The New Samsung i900

This certainly looks like a funky phone, I enjoyed the video as well, enjoy...

High Definition Disc media versus Broadband

In an article I read earlier this year the implications of the High Definition format war at the fall of the Blu Ray Axe claiming the head of the HD DVD format, was vaguely highlighted. In the Forum that the article was posted in, a couple of apparent disgruntled HD DVD supporters commented that the future of High Definition media does not lie with disc mediums but with broadband and downloads.

The HD DVD Fans were right after all, the future of Digital Entertainment clearly lies with (downloading, broadband, solid state media and video streaming), or does it? Have we considered the implications of downloading as a preferred method over disc media properly?

The below is a list of a few pro and cons, it highlights the issues that will be faced with broadband and solid state media over High Definition Disc Media like Blu Ray Disc:-

PROS:-

• Convenience. Downloading a movie as and where you want to watch it


• Accessibility. Movies that we are looking for may not be available at the local retailer or video store, these movies can be easily be found on the Internet and downloaded.


• Improved Video / Audio Compression Codecs. Video and Audio compression codecs such as DIVX, the one we all love and know, will improve. Other similar codecs will also improve.


• Improved Internet Infrastructure. If we want to share in the joy of video streaming / downloading High Definition Movies from the Internet, the infrastructure of the Internet will be improved as a result, which will be of benefit to us all.


• We own a copy of our favorite movie?

CONS:

• Backups. Movies on DVD disc, that each and everyone of us has been exposed to in one way or the other acts as an instant back-up of our movie collection. The benefit of an instant back-up when we buy a DVD, Blu Ray or HD DVD will be lost. Funny as it may seem a lot of people will probably consider Blu Ray as a method of Backing-Up their movies, why not buy the movie on Blu Ray disc in the first place, as a backup?


• Limited Space. We can own a 100 Blu Ray movies. What will the space requirement be if all these movies are BD25 or 25 Gigs each? The answer is simple 25 Gigabytes x 100 movies = 2,500 Gigabytes or 2,5 Tera bytes of Storage space. Lets not beat around the bush that is a lot storage space in todays terms. Are we out of our minds to consider downloading the same movie over and over? Or do we simply watch a movie once and then never again? Why is DVD movie sales a Multi Billion Dollar Industry? The answer to last question is simple we all love to be entertained and we all will in one way or the other support the movie industry no matter what the outcome.


• Owning a copy of our favorite movie may entirely disappear. To me this possibility really looks dull and uninviting. I like to own a copy of my favorite movies and so do we all.


• Cost of Improved Internet infrastructure. The fact that the Internet will be under tremendous strain from the increased need for broadband is a fact, to over come this, technologies such fibre optic networks will have to save the day. Who will fund this venture? you and I of course, bandwidth will have a price tag or at least an increase in cost associated with it.

Only now new challenges are emerging such the infrastructural capacity of the Internet when considering Broadband over High Definition Disc media as a preferred channel to download or watching High Definition movies. If the structural capacity of the Internet can not cope with the increase in demand it will have to be upgraded and the cost of this will be funded by the end users.

Will High Definition disc media be the way of the future or least for the next 10 years? Difficult to say, but when we choose a resolution to our needs we have to consider the implications.

Go on, put a sunroof in your Jeep...

This is one of my favorite ads, enjoy.

Where stars are born...

Image credit: Nasa/JPL-Caltech/Subaru

A new Galaxy has been discovered by NASA, dubbed the "Baby Boom Galaxy" The Galaxy produces 4000 stars per year according to NASA.

A set of telescopes were used in the discovery of this starburst.

Its distance from the earth is 12.3 billion light-years!!!

To put this the distance of this galaxy from Earth into perspective:-
(1 Light Year =

speed of light per second x total amount of seconds in 1 year)

= 300000km per second x 31536000 seconds in 1 year
= 9460,800,000,000 Kms in 1 Light Year

A distance of 1Light Year will allow you to circumnavigate around the Earth 236,076,412 times. Eish I'd be tired :-)

Now add 12,3 Billion to the equation:-
The "Baby Boom Galaxy" therefore is:-
12,300,000,000 x 9460,800,000,000 = 116,367,840,000,000,000,000,000 Kms from the earth!!!!

Hypothetically should a person start walking on the day he is born and walk for 80 years without resting, at 1 meter per second the distance will be equal to ((1m x 31536000 seconds in 1 year) * 80 Years) / 1000 to convert to Kms = 2,522,880 Kms or almost 63 times around the earth.

How Many life times will it take to walk to the Baby Boom Galaxy?
Assuming that the life expectancy of all the people is exactly 80 years. To walk from Earth to the "Baby Boom Galaxy", if this was possible, will take 46,100,000,000,000,000 or Forty-Six-Thousand-One-Hundred-Trillion life times, now thats a lot of people!!!...and a lot of walking...

Animation Fun

The Worlds Most Powerful Computer

This is a picture of "Roadrunner" as it was aptly named, the Worlds most powerful computer at the time of writing.

The CPU used in this beast is based on the IBM QS022 an advanced version of the Cell Processor used in the Playstation 3. Who'd ever thought the worlds most powerful Super Computer will have even a remote comparison with a game console.

Capable of delivering processing of more than 478 teraflop/s (trillions of floating point operations per second) this system is a really hot potato.

FAQS: Why Blu Ray?

1. Q: Why should I buy a Blu Ray Player?
A: Blu Ray is the next level of digital entertainment, concocted by the entertainment Gods. People want to be entertained, watching a movie becomes way more entertaining when the quality of the media is as real to life as possible, Blu Ray delivers just this. At more than 5 times the resolution of conventional DVD (720 x 576 pixels), Blu Ray's (1920 x 1080 pixels) video and images are astoundingly clear. A frame of a Blu Ray movie can pass as a picture in a magazine. The sound thats delivered is true to Master Sound Quality, 100% the same sound quality as when we go and watch a movie at the Cinemas.


2. Q: Will my exsiting PAL / NTSC television play Blu Ray movies or discs?
A: Yes in most cases it should do. A minimum of 480 TV Lines is required to watch a Blu Ray Movie, the quality will be more or less the same than watching a normal DVD because of the sets limitation of 480 TV Lines, which is pretty pointless if you want to upgrade your entertainment system and experience.

But oh the quality will be so much better if the Blu Ray is watched on a 720 TV Lines LCD / Plasma set. 720 TV Lines translates into an image quality of 1280 x 720 pixels. This still does not compare to watching the movie on 1080 TV lines, these sets are still a little bit pricey but boy they will deliver the best video experience. A lot of video gurus feel that watching a Blu Ray at 1080 TV lines on anything less than a 46" display does not do the Blu Ray justice, and the quality between a 720 TV line display can barely be distinguished from the 1080 TV line if the display is anything below a 46" display.

Q: So will my old DVD's play in a Blu Ray player?
A: Yes it will, not only will some advanced players play the DVD it will also upscale it to High Definition. Put simply your DVD will look awesome upscaled, again display limitations of the screen TV might limit your experience depending on the quality of the screen or TV set.

Q: Which Blu Ray player is recommended?
A: There are many good players to choose from each with its own benefits.

But I will recommend a PS3, the PS3 is not only a Blu Ray which firmware can be updated with a very simple process, meaning that the software running the Blu Ray components of the PS3 can be updated. The PS3 is also gaming console and Linux can also be installed on it as a 2nd Operating System, it can also therefore be a PC.

(Please note that I will add to this list of FAQ's and it will grow from time to time. There are plenty of questions I haven't answered and I am planning to answer as many as possible)

The Worlds thinnest LCD?

With the advent of HD or High Definition television, we are all faced with a debacle we have to replace the old technology Television Sets with HD compatible sets.

The unfortunate predicament is HD television sets are expensive and to a huge degree inaccessible to the broad public. Sony may have developed an answer for this, Organic TV. It is alleged to be brighter and crispier than LCD and even Plasma and only 3mm thick, it can also be rolled up and tucked away in small storage area.

What drives this technology I hear you ask? OLED or Organic Light Emitting Diode. OLED's are already being used in certain cellphones.

Some technical stats:-

• Contrasts of 1,000,000:1 are allegedly possible compared to some top notch Plasma contrasts of 10,000:1
• Luminosity is between 100% for white and a 100% for black resulting in a colour rich display

Currently the technology is expensive but like all manufactured technologies once it hits mass production we should see the price drop.

BBC Planet Earth on Blu Ray

If you ever wanted a reason to own a Blu Ray player BBC Planet Earth on Blu Ray has got to be it.

This has to be the most extraordinary footage I have ever seen of planet earth.

From the North to the South pole to video footage from space, from the highest peaks of Mount Everest to the lowest regions of Ethiopia the video footage is astonishing and mind blowingly clear. Every frame could just as well have been a picture for sale on Comstocks image library.

I highly recommend this title for Nature lovers and the curious alike.

There are footage of areas that I and certainly a great deal of us will never be privy to see and yet watching the Blu Ray almost puts you there, you can almost touch the Wild Life.

NASA Pictures of Planet Mercury

Images of Mercury taken during the flyby, from left: the Caloris basin, a volcano and a new view of the planet