Sandisk 32GB SDHC & 8GB SDHC Plus

Sandisk have updated their SDHC based Ultra II media with 32GB SDHC and 8GB SDHC Plus cards. The new units are capable of up to 50 percent faster write speeds over earlier editions.

Dell Closing Mall Outlets

In a move reflecting their move into the larger retail chains, Dell have decided to close all 140 of their 140 US based mall kiosks. Basically a 100% closure of their US locations. Tony Weiss, vice president for Dell's Global Consumer business, stated that the move fits in with their global retail strategy. Kiosks in other territories are safe for the moment but who know how long this will remain the case.

MacBook Air Start Shipping

Many early purchasers of the MacBook Air are reporting that Apple have informed them that their units are on their way to them. By the time you read this several of these unit will no doubt have been configured and put through their paces. It'll be interesting to hear about the first impressions of these early adopters. Does the wireless RemoteDisk facility work? It remains to be seen.

Apple Looking To Charge For Upgrades

Apple announced last week that Mail, Maps, Stocks, Notes and Weather are all coming to the iPod touch. New touch owners can get them all for free, but early adopters will be asked to pay $20. The new Maps app can't use cell-based location-finding like on the iPhone, but it can still figure out where it is using the SkyHook WiFi hotspot database. The touch will also support webclips and the reconfigurable home screen. I am not alone in wondering just how many of your Touch users will be happy about this. I'm guessing, not many...

Sony PS3 Rumours

Rumours are circulating all over the tech blog world regarding the possible demise of the 80GB Playstation 3. According to several sources the 80 GB model will most likely be replace by a 120GB or possibly 160GB models. This certainly makes sense when you look at whats being included these days in desktop pc's and laptops. I'm still torn over buying one because I'm really impressed with the graphics, however I really can't see where I'm going to get the time to play any of those great games. As far as usng the Blu-ray on the unit is concerned, I'm more interested in the capabilities of the new GGW-H2LI and GGC-H2LI, combined HD-DVD and Blu-ray players from LG.

Macbook Air and the Pied Piper...

Most of you have read about the story of the Pied Piper of Hamlin and although the lessons taught in this tale tend to escape most folks these days, it can't be one that's ignored. Apple is very much like the pied piper in that lots of Apple fans follow all too blindly and in adulation of all that is Apple. They hear the note of the piper but overlook the obvious. It's interesting that nearly every time Apple has announced a new product in the last few years, I've been less than impressed. I don't hate Apple and I certainly like using Apple products - I am a designer after all. The latest innovation from Apple is the ultralight, ultrathin laptop called the Macbook Air, and it's certainly impressive all things considered. The Air is thin, extremely thin, it also looks nice too. The good things are its portability (if you're only going short distances), and the gestural capabilities on the touch pad. However there are a few issues. No optical drive, a less than friendly USB port, non-removable battery pack and the lack of Ethernet and FireWire are damning. Stop designing stuff with batteries you can't get to or replace easily. The touchpad features are nice, as is the portability, but realistically speaking, all the extra components you're going to have to carry around with you are going to make you want to shout. Sorry, Steve and crew but as nice as it looks and as rich as you're going to get with the sale of this unit to the masses, it fails to impress me. Then again, who am I to say? I guess I must be deaf to the call of the Pied Piper.

Corel Launch - X4

Last night I attended a release party for Corel DRAW GRAPHICS SUITE X4. Talk about impressive, the new suite features a great many improvements. I was one of a large group of journalists who were wowed by the new features and shown them in true Corel style. The Corel X4 Suite includes the latest incarnation of CorelDRAW X4, Corel PHOTO-PAINT X4, PowerTRACE X4 and Corel CAPTURE X4. New features include: A new interface with improvements designed to maximise its use under Vista including support for the large thumbnails offered by Vista. A dedicated Save As Template feature which will make lots of user very happy, especially corporate users. Vastly improved file format support which offers support for Adobe CS3 formats. Acrobat 8, Microsoft Word 2007 files and great support for Publisher PUB files. Colour management based on Adobes Color Management Module (CMM). New powerful drawing and autotracing options which include CAD friendly Centerline tracing. A whole bunch of free Fonts, Templates, Images and Clipart. Supporting apps and features like Bitstreams Font Navigator 2006, embedded font identification with MyFonts "WhatTheFont?!" capability. It works great ... The biggest visible improvement comes in the use and implimentation of Tables for use in layouts. Other improvements include the ability to be able to use and assignement of non printing of master elements and guidelines on layers. The new ConceptShare feature is awesome in that as an included feature in the application you can share, collaborate and get feedback on design projects with clients and colleagues alike. I can see non diesigners using this feature as designers have been using Acrobat for this purpose for many years now... All told Corel DRAW X4 is an excellent tool which will appeal to many users designer and non designer alike. Oh and cheers, thanks for an excellent evening Corel... Look for a more indepth review later next month, Corel DRAW GRAPHICS SUITE X4 will retail for £386.58 inc. VAT and an upgrade will be available for £175.08 inc. VAT.

CES 2008 . . . A Big Yawn

Aside from a few great new 42" 1080p LCD and plasma TVs, CES 2008 which closed today in Las Vegas, was largely a big yawn. The events preceding CES this year, such as the move Warner made over to the Blu-ray camp (leaving only two studios left in the HD-DVD camp) and Bill Gates' final keynote, were much more interesting. The movie industry appearing to be finally agreeing to support one main consumer high def disc format presages a big surge in high def movie releases to disc. That's good for consumers because the parallel surge in Blu-ray disc player manufacturing and sales will drive device prices down to affordable levels. We found the best CES coverage here and here.

Spotlight On . . . Medium Size Camera Backpacks and Rolling Cases

Our capsule reviews and comparisons of the National Geographic Earth Explorer, Crumpler Keystone, Lowepro CompuTrekker Plus AW & Think Tank Airport International. The full product reviews can be found here. The National Geographic Earth Explorer is deceptively nice, but unfortunately proves to be less than practical in actual use. The inner cinch protecting the top compartment provides additional protection against moisture, but can also be annoying because it gets in the way of fast access. Ditto for the mid/central compartment retainer zipper. I think the bag is a bit too soft for backpack use. As well, it doesn't offer enough bump & bang protection or bottom protection to make me stop worrying about my gear. I've got the small and medium size shoulder bags (which I really like) and the backpack (which is for sale now). It's also difficult to lash the bag tightly enough to your waist in order to get it positioned for your hips to take the load - something that's absolutely necessary for proper/ergonomic and comfortable backpack use. However, the laptop compartment is positioned lower than it is on the Lowepro so there's little chance of any dangerous flex. The rain cover is a bit fiddly to get in and out of its pouch on the pack. It's strictly for short hikes as far as I'm concerned. The full product reviews can be found here. The Crumpler Keystone bag is great . . . for a while. Then the annoyingly wide zipper facings which prevent the top compartment from being accessed easily will become tiresome. In use, my Crumpler bags (I've got this backpack and the 4, 6 & 7 Million Dollar Home models) offer better protection than the National Geographic bags. Still not great for fast access off the shoulder or even on the ground. Crumpler compartments are invariably tight. Your gear won't shift around (which is good), but some of it will be a bit more difficult to get to. This bag carries well and secures to your waist quite well also, which makes it a much better carry than the National Geographic bag. A laptop is well protected as long as you make sure to position it at the bottom of the compartment to avoid any flex across your back. The full product reviews can be found here. My favorite general travel backpack (car, airplane, train, bus, light to medium hiking) is the Lowepro CompuTrekker Plus AW. For my purposes it's been wonderfully durable, fully protective of all my gear, comfortable on short and medium length hikes, legal size on all airlines, and extremely versatile with respect to not only how much gear I can pack into it, but also with respect to how easy it is to get at everything quickly. This bag is also weatherproof, with the built-in All Weather rain cover almost redundant considering how well the bag itself is designed and waterproofed. Different backs will give different results, but on my back the CompuTrekker Plus AW is a great carry. It secures comfortably around the waist and ensures proper weight distribution on the hips. Getting the right adjustment with a laptop in place however, definitely takes a bit of initial fiddling. Too tight and you could flex the laptop. Too loose and the load won't be properly distributed. You really only need to unfold the rain cover for heavy downpours. Anyway, the Lowepro gets my vote. The full product reviews can be found here. For general air travel, at the end of which you pack only a day's worth of gear into a smaller sling pack (such as a Kata T-214 or a Lowepro Slingshot 200 or 300), I am absolutely in love with the Think Tank Airport International. It's expensive, but what a bag! Like the CompuTrekker Plus AW it holds everything including iPod, Treo 700p, cables, adapters, laptop, emergency socks, underwear, etc., etc. I purchased one the same week that Think Tank originally offered them for sale (18 months ago?) and have logged thousands of air miles with the thing. Great stuff. If you're traveling with a lot of photo gear and a laptop but not hiking/backpacking, the Think Tank Airport International is a great choice. The full product reviews can be found here.