we should see consumer products with Bluetooth 3.0 in around nine to 12 months. It's also possible that existing devices with 802.11 Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 2.1 could be upgraded via a firmware update.

Source: cnet.com.au

What is Freeview?

northlakes.com.au — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 23:33:34 GMT

Whether you loved or hated the "enigmatic" ads that first announced the service to us, Freeview is upon us. Up to 15 new channels have been promised, but what exactly is Freeview, and what do you need to do to receive it?

The basics
When it boils down to it, almost all Australians are already receiving Freeview — it's just not called that at the moment. It's essentially a rebadging of the digital service that has been broadcasting in Australia since 2001.

Freeview began in the UK in 2002 as a digital standard-definition service, but it differs from the Australian version because as we speak there is still no high-definition content available. The name was then co-opted by New Zealand in 2006 for its digital services, and naturally Australia will now follow suit.

As for the 15 channels, all five major networks — ABC, SBS, Seven, Nine and Ten — will get to broadcast three channels each. Each station will get to broadcast one high-definition channel, and two standard-definition ones.

While this may change, 11 of the 15 promised channels are already broadcasting, with ONE (SD and HD) due to hit on 26 March. The third channels from Seven and Nine are yet to be formally announced.

Why do I need it?
Depending on which area you live in, digital TV is an inevitability. If you happen to live in Mildura, for example, it will happen sooner than most, with the analog signal switching off in the middle of 2009.

From there it's a progressive switch-off until 2013, and so at some point in the next four years you'll need to get a digital tuner of some sort. The idea behind Freeview is that the networks would rather you do it sooner than later.

And if you're still clinging to the analog TV tuner that came with your TV, then you'll find digital TV to be something of a revelation. Not only is the picture quality so much better, but the amount of choice greater. Even if you don't have a HDTV, you'll still be able to watch HD broadcasts on a CRT — just not in high definition. Most networks play exclusive content on their HD channels so you'll be getting more stuff for the paltry cost of a digital tuner (about AU$60).

What stations will I get in my area?
If you live in a metropolitan area then by the middle of 2009 you should be receiving all of the promised 15 stations. If you happen to live outside one of the major centres then you may not be as lucky.

Network Ten has already announced its ONE channels will broadcast from the end of March, replacing HD content such as House and Rove with 24-hour sports. According to Freeview, there will be a rolling schedule of new channel announcements following the introduction of the Freeview education campaign in late February 2009.

What equipment will I need?
From April onwards, Freeview-branded equipment will start appearing on the shelves. But you don't necessarily need one to pick up Freeview television. If you have an existing SD or HD tuner, the service will continue as it always has. You'll even be able to pick up the electronic-program guide (EPG) so you can record future programs, or even just browse the shows for the next week on-screen.

PVRs such as the Topfield TF7100HDPVRt use their own guides and won't need the Freeview EPG. (Credit: Topfield)
The only caveat is that in most cases you'll need a Freeview-branded tuner or television to pick up the Freeview EPG. According to the Freeview people, the Freeview guide will offer exclusive content and functionality not available on the current guide. Although, no one really knows what that is yet as the guide isn't expected to come online until the end of 2009.

Equipment with the Freeview logo on-board are expected to appear from April onwards, and according to LG, firmware updates should enable users of existing TVs to receive the EPG. Of course, it was only 12 months ago that the first EPG was released on the market necessitating a major upgrade of people's equipment.

Users of TiVo can relax though, as Freeview is working with the PVR manufacturer to release a Freeview EPG for the recorder as well. All that and pizza too!

Lastly, if you have a PVR from the likes of Foxtel, Austar or an Ice-enabled product such as Topfield, then you won't have to worry about Freeview — all of these recorders use their own EPG.

Conclusion
It could be argued that the Freeview branding is a cynical ploy to wrest eyeballs (and advertising dollars) back from Foxtel. However, Foxtel does offer quite a few more channels (about 100) — admittedly, with a lot of duplication.

We look forward to finding out more about the Freeview service, and will watch with interest whether niche channels such as ONE HD can sustain the public's interest.

Huawei Android: Bride of iPhone

northlakes.com.au — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 19:51:01 GMT

Being the coolest kid in town is tough. While Apple's iPhone 3G enjoys the fawning adoration of fanboys the world over, it must be lonely at the top. What the iPhone needs is a friend, a phone that not only looks out for it, but perhaps one that looks quite a lot like it. The Bride of iPhone.

Chinese manufacturer Huawei has announced it will take on the big names in smartphones, releasing a touchscreen device that will run on the Google Android operating system. So far that's all we know, we don't have a name or any idea of the hardware we can expect inside. All we can say for sure is that it looks embarrassingly like an iPhone and will be released commercially in the third quarter of the year.

Huawei is a large telecommunications equipment maker that has been manufacturing handsets for wireless operators, which then resell the devices under their own brands. In Australia, the company is best known for providing most of the mobile carriers with 3G broadband modems for resale, but by the end of the year we could be strutting about with a Huawei handset in our pockets.

Source: cnet.com.au

Facebook users force 'copyright' plan U-turn

northlakes.com.au — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 23:24:04 GMT

FACEBOOK has withdrawn controversial changes to its terms of service after receiving a storm of complaints from users of the social networking website.

Tens of thousands of posters protested after an unannounced change seemed to grant Facebook the right to control and use the information posted by account holders on the site for ever, even if they had cancelled their accounts.

Users feared that the new terms gave Facebook the right in perpetuity to use their photos, messages and other content for marketing or to sell to advertisers.

Facebook announced last night that it was reverting immediately to the old terms of service, which included the crucial sentence: "You may remove your user content from the site at any time. If you choose to remove your user content, the license granted above will automatically expire, however you acknowledge that the company may retain archived copies of your user content."

Mark Zuckerberg, co-founder and CEO of Facebook , wrote on a blog: "A couple of weeks ago, we revised our terms of use, hoping to clarify some parts for our users. Over the past couple of days, we received a lot of questions and comments about the changes and what they mean for people and their information. Based on this feedback, we have decided to return to our previous terms of use while we resolve the issues that people have raised."

He added: "We think that a lot of the language in our terms is overly formal and protective."

The terms of use were updated on February 4 but the move was not noticed until a consumer rights blog pointed it out last Sunday.

Objections quickly mounted as it was noted that no other mainstream social network took such a hard line with their terms of use. There are more than 175 million regular users of Facebook.

Mr Zuckerberg added on the blog: "In reality, we wouldn't share your information in a way you wouldn't want. The trust you place in us as a safe place to share information is the most important part of what makes Facebook work. Our goal is to build great products and to communicate clearly to help people share more information in this trusted environment."

He said that when someone shared a photo, a message or a status update, they first needed to grant Facebook a licence to pass that information on to authorised friends. Without the licence, Facebook would not be able to help people share information.

Mr Zuckerberg added that the new terms were necessary to reflect the fact that friends may retain a copy of that message or other information once a user shares it with them. "Even if the person deactivates their account, their friend still has a copy of that message," he added.

Facebook has launched a Bill of Rights and Responsibilities group on the site to enable users to discuss the terms of use and make suggestions.

In his latest blog post, Mr Zuckerberg said: "Our next version will be a substantial revision from where we are now. It will reflect the principles I described around how people share and control their information, and it will be written clearly in language everyone can understand."

The incident is the latest in a series of mishaps where changes made by Facebook have been met with anger by its customers. In late 2007, a tracking tool called Beacon caught users off-guard by broadcasting information about their shopping habits and activities at other websites. After initially defending the practice, Facebook allowed users to turn Beacon off.

Source: Australian IT

Australia achieves a new Guinness World Record Telstra's Next G network officially declared world's fastest

northlakes.com.au — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 22:59:10 GMT

The Telstra Next G™ network recently declared the world's fastest national mobile broadband network by the Guinness World Records after turning up the peak network speeds to a blistering 21 Mbps.

At the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Telstra CEO, Mr Sol Trujillo, unveiled the world's fastest mobile broadband device - the Turbo 21 modem - which connected to the Telstra Next G™ network and achieved speeds four times faster than those from other Australian telecommunications companies.

The Australian representative of the Guinness World Records, Mr Chris Sheedy, today declared Telstra's achievement as "phenomenal and a real win for everyday Australians and Australian businesses."

"It is great to see an Australian company leading the way globally in the telecommunications industry," Mr Sheedy said. "I've witnessed amazing records around the globe, but this is the first time I've had the honour of announcing a record which delivers such tangible benefits to an entire nation."

Telstra Consumer Executive Director, Ms Jenny Young, said the accolade recognised that Telstra was keeping Australia on top of the world with technology and innovation.

"But the greatest news is that it is Telstra's customers who will be the winners as they will be the first in the world to experience true real-time mobile broadband," Ms Young said. "With the largest range of mobile content in Australia as well as access to unique and unmetered Telstra BigPond® content, the new Turbo 21 modem gives customers access to news, movies, music and sport in real-time.

"These record breaking speeds mean it can take only six seconds to download a two megabyte video from BigPond or four seconds for a song. These new speeds will also be a boost for Australian business that can use the Turbo 21 modem to help save time, cut costs and increase productivity," Ms Young said.

Customers using the Turbo 21 modem in enabled areas will experience download speeds ranging from 550 Kbps to 8 Mbps. This is the second time Telstra has been awarded a Guinness World Record for the fastest national broadband network - the first was in 2007 when Telstra recorded record speeds of 14.4 Mbps.

Telstra Networks and Services Group Managing Director, Mr Michael Rocca, said more record breaking speeds were around the corner.

"We've supercharged the Next G™ network to a peak network speed of 21 Mbps using HSPA+ technology but this is just the beginning," Mr Rocca said. "Later this year, Australians will see peak network downlink speeds increase even further to 42 Mbps on parts of the Telstra Next G™ network."

The Turbo 21 modem is the world's first commercial 21 Mbps peak rated mobile broadband modem and will be available to some business customers from 23 February with consumer and full business availability in the coming months. For more information or to register your interest in being one of the first to purchase the new Turbo 21 modem go to www.bigpond.com/21mbps-expression-of-interest/