Category: news

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FTTC

BT Infinity is BT’s new broadband product that makes use of fibre to the cabinet (FTTC) to enable even faster speeds than available via normal DSL. In some cases 40Mbs download speeds are possible.

Of course if you are going to make best use of this and have a wireless network, if you use 802.11g then you may find this is not fast enough and want to get an 802.11n wireless router.

Another feature of FTTC is that unlike traditional UK ADSL that uses PPPoA, FTTC uses PPPoE so that a router like Apple’s Airport Extreme is now possible to use direct with the broadband connection. Before you would have needed to use a ADSL modem between your broadband connection and your wireless router.

My local exchange has just been upgraded to FTTC so looking forward to upgrading and trying it out.

There are also trials with FTTP (Fibre To The Premises) that can result in even faster 100Mb speeds. I can wish.

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Airport Extreme reliability failing

As mentioned before on the blog, my Airport Extreme is becoming less reliable. I am having to reboot it at least once a week now. There is no warning before it goes dodgy.

I am going to wait before replacing it, as we are getting BT Infinity later this month and I am not sure if I will need a new router. If I do need a specific type of router then I will get a new 802.11n router.

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New Apple TV

Well Apple are holding an event on the 1st September for the press.

Generally at this time of year we see Apple announce their new iPod line up for the festive season.

With sales of traditional iPods falling I suspect (as others do) that there may be a limited refresh of the traditional iPod line, but the real focus of this event will be a new iPod touch and a new iOS4 based Apple TV (or iTV as Apple want to call it). There are also rumours of an iPad refresh, not sure how reliable that is, but we will be getting iOS 4 for the iPad about now and I do wonder if the delay was down to a refreshed iPad with Facetime camera? There are also other rumours of a 7″ iPad.

What really interests me is the new Apple TV. I have been considering buying one for some time now and keep putting it off. Using a Mac mini has solved many of my issues with pushing video and music from my computer to the front room, however this is only a temporary solution. In the long term I need to choose between getting another Mac mini or getting an Apple TV. The new rumoured $99 Apple TV actually might be a real solution and in many ways could work alongside a Mac mini!

Will be interesting to see what is in fact announced on the 1st September.

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Google Chrome Tablet

Download Squad are claiming that there will be a Google Chrome Tablet coming on the 26th of November.

Yes, our source tells us that Google is building a Chrome OS tablet. It’s real, and it’s being built by HTC.

HTC of course made the Nexus One.

Sounds interesting, might get one.

Doubt it will be as good as the iPad, but you never know!

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Airport Extreme

My 802.11n Airport Extreme base station is starting to be a little unreliable over the last few weeks.

I bought it in 2007 and it has worked pretty much flawlessly over that timeframe.

The only real difference to my network is that I have started using my iPad on the network.

Is this the cause?

Who knows!

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Plex Media Centre

I am still evaluating a Mac mini under the TV and decided to give Plex a go.

Plex bridges the gap between your Mac and your home theater, doing so with a visually appealing user interface that provides instant access to your media. Plex can play a wide range of video, audio and photo formats as well as online streaming audio and video. The real power of Plex is found in its library features: Organize your media into versatile libraries, automatically retrieve metadata from the Internet, and display your libraries using one of the visually stunning skins.

One way I have heard it described is, Front Row on steroids!

To get the most from it though I do need a much faster internet connection, one day soon I hope.

It installed fine and I immediately installed BBC iPlayer. Hoping to get more done with it over the next few weeks.

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US iTunes Account (in the UK)

There are quite a few Apps that are not available in the UK iTunes Store that I know I would find useful, so I got myself a free US iTunes Store account.

Launch iTunes.

Select iTunes Store from the left side panel options, you will then see the iTunes Store home page.

Select United States as your location from the country selection drop down menu available at the bottom of the page by clicking the Union Jack icon and then clicking the American flag.

After choosing the country, search for BBC News (though that is now available in the UK).

When the application’s page is loaded – click the Free App button, and the login window will appear.

Click on the Create Account button.

Fill out US address details and click on continue. If you don’t know any valid US address you can use Apple US retail store address by pointing your browser to http://www.apple.com/retail/ and choosing a store from the list available in the page.

Beverly Hills 90210 is another useful address!

After submitting valid US postal address details, iTunes Store registration takes you to payment mode page.  Here choose the option None and finish the registration.

You will now see the congratulation page.You’re done! Your iTunes Store account is created without credit card and from now onwards you can download all the free applications available to US users.

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Still no Blu-Ray on the iMac

Apple has updated their iMac range.

Though I do like the idea of having a dual drive 27″ iMac with the main hard drive been an SSD that would result in improved speed and performance.

However we still are not seeing any Blu-Ray drives in any of the new iMacs.

I think I need to stop hoping and forget about Blu-Ray on the Mac. It’s too obvious that Apple believe the only way to get video is through the iTunes store. I wouldn’t mind so much, but… I still can’t buy HD movies in the UK iTunes Store. I can rent them on the Apple TV and the iPad, but I can’t rent them (or buy them) on my Mac.

I can buy HD TV shows (and I did like Doctor Who in HD) so it’s not a technical reason, it’s a rights problem.

So with no Blu-Ray and no HD films, I can’t watch HD movies on my wonderful 27″ iMac screen.