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Welcome to World Tech Update, I'm Martyn Williams and this week we're coming to you from Tokyo.
Nick is on vacation this week but he's getting in the Olympic spirit and we fll have a special
report from him later.
We'll also a look at some of the mobile phones from last week's Mobile World Congress that
we couldn't fit in last week's show and we'll be taking a look at some very unusual cell
phones.
But we start off this week in Europe. Late Tuesday Google said it is the target of a
preliminary investigation by the European Commission for possible anticompetitive behavior.
The Commission, which is the EU's highest antitrust authority, often conducts such preliminary
probes before deciding whether to launch full investigations.
It comes after complaints from three companies: U.K. price comparison Web site Foundem, French
legal search engine ejustice.fr, and German search site Ciao. In a blog posting Google
denied that it is doing anything wrong and hinted that Microsoft may have had a hand
in two of the complaints.
It revolutionized the way people buy and consume music. Apple's iPod launched 8 and a half
years ago in October 2001 and now the companion iTunes Music Store has reached a milestone.
On Wednesday the service sold its 10 billionth song. Apple's Web site had been counting up
to the moment all week. The company said it would give US$10,000 in iTunes store credit
to the person who purchased the song.
The iTunes Music Store launched on April 28, 2003, in the U.S. -- a little after the iPod
came out -- and began its international expansion the following year. About 50 million songs
were sold in the first year.
Still with Apple and iPhone, iPad, iDo? For an Apple-mad couple in New York the wedding
of their dreams came on Valentine fs Day, when they married at Apple's flagship Fifth
Avenue store.
Josh and Ting Li, who are self-described Apple-nuts, walked into the store with friends at one
minute past midnight on February 14. Although the store isn't officially available for marriages
the staff apparently allowed the impromptu ceremony. The rings were attached to a first-generation
iPod and the vows were written on a card that said "I love you more than this," with a picture
of an iPhone.
They were married by Henry Hu, who dressed in Steve Jobs' trademark black turtleneck.
Henry said he's open to other tech-themed weddings, even dressing up as clippy the paperclip
for any Microsoft-mad couples.
I fm not he'll find any of those.
Now to Anaheim in California and the PMA show, where Sony showed a prototype camera with
compact body with interchangeable lenses.
The Sony camera does away with the mirror box found in larger SLR cameras to realize
the smaller size -- that's a similar concept to the Micro Four Thirds system used by rivals
like Panasonic. The Sony prototype includes an APS-C image sensor, which is larger than
the sensor on Micro Four Thirds cameras. That should higher or better quality pictures,
but we won ft know exactly how is stacks up until later this year when the camera is available.
In addition to still images, Sony said it will shoot 1080P high-definition video.
California start-up Bloom Energy unveiled on Wednesday its fuel-cell energy server,
a device that could revolutionize the way homes and businesses get electricity.
It creates power from a reaction between air and a fuel source such as natural gas or ethanol
via an electrochemical process. The fuel cells themselves are made from sand.
Bloom Energy Co-founder and CEO, KR Sridar "A flat piece of sand. Inexpensive materials,
but this is the core of the technology."
"Today it produces 25 watts: Enough for a lightbulb. Two years from now? Stay tuned."
Bloom says its technology can deliver energy that's clean, reliable, and inexpensive while
being disconnected from the power grid. The company's delivering it in big boxes for large
enterprises now, and in about ten years, it expects to be selling smaller Energy Servers
to consumers.
And now some of the news from Mobile World Congress in Barcelona that we couldn't fit
in last week fs show, and we'll kick off with some new cell phones.
This is the first handset from sports-brand Puma. Naturally, there are sports-related
functions. For runners and cyclists it will keep track of speed, distance and pace. It
can be recharged via a solar panel on the phone fs rear and the phone will tell you
how many text messages or songs you're getting thanks to the sun. It will be out in Europe
in April and later in other markets.
From Israel's Else comes this phone, the First Else. It's designed to be operated with one
hand so the menus are arranged in a thumb-friendly fan design. Main functions splay out when
activated and further expand to reveal more data. The 3G handset should be ready in the
second quarter but interacts with a server-system run by Else so will only be available through
certain carriers.
And Taiwan's HTC unveiled an update to its Nexus One -- the so-called Google Phone. The
HTC Desire adds an FM radio and an improved version of the Sense user-interface. The new
UI makes improvements on a number of important areas, including social networking, Internet
browsing, e-mail and contact management.
HTC also showed the Mini HD, which is similar to the much larger HD2. It runs Windows Mobile
6.5. Both HTC phones will be out in Europe and Asia in March.
Here in Tokyo mobile TV can be received citywide from transmitters on Tokyo Tower, behind me,
but at Mobile World Congress Ireland fs Solaris Mobile was demonstrating a system with a much
wider reach.
The system receives TV and radio broadcasts from a satellite so can be used all over Europe.
A network of terrestrial transmitters, already on air in Paris and Barcelona, fills in the
gaps the satellite can ft reach to provide uninterrupted service in cities.
Matt Child, Chief Commercial Officer, Solaris Mobile
"By using this combination of satellites that provides great coverage, broad coverage, national
coverage straight away, with the throughput of terrestrial networks in urban areas, it
fs very cost effective, very efficient, very rapid to deploy."
Solaris Mobile has also produced this prototype receiver that picks up the broadcasts and
streams them over Wi-Fi so they can be watched on compatible smartphones. The device is still
a prototype and will eventually be smaller, the company said.
The fashion world got its first taste of 3D TV this week when British fashion house Burberry
premiered its Autumn/Winter 2010/2011 collection in London. While guests in London got to see
the new clothes up close, the company sent a 3D satellite signal to parties taking place
in Paris, Dubai, New York, Los Angeles and Tokyo.
Stephen Colb, Council of Fashion Designers of America
"I'm excited. It's like the Avatar of fashion and a good example of how our industry continues
to evolve and connect to technology in how we present collections and how we do business."
As I said at the top of the show, Nick is on vacation this week but that hasn't stopped
him working. Nick, you fve been testing a new product?
Nick Barber Thanks Martyn, well in the spirit of the Winter
Olympics I'm out here in California trying out the Contour HD wearable camera. It ships
with a goggle mount and a helmet mount. It's a small form factor, and the outside is made
of anodized aluminum. On the back is a one-touch power on and power off and on the top all
you need to do to start recording is slide this on and you fre going.
What you're seeing now is some feature from the Contour HD. I shops with a 2GB card, which
means you can capture 30 and 60 minutes of footage. At 720P is shoots at 30 frames per
second and at WVGA resolution it shoots at 60 frames per second.
There's also a 1080P model but right now we're testing out the 720P model. It's water, shock
and snow-resistant and you fll see that in this upcoming clip.
Well, that'll fun to get on camera.
It comes with a rechargeable battery that you can recharge with the USB port on your
computer. There's an online community where you can share your videos, which you're also
seeing now. And it comes with a light editing software where you can put together your clips.
It captures full audio but one of the problems I found was that if you're going at any kind
of significant speed all you hear is wind noise.
Well Martyn, the 720P Coutour HD ships for $250, the 1080P Contour HD ships for $330.
That's all from here in California, now back to you.
Thanks Nick. Well, based on that video I don't think you fre going to be making Team USA
anytime soon but it looks like you're having fun.
And that's it for this week fs show. Next week Nick is back from vacation and I'm on
the road again, this time at the annual Cebit show in Hanover so watch out for that. I fm
Martyn Williams, and from everyone at IDG News Service thanks for watching and we'll
see you next week.