Re: Ok, very nice but...

Exactly. I'm just glad that these units are priced beyond the reach of most kids. Scary stuff.

Re: i want one

Laser-powered vehicle launch:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KtH-SxqdtaA (launch is at 1 mintue 50 seconds).

It reaches a height of 233 feet. The point is that the power source / fuel stays on the ground.

Re: £238?

The price we've seen in the article is the suggested price, and you're comparing to what something else 'can be had for'.

The real retail price of many products is usually lower, and often gets lower still during its time on the market, than its suggested at launch. As always, people will compare the speed, features, warranty etc against the price as and when they're ready to buy one.

Re: I hope they enjoy it while they can

> I can't help feeling that the laptop makers will start building their x86 laptops with a detachable screen and ARM chippery.

I'm not quite sure what you mean by x86 laptops using ARM chips, unless you mean as a secondary system, i.e, boot into a low power ARM environment for checking emails or browsing, or boot into full fat x86 Windows for when you're nearer a power socket.

I agree with what I think is your general point- this distinction between what we now call laptops and what we now call tablets will become ever fuzzier.

Re: Lord Brunel Resurrection!

>Lord Brunel Resurrection!

A reanimated Isambard Kingdom Brunel! Right, that's my Halloween outfit sorted. I was going to go as Jimmy Saville, but at least I can recycle the cigar!

>Good dictation on tablets is the future, it's better than virtual keypads.l

In some circumstances. I tend to use more for searches such as "cinema listings Cardiff" rather than "coque au vin recipe", sort of second-guessing what it will find easier to understand. My accent is fairly close to received pronunciation, so I can imagine dictation only getting for me, but it might not for everybody.

Hmm... has anyone got around to proposing a phone case incorporating a chorded keyboard on Kickstarter yet? That would seem to be a good mobile typing solution. Hell, fairly easy to prototype, too...

Re: There's two sides to every story.

>We've heard Tim Cock's. Now let's hear Forstall's.

Whilst he's looking for a new job, he won't want to be seen slagging off his former employer, even if he does have cause.

Re: No, it isn't..

I'm not sure you can judge all his work by one lemon squeezer.. Though Starck is towards the 'form' end of the spectrum - the commission that made his name was interior furnishings for the French presidential palace- the bags he design for Samsonite were excellent. I especially like the shoulder straps that were on seat-belt style spools, so wouldn't catch on door handles when the bag was carried by its handle.

I wasn't keen on those mice he designed for MS, though. His Lacie HDD enclosures are alright, if you like that soft of thing.

Re: Does that mean decent Marine Nav software exists for OS X ???

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperion_(yacht):

"However, [the yacht] Hyperion is famous primarily for her owner, silicon valley entrepreneur Jim Clark, founder of Silicon Graphics and Netscape, who built the yacht with the aim of replacing all conventional ship board electronics with an array of integrated, touch screen computers.

At the time of launch, all systems aboard the yacht including engines and sailing systems, environmental systems, lighting, HVAC and entertainment were controlled by a network of 30 customized Silicon Graphics computers and 22 LCD touch screens at various locations throughout the yacht."

I do appreciate that OSX isn't IRIX, but if one billionaire can get UNIX-like navigation software together, there is no reason why another shouldn't.

Re: God that thing is ugly

I'm no naval engineer, but I'm confident the people who built it know better than some commentards whether it is 'fit for purpose'. Their previous clients include Roman Abromovich, Paul Allen, a Brunei prince, the Ford family and many more, some having made repeat orders over the decades.

I don't know how someone can think for a moment that by just looking at a photo they know better than the people who make these things for a living, and have made the calculations and performed the tests.

By all means comment on its appearance, but to knock other professionals about whose trade you know little is just discourteous and makes you look a bit daft.

Re: No, it isn't..

What it might have looked like if Starck had had free reign:

http://www.1designperday.com/2009/08/08/3-creative-yachts-designs-by-starck-more/

I can only assume that Starck had responsibility for some of the interior fittings and decor, though not on the bridge judging from the photos. Maybe photos of his contribution haven't been released to smack him on the wrist for disclosing his involvement earlier in the year?

Re: Yuks

You do get different alloys of aluminium. Bicycle frames are usually 6xxx or 7xxx series alloy, boats usually use 5xxx series, and tensile strength reductions in 10-year sea-water corrosion tests of 1.62mm thick bare sheet specimens are only 2 to 5%.

I haven't read it, but thank you for drawing it my attention. Prior to your post, the earliest story I knew of along these lines was Arthur C Clarke's Dial F for Frankenstein (1964) in which the worldwide telephone exchange network becomes so complicated that it develops conciousness, published eighteen years after A Logic Named Joe. Cheers!

The theme of emergent intelligence is revisited by Alfred Bester in a 1975 novel The Computer Connection, a.k.a Extro (its okay, but do read Bester's The Stars My Destination first, it's absolutely superb). Many of my generation are perhaps more familiar with William Gibson's Neuromancer or the Japanese animation The Ghost in the Shell.

Isaac Asimov of course explored ideas around asking computers questions in a series of stories about computer called Multivac (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multivac) from 1955 onwards, including The Last Question (1956). He didn't, IIRC, mention prostitutes... that's more of a Brian Aldiss thing.

Re: Warning, warning

In a week in which we have nothing but James Bond gadget articles, you want to encourage The Reg to cover Mission Impossible gear?

Re: Where's the Nokia slab?

Purpley-blue? I couldn't see it. I must get my monitor calibrated!

d'oh! I've just remembered I use a program called F.Lux to alter my screen's white balance according to the time of day. It's good, and lessens Chromes 'white flash of eye death' between web pages, but obviously does nothing for colour accuracy- though it can be toggled.

Nice touch on the belt and braces colour descriptions though!

Re: Dell

My Dell is a few years old now, still going strong. I don't use it for gaming, since it gets far too hot when both the CPU and GPU are running high. However, CAD doesn't always make the same demands on the GPU as gaming, and even at 100% CPU whilst rendering it doesn't get hot enough to throttle itself. I like it. It was good value and hasn't yet let me down.

I wouldn't buy another Dell though, because they no longer offer the 1920 x 1200 screen this one has.

The most interesting comment from the man Mr Pott interviewed concerned his frustration with the poor resolution offered by most laptops these days. This has been a common theme on Reg forums too.

Re: Mac Mini - what's its main purpose?

>Why would I want GPU acceleration for a media centre **server** ? All the thing has to do is stream the files to >other boxes that you use to view the videos.

Some servers can transcode media files as they stream them... I don't know if this is something the GPU is called in to assist with?

But yeah, my mate uses his Mac Mini as a HTPC, since it's nice and quiet. I was hoping that he would use it for his ongoing vinyl transcription project, since his FireWire soundcard just works with it and OSX's CoreAudio seems better behaved than Window's Sound Mapper (which keeps trying to displace ASIO, which in any case is limited to a few channels). Alas, he's a masochist and is attached to piece of software on his XP PC, and the differences in the OSX version confuse him. He's also a sadist, since it's me who gets called in to to troubleshoot problems...

Re: will be improved by users upgrading to newer versions

> It is impossible to make an operating system secure by design.

Maybe. But it seems entirely possible to make an OS less secure by poor design.

Re: @AC:11:09 (was: The wife's primary pistol of choice ...)

Thankfully, us Brits don't have the rates of gun crime that the US does. There are some European countries where there are high levels of gun ownership and yet low levels of gun crime (though they they tend to have less of a wealth gap than the USA, and be more socially homogeneous) so it isn't just a case of more guns = more gun crime.

However, here at the Reg we've heard of people not having the wits to use a sat nav safely... so it seems a bit of stretch to assume that everyone eligible to own a gun in the States has the wits to store and use it safely. I'm not saying all of Jake's compatriots are morons, but rather the US is home to wide spectrum of folk, from the brilliant to the Darwin Award-winning. Alas, it isn't always the idiot who gets hurt by their actions.

I'm not sure why I should be pitied for not being allows to own a gun just to protect myself against idiots with guns. I rather like living in a country where guns are only owned by the police, farmers and rich people in Range Rovers who don't want to rob me. Oh, and I'm free to walk out of my house without carrying ID. Free. Okay, there are some idiots in the inner cities with guns, and some rough drug related violence in more semi-rural areas, but its mostly 'idiot on idiot' and doesn't bother me.

And Jake, some of your posts can read as "You have a black horse? I have a blacker one, and have had since 1977!", which often distracts attention from any of your more valid points.

Re: Actually, I approve.

It's already available for Android... don't know if has the full functionality of the WinPhone version, though that would depend on new games (or downloadable updates) supporting it anyway. You can already get Android apps for specific Xbox360 games anyway- Bungie released one for Halo Reach that gives real-time maps.

http://www.hotukdeals.com/freebies/microsoft-xbox-smartglass-for-android-now-available-free-google-play-1346203

Re: Windows 8 [was No surprise here]

NO! Like we don't have enough bloody pop-up windows and notification dialogues when first using a new installation of Windows.

Now, there would an idea - a command that could be entered when installing Windows to the effect of "I've used this operating system, or one like it, before and I'm confident that I can work it out. If not, I'll just ask the internet for tips, I suspect I will have to anyway for troubleshooting info. So please, no sodding balloons"

Jovial exasperation aside, Mr Longland's suggestion is reasonable.

Re: Not sure the purpose is lockdown

Since Apple sell a 2 x HDD Mac Mini as their small office server solution, it has to allow admins to get inside to change the HDDs. A set of Torx costs about a £5. Shit, I've spent more than that on a few PoziDrive heads from a builder's merchants.

The Mac Pro shows that Apple can design stuff to be very easy too maintain when they want to.

I'm not sure what the griping is about not being able to get inside a Macbook... when I have laptops from other brands go belly up, there has been nothing I can do to fix them. Since Macbooks use Time Machine to update disk images every day, there is no need to whip out the HDD to recover data, and according to independent surveys, they are pretty damned reliable anyway:

http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9230019/Macs_stuck_in_4th_place_on_reliability_support_ranking

The waste that I see across all brands of laptop is not being able to reuse the laptop screen as a monitor once the laptop is dead... though people seem to have enjoyed some success with using the following controller (about £20):

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/5451-Audio-LCD-Controller-logic-Board-AD-ConverterLVDS-DVI-VGA-DIY-1920x1200max-/280996490585?pt=US_Server_Boards&hash=item416cb22d59

Re: I'll tell you what

One CRT monitor in my school's IT room used to go on the blink from time to time... it was enormously satisfying to thump it and have it spring back to life, everytime. If only other equipment responded so well to an 'intuitive Human Input"...

And yes, I do know now as an adult that over time this cure would probably have done more harm.

Re: Called it

>"I think they are treading a very fine line. They are just about complying with the letter of the ruling, maybe."

Isn't doing precisely this that lawyers are paid to do?

>"...design doesn't warrant the same wide public interest that tech does... ...Dyson was never ask to publish >anything. Why Apple? "

Haven't you just answer your own question? The court ruled Apple had to make this statement in the national media only beacuse the case had previously had so much attention in the press. The judge felt this was proportional.

Re: "and six interchangeable AC adapter plugs for use with iPod, iPhone, and iPad"

> If every hotel room featured mandatory USB sockets, the world would be a much better place for everyone.

>Unless you bought a phone that required an adaptor.

Er, every phone requires a cable to connect to a USB socket.

In fact, most hotels have a box of abandoned phone chargers under the reception desk, left in rooms by previous guests... it doesn't hurt to ask the receptionist if you need one!

Shit, Samsung were worst for having umpteen different charging connectors, rarely the same between any two phone models, though at a glance they looked the same.

Re: Wonderful news!

@Esskay,

Those are valid points, but I wish the 'standard' solution for phones, microUSB, was better. It's okay, but it isn't perfect, and now we will be stuck with for years to come because it is now mandated. It's not suited for docking solutions, has sharp scratchy edges and I still find myself having to look at it closely to determine which way round to use it. Still, its near ubiquity makes up for its shortcomings.

In the time Apple have had one connector, the old 13 pin, us none Apple users have gone through USB B, miniUSB, and propriety cables*, to microUSB. I've got nests of the bloody things, don't know what, just that any given cable isn't the one I'm looking for at the time.

*Camera makers are especially guilty of this, but now most devices have an SD card slot it is less irritating. I think it should be ruled that if you make a weird cable, it should be a weird colour.

Curiously, my first Linux experience was helping a mate install Mint on an old classic Thinkpad he'd been donated. Quickly reading up on SUDO etc, it all went fairly smoothly, except for the audio- apparently they used obscure sound hardware, according to the forums, and a few things needed to be done in a specific order, IIRC. It took us the rest of the afternoon, but the eventual 'Tada!' test noise was very satisfying.

More recently, I've only used Ubuntu on a few machines, all very novice-proof, except one machine requiring some added text at start-up. If only the applications didn't have such silly names and gave you a clue as to what they did! The naming scheme sits between charmingly quirky and frustrating.

Re: Too wide

>Apple obviously don't think of the children?

I can't think of who else the iPod Touch is aimed at, adults will already have a smartphone that performs the same functions and more.

From The Thick Of It:

"Get it done ASAFP!"

"What does the F stand for?"

"Feasibly, I assume"

Actually, it seems more akin to what Sony did with the PSP and PS3 did years ago... the PSP would act as a rear-view mirror in Gran Turismo. The PS3 would also stream video to the PSP.

And certain XBOX 360 games, such as Halo Reach, already have Android apps to give you, for example, live maps showing your team-mates' locations. Cheers Bungie!

As for using the hot and loud XBOX for listening to music... no thanks.

Well, for the general user, the case for being tied to an OS is weakening, with many PC activities being done through a browser. Networked storage and virtual machines can only contribute towards not really caring if ones next machine comes with a penguin, fruit or a primary-coloured shape pre loaded. For me, this day hasn't yet come and I'm not saying it will tomorrow, but one day..

Yeah I remember: legislation mandated the use of a lead-free solder in consumer electronics. Being new, people weren't experienced in designing around its limitations, and failures ensued. That was designed over 7 years ago.

But what heck has that got to do with this new Surface tablet thingy?

Re: I still don't understand what 4G is for!

And I think I've heard of 4G being more efficient with smaller chunks of data, 3G requires a chunk of data for small things like Instant Messaging or somesuch... crazy to think, back in the day when 3G was auctioned off, no one could think what the consumer might use it for other than to watch Match of the Day highlights.

These days, my mate's jail-broken iPhone and a genuinely unlimited Orange data plan meant he had acceptable home broadband for the two weeks it took Virgin Media to see to his new flat.

Re: That sucks...

No, but after the manufacturing moved to the far East, they employed more people than they did before, but in higher paid jobs R&D jobs.

Re: No one here remembers TEMPEST then?

Except for using a writing implement that leaves a fine dust of a conductive material inside an enclosed environment with a recirculated atmosphere that also contains mission-critical electrical equipment is really a good idea.

Crayons might be better.

Re: OTOH....

>Advance planning, plant lots of small forests so there's always tree cover handy?

See 'Agent Orange', as used in Laos and Vietnam.

Re: Immune Virtual Operating Systems for Attacking Defence Platforms ....

>I'm convinced that amanfromMars 1is really a bunch of monkeys typing a combination of words together... I wonder if we are being "researched"...

Really? I always thought he was more William Gibson than gibbons.

Re: no just no

The article explicitly stated that the device's TomTom and media player don't require the subscription. Anyway, the alternative is that you would have to pay for the SIM card.

I wonder if there is a way logging it off before letting someone else drive it, so that Junior can't read your emails?

But yeah, sorry, agreed: 8GB is just too small to be comfortable IMHO.

My 16GB phone (more 12GB after OS and stuff) does the job, a bit of squeeze but not a huge inconvenience.

USB OTG.

It might be ungainly, but 8GB should be enough media for a few days. Not as ideal as a integrated microSD slot, but better, as you point out, than streaming.

For music, I'd be tempted by by a Sansa Clip and a microSD card. Sorry if I sound like salesman for these little things, but they are cheap. The only advantage a phone offers over it is if you have very long music/spoken word files that you want to skip to halfway through.

Re: It is silly, yet not.

That's a very good point- there are plenty of laptops out there with what might be called 'overly masculine' styling... being it some Alienware machine, an Asus with Ferrari branding or a ruggedised laptop (though the latter is at least functional, and female geologists / soldiers etc will appreciate just as much as the boys).

It isn't hard to find a PC gaming case that no person with taste (including many many women) would consider for a moment. But then, it depends on whether the individual is installing it in their front room or in their den.

Re: Unused overpowered, much-used underpowered kit

Sorry, I now have the image of Matt Berry playing the Boss in the I.T Crowd, not being able to open his laptop.

"I would be beholden to you"

Re: "Feminine Pink "?

>Masculine Pink

It's cultural thing. Around a hundred years ago, pink was considered very masculine in England, it being a vibrant, strong colour. Blue was considered more demure, and thus suitable for their ideal of womanhood.