It's been about a year since Apples last iPod announcements, and since various fan boy YouTube users have flooded the popular video sharing site with speculations and other un-just nonsense. Hopefully now we can give our eyes and mind a rest from most conscious, speculation-causing, thought as, yes, Apple has spoken!
Earlier today, at the Let's Rock media event, a new 4th generation iPod nano was announced. Yes, it look far more like the old 2nd gen than the 3rd, but it now sports a nice wide screen display and, finally, an accelerometer. Making this the second iPod (not including iPhone) to have one. No word yet to how accurate it is, or how many there are in it, but I’m sure that iPhone (and iPod touch) will remain superior in that regard.
Another, less heard of announcement was the introduction of a redesigned iPod touch. It still has the same stuff on the inside, but now boast’s dedicated volume up/down buttons and a loud speaker, much like those on the iPhone. The casing has also been modified slightly, now sharing the same tapered edges as the iPhone 3G.
Further on the line of new iPods, Apple has now ditched the 80 160GB classic models, replacing them with but one 120gb model at the same price as the 80.
The last thing I’m going to mention here is that the 2.1 iPhone software update now has a release date. Yes, i'm sure many of you were a bit worried that we'd have to sit through another eight updates to get from 2.0.2 to 2.1. But rest assured that the 2.1 update will be released this Friday!
At this time, Apple has not ye posted a list of all the fixes, but for now we can expect, at least, improved battery life, less dropped calls and, of course, the usual performance tweaks.
(iTunes 8 was also released, however I am short of time and there isn't much worth mentioning)
Symantec and Lenovo to Offer Norton Internet Security to IdeaPad ... - PR-USA.net (press release)
National Cyber Security Alliance Names Michael Kaiser New ... - MarketWatch
SanDisk says no to Samsung takeover bid
SanDisk rejects Samsung's unsolicited takeover offer
Apple releases Mac OS X 10.5.5, patches nearly 70 bugs
Nine of the 34 fixes put in the category most would consider 'critical'
11/09/2001 Seven years on and my how the world has changed
Seven years today! It's not a day many people will forget. It stands out in my mind due to a member of my team being in New York while it happened. This was my experience:
I was a program manager for a telco/cable company in the UK. I had a team of project managers and engineers building a huge IP network throughout the UK, with PoPs in Europe and the US. On the 11th of September 2001, I was attending a PRINCE2 course (Projects in Controlled Environments) and it was really tough going. I was doing a practice exam and of course had my phone switched off. When I got out of the exam I had a voice mail from one of my project managers, sounding very concerned about Ziya. Ziya was a very talented and experienced IP engineer (the Sultan of Cisco he was known as), who we had sent to New York to build a data PoP in a Level3 facility, and hook it up to a peering point just across the road from the twin towers.
Matt (project manager) said that he had been talking to Ziya and there was some serious shit going down in New York - jet fighters swooping between buildings and the like. They were then cut off - we found out later that the cell phone network in New York had crashed (or been turned off - still not sure about that).
I went through to reception, where there was a big TV and saw what was going on - wow!!
We all tried repeatedly to get through to Ziya, directed to voicemail every time. We contacted Ziya's wife, but she had no news either.
I had a very anxious evening, unable to concentrate on my course work or anything else for that matter. You can imagine my releif when Ziya called me later that night.
He had been working at the Port Authority building (on 34th St I think) and realised that something was happening. When his phone went dead he thought "that's it! I'm out of here". He threw his tools into our cabinet in the colo, picked up his laptop and followed the throng of people heading off Manhattan Island. Not bothering with his gear in the hotel, he walked off the island (no trains were running and all the roads were full of people not vehicles) and found a bus station in Jersey. He bought a bus ticket for Chicago where he had some relatives, and a phone card. He called his wife and then me. Ziya said to me "you know Rob, I do look a bit like an Arab", being of Pakastani descent, yes he did, but it was not something I had ever considered before. Ziya later told me that that bus ride was one of the most scary and tense journeys he had ever taken - nobody spoke, everyone was glancing sideways.
We got Ziya back in the UK about a week later, and it was hugs and tears all round!
On a slightly lighter note, Ziya also had some issues on his further travels - riots in Moscow; Ziya was there for a job interview, plane crashes in Queens (New York again); Ziya and another engineer were in New York .
In the end, the running joke around the office was: find out where Ziya is going and go somewhere else!
I would be interested to hear of anyone elses experiences or tales from that tragedy.
Security Suites Speed Up - PC Magazine
Berners-Lee starts foundation aimed at web's future
A major focus will be to provide web access to the 80% of the world's population that is not currently connected to the internet
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