Software
A Real advance
Media software company Real has unveiled its latest player, which it claims is the most comprehensive of its kind. RealPlayer 10 not only plays the most popular audio and video formats, such as MP3 and MPeg-4, it is also compatible with the Advance Acoustic Coding (AAC) system used by Apple in its iTunes music download system in the US. The software is available on a free trial for 14 days and then costs £8.50 per month. It enables users to burn CDs, tune into internet radio stations and organise music and video libraries on their PC. www.real.com
Digital cameras
Metal compact
Centon, whose products are available in the UK via the Jessops retail chain, has unveiled one of the first digital cameras capable of taking five megapixel images to sell for less than £200. The £199.90 CENDC5 is a compact camera with a metal body and 1.5in TFT LCD screen. It also features a 3x optical and 4x digital zoom, an integrated flash, and can capture video footage. The camera, which is compatible with PCs and Macs, saves images to an accompanying 32MB Secure Digital (SD) card. www.jessops.com
Hardware
Harness the power
After a series of delays lasting the best part of a year, SD/IO Wi-Fi cards for Microsoft Windows Mobile Pocket PC 2002 and 2003 PDAs have finally gone on sale in the UK. The £110 card from SanDisk, and £125 card from Socket, enable owners of non Wi-Fi-equipped PDAs to harness wireless (802.11b) connections to access the internet, and send email at broadband speeds via hotspots and home networks. However, the cards are not compatible with all PDAs and smartphones running Microsoft platforms. Check with retailers such as www.expansys.com and www.blueunplugged.com.
Street life
A British company is proposing to use a network of lampposts and street signs to offer ultra-fast broadband internet across the UK. Exeter-based Last Mile Communications says it will place Wi-Fi transceivers in street furniture to deliver low-power wireless signals to homes and businesses. The company claims its WDirect system can offer connection speeds of at least 40mbps - approximately 80 times faster than standard UK broadband connections. LMC also claims the system could be used for telemetry applications, such as delivering information about the speed of cars to local authorities. www.lastmilecoms.com
Stat of the week: Get the (instant) message
Ferris Research says instant messaging is growing rapidly in businesses. There should be 43m business users this year, rising to 182m by the end of 2007. But the Radicati Group also warns of a new menace: 1.2 bn IM spams will be sent this year.
