NEW Axioo pico Series

Processor : Intel® Atom™ processor N270 (1.6GHz, 512Kb L2 Cache, FSB 533MHz)
Chipset : Intel 945GSE (MCH)+ ICH7-M (ICH)
Memory : (included) Onboard 1GB (DDR2 667 MHz, PC5300)
(additional) 1x 200 Pin SO-DIMM Sockets DDR2, Supporting DDR2-533/667 MHz (Known As PC4200/PC5300)
Total supporting up to 2GB (512/ 1024 DDR2 Module)
Graphics Controller : • Intel GMA 950 Integrated
• Support Dynamic Video Memory Technology up to 128 Mb
• Support Microsoft DirectX 9.0
Display : 10.2" TFT 1024 x 600 resolution (WXGA)
Storage / Drivers : • 1x 2.5" HDD S-ATA 160 GB
• 1x Nand Flash Card

Keyboard : • Winkey Keyboard
• Built-in Touch Pad
Sound System : High Definition Audio
Direct Sound 3D Compatible
Built-in Microphone & Two Speaker

I/O Ports : • 3x USB 2.0 Ports (USB 1.1 Compatible)
• 1x External CRT
• 1x Headphone Jack
• 1x Microphone Jack
• 1x Internal Microphone
• 1x RJ-11 Jack for Modem
• 1x RJ-45 Jack for LAN
• 1x DC-In Jack

Slots : 3 in 1 Card Reader Support (MMC/SD/MS)
Communication : • 10/100 Mb Base-T Ethernet
• Wireless 802.11 b/g
• 56k Modem

Camera : • 1.3 MP Video Camera Module
Power: : • Full Range 40Watt AC Adapter
• 3 Cells Smart Battery Li-on 11.1V/2.2Ah (Removable)/ 6 Cells Smart Battery Li-on 11.1V/5.2Ah (Removable)
• Standby Time : 180 mnt & Work Time : 120 mnt
Security: : Kensington® Lock
Support O.S : Linux, Windows XP and Windows Vista
Dimension: : 258mm(w) x 189mm(d) x 28mm(h)
1,275 Kg with 3 cell battery.

On the Gaza border

We're sitting on a hill over looking Gaza, waiting to do live shots. It's strangely peaceful here. The sky is clear. The sun is bright. You can see past the security fence, past the green fields, into the homes of Beit Hanoun and the towers of Gaza City beyond them. Just a sliver of the Mediterranean is visible.

It's quiet. Except for the monotonous buzz of an Israeli drone overhead. Most times, we can't see it. But now and then, you can catch it's white triangular body against the blue sky, waiting and watching. It never seems to change speed.

Our producer calls to tell us of an Israeli air strike in Gaza City. It missed it's target and hit a family travelling in a car. 3 people were killed. I wonder if the drone above us had anything to do with it.

Occasionally, we hear a different noise. A distant boom and then a plume of smoke climbs the sky. Another rocket attack. That makes 26 today. I'm sure there are more.

Our cameraman calls us. He's out getting gas and sandwiches for lunch. The rocket landed less than 200 meters from the station, he says. But don't worry, he says, no injuries and lunch is on the way.

Earlier, an Israeli army unit dropped by. They told us not to linger here too long. There are snipers, says one soldier. He is wearing a battered flak jacket and points to Gaza.

Thanks, we say, we'll be careful. He shrugs his shoulders. Up to you, he says, and they drive off.

Now, we can hear the call to prayer. It drifts over the border from the village of Beit Hanoun in Gaza. We notice another column of smoke rising on the Israeli side. Qassam rocket, maybe? A little later a much louder boom, that shakes the ground. But still far away. Israeli missile strike in Gaza perhaps?

Our cameraman drives up, grinning and unscathed, clutching a bag of sandwiches and diet sodas. So, we sit down for a picnic on the border, basking in the sunshine and listening to the distant sounds of war.

IT Prediction 2009

On Tuesday I participated in a panel session to discuss the future of IT and, in particular, what the hot topics will be for 2009. You know the deal: a bunch of "experts" sit in front of an audience and make grandiose statements about what technology will look like in 5 or 10 years, and you just know that in retrospect the predictions will either look obvious (if they came true) or naive (if they didn't).

This particular session was pretty interesting though because it maintained focus on the present and the near future, not some indeterminate point over the horizon that nobody can really see. It was about the issues facing businesses and consumers right now, and the issues they are likely to face in just a few months or a year.

Being part of these sorts of events can be a bit odd at times though. Because so much of my time these days is spent looking at the latest trends and investigating emerging technologies (or even creating them in the first place) I tend to live so far ahead of the bleeding edge that the knife blade is behind me somewhere trying to catch up, and I sometimes feel embarrassed raising issues that I feel are quite passe and so "last week" and then I'm surprised when other people think they're new and exciting. That's not to try to make myself sound good: it's just to highlight the huge variation across society in the uptake of technology. As William Gibson once said, "the future is already here, it's just not widely distributed yet".

Some of the things people are doing with technology right now may seem like science fiction, but it's not fantasy: it's reality, just a reality that isn't widely distributed yet. For example, my letterbox has a network connection and an IP address so my home automation system can be notified when the postman drops by, and my car is connected wirelessly to the internet so my mechanic can use their web browser to interrogate my engine management system and run diagnostics in real time - while the car is hundreds of kilometers away driving down the road. And I have an RFID microchip implanted in my arm so I can unlock my front door just by waving my arm near it and don't have to carry keys. Right now I'm working on a device that will detect when I leave the loungeroom so it can pause the TV automatically, then if I walk into another room with a TV it will transfer the program across to it and continue playing from the paused position without me doing a thing. The TV show (or music, or movie, or video phone call, or weather data feed, or news headlines) can just follow me around the house.