If you’re in the market for a new TV – Perhaps check out this story from A Current Affair last night

http://aca.ninemsn.com.au/video/#439bd02c-5da4-460d-8c8d-f8e4385156a5

Let me know what you think in the comments below…

What a week.  On Sunday, just before lunch time, my wife gave birth to our second child.  Victoria Lillian Long – She’s beautiful, and just the most wonderful thing for us all.

But, she came a day or so early, in fact, as far as we were concerned, she came about four days early – so, we weren’t quite ready.  The house was a bit of a mess, and generally we could have done with an extra day or so!

In the 3 full days since, I’ve learned fast that a good neighbour beats any technology – any day… Read on for why…

We left home at around 8pm Saturday Night – our Son safe and sleeping at his grandparents place, off to the hospital we trotted.  With time still to wait, I came home, grabbed a few hours sleep, then returned on the call at 2.30am that ‘things had started’.

Victoria was born at 11.55am, I can’t even remember what time I got home that afternoon/evening.  What I do remember is a washing basket at the front door.  Full of our washing.

You see earlier on Saturday we’d washed a lot of clothes, and being a nice sunny day, put them outside – they needed more time, so we’d likely bring them in on Sunday afternoon – or at least that was the question.

On Saturday night at 10pm, I put a load of very important washing on for my Wife, and in the morning at 3am before returning to the hospital put it out on the line.

So, to return home Sunday to a basket full of folded, dry washing, with those items I washed only the night before still out hanging wet in the backyard was amazing.

Our lovely Neighbour Judy had simply noticed that we had not been home for a full day, and knowing full well how pregnant my wife was, assumed things had happened, so took the liberty of taking in the washing.  How amazing is that.  Really – How Amazing.

Well, I can beat that.

This morning, Tuesday – I took Jackson to visit his mum, we played, had fun, then I took him to his grandparents so I could return home and get a quick run at some cleaning – lots to do before mum and bub get home on Thursday you see!

I drove over the hill approaching our home, and in the distance, past our home I could see other homes with their opened garbage bins on the street, some fallen over, some just opened – but – all out on the street – for collection – 4 hours earlier!

I swore, many times, at myself – how foolish, how simple, how could I forget.

I drove into the driveway, and noticed the bin at the top of the driveway.

As I hopped out of the car, walked to the bin, opened it – it was Empty.  We haven’t gone a day without filling the bin, let alone a whole week – She’d struck again – Judy had taken our bin out, and not only that, once collected by the council, Judy had brought it back up to the house.  Once again, Amazing.

No amount of thanks can repay her, hopefully a box of chocolates will help.

But it got me thinking – with all the twittering, facebooking, foursquareing we do these days – isn’t it amazing how important a good neighbour is?

Even an alert on my smartphone might have reminded me about the bin, but would I have been too far away to do anything? Would the phone have known to bring my washing in? No.

Although i’m sure “there’s an app for that”.

Since leaving home, I would guess I’ve had 10-15 different residences, units mainly, and now a townhouse we call our own.  At only one of them have I taken the time to know my neighbour – and boy oh boy has it paid off.

Technology is amazing – we’ve downloaded apps to keep our Son entertained while we look after the new baby, we’ve downloaded apps of sounds and noise for the baby to sleep to, but none of them would have helped me clear out the bin if Judy hadn’t been so wonderful.

Good old fashioned neighbours – we need more of em…

Apple today opened its latest Retail store – this time in the North West of Sydney at Castle Hill’s popular Castle Towers shopping centre.

I headed along to the launch, and have posted some some thoughts a video and photos below – click Continue Reading for more..

The store is located on the top level of Castle Towers, right alongside David Jones, and straight away you’ll notice the sheer size of the store - compared it seems to Bondi Junction and Chatswood it certainly feels much bigger.  However that may be due to the large frontage, with the store running around a corner and taking up the space of what was probably two previous retail stores.

The large front of store, an inset V shape is the standard Apple glass front, with the light up Apple logo top front and centre.

Inside, the Mac’s are at the left of store, iPods in the centre, and iPhones/iPads to the right.

It’s really well laid out, with the Genius bar at the back in the middle of the store.

As always, fresh lines, light wood desks and free and open access to the internet and all the computers in store makes it a great destination even if you’re not looking to buy.

Young Daniel from nearby Dural lined up from 11am – waiting 6 hours for the official opening.

I felt bad walking past him for an in-store preview, but it was great to get a look inside without the crowds.

After the normal hype from the young and keen staff, the doors opened and the clapping and cheering continued for 10 minutes.

After 10 minutes some queues had formed for orderly purchasing of iPhones and other items.

It was another typically slick store opening from Apple.

the Kids had a ball jumping straight to the iPads for a play

This is the shirt the first 1000 people into store received.

With Daniel - First in line - just to say he was!

Inside the store before the official opening - a large store, great floor space

View from the floor above

1st and 2nd in line - Take a seat on arrival

Kids Corner - I love it! Great work, lower table, small seats and smallest iMac's

The Seven Network today announced they will launch a ‘third’ channel on Digital TV in late September – Named ’7mate’

According to the press release, republished at Mumbrella, the channel will commence with a broadcast of the AFL Grand Final in HD.

There’s a stack of content on offer – like “New episodes of FAMILY GUY, AMERICAN DAD, PARKS AND RECREATION and LAST COMIC STANDING will lead the primetime comedy schedule. 3O ROCK, HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER, THAT 70’S SHOW, SCRUBS and CRANK YANKERS round out the laughs.” – however, what I find interesting is the decision once again to remove HD from the ‘main’ channel – just like the ABC has done

More programming details are below.It is not explicit in the press release, however my reading of it indicates that 7HD will be replaced by 7mate.  ABC HD was replaced by ABC News 24 earlier this month.  Ten replaced their HD channel with ONEHD.

The reason for this is not to offer more reason to choose the new channel – in fact, its to ensure they don’t lose audience.

Lets look at a breakdown of the Digital Spectrum for a Commercial TV Broadcaster. They have room for:

• 1 x HD
• 2 x SD

Currently, Seven offers:

• HD: 7HD
• SD: 7
• SD: 7two

If they stacked their spectrum this way:

• HD: 7HD
• SD: 7mate
• SD: 7two

They’d have one big problem – people who DON’T have a HD Set Top box or TV would NOT be able to watch 7′s normal lineup.  Only 7mate and 7two.

Same applies for ABC and Ten – although Ten of all the networks has the best reason to offer it’s multi-channel as HD – given it’s sporting focus.

It is disappointing that the main programming content from our Commercial and ABC networks are not in HD – but it’s the way of life.

Until the government decides what to do with the Digital Spectrum, at which time there will likely be a ‘restacking’ and therefore a need to re-tune.

The OTHER issue bubbling away is that this is the limit of the channels that can be squeezed into the spectrum.  As such, Broadcasters are desperate to move to MPEG-4 compression which would allow MORE HD to fit into the same space.  Why not do that now?  Hundreds of thousands of people don’t have MPEG-4 compatible set-top boxes – do you?  Check!

If your box is ‘Freeview’ compatible, you’re safe into the future – keep that in mind!

The full 7mate offering according to the press release will be:

New episodes of FAMILY GUY, AMERICAN DAD, PARKS AND RECREATION and LAST COMIC STANDING will lead the primetime comedy schedule. 3O ROCK, HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER, THAT 70’S SHOW, SCRUBS and CRANK YANKERS round out the laughs. New drama will include the sci-fi series CAPRICA and the adventure series WAREHOUSE 13 and STARGATE ATLANTIS. The reality slate will feature US ratings hits JERSEY SHORE and PAWN STARS, along with popular MTV series PUNK’D and GENE SIMMONS FAMILY JEWELS, featuring the controversial KISS guitarist and his LA-based family, and MONSTER GARAGE with Jesse G. James. Factual on 7mate will see series such as FIFTH GEAR, THE UNIVERSE, LIFE AFTER PEOPLE, THE BONEYARD, AX MEN, JACKED: AUTO THEFT TASKFORCE, MEGA MOVERS, MEGA STRUCTURES, AIR CRASH INVESTIGATIONS and SHOCKWAVE in primetime. 7mate will also be the home for first-run big movies for the blokes, including THE RINGER, STRANGERS and PRIMEVAL.

Leaving aside the standard technology which we often take for granted (TV Cameras, Broadcast Satellite, Radio ISDN technology), this could be a great year for watching the Election – as boring as it might be given the nothingness of the campaign, we are in for a real treat when it comes to the coverage.

At the recent General Elections in the UK, the BBC among others went absolutely tech mad – it was fantastic.  I can recall the use of Holograms by CNN or the BBC (I can’t remember) during the US Elections, but for the BBC in the UK election the key tech was the touch screen interface to a big screen TV, and also a ‘white room’ which was totally interactive.

In this ‘white room’ the reporter could walk around, over a map of the UK, point into the air and on screen be pointing and guiding graphs and charts across the screen.

I’m not overly excited about this election, however the coverage looks like it will have something to offer.

Not only do we have SKY vs ABC News 24, we also have Seven vs Nine in what appeared like being a comical coverage, given the way it’s been promoted.  However, Nine has released a ‘behind the scenes’ video of the technology they plan to use on the night.

The video below shows Nine’s Michael Usher in a green studio which allows Nine to interactively place Michael anywhere – this is very like the BBC idea, but perhaps without the interaction from Michael with what he’s standing in – it does look impressive.

Expect Nine to have their Mega touch screen down in Canberra for the coverage in the Tally Room, but the big question is, what do Seven, SKY and ABC have to offer?

Looking forward to it – question is – how does the type of coverage, or the technology used affect what you choose to watch?

I’ve had the iPhone 4 for a few days now, and figured once and for all it was time to test the ‘death grip’ and see what the results might be.

With no bumper on the phone, I set off on my way home. I’m sure you can imagine someone else was driving the car while I conducted all these tests.

As I’ve noted before, I’m with Optus and am aware of two clear blackspots on different routes home.  So, I decided to try a lengthy call heading up the Pacific Highway through blackspot #1 at Lindfield.

What I did was have someone from 2GB call me from the main openline board, and put me on hold.  This way, I had two things.  1/ A constant audio stream at the other end. 2/ A fixed line at the other end.

I drove on.  Holding the phone completely unlike I normally, would, this time in the left hand, tight and around the bottom corner etc – to replicate the ‘death grip’, I could, as I’ve seen before on this iPhone 4, my iPhone 3G and my Blackberry Bold 9700, reduce the ‘bars displayed’ for signal just with that hold.

I checked now and again on the drive, and saw plenty of full service, and some clear 1 bar spots.

The signal stayed up – I had a digital distortion once which felt like I was going to lose the call – but didn’t.

25 minutes I stayed on the phone, no problem.

Arriving home, I had a feeling I could make the call drop.  You see where I live, Optus is 2 bars at best – so, why not pull up, grab the phone and strangle it to ‘death’.  I put the call on speakerphone, grabbed the phone in my left hand, strangled it, with my right index finger also around the band at the top right of the phone, and BINGO! It dropped a call.  Wow, this is outrageous, how could Apple make such a device.  A device that when held so tight, so hard, in a completely un-natural and uncomfortable position – would drop a call!

I’m horrified.

And I’m not surprised.  This whole thing is just a complete bunch of nonsense – and anyone thinking of buying an iPhone 4 should – as I’ve said all along – go right ahead.

I’m getting better reception in many areas with Optus, and what you skimmed over above was the fact that the call did NOT drop out in the one area I can almost guarantee I will lose a call most every time I drive there.

Enough said.

I don’t think it’s as big as buying a house, however choosing an iPhone plan is a big financial decision. You see you are locked in for at least a year, if not two years in most cases.

What if the carrier you choose has a bad network in your area, but you don’t know that because you don’t use them now!

How much data will you use?

For a full list of iPhone plans – view my data page here

These are all difficult questions, continue reading for my personal thoughts on the plans all released today.

So, first, my personal position.

I’ve been with Optus for over 13 years – pretty sure it’s more like 15, but their records don’t go back that far, so I can’t find out!

I’ve got no complaints about their service, or their coverage.  There are two blackspots which annoy me, first on the Pacific Highway near Lindfield, the other on Beecroft Road off the M2 just north of the M2 – 100% guaranteed drop out, 50-100meters only. Then it’s all good.

With Data, I’ve not noticed any huge speed issues, I mean really, it’s not like we’re doing full combat multi-player gaming on our phones.  Downloading emails and surfing the web is fine, on all carriers.

I signed up to a two year contract 25 months ago.  For the SOLE purpose of getting an iPhone (3G).  I hated it, couldn’t use it, preferred the Blackberry.  Gave it to my wife.

About 3 months ago, knowing the iPhone 4 was coming, I switched my plan back to allow data, and got going on my iPhone 3G again.  I started to really get into the games, the apps, my sleep tracker is important to me!  iOS4 upgrade has crippled me – it’s really quite slow (Update – I have done NOTHING to try and fix this, so will investigate this if others are experiencing same.  I’ve had several comments on Twitter saying they have not experienced this).

So, why am I even looking for an iPhone plan?  Simple – I want an iPhone 4.  Will I stick with it for 24 months, perhaps, perhaps not – we’ll see about that soon.

Until this week, I was almost convinced I would sign up with Telstra, better network, best network in fact, for coverage most importantly – everywhere, city and rural.  Both Optus and Vodafone stuggle outside the metro areas I’ve found, especially with 3G.

However today’s announcement from Telstra disappointed.  I am on a $79 cap now.  I’d be keen to stay at that area (or less!)

Most of my monthly bills are $90-95 with excess calls added up.

With Telstra, $79 would give me 500 Mb of  data on the iPhone – is that enough.  Right now – yes.  In 2 years? who the heck knows?  What sort of apps and data might I be doing?  If I want to tether it to my computer, that’s certainly not enough.

So, With a $99 cap offering still just 500 Mb, but additional call and text inclusions, I think that’s still not enough.

Vodafone offers me Unlimited Calls, Texts and 3Gb of data at $99 a month.  That’s more than I want now, and remember, sign up for a BIG plan, and you can’t go DOWN.  Sign up to a lower plan, you can certainly go up.  So, perhaps Vodafone’s $69 cap, with 1.75 Gb and $650 in calls and texts looks like a viable option.

Ruling out Three (sorry, I just can’t do it!), that brings me finally to Optus.  At $99, I can get 5 Gb of data, and Unlimited Calls and Texts.

One step down, $89, I can get Unlimited calls and text’s, plus 3Gb data.

Taking the ‘sign up low, increase later’ approach, I can sign up at $59, with $550 worth of calls, and 2Gb data.

The key here is to think about the LIFE of the contract.

So, here’s my plan.  Sign up on Friday to Optus.  2 years.  $59 Plan.  iPhone comes at $0 (16Gb phone).  Then, I monitor my call and data usage, and upgrade to the $89 if Needed to keep my calls and texts under control.

The second place option is Vodafone at $49, the 16Gb phone though comes at $5 per month. If I was to upgrade during the life of the contract I’d go to the $99 unlimited call and text plan.  Problem is that extra $10 on the bigger plan, the $5 per month on the handset (Optus and Voda are both $10 per month at the plans mentioned here for the iPhone 4 32Gb).  Main problem, I don’t KNOW the network.  I’ve heard enough bad things to make me feel like I’ll have the same experience as I do now with the Optus Network.

Optus have been spruking for some time their ‘network upgrades’.  Call me naive, but  I’m going to trust them.  Fingers crossed.

For what it’s worth, I think overall Optus have taken ownership of this space.  A HUGE range of plans, 12 and 24 months, some really ‘marketable’ plans which will be attractive to passing buyers.

Telstra have missed the mark.  Disappointing given their excellent new broadband and customer service commitment of late.

Time will tell if I’ve made the right decision.

Let me know what you think!

Well, what a day, finally we get to see what the Australian carriers are offering for Friday’s iPhone 4 launch.

Telstra got the ball rolling at 6am with their release, followed by Optus a couple of hours later.  Later in the afternoon VHA (Vodafone and Three) released their pricing.

So, now to choose!

Continue reading for a full list of plans, and pricing from all carriers.

There is no perfect science to this.  If you want tethering (where your phone can act as your computer’s modem for Internet access) ring your carrier, however be sure that it’s free on Telstra and Optus – a change from the past.

My ‘Data’ inclusions are rounded figures to allow for the sorting below.  1000Mb is 1GB on the Telco plans (1GB is actually 1024Mb)

Also, please note, I’ve hand typed all this data, so please check with the carrier before making your choice.  If you spot an error, please leave a comment so I can correct it.
I’ve sorted the data in many ways, so you can choose a plan on your carrier, the amount of data you want, the total cost of the contract, or by the amount you want to spend each month.

UPDATE: Finally, some of the ‘Data’ inclusions are a combination of the basic, plus ‘Bonus’ Data for carriers (Vodafone and Three Mainly) – not sure why the heck they bother with this, the ‘bonus data’ is for the life of the contract. But just another thing to ask/check

Good luck!

Let me know what you think by commenting below!

UPDATE: All tables updated with Telstra’s ‘double data’ announcement made today (July 29)

SORTED by CARRIER:

SORTED by MONTHLY COST:

SORTED by DATA INCLUSION:

SORTED BY TOTAL CONTRACT COST (12 month plans then 24 month plans):

In an unfortunate mix up tonight at the ABC, the much anticipated iPad app update from the ABC is not allowing you to watch ABC News 24.

Instead, it’s streaming ABC 2 when you click on the live stream.  Same applies at http://www.abc.net.au/news/abcnews24/ it’s probably just a switch that’s been flicked incorrectly somewhere at ABC MCR.

click to read more and to see screenshots..

My information is that this is NOT an issue with the widely discussed MEDIAHUB which broadcasts all ABC content now, a Joint Venture operation as opposed to the internal Master Control systems of the past.

Instead, Live streaming comes from ABC Brisbane – so, whatever the fault, I’m sure it will be fixed soon.

Here is the iPad app shot:

ABC News 24 Streaming via the iPad app. Currently showing ABC 2

ABC News 24 iPad app - the caption doesn't QUITE match the pictures

and the website live stream:

ABC News 24 live online stream - Showing ABC 2 at 9pm Saturday Night.

UPDATE (9.32pm) – and in  a sign that it could have been an automated switch scheduling issue, at almost exactly 9.30pm, Service to the ABC News 24 stream online and on iPad has been restored!

Ok, so I’m no-one to judge – given I’m not lining up for any modelling shoots any time soon. But – when I received this Deluxe WiFi Internet and DAB+ Radio from Kogan my first reaction was not great.

Looks are important when it comes to the shelf buying decision, and I wondered if with Kogan’s online only model perhaps that had gone out the window. I just wouldn’t see myself picking this from a lineup of DAB radios.

However, like many things, this has really grown on me. I’d still prefer several others for looks, but it’s the old ‘don’t judge a book by its cover’ that is important here.

This is one heck of a big unit. Packing twin 30W speakers, plus a front tweeter and a subwoofer, there’s a lot to get into any size box.

Kogan Deluxe WiFI Internet and DAB+ Radio

There is the ‘non-deluxe version’ from Kogan which lacks the tweeter and twin speakers and fits a more standard sized box. However the sound on that would likely be similar to many other radios on the market.

The sound is where this unit outperforms many others. DAB+ is a broadcast medium that allows Broadcasters to set the bit-rate at which they broadcast, different rates mean more or less services for that station or station group.

A great example of sound is Triple M. In Sydney at least, they are broadcasting at 96kbps, of which probably 6k is program added data, so you’re looking at 84-90kpbs for the music. And boy oh boy does it shine through on this unit.

I’m not sure I’ve heard sound quality like this from a DAB+ radio yet. The bass and range is excellent, thanks to the addition of the tweeter and subwoofer at this price and frankly a lot higher you won’t get the depth of sound on many other units.

I personally wish it had a thin mesh layer across the front like good speakers do, which would make it look like a speaker with a digital display – and the sound would suit that – but, that’s not to be.

The control pad is a range of buttons in three circles which is awkward at first, but for basic navigation is just fine. The tactile feel of the buttons is great, not too clicky but also not too soft, dare I say it – just right.

Control pad and screen - excellent single screen display of long DLS messages

I don’t need to go into chapter and verse about what this radio can do, with WiFi you can get thousands of internet radio stations, plus the same is available via a connected Ethernet. Add to that network music sharing, DAB+ and the iPhone compatible iPod dock and you’ve got a real entertainer on your hands.

The twin 30W speakers are unusually on the side of this unit – which does dull the sound from the front, however, I think that adds to the type of deep sound the unit offers once you get used to it.

It’s big – at 33cm wide, around 16cm tall and 15 or so deep, it’s a big unit that is a bit large for your desk, a bit large for your entertainment unit, and a bit big for the kitchen bench.

The unit comes with a remote so perhaps the bedroom dresser, or a mantle or shelf in the lounge would work – but, without degrading its place (those are excellent places for it) this would be a bloody great shed unit! Out in the man-cave or shed, working on whatever it is, you’ve got WiFi internet radio, iPhone/iPod connectivity and the beauty of DAB+ if you live in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide or Perth.

You can’t touch and try before you buy, but if you want solid sound, and an affordable price, check out Kogan online. (http://www.kogan.com.au/shop/kogan-wi-fi-digital-radio-dab-iphone-docking-delux/)

Oh, and the price – a cracking $199 – almost theft.