TechWire

PS3 pre-orders at "record" levels: Sony Ireland boss

According to this article in today's Guardian, PS3 pre-orders are "suspicious", with no figures to back them up. The journalist is suggesting that the console's higher spec and high price might be putting punters off. Not so, says Niall O'Hanrahan, head of Sony's Playstation business in Ireland. Speaking to this blog, he said: "that's totally inaccurate. According to Play.com, pre-order levels are at 6 times that of the Xbox 360 and 15 times that of the Wii at the same time in the cycle. The feedback from our retailers is that it’ll be the biggest launch ever in

Ireland." The PS3 goes on sale on March 23rd.

10 second review: Jivo Utune FM transmitter

We all know the iTrip. Quite a few rival gadgets have come on stream that play your MP3 player's music in your car stereo or radio by synchronising radio frequencies. Jivo's Utune is toward the budget end of the market (€35 from 3G stores). Apart from its price, its pluses include a very simple set-up and operation. It's especially friendly to iPods, coming with a cable to charge up the iPod while connected to the device. As for the quality of the sound, it varies from 6 to 7 out of 10. I noticed a slight hum at times, though it must be said that any MP3 transmitter I've ever used has such a hum occasionally. The Utune also required a little more volume to reach the same level as you'd normally get on your radio.

3 network now entirely HSDPA

3's Irish network has now been totally upgraded to HSDPA, with speeds of 3.6Mbs (the average will get slower as people start to use it). That means about 85 per cent population coverage. The company is planning a major push on its datacard product, which costs €40 per month with a 3GB data cap. Unfortunately, it's planning to steer the campaign toward a business or travelling 'prosumer' market, with the upcoming ad featuring a woman in a suit, not at home. So less 'here's-a-potential-ubiquitous-broadband-product' and more 'write-this-off-against-your-business-expenses'. Pity.

Guardian hack: 'I hate Macs'

This Guardian journalist hates Macs and he's not afraid to go for the jugular. I disagree with a lot of what he says, though he does have something of a point about customisation.

Tech is cheap as chips in the US

It's not just when buying Windows Vista that Europeans get ripped off compared to our American cousins. It seems that all tech paraphrenalia is cheaper in the US. On holidays in the US stores (WalMart), I was delighted to pick up a 512MB SD memory card for my camera for €10. Even in Dublin's Duty Free -- which I passed through on Thursday -- it's triple that price.