Dell Launches new mobile phone.

Dell Streaks – in a Big Way!
Dell has recently launched its “Streak” mobile phone, running Android 1.6. Where most mobile phones in this, the “Smartphone” category are sticking to a 4.3” screen, Dell has opted for a potentially-pocket-busting 5” screen for this device, sporting a resolution of 800 x 480 and featuring touch input in a 220g package.
It’s certainly an impressive piece of kit, featuring better battery life than the HTC Desire (6 hours on WiFi versus 12 on the Streak) as well as playing for H.263 / H.264, 3GP, MPEG4 and WMV video. It has a 5MP still camera and a VGA-class (640x480) video camera. It isn’t HD-video, but then, it’s a phone!
Our overall impression is that this is a work in progress. We found small several bugs in the operating system (music playing over video clips from YouTube, for one) but all of these could be ironed out with a simple update, we’re sure. Whether this hardware heralds a breakthrough is a different question, and we’re inclined to see the device as evolutionary rather than revolutionary; we’ve seen enough, though, to make us think that Streak 2 will be unmissable.


Mark Warren
Nemark IT Support

3D without the glasses,- Velma would be pleased!

Toshiba does away with the glasses!
Toshiba has today released details of a prototype television that is capable of “low” resolution (1280x800 rather than 1920x1080 HD) 3D without the use of the previously compulsory glasses. The TV, measuring 21 inches, uses technology that has been scaled up from Nintendo’s still-in-development 3D handheld.
The TV, utilising an system called a “light field” display, is capable of displaying 3D effects through a 30 degree viewing angle.
We would not even begin to suggest that readers should rush out and buy this TV (even if it were available!) as the technology is in its infancy to say the least. However, we believe that Toshiba should be congratulated on this innovation as it heralds the first steps towards genuine “easy” 3D.
Other applications, of course, would include the eventual recreation of a “Holodeck” as seen in Star Trek: The Next Generation. Of course, the images would not have the substance as suggested in that series, but it would be a step along the way nonetheless!

We can't wait to be offering IT Support in 3D!

Shocker : iPhone and iPad are not flashy at all

Before the naysayers (read: “Apple Fanboys”) break out their disagreement drums, we should explain. By flashy we mean, of coure, Adobe Flash, a technology used in various forms by hundreds of thousands of websites around the world. Have you ever browsed to a website on your iPhone and found some weird symbol where you would normally see feature-rich content? That would be a Flash object, not displayable in the browser that Apple ship with its iPhone and iPad.
Apple’s reasoning for disallowing Flash is that it is “closed and proprietary” (two adjectives equally applicable to Apple, some may say!) and so do not allow it. Adobe’s counter, with its Creative Suite 5 package (read: Dreamweaver etc.) was to build a code translator that took the Flash element and converted it into a format that would work on the iPhone. This would allow developers to continue using Flash (a win for Adobe) and also to sell their Creative Software as being a suitable development platform for iPhone-compatible sites.
The fruit-themed manufacturer has not taken this lying down, though, and has now changed the terms and conditions of its developer license, effectively disallowing code translation tools. This means that Adobe’s “feature” became utterly irrelevant overnight. We suspect that Adobe and Apple are not the best of corporate friends!
From a technical standpoint we can see where a “closed system” is more secure and supportable, and as suppliers of IT Support Solutions we are certainly all for this! However, we do believe in giving users the right to choose, and the denial of supportable technologies on capable platforms does seem to be a little bit backward to us!

Death of the Floppy Drive

Sony finally accepts what we all knew – The Floppy Disk is Dead
Sony has today announced that it will be ceasing production of Floppy Disk in its homeland of Japan, in March 2011. This is not an unexpected move, as it has been doing the same thing with its other disk production facilities around the world, but it does mark the end of an era.
What is surprising, though, is the fact that the floppy has lasted so long! It was first introduced in 1981, boasting (in “DD”, or “Double Density” mode) a then-impressive 720k available space. You read that right. Less than 1MB of storage. Later the High Density standard was introduced, which doubled formatted capacity to the 1.44MB we know today.
We believe that it is the sheer ubiquity of the floppy that has created its longevity and allowed it to last far longer than it should have in an era when £5 can buy you a USB stick with 2GB capacity, or to put it another way, £5 buys you a device capable of storing the contents of over 1,400 High Density floppies!

As embracers of technology ourselves (Nemark provide technical solutions and IT Support to organisations across the UK) we are glad to see such an archaic device meet its overdue demise but this gladness is tinged with nostalgic wistfulness at seeing such a faithful friend consigned to the digital graveyard of the past!

mcafee get it wrong, Windows systems crash on update

Anti-virus software company McAfee have today been forced to issue sincere and grovelling apologies to its customers across the globe after releasing the soon-to-be infamous “Update 5958”.  This update to its virus definitions database wrongly identifies part of windows (svshost.exe) as the virus “wecorl.a”.

Once applied, the update forces affected machines into a continuous cycle of rebooting, which naturally causes a potent mix of consternation and fear among the users of said machines.  McAfee have now released a fix tot the problem, but only after causing chaos at notable companies such as Intel – not the best PR episode for a company that enjoys a reasonably well deserved reputation for quality.

The problem, of course, is not just the damage done by the false-positive in the update, but also, and less tangibly, in the public attitude to the regular installation of security updates and fixes.  Generally speaking it is always a good idea to apply these updates as soon as possible, with the only result being improved stability and security, but giving the doubting user any reason to hesitate can only (and ironically) play into the hands of the virus-software creators themselves!

Any reduction in update-effort can only make harder the jobs of IT Support Providers, who religiously spread the word that updating is good and procrastination is bad!

Microsoft Launch Fix-It Module for Vista and XP

 

Software giant Microsoft has today unveiled a bolt-on facility for Windows XP and Windows Vista, essentially adding a component that ships by default in Windows 7.  This innovative solution represents a new inbuilt IT Support function for these older operating systems.

This component, dubbed “Fix It” is tasked with monitoring your PC and seeks to invisibly and automatically repair common faults by diagnosing known conflicts between components in (and peripherals attached to) your PC.  Its further mission is to take this information and ensure that Microsoft’s own security fixes, upon installation, will not clash with anything else present.

The module has a database that can be added to as new conflicts are found, and currently contains some 300 such “rules”.  One of the clever bits here, too, is that if a conflict is found (and a particular security update stalled) the situation is monitored so that if a fix is found, this can be implemented as soon as the coast is clear.

We think Microsoft are to be commended for adding this functionality to Operating Systems that they are no longer actively marketing, and believe it flies in the face of sometimes-popular opinion that the software behemoth is only ever about making money!

 

This technology for self-fixing software may help IT Support businesses like ourselves to offer even better service in the future.

Backup, backup, backup - don't get your back up!

IT Support - data back up

If your PC died, would a part of you die too?
Backup. It’s a classic example of a simple word covering several shelves full of canned worms. In our (admittedly cynical) experience, taking a backup is a virtual guarantee that nothing bad will happen! It is when a backup is not taken that you are at risk from data loss and (for some reason) an increased likelihood of failure.
Then there is the middle ground – people who take backups regularly but never test that they’re backing anything up, or that it is restorable! We once attended a site and asked about backups and the length of time they take to run. The lady in question said “Oh yes, it takes about a minute”. Knowing the amount of data involved, we suggested that this was not very likely and it was later found that she had been diligently backing up an empty folder on the server! Utterly terrifying.
Back up what you need. Test you can retrieve it. Very simple, but so very rarely done well! The amount of IT Support calls we get about restoring data is quite large and more often than not as we look after the management of the back ups, the files are safely put back! If you want to talk about having a managed back up facility give us a call on 0871 855 2270!