This is the last of the things in the series of Computex photos I found that caught my eye. The folks over at Gizmodo also saw it, but have no further information on it. That said, it probably doesn’t need any further explanation, does it?
Update: The folks over at The Unofficial Apple Weblog have a link to a photo of a mac mini being used as a toilet paper dispenser which is pretty cool (check out the previous one in the flickr stream for the version with the Intel logo on the paper too).
Another clear copy from the Computex trade show in Taiwan, this is AOpen’s mini PC. While it clearly looks very much like an Apple Mac Mini, the company claims it is not competing with the Mac Mini. The specs are very similar to what one might expect from a Intel based Mac Mini, and it is claimed that the device was created at Intel’s request. Could this be a prototype for the new Intel-based Mac Mini? There is an intriguing quote from IDC analyst Roger Kay towards the end of the press release (which came out before the big Apple-Intel announcement at WWDC):
“I don’t think the two – Mac mini and whatever Intel puts out – are really in the same market; that is, of course, unless Apple starts running OS X on x86 hardware.”
Now we know that Apple will be using Intel chips, could this be the prototype for a Pentium M based Mac Mini? Or maybe it was a proof-of-concept that Apple asked Intel for to prove that a Pentium M system that small could be made? It is not quite the same layout on that rear panel, but it has most of the same ports, including a Firewire port.
In a collection of photos from this year’s Computex show in Taiwan, there were a number of clear attempts to copy the design of Apple’s products. The photo on the right shows one iPod mini copy; you can see another in image 20 – the IX-440 Audio Jukebox of the collection.
There were also some Shuffle copy-cats: Image 11 is one example, but perhaps the most blatent is image 25, LuxPro’s SuperTangent. The folks over at Engadget have a link to an iPodLounge review that pretty much declares this a waste of money.
I picked up the iPod Photo primarily to use with the camera adapter but I have only just ordered this from the Apple Store online having given up on finding it any of the local Apple stores or other stores where iPods are sold. I managed to get a 40GB model at a clearance price, which was a bargain in many ways. At just a few dollars more than the new 30GB model, it is 33% larger, but most importantly came with all the cables, the cradle and the power adapter. I also managed to get it personalised by MacMall.
Since I’ve not had the camera connector, I’ve been using it as a music player and also, recently, to listen to podcasts. I also have thumbnails of my full photo library installed on it (almost 14,000 photos now). That’s not without its problems though. Unless you have photo albums set up for everything, the library is the only way to access the photos and scrolling through 14,000 photos to find the one you want is not fast. It is a shame that the “roll” information that iPhoto uses cannot be available in the iPod’s interface too.
All of that said, I am very happy with the purchase. It is a little larger (and heavier) than some of the alternatives, but, assuming that the camera connector works well, it is a lot cheaper than the device I was looking at for in-the-field photo storage (mainly to offload the camera while on a trip without having to carry a laptop with me): the Archos PMA400.
The Roku Labs M2000 Soundbridge is a streaming audio player. Connect it to your stereo system on one end, and your home network on the other end (or use the optional Wi-Fi card) and you can play songs stored on your Windows PC(s) and/or Apple Mac(s). That’s pretty cool, but I actually don’t have that much of my music on either my Sony PC or my PowerBook. Additionally, the PC is hardly ever switched on these days. [I have to admit that I am thinking about a Mac Mini and a large firewire drive to act as a physically small file sharing system for my photos and music, but I don’t have that yet.]
What is very cool about the Soundbridge products though is that they can also stream internet radio stations, without having any other computers on the network. This is a feature I love. Most of my use of iTunes has been to listen to internet radio stations, so being able to have a very cool aluminium tube with a bright green vacuum fluorescent display connected to my stereo and listen to streaming internet feeds is amazing.
Not so cool is setting up a hex WEP key using the remote control. The sooner there is a standard for getting this stuff set up automagically the better. Once set though it was able to join my WEP wireless network in static WEP mode. Shame it does not have support for WPA-PSK, but maybe that will come in a future firmware update [Roku Labs: if you are reading this and would like help getting WPA and/or WPA2 working on your systems email me – I know some people who can help! We can probably also get you support for an 802.11g USB card on the HD1000 box.]
Gizmodo has a pointer to a review of the Sharp SL-C3000 PDA. I have been playing with the very similar SL-C1000. The main difference between them, apart from the price, is that the SL-C1000 exchanges the hard disc for some flash memory.
What’s hot? Well, the screen is stunning. A 640×480 screen, but in a PDA size. It also swivels so you can use it as a regular PDA or as a very, very small laptop. Running the terminal application (not included, but easy to find online) really shows how good the screen is; the text is tiny, but still very clear.
The keyboard is also surprisingly good for its size. Having played with the thumb-board on the older SL-5500 units a bit, which was a last resort thing, the SL-C1000 one is a joy to use. Sure, you’re not going to want to write a book using it (or even a long email), but for the kinds of thing you might find yourself doing with a PDA it is great.
Oh, and it is Linux based of course, with Trolltech‘s Qtopia graphical environment. This is great for those of us that write our own apps, or want to use open source apps. You can even upgrade the kernel. There is information on Sharp’s website explaining how to rebuild the kernel image [Google translation] and then program it onto the unit safely.
On the not so hot side is the lack of built in Wi-Fi. I don’t care so much about Bluetooth being missing, though I suspect I might if I had more things that supported it (currently only my PowerBook has Bluetooth support). Wi-Fi though I do think is essential, especially in something that is so close to being a laptop! To compensate a little, it does support my Linksys WCF12 card, so I have wireless, albeit external.
The other big down side is that Sharp are not selling it here in the US, so it defaults to Japanese. Most of the conversion back to English is simple, but I still have a few things left over in Japanese. I would love this to be a fully supported platform over here too.
The first of a number of gadget updates, this is a quick look at the Tom Tom GO 300 that I have on loan. This little gem (and it is pretty small) has a sense of direction and a pleasant voice to provide directional hints while driving, but that’s not the cool part. It displays, live, a 3D representation of the map as you drive. It is not perfect (I have confused it briefly a few times), but it is a very cool toy. The only real problem with it is that it might be quite distracting at first; watching the map is not a safe driving style, but damn is it hard not to keep an eye on it. There is some more in depth information about this unit, and its bigger sister, on Linux Devices.
I would still love to see the Sony NV-XYZ in the flesh, but the Tom Tom is a much more likely unit to find its way into my car on a permanent basis; great for finding my way around in the city which is something that I would still find exceptionally useful.
The Unofficial Apple Weblog and TechDigest are both carrying articles pointing out that the Apple Store now lists the iPod Photo Camera Connector (see Extras under the iPod Accessories section). This makes the whole iPod photo a very interesting proposition since it will be much easier to carry on trips than my PowerBook G4. I hope it can cope with the raw format images from my 20D.
There’s a rumour going around the internet that claims to be a photo of a cable that would allow an iPod Photo to be connected directly to a digital camera and download the photos from it. That would make the iPod Photo much more interesting. It would be even more interesting if it would work on the less expensive iPods as well (since I don’t need another tiny screen – I just need a pocket sized hard drive).
Thanks to Gizmodo for the heads-up on this one.
The blogs are buzzing with news of a new digital camera, as yet not officially announced, from Canon: Canon EOS Digital Rebel XT. Engadget, the digital photography blog and Dave Beckerman’s site all have mentions of this new member of the Canon digital SLR family. Let’s Go Digital has the longest write up (two whole pages, and well worth the read).
The specs are kind of interesting though, assuming they are correct. It is using the same Digic II processor as the 20D, but has a sensor that is quoted as just 8.0 mega-pixels (the 20D claims 8.2 mega-pixels). Previously, the Rebel has shared the sensor with its closest cousin, so I wonder if this is just an error in the pre-announcement specs. The remainder of the specs are just slightly lower than the 20D (e.g. 3 fps continuous shoot vs 5 fps for the 20D), which would seem to match up with the original Digital Rebel vs 10D comparison. The currrent “educated guess” for the price seems to be around US$1000 with the 18-55mm lens.
Update: There is an even more detailed preview of this camera available at dpreview.com, based on a pre-release version they got to play with.
Update: This one is spreading around the blogs fast. Today Tech Digest and Gizmodo have posts mentioning it.