New Products

Firefox 3 released
June 18, 2008 by Graeme
Well Firefox 3 has been released for download and although I’ve only had it installed for a few minutes, it seems faster than previous browsers. I’ve been using the Beta version and RC-1 versions and was impressed so I was always going to download the final release when available.

With the release of Internet Explorer 8 recently could we see the start of a browser war between the two? I doubt it as Firefox appears more popular amongst the development community and individuals within the industry, but IE will always have a huge say due to it being packaged with the Windows Operating Systems and the majority of Internet users happy browsing with Internet Explorer.

I can’t see myself changing from Firefox though now that I am used to it and love the plug-ins which are available, such as FireFTP.

Comments (2)
We Tell Stories
June 17, 2008 by Graeme
I’ve just discovered a new timewaster which may slow down my productivity over at wetellstories.co.uk which uses Google Maps and other internet technologies to track the characters and action of the story.

The idea was conceived by Penguin, the publishing giant as a digital writing project which harnesses the power of the internet, and uses the technology available to enhance the story. Six different authors were commissioned to write six different stories which would be presented in a very different way to the traditional novel by using social networking tools such as blogs and twitters to enhance the story.

The death of the paper novel has been predicted for several years with the introduction of e-books and e-book readers such as the Amazon Kindle, which were able to store several books at once and allowed the user to carry the device around to read anywhere. These devices have been predicted to become more and more popular for a while now and it hasn’t happened yet and I don’t think it ever will. A high number of people now spend a large part of their day at a computer screen and the last thing they would want to do is look at a different one in order to read a book. Each day I get the train into work and I see several people reading books on the journey, but I’ve yet to see one e-book reader.

Although the technology is available to operate theses devices and it is a good idea, I can’t see it becoming hugely popular to store and read e-books however I think what Penguin have done is an interesting idea and has the potential to succeed.

Comments (0)
iPhone Launch Mk2
June 11, 2008 by Graeme
As with anything that is launched by Apple, there is a huge degree of hype. Who can forget the launch only a few months ago of the Macbook Air, and even the initial launch of the iPhone was one of the most anticipated product launches in history with no-one forgetting Steve Jobs presentation in Las Vegas.

And just 12 months later, the latest version of the iPhone was launched which contains 3G capabilities and improved internet access, which has commented on in a large number of blogs. One of these written by Elliot Jay Stocks, seemed to capture the mood of the community who were anticipating the upgrade that whilst it was better, there was still room for improvement. Yes it now has 3G, but the camera is still way below other mobiles and there is no facility to record video which is pretty much standard on phones today.

Elliot catches the mood perfectly that Apple has a way to go to convince the public at large about the iPhone, and that not all hype should instantly believed when a product as exciting as the iPhone is launched, research still has to be done.

Like thousands of other bloggers and Apple fans, he was eagerly anticipating the launch and was left a little disappointed. It just goes to show that for all the glitz and hype connected with these product launches it still pays to conduct your own research and form opinions before parting with a large chunk of cash just to have the latest gadget.

I still wouldn’t mind one though……….!

Comments (0)

Graeme Pirie Aspiring Web Designer and Developer

Firefox 3 released

We Tell Stories

iPhone Launch Mk2