GLENN’S SHOWNOTES
Download Windows 8 Consumer Preview
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In addition to releasing the Consumer Preview, Microsoft has also announced that the ‘Windows Store’, the OS’s app store for Metro apps, is now open for business (in beta form), accessible exclusively from within the Consumer Preview itself. For the duration of the Preview’s availability, these apps are free to try at no cost (although only a limited number are present currently). Expect a more significant commercial marketplace launch once Win 8 reaches final release.
What are the system requirements for Windows 8 Consumer Preview?
Windows 8 Consumer Preview works great on the same hardware that powers Windows 7:
- Processor: 1 gigahertz (GHz) or faster
- RAM: 1 gigabyte (GB) (32-bit) or 2 GB (64-bit)
- Hard disk space: 16 GB (32-bit) or 20 GB (64-bit)
- Graphics card: Microsoft DirectX 9 graphics device or higher
Apple confirms iPad 3 launch for March 7 with teaser invite
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Apple has sent out invitations to media outlets for a March 7 event in San Francisco, confirming the long-expected launch date for the next iPad. Teasingly worded — “We have something you really need to see. And touch.”
The iPad 3 will become available for purchase in the US in mid-March and is expected to be launched in Europe and Japan sometime during April.
Mystery accessory to join iPad 3
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reports that an accessory, known only by its codename B82, will be launched alongside the iPad 3 and new Apple TV on March 7th.
It isn’t known if the B82 is designed to work with the iPad 3, the rumouredApple TV, or even both.
Rumour suggests the new Apple TV will have Bluetooth 4.0, so it could be a snazzy new remote control.
Another possibility – albeit a slim one – is that the B82 is a game controller
t could also be the mystery smaller cable that Apple is rumoured to be making. Goodbye 30-pin connector, hello smaller, not very compatible docking cable?
Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9 4G launches for $720 today, Australia’s first 4G tablet
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The device, which weighs only 470 grams thanks to its mid-sized 8.9-inch footprint — making it a tad smaller than the more common 10-inch sizing of the iPad 2 or Galaxy Tab 10.1, but also less compressed than a diminutive 7-incher tablet such as the BlackBerry PlayBook — sports a dual-core 1.5GHz CPU, 16GB (or 32GB) built-in storage, WXGA (1,280 x 768) resolution and 3MP/2MP rear/front-facing cameras.
the Tab 8.9 4G is currently the only tablet that can natively access Telstra’s 4G network, accessing vastly faster data speeds than 3G networks within current 4G coverage areas (2-40Mbps downloads, 1-10Mbps uploads typically, Telstra claims). In addition to the 4G connectivity, the device also employs dual-channel HSPA+ 3G for zippier 3G access.
Running Android Gingerbread 3.2, but confirmed by Telstra to be upgradeable to Ice Cream Sandwich in the future, the Galaxy Tab 8.9 4G is available today on plans starting at $29 monthly or outright for $720 for the 16GB model, while a 32GB version will become available shortly for $840
Dropbox adds photo syncing for Android
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[Dropbox is] launching a new version of their Desktop and Android clients that’ll automatically upload your photos to your Dropbox account. Snap a few photos on your phone, and, without having to hook up any wires, they’ll be on your computer within a minute or two.”
Dropbox competes with Google+ and Apple’s iCloud, but the cross-platform Dropbox has a bigger installed base than both, the article notes.
Dropbox is offering 500MB to users for their first automatic upload, which can be extended up to a total of 3GB extra storage for photos and videos
updates to the desktop versions of Dropbox on Windows and Mac mean the apps will now recognise when digital cameras are plugged into your PC, giving you the ability to upload right away to a catch-all Dropbox images folder. You can find Dropbox on Android Market right here, and iPhone users shouldn’t feel left out either: Dropbox says the same feature is headed to iOS soon.
50GB free storage for life with Box for Android
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Online storage provider Box updated its Android app overnight with a bunch of new collaboration features and a tantalising promotional offer to draw new users to the service: simply log into your Box account (or register a new one) via the Android app and you’ll receive a free 50GB of cloud storage on the platform.
One limitation of Box is that file uploads in the free service are limited to 100MB
Parliament repeals .info filter
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Timing and reasons for unblocking the websites were not given at time of writing.
Is it a security threat or not. why has opinion changed in only a few weeks?
NBN Co steps closer to three-year rollout plan
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http://www.nbnco.com.au/rollout/rollout-map.html?icid=pub:network::men:roll-map
NBN Co has moved a step closer to releasing a three-year rollout plan for its broadband network after a key regulatory hurdle was resolved this week.
The company is expected to reveal the rollout plan later by the end of March, pending cabinet approval of Telstra’s structural separation and the telco’s $11 billion deal with NBN Co.
The plan will be based on detailed information about Telstra’s existing customer access and dark fibre networks, now available to NBN Co as a result of the deal.
It is understood NBN Co could gain first access to Telstra infrastructure within a week
The deal provides for Telstra to progressively decommission its copper as NBN fibre is rolled out, while also migrating across broadband customers from its cable network.
It also provides NBN Co with access to dark fibre, ducts and Telstra exchanges and detailed network information required to speed up the rollout and reduce the overall cost of the network build.
Though NBN Co had access to some infrastructure under an interim agreement with Telstra in some areas, the undertaking’s green light from the ACCC will allow the final deal to be enforced.
“The Definitive Agreement unlocks the full potential of the deal and gives us the certainty we need to finalise our three year plan and continue with confidence the ongoing acceleration of this monumental project,” NBN Co chief executive Mike Quigley said in a statement.
follow ozzy twitter chat who has been taking tweets from NBN in relation to rollout issues- @ozzyla
My Media is a great new T-Box feature that connects your home media files to your TV so you can view them in the comfort of your lounge room.
You can watch your own videos, create photo slideshows and music playlists and even stream media from your computer.
- The easiest way is to plug in a compatible external hard drive via the USB port on the front or the back of your T-Box.
- You can also connect to your compatible PC through Windows Media Player to view selected content through your BigPond home network.
Works with Win 7 and Win Vista.
Google hits 850k Android daily activations
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Twelve million tablets amidst 300 million phones.
Google’s mobile lead Andy Rubin has revealed that Android phone and tablet activations are now up to 850,000 a day.
Google exec: Android Jelly Bean coming in November
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Android 5.0 to arrive one year after Ice Cream Sandwich.
Android 5.0 Jelly Bean looks set for a November release.
Google’s keeping its cards close to its chest on what’ll be packed into Android 5.0, but it’s expected that Jelly Bean tablets will be able to dual-boot between Windows 8 and Android 5.0.
Twitter partners with Datasift to unlock tweet archive
Firms can search tweets back to January 2010 in order to plan marketing campaigns, target influential users or even try to predict certain events.
Until today, only the previous 30 days of tweets were available for companies to search. Regular users can access posts from the past seven days.
UK-based Datasift is the first company to offer the archive.
Its existing customers will be able to use access “historical” tweets from today, the company said.
“No-one’s ever done this before,” Tim Barker, Datasift’s marketing manager, told the BBC.
“It’s a brand new service that we’re bringing online – it’s a massive technology challenge because of the amount of data that is pumped out every single day.”
He said the company takes in roughly 250 million tweets every 24 hours, all of which are analysed for content – such as whether they were said in a positive or negative tone.
The software will also log location data and social media influence based in part on existing influence monitoring service Klout.
Private accounts and tweets that have been deleted will not be indexed by the site.
ERIK’S SHOWNOTES
‘I need $220k to survive’: alleged internet pirate Kim Dotcom begs for cash in court
The founder of the online file-sharing site Megaupload.com has asked a New Zealand court to free nearly a quarter of a million dollars in frozen assets to pay for living expenses, including nannies and bodyguards, as a bid by the United States to put him back behind bars was thrown out of court yesterday.
Kim Dotcom, a German national also known as Kim Schmitz and Kim Tim Jim Vestor, is charged by the United States with being an internet pirate whose group netted $US175 million since 2005 by copying and distributing music, movies and other copyrighted content without authorisation.
Dotcom, who is on bail in New Zealand pending an extradition hearing, says the company offered online storage and will fight extradition.
With all his funds frozen, Dotcom yesterday asked for about $NZ220,000 ($171,410) to be released to cover lease costs of a multi-million dollar mansion outside of Auckland, wages for staff, and other living expenses such as phones and power.
The application said that Dotcom paid $NZ1 million a year to lease the country estate, about $NZ600,000 on maintenance and property costs. He also sought more than $NZ50,000 a month to pay for a nanny, a tutor for an autistic child, personal assistants, and four bodyguards.
The New Zealand High Court granted Dotcom an interim payment of about $NZ32,000 to cover immediate living costs, as well as the use of a car, pending a final decision on continuing financial support.
Dotcom has three children and his wife is due to give birth to twins late next month.
In a separate High Court case, the United States appealed against Dotcom’s bail and asked for him to be returned to jail pending his extradition hearing in late August.
The prosecution said Dotcom is an extreme flight risk because he has had multiple passports, sources of funds, access to various means of travel, and a previous history of fleeing to avoid criminal charges.
But the court rejected the appeal, saying the electronic bracelet Dotcom must wear, along with other restrictions on his movements, were sufficient to allow him to remain free.
“It’s great to be able to return home with my family and I’m looking forward to fight these charges on a level playing field, so indeed I’m very relieved today,” Dotcom told reporters outside the court.
Last week the lower court placed Dotcom under virtual house arrest in a small house on a corner of the country estate.
Signs at the entrance to the house tell visitors to leave all mobile phones, smartphones and laptops at the gate, as Dotcom is forbidden to use the internet as a condition of bail.
Dotcom, 38, and three others, were arrested on January 20 after armed New Zealand police raided his country estate at the request of the US Federal Bureau of Investigation.
An extradition hearing to send all four to the United States for trial has been set down for late August.
Reuters
NBN rollout close as regulator removes Telstra hurdle
But Telstra separation not complete till NBN Co finishes replacing copper with fibre-optics.
Full-scale rollout of the national broadband network will start within months and retailers are advertising prices from $30 a month for basic services to $165 for superfast connections.
The final piece of the NBN’s regulatory puzzle fell into place yesterday, after the government secured a decision from the competition regulator designed to curb Telstra’s dominance of fixed telecommunications. It is also the final hurdle to Telstra signing a deal with NBN Co.
The regulator yesterday approved Telstra’s plan to split its fixed wholesale and retail arms. It resolves an eight-month delay in rolling out the network and NBN Co and Telstra are now expected to finalise an infrastructure-sharing agreement within weeks.
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Under the arrangement, Telstra will also gradually shut down its copper wire network – after rolling connections over to the NBN. It stands to receive about $11 billion from NBN Co over the next 30 years.
Any moves to shut down or substantially alter the NBN by the opposition would involve negotiating a new deal with Telstra and unwinding and restarting the complex regulatory process, which finished yesterday.
The separation means Telstra will no longer own the infrastructure it also uses to compete against other broadband companies at a retail level.
The Minister for Broadband, Stephen Conroy, said splitting Telstra was the ”holy grail” of telecommunications reforms. Structural separation, as the reform is known, would finally ensure a ”level playing field” in telecommunications and address a long-standing policy failure.
”This is a mistake that was made 20 years ago, it’s stretched over two governments and this is finally resolving what many people believe was unfinished business,” he said in Canberra.
Scrapping the NBN – as promised by the opposition – would hold back competition because Telstra would no longer have to structurally separate, he said.
Telstra only agreed to migrate customers over to the NBN after the government introduced legislation forcing it to co-operate or sell its 50 per cent stake in Foxtel and abstain from buying any more spectrum for its mobile network.
Separation will not be complete until NBN Co finishes building its own fibre-optic cable to replace Telstra’s copper, which will be decommissioned, except in rural and remote areas. Construction is expected to take 10 years and cost $36 billion plus the payments to Telstra.
The chairman of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, Rod Sims, said the separation was a ”significant milestone in the structural reform” of the telco industry and would boost competition.
”More effective competition in telecommunications markets will result in improved service offerings to consumers,” he said.
The chief executive of NBN Co, Mike Quigley, said finalising the deal ”removes the final major obstacle in the way of the large-scale rollout of the NBN”.
The opposition spokesman on communications, Malcolm Turnbull, said the Coalition supported structural separation of Telstra and upgrading the broadband services across Australia.
However, details of the Coalition policy were not expected until just before the next election. And any substantial changes to the NBN rollout would require a different deal with Telstra.
Ex-Google CEO Eric Schmidt to sell shares worth up to $US1.5b
Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt plans to sell up to 2.4 million shares of stock currently worth nearly $US1.5 billion.
Schmidt, now Google’s executive chairman, intends to stagger the sales of the stock over a one-year period. Google disclosed Schmidt’s plans in a Friday regulatory filing. The company said Schmidt, 56, is trying to raise some money and diversify his investment portfolio.
If all 2.4 million shares of stock are sold, that will reduce Schmidt’s stake in Google from 2.8 per cent to 2.1 per cent.
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Schmidt’s decision to sell some of his shares comes 10 months after he ended his 10-year stint as Google’s CEO and turned the job over to one of the internet search leader’s co-founders, Larry Page.
Page and co-founder Sergey Brin filed plans to sell 5 million Google shares apiece in 2010. Those sales are scheduled to be completed in 2015.
Together, Page, Brin and Schmidt hold the majority of shareholder voting power at Google. They will retain that control even after they reduce their stakes. All three have been billionaires since Google went public in 2004.
Apple’s mysterious iPad 3 invitation: 3 takeaways
Techies are feverishly dissecting every pixel on the intriguing invitation to Apple’s March 7 event. What does the “coy” image tell us about the iPad 3?
“We have something you really have to see. And touch,” says Apple’s invitation to a March 7 event in San Francisco that will almost certainly serve as the public debut of the iPad 3. (See the invitation below.) The company has a habit of dropping subtle (or not-so-subtle) hints in its invitations to big product launches, and this time appears to be no different. The “coy” graphic shows a user’s finger pointing to the tablet’s Calendar icon, which features a number seven. What does it all mean? Here, three theories:
1. The iPad 3 might not have a home button
If the device in the invitation were a normal iPad, there “should be a home button visible,” says Chris Davies at Slashgear. But it’s not there. Maybe Apple is finally scrapping the physical home key and making its devices cleaner and purely gesture-based, or using touch technology in the bezel (the black surface area around the screen) in lieu of a button. Unless they simply turned the iPad upside down in the picture, say Jesus Diaz and Adrian Covert at Gizmodo. But why would Apple do that?
2. The “retina” display is for real
The tablet screen pictured in the invitation boasts much sharper resolution than the iPad 2, says Eric Zeman at InformationWeek, meaning a high-definition “retina” display is almost certainly on its way to store shelves. Just look at it: The text is sharper, and the icon detail more pronounced. And the invitation reads “…something you really need to see.” It makes complete sense that the iPad 3 will be all about its “dazzling display.” Yeah, says John Gruber at Daring Fireball. The line in the invitation even “sounds like something Steve Jobs would say.”
3. The screen might be feelable
With any luck, says Harry McCracken at TIME, the new iPad will boast “at least one interesting twist which nobody’s predicted just yet.” And the dangling second sentence could clue us in. “Touch” may mean that the iPad 3 will come with “some sort of haptic feedback,” technology that allows users to feel textures on the device’s screen, says Lex Friedman and Dan Moren at Macworld. (Read more about the technology here.) Typing on the iPad is, for the most part, an unsatisfying experience. Imagine if you were able to feel the physical sensation of a “depressed” key as if you were typing on a real keyboard. You might get the chance to try it out in a matter of days.
“We have something you really have to see. And touch,” says Apple’s invitation to a March 7 event in San Francisco that will almost certainly serve as the public debut of the iPad 3. (See the invitation below.) The company has a habit of dropping subtle (or not-so-subtle) hints in its invitations to big product launches, and this time appears to be no different. The “coy” graphic shows a user’s finger pointing to the tablet’s Calendar icon, which features a number seven. What does it all mean? Here, three theories:
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