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Is this the new Mac mini?
The Apple rumour mill has been in full force again after new images and a video came to light, purporting to be of the new Mac mini. The stills first surfaced on the appropriately titled Mac web site MacRumours, posted by a character named "monthy", but were dismissed by many as a fake.
The new specs on this unit were purported to be a 2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo with 3MB L2 cache, 2GB of DDR3 RAM, and a SATA Super Drive. The image is consistent with previous rumours on the site that suggested the new unit would feature 5 USB ports, FireWire 800, and two Display ports: "The Mini DVI connector will allow the mini to continue to cater to users who already own a display, while the Mini DisplayPort will offer support for customers of Apple's latest LED-backlit Cinema Display."
However, some have dismissed the image as a fake. The current Mac mini has 1GB of RAM and it would be unlikely in the current economic climate that Apple would push up its cost by doubling this, goes one argument. A similar price-related argument has been made about including two display connectors instead of just one. And on the 9to5Mac web site, one reader claimed that in the image, the Mini DisplayPort and Mini DVI aren't lined up with where the motherboard is.
In answer to these criticisms, the original forum poster released a 23 second video of the device, entitled Mac Mini 2009 Edition, but it's still difficult to tell comprehensively. The accusations are likely to continue apace, whether this turns out to be a fake or not, the only real winner being Apple and the unparalleled hype that surrounds its products.
Hands on with Twitter
A lot of people do not like Twitter and a few months back I could understand their reasoning. For those that are unfamiliar with the Twittersphere, it could seem like a bunch of hopefuls posting pointless comments about what they had for supper or how they want a new motorbike in a vain attempt that someone might listen.
But when our marketing team told me Twitter could be used for increasing the take-up of my stories on the web, it suddenly became a bit more appealing.
I started pushing my own news out and even began a bit of Twittering (or is it Tweeting?) about my daily chores. I admit that for quite a while I still thought I was wasting my time. I only had a handful of followers and no one seemed to notice me.
It did not take long for the whole experience to become more positive. The value of Twitter became clear when the plane that landed in the Hudson River was first captured on camera by a Twitter user. The photo was immediately distributed all over the world, showing the potential of Twitter users as a source for generating news.
In order to source stories for vnunet.com and to find contacts who would want to read my news, I had the (now obvious) idea to start searching for IT people. I typed in big name vendors, such as Oracle, IBM, SAP, Microsoft and started stalking a random mix of people. I then started following their followers and I was thrilled to find I was getting a good number of followers back.
I started to become pickier, deleting those who were twittering irrelevant posts and searching for particular executives I had met at briefings. I searched for like-minded journalists and analysts, and I added a few contacts from Twitter's most respected community.
My first story I sourced from Twitter came from an analyst tweeting criticism at a recent move by a company and that was satisfying. But then when people started to directly message me with ideas for stories or just that they liked particular content, I started checking in with Twitter more than I do my Facebook account for story tips.
I have since downloaded some Twitter applications to make the following of Twitter users easier. The application I find most user-friendly is Tweetdeck, which I wrote in detail about yesterday.
My tips for using Twitter for business purposes include starting the experience by following people in your community and by searching for individuals you find interesting to see if they are part of the micro-blogging world.
Apart from offering a good tool to source information, Twitter offers a great avenue to promote oneself. Rather than just dumping pointless ramblings on the site, valuable Twitter members tend to ask questions and engage with what other people are saying.
People will probably not seem to care right away about your Tweets but when your name keeps popping up with interesting comments or good links, they might start looking out for you, reading you posts, clicking on your links and engaging in conversation.
Windows 7 and netbooks: some answers
What does it mean if Windows 7 Starter edition will only run three applications?
I was puzzling over this following Microsoft's announcement last week of the Windows 7 SKUs (editions to you and I) that will be available when the new platform finally ships.
Windows 7 Starter will be the lowest cost option and will only be available pre-installed on systems. Because of this, it is the version most likely to supplant Windows XP on mini laptops, aka netbooks.
This is obviously Microsoft's intention, as the official release hints: "Starter is a limited functionality SKU with an application limit designed for small notebook PCs in all markets."
However, Starter edition will also only be able to support "up to 3 concurrent applications", which sounds fair enough, as netbooks are clearly not suited to intensive use.
The question is: how do you define an application? When my laptop boots up, it loads up antivirus software and other stuff such as the GoogleTalk instant messaging tool. Do these count as applications or services? In other words, would running a security tool and an IM client mean you could only open a single application on a netbook?
I put this question to Microsoft, and soon got an answer from Laurence Painell, UK Windows marketing manager.
"Anything in the notification area of the Windows taskbar doesn't constitute an application," he told me. Furthermore, having multiple document windows open in software such as Word or Excel will not count as more than one application.
However, there is a proviso. With tools such as antivirus, if the user then clicks on the icon in the notification area, this typically opens a new window to let you set options or commence a scan of the hard drive. This would then count as a running application, according to Painell.
Much has already been made about these limitations and the effect that it may have on the cost of netbooks. Various newswires have claimed that Windows 7 will bump up the purchase price of netbooks, because nobody will want the Starter edition.
However, Painell said that Windows 7 will have an "in-place upgrade" feature that will allow users to effectively move to another edition without having to install anything extra. Customers will be able to purchase a key code to upgrade at retail outlets, over the web, or via the phone, he said.
"The key lets the user unlock the features of the Home Premium edition without requiring a re-install," he said.
My guess is that this will lead to most netbooks being shipped with Windows 7 Starter edition, in order to keep to a low price point (£200 - £300), but with the option to upgrade to full functionality for an extra fee.
OK, so users may have to pay more to get a mini laptop capable of running more than three applications, but it looks like Microsoft has taken the pain out of the upgrade decision.
If it is as easy as the company suggests (and we'll have to wait and see for the proof), then Windows 7 Starter edition doesn't look like being quite the white elephant it is currently being portrayed as. More a Trojan horse, perhaps....
Hands on with Google's Multiple Inboxes
Recently, Google updates to Gmail Labs have been coming so thick and fast that one could even believe Google is considering bringing the product out of beta.
Since the beginning of January users have been given additional capabilities such as offline access, easier labelling techniques and video via Gmail chat to name just a few. Now Google has announced perhaps the most exciting one: Multiple Inboxes.
The feature makes it possible for users to have more than one 'inbox' in their default Gmail view. The look of Gmail changes so that you have your traditional inbox on the left and then a right pane with the emails you want (or need) to see separately.
To add it, click on the enable box from the Labs tab under Settings. Once enabled, it will automatically bring up your draft emails in the right pane but you can configure the feature from Settings so that you can see starred emails or particular folders (which of course Google calls Labels).
You can also configure the feature to the number of messages you want displayed and the positioning of the panels.
Although a lot of reports have called the name Multiple Inboxes 'misleading' because it implies users will be able to see email from a number of different providers, I can't see where they are coming from - they can!
For example, an external email account can be filtered to a Gmail Label (from Settings, then Accounts and by checking the option of Skipping Inbox) and then this Label can then appear in a separate pane in your inbox.
I am going to use the new panes to show my personal Gmail messages, my Hotmail inbox and my starred messages in Gmail, which I use when I have an email I have to reply to.
The only necessity with the new feature is that users need to be organised. If they do not have Labels set up and do not use the starred option, then the feature will just clutter their view (unless they really want to see their draft messages).
Another difficulty is setting up the external email account filtering. I admit to having problems when Google asked for Hotmail's POP server address and Port number. Google said to contact Hotmail if experiencing problems connecting. The best place to start is WindowsLiveHelp.com but it is quite a long-winded way of doing things.
Where is Skyfire?
Back in December, I wrote in this blog about the Skyfire mobile browser, which is virtually unique in being able to show web pages not only as they should appear in a desktop browser, but also supporting Java, Flash and moving video content.
Since that posting, things have gone a little quiet, so I contacted Skyfire to see if there was any news. It appears the company is working on an updated beta release, but the spokesperson would only say that this is expected "in the spring", which implies it is a month or two away at least. No word yet on when a full release version might be available.
I also shared with Skyfire some of the problems I've noticed after using the browser for a while. My main concern is that it is often slow - taking several minutes to load a page, for example. The spokesperson said that some issues are due to the mobile network and tariff a specific mobile user has signed up with, but it should be noted that another mobile browser I have installed - Opera Mini - does not seem to suffer as much from this snail-like download problem.
Other gripes include Skyfire's behaviour if it cannot load a page, which might happen for various reasons, such as momentary loss of signal. When this happens, the browser just does nothing. No error message, nothing. Skyfire just reverts to the page you were looking at before, as if you hadn't clicked a link at all.
However, it should be pointed out that this is a beta version (v 0.85.0.7927), and that bugs are still being ironed out at this stage. And when Skyfire does work as expected, it really is impressive.
Portability vs battery life
How short can the battery life be on a laptop before it negates the whole point of having a mobile computer?
I was pondering this while trying out Toshiba's Portege R600 (see image), which is a fantastically light system weighing in at just 773g, but preliminary tests suggest it will give users less than ninety minutes work from its standard battery pack.
Of course, the good point of having such a lightweight laptop is that you hardly notice you are carrying it. If your job involves giving presentations at customer sites, then battery life presumably doesn't matter too much - but then you would probably want a larger screen than the Portege's 12.1in display.
It seems to me that such ultra-slim models are in a way self-defeating; if you really need to work while away from a mains connection, then you are probably going to have to carry several fully-charged spare battery packs around with you - or else take a heavier laptop that boasts a longer battery life in the first place.
Perhaps better battery technology might improve the situation, but then again, perhaps not - modern laptops are stuffed full of drivers and background services that keep the system busy and using up more power than it needs to, even when the user isn't doing anything other than reading the screen.
The dream of an all-day laptop that doesn't require a course in body building before you can carry it around seems as far away as it ever has been.
A full review of the Toshiba Portege R600 will feature on VNUnet.com in the near future.
