The Word is .....

... streaming. Why? I read two things yesterday, both of which could have a massive impact on our CD ripping business and the way people access music. First, there's a rumour that Apple will soon scrap (or "discontinue") the iPod Classic. This has been the stalwart of the range for years, and it's the device most of our clients use. My prediction has been that it would be upgraded with flash memory to replace that revolving hard drive. Greater capacity, lighter, longer battery life, more reliable. Seems that's not to happen. Second, Amazon launched their iPad alternative, the Fire. It has a new browser called Silk which is incredibly clever. Amazon are pitching this as the device through which you can access all your media (music, photos, films, TV shows) which would be stored on Amazon's massive computing platform. No, not your PC or Mac, not using a sync function such as iTunes. It would all be stored in the cloud. So it just occurred to me that the replacement for the iPod Classic would be a device which would facilitate access to music, films, videos and photos; all of which is held somewhere else. Of course Apple have already announced where that place will be, it will be their implementation of cloud computing. In the case of Amazon and (if it happens) Apple your music and other 'stuff' will arrive via a constant on line delivery mechanism. Streaming.

Home Automation & Technology in Manilla

Every so often clients ask us to visit their home or office to help out with their technology, usually some problem with computers and music, or their network. Typically they are in or around London and frankly there are time when, sitting in traffic, I wish I was far, far, away.

Manila?

Well, being realistic nobody is going to ask me to the Manila just to sort out a music server, specially when there’s a local specialist who can help you better. Looking at Dip’s new website for his team of technology support professionals in Manila.

Digging around on the site I saw a cute little portable music player called Playbutton. It’s a wearable music player, as the name implies, it looks just like a button (as in the American political campaign button) connected to headphones. It’s a great idea, just in America I’d look to customise the surface area - as the site says, the device opens up opportunities in retail and museums.

Manilatech, check them out.

Wireless? Less Hassle?

One of the jobs I’ve been putting off is re-routing the cabling we use to link our CD ripping systems. When we first started we had a couple of PCs, one went through the other and out to the internet via a simple USB modem. Then we got bigger so more machines and a wireless router.

When we left the house and moved out into The Hutch I carried on with using wireless USB dongles. Now we’re wanting faster, more reliable data access so each system is now hard wired into an Apple wireless modem we’re running as a bridge to the main building where our broadband terminates. And all of those cables have to be re-aligned.

What complicates this is the three sets of speakers somehow we’ve picked up along the way and now can’t live without. This has given me an interest in wireless speakers. At the moment there seems to be three options on how to link wireless speakers.

First, Bluetooth. You need to have suitably enabled Bluetooth PCs as a starting point. The laptops are MacBooks so they’re OK but a couple of PCs would need upgrading, eating up a USB port each time. Second, you can use Apple’s Airplay system to send your music (along with data) across your home wireless network. Apple’s isn’t the only wireless method of connecting and streaming but for us (and our clients) it’s the obvious choice.

The third option is to use a proprietary system - one mentioned recently is Kleer - which uses special senders and receivers to make the connection. The worst of each world? Possibly, you need to dedicate a port to a USB dongle style device but you’ll be able to stream more data, more quickly. If you’re looking for the highest quality this may be the route to take.