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Microsoft, a company famous for recognising a potential market, has launched a version of XP called Media Center. This OS is designed to help combine a PC with mainstream home […]

Eight digital video cameras are reviewed. Key purchasing considerations include cost/performance ratio and trade-offs in feature sets. Canon's MV30I offers a fairly good feature set for $2,889 and is expandable, although some controls are awkward to use. Its lower-cost sibling, the $1,999 MV300I, has good connectivity feature but feels cheap and can be tricky to use. The high-end $3,699 MV3iMC is very compact, well-designed and a good value overall, although it does not come with software and battery life is poor. JVC offers the GR-DVL9800EA, a completely integrated package, for $2,999, but users will need an external MMC and the autofocus is slow. The higher-end GR-DVX9 has some of the most comprehensive software and hardware on the market at $3,299, although it lacks a FireWire cable. Other units from Hitachi, Panasonic and Sony are also reviewed.

MusicMatch's Jukebox 5.1 stands out in a comparison of 11 ripping-utility software products. MusicMatch's Jukebox is well-designed, easy to use, and fast. It provides portable player connectivity, state-of-the-art cataloguing and Internet radio. Microsoft's Windows Media Player 7 is also an excellent product, and it is 'Highly commended,' but it is limited to Microsoft's WMA format.

Australian Personal Computer (APC) identifies and describes seven outstandingly innovative consumer electronics gadgets. For example, Casio's $1,360 Pro Trek PRT-2GP is a watch/ GPS (global positioning system) combination that gives the time, day, position and altitude, as well as the route taken and the way home. Other products include the following: Logitech's $99 iFeel Mouse; Nike's $599 psa[play 120 audio player; Samsung's $499 Digimax 35 MP3; Crumpler's $220 Wack-)-Phone notebook carrier bag; Lego's $190 Droid Developer Kit; and Palm's $209 Portable Keyboard.

All of Australia's 'Big Four' banks, which are ANZ, Commonwealth Bank, National Australia Bank and Westpac, offer full online banking services. However, the banks have been the subject of criticism for being slow and ineffective in grasping the new opportunity. An industry observer defends the banks, pointing out that demand for services has been nowhere near as strong in Australia as in the US. Security is still an issue as well, and even though the banks offer reasonably high levels of security, customers need to be made aware of this. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), local Internet use is increasing rapidly, and more than 5 million adult Australians accessed the Net between Feb 1998 and Feb 1999. Even so, only about 2% used the Net to pay bills or transfer funds.

Today's digital cameras offer megapixel resolution at a price point around $1,500, with top-of-the-line models selling for $2,500; the ratio of quality to price improves constantly. Sixteen digital cameras from leading vendors are reviewed. Most include zoom capability and IrDA and USB interfaces; high-capacity rechargeable batteries also let users take more pictures with the zoom mechanism, which tends to drain power. The top-rated units are Nikon's Coolpix 700 and Olympus' C-2000 Zoom. Both produce excellent images in a wide range of conditions and are extremely well designed. The Nikon is especially easy to use and is priced below average. Kodak's DC240 earns a strong recommendation as well, offering a USB interface, but is more difficult to use than the Nikon or Olympus. Some other cameras are outstanding in specific areas; the Canon PowerShot Pro70 is the fastest and most expandable unit, while the Kodak DC265 offers advanced connectivity.

The $349 HP Deskjet 710C is characterized as an all-around outstanding product offered at a price that makes it a true bargain. Printing is quiet, and the spooling process is fast. In a test, the 710C produced exceptionally crisp text. The $499 HP Deskjet 880C is also highly recommended. It is fast and prints well, and it, too, is realtively inexpensive. Three specialist photo printers are also reviewed, which are the $999 Olympus Camedia P-330E, the $699 Polaroid ColorShot PhotoPrinter, and the $1,299 Sony Mavica FVP-1E. Of these, the P-330E is exceptionally versatile, having connectivity capabilities that can accommodate cameras, PCs, videos and camcorders.

New technologies must locate venture capital and choose the correct time for development to become commercial entities. Digital technology is one of the sectors with swift growth, and the Greenhouse Project as been set up to help such innovations develop. Concept brokers are emerging to help new technologies find appropriate backers.

Seven personal finance and small office/home office (SOHO) accounting software packages are described and compared. The former include the following: Intuit Quicken 7 Deluxe, Microsoft Money 99 7.0 and Smartware ChequeBook 95. The latter include: Clarisys 3S Accounting, EzCal 98, Intuit QuickBooks 5.0 and MYOB First Accounts. Packages' strengths and drawbacks are discussed. Prices, telephone numbers and Web addresses are addended.

Twelve handheld and palm computers are reviewed. Some manufacturers use a palmtop or mini-notebook form factor with the Windows CE operating system, while others prefer the original one-hand, touch-screen device design that fits in a shirt pocket. 3Com's Palm III remains the best and most useful product of the latter type, offering long battery life, quick and easy PIM use and portability. The latest generation of palm devices offer handwriting and text recognition and improved communications. CE machines have keyboards, can run Windows-compatible software and transfer data readily to a desktop or notebook. The LG Electronics Phenom Express is rated Editor's Choice in the Windows CE category, slightly ahead of the HP Jornada 820. It is a good value with exceptional features and a low price. Honorable mentions include the Psion Series 5 palm machine and Casio Cassiopeia E-11 CE device.

Twelve multifunction printers combining printer, fax, scnner and copier functions are reviewed. All sell for less than $3,000 and are better values for a small business than buying separate peripherals, although the scan capability is usually slow and the print engine less heavy-duty than in dedicated printers. Brother International's MFC-7160c printer earns an Editor's Choice award because it performs every function very rapidly, generates high-resolution output and faxes, copies and prints in color. HP's OfficeJet 710 is a runner-up, producing the best plain-paper color output and offering color fax capability but no direct color copying. Another good printer is the Canon MultiPass C50, which prints excellent color photos, but cannot fax in color. Panasonic, Okidata, Ricoh, and Sharp also sell reasonable-quality multifunction devices, although none is as good a value as the MFC-7160c or the MultiPass C50.

Australian broadcasting companies have until 2001 to provide the same digital television coverage as the analog coverage they provide in 1999. The digital format allows a higher quality reception and greater commercial opportunities than conventional analog broadcasting. Potential for the growth of Internet companies and on-line services will increase, because televisions will be used to access the Internet.

Thirteen digital cameras are evaluated. They include the top pick which is Eastman Kodak's $1,199 Kodak which is very versatile and easy to use except for the zoom feature. Agfa's $769 Afga ePhoto CL30 has easy to use control sets but its' slow refresher time and lack of zoom contributes to only a so-so rating. The Canon Digital IXUS is $1399 and is very fast with smooth and fast zoom action and good image quality. There are status icons, but because of the camera's small size there is no LCD status panel.

Quicken 7.0, priced at $69.95, and Quicken QuickBooks 7.0, at $199.95, stand out in a comparison of eight software packages. QuickBooks combines a simple interface with comprehensive Goods and Services (GST) tax capabilities, which is an especially important consideration to Australian business users this year, wins out in the small office, home office (SOHO) category. In the personal finances category, Quicken combines an excellent interface with a simple bank-statement style.

The features and relative merits of a selection of budget price digital cameras are presented. The Polaroid FunFlash offers an excellent product, with a good range of facilities and software included, at a reasonable price.

Six books that have to do with designing Web sites and interfaces, and with use of related software products, are reviewed. The books include the following: Customer-Effective Websites, by John dalgleish ($64.95, Prentice Hall); The Human Interface, by Fef Raskin ($43.80, Addison-Wesley); Allaire Spectra eBusiness Construction Kit, by Ben Forta, et al ($98.55, QUE); Full Screen: Photoshop 5 & 5.5 ($35, Cassell & Co.); Using MYOB, by Stephen O'Brien ($42.95, QUE); and Windows Millennium: The Missing manual, by David Pogue ($39.95, Pogue Press/O'Reilly).

The features, advantages and disadvantages of a range of software packages for designing web pages are described. The Macromedia Dreaweaver and Adobe GoLive are highly rated, producing excellent quality and database support.

Australian companies such as Optus, Telstra, OzEmail, and ZakNet are moving a large portion of their voice, data, and TV broadcast services onto satellite. Compared to cable, local satellites are not suited for high speed communication, but that may soon change because new technology may provide those capabilities.

Electronic personal organizers are small, convenient, and easy to use. Across Australia, more than 500,000 of these organizers are sold annually. It is a good investment to buy the better ones since the ease of use and the option to transfer information to a computer is not available in all of them. Some brands such as Sharp and 3Com offer features that have made them the bestsellers.

The article focuses on the Multimedia Development Corp. (MDeC) established by the government of Malaysia which is committed to supervising the development of the innovative MSC Digital Malaysia initiative. It states that the MDeC is dedicated to global business services, information and communication technology (ICT) and creative multimedia. It mentions the potential of the country to expand across the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) region.

The article discusses a report on the airline operators' experience about the Boeing 787 aircraft. It mentions the issues related to software along with lower fuel burn per seat, faced by the operators. It include comments from Bob Whittington of Boeing regarding the improvement in the spoiler control units and brakes. It adds that All Nippon Airways (ANA) was the first carrier to operate the 787-8 aircraft.

The article offers information on the Southeast Asian region that is looking for high sales in airport infrastructure. Topics discussed include China buying hundreds of aircraft a year, the Civil Aviation Administration of China planning for up to 450-500 million passenger trips by 2015 and views of Azran Osman-Rani, chief Executive Officer of airline AirAsia X, who predicts infrastructure of airports across Asia to become highly congested.

The article discusses airport security in Southeast Asia, focusing on attempts to improve practices in response to the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370. Topics include the efforts of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), the development of "smart" systems to improve both security and efficiency at checkpoints, and the role of sharing safety data and relevant technology.

The article discusses the search for Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, arguing that it illustrates a need for improvement in civil-military and international airspace cooperation efforts. Topics include the hampering of the search efforts due to suspicions between nations in Southeast Asia, the autonomy of armed forces, security agencies, and air navigation service providers (ANSP) in many countries, and coordination attempts such as the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).

The article discusses civil aviation in India. The lack of a homogeneous regulatory system to govern fuel taxes and airport taxes is seen as hindering industry growth. In January 2014 the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration announced a downgrade in India's safety ranking, a move the Indian Directorate General of Civil Aviation responded to by hiring several dozen new safety inspectors.

The introduction of Motion Picture Experts Group 1, Audio Layer 3, (MP3), which enables music recirdings to be reproduced in digital form on the internet, is described.

Issues are presented concerning the benefits and difficulties associated with online shopping. The problems shoppers face, such as complex web sites, poor descriptions of goods and payment security are discussed.

The cellular phones which use wireless application protocol technology are reviewed. The phones, which allow access to the internet anywhere, are evaluated, and some of the drawbacks such as slowness and lack of graphics are highlighted.

The research into wireless application protocol (WAP) based devices in Australia is discussed. The possible uses of WAP technology, such as to enable people to remotely control home equipment and to conduct banking and commerce, are explored.

Presents information relating to the digital camera market. Features of digital cameras in comparison with ordinary cameras; Details of various digital cameras; Prices of these cameras. INSETS: Down the track;Editor;How we tested.

Presents information relating to the add-on system utility market segment of the computer industry. Reason the market has been able to survive, various categories which this market can be divided into; Benefits of using add-on utilities; Information on various add-on software utilities. INSETS: Uninstallers and antivirus packages;Editor's choice.

Features a selection of pocket computers. Names of these systems; Information on these systems; Distributors for these systems; Cost of these systems. INSETS: How we tested;Toshiba Libretto 100.

Provides information on monitors. What should be consider when choosing a monitor; Details on various types of 17in monitors. INSETS: Editor's choice;How we tested.

Focuses on small hand-held computers. Description of the various computers available including the Apple Newton Message Pad 2000 and Casio's Cassiopeia; Features of the computers. INSETS: Neatbooks--the compact alternative?.;Beating the export blues..

Examines choices to consider when opting to purchase or subscribe to modern communications systems. Subscription to only one company or spreading the load to different operators; Service operation through single-line working; Employing separate lines and having separate receiving devices; Mobile phones versus analog desktop phones; Adopting a Web site for potential customers. INSETS: What's ahead.;Ordering out for a phone.;Signing the deal..

Presents tips in selecting digital cameras. Quality of optics; Cost rating; Size and capacity of digital cameras; Evaluation of notable digital cameras. INSET: Where to from here?..

Presents a guide to purchasing alternative mouse devices. Includes SurfMan from Logitech; IntelliMouse from Microsoft; EasyTrak from MiLyn. INSET: Checklist..

Highlights help and assistance services available on the World Wide Web. Web sites of the organizations Salvation Army and the Samaritans; Anonymity of e-mails; Internet counseling services; Need to overcome the embarrassment factor. INSET: How to get in touch..

Focuses on using the personal computer for stock investment analysis. Available products; Applications; Suggestions; Contact information. INSETS: More to come.;The learning curve.;There's an electronic scam about..

Focuses on the costs of owning computers. Computer systems' costs; Power costs; Factors affecting the costs; Other costs. INSETS: Leasing and loaning.;Tax time..

Makes various observations about multifunction computer input-output equipment. Space saving benefit. Factors affecting selection of a multifunction device; Use by entry level devices of inkjet output; Ideal device for faxing from electronic copy. INSETS: Experts predict.;Hybrids.;The alternative.;Software essentials.

Presents information on interactive entertainment such as Casualty Kid, Backpacker and World of Flight. Details of each game; Price of game.

Reports that backing up your data and making a separate directory for storing older files, are ways for computer users to organize their work. INSETS: Hallmark Card Studio.;FormTool..

Focuses on how to get the most for the least out of home work facilities. Computer setups; Storage concerns; Workspace planning; Software titles. INSETS: FloorPlan Plus 2d.;Security.;KidSecure for Windows 95.;TurboCAD Designer for Windows.

Features software programs on good nutrition. Includes Expert DietPro; Healthy Heart Cookbook; Four Seasons of Gourmet French Cuisine. INSETS: Other eating options.;The professional approach..

Presents some life and fitness solutions to personal computer users. Detail on some of the programs that offers health maintenance strategies. INSETS: Dr Gamburd's Stretchercise.;Windows IQ Test.;Dr Health'nstein's Body Fun.;Total Health Body & Mind.

Discusses the misuse of Net technology by the people through Telstra and government's plan to prevent the same. Effect on people from this misuse in Australia and in the US; Detail of the existing regulations against the same in Australia; Problems caused by government's inattentiveness. INSETS: A Web of links.;Sign here.;The medium or the message?..