4:24: Barnes & Noble’s CEO has taken the stage. He’s planning on unveiling something, he says, but first, some history!

4:27: You see, Barnes & Noble has done a lot of things with paper books, evidently. All of which are tangential to the matter at hand, that ridiculous two-screened Kindle killer thing that we’re all itching to lay eyes on. Sidenote: this sounds like a eulogy for paper more than anything else.

4:28: Ah, onto the ebook stuff. William Lynch, President, is here to talk about electricity and the internet and such.

4:31: Hey, some relevant background: Barnes & Noble has over a million books in their ebook store, and have seen over three million downloads for their mobile apps. They’ve even decided to give a quick nod to B&N-compatible hardware from iRex and Plastic Logic, which is awfully sportsmanlike.

4:33: Yes! On with the Nook. The intro video is standard boilerplate: the screen is “crystal clear,” downloads happen in “seconds.” Of course you already know this.

4:36: Now we’ve got hardware. It exists! It looks smaller than I would’ve though in a human being’s hand. And oooh, interesting, Android earned a shoutout—that was sorely missing from the prior leaked launch materials.

4:38: The onscreen keyboard—on the bottom screen, natch—looks spacious but kind of gridlike, rather than staggered, which could make typing a little awkward. The bottom screen turns off when you haven’t use it in a while, which makes sense: it’d kill battery life, and if you’re using it for controls, you probably don’t need to see it.

4:40: Malcom Gladwell is here to read one of his books! I mean, hey, nice essays an all, but that’s a strange looking man.

4:43: They’re putting the Nook in all of their stores—this could be kind of a coup for them, since Amazon doesn’t even have stores. Here’s what their giant retail displays will look like.

4:47: If you take a Nook to a brick-and-mortar store, you get free Wi-Fi, which is nice, I guess. More importantly, you get to browse an entire ebook for free each time you visit, which is sort of like a digital equivalent to shelf browsing. Sort of.

4:49: Aaaaaand that’s it, at least for the tragically gutted announcement portion of tonight’s proceedings. The Nook, as we expected, will ship by the end of November, and preorders will open tonight. People who were lucky enough to squeeze a preorder through earlier today know that “late November” means “November 30th.”

There’s a Q&A session coming up in a few minutes, so they’re telling press to stay. At the same time, they’re blasting the stupid “TONIGHT’S GONNA BE A GOOD NIGHT, MAZEL TOV” song, which says to me, “Go.” We’ll stick around I guess. See you in a few.
Q&A

4:56: We’re back, and questions kick off with a question about ePub formats. They like it, which is why their entire catalog will switch to it when the Nook launches.

4:58: So, what about Android? They like it because it’s optimized for small screens, but they’re not saying a whole lot about apps. They, ahem, “haven’t announced” anything about app development, but they’re comfortable using the phrase “when we do,” which is veeeery promising.

4:58: Says the rep about the prospect of a browser, “browsers on E ink are clumsy.” Yeah! Stick it to E Ink! He’s right though.

5:00: How does lending work? It’ll work between any Barnes & Noble account, meaning anything with a Barnes & Noble reader app—iPhone, BlackBerry, PC, etc.

5:06: Now Matt’s got a question! Actually, like three: Is there anything exclusive to the Nook that you can’t get in other apps? No. And back to Android, anything else on those apps? Yeah, they’re open to it, including games, but they’re not making any announcements yet. (Again, promising!) And finally, what kind of touchscreen tech does the bottom screen use? It’s capacitive (but I don’t think it’s multitouch).

5:10: And I’m following up on this Android business, which all seems a little half-developed: They’ve got reader apps on iPhone and BlackBerry, and now the Nook, which runs Android, so where’s the Android app? “We’re watching it closely” is an odd answer, but there was a tacit acknowledgment that the inconsistency seems weird. I’m reading this as a likely yes for an Android app, but there’s really no way to tell when it’ll come out.

5:12: And another, is there any desktop client software? No—it’ll mount via microUSB, and show up as mass storage. All book transfers are supposed to be wireless, I guess. USB’s all about music and photos, I guess.

5:13: They’re strangely happy to say they’re developing a Windows Mobile app—”we are,” they say—so why so coy about Android?

5:17: They’re strangely happy to say they’re developing a Windows Mobile app—”we are,” they say—so why so coy about Android?

5:18: Everyone’s left the stage, and they’re playing GO AWAY music again, so that’s it. OR IS IT? (It is.)

Update: It’s starting!
11:02: Oh God, Andrew O’Keefe is MC. Bad jokes about the weather abound…
11:05: Oh frak! Lost my camera…
11:06: Found it. OK, 6900 km of cable connecting Guam to Sydney.
11:07 Bevan Slattery, CEO of Pipe Networks taking the stage.
11:07: iiNet put the idea forward to Pipe back in 2006. Bevan laughed at the idea. Then after another contact had conversation lamenting difficulty getting content to Australia from OS.
11:08: Tagline: “Not about capacity, it’s about competition.”
11:10: PPC-1 (pipe pacific cable Number 1)
11:11: Had to endure FUD campaigns from operators, plus GFC. Needed $80 million for the job, but had a lot of trouble getting it.
11:12: Developed a plan to move forward without the banks while facing insolvency — crap, this whole thing could have gone sour really quickly.
11:14: Will you get bigger quotas? Yes. Cheaper plans? Yes. In fact you’re already getting them.
11:15: Added bonus: redundancy in cables to Asia. Awesome.
11:16: A video now. Sydney harbour… Oh wait, this thing’s in the press kit. I’ll post it when I’m not just using a mobile internet key to connect to the net. It’s got a pretty full-on soundtrack for a video about pipes…
11:18: There’s something weirdly sexual about a huge metal pipe moving through a ship…
11:20: Clip’s done, O’Keefe’s back on stage.
11:22: David Coughlan, CEO of Tyco Telecommunications is on stage. They’re the guys that laid the cable.
11:24: History of Pipe/Tyco partnership being discussed. Tyco wondered how Pipe would manage to pay for something 4x their annual revenue.
11:25: The contract between Tyco and Pipe were signed only 20 months ago. That’s just crazy!
11:27: Now Bevan’s back on stage. Talking about the cable. 1.92TB system.
11:28: Maximum of $US30 million debt for Pipe International — the pipe itself is debt free.
11:29: Thanking partners: Michael Micket from iiNet, John Lindsay from Internode, Peter Loko from Telikom PNG plus a “customer who can’t be named” (who’s probably Google).
11:32: And a lot more people from Tyco, Tata, Pipe…they’re all up on stage.
11:35: Video from Guam — PPC-1 is active!
11:36: To showcase the pipe in action, there are two 103-inch Plasmas streaming HD content from Guam. I can tell you it looks awesome!
11:37: All done! I’ll pop some stats online a little later today. This is a huge day for Aussie broadband.

[Events shown in reverse chronological order. Timestamps indicate expected time for landing]

24m
Guidance says we are go for landing. All data is ok. We are off to a good start. Mission controller “keeping it cool”.

25m
Sound is great now. Neil is giving data on residuals.

26m
Lots of noise now. Houston is asking Columbia about LEM status, as they have lost signal right now. Switching to the big antenna.

27m
LEM signal acquisition. Waiting for Neil to say something. You Apollo 11 commander you!

28m
“Columbia reading loud and clear!” Capcom is asking how everything went. Collins says THE EAGLE IS OK! He says everything went on beautifully: “Babe, everything’s going just swimmingly. Beautiful”.

29m
We have acquisition of signal from the Command Module. Capcom is trying to communicate with Columbia right now.

31m
One minute and 31 seconds from Command Module signal acquisition. 2 minutes from LEM signal acquisition. Houston control is getting ready for final descent.

35m
Trusted sources inside the White House are telling us that President Nixon is walking nervously up and down the Oval Office, mumbling something about “that damn Kennedy.” He has two speeches on this desk. One is only to be read in case of disaster:

“Fate has ordained that the men who went to the moon to explore in peace will stay on the moon to rest in peace. These brave men, Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin, know that there is no hope for their recovery. But they also know that there is hope for mankind in their sacrifice.

“These two men are laying down their lives in mankind’s most noble goal: the search for truth and understanding. They will be mourned by their families and friends; they will be mourned by their nation; they will be mourned by the people of the world; they will be mourned by a Mother Earth that dared send two of her sons into the unknown.

“In their exploration, they stirred the people of the world to feel as one; in their sacrifice, they bind more tightly the brotherhood of man. In ancient days, men looked at stars and saw their heroes in the constellations. In modern times, we do much the same, but our heroes are epic men of flesh and blood.

“Others will follow, and surely find their way home. Man’s search will not be denied. But these men were the first, and they will remain the foremost in our hearts.

“For every human being who looks up at the moon in the nights to come will know that there is some corner of another world that is forever mankind.”

38m
Nothing yet from Columbia or Eagle.

44m
Hey, check out Buzz Aldrin in the LEM. He’s happy.

49m
Capcom is babbling again about how many people are in the control room, watching the operation. Apparently, they babble a lot in Florida. John Glenn is there, by the way. So is Alan Shepard, who later landed on the Moon with Apollo 14. Pit Conrad—commander or Apollo 12—and Jim Lowell—commander of Apollo XIII—are there too.

50m
Did you know that one million people gathered in Florida to see the launch of the Apollo 11 mission? Neither did I. An estimated 500 million people watched the landing live.

54m
Did I say you can listen to all this live at We Choose the Moon?

55m
This is when Phil Schiller makes a joke about how everything worked fine at rehearsal. No signal re-acquisition yet.

59m
Less than one hour from landing and nothing from Columbia or Eagle yet. Are these guys partying with Pink Floyd up there or what?

1h02m
Static noise getting stronger. I guess they will reappear any time now. I’m sure the engine should be ok. Unless the Nazis shot them now. I’m sure people at capcom keep looking at their watches nervously.

1h04m
Time for some chocolate as we wait for the signal to come back. I’m actually getting nervous here.

1h06m
Columbia will come first inline. Hopefully LEM will also reappear in one piece.

1h07m
The ignition should be over now. We are two minutes from LEM signal acquisition.

1h09m
One minute from the LEM ignition for descent orbit insertion. This is happening on the dark side of the Moon, so capcom doesn’t have a clue about what would happen. For all we know, the engine may explode right now.

1h14m
Why would you do if you were on the dark side of the Moon, 1h14m from being the protagonist of the biggest event in the history of mankind? Go through the landing flight plan once again or check out some porn?

See, this is why I’ll never be an astronaut.

1h15m
Signal is lost. Seven minutes for descent orbit insertion. Mission control says all system look good.

1h19m
Three minutes now for Eagle’s loss of signal. And they said that things move slow in space.

1h20m
Twelve minutes to Eagle’s engine ignition.

1h23m
Everything looks good according to capcom. Columbia going over the hill in seven minutes.

1h25m
Why do we bitch about mobile phone reception here on Earth? It’s a miracle these guys can understand each other. Columbia has to repeat everything as they move away from the clear communications signal.

1h29m
Eagle is now behind the Moon. No they are not. They are getting ready for loss of signal now.

1h30m
Houston capcom says they are a few minutes from losing signal from the spacecrafts. Control is going through all the data to give a go/no go on landing.

1h32m
No bald guys so far.

1h35m
I wonder how Neil and Buzz are doing on board Eagle. If I were in their boots, I would be pissing my astronaut diapers at the prospect of being the first guys to set foot in land outside planet Earth.

1h39m
Apparently NASA doesn’t play Coldplay while waiting for the big events. Steve Jobs is not happy.

1h41m
Houston Capcom and Columbia are now exchanging a lot of technical jibba jabba. Something about turning off directional rotate power #2 and asking Collins to put his pants on before the other two guys land.

1h43m from landing
Eagle has undocked from the command module. Talking about Columbia, here’s a nice view of the craters Sabine and Ritter from lunar orbit. Collins is not wasting his time up there:

UPDATE: The event’s all done, but it was all about the phone, not the carriers. There were, however some interesting elements discussed…First up, they’re not talking pricing or plans. This is a HTC event, talking about the handset and Android.

The Magic will be launching (whenever that is), with the Android 1.5 software (Cupcake). As we’ve been aware of for a while, some of the features in Cupcake worth noting are A2DP Bluetooth, onscreen keyboard, video recording, and the latest Webkit browser (including flash).

Watching YouTube on the Magic, you can select High Quality mode, just like on your PC. Not sure if the sceren would actually make the most of that quality boost for the extra data you’d chew through.

Regarding the Marketplace, apparently there are over 3200 free and paid apps on the marketplace, although there’s still no word on the Australian launch of paid apps. The powerpoint slide says “coming soon” though, whatever that means.

There are two different models available in Australia: One for Voda, one for 3. The Voda model has firmware updates over the air, the 3 does it using your PC; Voda you need to download an Exchange app, the 3 comes with the software pre-installed; Voda lets you geotag photos, 3 has a smart-dialler app; 3 comes with pdf, Word & excel viewer, voda you need to download. Essentially the difference is that Voda partnered with Google and HTC, 3 only partnered with HTC.

Battery life is better than the Dream (according to HTC) although apparently a large part of that is the cupcake update.

There’s still no 3.5mm headphone jack – which is kind of crazy in this day and age.

Exchange support is push, apparently, which is a pleasant surprise. Although after some further discussions the difference between the Voda and Three versions is obvious: The 3 version (which comes with exchange support) uses HTC software that licenses Microsoft’s Activesync, whereas the Vodafone version requires a (free) thrid party download, which may not feature all the same functions. So bottom line is that if you’re a business user, the 3 version may be a bit better for you.

3 are planning on announcing pricing at Midday today. We’ll keep you posted.