On Christmas Eve I announced via Twitter the sad passing of Mrs A’s laptop. I was on the phone and from behind me I could hear the unmistakable sound of a hard disk in the throes of death. By the time the conference call had finished, the Windows desktop had disappeared and had been replaced by a black screen with the words ‘disk error’ (or something to that effect). Attempts to bring the old beast back to life failed. And it was an old beast – a single core processor of dubious ability, half a gigabyte of RAM and a hard disk which constantly struggled for space. For the best part of a year I’d been telling Mrs A we should replace it, usually in response to a complaint about it’s speed or the fact that it would give up it’s wi-fi connection at regular intervals.

The hard disk failure has now forced the issue, even if it might be possible to retrieve some of the data (most importantly the contents of Mrs A’s Thunderbird e-mail account which apparently contains items of incredible importance). Thus I started to think about a suitable replacement. Mrs A’s computer usage doesn’t demand a high-spec laptop – it’s mainly e-mail and Internet shopping – so a Macbook would seem to be an expensive option. Something around the £350 mark, with a dual-core processor and 2 gb of RAM is more than enough. I’m not being a skin-flint, Mrs A will testify to my Christmas generosity, but the cheapest option is a netbook. Would it be too small though? Would the portability be a worthless factor given that it would rarely, if ever, leave the house? So here I am considering the technical and logistical issues of a laptop versus a netbook.

Mrs A’s response… “hey, I could buy a Juicy Couture bag for it to fit in”. I rest my case.

A few days ago I read that there was an update coming to the Xbox 360. This isn’t unusual, sometimes it seems like every time I turn the bloody thing on it ties itself up for an hour while it downloads something… but it is a Microsoft product, so this shouldn’t come as a big surprise. But this particular update, rather than fixing a problem I didn’t know existed, promised some new goodies… Facebook and Twitter. Me being me, I started to ponder this. Okay, so here’s a good use for that keyboard attachment for the Xbox controller… because typing 140 characters (for Twitter) would be painful using the Xbox’s on-screen character entry system (and thus making the lead developer of the Wii’s on-screen keyboard feel terribly smug).

But here’s the bigger issue… why would I want to use the Xbox for Facebook or Twitter? I have a 24 inch iMac sitting here permanently on, and it has a keyboard. I rarely get time to sit in front of the Xbox, and when I do I want to shoot people, play football (proper football, not that game involving carrying an egg-shaped ball while wearing body armour) or drive around recklessly in a car. So if I’m honest, my first Twitter from the Xbox will probably be my last. And that’s a shame because it was hopelessly unoriginal…

Twitter on the Xbox – can’t see me using it much.

Then I had a quick go on Facebook. My initial reaction was the same, that I’d rather be playing Grand Theft Auto IV than checking up on where Lewis Turek is going on holiday next or in which pub Wild Bill left his laptop after one pint too many (just two random examples). But actually, Facebook on the Xbox has one major appeal… photos. There’s my photo albums, and I could browse through them on the big plasma screen. It has a very nice user interface (as does Twitter), I don’t think I’ll use it much, but photos is probably the killer application (and doesn’t require the keyboard attachment). Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to wipe out a bunch of rival gangsters with a bazooka.

I had a very interesting meeting on Thursday. Along with some colleagues, I went to see Mr Mark Calleran of The Salvation Army (who incidentally is speaking at Lotusphere Comes To You) to talk about a particular Lotus solution. But enough of that work-related stuff, because as the meeting drew near it’s conclusion Mark (who is avid consumer of interesting technology) got onto the subjects of Pokens. He’d mentioned this before, I think during lunch at Lotusphere in Orlando, and I did look up Pokens on the Interweb later that week.

In Mark’s words, in the business world you hand someone a business card – in effect, a token. In the world of Facebook you can ‘poke’ people (personally I never have). So put the two together and you have a Poken. Need more of an explanation? I thought so…

Your Poken is a small character which hides a USB input. Attaching the Poken to you computer allows you to access a web page where you enter your contact details and the social networking sites that you are a member of (like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Bebo, etc). Then you carry your Poken in your pocket and when you meet someone else with a Poken and want to swap details you press their palms together until they glow green (it’s called a high-four, look at the picture and you’ll understand why).

Back at the computer you re-attach your Poken and somehow (I haven’t actually done it yet) it manages the linking up of you and your new friends on the social networks you have in common.

Mark bestowed a wonderful gift upon me… a Poken Piggy. To me it looks like a baby because it’s sucking a dummy and wearing a nappy, but it is actually called a Piggy. You can also buy Fox, Panda, Geisha, Monkey, Bee, Alien and Voodoo, and searching the web also reveals designs for Ninja, Dracula, Elvis (Presley, not Costello), Frankenstein and Munch’s Scream.

If you’re at LCTY and interested in obtaining a Poken, have a word with Mark. If you already have a Poken, my Piggy is ready and waiting to high-four you.

Yes, I know, we’ve been down this path before. But the question needs to be asked. This time it relates to an article on the BBC News Technology page, that well-known Microsoft PR machine which occasionally gives Apple and Google a nod too. Today’s article is entitled “Can Microsoft make its future mobile?” – and by the way it’s the Beeb who have missed out the possessive apostrophe, not me.

The article discusses the efforts of Symbian (perveyor of the operating system for Nokia devices), Apple (the iPhone, have you heard of that?), RIM (BlackBerry, but you knew that), Google, HTC, Samsung and Sony Ericsson. They’re all players in the mobile market. Some bigger than others – the article recognises that RIM are the big players in the corporate market, the iPhone is winning the mind-share battle, and Nokia have the most devices out there.

With that in mind, I have one question for the Beeb… why does it always have to be about Microsoft?

After a few days of teasing us, this afternoon Archos switched over to their new web site design, but more importantly unveiled some new devices. Not the 606 as many assumed but (as I sort-of correctly predicted) a range of ‘Internet Media Tablets’ – the Archos 5, the Archos 7 and the Archos 5g. Some initial observations…

• They make my 605 look like something Noah might have used as he waited for the floods to subside
• Archos had a quick look at an iPhone during their latest design process
• The Opera web browser is included for free, putting paid to one of the major whines about the 605
• The 60gb model is about the same size as a 30gb 605 but a bit slimmer… however, it weighs 60 grams more
• A 4.8 inch screen (as opposed to 4.3) making full use of the device’s dimensions
• It has an e-mail client
• The battery life states 4 hours of video playback… 1.5 hours less than the 605
• No removable battery (oh dear)
• No navigation buttons, it’s all touch-screen (cleaning cloth provided)
• It doesn’t appear that the 605’s DVR station will fit (oh dear, again)
• The Archos 5 will be available ‘early September’ and a 60gb device will be £279 (ouch)

So, there’s some negatives there. Firstly, I like the 605’s navigation buttons and don’t like having a mucky screen, so I’m not convinced that I’ll like a touch-screen only device. Less battery life? That surprises me, usually battery life gets better with newer devices – and without a removable battery that’s a double bummer. Weighs more? 60 grams is no big deal.

I think it’s a poor show that (as far as I can tell) the Archos 5 will need a new DVR station. Having invested in a DVR station and battery dock for the 605 if I move up to the new device I’ll have to buy completely new accessories. Archos, take note of what Apple have done… that connection slot on the iPods has remained consistent for years – the JBL ‘donut’ speaker I bought for the wife’s iPod Mini several years ago is still working with her iPod touch. That factor is not only good for consumers, but it’s also good for the third party accessory market, and ultimately good for Apple. Archos will suffer if manufacturers don’t have faith in them sticking to a connection format.

In summary… do I want one? Yes. Do I need one? No. Will I buy one? Undecided. We’ll see how generous Father Christmas is feeling.

“There are many things you can be sure of in this life. Death is one, but if you want to discuss something less morbid let’s talk about technology – the fact that if you purchase any item, as sure as night follows day, at some point in the not-to-distant future you will be disgruntled when the new / improved model is launched.”

That’s the third time I used that quote (my own quote) and the reason for using it again is that on their web site Archos are teasing their fanboys (me included) with a red curtain and the words “Coming up soon…”.

What this relates to is fairly obvious – the fabled Archos 606. But is that what they’re going to name it? A few months ago Archos published their annual statement on their web site and there were some rather telling points…

• The continued mention of an ‘Internet Tablet’
• The Internet Tablet would outsell the Generation 5 devices by two-to-one in 2008 (then it had better ship in time for Christmas, methinks)
• Sales of Generation 5 devices wouldn’t feature in 2009 sales at all
• Mentions of 3G
• Telcos would become a route-to-market in 2008, and rise from 10% to 25% of device delivery in 2009
• The ‘mobile Internet’ has stalled because of the disappointing experience of browsers on current mobile devices, stating that 3 inch screens are way too small and 4.3 inch screens (that’s the size of the Archos 605) are “a compromise” – pocket-sized devices should have a 5 inch screen
• And finally a diagram containing the words “Premium Smartphone” with an arrow pointing to those words, and “Q4 2008″ on the arrow – hmmm, what could they mean?

So there you have it… no announcement yet, they’re still teasing. It’ll be a ‘personal media player’ (PMP, but I don’t care for abbreviations) with a 3G phone, a 5 inch screen and a world-class web browsing experience. We’ll see how right I am soon(ish).

Personally I hope it doesn’t have a phone. I like the idea of a media player that also browses the web (uh, like the 605) but I don’t want a phone built in as well. Who wants to be watching a movie and then get interrupted and stick the thing against your ear? The Opera browser built into the 605 is excellent, but if they could get the BBC iPlayer working that would be a big bonus (it works on the wife’s iPod touch, but that was news to her).

Just pressed [F5] again… nothing.

Who said this…?

“There are many things you can be sure of in this life. Death is one, but if you want to discuss something less morbid let’s talk about technology – the fact that if you purchase any item, as sure as night follows day, at some point in the not-to-distant future you will be disgruntled when the new / improved model is launched.”

It was me, in August 2007. At the time I was trying to decide whether to buy an Archos 605 or wait to see what Apple announced. The iPod touch, nice as it is, didn’t meet my required specs – so Santa bought me the Archos. Apart from unit #1 dying after thirteen days, I haven’t regretted the decision (no, not even when the 32 gb iPod touch was announced). Right this moment the Archos is downstairs recording episodes of ‘Heroes’.

“…as sure as night follows day, at some point in the not-to-distant future you will be disgruntled when the new / improved model is launched.”

Go to Google, do a search on ‘Archos 606′ and have a look at some of the resulting pages. I’m sure the picture is a mock-up, but I reckon there’s a fair shout that Archos will be updating the look and feel and adding a few more desirable specifications. The iPhone and iPod touch are driving other companies to focus on the ‘I want one of those’ factor – rumours of the touch-screen BlackBerry and the already-released BlackBerry Bold surely confirm that.

The alternative to being disappointed by your choice of technology getting outdated is to not make a purchase in the first place… and where’s the fun in that?

I don’t believe I’m writing this. Less than two weeks after unwrapping my Christmas present it’s knackered. I set it up to record off Sky Plus, and a little later noticed that it wasn’t recording. I took it off the DVR Station and tried to turn it on – nothing. After a few more attempts at holding down the power button the boot-up screen appeared – “Archos – entertainment your way” – and then I saw “Recovery code 102 – system is damaged”. The device felt warmer than usual, an ominous sign.

I was provided with three options for recovering the system – ‘no’, ‘repair’ and ‘format disk’. Ah, clearly ‘repair’ was the best option. Unfortunately this just seemed to turn the device off, back on again and land me at the same screen. I tried it again… and again, and again. I pressed the reset thingy. I tried ‘repair’ again. I left it switched off to cool down. I tried again.

I then started searching the Archos forum and found (ominously) that several other people had suffered this problem but (ominously, there’s that word again) it seemed no-one had a solution. Someone suggested connecting to the computer via USB and doing a checkdisk, but unfortunately Windows wouldn’t even recognise it as a connected device (hardly suprising, during normal operation it asks you if you’d like to enable USB).

So, the last resort before I face the reality of sending it back or starting the battle to get a replacement – ‘format disk’. Obviously this was a last resort as it would render many hours worth of transferring content to the device pointless. But I took the plunge and pressed it… and… nothing. I just came back to the same three options.

As I’m typing I’m holding on to play.com’s customer service line – all of their agents are currently busy (but my call will be answered shortly… mind you, they said that 25 minutes ago).

What really annoys me is that I’ve invested in stuff to go with the Archos… a case, a screen protector, additional software, the DVR Station. I was going to take it to Lotusphere with me, and that’s now looking unlikely.

Number 1 – recorded from Sky Plus. I mentioned in an earlier post that most things concerned with Sky Plus are usually doomed to failure. Everyone in the house (even the hamster) is actually forbidden to physically touch the Sky Plus box on the grounds that “it’s working, don’t touch it”. So the thought of moving it to plug some extra cables in filled me with dread. However, after carefully plugging in said cables and attaching to the Archos’ DVR Station, recording was very easy. The quality of the results is excellent and – how cool is this? – the Archos is able to edit the results (chop off over-runs, remove the adverts, that sort of thing).

Number 2 – set up UPnP. Of course, you all know that UPnP stands for ‘Universal Plug and Play’. Not wanting to break the sacred covenant of IT people I didn’t read the manual, but it didn’t take long to add a UPnP service to the ThinkPad, share a folder, and then stream video and browse photos from that folder wirelessly to the Archos. I probably won’t use it that much, but it’s cool and important to get these things working. Mind you, having the DVR Station means that it is possible to stream movies or photos from the ‘Pad to the Archos and then to the television.

Number 3 – work in progress… content captured from Sky Plus converted into a format that will then work on the wife’s iPod touch. This project is extremely important for a) chick-flick ‘The Holiday’ and b) Take That live on New Year’s Eve. However, it’s not working… yet.

You’ll be pleased to know that the Archos 605 versus Apple iPod touch argument was resolved during the festive season. The wife very generously procured an Archos 605 plus DVR Station for me, while I furnished her with a tasty new iPod touch. This had the knock-on effect of a new-ish iPod for me, as she graciously passed on her iPod Video to me (to replace my faithful old 4th generation iPod). Lauren also got a new iPod (a blue nano), and this was welcomed by my older sibling Steve who is an Apple shareholder.

So, having played with the Archos 605 for a couple of days, was it the right decision? It’s a resounding ‘yes’. Now, the first thing you might say is “why have you got two devices Daz, an iPod and an Archos, when one iPod touch could have done the job?”. That was covered in an earlier blog post, but as a quick summary…

• The iPod touch’s top-of-the-range 16gb capacity isn’t enough for me (I have 9gb’s worth of music before I even start thinking about movies)
• I wouldn’t consider moving the music off the iTunes / iPod combination
• The Archos has a much better screen (larger and better resolution)

The first issue I came across with the Archos was getting DVD content onto the device, and after some experimentation and exchanges of opinion with Choddo, I went for DVD Ripper from Xilisoft (I already have another Xilisoft utility for getting movies onto iPods, but it wouldn’t work for the Archos – typical). Here lies one of the downsides of the Archos, that once you’ve bought the device you haven’t finished spending – I could actually have used iPod-ready movies but then I would have to have bought a plug-in to play them, so you have to spend either way.

Next, which format to rip to? Windows Media Video worked fine, but for some reason was very slow to rip… The Simpsons Movie would have taken (I estimated) about 10 hours. But I then discovered that the XviD AVI format worked on the device and was a lot quicker to rip.

The Archos 605 is WiFi-enabled so you can use it to browse the web… if you buy the Opera browser plugin (another £20). The case that comes in the box is rubbish (a flimsy pouch that offers about as much protection as a bus shelter in the event of a comet hitting the Earth) so chalk up another £20 for a decent case. So, there’s £60 gone on top of the cost of the device.

However, despite coughing up a few extra quid the overall experience is worth it. While the iPod touch wins for slimness and it’s user interface, the display on the Archos is beyond comparison (and you can also navigate using buttons if you want to avoid swiping your mucky digits all over the touch screen). The Opera browser is excellent (Opera are doing a good job, along with the browser on the Wii and OperaMini on the BlackBerry), there’s seven free ‘widgets’ available, the photos are crystal-clear, and the promise of being able to record from the Sky Plus box sounds great (despite my low expectation of anything to do with Sky).

Given the trouble promised at the UK airports in January (just in time for my trip to Lotusphere) I think the Archos 605 is going to be a godsend… perhaps I just need the battery extension pack.