At the moment, only Adam Internet, iiNet, Internode, iPrimus and Westnet offer unmetered iView viewing, but this trial could potentially expand the audience massively. At the moment it’s Sydney only, but if successful, you could easily see it rolled out across the country.

As for iView itself – well, in June they averaged 158,000 visits a week, while they were offering 33 hours of catchup programming for adults and 2-3 hours for kids.

Considering those figures, it’s amazing that the commercial networks are still languishing so far behind the ABC in terms of VOD in Australia. No wonder bittorrent is booming…

[TV Tonight]

The first Macintosh, now usually called the Macintosh 128k, was an inauspicious beginning for one of the most exciting companies in the industry. It was expensive and underpowered for the time, and its novel mouse-driven interface was unpopular with techies. But the Mac is a survivor, developing and changing through the years, taking the first dip into the water of portability and later making waves with innovative design and remarkable success while other lines have folded or moved on to other ventures.

Back in the day, Steve Jobs was just as much a showman as he’s been in the years since. He’s half nerd and half P.T. Barnum. Here’s the event at which he first unveiled the Macintosh.

Even if you’re not a Mac user, and I’m not, the Mac has inarguably helped the industry as a whole. Personal computing wouldn’t be where it is without it. So go wild, commenters. Reminisce. And wish the Mac a happy birthday. [AppleInsider]

[Catch Of The Day]

Now all I need to do is remind my wife of this posting when my birthday comes a little nearer… [LaughingSquid]

- A reinvention of the TiVo box that doesn’t associate so strongly with cable and broadcast TV.
– BlackBerry to know we mean them no harm and to actually work with blogs.
– For writers around the world and at Giz to stop picking on Motorola and Microsoft without due cause. I mean, the RAZR is a decent phone, even though it’s not in style anymore. And Bill Gates is curing the malaria epidemic! I guess OLPC needs a reprieve, too. But not as much as Microsoft.
– Apple iPhone, three fricking words for you: Cut, Copy, Paste. And reception. And Video. (That’s 7, I guess.)
– True unlimited plans for international data roaming from mobile phone carriers. They could just trade credit instead of gouging each other and passing the price rape onto travellers.
– Cable to go a la carte or die. Glad all the really good TV is available on IP anyhow.
– The new 3G iPhone’s power management to be smart enough to turn off HSDPA during simple email DLs.
– I like the Apple TV’s ability to transfer purchases and rentals to my iPhone and laptop; wish it played DivX.
– Really, really, really kick-arse Android implementations that have major differences in software. And not just stores to sell apps/ringtones/games/wallpapers, you greedy carrier son of a bitches.
– Mac support for the really well-made Zune hardware/firmware/software.
– Waterproof/rugged/outdoor cameras with appropriately beefy straps.
– Firefly Season 2?
– Microsoft’s E&D culture and process spreading through the company!
– To be cast as an extra in some nerdy movie or show. I’ll be an ensign, or one of the Others! Or a guest appearance in a Pogue video. They’re so good!
– Wired blogs to get their own URLs.
– Palm to do a really cool consumer OS they can brag about.
– Windows Vista: XP Edition. (Made with not more code, but with a Machete)
– Engadget links to Giz.
– Psystar to magically get their shit together (technically and legally) and make a good run at the alternative Mac market.
– For the winter: A bountiful snow season come next winter and a 2009 bi-turbo Audi S4 with the 4 wheel vector Quattro system. Snow plow! And a lib tech Banana snowboard.
– Wii Fit to acknowledge that I am not overweight, I just have big legs.
– Apple Keynote secrets that stay secret until their proper unveiling.
– For peace between Giz and CEA. (Lots of entertaining questions about the prank coming from the Brazilian press on this trip.)
– Proper swimming lessons.

I think my list was a lot longer last year, but I think that after almost drowning today, I’m just glad to be breathing, glad to have great readers like you all, smart and entertaining writers and a job I like enough to engage in on my day off. And hey, I’m on a beach in Brazil, so it’s hard to think about tech. Life ain’t bad.

According to at least one analyst, the LAN may die an early death thanks to what he is calling “de-perimeterisation.” As firms move more towards wireless, the day may soon come where each computer has its own internet connection “with appropriate security technology”—skipping the LAN completely. Performance and reliability hurdles must be overcome, but it is entirely plausible that one day, average computers will have a wireless gigabit connection directly to the Internet. Eventually, the LAN will give way to an all-encompassing WAN. Whether that will happen—much less in as little as 10 years is anyone’s guess. [ComputerWorld via Slashdot]

[Wiki, RetroThing and TUAW. Image of the Apple I adopted for use from The Joy of Tech]

I’m 30 today. I woke up this morning and went for a jog up to Twin Peaks. I noticed how much harder it is to run with an extra couple of inches on my waist. Then I looked down and realized it could be the gigantic Halo 3 Zune in my hand. I got back to the apartment, thankful for the kind weather and the rare chance to exercise, and made myself a lumberjack platter of pancakes, 3 eggs, sausage, bacon, potatoes and a cup of ketchup and maple syrup. Damn Zune, slowing me down.

So what do I want for a present? Oh, so nice of you to ask! You don’t have to get me anything. I have what I need. Buuuut….since you asked, there are some things I’d really, really like:

I’d like an interview with Steve Jobs, where…

all we do is talk shit about Windows, play Breakout, and smoke weed. Let me convince you, while you’re high as a kite, that the iPhone should be open for for apps/widgets, 3g, and should have an iTunes store on the handset. And HD on iTunes. And no more AAC DRM, ever. Man, Steve must have some really, really good weed stashed in his cupboards.

I’d also like a Pony. Specifically, a Ferrari.

I’d also like an Interview with Bill Gates that is actually a wrestling match. And if I win, he has to build an operating system that doesn’t crash more than once a month, or have annoying security popups. I’ll be Ricky the Steamboat Dragon, and he can be Macho man Randy Savage. To be fair, we’ll play Xbox after. PGR like he likes, and we’ll make fun of Apple’s “spearhead” into the livingroom. El-oh-El. (Thank you Charlie White for the reenactment above.)

I’d like the first iPhone review, ahead of Mossberg, ahead of everyone. By 10 days. Nah, 30. One for each year of my life. A nerd can dream, can’t he?

I’d like Sony to put all their engineers on a bus, knock em out with sleeping gas, and ship them to an island to fight, like in that crazy Japanese flick, Battle Royale. The strongest, smartest and most creative engineers that are still alive should go on to form a spinoff company dedicated to making a true iPod competitor under the Walkman moniker.

I’d like it if someone made a goddamn Smartphone operating system that you can install stuff on, but isn’t for douchebags in suits. I mean, have you used Windows Mobile 6 yet? It’s like they took the turd that is Windows Mobile 5 and polished it.

I’d like all the tech publications I know to band together to boycott craplets on PCs. I only want them to provide us with a chance to opt out for a clean build. And Linux, for Gods sake. Offer it!

I’d like it if Engadget would link to us. Come on, guys. Just one link!

I’d like it if TiVo would make up with Netflix and allow high-def downloads to the Series 3. And Netflix, while you’re hedging your bets, offer a plugin for Media Center downloads, too.

TiVo, please make a cheap HD Series 3.5 Junior Edition? And do me a favor and add a YouTube GUI.

Hello Zune Phone team. I know you exist. I’m watching your every movement. In my mind. Please don’t fuck this up. Don’t let those Windows Mobile dweebs tell you what people want. Zune is pretty good. Fight back against their request for Microsoft Powerpoint compatibility.

I’d like a Gundam suit with liveblogging capabilities including a keyboard rest, a couple of EVDO modems aggregated together, built-in video, photo capabilities, Slurpee machine, tissue box for nosebleeds I get from the stress of this job, plus the live video capabilities of Justin.tv.

Powerline Networking, you’re awesome for streaming HD video across the house, but don’t give me this shit about using powerstrips. Face it—I’m NOT giving you your own socket.

Wii, you’re cute, and popular, but don’t get cocky. You need games. And you need them fast.

Fuel Cell batteries for laptops today, and laptop bottoms that don’t scorch our penises.

A Yamaha Surround Sound Panel that is short enough that it doesn’t block the bottom part of a table mounted flat panel.

I’d like it if Slingbox sold a little Sling chip to every video gadget maker. I want to Sling video from a Comcast box, and TiVo, directly from an Ethernet port, not from another box. The chip could have a remote control interface, so no more IR blaster, too.

I’d like the blank front page on phones to die. All phones should have that Nokia active rest screen chock full of data and controls. A phone is not a digital picture frame with a reception icon in the top right corner.

Midnight embargo lifts are dumb for your level of exposure, and they ruin my social life. Peak news should hit at 8 or 9am, EST.

Media Center PC with two CableCARDs under $1K. Come on, guys. Give yourself a fighting chance in the living room DVR wars. You can win this!

CableCARD installs that users can do themselves.

That’s all, really.

Have I missed anything? – Brian Lam