Here we are at the start of our 200th show. Tech Talk Radio first hit the airwaves in December 2004, and in the past 4 years hopefully you’ve found us to be informative and entertaining in what we believe is Australia’s longest running, non commercial, independent, magazine style radio show.

In the life of Tech Talk Radio, we’ve seen lots of technology develop and grow, fads come and go, people hired and fired, and companies evolve and dominate. Suffice to say, globally we’ve had some major technological and business achievements and some challenges too, but locally we’ve had our own dilemmas and frustrations based on Governments and Regulators. But still, the ever changing landscape of the technological revolution continues to push forward relentlessly taking no prisoners.

The past four years in Australia has seen a change in government, resulting in a new school of leaders taking the reigns. Our regulators, both government and non government are trying to keep up with the changing face of technology and protect the rights, and hip pockets, of consumers from would be organisations who take advantage of the luddites amongst us, which is really most of the population. And when I say luddites, I don’t mean 19th century English workmen who destroyed laborsaving machinery that they thought would cause unemployment, I mean the 21st century accidental technology users who just don’t care to learn about technology – they use it because they have to.

One thing that hasn’t change much in the four years of Tech Talk Radio, is the state of the Nations broadband. Now I’m not going to bang on about it, but you have to agree that the digital divide has never been greater, unless you have very deep pockets or live in a metro area in one of Australia’s larger cities. Despite the election promises and a change of government on Saturday November 24 2007, the yet to be built National Broadband Network which promised 12Mb/s to Australian households, now seems slow and inadequate when it comes to future proofing Australia’s digital future.

The highlights of the first four years have been many. Our guests have ranged from knowledgeable individuals who are passionate about technology, to the movers and shakers of international hi-tech companies. But the one thing that has made Tech Talk Radio what it is today, is the encouragement and participation of our listeners, both from regulars and one off correspondence we receive each week. It’s a cliché I know, but without you, our listeners from all over the world, we wouldn’t be doing what we do now. After all, no one receives a cent for what we do, only you do in the form of giveaways, and today, our 200th show is no exception, so if you’re listening to us live stick around for what will only be another gripping installment of the show that is Tech Talk Radio.

Also on This Weeks Show

• In these times of global economic uncertainty, the Apple empire is up to it’s old antics and them some
• Microsoft extends XP’s life
  
• Samsung launch Australa’s first commercially available LED TV
  
• Australia’s consumer watchdog the ACCC get’s heave with our telco’s and
  
• Telstra blames the spam act for impersonal tweets – what next?

What a show we have for you today, not one, but two of the biggest technology companies in the world talk exclusively to Tech talk Radio. Adam catches up with Paul Collie, Sony Australia’s communications technology manager to find out about Sony’s view on the Digital living room, and let’s just say he’s having second thoughts about Apple.

DLNA is an acronym for the Digital Living Network Alliance. Now, if you haven’t heard of DLNA, it is set to become Sony’s conduit to connect all the company’s products together. Yes finally – Ethernet finds its way to the back of the latest incarnation of the Bravia TV range.

All I can say is it’s about time too, but I’m sure you’re all thinking the same too!

According to Sony’s website, the Digital Living Network Alliance, or DLNA is an organization established to enhance the interoperability of home networks. The organization issues design guidelines to support the seamless sharing of video, music, photographs and other content through home networks. It also issues a logo for use on products that qualify under these guidelines.

Sony established the DLNA in June 2003 after convincing other manufacturers of the need to improve interoperability through industry-level standardization initiatives. Sony continues to play a leading role in the organization, and a Sony executive is Chairman of the DLNA Board of Directors.

Currently DLNA consists of over 240 members, including the world’s leading manufacturers of electrical appliances, mobile equipment and computers, as well as developers of software, devices, services and applications, and content providers. By supplying a wide variety of DLNA-compliant products, these manufacturers are helping to raise awareness of DLNA as an industry standard for home networking.

So at last, a flat screen TV worth buying.

Also this week Lidija Davis finds her way to Google HQ in Mountain View California to find out first hand the latest information web designers and bloggers need to know if they wish to be found for all the right reasons.

Nathan Johns is a Google search quality analyst (right) and Anindo Mukherjee is a software engineer for search quality (left). Interestingly, greater emphasis is be placed on who you’re hanging out with.

Also on This Weeks Show

• BigPond Adds Twitter Support Channel
• MySpace in tune at last
  
• Experts warn of new PDF attack and
  
• If you want to grab an early copy of Microsoft Windows 7 for free, and all above board and legal as well, then you can in late October – with a catch of course.

It’s been an interesting week to say the least in the IT world.

Firstly, Microsoft pulled their Jerry Seinfeld tv campaign, you remember, the one we tried to work out last week where Jerry asked bill to give him a sign by adjusting his shorts in the car park of the local supermarket. Well it seems that we weren ’t the only ones who didn’t quite get it. This week Microsoft is back with its “Life without walls”, a new campaign which is more mainstream, in fact so much so the I’d say the entire population will get the message that Microsoft is giving Apple the bird. “I’m a PC” which is the opening line of the mac campaign also opens microsofts ad, but there’s no sign of the jean wearing, stereotypical graphic designing mac user.

Secondly this week, the rumors and scuttlebutt about Google taking their servers into international waters and powering them with wave energy abounds yet again. The search engine juggernaut recently applied for a patent in the US to protect their unique system for generating electricity form waves. While chatting offline to Tech Talk’s US correspondent Lidija Davis, her opening remarks were something along the lines of “Have you heard what Google is up to”

Each week, Google seems to make the news for on reason or another, sometimes fanciful and other times practical. On things for sure, what ever they do, it’ll make the news.

And finally this week, a disgruntled Australian consumer has thrown it back in the face of a white goods retailer, by placing her purchase of a mobile communications device on eBay after the retailer refused to refund her money after she found lurid pictures on the device she bought. Compromising pictures of a female employee of the store was apparently not enough to warrant a refund.

From the sublime to the ridiculous – we’ve got it all this week, as IT goes tabloid!

Also on This Weeks Show

• Pilot makes 'historic' night landing in Antarctica
• QuickTime zero-day spotted
• Telstra announces pre-paid wireless broadband
• Qantas says no to high altitude broadband
• Telstra announce pre-paid wireless broadband
• Microsoft unveils bluetrack and
• Adam has a look at DVD recorders

Mark Mayer returns to the studios of Tech Talk Radio to talk about the latest happenings in Aviation.

Mark is a retired Qantas commercial airline pilot who is very passionate about aircraft of all shapes and sizes.

Also tonight...

Cast your mind back to the middle of the 20th century for those of you old enough. The technological life in the home was simple. People had light, power, a radio, may be a telephone, and for those well to do – maybe a black and white television. The youth of that day had their imaginations and tangible toys which allowed them to foster a simple and healthy lifestyle.

In today’s high tech house hold, there are color tv’s in every room of the house, personal communications devices out number the population 3 to 1, Our energy requirements have gone through the roof, actually, why stop there, they’ve gone through the roof and punctured a hole in the Ozone layer, the only shield protecting our fragile planet. And we now have more gadgets to allegedly make our lives easier than at any other time in the history of mankind.

Heaven forbid, we even have the technology to simulate the beginning of the universe which was demonstrated in Europe last week.

At what stage does humanity implode? Pundits said that the world was going to end when a few particles collided in the Haldron Collider in Switzerland, but it seems we haven’t used up our nine lives just yet.

Recently, UK citizens came under the microscope when it was reported that most of the suffered from a rare, newly discovered mental state of mind called discomgoogolation. It’s a term actually being used to label a growing number of Net users in the UK who don’t fair well when deprived of scoring a hit of their online drug and I’m sure it’s not just restricted to the UK.

Also, as reported recently in the Age, a Melbourne newspaper, the ubiquitous video game console generates more green house gasses than any other gadget ever devised. And we though the airline industry was bad when it came to carbon emissions, but it’s got nothing on the collective game consol industry.

So have we found utopia yet - An ideal place or state? Absolutely! In my opinion, it was the mid 20th century. Don’t get me wrong, I love technology and gadgets as much as you, but you’ve got to agree, our modern life is doing our collective heads in! At what stage is enough, enough? A lot of people have just managed to work out how to program the VCR and now it’s been usurped, by a PVR. Go and ask anyone in the street what a PVR is and see what sort of response you get!

The industrial revolution of the 18th century has etched itself into the history books for major social change when the world switched from an agricultural to a manufacturing base. There will be another revolution soon, but for what and when only time will tell.

Also on This Weeks Show

• NBN frustration kicks in
• Apple re-launch the Nano and patch nearly everything that can be patched
  
• Microsoft unveils blue track and
  
• Adam turns the Mac that time forgot into the mother of all media centre

Google have rocked the internet world with the release of Chrome, yet another web browser to rival that of Microsoft’s Internet explorer, Mozilla’s Firefox, and Apples Safari.

Here’s the thing, Google's Open Source web browser incorporates code and features developed by rivals Apple and Mozilla, in fact Apple's WebKit is the rendering engine that forms the foundation of Chrome.

Several features are already key elements of other browsers. The 'speed dial' homepage and placement of tabs are features of Opera, while the privacy mode is already implemented in Internet Explorer 8. So what’s going on here? Has good copied, stolen, acquired – call it what you will, the best key features of other browsers to incorporate into their own? It seems so, in fact, it’s not just features from other browsers, Google has employed engineers that have previously worked on other browsers - software engineer Ben Goodger was previously the lead engineer for Mozilla Firefox.

So Google now enters the heated competition between web browsers.

Chrome will now challenge Microsoft’s Internet Explorer, whose newest version was released just weeks ago and Mozilla’s Firefox, which has almost 20 per cent of the global browser audience. There has been some talk in several camps about the resource hungry IE8 beta, and the slowness in which users have taken up the offer to try the latest beta version. This is the only way to really get an indication on the demand of Microsoft's browser, as it normally becomes a system update which you have to download - like it or not.

Former Mozilla CEO Mitchell Baker said in her blog that Mozilla had created a competitive browser market and would continue to compete in it..

She says... Mozilla recognized long ago that an independent browser dedicated only to the public good is a necessary piece for building a healthy Internet. Many people thought this was silly and the browser was generally treated as simply a part of the Windows desktop and not important in its own right. These days we know that’s not true.

Almost 200 million people have spoken by adopting Firefox; demonstrating how much the browser does matter. Yesterday Google announced that it will release its own browser, validating once again the central idea that this tool we call the browser is fundamentally important. Our first great battle — that of relevance and acceptance — has been won.

So as we head head-first into the world of high speed internet and rich web content, we now have another piece of software to add to the mix of a safe, and error free online experience. It’s early days, but if Googles current success turns chrome, then watch out IE, Safari AND Firefox!

Also on This Weeks Show

• We take a look a first look at Google’s new web browser
• Sony batteries are in the news again for the wrong reasons
  
• Ericsson demonstrates 4th Generation mobile technology – 20 times faster than 3G
  
• Australian web retailer is shamed as a spammer and
  
• Adobe CS 4 set to hit the stores this month

It never ceases to amaze me how consumers are treated by tech companies after they’ve made a purchase of goods and services. It also raises the issue of 3rd party extended warranties, which, in my opinion, are not worth the paper they’re printed on, let alone the price you pay for the alleged peace of mind.

Take, for example, Adam Turners recent house move, when he also decided to change telephone provider from Optus to Telstra. Having had his phone cut off before the scheduled date, Adam spent a cumulative 5 hours on the telephone to both providers, the old and the new, trying to get his phone reconnected. The annoying thing about any scenario where more than one company is involved, is the apportion of blame on the other provider.

As a consumer, this can result in frustration beyond the realms of rational human behavior. We’ve all been there at one or many points in our lives, but why does it have to be like this? Surely technology companies have the skill and technology at their fingertips to accurately diagnose faults in the system, or maybe the un accountability of faceless, first name only telemarketers is all that customers in today’s cut an thrust competitive digital market place deserve.

What’s more frustrating, is that today’s tech consumers do have an understanding of how computers and telecommunications networks function, but that all accounts for naught, as I’d bet Bill Gates or Steve Jobs would be treated as morons if they rang an Australian help desk.

And then there’s the added bonus of extended warranties, one of the first up-sell opportunities offered to consumers by gung-ho commission based sales people. Extended manufacturers warranties, that is, a warranty offered by the manufacturer, is probably worth considering, but you’ve got to have rocks in your head if you choose a 3rd party warranty. These are the types offered by credit card companies and large white goods sellers.

While watching a colleague in the office jump through fiery circus hoops with one hand tied behind his back and singing a well know Dennis Leary song is somewhat amusing, I can certainly sense his pain and frustration being treated like an amoeba. Trust me, he knows his stuff, but the situation has only been compounded by the equipment in question going faulty within the manufacturers warranty, but not being returned for now four months, and you guessed it, it’s now out of manufacturers warranty.

With the price of tech goods and services falling, along with smaller profit margins for a lot of major companies, something has to give, and the rule of thumb is - the cheaper the service is in the market place, the lousier the support for that product will be.

A quick test of a telco’s or ISP’s respect for the consumer is to make a call during business hours to the companies sales department and support line. If you’re speaking to a human in similar amount of time, then things a looking pretty good. On the other hand if the call answering time is noticeably different, then beware.

While we have the ACCC to look after the consumers back pocket and minimize deceptive and misleading sales practices, there’s nothing to help us in the world of support and after sales service except the odd government statute, and a raft of legal practitioners looking to send their kids through very expensive private education.

No-one said the price of progress would do your head in.

Also on This Weeks Show

• Seven refused digital multi-channel reprieve
  
• Internode triples ADSL reach of exchange
  
• Adobe rolls out online photo editing tool
  
• Pystar hits back in Apple Clone Case and
  
• Users can bypass iPhone security

Since our last show I’ve had reason to call Australia’s triple 0 emergency services number from a mobile service. All things went smoothly but the number of questions the call taker asked me because I called from a mobile phone was surprising in this day of GPS positioning and allegedly smart mobile technology.

Firstly, I didn’t have to press 5 to speak to an operator. This was introduced to try and reduce the number of unnecessary calls to the essential services but has obviously been removed.

Secondly, the call taker didn’t even know what state I was calling from – something I would have thought would be simple and straight forward to pass through the phone network, and finally, when the Telstra call taker hands you over to the service you need, Police, Fire or Ambulance, a verbal serial number is handed over to the incoming operator, which they key in to their terminal to access the information the Telstra call taker has access along with additional details about the service your calling from.

In this day of modern mobile communications, something is fundamentally wrong in the way the 000 phone system works from a technical point of view. And to top it all off the call taker asked me for the number I was calling on. Was she just verifying the number on her screen, or did she not have it?

My call was not of a life or death nature, but in the case of a real emergency where every moment can make a difference, one has to wonder how much better things could be if the technology worked as well as the humans you end up talking to.

There's normally a reason, so I'm sure I'll find out.

If you're interested in how to get your site noticed online, then be sure to tune in this week to hear Lidija Davis chat to Michael Gray.

The Search Engine Strategies Conference was held in San Jose last week and Lidija got a chance to learn a little about various aspects of search engine optimization, along with some 6000 other visitors.

While the sessions were many, and offered strategy and tactics for both beginners and those more advanced, it was the linkbuilding session that grabbed her attention; after all, who doesn’t want to build more links, and more authority for their site?

Lid managed to grab Michael Gray, an SEO and social media consultant for Atlas Web Service, and one of the speakers of the linkbuilding session, for a quick chat about how search engines rely on link analysis when it comes to ranking web pages.

For more information check out Michael's blog. It makes for very interesting reading!
Photo: seowife.com

Also on This Weeks Show

• Grand Plans for 3’s expansion
• More iPhone bill shock
  
• Google upgrades ad quality judgment
  
• Apple offers to replace bad Ipod batteries and
  
• MYOB buys an Australian web hosting company

Tech Talk Radio Ep 33-2008 | Phil Burges quits Telstra, Spam and High Definition TV both win Gold at the Bejing Olympics, Apple foists MobileMe on to Windows boxes, iPhone kill switch, news about Apple TV, and iTunes sells movies in Oz.

Well it’s been a month since the much-hyped iPhone came out and while most users are thrilled with their devices, it seems there are some problems. This week it emerged that some users are shocked at the size of the bills they are receiving because of big data downloads, while others are upset with the phone’s browsing speed and reception.

Along with bill shock, Apple's CEO Steve Jobs Monday confirmed that the company has a "kill switch" it can flip to remotely disable potentially malicious applications that have been downloaded to any iPhone.

Jobs said, the so-called "kill switch" is necessary as a last-ditch option if a malicious application slipped through Apple's checks and made it onto the App Store.  He said hopefully Apple will never have to pull that lever, but they would be irresponsible not to have a lever like that to pull.

And if that wasn’t enough, an Infineon chip could be at the root of complaints from around the world that Apple's new iPhone drops calls and has unpredictable internet links. Users have complained on websites and blogs that Internet speeds have been inconsistent and that the phone often reverts to a slower technology known as Edge even in 3G areas.

So what are the alternatives? Well the Nokia N96 is being watched in many camps and being touted as an iPhone killer, but when the finer points are tabled, there always seems to be something missing.

HSDPA, stands for High Speed Downlink Packet Access, and is the technology phone companies use to get broadband to our mobile devices. Telstra runs Next G, which is its brand name for HSDPA, in the 850MHz spectrum which is good for the iPhone as it supports that frequency, but the Nokia N96 doesn’t. It supports HSDPA in the 900Mhz and 2100 MHz bands which is good for carriers like 3.

Mobile phone users outside of the capital cities should be careful when it comes to buying handsets and modems as you may not be able to achieve what you want. Telstra has the best mobile broadband coverage in Australia, but it’s on 850Mhz. Unfortunately, none of the other telcos come close to what the incumbent has to offer, but as time goes by, this will surely change.

Notably, with the immanent iPhone bill shock, some providers may be forced to change their way of thinking. Only last week when Telstra changed the data pack pricing, Telstra Consumer Marketing and Channels Executive Director, Ms Glenice Maclellan, admitted that Telstra had increased its understanding of mobile data use.

Could that mean that Telstra has realised just how tight they’d been on data allowances, or maybe a more realistic approach needs to be taken when it comes to the demands of today’s online consumers?

Nah, who am I kidding?

Also on This Weeks Show

• Adam Turner joins us live in the studio
• iPhone bill shock hits home
• Steve jobs has the ability to delete apps from your iPhone without asking
  
• 3G dongles grow in popularity
  
• Sun sheds light on GUI tool for mobiles
• Dr Ron calls in from Glasgow in Scotland

Tech Talk Radio Ep 32-2008 | Google Maps lands in Australia, Spam spam and more Spam thanks to the Olympics, Microsoft launches mesh, Dr Ron calls in from Ireland, and Simon Pearce will tell us about the implementation of Windows server 2008 into Symbion Health.

There’s nothing like a special event to bring out the worst of the spammers. Whether it be credit card details, bank details or identity theft, there’s plenty of it about at the moment, mostly thanks to the Olympic Games.

More so than at any other time in internet history, spam is up, identity theft is the opening story of mainstream media, and crooks and shonks our lurking behind the most benign emails.

According to the latest quarterly Secure Computing Internet Threats Report, around 150bn spam messages are sent every day, up 280 per cent from the same time last year. Volumes peaked on 27 March with 185 billion spam messages being sent in just one day. In an attempt to appeal to wider audiences spammers are also moving into new languages. Previously almost all spam was in English, but now half of all spam is in other languages, with Japanese and German being popular alternatives.

Malware is the scurge of the internet. Normally delivered via email or installed just by visiting unscruipulous websites, malware authors try to trick you into installing their incideous program on your computer so that they can collect information about your identity such as bank details and or passwords. They may even want to turn you computer into a zombie so that they can send the wares via your computer!
Malware purveyors are embracing the upcoming Olympic games wholeheartedly. Recent outbreaks of attacks are attempting to lure in victims with promise of news and information on the Beijing games, and researchers only see the trend increasing over the coming weeks.

One of the most recent attacks is specifically targeting national sporting organizations and athlete representative groups.The attacks are disguised as a dispatch from the International Olympic Committee and contain a trojan hidden as a PDF press release. According to security firm MessageLabs, the content in the attack may have been lifted directly from official IOC documents. When the malicious attachment is launched, the user is infected with a trojan that logs and updates sensitive data.

The use of supposedly official documents has been a favorite technique for targeted 'spear-phishing' attacks. Similar attacks have attempted to spoof the US Internal Revenue Service and Department of Justice. Last month, the Storm worm also used the promise of Olympic news to convince users to install its botnet-controlling software.

Researchers are predicting that the trend will only get worse. So be prepared. Don’t click links in emails, even if you now who they’re from. Cut and paste them into your browser only if you trust the source, Spend $60 bucks and buy yourself a bloody good internet security product that tells you what it’s doing, and importantly tell others who share your computer to be on their guard. Follow these simple steps, and your details will remain just that – your personal details, and surfing will continue to be an enjoyable experience for you and the entire family.

The following links were of interest to us this week!

• Hi-tech thieves target Olympics
• Ice TV Releases iPhone App
• Telstra lifts gates on ADSL2+
• Deadline set for Telstra on broadband
• Buggy software sends Optus offline
• Myki smartcard put to test
• Grocerychoice website under fire
  

Also on This Weeks Show

• Google takes to the streets in Australia
• Spam, spam and more spam, with a bit of malware thrown in for good measure.
  
• A Microsoft free desktops in a world wide market is on the table.
  
• Jobs makes a boo boo and
  
• Mozilla looks to consolidate messaging into one application.

If there’s one thing Australian's have to thank Apple for, it’s the iPhone. Whether you love them or hate them, the recent launch of Apples ubiquitous little device has started to change the attitude of telcos when it comes to mobile broadband.

Anyone who has a mobile broadband device knows that as soon as you plug it in and turn it on, you can easily use a couple of Megabytes of data just by checking mail or opening a web browser. The ‘couple of Mb’ entry level plans offered by some of the telcos would blow the budgets of those who use these type of plans in one power up of an iPhone.

Seeing  a looming ACCC and TIO controversy staring them in the face, Telstra has changed their entry level data plans to something a little more iPhone friendly, which will also benefit casual mobile broadband users. In a press release dated July 31, 2008 Telstra Consumer Marketing and Channels Executive Director, Ms Glenice Maclellan, said that with more than four million 3G customers, Telstra had increased its understanding of mobile data use, as well as enhanced network capacity and spectrum following the closure of the CDMA network in late April. As a result the company has changed some of it’s mobile broadband access fees.

Of the two most popular data packs, the changes include:

$10 mobile data packs will now include 150 megabytes of data -
up from 20 megabytes
$29 mobile data packs will now include 300 megabytes of data -
up from 80 megabytes
    * Excess data usage rates have been reduced on these two data packs.

Admittedly it’s just a start, and there’s a long way to go in this country, but this certainly makes an iPhone usable, to a point. After all, you’ve got to keep in mind that Telstra runs the only 850MHz 3G band in the country, and this will be good news for rural users.

Another catalyst to keep in mind is the Beijing Olympics which will get underway in a few days time. The potential for exceeding data allowances will be great over the next few weeks, especially for sport loving Australian’s around the country.

More plan changes also this week – effective today (Mon 4th August) is 3’s new iPhone plans, and they don’t even sell the device in Australia – yet. Designed to entice people who have bought unlocked iPhones and want to use them for all their worth, 3’s new caps will be sure to attract city based mobile broadband junkies. For $49 you’ll get $350 worth of calls and SMS, 300 minutes of free call time to other three users and 1Gb of mobile broadband. Pay $69 and basically double everything.

Are we about to see a new broadband price war in Australia? Let’s hope so

The following links were of interest to us this week!

• Australian naked DSL mega-roundup
• Google sheds light on search process
• 3 grabs a piece of the iPhone pie
• China wins Olympic gold medal for Internet censorship during the XXIX Olympiad
  
• Apple releases new Mac OS X 10.5.5, iPhone 2.1 seeds
• Microsoft using Beijing Olympics to boost Silverlight takeup
  

Also on This Weeks Show

• We take a look at the mobile broadband in Australia
• Beijing kicks off in a few days so Adam looks at the feeble TV offerings in Australia
  
• China’s internet conundrum
  
• Apple release 10.5.5 and
  
• We take a look at the take up of Naked DSL in Australia

Tech Talk Radio Ep 30-2008 | iView, British ISP to red flag music sharers, Adam Turner goes head to head with Optus and Telstra over churning, Google looks like it will buy Digg, Apples MobileMe email outage, and Internode introduces IP6

The leader in Australian broadband content delivery has reached another milestone. I’m talking about the Australian Broadcasting Commissions iView service which was opened up to public access last week. It’s not that it’s all that revolutionary to the rest of the world, but in the bandwidth and speed impaired world of Australian internet, the ABC has now opened up it two digital channels, ABC1 and ABC2 to a Video on Demand service.

This is a major leap forward for Australian television viewers as it’s the first real VOD service to be offered here with local content. If you listening to us from outside Australia, this service is not available to you unless you know a few Australian proxy servers, but for the rest of you, an ADSL2+ connection is mandatory.

Most programs are available online for a month after it originally airs on ABC1 or 2, and the quality of the full screen picture is not bad all things considered. A typical 1 hour program is in the order of a couple of hundred Mb streamed to your desktop.

When you first visit iView, you’ll be warned about the costs involved to watch programs online. There’s no cost to you from the ABC, they’re just concerned about you running up excessive bills from your ISP. If you’re on one of those cheap and nasty Telstra 200 Mb broadband plans, don’t go anywhere near the iView site. In fact the ABC appears to be doing deals with ISPs to provide iView as an unmet red site. So far iiNet is the only ISP who has come to Auntie’s party.

The second thing you see is a bandwidth testing page which will give you an indication of how well iView will work on your current connection. Once you’re past this, you’ll then see the six channels on offer.
These include ABC Catchup - The best weekly shows from ABC1 and ABC2. ABC News, The latest in news and current affairs, Kazam, Kids' action, adventure and animation. ABC Docs, Natural history, social documentaries and factual series, ABC Arts, Arts from Australia and beyond, and ABC Shop, Previews programs from the ABC Shop Download service.

Jumping into Catchup, you be served up a parade of popular ABC shows, but if the one you want isn’t there, simply browse the complete program list found at the bottom of the screen.

Once you’ve selected the program of your choice, sit back and enjoy very watchable TV served up to the screen of your choice. Well done Aunty! At last, Australian VOD content, and more, delivered free of charge, 24/7.

If this is how government owned organisations progress in today’s high tech world, you’ve got to wonder where we’d be if Telstra were still 100% government owned.

The following links were of interest to us this week!

• British ISPs in new deal to tackle music piracy
• Google In Final Negotiations To Acquire Digg For “Around $200 Million”
• Organisations expanding uses for IP networks, survey shows
• Apple says 'serious' server snafu caused MobileMe outage
• Web address total tops one trillion
• iPhone OS 2.1 released... to developers, plus turn-by-turn GPS?
  

Also on This Weeks Show

• We take a look at the ABC’s new iView service
  Adam Turner goes 5 hours in the ring with Optus and Telstra - it's ugly.
• British ISPs in new deal to tackle music piracy
• Google In Final Negotiations to Acquire Digg For "Around $200 Million"
• Exploit emerges for DNS flaw
• New setbacks arose this week for the national broadband network (NBN) and
• Web address total tops one trillion

Tech Talk Radio Ep 29-2008 | iPhones, Business 2 consumer, Papal SMS, Apple and Psystar, NBM Delayed, ACMA monitors website

The iPhone is only a week old and already it’s making headlines for all the wrong reasons. Logging on  the morning after last weeks show, I was greeted with the headline “Aussie 3G iPhone is a bad joke” then later that day, another headline “Hold off on iPhone, says analysts”

The media reported Rob Enderle, founder and principle analyst for the Enderle Group, saying Apple is one of those companies that could sell refrigerators to Eskimos, but that doesn’t suggest that Eskimos should actually buy them.

He said the problem is that Apple tends to lead on hype and does such a good job controlling initial product reviews that problems associated with the iPhone 3G probably won’t be known until the week after it launches when the raft of independent reviews become available.

This maybe so, but the real problem is as plain as the nose on your face, that is, mobile broadband costs in this country are a joke and it's quite possible that the not so “in the know” iPhone users will unknowingly rack up bills in the thousands of dollar category if they’re not extremely careful.

Mobile Phone operators are mainly focused on voice communications. There’s plans and caps for all types of voice users, but as we turn to data as our daily means of communication, the telco’s seem somewhat reluctant to bundle voice and data into one product that meets the needs of today’s on the move tech savvy individuals.

At the end of the day in this digital world, our voice is turned into data anyway then sent over the mobile phone network, so it seems the phone companies just want to charge us based on the flavor of data we send. You could equate it back to the old analogue days if they charged you 30 sents per 30 seconds if you spoke English and $3.50 per 30 seconds if you spoke any other language. Really.

If I had anything to do with the Telecommunications Ombudsman’s organisation, I’d be recruiting as fast as I could.

Also on This Weeks Show

• Jason Stirling from Genesis joins the panel to talk Business to Business Technology
• ACMA approves online content code of practice
  
• Yahoo! accuses Microsoft of sabotage
  
• Government extends NBN deadline
  
• Firefox gets security tune-up and
  
• Apple wants to take Psystar and its clone customers to the cleaners

The following links were of interest to us this week!

• Aussie 3G iPhone is a bad joke
• Optus claims iPhone sales win
• Government extends NBN deadline
• Firefox gets security tune-up
• ACMA approves online content code of practice
• Apple fastest growing computer manufacturer in US
• Spammers tout 'nude' Angelina Jolie pix
• Apple wants to take Psystar and its clone customers to the cleaners
• iPhone users claim Hutchison support
• Digital radio is coming in 2009

Tech Talk Radio Ep 28-2008

At last the iPhone has arrived as apple lovers globally revel in the birth of a 4.7 ounce bouncing baby telecommunications device which is nothing like the world has seen before... well Australia at least. Adam Turner joins us live in the studio to discuss the iPhone, TiVo, and Foxtels IQ.

According to Australian PC World,  New Zealander Jonny Gladwell was the first customer anywhere in the world to purchase the iPhone 3G, gaining the nickname iPhone Jonny from tech bloggers.

Brett Howell became Australia's own iPhone 'hero' when he managed to be first in line at Optus' George Street store in Sydney. The store threw open its doors at midnight AEST with an inventory of 500 iPhones.

Telstra opened at its Sydney T[life] store at 6am. Vodafone's 7am George Street opening was decidedly smaller than the Optus event, despite appearances by celebrity Lara Bingle.

More than 6 million people bought the first generation iPhone after it was released in June 2007. Since then, the number of countries selling the iPhone has expanded to 24, with a further 49 countries expected to begin selling the iPhone 3G in coming months. Apple has stated it expects sell more than 10 million iPhones this year.

But wait, there’s something wrong in Australia! There’s no iPhone for 3! If one brand encapsulates the young, trendy, hippy, plenty of disposable income generation y’er, it has to be Hutchisons 3. Were they really overlooked when it came to a product that fits their market like an apple in a blender? Rumor has it it's NOT far away.

In another leap forward in technology, Tech Talk Radio is now trialing its own chat page. In an effort to bring true interaction to live broadcasting, you can now interact with the panel and listeners in real time via our new Tech Talk chat server. Simply join us live on the stream on Monday nights, open your web browser and type chat.techtalkradio.com.au into the address bar and say hello. All going well, it will become a permanent part of the show.

Also on This Weeks Show

• Just in case you’ve  just crawled out from under a rock, the iPhone is here.
• We’ll take a look at what’s on offer in Australia.
  
• Adam Turner joins us live in the studio to talk iPhone, TiVo and Foxtel IQ
  
• Seagate launch a 1.5Tb Hard Drive
  
• A women is jailed for hiring an internet hit man
  
• Telstra trials a speedier next g and
  
• Nasa to put it’s current fleet of shuttles out to pasture.

The following links were of interest to us this week!

• Telstra reveals iPhone 3G pricing
  
• Hutchison iPhone support unclear
• Seagate drives ahead to 1.5Tb Hard Drive
• Nasa details shuttle’s retirement
• Apple's new iPhone snapped up in Asia and Europe
• Woman jailed for hiring internet hit man
• Southern Cross Cable to quadruple traffic capacity
• Microsoft to release new 'Essential' servers in November
• ACCC brews TEA trouble for Telstra over ULL price modelling

This week, it seems consumers have the upper hand over ebay thanks to a bit of friendly persuasion from Australia’s consumer watch dog, the ACCC. The world’s largest online auction website Ebay tried to remove nearly all forms of alternate payment recently, and force Australian users to use Ebay’s own payment facility, Paypal, but the ACCC had other ideas.

Also, the Arrival of the iPhone is now less than a week away, and the dust looks like it’s settled. Optus, Vodafone and Telstra are all set to sell what will soon be the ubiquitous apple telephone, but poor old Hutchison, who runs the city centric 3 network seems to still be out in the cold.

Also this week, it’s heartening to see a new government initiative designed to get seniors online. Only one in five Australians over the age of 65 years currently uses the internet. According to the Rudd government, the needs of older Australians wishing to be trained in the use of the internet will be met by the creation of approximately 2,000 seniors internet kiosks, provided by community organisations that support seniors which will be funded by government.

And finally if you’re an armchair sports enthusiast, the new TiVo and Topfield PVRs are just about to hit the market just in time for next months Olympic Games. Adam tells us about the good the bad and the ugly when it comes to the minefield of buying consumer electronics for you home TV requirements.

Andrew and Dr Ron also take a look at how the living room has changed since the good old days of the VHS machine and a simple 4x3 analogue TV!

The following links were of interest to us this week!

• iPhone: Google Talk, new security threats
• Optus announces iPhone plan pricing
• Plasma, LCDs blamed for accelerating global warming
• Judge orders Google to give YouTube user data to Viacom
• "The knives are out" : Telstra's take on the NBN
• Secure Computing warns Olympic Fever could impact your network
• eBay forced into humiliating backdown on PayPal only attempt
• Firefox 3 downloads set Guinness World Record

Also on This Weeks Show

• Will the iPhone become the new security threat of 2008
• Plasma and LCD tvs blamed for accelerating global warming
• Beware, Olympic fever could impact your network
  Telstra throws mud at other bidders for the National Broadband Network, and
  
• We hear how Microsoft’s new Server 2008 makes for a great workstation.