PBS -- Nerd TV

The Public Broadcasting System (PBS) Web-only broadcast will interview alpha geeks such as Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak and mouse inventor Doug Engelbart.

The Public Broadcasting System (PBS) Wednesday debuted "NerdTV," an Internet-only series of interviews with ultra-geeks, technology innovators, and company executives ranging from Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak to mouse inventor Doug Engelbart.
The Web-only broadcasts, which PBS characterized as "Charlie Rose for geeks," began with an interview of Andy Hertzfeld, the original Macintosh systems programmer. New interviews in the 13-part series will be posted weekly. (continued...)

Among the upcoming targets of host Robert X. Cringely's interviews will be Linus Torvalds of Linux fame, former Apple chief scientist Larry Tesler, and TCP/IP inventor Bob Kahn.

Viewers can download all or part of the whole program -- available in MP4 video with and without captions for playing in such software as Apple's QuickTime -- and/or retrieve audio-only podcasts of the interview in formats suitable for iPods, the WinAmp player, and MP3 portable music players.

All NerdTV programming comes with a Creative Commons license that allows anyone to download and copy the shows, share them with friends, and re-post them on their own Web sites.

NerdTV is available on the PBS Web site.

Source: InformationWeek

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First WiFi Cameras

World's First Built-In Wi-Fi -Enabled Digital Cameras
Nikon is redefining the digital camera shooting experience with the announcement of two new revolutionary Wi-Fi enabled models. The Coolpix P1 and P2 are the world's first built-in Wi-Fi-enabled (IEEE802.11b/g) digital cameras to hit the marketplace. These groundbreaking cameras allow consumers to immediately transmit images wirelessly directly to a computer or to any PictBridge-enabled printer equipped with the optional Nikon Wireless Printer Adapter (PD-10), for wireless printing. (continued...)

In addition to USB connectivity that makes it easy to hook the cameras up to a computer or other peripherals, wireless transfer allows the photographer to send pictures from a memory card or his or her camera’s internal memory direct to a selected computer on command. Wireless shooting automatically transfers each picture to a selected computer as soon as it is shot. Pictures can then be viewed with Nikon’s powerful yet fun-to-use and easy PictureProject software. And wireless printing delivers the convenience of cable-free direct printing to PictBridge-compatible printers. All these functions are easy to implement, too. Just set them up with the Wizard utility to enjoy easy wireless capabilities that add outstanding flexibility to the digital photography experience.

The Coolpix P1 and P2 will be available in September 2005 with a MSRP of $549.95 and $399.95, respectively. The Wireless Print Adaptor (PD-10) will be available in October 2005 with an MSRP of $49.95.

Making much of digital camera’s connectivity to the network, Nikon released compact digital cameras with easy and quick data transfer functions and developed image transfer technologies in collaboration with FotoNation Inc. and Microsoft. Then, in 2003, Nikon introduced the Wireless Transmitter WT-1, which, attached to the digital SLR D2H, enables wireless image transfer. This was followed in 2004 with the Wireless Transmitter WT-2, which was designed for D2X and realized enhanced security and compatibility with new protocol PTP/IP. With these products, Nikon has been leading wireless image transfer technology, earning the plaudits of the press and of other industries. And now, in order to introduce the wireless transfer function to even more customers, Nikon has released compact digital cameras with built-in Wireless LAN support, offering a new level of excitement in digital photography.

The Wireless LAN (Wi-Fi) is not only for professionals or business use. It will be increasingly popular with general consumers. As one of the world leaders of digital imaging, Nikon believes it is significant that it is introducing the world’s first consumer digital still cameras with Wi-Fi support. Nikon's future models will also support Wi-Fi function where appropriate.

As image transfer using Wireless LAN (Wi-Fi) gains popularity and the number of compatible products available increase, various additional user benefits can be offered. In addition to image transfer to TV, DVD recorder and photo storage devices, direct image transfer from hotspots in airports and other public spaces, and even wireless image transfer between digital cameras, may become possible. Positioning digital cameras as key network devices, Nikon intends to develop and offer new possibilities for built-in Wireless LAN (Wi-Fi) support to entertain customers. Not only wireless image transfer functions, but also other cutting-edge features will be developed to create added value for future products.

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Data On Portable Devices -- Priceless

The true dollar value of a laptop, cell phone, PDA, or iPod isn't on the price tags attached to the devices, but the entertainment stored on them. For the typical member of Generation Y--18- to 24-year-olds who grew up with portable technologies--the value of the stored data approaches $2,200.

That's according to a study by KRC Research and Hitachi Global Storage Technologies Inc., which found that American adults have an average of $1,135 worth of entertainment stored on devices such including laptops, MP3 players, DVRs, mobile phones, PDAs, digital cameras, and portable movie players. (continued...)

This is good news for hard-disk makers, such as Hitachi. As the cost of digital storage becomes less than 10% of the content value, they reason, it's affordable enough for that content to be permanently retained--increasing the pervasiveness of hard disk drives. Hitachi, in a statement, says it believes high-capacity hard drives--unlike any other form of portable storage--have achieved that level of affordability for consumers.

Researchers, who surveyed 1,004 U.S. adults last month by telephone, say Americans' craving for more storage is rising as our lives become more nomadic. Among the study's findings:

--56% say that all the photos, music, movies, and video games they have stored is somewhat important, valuable, or priceless, with nearly one in five contending their digital content was priceless.

--One-third have 21 Gbytes of storage capacity or more, with 10% having 200 Gbytes or more.

--60% wish they had even more storage on their devices, with nearly one-third adding they'd wish they had 'so much storage that it was never an issue'

Researchers based the value of the stored data on industry average costs for songs, photos, movies, and video games.

Source InformationWeek:

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Intel, Matsushita Team To Develop 8-Hour Notebook Battery

TOKYO — Matsushita Battery Industrial Co. and Intel Corp. said they would collaborate to develop batteries able to run a notebook PC for 8 hours without recharging.

The collaboration, announced at the Intel Developer Forum in San Francisco, would leverage Intel's low- power consumption technology for notebook PCs with Matsushita's lithium-ion battery technology. (continued...)

"We expect that the joint development will enable us to propose a solution that enables eight hours of full operation by a [built-in] battery," a Matsushita spokesman said.

Parent company Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. Ltd. has already developed a notebook PC for the Japanese market offering seven to 12 hours of battery life. The battery run time is based on the Japan Electronics and Information Technology Industries Association (JEITA)'s measurement method supported by major PC vendors in Japan, including Dell Computer and IBM.

JEITA's battery run time measurement method integrates major benchmark criteria such as luminous intensity of the display, CPU and hard-disk drive loads. Half of the run time on JEITA's method is idle operation, with the PC screen at the lowest intensity. Thus, the eight-hour run time under JEITA's criteria does not necessarily mean all-day operation.

In March, Matsushita Battery announced a lithium-ion battery that uses nickel oxide for the positive electrode in place of cobalt oxide, improving the battery’s energy density to 600 watt hours per liter, or 15 percent more than a typical lithium-ion battery.

Matsushita Battery will begin shipping the battery in October. Next April, the company plans to introduce a 2.9 ampere-hour version of the nickel-oxide, lithium-ion battery with a volumetric energy density of 620 watt- hours per liter. That battery will form the basis of the collaboration with Intel.

Both companies have not disclosed when the "all-day" battery would become available.

Source: InformationWeek

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