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• Size Comparison: 1-0 For Axis/Hana Micron

  Next to a Nokia mobile phone, the Axis Mobile Disk from Hana Micro is impressively compact. At just 8.2 cm, it's not much larger than a AA battery. In fact, it couldn't be more practical. The only thing to watch out for is that you don't lose it. Interactive Media Corporation: Kanguru Micro Drive USB 2.0 The Kanguru drive also comes with a small neck strap, despite not being so comfortable around your neck as the Axis. It will even go unnoticed under a shirt. Naturally, delivery includes a driver CD and an extension cable. If all the USB ports are on the back of the computer, you just have to plug in the cable once, eliminating the tedious scramble under the desk every time. Test Setup Test System Processor Intel Pentium 4, 2.0 GHz, 256 kB L2-Cache (Willamette) Motherboard Intel D845EBT, 845E Chipset RAM 256 MB DDR/PC2100, CL2, Infineon IDE Controller i845E UltraDMA/100-Controller (ICH4) Graphics Card NVIDIA GeForce2 MX 400 Network Card 3COM 905TX PCI 100 MBit OS Windows XP Pro 5.10.2600 Service Pack 1 Benchmarks & Tests Office Applications ZD WinBench 99 - Business Disk Winmark 2.0 High-end Applications ZD WinBench 99 - Highend Disk Winmark 2.0 Performance Benches HD Tach 2.61, PC Mark 2002 (HD Test) I/O Performance Intel I/O Meter Drivers & Settings Graphics Driver NVIDIA reference driver 41.09 IDE Driver Intel Application Accelerator 2.3 DirectX Version 9.0 Resolution 1024 x 768, 16 bit, 85 Hz refresh

• BPOS Requirements

  Your first task in preparing for a BPOS deployment is to ensure platform compatibility with all client devices. On the software side, the operating system is simple enough: Windows XP (Professional or Tablet Edition, both SP2), Windows Vista (Business, Enterprise, Ultimate, or Home, all SP1), or MacOS X 10.5. (For those curious about domain attachment under Vista Home, BPOS doesn’t sync its login and password with the Windows Domain, keeping authentication separate from the OS.) You’ll also need to have Microsoft .NET Framework 3.0 on Windows systems and Java client 1.4.2 or newer on Macs. For browsers, Microsoft recommends at least Internet Explorer 7, Safari 3.1.2 (on OS X), or Firefox 3, although Firefox won’t support the Microsoft Online Services Sign In tool. Email clients must be Outlook 2007 or Entourage 2008, and the platform supports Windows Mobile 6, Nokia E and N series, and iPhone (firmware 2.0) handsets. For hardware, practically any system made in the last five years will do. All you need for Vista is a machine with at least a 1 GHz Pentium and 1GB of RAM, and for Windows XP you’ll want at least a 500 MHz Pentium and 256MB of RAM. That’s the easy part. Now, if your company employs a firewall or proxy server, you’ll likely have some port tweaking to do, so we recommend you consult the TechNet document. Scroll down this page and you’ll also find a description of how to compute the network bandwidth required by different BPOS applications. For medium or larger companies, this can be a serious consideration since all of the network traffic for messaging that had previously been confined to the high-speed LAN is now going to flow through gateways and over slower conduits into the Internet cloud. The good news is that you probably don’t need to assess your full bandwidth needs right out of the gate. Very few businesses decide to turn their entire operation over to BPOS en masse on day one. A more likely course would be to take a large workgroup or division and start them on BPOS, learn from their deployment and usage, then expand the installation base in stages.  If you’re still undecided about BPOS and what it will require from you in terms of management, give the 30-day free trial a spin. You can get a full-featured, 20-license, totally no-charge eval from mocp.microsoftonline.com.

• ...and A Time To Work!

  In addition to being a game deck, the N-Gage is also a high-end mobile phone of the latest generation. Below is a rundown of its features: N-Gage: features GSM triple band frequencies 900 / 1800 / 1900 Internet browser WAP 1.2.1 and XHTML Connection HSCDSD and GPRS Operating systems Symbian OS 6.1 Java MIDP and MMS Connectivity Bluetooth and USB 1.1 Java API CLDC 1.0, MIDP 1.0, Nokia UI API, MMAPI (JSR 135), WMA (JSR120) For messaging, there is an integrated client messaging system compatible with the IMAP, POP3, SMTP and MIME2 protocols. But for sending simpler messages faster, the N-Gage is of course compatible with the latest generation of SMS and with MMS (MultiMedia Messaging). And that's not all, because Nokia has also thought about multimedia functions. So you have access to an MP3 and AAC player, a RealOne player and an FM tuner with a facility for encoding in AAC format. Conclusion In the N-Gage, Nokia has a well-made product with a high technological potential. Though they insist it is a game deck, there is bound to be some confusion about what it is really for, especially since the device cannot work without a SIM card. Moreover, to use it as a phone you have to wear the headset (fortunately supplied), otherwise folk will stare at you with that huge device stuck to your ear. With regard to games, the analysis is more qualified. The games are very good and highly playable, but they are not exclusive and no outside publisher has planned an original title. So Nokia has stated its intention to launch into development and should shortly announce a game specifically for the N-Gage. The final matter is the price. As from October 7, the N-Gage will be shipping at an official price of $380 (349 euros), though there are already advance order prices of $348 (299 euros). It is a lot more expensive than the Gameboy Advance $70 (95 euros) and Gameboy Advance SP $100 (120 euros). But the Nokia device could be purchased at reduced rates if you take out a subscription contract with a phone operator. This could give you a discount of $50 to $150.