TTR Ep 4509: Harmony remote controls. Steve Jobs name executive of the decade. There a patches and fixes a-plenty from all the majors this week and The hidden agenda behind the EU's three strike Pier to Pier (P2P) disconnections

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DATE : Mon, 9 Nov 2009 23:47:29 +1100
Entered in Database : 2009-11-09 12:47:29
length : 50000000
Link to the Show / Show Notes

We’re on the down hill run of 2009, and only a month and a bit away until the end of the first decade of the century. Gee doesn’t time fly. If you were to stop and look back on the gadgets and technology available at the time, some aspects of technology, such as digital cameras and television have advanced leaps and bounds, on the other hand others, like broadband in Australia – well let’s just say there’s a hell of a lot of mosquitoes about at the moment.

About now, most of us can see the light at the end of the 2009 tunnel, especially from the beer garden at the local, but this leads to that perplexing time of the year, Christmas, and what to buy for those near and dear to us, and in a lot of cases, ourselves. Come on, we all buy ourselves a new gadget or something and call it a Christmas presents from yourself!

So here’s a few tech talk suggestions to help fill the stocking this year. First up, let’s look at the world of computing. Who wouldn’t love to receive an affordable netbook. If you’ve got 300 to 700 dollars to spare, this will fit the gap between phone and laptop. (maybe this could be your Christmas present to yourself). These devices would be great for checking out what’s on from the comfort of the hammock or holiday villa, or something to keep you entertained on the next long haul flight.

The ultimate cinematic Christmas experience is in town this year with the release of James Cameron’s sci-fi thriller Avatar. For about $24 per adult ticket at iMax, the 3D spectacle will be something to behold and no doubt memorable.

If you’re into home theatre and looking to buy a flat screen for the living room, be sure to spend as much as you are comfortable to. If you’re after 32” and above please don’t buy the sub $1000 panels as you’ll be sadly disappointed in quality especially when it comes to movement across detailed images. If you can justify it, and let’s face it, a large screen TV purchase should be looking at 10 years of life, buy a decent, well known brand, and be sure to check out the difference Sony’s motion flow technology has on sporting events if that’s your liking.

If you do go down the new flat screen option or you already have one, this Christmas is a good time to embrace Bluray.

Players are reasonably priced in the $200 range and the discs themselves are now comparable in price if not a few sheckles more than DVDs. The benefit is truly visible on a quality high definition TV and chances are, you won’t look back. The good news is that your existing DVDs will play quite nicely in your bluray player, so maybe it’s time to upgrade the living room and pass on the old well loved DVD player to the kids room. Oh, and of course, this Christmas, you can’t go past giving the new Star Trek 3 Disc Bluray, but if you’re like me, that’ll be a Christmas present for yourself.

Another gadget to consider is a new MP3 player for a loved one. Believe it or not, the apple range of players and devices have recently come of age, and there’s something in everyone’s price range. Devices start at $70 and work their way up based on features and capacity. Ultimately there’s the iPhone 3GS, the top of the line media player with a built in phone, then you’ll spend hours reorganizing all those CDs that have been sitting on the shelf for years.

Another Christmas project requiring a gift is updating the wireless connectivity in your home. Make sure you add a high speed wireless access point or router to the list such as the new Dlink wireless 150 routers. This device supports the new 802.11n standard, which is the fastest wireless speed available. If you’re looking to transfer large files across your home network or stream video, then the extra speed makes all the difference.

And finally this week the ultimate gift to buy that special person in your life, something that they would not normally buy themselves – a digital picture frame. These have really come of age these days, they can sense when there’s someone close buy and turn themselves on, they can even connect to your Flickr account online and download shared images that you put up online. Why not create a private family Flickr account and get everyone in the family to upload the favourite photos to it. Then each time you walk past your photo frame, you’re bound to be in for a big surprise.

This week on TTR

Adam looks at Logitech’s attitude to stripping features from Harmony remote controls
Steve Jobs name executive of the decade.
There a patches and fixes a-plenty from all the majors this week and
The hidden agenda behind the EU's three strike Pier to Pier (P2P) disconnection proposal and what it means to Australia. Be afraid....

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