X off
Apple has just delayed the release of its next generation operating system, Mac OS X (pronounced "ten") by about six months. Or as Apple boss Steve Jobs says, it has changed what would have been a summer launch into a "public beta" release. "Like a lot of things in life, you can do what you were going to do but change the names of things to make a lot of people happy," Jobs said. Mac OS X is a version of BSD Unix, and needs a G3 or G4 processor and 64 megabytes of memory. It is based on the NextStep operating system, created by Next, Jobs' former company. Apple bought Next at the end of 1996 to provide a faster way of replacing the ageing Mac OS.
Out of the box
Electronic Arts, the world's biggest independent computer and video games software supplier, has had enough of shipping PC games in big boxes that are mostly empty. It has decided to switch to the cases used for DVD movies, This will save publishers money and enable retailers to make better use of shelf space, argues EA. It's also looking forward to the time when Sony PlayStation 2 and other games consoles will play DVD movies, and it hopes other games houses will follow its lead.
"EA has a long tradition of teaching the interactive entertainment sector to think outside the box," quips Frank Sagnier, the marketing boss of EA Europe. EA games should start appearing in DVD cases in October.
Nic's back
Oracle boss Larry Ellison, on course to become the world's richest man, is trying to give the kiss of life to his failed Network Computer idea. His first network computer company, Network Computer Inc (NIC) took a different tack when - like many other firms - it found that network computers didn't sell: it changed its name to Liberate and switched successfully to interactive TV. Now Ellison has founded New Internet Computer (NIC) with what looks like the old logo. It is being run by a former ABC-TV technology journalist, Gina Smith. NIC's 266MHz $199 NC will not have a hard drive, monitor, keyboard or speakers but will run the GNU/Linux operating system and a browser from CD-rom. It's intended to provide access to email and the internet: "We're not positioning this as a replacement for the PC," Smith says. As usual, the problem is that by the time you've added the missing bits, the cost - $376 - is not far off a cheap PC. NIC has launched a website at www.thinknic.com.
See through
If the transparent Game Boy is no longer delivering the street cred you need, Pioneer's PDV-10-SW portable DVD player may do the trick. It's about the size of a paperback book and weighs less than 350g. It plays PAL region 2 (Europe) AND NTSC Region 2 (Asian) discs but not American ones. The price is £499 from the sole importer, Ionmark.
Mini MiniDisc
Sony claims it has launched the world's smallest MiniDisc system, the MZ-E90. It weighs just 70g without batteries, but it's a playback-only device. For people who want a recording MD Walkman, the MZ-R91 does the business in a shirt-pocket sized system that weighs 110g, without batteries.
Pedal power
Several decades ago, bicycles were often fitted with dynamos to generate power to run their lights. Nowadays few cyclists can be bothered with lights, but inventor Kieron Loy has resurrected the idea as a way of recharging a mobile phone. Loy is now negotiating to get the device into production, and yes, patents have been applied for.
Chip up
This weekend, Castle Technology will unveil a new version of the Acorn RiscPC using a StrongARM (formerly Acorn Risc Machine) chip. The Acorn RISC OS Show is being held in Thornes Park Athletics Stadium. Wakefield, Yorkshire, on May 20-22 (see www.cybervillage.co.uk/acorn/wakefield/ ). Castle manufactures Acorn products under licence from Pace Micro Technology plc. See www.castle.org.uk.
