802.11n not up to scratch

The latest version of wireless networking standards, 802.11n, is being touted as incompatible and slow.

Two independant groups have tested the hardware, and have both reported back failings. Fairpoint Group have been very critical of the standard, stating incompatibility between manufacturers and poor speeds as being entirely under-whelming. eWeek was less critical, but has also highlighted poor quality connections.

I myself have used some of this previously and it wasn't good. I was reviewing the technology to see if it was worth being one of the first to market (in the UK) with it, but I saw the same issues, and felt customer satisfaction of the devices was going to be low.

I would suggest using the devolo Microlink kit which transfers data over your home power lines rather than wirelessly. It is significantly more stable, reliable and more secure, as no one can 'listen in' on the data transfer. The microlink kit uses your home electricity meter as a 'firewall', not sending any data past that. I use this for everything except my laptop (which I still like to be entirely wireless), as I find I get faster and more reliable data transfer rates for every device. Give it a try!

Internet Explorer 7 [beta]

Feeling brave? Then why not download a copy of the IE7 beta and test it for Microsoft? Its ready to go, and Microsoft are so confident, they are even offering free telephone technical support (oh, only in 3 countries, and not the UK!).

Still, if you are happy enough risking a full re-install, then give it a go and let me know how it fares. I'll be looking to try it once I get my test machine rebuilt - it seems to have suffered in the move to the flat and now won't display anything on a monitor! Still I'll look at it once I get in the new house.

So, looking for feedback from you brave, pioneering testers - let me know how great IE7 is, or at least what you had to do to get your PC back into a bootable state :)

Free Broadband?

So TalkTalk have launched their free broadband service at last. We all knew this was on the way, but I had suspicions over how good it would be when it arrived.

The verdict? Well, its not too bad.

Of course you have to subscribe to their landline telephone service, and their talk plans, but both of these are quite competitive. The line rental is £11 - the same as BT's line rental (and necessary for ADSL), and the talk plan is £9.99 per month, which includes unlimited UK landline calls (anytime) and unlimited international calls to 28 countries (and quite good ones too!). Also included is 2 Nectar points for every pound spent and inclusive voicemail.

The downsides - well if you aren't within reach of their LLU network (check here then it's another £10 per month.

Oh, there is also a one-off £30 connection fee.

And an 18 month contract.

But other than that, it looks pretty good. The caveats I would ask you to consider are:
- what will the service be like if thousands take up this offer? Their network could become contended quite quickly.
- what will their technical support and customer service be like if, as expected, their customer numbers grow quickly. History has taught us that it will become poor - quickly.
- If you want to change from CPW warehouse in the future, you will have to wait for the 18 month contract to be completed, or pay the rest of the fees in advance - a lot of money!

if you are happy with the above, I would say go for it. Sadly, I am not in range of their LLU, and are never likely to be, so will think twice about it, but for others, it could be very tempting.

.eu landrush starts today

So, have you registered your .eu domain yet? If not, why not? No, more importantly, get over to www.eurodns.com and do it first.

This is a major TLD (top level domain), and being able to get the domain you want is (potentially) a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, so get it before anyone else does.

Trade Marks have been able to be signed up for a while, but now anyone can register their chosen .eu, and you can bet all the ideal names will go quickly.

Not all domain name services are up and running, but EuroDNS are offering .eu's for just 18 Euros, so that looks like a good place to start.

Happy hunting!

Freeview HD trialists needed

BBC News reports that 450 Freeview viewers in London are required to trial High Definition broadcasts. This trial would include high definition broadcasts of the World Cup (both from BBC and ITV), as well as other programmes from the four main terrestrial broadcasters.

London has been chosen because the HD broadcasts are lower in power, and with London having a dense, urban population, the broadcasts can reach more houses.

This trial is going to be the only way to watch high definition broadcasts from Freeview in the near future, so if you have Freeview, an HD Ready display, and live in London, get over to www.bbc.co.uk/digital promptly and put your name down!!

Don't forget, if you don't live in London, or don't get on the trial, you can still get High Definition TV from either Sky or Cable - but you will have to pay for it. Also there have been no announcements from ITV that they will broadcast their World Cup matches from this summer in High Def on these platforms.

PS3 to cost £300 - £400?

A post on engadget states that George Fornay (SCEE Vice President) has said that the PS3 will be launched at a price of between 500-600 Euros.

This is more that some gamers had hoped for, but not too far off my expectations. The cost of a console is always high, and if Sony are including a High Definition Blu-Ray disc drive, that money has to come from somewhere, right?

The Xbox 360 has flown off the shelves from launch, even at a £280 price point (for the premium pack), and has shown that this is not a barrier to purchase. Can Sony bump this price point up to £350 or even £400 - I think so - especially at launch.

There will be thousands of customers willing to pay that for the latest PS3 offering, as well as a HD DVD player, and so Sony will try to make the most of these customers, especially during the initial rush when stocks might be low (remember when Xbox 360's were selling for £400 - £500 on eBay?).

The suggested price is not mass market focused, but is viable in the current market, and Sony will be out to minimise how much of a subsidy they have to pay for the PS3. The question will be whether they can launch it worldwide before the Christmas rush, and whether or not they'll have the key games to support it.

Apple Bootcamp

Apple have released a beta of Bootcamp, software that allows a Mac to run Windows operating system. This means that Mac users can now install and choose from running Windows or Mac OS without any issues or technical know-how.

From the looks of it, it is just what is needed to bring Windows users into the Mac community. If retailers start to sell dual-boot Macs, there could be a rush on, especially for the exceptionally well designed Mac Mini.

I've often been tempted to go back to Macs (haven't touched them since Uni - years ago), but not had the need to actually buy a computer - now I know I can use it as another Windows box if Mac & I don't get on, it is a serious temptation. I would love to have a Mac Mini in the lounge connected up to the (forthcoming) plasma, for use as my media centre.

Go have a look at the BootCamp information on the Mac site, and see if it is for you as well.

Acer AL1916WS 19" TFT screen

Acer AL1916WS 19"

This monitor is a fantastic bargain - I know, I've just purchased this and cannot be happier. I have needed a new monitor for a while now, and this is the one for me. The monitor looks fantastic, and provides a significantly enhanced experience over my old 15" TFT screen.

It has have great reviews on many sites (one of my key requirements for any hardware purchase) and is superbly styled.

A widescreen 19" monitor, with response times of less than 8ms making it ideal for gaming, and the image smoothing and colour scaling provide a great DVD and high definition video viewing experince. I'm watching videos on this nearly as much as I am my main TV (at least until I get that plasma!).

Go to Amazon for the best price and free delivery.

Nintendo focus on home market (again)

Well, it looks like Nintendo are coming to the Next-Generation gaming market in their usual style - too little, too late.

The latest announcement from Nintendo state that they aren't going for a simultaneous worldwide launch of the Revolution, and that will mean a long wait for European gamers.

With the PS3 being delayed, and now the Revolution unlikely to reach European shops before 2007, the Xbox 360 looks like stealing a march on its rivals. With stocks now widely available in high street and online stores, the 360 only has to start getting a compelling range of games out there.

Nintendo have always focused on Japan, which is forgivable given it is its home market (and a valuable one at that), but the sheer volume of European gamers begs it not to shun them again. The staggered release will simply drive more gamers into Sonys' and Microsofts' welcoming arms, and with the prices of the next-gen consoles & their games, the penetration of multiple consoles households will be low.

Nintendo seem to be losing their dominance of the gaming market. With the Xbox and PS2 rightly trumping the Gamecube in sales, and the PSP really challenging the Gameboy and DS in the handheld arena, Nintendo have got to get the Revolution right to ensure it can still operate in this marketplace.

Personally, I have my doubts that the Revolution will cut it, but then I am not target market for this cute brand, and I doubt we'll see anything like the excellence that was Goldeneye for the N64 on the Revolution. The new controller looks to be the deciding factor, and I feel that could be a little too random for dedicated gamers, and too much to comprehned for casual gamers....

Hitachi annouce quad-tuner HDTVs

Taken from The Register, Hitachi have announced their Wooo range of flat screens, all of which have 4 (count 'em!) tuners - two analogue and two digital. They also have a choice of built in 250GB hard drive as well.

This is a great idea, offering multiple recording and viewing options, ideal for a large household to stop the arguements about who is watching what.

Three sizes (32", 37" and 42") based either on LCD or Plasma technology, offer good choice. The only downside is the prices which will range from £1,700 - £3,500. This is not extortionate by any stretch (considering the specs), but it will price them out of the range of many of the households that they appeal to.

All the TV's are HD-Ready with HDMI inputs, Ethernet ports and SD card slots. Hitachi will ship them from 29th April 2006.

NTL buys Virgin Mobile

So NTL have finally managed to purchase Virgin Mobile. They have been after this for a while now, giving them two significant benefits. Firstly, they have an established mobile business now, making them a true quadruple player (TV, Broadband, Fixed Line Telco, Mobile), and secondly the ability to use the Virgin brand.

With NTL merging with Telewest, this second benefit is crucial. The branding issues were always going to be complex, with the larger NTL brand not being perceived anywhere near as well as the smaller Telewest brand. Also many customers in Telewest areas haven't heard of NTL (as they have never marketed there due to zero local presence) and vice versa.

Now the overall cable service can be branded Virgin, a well known, respected and established nationwide brand. This will help with the migration of the two platforms and services, as well as growing the number of customers and revenues in the future.

With the mobile services as well, NTL can now offer combined telco tariffs for customers to reduce bills, offer interactive services across three platforms (TV, Internet and Mobile) and offer significant benefits for customer upgrades, growing the number of RGU's (Revenue Generating Units) and increasing ARPU (Average Revenue Per User).

Smart moves for NTL, even if the £962.4m price tag was higher than they would have liked. They also need to pay 0.25% of revenues to Virgin for use of their brand, but for the reasons above, this is a small price to pay.

Bulldogs' wrists slapped over 8Mb ad

The ASA (Advertising Standards Authority) have reprimanded Bulldog, a UK LLU Broadband provider, over their latest advert, says ZDNet. This stems around their claim that new subscribers can sign up to 8Mb broadband at just £9.75 per month, fixed "for as long as you're with us".

This is true enough, as long as you also subscribe to their £10.50 per month telephone service, if you don't, you can't get the promotional price.

There has been too much of this in the ISP marketing space recently, with conditions and rules 'hidden' in small print. If the ISPs really want the mass market to sign up and upgrade to faster speeds, they need to be clear - nothing p****s the mainstream users off more than hidden charges, as many of them don't look for them!

Bolton 1 Man Utd 2

A great result for the Red Devils, with a 2-1 win at the Reebok stadium. Bolton are a difficult team to play against (just ask Arsenal!) - and it was a close run match. Bolton took the lead in the first half, only cancelled out by a marvelous Saha effort.

It looked like it was going to be a draw all the way through, until the second minute of stoppage time, Saha and Ruud combine to snatch a win.

With Chelsea only managing a draw at Birmingham, the gap between the two teams reduces to 7 points with six games remaining (one of them Chelsea v Man Utd). Despite all the forecasts, the season looks like it might, just might, go right to the end. I still think that Chelsea are going to win the league, but United could push them all the way!