Developages - Development and Technology Blog

Filed under: Laptops

Sure, we’ve seen projects like SplashTop boot a stripped Linux build quickly, but Intel engineers at the recent Linux Plumbers Conference took things a little father last Thursday, starting up modified versions of Fedora and Intel’s own Moblin Linux on an SSD-equipped Eee PC in just five seconds. That’s all the way to an idle CPU and disk, not cheating and starting a window manager while background services thrash in the background, mind you — and it’s fast enough that the splash screen was removed from both distros. The changes are being sent back to the Moblin and Fedora trunks, but if you′re curious, a detailed overview of the changes awaits at the read link.

[Via SlashGear]

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Original post by Nilay Patel

Meshach writes “Over at the Linux Journal, Doc Searles is noting that today marks 17 years since Linus posted to Usenet, starting Linux (post). As a Linux user at work and at home I say, thanks Linus!” The anniversary is also featured on the top page of the Encyclopedia Britannica.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Original post by kdawson

Filed under: HDTV, Home Entertainment

If you were curious as to why Boxee suddenly became available for OS X 10.4 users, here’s your sign. The underpinnings of the Apple TV are indeed based on Tiger, thus paving the way for Scott Davilla, a developer for the aTV-bootloader project, to announce that Boxee and XMBC can now be installed on Apple’s set-top-box. In order to take advantage, you’ll need the aTV Flash bootloader on a bootable USB drive, an Apple TV and the software in the links below. Currently, things are setup to run on Mac only, though PC / Linux versions are promised for next week. After signing up for a Boxee invite, jump on past the break for the step-by-step guide to getting this going.

Continue reading Boxee / XBMC now available on Apple TV

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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Desktops, Laptops

Well, it looks like the good times that are the Ubuntu alpha testing process hit a bit of a snag recently, as one of the latest kernels apparently had the nasty side effect of irreparably damaging some users’ hardware — specifically, certain Intel network cards. So far, it seems that only laptops have been affected by the bug, which corrupts the NVRAM used to store data like MAC addresses, but folks don’t seem to be ruling out the possibility that it could affect desktops as well. What’s more, while a warning has been added to the ISO download, it hasn’t been pulled altogether, with the only explanation given being that it would delay the 8.10 release schedule too much. Not entirely surprisingly, that has prompted at least a few folks to give up on testing alpha versions of the OS, at least until this whole thing gets sorted out.

[Thanks, JagsLive]

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Original post by Donald Melanson

As a fan of Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 (OCS 2007) and with OCS 2007 R2 just around the corner (later this year/early next year), I’d like to see 3rd party vendors offer utilities to monitor OCS 2007’s performance to ensure reliability and uptime. After all, your communications are your lifeblood. Microsoft’s OCS 2007 is a unified communications (UC) platform that handles several communications methods, including IM/presence, voice, video, and collaboration, so it’s even more critical that OCS 2007 stays up. As such, I came across a new product just launched from NetIQ called NetIQ AppManager for Microsoft Office Communications Server.

NetIQ AppManager for Microsoft Office Communications Server (OCS) was designed to proactively ensure the performance and availability of Microsoft OCS 2007. AppManager’s core capabilities of real-time monitoring and management now extend to Microsoft OCS to ensure it is up and running.

Key Points:

• Monitor the health and availability of Microsoft OCS servers
• Monitor session and call activity
• Get alerts when usage metrics reach critical levels
• Report on adoption and usage trends

Key Features and Benefits

• Provide proactive event management - Proactively detects problems with Microsoft OCS and sends alerts to your OCS administrators, often before end users are impacted.
• Enables application health visibility - AppManager’s end-to-end service visibility vastly reduces downtime to your business services and visually represents service issues via service maps, helping you understand who is being affected.
• Visualize your data - Use interactive charting and snapshot reports to give a visual view of your data for easier analysis and information sharing.
• Delivers application performance reporting - Leverage AppManager’s data repository for all of your management information - events and performance data - giving you a centralized view of all servers and resources. This single repository will also streamline your reporting.

You can find out more about NetIQ AppManager for Microsoft Office Communications Server here.

Tags: Microsoft, NetIQ, NetIQ AppManager for Microsoft Office Communications Server, OCS 2007, OCS 2007 R2, Office Communications Server 2007

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Original post by nafiz

Anyone who hates wires or, has a partner who hates wires, will be happy to see the new On Air WEM-1 Wireless Expansion kit from JBL. Apart from all its technical capabilities, it is ‘Missus-Friendly’, in that it will allow you to finally get the surround sound system into the living room without risk of divorce. The WEM-1 in its simplest form adds wireless capability to any loudspeaker, eliminating the need to run speaker wires across a room, through walls, floors or ceilings. This is very handy if you want those extra surround speakers at the back off the room without any wires. It comprises a transmitter module that hooks up to your audio source, a receiver/amplifier unit that connects to a pair of speakers, a remote control and some accessories. It can also be used for distributing audio from a PC around the home. The WEM-1 has an operating range of up to 70 feet and comes with a decent selection of connection options [line- and speaker-level outputs], to fit most audio equipment. It will cost around £180-200 when it launches later this month. [JBL] audio wireless home

Original post by nafiz

It’s been a long time since DVD players were considered cool and even longer since they gave off even a whiff of sex appeal, but LG has certainly injected a little heat into the now bland DVD arena with its DVS450H DVD. Aside from the crappy name, the player is a real design treat, standing thin and tall with a glossy black finish and minimalist controls. It can stand horizontally or vertically and is suitable for wall mounting, just so everyone can ‘ooh’ over your gadget sense of style.It sports a HDMI port and claims upscaling of regular DVDs to near HD. It also supports DivX, WMA, DivX HD, Xvid-H, Ṃ and JPEG playback and comes with a USB port for connecting to your external hard disk drive, filled with all the video content you nicked off the Net. Due out in October it will be priced at around £130.-Martin Lynch dvd movies gadgets

Original post by nafiz

Blu-ray players are generally fatties but Samsung has thrown its latest 5th-gen player, the BD-P2500 on a treadmill while cramming in everything but the kitchen sink. The new player was unveiled today at the IFA 2008 show in Berlin and the minimalist styling looks tasty indeed. It’s compatible ‘out-of-the-box’ with the latest Blu-ray interactive features like BD Live (Profile 2.0), Bonus View (Profile 1.1) and uses the award-winning Hollywood Quality Video (HQV) chip for processing video, while supporting 7.1-channel sound systems. It comes with a built-in, wired Ethernet connection, 1GB of internal Flash memory and a USB port for memory expansion. On the audio front, the BD-P2500 can output Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby TrueHD and DTS as an uncompressed PCM signal, as a bitstream, or via the 7.1 analog outputs. Also, support for DTS-HD HR (High Resolution) decoding will arrive with a firmware update. When you think that Yamaha had the audacity to launch its first Blu-ray player this week with no Ethernet and inferior features for a whopping $1,200 (£600), it’s amazing that Samsung will be shipping the BD-P2500 for $500 - around £250. Obviously that price will rise a bit here but we are finally starting to see highly specified players with less galling price tags. I still won’t be happy though until they start costing under £200 here.-Martin Lynch blu-ray movies samsung

Original post by nafiz

Looking like something that should have wheels and be zipping around cleaning the corridors of Imperial Star Destroyers, the new Philips CinemaOne is offering shoppers a one-stop solution for their iPod and home cinema needs. This dinky little unit - roughly the size of a football - is deceptive in what it houses, which includes a DVD/CD player, 5-channel home cinema amplifier, iPod dock, 6 internal speakers and a 4in subwoofer. The speakers are situated around the device and angled to provide some form of pseudo surround while the iPod can be controlled using the CinemaOne′s remote control.The DVD player supports DivX, MPEG-4 and WMV files too as well as upscaling video to near HD picture quality. There′s a HDMI output and USB port alongside the usual audio connections. I’d love to tell you that it will cost the same as a football too but I can’t. In fact, Phillips have been remiss in actually telling anyone when this will roll out and how much damage it will do to wallets.-Martin Lynch gadget cinema ipod

Original post by nafiz

I never really got the appeal of projectors with in-built DVD players but I can see why some people might like a portable unit that provides the big screen thrills without any cabling fuss. Epson has launched another DVD/projector/speaker combo with the MovieMate 55 for the home. Yes, it is pretty ugly but it only costs around £350 [possibly £400 by the time it gets here]. It houses a progressive scan DVD spinner, 8Watt speakers and weighs in at just over 8lbs. It’s a standard-def projector - not HD - but it’s still capable of throwing up a 60in image from just 6-feet, and 120ins from 12-feet. It’s based on the 3-chip 3LCD technology and comes with a new, brighter 1200 Lumens bulb with a respectable life expectancy of around 3,000 hours. There’s a fold-away handle for easy carrying and a host of connections guaranteed to make it easy to hook up to your Nintendo Wii, Ṕ or Xbox 360. At £400 for something that will really bring those games and movies to life, you could do a lot worse.-Martin Lynch home cinema movies projector

Original post by nafiz

If you’ve been enjoying the growing success of Auntie Beeb’s iPlayer then you’ll be pleased to hear that it’s not spending its spare time sitting back basking in glory. A recent announcement confirms that the service is being improved further to allow users more time to watch their favourite shows.Dubbed ’series stacking′, this basically means that you get more time to download or watch missed episodes of your favourite series’ before they get taken off air. As of September 13th, key shows will be kept online for an entire series, allowing you to catch up on missed episodes or watch the entire thing from the start. BBC Vision controller Simon Nelson stated “Series stacking will really make the unmissable, unmissable. Now, you’ll be able to join a series half way through following a friend’s recommendation and catch up on all the previous episodes - or watch them all in one go over a weekend. Series stacking marks a key development in our strategy to let audiences view our programmes whenever and wherever they want.” Astute online viewers will point out that similar services like Channel 4’s 4OD have been offering extended viewing for some time, but we’re pleased to see that the Beeb is keen to keep its excellent service up to date with rivals. Whisper it quietly, but suddenly our yearly TV license fee is starting to look like quite good value for money. - Paul Lester [BrandRepublic] BBC iPlayer online

Original post by nafiz

Panasonic likes rolling out jaw-droppingly big tellies. Usually of the type that we can’t afford but, nonetheless impressive to stand in front of at shows, drooling. This time out, the company is prepping a new 103in Plasma TV, the TH-103PZ800, for the IFA Show 2008, which kicks off on Friday. This is a third generation 103-incher and while the specs are impressive, it’s most notable because it’s around £10,000 cheaper than its predecessor launched in February.OK, at around £25,000, it’s still not cheap but at this rate, I’ll be able to afford one in around 5-7 years. Alright I’m joking since I think HD projectors are the only way to go for the really big picture without going bankrupt. This is a Full HD telly, with Deep Colour and x.v. Colour support, a 10,000:1 contrast ratio, 4 HDMI slots, Ethernet, SD Card slot and VIERA Link tech for hooking up simply to other Panasonic kit. Just make sure your wall can take this baby since it weighs in at 756 pounds. Oh, and there’s no speakers. Go figure.-Martin Lynch [Akihabaranews] news TV HDTV

Original post by nafiz

Filed under: Displays, HDTV, Home Entertainment

Planar has remained mostly quiet since CES, but given that CEDIA is within spittin’ distance, it’s no shock to see it making waves once more. Today, the outfit has revealed its first 3-chip HD projector, the DLP-based Viper. Other specs include a native 1,280 x 720 resolution, 10,000:1 contrast ratio, 2,000 lumens and 10-bit independent dual image / motion adaptive processing. You′ll also find an RS-232 port, twin HDMI 1.3 sockets and a jaw-dropping $15,495 price tag. It’s shipping immediately for those with the requisite coin. Full release after the break.

Continue reading Planar announces Viper DLP HD projector

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Original post by Darren Murph

If you’ve been contemplating whether or not to upgrade your Sky subscription to an HD box, it seems like now might be a good time. Not only has it recently dropped the price of an HD upgrade to £150 (plus £60 installation and the obligatory extra tenner a month), you’ll now find that seven more channels are set to be added to the 19 currently available. They are mostly movie related with HD versions of its existing Sky Movies Action/Thriller, Sky Movies Sci-Fi/Horror, Sky Movies Drama, Sky Movies Modern Greats, Sky Movies Family and Sky Movies Comedy to appear from October. The seventh, rather strangely we might add, is Sky Real Lives HD, which offers programmes like ‘The Real A&E’ and ‘Lorraine Kelly’s DNA Stories’. The move will bring the current HD selection to 26 channels and Sky seem confident that it′ll add four more by the end of the year. In addition, a new EPG (electronic programme guide) is also set to launch in October and with the popularity of HD-ready screens constantly on the rise, it seems like an upgrade for most people is simply a matter of time. - Paul Lester [Guardian] Sky HD movies

Original post by nafiz

Sony has unwrapped some new BRAVIA Theatre Systems with those dinky little speakers that promise - despite their mouse-sized proportions - to roar like lions. The new DAV-IS50 replaces the first system with tiny speakers, the DAV-IS10, promising a total of 450Watts of power, enough to really cheese off the neighbours. The diminutive glossy black control centre is just over 21cm wide by 10cm tall and houses a slot-loading DVD/CD/Ṃ player with surround-sound processing and an RDS FM/AM radio tuner. It comes with hidden touch-sensor controls on the top and there are wireless rear speakers to reduce the cable clutter associated with most surround sound systems. Sports fans will appreciate the ‘Sports Mode′, which fires the commentators voice ‘loud and clear from the centre speaker’, and the sound of the crowd spread through the other speakers. To top it off, the DVD player will upscale your regular DVDs to near-HD quality. The new HTD-890IS takes the teeny speakers and adds a DVD/Hard Disk recorder with 160GB capacity and both digital and analogue TV tuners. The HTD-890IS will record to blank DVD discs as well as store up to 455 hours of TV on the HDD. It has 2 USB ports, while the One-Touch DV Dub feature allows for easy copying from camcorder to HDD or blank DVD media. Finally, there′s the HT-IS100, billed as a ‘simple surround-sound solution for your Blu-ray or DVD player. The HT-IS100, again with the tiny speakers, combines the surround processing and amplification into a single hideaway subwoofer unit. There′s also a HDMI port and component hook-ups for connecting to your HDTV. No prices yet, I’m afraid, but expect somewhere around £550-600 for the DAV-IS50.-Martin Lynch home cinema HDTV TV HD

Original post by nafiz