World domination started at Macworld
22 January 2008

"It looks like something a James Bond villian would be proud to own. Just find a volcano to put it in and you're a step away from world domination"

It's been nearly a month since my last blog post so high time I waffled on in true geeky fashion about nothing in particular. I've already looked forward to what 2008 will offer techno junkies but now that CES and Macworld have taken place, how are things shaping up so far?

It seems to me that CES didn't really show off anything that overwhelming. Sure there were product launches and announcements and the huge 150" plasma television on display there drew some attention, but for real innovation again this year you need look no further than Macworld. Steve Jobs announced an addition to Apple's range of laptops. The Macbook Air (as it's been named) is an incredibly thin laptop. It's amazing how they managed to get anything in there, but the unit includes a decent sized hard drive (with an option to go for a flash based "solid state" version), 802.11n wireless and a 13.3" widescreen monitor. Apparently the Mac design team came up with the case and then tried to cram everything in it thinking it wouldn't be possible. Of course, this being Apple, they made it possible with help from Intel who designed a special version of their Core Duo processor to fit inside the thin enclosure. I'm very impressed and can't wait to see it in the flesh (or should that be aluminium) when they start shipping in early February. A friend has ordered one so I won't have long to wait to see just how cool this new product is. Jobs even introduced the Air in the Macworld Expo Keynote speech by pulling it out of a typical corporate internal envelope. Show off.

Also at Macworld, NEC demonstrated a 42" widescreen curved monitor. It looks like something a James Bond villian would be proud to own; just find a volcano to put it in and you're a step away from world domination. The unit actually comprises two 21" widescreen monitors side by side in a single case, cleverly engineered so you can't see the join. When the new behemoth starts shiping, however, you will need two DVI outputs from your computer to power it. No problem for Mac Pro owners. NEC haven't announced pricing or availability yet.

Apart from the Air launch in San Francisco last week, the Apple TV had a welcome update. The unit can now be used on its own and no longer requires syncing with a computer running iTunes. HD content is also now available from Apple as is renting of movies. Word on the street is that Univeral will come back on board and start offering their HD content through the service along with the established providers. Here in the UK, however, we're very limited to what we can get so no movie rentals, or to be honest, much in the way of any useful Apple TV content. The most encouraging positive news in this respect appears to be a suggestion (a mere hint at this stage) that the BBC will offer their 7-day catch up TV service for free via iTunes and Apple TV. I hope so, as it may mean I have to buy one as part of the "dump Sky TV" project I've set myself for this calendar year (another part to this activity being Freesat, but more on that next time).

Microsoft have announced that their making their licensing conditions for Windows Vista less restrictive. Users will now be able to buy any version of the new OS and install it on a virtual machine on a Mac. Prior to this announcement you had to buy the full Vista Ultimate edition to be legal (or use Apple's Boot Camp to run Windows on its own outside of OS X). Desperation, perhaps? No, I don't care either.

Despite recent dodgy events on the stock market, the technology industry seems to carry on regardless. Sales of high definition televisions continue to go apace. What on earth will happen when there's actually some free-to-air high def content to watch on these new sets remains to be seen. Dixons, Currys and PC World are no longer going to sell analogue televisions or DVD recorders from now on although I'm certainly not buying an HD ready set until there's a picture and sound quality being broadcast to watch on it. OK, I've been down this road before so I won't harp on about it again. Yet.

Right, that's enough for this time, more to come as the launch of Freesat approaches, digital tv switchover gets ever nearer and I go all high tech in the motor department. More to follow!