John Pannell's Weblog

What are mobile phones for?

The largest annual mobile wireless exhibition in Asia was held receltly in Hong Kong. All these power brains from around the world concluded that most people like to use mobile phones to make phone calls and send texts - what a suprise!!  2006 may see HSDPA and EV-DO being deployed on some networks - this will mainly allow faster downloads, no doubt at a good price. The Isle of Man is leading ahead and is rolling trials already.  Read more.

Humax DTV

Unboxed and setup my new Humax digital TV at the weeked. So far, I am very pleased with it. It has twin Freeview tuners and plenty of scart sockets. More importantly for me is a VGA lead so I can plug in my laptop to show off my holiday pictures. The user interface is simple and functional. I quickly go into it as I also have a Humax PVR.

When can I have Intel Viiv

Dear Santa.  I currently have a Humax Freeview PVR, a DVD play and Linksys WMA all going through my 5:1 amp. Watching any of these inputs elsewhere in the home is really difficult. I have just read about Intel Viiv which will allow a compliant PC to bring all my needs into one device and make it available around the home. I can't wait!!

"Intel Viiv technology is our first platform designed from the ground up for the digital home, where consumers are passionate about the idea of accessing their content anytime, anywhere in their home on a number of devices,"

Vinyl 12" Singles

Walking around St.Albans town hall CD sale I noticed a stand selling 12 vinyl singles. I remember these from the early 80's when I ran a mobile disco. Then the records sold for about £3.

At this stall they were selling for £5-£6. Perhaps I should visit my loft and see if I have any from my collection I can sell. First I need to teach a monkey how to turn them into MP3 without crackles before I part with them.

What shall I do with my backup media?

Having a tidy up of my study at the weekend I found I have a good collection of backup media. I reflex on my progress over the years. MSDOS backup disks, then 100M ZIP disks (I have two ZIP drives), then CD-RW/CD-R (I have used and unused CD's) and now I am on DVD-RW/DVD-R. What shall I do with my old backup media?

Nokia 6630

I'm getting used to my new Nokia 6630. The Symbian software reminds me of when I used to use my Psion V with the ability to run multiple applications and switch between them. As always with Nokia, the phone is easy to use. The camera produces good pictures and I can easily upload to my web log.

I am also thinking of getting a Nokia 6630. The features read well and there are some good offers available.

Do you Love you iPod?

Why do people say they love their iPod? What is wrong with having a loving relationship with another human and not a media player? Yes they bring great portable entertainment, but to me they look like some gadget they give you at the hospital out patients department so you can be remotely monitored whilst you recover.

What else can you do with your iPod? Take a look at Jason's list. Not got one - well buy an iPod today!!

Media Extenders

Some time ago I bought a Linksys Wireless B media extender. At the time Linksys only supported 802.11b and only for photos and music. In the US they now have the 803.11a/g media extender that also supports digital movies as well as photos/music from my media centre PC.  I wonder when this box will be available in Europe?  Are there any similar or better media extenders available in the UK?

Google Adsense Payments

I am pleased that Google is finally offering electronic payment or local currency cheques for its Adsense Program. My bank in the UK links to charge stupid charges to cash a dollar cheque, plus it takes a long time to come through. I am now trying the EFT payment method. I wonder how Yahoo! will pay when they launch their service?

Apple launches iPod Mini

I've often thought of getting an iPod, but I tend to manage using my IPAQ PDA to carry about 3 albums rather than giving Apple some money. They have now launched the iPod Mini at a more attractive price.

Perhaps I should think again so that I can carry more songs, but do I really want to lug around a phone, PDA, iPod, etc?  What do you Apple fans think?