Based on some of the earliest reviews the Palm Pre could be the iPhone killer.   I think we all know that the iPhone has its faults e.g. not been able to run multiple applications at the one time and the poor quality of its camera and no video capability.

Looks like the Palm Pre is very cool and functional.  I like access to a QWERTY keyboard on a smartphone and in my opinion is the big let down of the iPhone, especially for the corporate user.  Have you ever tried to write an email while walking or on a bus with an iPhone or to do it one handed?  Good luck.

Interesting that the Pre runs Palm's new webOS and not MS for mobile, which has the recent trend for Palm.  I carent wait to get my hands on one.

Here  are some first reviews of the Pre:

Walt Mossberg, Wall
Street Journal:

"It’s a beautiful, innovative and versatile hand-held
computer that’s fully in the iPhone’s class. It’s
called the Pre, and it comes from Palm, the company that pioneered
the hand-held computer in the 1990s."

David Pogue, New
York Times:

"The Pre, which goes on sale Saturday, is an elegant, joyous,
multitouch smartphone; it’s the iPhone remixed. "

Sinead Carew, Reuters:

"Pre is an attractive alternative but it remains to be seen if
consumers have enough patience for its quirks."

 Joshua Topolsky, Engadget:

A technical recession is two quarters of negative growth.   In Australia the December quarter saw a contraction in economic activity as measured by GDP of -0.5% and the March quarter numbers come out here today at 11:30A local time which in just over an hours times.

There is a lot of debate as to exactly where the Australian economy is.  Last week was saw that in Australia Private Capital Expenditure  plunged by 9% - the most in 21 years however yesterday we saw a rebound in export numbers  on the back of strong demand for mineral exports to China and agrictural exports to Asia and strong retail trade figures on the back of a massive government stimulus and cuts in interest rates by the Reserve Bank.

My tip..  a contraction of 0.1% and yes Australia will fall into recession.  However if say a technical recession is avoided by the barest of margins, the big increases in unemployment recently is proof enough that we are in what feels like a recession.  

Australia's GDP rate % change.  note the fall of in 2008.

I am writing this blog entry on my Aus Eee PC 1000H netbook PC at my favourite cafe, Pablos & Rustys near the Sun Gordon office in Sydney.   This is the future.   The netbook concept exploded in 2007-2008 and continues in 2009.   

The Asus Eee PC 1000H 

A netbook is a small portable laptop computer designed for wireless communication and access to the internet in a small lightweight package.  The key difference between a netbook and a laptop is that a netbook has no built-in disk drive which only adds to  weight and cost.   Who needs a disk drive today anyway.  I carry around my files on a memory stick attached to my key ring and I can download all of the software applications I need off the internet.  

By late 2008,  netbooks had begun to take market share away from laptops.  It is estimated that  almost thirty time more netbooks were sold  in 2008 (11.4 million)than in 2007 (400,000) and in 2009 sales are expected to jump to 35 million.

What is interesting is that the netbook concept started with the One Laptop per Child project and was more aimed as a low cost entry point for schools and developing countries.  However it is the mobile professionals  and families looking for a second laptop for home that is  driving the explosive growth.

My Eee PC 1000H gives me all I need.  Wireless access  to email and the net and came with StafOffice pre-installed in a package  that is about 1KG and fits easily into my brifecase.

Asus Eee PC 1000H Ultra-Portable PC Features

• Intel Atom N270 Processor, 1.6 GHz


• 512 KB L2 Cache, 533 MHz FSB


• 1-GB DDR2 SDRAM, 667 Mhz, Max. upto 2 GB maximum


• 160-GB, SATA 5400 rpm Hard Drive


• 10-inch (25.4 cm) WSVGA TFT LCD Display, 1024 x 600 pixels screen resolution


• Integrated Intel UMA Graphics Chipset with shared memory


• Integrated WiFi 802.11b/g /n Wireless LAN mini PCI-E connection


• Integrated Bluetooth v2.0 wireless connection


• Integrated 10/100 Mbit Ethernet LAN connection


• Integrated 56kbps Modem/Fax connection


• Integrated 1.3 Megapixel webcam (placed in the bezel above the LCD)


• 2-in-1 Media Card Reader, Multimedia Card (MMC), Memory stick (MS)


• 3 USB v2.0 ports


• Realtek ALC6628 Hi-Definition Audio 5.1 CODEC Hardware, Dolby Surround Sound


• Build-in Stereo 2 stereo speaker system 1.5 Watts each


• Built-in Digital Array Microphone


• Microsoft Windows XP, Microsodt Works


• Colors: Pearl white, Pure white, and Shine Black


• 6-cell, Li-Ion, 6600 mAh, 7.4 volts Battery, upto 6 hrs battery life


• Dimensions: WxDxH - 266 x 191.2 x 28.5/38 mm


• Weight: 1.45 Kgs with battery

The Denver Nuggets season is over going down in game 6 - 119 to 92 at Denver.  The Nuggets will be regretting not closing out games 1 and 3 when they had the chance.   I knew that the longer the series went, the harder it would be for the Nuggets.  The Nuggets are a young team and are re-building, they had to close out the series in four or five games.  The Nuggets will learn from the experience of reaching the Conference Finals and come back next season a stronger team .

I watched game 6 of the Majic and Caves series here in Sydney yesterday lunch time live.  Dominant performance by Dwight Howard for Orlando with 40 points.   For the Caves James was off his game with only 25 points and when Le Bron does not bring his A Game, Cleveland are going to struggle.

No Kobe vs Le Bron in the finals this year.  However a Lakers vs Majic final series  should be good.   Howard is in hot form and may take it up to Kobe and co.  My prediction..  Majic in 6.    The finals will be on free-to-air TV in Sydney LIVE.  Looking forward to it.

Dwight Howard of the Orlando Majic.  One awsome athlete and with 40 points in game six he can take up to Kobe and the Lakers in the finals.  

There is a lot of hype right now around new types of search engines and will anybody ever challenge Google.    First there was the launch of the Wolfram Alpha engine that delivers answers instead of lists of websites and now Microsoft has announced the launch of Bing which they are calling a "Decision Engine." 

WolframAlpha is an "answer engine" that answers factual queries directly by computing the answer from structured data rather than providing a list of documents or web pages that might contain the answer as a "search engine" might.  

 Microsoft has today announced a new web search engine called Bing that is designed to intuitively understand what people are seeking on the internet.  Looks like based on some early reviews Bing is vastly better than Microsoft Live (that would not be hard) but does not outshine Google when it comes to general internet search.  

The heat is on Google and am I sure they will respond with something more intuitive in its search engine.  I think users are looking for more than just list of websites.   I like the the idea of aggregated data from a number of sources on a single page in response to a search query and I think that this is where search is heading.  Users are looking to the internet to provide answers, not just lists.

Even through I am an Australian and I live in Sydney, I am a keen follower of the NBA.  My team is the Denver Nuggets.  Well I manage a team in Broomfield CO and Sun has a large presence in Denver, so it is only natural that I support the Nuggets.  

I always enjoy talking sports with the guys in Broomfield.  I have being to a number of Nuggets games at the Pepsi Center and I like their attitude.  NBA basketball is not as popular in Australia as it was during the Jordon era, however the playoffs does get nightly news coverage on the spot channels and the finals would get coverage in the main stream media.

I note that it has been some time since Denver has progressed beyond the first round of the playoffs and it good to see the Nuggets show some form in the post season.  I have been following the Lakers series and Denver should have put them away already and I think there lack of big time experience is showing with some poor performances at crucial times in games 1 and 3.  With the Lakers leading the series  3-2 game  6 on Friday at Denver is crucial.  I am looking to Denver taking it game 7 in LA on Sunday.

Australians are in shock with the terrible bushfires over the weekend in Victoria.   Here in the Sun Sydney office the mood is somber.  On Monday the office was much quieter than normal.  People did not want to talk about what had happened.

I love this country.  Australia is a country of such natural beauty and such contrast.  I love the Australian bush, in fact our house back onto a bush reserve and is in a bushfire prone area and yet I live 20 mins from the center of city.

Bushfires are part of living in this country and have been part of the Australian landscape for thousands of years.   However Man needs to understand the power of bushfires.   What we saw on the weekend were shocking conditions with temperatures over 47 degrees C, that is 116 degrees F, with extremely strong hot winds, which is a receipe for a firestorm.  The fires were moving at close to 100kmh and those in the path of the firefront had no hope.

The events of the weekend remind me of an iconic  poem by Dorothea McKellar called My Country

I was fortunate this week to fly on the new double-decker massive A380 with Singapore Airlines to and from Singapore.   So what is it like.  Well yes it is massive but also intimate.   You do not feel as though you are flying on a 400+ seat aircraft. 

Firstly it is quiet, by far the the quietest plane I have flown on and I think airbus are quieter than boeing anyway.     It is comfortable to be on the plane and you can easily to have a conversation.  It is much quieter than a boing 767 or 777 and the back ground noise is a mild distraction.

The layout  of the SQ jet is lower deck suites plus economy with economy divided into 3 separate cabins.   The upper deck is business plus one smaller economy cabin.  The separate cabins makes it feel like you are not a huge plane and adds to the level of service.  The plane feels and smells new.

Ecomomy is not too bad  with better seats and a excellent screen on the back of the seat in front of you close to 20 cm wide.   The quality of the in flight entertainment on Singapore airlines is the best in the world in my opinion with hundreds of movies, TV shows and music options to chose from all on demand.    The service was also excellent. 

The separate smaller cabin in economy is good.   Note the size of the TV. 

America has got it's mojo back!   Tuesday November 4 2008 was a great day for America and a greater day for the rest of the world. 

I am a close observer of the US and US politics and I have many friends and colleges in the US.  I manage a Sun Team in Broomfied and travel to the US often.    I have watched this election with interest and 11/4/08 will go down as a one of great historical significance.    I watched the results and the speeches from the Sun office here in Sydney and all America can be proud of the caliber of your leaders.  John McCain so gracious and Barack Obama so inspiring.  Australian political leaders could learn a great deal from both.  Obama is a true orator. 

The world needs a strong and unified United States and a strong US means a more peaceful and prosperous world.    I think Obama has the will and guts to drive change.   But the challenges are massive, however with the right policies, determination and support anything is possible.

As an Australian I have see the image and perception of the US be tarnished greatly over recent years.   With the Obama election the US has its mojo back.    However the world looks to the US for leadership and the pressure  will be on Obama to deliver on his promises and vision.

To all my American friends and colleges..  Good luck and rather than God Bless America, I say God Bless the World.  

RIM has hit back with the Blackberry Bold.  It is well know that Apple wanted to go after the corporate market and those heavy email and data users with Apple iPhone 3G with it improved conectivity to email servers.  

However, anyone that has used an iPhone knows that it is difficult to type emails on the go with a touch screen, especially one handed and corporate users like to use a QWERY keyboard.    I think RIM is on to a winner with the Bold.   I agree that Blackberry needed to be updated especially with screen quality and the inerface and I think the Bold will deliver as a corporate workhorse that is nice to have and work with.    I look forward to getting my hands on a Bold.

The new Blackberry Bold  

Good article thats sums up the advantages of using Sun Ray Thin Clients and VMware Virtualisation.

Low Cost | Low Power | No desktop administration unlike Microsoft windows.

For me the best thing about using SunRAY thin clients is that I can take my desktop with me anywhere in the world and is SILENT.  No humming like a Windows Box.  

A SunRAY Thin Client the same as on my desk here in the Sun Gordon office in Sydney.

More about SunRAY Thin Clients here.

The great race is over for another year with Carlos Sastre from Spain winning this years Tour de France following a win in the Alps on the famous L'Alpe-d'Huez and a strong performance in the time trial to hold on to his lead.    Australian Cadel Evans was second for the second year in a row.  Still a huge performance from the Australian.  Cadel can win the Tour in the future, he needs the confidence to make a break on a mountains stage and remain strong in the third week of the Tour.  A stronger team would also help.

There is something about the Tour de France that captures the imagination.  The majic of the secenary, the determination and guts of the riders, the tatics of the teams.     The Tour de France truely is the great race and the toughest individual sporting event in the world.

Carlos Sastre of Spain and Cadel Evans, right, ride past the Arc de Triomphe.

Cardel Evans was able to make up some time on Carlos Sastre in the Tour de France but not enough to take the yellow jersey.  Evans needed 1 min 34 secs to take the lead however he was able to only make up 29 secs and remains more than a minute behind going into the final stage in Paris. 

The Australian Evans gave his all, however Sastre found that little extra to have the race of hs life in by far his best time trial.    Evans had a bad day and he needed to win the time trial to win the race and I think the battle in the Alps had left Evans drained.  Still a great perfrormace from the Australian.

Today is a huge day in the Tour de France, the second last day of the Tour, the time-trial also known as the race of truth.   I am a huge fan of the Tour watching the race untl very late into the night here in Sydney Australia and have been watching and following the race for many years.

Australian Cadel Evans is going for Yellow in the today's time trial in the Tour dr France

There is huge interest in the Tour this year in Australia with Cadel Evans sitting in fouth place only 1 min 34 secs behind the race leader Carlos Sastre, however Evens is by far the superior rider at the time trial.    The key quesion in will Evans be able to make up the 1 min 34 sec gap on Sastre.  There is no doubt that Evans will beat Satre in the race of truth against the clock but is he close enough to race into the Yellow jersey.  It will be nail bitting stuff.  Evans will ride at after midnight tonught and I will be watching.

The route for the 2008 Tour de France

As reported on streetinsider.com:

Sun Microsystems, Inc. (NASDAQ: JAVA) 14% HIGHER; expects Q4 revenue for of fiscal 2008 in the range of $3.725 to $3.800 billion, versus consensus estimate of $3.80 billion. On a non-GAAP basis, Sun expects to report net income per diluted share in the range of $0.25 to $0.35 versus analysts' estimate of $0.27.

The Sun stock price has jumped as much as $1.45 in after hour trading on the NASDAQ trading as high as $10.25 in response to positive Q4 preliminary results.   Currently trading at $9.88.

The graph below of after hour trading highlights the jump in share price.

Sun released PRELIMINARY results for 4th quarter after market closed last night (July 15) and despite very volatile market condition (Java closed @ $8.80 during normal trading hours), it was chased up to $9.94 in after-hours trade ...........

Sun Microsystems Inc. shares leaped after the networking products provider's earnings forecast came in better than expected by analysts. JAVA shares leaped 13% to $9.94 in heavy (after hours) trading after the company said it expects fourth-quarter revenue of $3.725 billion to $3.8 billion, compared with $3.835 billion in the same quarter a year ago. It forecast gross margin of 44% to 45%.

I participated in a Live Blogging session today here in Sydney Australia on climate change and how Australia should tackle climate change and if we had an Emission Trading System what that should look like followwing the release of an important report into climate change by Australian economist Ross Garnaut. 

This really was web 2.0 in action.  Very interactive with live polls etc.  You can view the reply here.

I had a short break over the weekend just and read this article in the Sydney Morning Heald and it made me sit up and think.  I had just driven about 200KM to an lovely beach side town north of Sydney called Shoal Bay at Port Stephens.  Just think if I had used ethanol in the car it would have taken 240 kilograms of corn to produce 100 liters of ethanol, enough for my weekend or away, or that 240 kiolgrams of corn could have feed a person for a year.   Interesting choice.   Fuel for the car or food in someone's mouth.

Shoal Bay about 200KM north of Sydney.  If I had used ethanol to travel here from Sydney and return the amout of crops needed to produce 100 L of ethanol could have feed someone for a year.

As we see the shift in the grain harvest, especially in North America into ethanol the line "we drive, they starve" is very scarey as is the title of this article "we fill our tanks while they carn't fill their stomachs."

I think the question needs to be asked.  Is biofuels the answer?  I think not.   Converting food crops to make fuel is a short term solution to a long term problem with massive global consquences especially for developing countries.  I think the solution has to be hybrid cars and electric cars.

Is biofuels the answer? 

People that blog for a living are in a race against time to be the first with a post in order to drive interest in their blog and hence visits which can then lead to more revenue from advertising, but is it worth it.  

There have been a number of recent reports of bloggers suffering fatal heart attacks and the pressure of producing news and information for the always-on internet must affect peoples health and family life.  Yes some bloggers are very successful and make a lot of money from blogging, but you would have to ask at what cost.  

I was on a train in Sydney earlier today Monday travelling to the city from the Sun Gordon office to a meeting in the city and I was reading the New York Times on my cell phone though avantgo when this article really struck me and made me sit up and think.  Firstly here I was sitting on a train reading the NYT on my cell phone and yet there are three billion people in the world who don't even own a cell phone.  Just think how previlaged we are in the develpoed world to have access to such modern technology. We just seem to take things like the use of a cell phone for grated.

This is a a fascinating article.  The key theme is that through access to telecommunciations you have access to a maket and if you have access to a market you on the hard road out of poverty.    I like the idea of even access to a phone in a village can create a market and once you have a market you are generating economic acticvity and with economic acticity comes income and wealth.   The numbers are complelling.   A London Business School study concluded that for every additional 10 mobile phones per 100 people, a country's GDP rises by 0.5%.

What is encouraging is that we are seeing rapid growth in access to mobile phone networks in developing countries.   By the end of 2006, 68% of the worlds mobile subscriptions were in developing countries.   The beauty of cell phones is that they by pass government regulated networks and allows much cheaper access and effective communciation by for example using SMS.

SELLING TO THE OTHER THREE BILLION A cellphone shop in Accra, Ghana, which carries and repairs a variety of handsets.

You can help by recycling your old  handset.   Many countries have handset recycling programs.  Here a link to handset recycling program in Australia.  Mobile-Muster

I think that "Micro-Blogging" is set to the be the next big thing. As people are increasingly prepared to share their lives with the rest of the world and the ease as which people can access the internet through mobile devices increases so does the scope for "Micro-Blogging." 

Micro-Blogging is where people fire off terse missives about what they are doing at any given moment.   I have read some micro-blogs and they appear to be rather random and more an up-to-date on-line diary together with random thoughts.

In Australia through the Telstra 3G phone network you can update your blog over the handset.    

More on micro-blogging here.
 

An example of a Micro-Blog  

I know you don't celebrate Boxing Day in the US and is very much a Commonwealth country celebration and there is always confusion as to what Boxing Day actually means.   This is a good definition "Boxing Day is a traditional celebration dating back to the Middle Ages,
of which the primary practice is the giving of gifts to employees, the
poor, or to people in a lower social classes." 

More on Boxing Day here. 

In Australia it is a day to recover from Christmas Day and to watch the Boxing Day Test Match cricket from Melbourne and the start of the Sydney-to-Hobart yacht race.

It is one of great blue water classics in the world, the Sydney-to-Hobart with its spectacular start on Sydney harbour which always starts on Boxing Day.   The start this year was a classic, blue sky and sunshine with a light breeze with thousands of spectators on the headlands around the habrour and in spectator boats on the water.

The Sydney-to-Hobart is known as one of the toughest ocean races in the world due to the crossing of Bass Strait which is know for bad weather and rough seas.  My Grandfather completed in one of the early Sydney-to-Hobart races more than 50 years ago. 

Hard on the breeze … Wild Oats XI is the first to round the
marker outside Sydney Heads.

The thousands of spectators on the headlands and on the water.

You can follow the race here.  

The Sun Blackbox is here in Sydney!!  Sun's Project Blackbox is a data center inside a water-proof shipping container.     Project Blackbox is on show here in Sydney and in Canberra this week.    Project Blackbox has generated a great deal of interest with more than 900 customers attending events this week. 

The Blackbox can be configured to hold up to 250 Sun Fire servers or up to 3PB worth of storage.  Its uses are endless from servicing a mobile bank brach to capturing data deep down a mine shaft.  

Some local media on the Blackbox in Sydney here.  

Sun's Project Blackbox 

The world's first data centre in a box is coming to Sydney.  Project Blackox is a prototype of the world's first virtualised data cente.    Project Blackbox delivers several unique advantages: 

• Rapid, Easy Deployment: "Build once, deploy anywhere"
• Very High-density Computing: Capacity for over 700 CPUs, 2000 cores, or 8000 compute threads!
• Versatility and Flexibility: "What you want, where you want it, when you want it".
• Breakthrough Economics and Eco Responsibility: scalability, use of standard components, cooling innovation, low cost to build, efficiency, and Sun's recycling initiatives.

There are a number of events happening in Sydney and Canberra including tours.   For your chance to walk through the world's first data centre in a box the dates are:

 
Sydney - December 17-18

Canberra - December 19-20
 

Click here for more information.

There seems to be an accessory for the iPod for just about anything and everything.   However I think that "iPond" has taken things a little too far. 

The iPond is a tiny fish tank that doubles as a music speaker and is 15 times smaller than the recommended tank size for the fish that it contains, a Siamese fighting fish.   Not only is the tank way too small for the fish but it must feel noise, heat and vibration from the speaker.

I agree with RSPCA that the iPond should be banned.

The iPond

A leading US dictionary, Merriam-Webster has annouced "w00t" as the word of the year for 2007.   So what is "w00t?"   To be honest I have never heard of it.   It is an expression of joy coined by online gamers.  I note the influence of SMS in the spelling. 

According to this article "w00t belongs to gamers the world over.  It seems to have been derived from the obsolete "whoot" which is essentially is another way to say "hoot."

Merriam-Webster's Words of the Year 2007

1. w00t

2. facebook

3. conundrum

4. quixotic

5. blamestorm

6. sardoodledom

7. apathetic

8. Pecksniffian

9. hypocrite

10. charlatan

Number 2 "word-of-the-year" for 2007 

You know you are getting close to the end of the year when you start to see articles with predictions for the year ahead.

This article from smh.com.au has a bit of an Australian slant, however throws up some interesting ideas as what to expect in 2008 in the world of IT.  

I agree with the comments on the growth of Facebook and 2008 will an interesting year in Australia, with a new Government which is commited to buiding an world class broadband infrastructure for Australia.  

I think you will see an increaed focus on eco computing and this will be driven by the consumer, who will demand from companies an effort to reduce their carbon foot print and their emissions.   There is no better way for a company to prove its green credentials than to start in its datacentre and with its computer infrastructure. 

Great success story from Australia of Macquarie Telecom switching from HP to Sun severs.  One of key reasons for Macquarie Telecom to swith to Sun is the ability to reduce its carbon footprint by slashing its carbon dioxide emissions by 600 tonnes per year by switching to Sun's eco friendly servers. 

What I think is key in this storey is that the response of Macquarie Telecom was consumer driven.  The consumer was looking to Macquarie Telecome to reduce its carbon emissions and the company wanted to show to its consumers that it was serious about reducing its carbon emissions and adressing it IT model was a quick win to reduce its carbon footprint and Sun provided the solution.  The company now has a good storey to sell to its consumers and it looks serious about climate change.

This is compelling and a key competitive advanatage for Sun.    Sun is well positioned to not only offer a solution to a company to reduce its own costs by using eco friendly servers, but to meet customer expectations that a company is reducing its carbon emissions.