 Tech Talk Radio Tech Talk Radio is an informative and entertaining technology show on great radio stations around Australia. Join your host Andrew McColm (ABC Radio & Talk 1116) and co host Dr. Ron along with our regulars, Mark Diggins, Graeme Callaghan and Adam Turner - journalist for the Age and SMH.Lidija Davis is our US correspondent based in Silicon Valley California. Tech Talk Radio reports on current technical developments both in Australia and abroad in an easy to digest manner format. Our panelists discuss a wide range of issues and technological gadgets, as well as respond to your dilemmas and feedback. We're passionate about technology and it shows! 30 Jun 2008 at 9:40am This week, we?re about to witness the next internet revolution, as domain names as we know them are about to become simpler, but probably more confusing. Paul Twomey announced a plan to allow users to register generic domain names has been approved by The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers otherwise known as (ICANN) The plan will allow users to register whatever domain suffix they want for their site, rather than being limited to the traditional .com or .net labels. So instead of Microsoft.com or apple.com, the internet name can now be .apple or .microsoft Users will also be allowed to register domains with non-latin characters, thus paving the way for international sites which use Chinese, Russian, or other unique characters. The group has not yet decided on what registration of the new domains will cost, though the prices are expected to be significantly higher than existing suffixes. The approval came at the conclusion of ICANN's International Public Meeting in France. Other measures passed in the meeting included new measures designed to eliminate large-scale 'domain tasting' in which multiple domains are registered and unprofitable addresses are quickly dumped. Also on This Weeks Show Firefox downloads hit 19m Bill quits Microsoft... again 3 Mobile enlists online help to secure iPhone Self confessed luddite and Gen Y'er Lucy Buttler joins the panel and we hear from a rural listener about the state of broadband in the bush and the current broadband woes Listen 23 Jun 2008 at 9:19am This week, it?s Telstra?s now you see it, now you don?t, now you see it again iPhone. There?s still a few weeks to July 11, the day Apple?s penultimate portable gadget hits the streets here in oz, so who knows what?s left in store? Also today, what do you think would happen to you if you grabbed a megaphone and walked in to a National Australia Bank and bellowed to the world that you had some free tickets to a footy game that you wanted to give away? Chances are you?d be escorted from the build in a matter of moments and told not to do it again and maybe even charged with many possible offences including trespass right? Well this week the shoe is on the other foot ? some bright spark in the National Australia Bank?s PR department decided to gate crash social networking sites, uninvited of course, and spruiked their free football tickets to those chat?s they could muscle their way in on. Well, there has been plenty of fall out over this, and the NAB?s popularity and reputation was the first casualty as. Not only was the NAB's actions felt here, but the tsunami waves rolled across the planet to the US and beyond as Lidija Davis, our US correspondent will report on later in the show. Listen 16 Jun 2008 at 5:57pm This week, Apple's iPhone supporting third generation mobile communications is heading for our shores. After months of speculation, finally the rumors will be laid to rest. To start with, it?s not called the 3G iPhone. It?s called the iPhone 3G. So, jet?s take a look at what?s in, and what?s out? To start with GPS is in. GPS receivers in mobile devices isn?t new, as Sony Ericsson include it now in their current range of phone, as well as other manufacturers. A 3G chipset enabling much faster browsing of the web and downloading was obviously maditory. The device also has a new sleek appearance with thinner edges, and a flush headphone jack. There?s more battery life despite the demands of power hungry 3G chipsets, it?s half the price of the previous model, it?s available in 2 colors, black and white, it has a 2 megapixel camera, It has 8GB or 16GB of storage, and a 3.5-inch screen. One feature that is missing is the lack of video calling, a feature telcos love to charge for. The lack of a removeable battery is also still very disappointing, and there?s no MMS, a feature used to send pictures and movies from one phone to another. That?s not to say someone won?t write an application to do this, it?s just no out of the box unlike a conventional 3G device. There?s no rumored 32GB of storage, you can?t use the device as a wireless modem like you can with other 3rd generation devices. There was no mention of connecting the iPhone 3G to bluetooth devices such as keyboard, and no rumored front camera. So, there?s still plenty of room for improvement ? from a 3G functionality point of view, but for those with their hearts set on buying the device just because of the brand name, they won?t be disappointed. Just watch this space this time next year. Listen 9 Jun 2008 at 9:23am In these days of phishing, credit card fraud and email nasties, the Australian Government has a new initiative call e-security week. In an effort to protect individuals and small businesses of the perils of today?s online world, the government has launched a new website to try and educate users in four main areas, titled: Securing your computer, Small businesses safe on line, Smart transacting online, and Kids safe online. There?s no software to download, no hard earned cash to part with - it doesn?t even ask for personal information. The staysmartonline.gov.au website is a reference for parents, teachers, and business owners, to help make the best of what the Internet has to offer. The online world is fraught with danger, not unlike today?s real world when you step out the front door. There really isn?t any difference except that when we go outside we know how to behave and what to look out for. For example, we don?t walk across a busy road without looking left then right, then left again ? why ? because that?s what we were taught when we were young. We know not to go into certain parts of our town by ourselves or unaccompanied. The same can be said when we wander into the online world. If we know what to do, and what not to do, there is no reason why our online experience can?t be enjoyable. Stay smart online, is the new teacher for the technological era. Online transactions are here to stay, and, like the demise of old banking practices, we?ll see more and more old fashion methods of transaction become extinct, with banks and businesses turning to the online world for almost all financial dealings. If you know what to do, and how to do it, it?s perfectly safe. The e-security initiative by the federal government is a commendable approach in helping all Australians, young and old, get online, and stay safe when doing so. No longer can anyone at any age ignore the Internet. They would do so at there own peril. Also on This Weeks Show Telstra slams 'bogus' broadband report Government launches alert service to kick off E-security Week Apple's WWDC: New iPhone, new OS X, new .Mac? Listen 2 Jun 2008 at 9:22am As consumers of technology, or any commodity for that matter, we place a certain amount of trust in the hands of the manufacturer or service provider. Technical specifications aside, we, as consumers, place a great deal of weight on the brand name behind whatever it is we?re buying ? but at what price? Brand names are everything. Recently on Tech Talk Radio we spoke of the great brands of 2008, of which Google, Microsoft and Apple were amongst the top ten global brands. So, do we assume that just because these guys are top of the ladder that they won?t sell us a dodgy product? In today?s cut throat world of retailing, companies need to maintain a good margin on products. When that margin is threatened by competitors and cheap imitation copies of products from say China and Asia, don?t you think that the marketing departments of said companies would do anything to improve sales and hence the companies bottom line? Or what about just unscrupulous companies that put sales before customers? We?re not immune from this sort of corporate mischief in Australia either Recently, what was once a trusted and respected Australian IT company betrayed local consumers by saying that their service was ?everywhere you needed it? when according to the ACCC it wasn?t. The federal court agreed with the ACCC and found that the company?s claims were misleading. This week, the mail order computer company Dell was found guilty in an American court of false advertising and fraud. According to the court, the company engaged in abusive debt collection practices, misled consumers about the financing terms for which they had qualified and failed to provide consumers with promised rebates. The case arose after hundreds of complaints about Dell and its finance arm Dell Financial Services. As a result, Dell now faces the prospect of a huge damages claim. So what motivates the large corporate players to deceive and lie to consumers, the people that keep them in business? Is it the nature of just a few rotten apples in the marketing bunch, are they just innocent mistakes by ill informed individuals, or are the company executives fully aware of their actions, knowing full well that they?re stretching the truth? Take that into consideration when upgrading or buying your next gadget. After all, once a company blots its copy book, what?s to say that they won?t do it again? A few weeks ago, I had the privileged of talking to Rico Malvar, the managing director of Research for Microsoft based in Redmond. Today you?ll hear part two of our discussion Also on This Weeks Show We continue our chat with Rico Malvar, from Microsoft research in the US Adam turns his attention to the slow take up of bluray Gates promises 'multi-touch' Windows 7 Dell found guilty of fraud and false advertising And it?s the end of an era for paper airline tickets Listen 26 May 2008 at 9:00am The world of technology is an ever changing feast of gadgets and software. When it comes to the world?s most influential technological companies, Microsoft, Apple and Google would have to be those at the top of the list. Telecommunications companies globally provide the conduit for connectivity, but if it weren?t for the hardware and software vendors then life would not be as it is today. Some people embrace technology and some treat it with contempt. Such is human nature, but the one thing that is here to stay is the rapid emergence of new and interesting gadgets designed to make our lives easier. A few weeks ago, I had the privileged of talking to Rico Malvar, the managing director of Research for Microsoft based in Redmond. Today you?ll get an insight into what and how we?ll be doing things around the turn of the next decade. Rico was a founding member of the Signal Processing research group at Microsoft Research, which evolved into the Communication and Collaboration Systems group and the Knowledge Tools group. His technical contributions at Microsoft include co-development of the Windows Media Audio digital audio format, image compression technologies for Microsoft Office, Tablet PC, Xbox 360 and Flight Simulator X, digital elevation map compression technologies for Flight Simulator X, rights management technologies for Windows Media, new video transform and quantization techniques that were adopted into H.264 (MPEG-4 AVC), ink compression formats for Microsoft Office and Tablet PC, acoustic signal processing technologies for Windows Messenger, Microsoft Office RoundTable, and Windows Vista, and co-development of the HD Photo format for digital pictures, which is the basis for the upcoming JPEG XR standard. His technical interests include audio and video signal enhancement and compression, multirate signal processing, signal decompositions, fast algorithms, coding theory, and electronics hardware. Also on This Weeks Show The G9 change their name and put $5m on the Governments table Adam Turner talks to ZoHo about giving Google a run for their money Lidija Davis teaches us how to Digg properly and Downloads on the Up as CD sales slump Listen |