TechAgility

So here in Australia we might be one of the first countries to have the iPhone unlocked and provided by two Carriers? (Optus and Vodafone) BUT - only if you are prepared to wait until the end of the year? Please…..  anyone I know who is seriously interested in the phone has already arranged one from elsewhere.

BTW, a colleague recently found out how delicate the glass screen is, OUCH!!

So I would have provided more of a quote for this story but it appears that MISaustralia.com has come up with a mechanism where when you highlight a section of text it then drops every second character …. 

Optus confirms iPhone plans

MISaustralia.com - Optus confirms iPhone plans

written by dcaddick

I am sure this is not really what VMware had in mind when they were touting VMware OnDemand? I’m guessing they had more of an idea that it would combine some of the benefits of ACE with ESX?

I have just got back from some training in Houston and while listening to a question from a colleague from the UK where he asked if "VDI was going to be able to use the full suite of Hypervisor functionality like vMotion…"  and that got me thinking…

Some of the Conventional Wisdom around the place holds that VDI by itself will likely not be able to cover all of any one customers needs and most will more than likely need to look at quite possibly a number of different approaches to cover ALL employees and ALL Applications.

So with this in mind I’d be interested in your thoughts on the following idea?

Just a few thoughts around VDI??

Let’s say that we stock a couple of decent servers with loads of resources and allows us to run quite a few VDI instances? OK? So one of the possible issues with the classic VDI so far is that if a user places a bit too much pressure on the resources then it has the potential to impact on all other users, being as it is a shared resource? (This is still one of the classic gotcha’s in Terminal Server and Citrix PS - the session is sticky and it stays with the same server unless a logout/login occurs)

So one idea I’m kicking around is the possibility that if a user started something like a 120Mb Excel spreadsheet that might consume quite a bit of CPU then would it be possible to use the vMotion to transfer him to a BladePC, if they started 3 or 4 of them (or they needed more resources?) then transfer them to a BladeWS…..?

Seamlessly!! with the user completely unaware that this has happened!!

Now the fundamentals of vMotion (or XenMotion for that matter?) requires shared boot storage - BUT I don’t think it needs to be NFS or iSCSI, etc. - the Citrix Provisioning Server or OS Streaming method like Neoware IM would probably work just as well in this scenario? As this then leaves the Virtual HardDisk/Storage in a common area accessible by the Vitrual Desktops regardless of whether they are running on VDI’s, the BladePC’s or the BladeWS’s.

The other point is the similarity of CPU would possibly cause an issue, and this probably extends beyond just Intel/AMD? This appears to be a fundamental of vMotion/XenMotion? So this might not fly today, but it is possible that with improvements in the Hypervisors this issue might be overcome at some stage soon?

Anyway, what do you think of the *idea/concept*? As a user requires more CPU and resources they might be able to be transferred from shared resources (VDI on ESX) to individual resources (BladePC) and then high powered resources (BladeWS) - once the high intensity workload has finished then the user would be transferred seamlessly back through the stack to a VDI instance on the ESX server.

Please bear in mind that this is only a concept at the moment and there are clearly problems and issues to be overcome - but the main reason for this post is to ask if you think it has legs? What do you think?

Clearly the ESX/Hypervisor would need to be able to run on hardware outside of it’s current Hardware Compatibility List (HCL) but with Xen this might not be such an issue?

Is wonder if this is where XenDesktop is headed?

written by dcaddick

I have recently been looking at what is available in the way of Media Streaming devices and other forms of DVR under this post - Everex gPC Mini as a potential Media Streaming device? or mini HTPC? - and this news from Sigma Designs certainly would appear to raise the bar as far as performance goes for the next generation of Set top boxes?

The only annoying part of this is that because I keep an eye on what is potentially coming to market, I keep putting off making a decision because I’m waiting for the next release…  <sigh>

The really annoying part of this <below> is the Microsoft Mediaroom, not because of what it is, but because of what it promises that is not available yet, grrrrrrr. This is exactly the sort of thing we would all like to hook up to the large LCD, but as far as I can see this is essentially a "mock up" of what is possible to deliver using MS’s IPTV *NOT* what is available - and more is the pity?

SoC for STB’s has triple processors

Apr. 15, 2008
Sigma Designs has introduced a pair of set-top box SoC’s (System on Chip) that run Windows CE and Microsoft’s Mediaroom IPTV software stack. Powered by three MIPS cores apiece, the SMP8654 and SMP8655 boast accelerated graphics and compliance with HDMI (high-defintion multimedia interface) 1.3, says Sigma.
The SMP8654 and SMP8655, differing only in the latter’s omission of Macrovision, are designed to replace the company’s "industry leading" SMP8634. And indeed, they appear to be a significant advance on it. Where the older SMP8634 had a 300MHz MIPS CPU and a 200MHz security CPU, the SMP865x chips boast triple MIPS processors, for a claimed fifty percent speed boast, according to Sigma claims:

• A 500MHz processor runs the operating system and applications
• A 333MHz processor manages interrupts and part of the network stack
• A 333MHz security CPU, deliberately inaccessible by external interfaces, manages authentication, key generation, and content access functions

Sigma’s 865x SoC sports three processors
(Click to enlarge)

The SMP865x chips offer high definition video decoding, including H.264 (MPEG-4 part 10), WMV, VC-1, MPEG-2, and MPEG-4 (part 2). They also support China’s home-market AVS (audio video standard). HDMI 1.3 support offers bandwidth to 340MHz, while adding support for the Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD formats used by Blu-Ray and HD-DVD.
Other touted features for the SMP865x chips include:

• On-chip flash memory (24K for 500MHz processor, 4K for interrupt/stack processor)
• DRM (digital rights management) engines
• 2D graphics processor including scaling, JPEG and OpenType acceleration
• Dual gigabit Ethernet controllers
• Dual USB 2.0 controllers
• DDR2 controller supporting memory up to 666Mbps
• NAND flash controller
• SATA controller
• Audio I/O
• Simultaneous HD and SD video outputs

Sigma did not cite pin compatibility with its previous SoCs, but said the SMP865x chips are software-compatible with them.

SoC for STBs has triple processors

written by dcaddick

I have been using Digital cameras since around 1998 with the advent of the Nikon Coolpix 900 and although it took a while for the Digital Still cameras to be able to do Video as well they do quite a reasonable job for the most of it. The other very cute trick of most of the modern digital point-and-shoot devices is they are quite neat and tiny and as a consequence always handy to have around.

But lately with some of the odd storms coming through Sydney we’ve had to resort to switching from HD back to the SD transmissions of TV shows - and doesn’t the difference show!!

Now here’s a small neat video camera that can also take high quality stills - it’s almost enough to make me consider looking seriously at video camera as a possible replacement for my current Canon Ixus 65?

Video: Sony’s $900 HDR-TG1 — world’s smallest 1080i camcorder

Posted Apr 3rd 2008 1:04AM by Darren Murph
Filed under: Digital Cameras

We’ll go ahead and let those other guys battle it out for the "world’s smallest" camcorder title — meanwhile, Sony’s just cranked out the one to really pay attention to. The HDR-TG1 Handycam checks in at just 1.3- x 4.7- x 2.5-inches and weighs ten ounces, all while boasting the ability to capture those oh-so-precious vacation moments and unannounced streaking episodes in 1080p 1080i. Aside from that, it’ll snag stills at 4-megapixels and holds everything on MS Pro Duo / Pro Duo Mark2 cards, while the 2.7-inch touchscreen keeps your eyes glued to the action. Furthermore, you’ll find a 10x Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar optical zoom lens, BIONZ processing engine, 5.1 Dolby Digital audio recording and a bundled 4GB Pro Duo Mark2 card for $900. Get ready — this one’s comin’ at you next month. Video of Japanese model after the break.

Video: Sony’s $900 HDR-TG1 — world’s smallest 1080i camcorder - Engadget

written by dcaddick

So I can only guess that it must have been raining all weekend?

I must confess that I have never needed to resort to using Target Designer to customize the image of the XPe but I am certainly curious as to how it all goes together? Perhaps sometime I’ll be able to justify spending the time?

It does validate that this sort of modification can be accomplished if you’re determined enough?

ASUS EEE PC Running XPe, fun PC!

As part of an ongoing effort on the Windows Embedded team, our management encourages us to seek out new relevant devices to our industry to get a chance to understand these new devices and see how our products may apply.  One of these new gadgets that I felt would apply was the Asus EEE PC!   After ordering one, and patiently waiting, it has finally arrived!  I’m going to use the steps in my previous article on how to run TAP from WinPE to get a hardware profile so I can make an XPe Image for this device. 

Before I do that, here’s some interesting info on the Asus EEE PC.

Specs:

Intel Celeron Processor

7” LCD

4GB SSD Storage

512 RAM

Built in Wifi and LAN

Built in SD/MMC Reader

3 USB Ports

VGA Out

Headphone and Microphone Jacks

4 Cell Battery Lasting about 3 Hours

Weight:  2 Pounds!

In the Box:

• Asus EEE PC
• Battery Charger
• 4 Cell Battery
• Restore CD with Windows Drivers

Size:

* Dollar is intended to gauge size, and is not included in the box.

Okay let’s begin!

First we need to configure the ASUS system to boot from a USB drive, by default the ASUS is configured to boot from USB.  I am using an M-Systems/Sandisk SSD with a USB Adaptor it shows up in the BIOS as a hard drive, so I must change a setting in the BIOS so it boots the SSD first.

USB Drive I’m using:

Insert your USB Drive into the ASUS System, and then boot into the BIOS by pressing F2.

Go to the Boot menu, and then to boot priority, make sure the Removable Disk is set as the first boot device.

Now under the Boot Menu, go under Hard Disk Drives, in my case USB:M-Sys uDiskOnCh is set as the 1^st Boot Device.

After you have made these changes, it’s time to reboot the PC and boot into WinPE using your drive you made from my last blog article!

Once you’re booted into WinPE, run TAP.

Be sure to save your mydevices.pmq to a location other than the RAM drive, in my case the D: drive was the actual location for the USB drive.

Import your mydevices.pmq into Target Designer, add in your components (Many of the drivers for the ASUS are not in Target Designer, see this article on how to Componentize Drivers.), and VIOLA, an XPe image for the ASUS EEE PC.

Here’s my ASUS booting XPe in the First Boot Agent Stage:

I’m going to use my newly created ASUS EEE XPe PC to Remote Desktop into my Office Desktop during meetings.

Embedded Windows Team (NT4e, XPe, Vista Embedded) : ASUS EEE PC Running XPe, fun PC!

written by dcaddick

As it often happens when browsing the web, you start out looking for one thing, and invariably you find something else entirely that you have been looking for a few weeks or months ago?

I have been looking for a decent Media Streamer device that can act as the intermediary between the PC/Server and the TV and I have been looking with these ideas (courtesy of "She who must be obeyed" ) in mind:

• Must be white or silver
• Must be quite small (Desktop PC won’t cut it, needs to be more like a DVD player or smaller)
• Must make no noise (or very quiet - this rules out the Xbox360, etc.)
• Ideally HDMI output
• Would very much like it to be able to record TV (Digital Video Recording) in HD
• It must simply work, not bleeding edge device!

So I did have another scout around the web and find things like TViX that really come very close with their M6500a based on what appears to be the latest Sigma 8635 chipset and this is a very neat unit that can also include the optional T430 HD Tuner to add HD recording to the mix - awesome, check out this thread for peoples opinions at The official DVICO TViX M6500A Discussion the only downside for me is that I can’t get one in Silver or White <see above> although I have considered buying one and painting it

The other thought I did have is to "borrow" a HP T5730 (with WiFi) from work and see if I can’t get a 16Gb USB drive formatted to run XP SP2 with Media Centre (or Media Portal) straight from the USB drive just to see what the performance might be like as it does have a 1Gb of RAM and AMD Semperon +2100 CPU, but the best bit is that the DVI output will support wide screen to something like almost 2056 x 1600 so this might just work?
(Although the sound output with this will not be brilliant, but I could always add the PCI expansion slot and add something else to it?)

And then yesterday I came across this little beauty and I’m starting to wonder if it might be a bit too early to see if it’s possible to pick one up while I’m in Houston in a few weeks time?

Anyway, I’m hoping to have a play with the idea of modding the T5730 next week and then see what happens? 

gPC Mini and Mac Mini Battle for the Bookshelf

By Rob Beschizza February 26, 2008 | 3:45:21 PMCategories: Apple

Apple’s Mac Mini hasn’t had much competition in the last few years. Shuttle and Aopen both make vaguely similar machines, but neither is as small (or as inexpensive) as the six-inch wonder. Enter the forthcoming Everex gPC Mini, a linux-powered lilliputian with similar specifications and displacement.

Lining up the stats makes for an interesting choice: the Mac Mini is still a little bit smaller (84.5 inches cubed to 99.4) and is more powerful, but has less storage. GOS Linux is no OSX, but with the gPC mini, you’re not paying for it either.

Think Mini [Everex]

gPC Mini and Mac Mini Battle for the Bookshelf | Gadget Lab from Wired.com

written by dcaddick

So it’s a pity that I can’t do anything to upgrade my Netgear 834G as with the new ADSL2+ service I’m currently only able to get about 5 - 6 Mb out of it - but essentially these hacks are not meant to improve speed or performance - more like gaining added features from products that have now been left behind by the developers as they now work on the latest gear?

Still, I though this useful to share if you were looking for a fix for these products?

Supercharge Your Wireless Router With Open Firmware

From Wired How-To Wiki

A Linksys Wireless-G broadband router (WRT54GL). Image courtesy of Cisco Systems

Consumer-grade wireless routers — your standard Linksyses or Belkins — do their job well enough much of the time. But there are some juicy features offered by high-end commercial routers that just don’t come with the home package. We’re talking features like quality of service (QoS) management, adjustable transmission power, and support for IPv6.

If you need (or just geekily crave) these features, you can shell out cash for a pro-grade router, or you can get them for free by installing new firmware on a cheap home router.

Got extra advice? Log in and add it.

Contents

[hide]

• 1 What You’ll Need
• 2 Customize Your Router
  • 2.1 Find a Compatible Router
  • 2.2 Get the Firmware
  • 2.3 Install the Firmware
  • 2.4 Use the Firmware

more at source…
Supercharge Your Wireless Router With Open Firmware - Wired How-To Wiki

written by dcaddick

So is there anything you can’t do with the iPhone now? I might even have to reconsider and get one myself to see what all the fuss is about?

Video of the iPhone Pwned project in action

Posted Mar 29th 2008 8:38PM by Nilay Patel
Filed under: Cellphones

Those crafty kids on the iPhone Dev Team have already hacked the 2.0 firmware, but now they’re getting ready to release the oh-so-creatively-named PWNED tool, which takes iPhone hacking to the next level by patching the bootloader to let you load any firmware image you want — even images not signed by Apple. That means custom patched firmware can now be loaded directly from iTunes, which simplifies the jailbreaking / unlocking process tremendously, and also means that a patched version of the 2.0 firmware is coming soon. We’re putting the tool through its paces right now and we’ll have a hands-on with it (and the Dev Team’s patched 2.0 firmware) as soon as we get it all working, but check out some highlights after the break, and hit the read link for more info.

Video of the iPhone Pwned project in action - Engadget

written by dcaddick

Now I have always been a fan of making the PC as small as possible, but this is verging on the ridiculous surely? I’m wondering how useful this device might actually be?

picotux - the smallest Linux Computer in the World

The picotux 100 is the world’s smallest Linux computer, only slightly larger (35mm×19mm×19mm) than an RJ45 connector. More information can be found here.

picotux - smallest Linux computer in the World

written by dcaddick

Now somewhile back I produced the following post regarding any other alternatives to RDP and ICA and at the time I might have been somewhat flippant about NComputing’s model based on Windows XP SP2, and since then there have been a number of other companies like Miniframe jump on the same bandwagon where they are effectively using a desktop based OS to provide concurrent multi-user sessions and I always thought this did somewhat fly in the face of the EULA?

At the time I was sort of suspecting that MS might have actually been turning something of a blind eye to this in some parts of the world, but now it seems that MS has finally decided to get off the fence (or at least the Lawyers have now made a decision? and produced this document to clarify things.

So I’d like to clarify here that this is not that I don’t think NComputing can add value, but in doing any due diligence anyone who seriously wants to consider either NComputing, Miniframe or any other method of using XP SP2 in a multi-user model should seriously check this document from MS before going too far down this path?

If I was contemplating, or indeed already using this scenario I would be asking the Vendor to review this document from MS and provide some sort of legal indemnification?

Licensing Windows Client Operating System in Multiuser Scenarios

This posting is provided “AS IS” with no warranties, and confers no rights. The opinions expressed within are my own and should not be attributed to any other Individual or Company or the one I work for.

SPICE might be an alternative to ICA and RDP?

Now this is very interesting news because with all the interest around VDI there is still no real alternative to ICA other than RDP (or VNC…?) and in this I’m not even going to consider Ncomputing’s WoIP, as from a techies point of view this would appear to simply be a rehash of RDP, although I’m prepared to be convinced otherwise?

But it might be exciting to see that there is a real possible alternative to the ICA/RDP stranglehold and this might have the makings of some interesting changes to how things might be approached in the VDI space?

******UPDATE******
As a consequence of this post I have been contacted by Ncomputing and it would appear that their WoIP is actually what they term a combination of UTMA and UXP and does indeed make the connection/transition/session at a lower level in the stack. However, you will not find much detail on the inner workings of this as it’s proprietary, and I’m still trying to understand how this all plays out with regards to the Microsoft Licensing side of things as detailed here in a post on their Forum
http://ncomputing.com/ncomputing/wbb2/thread.php?threadid=963&hilightuser=1087

If/when I find out more I’ll update either here, or as a separate post on my new blog at www.techagility.info
******UPDATE******

SPICE might be an alternative to ICA and RDP?

written by dcaddick