WWJD? For Engadget.

WWJD?
What would Jobs Do?

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My Archos AV500 (60GB), and the PVP Scene

First off, apologies about the last post. It got the digg effect, and I didn't host the images through blogger, rather I just used a link, which meant, the host of the image (ie. not me) used stupid Imageshack with it's bandwidth limitations.
I reccommend flickr.com. You may just have heard of it :)

The PVP scene is constantly growing. You can call them what you like, PVP, PMP, but I have something slightly different. And it is being known as a PVR.
PVP stands for Portable Video Player. That's the Zen Vision, the Cowon iAudio products, even the iRiver U10. PMP is about the same thing. PVR is different.
A DVR, you probably know, is Digital Video Recorder. PVR obvious stands for Portable Video Recorder, because you can record off TV or any analog source.
Sorry that was a bit of background on the PVP and PVR world (I find people seem to prefer PVP to PMP)
The Archos AV500 is what I consider to be by far the best PVP and PVR to date.
It has a 4 inch widescreen with a gorgeous 480 by 272 resolution very similair to the PlayStation Portable's screen (though it's own in .3 inches bigger), and exactly the same in every way to Cowon's iAudio A2.
The Archos comes with all of the usual array of specs for a PVP. 3.5mm headphone jack, miniUSB ports, sadly no expandible memory support, but I don't think it matters when you have 60GB. It has the unique feature of having two miniUSB ports, one for hosting and one for transferring. The one for hosting means it can transfer files from other mass storage devices without the need of a computer (basically referring to digital cameras).
By far the best feature is it's TV recording.
It's just as it says. A one time set up operation. And it's PVR functionality is quite amazingly exactly the same of what would be a more expensive DVR.
Schedule recordings while leaving the TV off, change channel while you are away, everything.
Also it throws in a pretty terrible quality microphone that I never use (but it is handy, I suppose).
Overall, at £300, the same as the iPod 60GB, it's absolutely incredible- the best, I would say.
You won't find the 60GB model on archos.com, they only show the 30GB and 100GB models.
It's a shame, because it looks like a iPod killer to me, yet Archos don't publicize it at all.
Only cons are that it has limited codec support: DivX, MPEG-4 (Simple profile), WMV-9, AVI, MP3, BMP, JPEG (not progressive), and it's interface isn't great, and lack of any bundled conversion software.

Overall, easily the best PVP/PVR, as well as the most underrated and most unknown.

It's a shame no one knows.
To purchase it, go to dixons.com, currys.com or pcworld.co.uk, and search for Product Code 108042.

It costs £300. And it's worth every single penny.

The Importance of Tabs

Tabs go way beyond the world of tabbed browsing, so Ameya Tripathi says...
What browser are you using right now, this very instant? The chances are it will be one of four different browsers. You could be using Internet Explorer, the most popular browser simply because it is packaged with all Windows computers. You could be using Opera, a great new browser with tabs. Or Apple's Safari if you're using a Mac. But the chances are that you are using Mozilla Firefox, the browser which a lot of advanced users are using. How do these browsers differentiate from popular Microsoft Internet Explorer 6?
They have tabs. Tabs that enable you to have just one window in your taskbar, tabs that make browsing so much easier. You can switch from tab to tab quickly and easily and, they are clearly separated from the programs running at the bottom. You can have all of the tasks you are running in your browser set in one place, and your browser in another.
But tabs open up a huge range of possibilities. To have applications (that's the minimized bars in your taskbar) and tasks being carried out within applications (those are your different tabs) set one apart from one another is a huge step forward.
It seems like whoever designed the current Microsoft Office probably didn't think you would do more than one task with the same application. The matter of fact is, most of the time I am doing at least 5 or 6 tasks with my browser, and 2 or 3 things in some other application. Of course you are going to use an application to do more than one task. It should be as obvious as you using an operating system to run more than one application.
At least, it is to the world of browsers. Internet Explorer 7 is going to have tabs. Safari from Apple already has tabs. Yet Microsoft, and (surprisingly) Apple for that matter, who both have (or will have) tabbed browsers, have failed to see how this is a huge step. Except it is gargantuan step.

Imagine this.
You're writing a memo in Microsoft Word. At the same time, you've got to finish writing that draft for the annual report due later that month. You hit Ctrl+Tab and switch from different documents in Word- without involvment of the taskbar. You then realize that you need to see the income/expenditures graph to comment for that annual report. Alt+Tab and you're in Microsoft Excel. However, you also need to look at the sales in comparison with the recent advertising campaign for your memo- so Ctrl+Tab it is. You hit Alt+Tab and then continue working on those memos and reports.
Yes. Not just tabbed browsing, but tabbed work. Macromedia have cleverly already incorporated this into their applications.They do it throughout Studio 8. And you can further expand to that idea.
Going back to the memo and the report in Word and Excel.
You're working on the memo in Word. However, when you hit Alt+Tab, it annoyingly goes to the report figures, and so you have to hit Ctrl+Tab to get to that advertising & sales graph. What you could do is link the programs and the tasks together. So, you could define a short cut. For example memo in Word to advertising & sales graph in Excel would be Ctrl+Alt+Tab. And report in Word to the report graph would be Ctrl+Alt Gr+Tab, possibly?
And expanding even further on that idea, what if Word and Excel could work together to figure out all by itself which tasks and applications link up- whether the memo should go with the financial graph or with the advertising and sales graph, and vice-versa. Word and Excel- Office would see that a long time in the coming. However, that would send Office even further ahead than any of it's competitors.
Unfortuanately, that last bit is unlikely to happen for a while. We can still hope for tabs like Macromedia Studio 8 (Vista and Office 12 are still a while away), but shortcuts between different tasks and different applications? And an operating system figuring out which tasks in which applications relate to one another? I don't think that's happening anytime soon.

Techscan Video Podcast Update

The Techscan Video Podcast hasn't been up for a while- mainly because it is seemingly impossible to find somewhere which will host the video files I want, give me decent storage and an RSS feeed so that you can update through iTunes.

Therefore, it will be a while, as I am running a project to update someone elses site as well.

In any case, sorry I haven't been posting.

Techscan Video Podcast

Currently the Techscan Video Podcast has come to a bit of a standstill as I need a working feed- and feedburner isn't doing the job as I have to take the videos from a terrible RSS feed. I'll sort it out- in about 1 week or so, but it will be up soon. I am trying to get the domain name qrnster.be- I'll let you know how that goes.

Some cool gadgets from The Apple Collection

You'll love these latest gadgets from the Apple Collection. Sorry I haven't been posting for a while- I'm really busy!
Anyway, here is the latest from theapplecollection.com

The vPod.
The name isn't very catchy- indeed I would call it the iPod Video or iPod Movie- or simply the new iPod, but the design in brilliant. It is actually exactly what I was going to design next- a big screen, 16:9 media player with downloadable media controls- ie. you could download a clickwheel to use, or the Sony Network Walkman interface... this designer has used Mac OSX 'Lite', which I think is brilliant. Actually the PlayStation Handheld, something you will see farther down the page, is a lot like it- no bluetooth though!
Loses only a few marks- Bluetooth Headphones don't look that nice, 4.6 inch screen is a bit smaller- 5.5 would be perfect, and also no recording of TV (like the Archos AV700)

Overall score is: 84/100
The highest score on qrnster's gadgets yet!

Techscan Video Podcast 1

Techscan Video Podcast 1

Techscan Video Podcast is a unique podcast which scans the news from cnet.com, engadget.com and digg.com and views it all in your normal browser interface. I will soon hopefully get it up onto iTunes.