So I called Candice and she recommended looking into used cisco equipment. She said that I could probably get the same warranty and save big money by going for used network equipment, and often times the places that offer the used or refurbished equipment are getting pretty new pieces that are being sold to them for next to nothing from big companies that have just gone out of business. I know that Cisco makes industrial strength equipment that is meant to take the stress of constant use, so that’s exactly what I am recommending to Derrick.

So if you need hi quality Videoconferencing check out lifesize, the hi definition hardware and software available there will get your message looking as good as the info itself. With option such as:

• High definition video communications (1280 x 720 resolution, 30 frames per second)
• Support for video bandwidth from 128Kbps up to 5 Mbps

You know that this is an online video service that is top notch, using the best technology available today.

In an article I found one guy talks about the OLPC and the necessity to upgrade the linux by command line in order to get it update and get on the internet:

They eventually had to reconfigure and upgrade the operating system, a complex process certainly not doable by a computer rookie. Pity the child in a remote Cambodian village trying to figure out this instruction from the OLPC Web site: “At your root prompt, type: olpc-update (build-no) where (build-no) is the name of the build you would like.”

Even worse, in order to save trees, the OLPC arrived with very few printed instructions. Instead the users were directed to a Web site for help, which would have been an insurmountable challenge if this was their only computer.

The article goes on the whine and moan that the intel version had a hard time with a word processor being while along with a few internet tabs. Of course there is no telling which writing software was being used in this little experiment, open office, microsoft’s bloated office or what. For that price and the ruggedness I would happily use a stripped down notetab lite to write with. Perhaps a second generation of these will be available and we will have a success story then.

Apple has brought Mobile Safari to the Ipod

Last week, Apple announced the new iPod Touch (essentially, an iPhone without the phone bits). What is particularly interesting about the iPod Touch is that it includes WiFi connectivity and Mobile Safari.

There are two aspects to this release that make it particularly interesting:

1. Mobile Safari is now poised to explode in terms of market share, possibly driving a lot of innovation in the handheld browser market, and
2. developers now have a far less expensive means of obtaining and testing on the new browser.

What do you think of this announcement? What repercussions do you think we will see?

Written By Aaron Gustafson

“In a perfect world, there’d be no wires. They clutter the view, get tangled behind desks and limit how far networks can reach. That’s why the telegraph gave way to the radio. Cell phones unstrung telecommunications. Wi-Fi liberated computer data.

Now even the last knotty wire that seemed destined to remain – the power cord – could be on its way out.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology researchers announced Thursday they had made a 60-watt light bulb glow by sending it energy wirelessly, potentially previewing a future in which cell phones and other gadgets get juice without having to be plugged in.

The breakthrough, disclosed in Science Express, an online publication of the journal Science, is being called “WiTricity” by the scientists.”

Margret Sloan writes in her blog that TivoToGo is up and running and allows Tivo users to use the service for free and its available for both Mac and Windows computers and works with several portable devices including the PSP. To get your Tivoed programs on your mobile do the following:

First, transfer recordings to your desktop or laptop.
Consider it in-flight entertainment. After you have downloaded and installed the TiVo Desktop software, you can begin sending shows to a networked computer in another room of the house or any wireless laptop. Then, transfer a selection of your TiVo favorites and you are off. 

Then, save recordings to your mobile device
Once the programs are transferred to a computer, the TiVoToGo software can encode them for a compatible handheld device. You can even schedule recordings and instruct the TiVoToGo software to automatically transfer new shows when they become available.

ZD Net Mobile News is reporting that Sony and former Philips chip unit NXP Semiconductors have announced they will create a joint venture to create a secure chip that enables short-range wireless interaction between handhelds, PCs and other consumer electronic devices.

In a memorandum of understanding, the companies said their joint venture will be set up in mid-2007 and will be charged with creating a secure near-field communications (NFC) chip that works with various flavors of NFC-compatible phones, such as Sony’s Felica and NXP’s Mifare systems.

NFC wireless technology, which is similar to that used in the London Underground for making contactless payments, can be used for ticketing or making small purchases via a mobile handset.

According to NXP and Sony, consumers with phones sporting the chip will be able to buy all sorts of services from different providers, although both will continue to develop their respective platforms separately.

The association is calling for common NFC standards, which it asserts will lead to interoperability and mass-market adoption.