ctrl.altered.mind

When my wireless router started faltering with alarming regularity in the past month, I realized the little device had probably reached the end of its life cycle. The Netgear router has been pretty much running 24/7 over the past two years, and while routers typically last much longer than that, everyones mileage varies.

Therefore, instead of shopping around for an alternative el-cheapo router that would get the job of letting all of my wireless-capable devices talk over the internet done, I decided to take this opportunity to upgrade all the way up - to an Apple Time Capsule.

If you’re familiar with Apple hardware, you will realize that the Time Capsule breaks no new ground - it is simply an 802.11n Airport Extreme base station with a built-in hard drive, which is also its biggest plus point. Having switched from a desktop to using just a notebook computer, a new Macbook Pro, I quickly found the need to have a wireless network hard drive solution quite imperative. It is tedious having a backup drive that constantly needs to be plugged in, to be of any benefit. The Time Capsule steps in with network-attached storage (with choices of 500GB and 1TB), and also integrates seamlessly with the one-click Time Machine backup feature built into Mac OS X Leopard. Additionally, the Time Capsule can also connect (and extend wireless capabilities) to a USB printer or external hard drive. I picked up a 500GB Time Capsule, because the storage capacity should meet my needs for now. There are also web tutorials that prove it is quite simple to upgrade the internal hard drive yourself.

I was a little concerned about rushing out and buying a Time Capsule, simply because initial reviews of the hardware have not been excellent on the Apple website. People have voiced concerns about Time Machine backups taking exceptionally long durations to complete, impact on wireless browsing performance while backups are running (forcing them to turn this off while actively using their computers), and other issues such as unusually high heat generation and wireless device incompatibilities. Having read through all these reviews, I was prepared to purchase the Time Capsule in test-drive mode, ready to return it within the 14-day period if any such issues would raise their ugly heads. Thankfully, I am extremely happy with my Time Capsule.

I have not run into any speed or wireless bandwidth issues while running Time Machine backups or generally accessing the wireless drive (I did use an ethernet connection to perform the first backup, as most would recommend). The router functions excellently, plays well with all my devices, and efficiently utilizes my high-speed connection. I have not experienced overheating issues either, although a higher heat profile is not very unusual for a NAS/router appliance.

The Time Capsule also interfaces very well with my Playstation 3. This was a very important requirement for me, as the PS3 is used heavily as my media center and not just a gaming console. Speaking of games, the console has not seen any connection issues (that I had started experiencing on my earlier router) while playing online first-person shooter games. Additionally, media streaming from my computer to the TV via the PS3 has been excellent (I use MediaLink ($20/free demo) and Mediatomb (free, open-source) for wireless streaming from Mac OS X to the PS3). One thing to note, is that the PS3 does not recognize a NAS - it only supports the DLNA protocol, and would require a computer that is running a media server application in order to access media files. The Time Capsule does not support direct Universal Plug-and-Play (UPnP), so if any of your devices require this protocol the Time Capsule is not an option for you.

The Time Capsule only requires a couple of screens of configuring the first time it is used - this is done via the Mac OS X Airport Utility. Once this is done, the router is ready to serve Mac, Linux and Windows machines. The Time Capsule hard drive is also directly accessible by Windows machines, which see it appear as an encrypted, password-protected drive on the network. There is an Airport Admin Utility available for Windows that should allow configuring the Time Capsule using a Windows machine, although I have not attempted this (yet).

As it supports the 802.11n standard, the Time Capsule also allows me to fully utilize the wireless-N capabilities of my notebook. While this does not mean much for casual browsing, it does allow better local networking and is future-proof as far as wireless standards are concerned (at least for a good while).

A friend asked me for my brief opinion regarding solid-state drives, particularly in the event of actual reviews of these devices pouring in (such as this one by Walt Mossberg of the Wall Street Journal). For the uninitiated, these solid-state drives are drop-in replacements for conventional hard disc drives (or HDDs), but employ flash storage instead of storing data on rotating magnetic media.

While this technology may be an interesting alternative for some, I do not see SSDs denting the expansive HDD market at least over the next decade. There will be some low storage capacity markets that would be taken over by solid-state storage, such as handhelds and special-purpose laptops. SDDs differ from flash storage employed by portable devices such as digital cameras and music players in two aspects: the type of flash memory used, and the interface. Current generation SDDs use the SATA interface and have a HDD-like form factor; and are therefore designed as a drop-in replacement for conventional hard drives.

My comparative reasoning between SDD and HDD technologies, is as follows:

Conventional hard drives are a mature technology and are continually seeing impressive gains in storage density (due to better materials, advances in physics, and better recording techniques). It is a just a matter of time until we start seeing multiple terabyte storage in hard drives. With a tremendous shift in media consumption towards high-definition audio and video formats, the quantity of available storage will be a perennial question.

While they do involve moving parts, the energy usage to operate a hard drive is a tiny fraction of that used for other computer parts. In todays laptops, powering the screen consumes the most energy, although this is being mitigated by the use of LED backlighting in some newer devices. In fact, in a comparative test recently performed on the Apple Macbook Air by Ars Technica, it was seen that a solid state drive presented no significant benefit in terms of battery life, even in an LED-backlit laptop computer.

The data access time benefit from flash storage is usually mentioned, but there are two sides to this story. Flash beats HDDs when it comes to random access times (due to spin delays in HDDs). However, HDDs have far superior sequential access times than SDD storage, which is of great importance in video playback and retrieving of any sequentially placed data. Moreover, with a new breed of hybrid HDDs that employ larger flash memory caches for frequently accessed information, users would be able to benefit from the best of both worlds (with greatly improved random/sequential access times as well as higher storage capacity).

A prime disadvantage of SSDs is the limited number of rewrites to memory. This makes it mandatory to perform wear-leveling within the SSD to prevent repeated rewrites to the same sections. This issue is expected to make recovering lost data from SSDs far more difficult than is the case with HDDs.

So far, the biggest advantage that I see favoring SDDs in portable computers, is the resilience from shock and damage arising from dropping the device. Therefore, computers built for rugged use and/or harsh environments would strongly benefit from using SDDs, if the compromise on storage capacity is acceptable.

Amidst the myriad collection of bizarre USB-powered devices that exist today, this has got to be the strangest one I’ve come across - a USB Mini Fridge that can cool up to one can of soda to 8.5 degrees centigrade (about 47F) in about 5 minutes. A possible gag gift for $33, but it definitely promises to relieve weary cubicle-dwellers from the dependence on vending machines.

The seventh generation of gaming is upon us, although it is still too early to judge who would grow to become the dominating platform. The presence of expensive consoles such as Sony’s Playstation 3 and Microsoft’s Xbox 360 makes Nintendo’s Wii look like an affordable choice for gamers - especially casual gamers who would be strongly attracted to a new interaction experience through the Wii remote. The Wii, however, does not support next generation high-definition media such as HD-DVD or Blu-Ray — a feature that is pretty much being considered a standard for the other gaming consoles, which are expected to double up as media centers in peoples’ living rooms.

While the Xbox 360 has had a full year’s head start  compared to the PS3, it also has a good ecosystem of games to feed the experience further. I got dangerously close to buying a PS3 myself, but backed out when I realized that it would be a good six months before any games that spark my interest, would be available for it. The PS3 is available for purchase today simply because Sony wanted consumers to have the option to purchase a Blu-Ray console (since standalone Blu-Ray players are, in fact, much more expensive than the PS3 itself). The move should ensure a good slice of the market before HD media for movies hits markets. From a gaming standpoint, the PS3 is not quite a lucrative buy yet as there are no games out that exploit the amazing hardware capabilities of the console. That will change in a few months, of course, as major game developers are actually moving schedules to be able to churn out games specifically for the PS3.

Despite this and the fact that the PS3 has not been released worldwide yet, going by sales figures alone, the PS3 seems to be holding itself well in US and Japanese markets, with 687,300+ and 552,993+ units sold respectively. It would be prudent to wait until there is a good selection of games that can help sell the PS3, to judge the grasp of its dominance in the gaming sector.

From The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW):

Her new name is “Mrs. Right Place, Right Time.” When shopper Elizabeth Rodriguez walked into New York’s flagship Apple Store this past Saturday, she was showered with a MacBook, iPod, iPod Hi-Fi, and an Apple ProCare membership, all for being visitor # 1,000,000.

Color me green of course, but my congratulations go out to Liz and Apple. I was at the store last weekend, if only… sigh
Some pictures I took at the store:

Its surprising that National Semiconductor, a company that has been doing well recently, atleast apparently so, would even have to lay off 35 workers at its plant in Arlington, TX. National was in the news some time back for announcing its plans to hand every employee a 30GB video iPod, a reward for its best fiscal year ever.

Employees that are on their way out have to turn in the ‘gifts that were’nt’. For the ones who ended up selling or re-gifting their iPods, the company would like the now-ex-employees to pay “fair market value” for the company hardware - which retails around $300 a pop.

Losing their jobs and even their iPods (Star Telegram Article)

My brother Sankalp sent me this video of a home-made Mac Mini Portable, by Peter Green. A really impressive system with an 8″ TFT LCD screen, and a Li-ion battery that powers the setup for over 3 hours. Its also supposed to be lighter than a 15″ iBook. While the touchpad and tiny keyboard may not look too comfortable (I may be wrong), the design could most certainly be improved upon with a custom-built LCD panel.

The MMP: The Mac Mini Portable Project Video

Engadget had a post on the MMP on Feb 9, which I obviously missed.