Life & Technology

Stuart Bocking and Tracey Spicer are filling in for Steve Liebmann while he is covering the Winter Olympics in Vancouver.

Tracey’s husband was at the local cinema when he received a SMS asking if he wanted to buy some popcorn from the Candy Bar. He was a little bemused at this, but I think I have figured out what is going on. Hoyts have a new Blu Zone, which is a cute way of saying it can send you text messages inside the cinema using blutooth technology.

For those of you who are not as tech savvy as others, Blutooth technology is a way of connecting wirelessly to other devices via your smartphone. I think Tracey’s husband probably got a text message inside the cinema asking if he wanted to join the Blu Zone and hit the yes button.

While it is up to the individual to be responsible for their own mobile phone. this brings up another interesting problem: blu-jacking. What is blu-jacking? Simply this: if her husband had received such a request from some random person, that person could possibly possibly put some unwanted software on the your mobile and then have access to all kinds of personal information. Something worth thinking about, eh?

Had many calls today. Spoke with Peter, who has a love of horror movies, which doesn’t impress his wife so he watches them on his computer. However, he recently watched a region one DVD (from America), and now can’t watch region four DVDs. I’d suggest that the software on his computer has decided not to play other regions due to him playing a region one disc. You can get software packages – some free – that will make your computer region free. Here are a couple I’ve found, but will not verify how user-friendly they are. Here’s a couple DVD Region Killer and DVD Shrink.

I was asked last week if it was possible to get an antennae for an iPhone, and having spoken to Apple, the short answer is no. However, you can check your iPhone’s signal strength against another iPhone (as long as you are on the same network).

Marie asked what she should buy to record television programmes because her VCR is about to die. I’d suggest a set-top box with a personal video recorder. You can record a tonne of content using such a unit, as well as use the free-to-air Electronic Programme Guide (EPG), which will record programmes weeks in advance. The only downside, compared to a DVD recorder, is that you can’t share it with others.

Helen has had the odd hiccup with her computer, which she thinks is due to it being near a window and moisture getting to it. As a rule of thumb, technology hates moisture or too much heat. I try and put my computers in relatively shady areas with good air circulation. Helen also wanted to know about her battery dying in her desktop. What she meant by this is the little battery that keeps track of your clock. When this dies, it goes back to the time default setting, so it occasionally has to be replaced as I found out recently.

Bronnie was keen to be informed on technology and wanted to know what were some good sites to go to. Well, obviously there is this one! But also, there some other great sites out there including my television programme-based site CyberShack, as well as cosumer tech sites like Engadget and Gizmodo.

Pat asked about the Polaroid Pogo, which is a nifty little unit similar to the old Polaroid that produced a printed version of the shot you had just taken. Not a bad little unit, but I would suggest you check out how much a refill costs before buying one.

Finally, Heath was keen to talk about the HTC Touch Pro 2, which came out in 2009. I think he was talking about the HD 2 mini Windows-based mobile that is coming out this year. These types of units, along with Android phones, are making themselves heard in 2010, and it will be interesting to see how well the sell against the likes of Nokia, Apple and Samsung.

 

 

When Apple head honcho Steve Jobs stood in front of the crowd during his annual Macworld keynote address in 2007 and delivered the iPhone to an eager public, something changed in the world of mobile phones.

2010 will be the year where something is going to change again. With Google Android, Apple iPhone, Microsoft Windows 7, Symbian, Blackberry and more, the number of smart mobiles on the market will be higher than ever. But how will you choose the right platform? Will it be a particular app that you want, or range of apps? Will it be the handset? The operating system? How about the brand?

The hardest thing about setting up your mobile phone is configuring the settings and transferring your personal information. This is where the connectivity comes into play. For example, putting your information from your current iPhone onto your new iPhone is simple. Doing the same from your iPhone to a Nokia? Much harder.

We all want our smart phones to be personal information solutions, that is why we buy them. But as they grow into the broader audience, they will be used by customers who don’t care about configuring the device and just want it to work.

Here is why 2010 will be so important to the manufacturers. When you choose the right platform for you, you will also buy some apps, load in some content and spend a lot of time and energy doing it. Doing it all over again next year when you get a new phone – no way. And that’s why you will see even more noise created in the phone world this year when it comes to compatibility and why vendors will try even harder to get you as a customer. Because once you’re hooked, it’ll be harder to let go – not because you are so overwhelmed by the technology on offer, but due to the amount of hassle involved in changing to a new vendor.

 

Had an interesting interview on Nine News with Chris Urquhart, whereby the subject matter had some disturbing ramifications and left a bad taste in my mouth.

Recently three teenagers lost there lives in a horror crash in Melbourne. Aged just between 15 and 19, these three young people left a wake of grief behind them as family and friends struggled to deal with the loss of a small group of kids whose lives were just starting.

Being the 21^st century, the way people deal with grief is markedly different from when I was growing up, and as one would expect from the younger generation, friends set up a Facebook page as a memorial and place where people could leave their condolences.

What the people who set up the account didn’t expect, and shouldn’t have to put up with, was a group of thoughtless, mean-spirited people leaving horrible and upsetting messages on the site, for what appears to be their own petty amusement.

Unfortunately Facebook has refused to shut down the site, which they don’t have to, but doesn’t make the grieving friends feel any better.

At the end of the day, this type of thing says more about the people who put up this kind of disturbing material and shows just how hateful and selfish some people can be.