All posts by James Clay

apple, iphone, ipod touch

MacBook touch (perhaps?)

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Okay this is a rumour, which basically means that it may have absolutely no foundation in truth and is just purely a figment of someone’s imagination.

It is rumoured (did I say this was a rumour) that Apple in October may be releasing a MacBook touch.

MacBook touch (perhaps?)

This product would have the touch interface of the iPhone and the iPod touch with the capability of a proper MacBook.

Gizmodo quotes MacDailyNews:

Think MacBook screen, possibly a bit smaller, in glass with iPhone-like, but fuller-featured multi-touch. Gesture library. Full Mac OS X. This is why they bought P.A. Semi. Possibly with Immersion’s haptic tech. Slot-loading SuperDrive. Accelerometer. GPS.

I would certainly like to see an Apple Tablet type device.

e-book, kindle, sony

Sony’s Reader to be available in the UK

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Here in the UK we have been unable to get hold of Amazon’s Kindle we will soon be able to get hold of Sony’s Reader for eBooks.

Reader doesn’t have to replace your traditional books – it’s just a new way of enjoying reading. With Reader you can carry far more books with you wherever you go, so whatever mood takes you you’ll have a book that fits it. And using Reader couldn’t be simpler:

When you buy a Reader, install the supplied software on your computer, connect Reader to it with the cable provided and voila! Create and manage your eBook library on your PC and transfer your eBooks to Reader exactly like you do with your music on your mp3 player.

Need a new book? Choose from around 25 000 titles available from waterstones.com the online store of Britain’s best-loved bookseller. Simply buy the ones you want and import them into your PC’s Reader library.

Store up to 160 books at a time on your Reader. If you’re a real bookworm add to your collection and store thousands more using a Sony Memory Stick Duo™ or SD memory card.

Bookmark pages or magnify text on a page; Reader will also remember where you last left off – even if you don’t.

It’s slim and light so you can take it with you wherever you go and the long battery life means you can enjoy nearly 7000 page turns without recharging – that’s like reading War and Peace five times over.

Reader (model PRS-505) will be available from early September.

So why would you want to use an eBook reader?

Well though you can use eBooks on a regular computer or laptop, the battery life on eBook readers is a lot longer and therefore will probably last the week unlike a laptop which would probably only last the morning.

Thanks Engadget.

blog, iphone, ipod touch

WordPress App on the iPod touch

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As you may have already seen, with the new WordPress App for the iPhone and the iPod touch, it is possible to easily blog from the iPhone or the iPod.

Wordpress App on the iPod touch

The interface is not fantastic, though having looked a little more into it, if you had an iPhone (it has a camera) you can add photos quite easily; from the iPod touch you can only (obviously) use images stored on the device.

Wordpress App on the iPod touch

I am reasonably impressed with the app and if it allows me to blog more easily and more often then that can only make my blog better (or will it).

blog, iphone, ipod touch

Posting from my iPod touch

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With the release of firmware 2.0 for the iPhone and iPod touch you can now install third party applications on your device.

One which has just been released is a WordPress app which allows you to write and publish blog entries from your iPhone or iPod touch as I am doing now.

Seems to work well so far.

Though it has to be said that typing on an iPod touch is not fantastic, and without copy and paste means you can’t copy stuff from another application or the web.

stuff

CherryPal launches $249 cloudy mini PC

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Is this the future of home computing?

CherryPal launches $249 cloudy mini PC

A small $249 box with access to the web (and 50GB of online storage).

The Register reports that:

Start-up CherryPal is taking pre-orders today for its partly cloudy “desktop” that mashes web-hosted computing, going green, open source, and social networking into a 10 ounce box.

The (self-titled) CherryPal systems are $249, and surprisingly won’t require a monthly subscription despite the fact that most of its storage capacity and several of its features hosted in the cloud.

CherryPals are thinned-down computers running an ultra-low power chip from Freescale. They’ve got 256MB memory and 4GB solid-state capacity.

The future of computing?

What do you think?

psp

Say goodbye to the computer mouse

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According to a Gartner survey we are going to see the end of the computer mouse in the next three to five years.

The BBC reports:

It’s nearly 40 years old but one leading research company says the days of the computer mouse are numbered.

A Gartner analyst predicts the demise of the computer mouse in the next three to five years.

Taking over will be so called gestural computer mechanisms like touch screens and facial recognition devices.

With devices such as the Wii remote and the PlayStation cameras which allow you to interact with the game visually I can understand where this report is coming from.

However…

We are still using the keyboard aren’t we?

Say goodbye to the computer mouse

stuff

Intel Classmate now available in the UK

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Intel’s cheap and cheerful (and in my opinion quite ugly) low end cheap laptop is now available in the UK.

Intel Classmate now available in the UK

The Register reports on the £239 computer.

Dubbed the JumPC, the Small, Cheap Computer is based on a 900MHz Intel Celeron Mobile processor and the chip giant’s 915GMS chipset. It has 512MB of DDR 2 memory on board and 2GB of Flash storage – though you can select a 30GB HDD instead.

The unit has an Eee PC-style 7in, 800 x 480 display; two USB ports; 10/100Mb/s Ethernet and 802.11b/g Wi-Fi. There’s a webcam too.

Oh it comes with a handle too!

It comes with Windows XP and is another entrant in the micro-laptop UMPC market which is having an impact on the UK educational IT scene.

stuff

Opera Mobile 9.5 beta released

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Engadget reports on the release of Opera Mobile 9.5.

Today, it’s out for a beta 1 launch. In other words, it’ll be buggy but likely far more useful than the browser already installed on your touchscreen-based (PocketPC) WinMo professional phone. The initial release includes support for double-tap zoom, landscape flip, off-line page save, tab-like browsing, auto-URL complete, and a Google-search bar to name just a few of the 9.5 features.

Looking good. Opera Mobile 9.5 beta released

iphone, ipod touch

Evernote on the iPhone or the iPod touch

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43 Folders has posted a short review of the Evernote application for the iPhone (or the iPod touch).

I need to do a full post on Evernote here some time soon, because it really is a nifty little application for collecting, storing, and organizing practically any kind of information you can throw at it. The iPhone version is a stripped-down, all-business version of the app that will scratch an itch for Evernote fans who are fatigued by having to email everything to the mothership.

Having used it myself, it works quite well.

Evernote on the iPhone or the iPod touch