innovations
An altogether new kind of Internet service has been created by Hypersend, for those occasions when you need to get a top priority document – of large proportions – from A to B without the delays and security risks involved in sending it via e-mail. The service simply requires you and the receiver to register; then all you need is your browser logged in to the Hypersend website. You know exactly when your document has arrived; you can even schedule delivery. And it’s free – up to the first 10 megabytes a month. www.hypersend.com
Palm Inc this week launched a new palmtop computer for the fashion conscious at about R1 600. The m100 is black, but can be customised with cellphone-style snap-on faceplates available in silver mist, blue mist, green mist, pacific blue and ruby pearl at R250 apiece.
The m100 has a rounded base and looks a lot like Compaq’s iPaq PocketPC palmtop, except that model is silver. Compaq will also take the faceplate route with a new range of Presario PCs and Presario 1400 Notebooks that take MyStyle Accent Colour kits. The m100 is more aggressively priced than earlier Palms. Although the Palm m100 HotSync Cradle – for synchronising data with a personal computer – costs another R350, it is still R250 cheaper than a comparable 2- megabyte Visor with free USB cradle.
A great thing about the Web is that it allows other people to do stupidly dangerous yet exciting things, then lets you relive the experience vicariously. An example is explorer Kevin Kelm’s home page, which takes us on a tour of an abandoned underground missile silo in the United States. Alongside pictures of the rusting machinery and tunnels winding into darkness is a running commentary, peppered with scary phrases. “Flaking asbestos lining”, “flooded lower levels” and the “immortal radioactive gas radon builds up” give you an idea of the fun to be had. Fascinating stuff: www.xvt.com/users/kevink/silo /silo.html.
Is your cellphone ring just not irritating enough? Then it is time to get yourself along to Your Mobile and download a new tune for your Nokia or Ericsson handset. Many phones are capable of receiving a new ring tone by SMS message. This site sends that message, and gives instructions for changing your tune. At the time of writing, the James Bond theme was top of the tinny pops, with Alice Dee Jay’s Better Off Alone at number two. We’re not quite convinced by the adaptation of Tom Jones’ Sex Bomb, but the version of John Williams’ Star Wars Imperial March is just fantastic. Go to www.yourmobile.com.
Already there’s a Web nostalgia business hankering back to those innocent days in the early 1990s. Deja Vu lets you see the Web of today through the browser of yesteryear, providing geeky entertainment for those of us who remember the browsers first time around. And it should be required surfing for all web designers who complain today’s Web doesn’t give them enough control … www.dejavu.org
Americans will soon be able to take home a DVD recorder. Later this month Panasonic is to start selling its DMR-E10 DVD-ram video recorder in limited numbers – at R45E000 a shot. The recorder uses 4,7-gigabyte discs to store up to two-and-half-hours of high-quality video and is compatible with both PCs and AV equipment.
The recorder can download VHS-based video, clean up the image and then store it on the DVD-ram disc. Panasonic expects to start selling the recorder in the United Kingdom next year and has plans to launch several other DVD-ram- based products in the next year, including a PC drive and a camcorder. Computers featuring a DVD-ram drive are scheduled to go on sale in the US before the end of the year.
Microsoft has introduced a version of its Reader software, familiar from Windows CE 3- based PocketPCs, for desktop PCs. It can now be downloaded free from www.microsoft.com/reader.
The launch is part of an “eBook initiative” involving Barnesandnoble.com, the bookseller, which will sell 2 000 titles in the Microsoft format, adding about 150 titles every week. See www.bn.com/ebook. Barnes & Noble already supports the Rocket eBook handheld, and offers free Glassbook Reader software for Windows.
ENDS