New blog on HDTV

I've started a new blog dedicated to HDTV in Singapore. Check it out here - http://hdtvsingapore.blogspot.com

If u are thinking of getting a LCD or plasma TV or already have one, the question is - Can your TV support watching high definition (HD) content in its original format and not face degradation in quality? Read my blog above for more.

Cheers

BM responds

Got a call from BM to clarify the position. They say I am on their tech reporters list and somehow they forgot to send to me this time round. Apologies accepted, but I'm still wondering, how exactly do PR companies send an e-mail invite? Do PR companies have a "group" mail that they send to or they send it individually? Just curious. Maybe other PR agencies can share their practices?

PR company has different mailing list for different teams?

It's weird. I have been dealing with Burson Masteller for a long time, particularly since they represent HP, which I deal with a lot. So I could not understand why I was left out recently when BM send out a press invite for their client the Media Development Authority. I only found out about the press conference when my colleague Ian cced my the invite.

So I asked BM to clarify. "Am I not on your list of tech reporters? Or do you have different list for different teams within your company?" went my e-mail.

And this was the answer "We do have separate teams in B-M working on different projects. As a rule of thumb, we usually send invitations to only 3 to 4 people from a publication. Reason being we are careful not to flood the news room with the same email. "

Now that's intersting since TNP only has two tech reporters, me and Ian. So I asked BM who else did they send the invite to at TNP? To be continued....

Experiencing HDTV

One cannot understand the sensation of sweetness unless one has tasted it. Even if you have, it's hard to explain how much sweeter, say Greek cakes are compared to normal cakes, unless you have tasted both before.

So it's the same with HDTV. Everyone says its better picture quality. Some say 4x as good. But how can you understand it if you haven't seen HDTV? It's a bit like VHS and DVD. When we first saw DVD quality movies, did our jaws drop?

HDTV is like that too. Your jaws will drop when you see the difference in quality. One way of explaining it is to use the PC analogy. Today, our normal TV is like 640 x 480 resolution (actually it is worse but you can't find anything less than 640 x 480). HDTV is like 1024 x 768 for the lower 720p quality and like 1920 x 1080 for the 1080i quality. If you've played games running on 640 x 480 and 1024 x 768, u know what I mean.

Another way to experience HDTV is to go down to Best Denki or Harvey Norman - look for the LCD TV whose image is simply crystal clear and is definitely a cut above the rest. It's not that this TV resolution is better, it's probably because this TV is running HD content while the others are handling DVD quality.

Ask the salesman, usually they won't lie to you when you can tell the difference

Singapore gets World Cup in high definition TV

The World Cup is coming to Singapore via HDTV. But there's a catch.

You only get it if you qualify for it under StarHub's HDTV trials, which starts from 9 June to 31 December 2006. You can try your luck here http://www.vocanic.net/hdtv/crs/edm/ or at www.starhub.com/hdtvtrial which links you to the first website.

According to the site:

Participants selected for this trial has to be an active residential StarHub CableTV services' customers who are:
- subscribing to minimum 3 Basic Groups with the 2006 FIFA World CupTM Pay-Per-View;
- using a digital or DVR set-top box as main outlet and the HD set-top box as a complimentary additional outlet during the trial period;
- own a HD-ready TV set with additional HD inputs; and
- do not have any outstanding balance due to StarHub.

In addition:

- A one-time trial fee of $52.50 (with 5% GST) is applicable and it is non-refundable and non-protable.
- Basic installation charge of $31.50 (with 5% GST) for connection of HD set-top box to TV set (that is not wall or ceiling mounted) applies.

There has been some recent debate on what is a HD-ready TV and the answer is apparently unclear. It's a long story but to put it simply, that $4,000 LCD TV you bought recently may not be able to take advantage of the full resolution benefits of HDTV broadcasts. As to why, that is a story I am working on and will take them to research. You can read this blog which captures many of the complexities of dealing with HDTV

http://miketan.blogspot.com/

My Name is Bond, Hokkien Bond

Check this out for a real laugh. Ever wondered what Pierce Brosnan would sound like in Hokkien? Complete with English subtitles!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fl8t5nJp2AQ

Just launched - Sony Ericsson phones

Sony Ericsson just launched four new phones earlier - the W850i Walkman phone Pictures above), the W710i Sports Walkman phone and two clamshells - Z710i and Z550i.

The W710i is the first Sports Walkman phone and is designed for the great outdoors. It comes with a pedometer to measure the calories u have burnt plus your distance travel. Its earphones ared designed to fit snugly over the ears so they dont fall off!

The W850i is SE's first slider phone and comes with powerful speakers, 1 GB onboard memory plus the rest of the usual stuff u see in the Walkman phones. It also has an "ah beng" light on the front of the phone that beats and changes colour in sync with the rhythm of your music.

Both the W710i and W850i have a new feature called Track ID which lets you record a radio tune or an Original Artist piece playing at a pub for 10 seconds. Then you can send that recording over the air and get a chance to buy the entire song immediately. Both phones also have A2DP profile, which lets you stream music from phone to Bluetooth A2DP headsets.

The Creative MP3 Patent

Creeative finally sued Apple to enforce its patent which describes a method of arranging music in a hierarhical order in a portable music player. A lot of buzz has been generated, mostly negative about Creative. iPod fans are crying foul, saying Creative is stifling innovation. Securities analysts here are are skeptical, saying Creative still needs a better product roadmap, and the recent price increases after the announcement of the lawsuit is just a knee-jerk reaction.

I say Creative is doing the right thing. If Creative wins this lawsuit, it will become rich. All MP3 makers and phone makers in the world will have to start paying royalties for every device that is made. This is the kind of stuff that big IT and consumer electrnics companies dream of all the time. So I think a lot of people are missing the woods for the trees. First of all, for those who say Creative is stifling innovation, please note that the entire patent structure is to protect and reward innovation. And for the equities guys, please give credit when it is due. Creative could be getting rich here. Don't mix this patent suit with its product roadmap, they are two separate issues. The crux of the issue is whether Creative's patent is itself inherently strong enough to win the court's approval. If and when it does, you can bet that a new constant revenue stream will now be available to Creative.

Anyway, here's the link to the actual patent claim

http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=6,928,433.PN.&OS=PN/6,928,433&RS=PN/6,928,433

Wireless Broadband has arrived - TNP 12.5.06

Alternatives to fixed broadband access - A review of M1's $68 unlimited 3G service and QMax's new pre-WiMax wireless broadband service that costs about $22 for unlimited 256 kbps line. http://digital.asiaone.com.sg/features/20060512_002.html

Mac Mini review - The New Paper 12 May 06

SMALL is beautiful. That's the tagline for the Mac mini from Apple. And I have to agree. http://digital.asiaone.com.sg/reviews/pc/20060512_001.html

Listing of all devices with various Bluetooth profile

OK, I finally found it. A list of all the products - headset, mobile phone, laptop, MP3 player, adapters with the various Bluetooth profiles like A2DP, AVRCP, etc...

http://qualweb.bluetooth.org/Template2.cfm?LinkQualified=QualifiedProducts

got this from Bluetooth SIG spokesperson. It's buried so deep in the website it's impossible to locate without guidance

Macs virus-free?

I really loved the new Apple ads about Mac vs PC, especially the one about viruses. http://www.apple.com/getamac/ads/

But here's the thing, according to the latest McAfee Labs report,

- From 2003 to 2005, the annual rate of vulnerability discovery on Apple's Mac OS platform has increased by 228 percent, compared to Microsoft's products which only saw a 73 percent increase.

- As demonstrated with their recent patches, Apple's Mac OS platform is just as vulnerable to targeted malware attacks as other operating systems.

Here's a quote:

"Many believe that using an Apple operating system is a form of security in itself, believing that they are far less susceptible to malware than Windows users," said Stuart McClure, senior vice president, global threats at McAfee. "While the threats targeting the Mac operating system are low in volume, the use of Apple products does not provide an invisibility cloak from malware, and users need to be more vigilant about security as adoption rates soar and attacks on Apple operating systems increase."

Apple Mac-mini - the new Media Centre PC?

So when I heard of the new Mac mini, with its svelte design, $1000 bucks or so pricepoint, Front Row software which lets you launch videos, music and photos via a remote control (also provided) I thought of a new story angle - Is Steve Jobs targetting the living room and therefore, can the Mac mini be viable alternative to Microsoft's Media Centre PC and DVD recorders in the market?

So I contacted Apple Singapore's PR agency and asked for a review unit of the Mac Mini plus a DVI to composite converter (necessary because Mac Mini only has a DVI output - basically our computers outputs to our monitors via VGA or DVI while our DVD players outputs to our normal TVs via composite, S-video and component, so linking a PC to a TV is not so easy) I checked Apple's website and found that the accessory - the DVI to composite converter cable exists. I also explained to the PR my angle to the story, which was to test it like a Media Centre PC

The Mac mini took eons to arrive in Singapore, and was something like 4-5 weeks after I made the request. When it finally came, the package came with the Mac mini, a 20 inch beautiful Apple display, a real super cool white keyboard and the yucky new Mighty mouse. I didn't need the latter 3. More importantly, there was no DVI to composite cable. Even better, there was no DVI cable so I figured I had to use my fingers to connect the Mac Mini to the display. Fortunately. I have a DVI HP 19 inch LCD monitor at home so I used my exisiting DVI cable.

But that didn't solve my problem as I still couldnt connect the Mac Mini to the TV! I contacted Apple PR again to see if they could get that Apple DVi to comp coverter plus I asked if Apple could help me get any third party TV tuner that could record TV programmes into the Mac mini. I also figured that the iPod hifi would be great since I needed a good sound system to test the Mac Mini with. Amazingly, Apple doesnt have the DVI to composite converter (remember this is like a few months after Mac Mini was launched worldwide), at least not in Singapore for media to test. Apple did kindly send me the iPod hifi, and they even threw in the iPod nano and a cool leather case (the latter 2 i didn't request or need for my review). As for the third party tuner,

"We have checked with the resellers for you with regards to any third party product which allows the Mac mini to be converted into a recorder. Good news is, yes, there are currently two products - EyeTV and the EvolutionTV – that allows Mac mini to record programs. However, as they are not distributed by Apple, we are unable to get loans from them." this was the response. So I called the two local distributors, the contact was kindly proivided by Apple's PR. The first number I called, I spoke with this guy for like 10 mins, trying to explain to him what I was doing and asking him for a review unit for loan to test, he obviously had zero idea of what i was doing and rejected me. I called the second number and it was a fax machine.

So here I am now. I have the mac Mini and iPod hifi and my old Philips Pixel Plus Tv, but I can't test the Mac Mini for its living room functions since I don't have (1) DVI to composite cable (2) TV tuner and recorder (3) no cable between iPod hifi and the Mac mini. I can buy the latter from Sim Lim but that means taking a trip down. So the article, which was thought of by me and would have probably given a lot of good publicity for the Mac mini's use as a Media Centre alternative is not going to happen. I'll probably just run a review of the Mac mini as a PC, linked to my LCD screen - which is really boring. BTW, I even asked them to help me set up Boot Camp (the software that lets you run Windows XP on the Mac) on the Mac Mini for me to test, but again was turned down and I had to do it mysel. (I didn't bother in the end)

This whole saga is ending like a joke. So why I am writing this blog? Especially since I've gone pass the pissed stage? I don't know whether it's Apple's fault or its PR's fault, but my message is this - PR is about making things easy for the journalist. When a journalist comes to you with a story angle, especially one that is probably positive for the vendor, please go out of the way to make sure he gets everything he needs. I feel that in this case, Apple should have gone out of the way to get me that DVI converter, call the third party distributors to get me the TV tuner. I didn't even bother to ask for the Mac Mini to iPod hifi audio cable.

Why should vendors and PRs care?
Because, at the end of the day, you got to help us to help you. Because there a zillion other products in the market to test, and you can be sure that the journalists will spend more time with the stuff that comes to him without him needing to move mountains. And the next time Apple comes up with a new product, I'll just go for the straight angle and think of anything creative or out of the box. Which is sad, coz I have always thought of Steve Jobs as a super creative guy and Apple a super creative company.

For the record,
Mac Mini - is really cool by itself, everything u need in a PC is packed into this svelte and slim device, it is also amazingly silent,
iPod Hifi - is a superb device, I plugged in the iPod nano into a little dock at the top of the hifi, press play and it sings. beats my wife's 14-year old Pioneer mini hi-fi (which is still around coz they don't make mini fi-fis like they used to anymore)
20 inch Apple display - it's still in the box, I didn't have time to test
iPod nano - wow, no wonder Creative is crashing
iPod nano leather case - wow again, can't explain, it's just wow
Mighty Mouse - sucks real bad compared to my Logitech G5, mouse is one of those things that a good design won't hide the flaws
the white keyboard - fantastic, good tactile feel, big keys, 2 USB ports
Mac Mini as a Media Centre alternative? absolutely have no idea

Why The White Odyssey

I tried a zillion names and they were all taken up. So I decided to go for my car - a white odyssey. I figured it wasn't so popular since most Odysseys on the road were either champagne or silver. Guess it worked.