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Dialogue Box series 4

Dialogue Box: Lifting technology's skirt

Published: 15 Oct 2007 11:30 BST

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Ever wondered what a microwave oven could do to your wireless access, or what effect a radioactive rock might have on a flash drive?

Probably not, but then hopefully you're slightly more sensible than Rupert Goodwins and Charles McLellan, the presenters of ZDNet.co.uk's weekly magazine show Dialogue Box.

Slipping slyly behind the back of the latest industry headlines, while slapping established thinking firmly around its chubby face, Dialogue Box asks the questions that need asking — and some that don't.

Dialogue Box 4.5: The Axis of Consumerisation

Dialogue Box 4.5: The Axis of Consumerisation

Remember the Axis of Awesome? Dialogue Box reckons that, if a product is both cool and useful, and satisfies four simple criteria, you're likely to find it appearing at work, by stealth [05 Aug 2008]


Dialogue Box 4.4: Dual-band 802.11n shoot-out

Dialogue Box 4.4: Dual-band 802.11n shoot-out

Which 802.11n frequency band goes fastest and furthest — 5GHz or 2.4GHz? Dialogue Box fires up its new router and takes a laptop on a wireless walkabout [29 Jul 2008]

Talkback 10 Talkbacks


Dialogue Box 4.3: Does the iPhone 3G mean business?

Dialogue Box 4.3: Does the iPhone 3G mean business?

Dialogue Box hooks up its shiny new iPhone 3G to Exchange Server, and has an 'email-off' with a keyboard-equipped Windows Mobile smartphone. Rupert also finds a characteristic way to demonstrate the iPhone's motion sensor [22 Jul 2008]


Dialogue Box 4.2: Atom power hits the desktop

Dialogue Box 4.2: Atom power hits the desktop

Intel's Atom is out on the streets, promising a new era in low-power computing. But is it more spin than win? [15 Jul 2008]

Talkback 1 Talkback


Dialogue Box 4.1: A unique peek at a bright LED future

Dialogue Box 4.1: A unique peek at a bright LED future

Last year, we wanted it. This year, we've got it. In the first of a brand new series of Dialogue Box, Charles and Rupert throw light on a revolutionary new LED technology that gives you more than just a glow [08 Jul 2008]

Talkback 2 Talkbacks


Dialogue Box 3.10: Memory lane

Dialogue Box 3.10: Memory lane

There are a number of runners and riders in the next-generation memory stakes; Dialogue Box has the inside track, plus highlights from series 3 [13 May 2008]

Talkback 4 Talkbacks


Dialogue Box 3.9: JCB phone torture test

Dialogue Box 3.9: JCB phone torture test

Dialogue Box deconstructs Sonim's JCB-branded phone, first in the studio and then by running it over with a truck [07 May 2008]

Talkback 2 Talkbacks


Dialogue Box 3.8: Fake finger fools fingerprint reader

Dialogue Box 3.8: Fake finger fools fingerprint reader

Moulding plastic, jelly, milk and tea are all the ingredients Dialogue Box needed to get past one biometric security device [28 Apr 2008]

Talkback 2 Talkbacks


Dialogue Box 3.7: Place your bets on IBM's Racetrack

Dialogue Box 3.7: Place your bets on IBM's Racetrack

Can IBM's Racetrack memory unseat the current flash and hard disk favourites? Dialogue Box marks your card, with help from the 'could-o-meter' [22 Apr 2008]


Dialogue Box 3.6: IDF debrief

Dialogue Box 3.6: IDF debrief

What do the Atom processor, MIDs, a bio-sensing chip, fuel cells, Shanghai's traffic and a revolution in photography have in common? Answer: Intel's recent Development Forum [14 Apr 2008]


Dialogue Box 3.5: Return of the Axis of Awesome

Dialogue Box 3.5: Return of the Axis of Awesome

Rupert and Charles debate the coolness and usefulness of a range of mobile technology, including a military-grade mini-notebook and a pocket Etch-A-Sketch [08 Apr 2008]


Dialogue Box 3.4: Are black websites really greener?

Dialogue Box 3.4: Are black websites really greener?

If you want to be green, you should give your website a black background. True or false? Dialogue Box investigates [31 Mar 2008]

Talkback 1 Talkback


Dialogue Box 3.3: Barbados or bust

Dialogue Box 3.3: Barbados or bust

Dialogue Box's Rupert Goodwins is on his own in the studio this week, as Charles McLellan jets off to the West Indies — or does he? [26 Mar 2008]

Talkback 2 Talkbacks


Dialogue Box 3.2: Why the wait for solid state?

Dialogue Box 3.2: Why the wait for solid state?

Dialogue Box finds out what's driving hard-disk replacements [18 Mar 2008]

Talkback 1 Talkback


Dialogue Box 3.1: Another fine Mesh...

Dialogue Box 3.1: Another fine Mesh...

To kick off series 3, Dialogue Box examines three low-power laptops and takes the OLPC XO into the field on a secret mission [11 Mar 2008]

Talkback 2 Talkbacks


Dialogue Box 2.10: A Christmas news roundup

Dialogue Box 2.10: A Christmas news roundup

Dialogue Box takes a whistlestop tour of the top tech news stories of 2007, and looks ahead to what the major headlines might be in 2008 [24 Dec 2007]

Talkback 1 Talkback


Dialogue Box 2.9: Here is the wireless weather forecast

Dialogue Box 2.9: Here is the wireless weather forecast

Dialogue Box gets the lowdown on 802.11n Wi-Fi in a London hotel, and brings you the nationwide outlook for 3G coverage [10 Dec 2007]


Dialogue Box 2.8: Asus Eee — the sequel

Dialogue Box 2.8: Asus Eee — the sequel

Dialogue Box brings you the latest on one of the products of the year. And then takes it to pieces [03 Dec 2007]

Talkback 2 Talkbacks


Dialogue Box 2.7: Making an omelette with Penryn

Dialogue Box 2.7: Making an omelette with Penryn

Dialogue Box cooks up a culinary analogy to explain what actually goes on inside a processor [20 Nov 2007]

Talkback 6 Talkbacks


Dialogue Box 2.6: Celebrating 60 years of transistors

Dialogue Box 2.6: Celebrating 60 years of transistors

Dialogue Box marks the launch of Intel's Penryn processors by examining the history of the transistor, with the help of a kiwi fruit [14 Nov 2007]


Dialogue Box 2.5: Who's king of the OS jungle?

Dialogue Box 2.5: Who's king of the OS jungle?

Dialogue Box hacks its way through the IT jungle, pitting Ubuntu's Gutsy Gibbon, Apple's Leopard and Microsoft's Vista against each other in a bid to reveal the alpha OS [05 Nov 2007]

Talkback 1 Talkback


Dialogue Box 2.4: How the Asus Eee stole our hearts

Dialogue Box 2.4: How the Asus Eee stole our hearts

Dialogue Box peers into the future — and the present's pretty good too, with Asus's new £200 laptop [30 Oct 2007]


Dialogue Box 2.3: Smartphones and cool laptops under scrutiny

Dialogue Box 2.3: Smartphones and cool laptops under scrutiny

Dialogue Box goes on the prowl at the Symbian Smartphone Show, and finds the only full-spec laptop light enough to use as a yo-yo [22 Oct 2007]


Dialogue Box 2.2: Wireless networking hits the buffers

Dialogue Box 2.2: Wireless networking hits the buffers

Dialogue Box's resident buffers check how much of 802.11n's hype is reality — and how much just irradiated hot air [15 Oct 2007]

Talkback 1 Talkback


Dialogue Box 2.1: Inside a blade server

Dialogue Box 2.1: Inside a blade server

Dialogue Box returns for a new series, and steps inside a blade server — with a little help from the magic screwdriver of shrinkage [09 Oct 2007]


Dialogue Box 10: The best of Series One

Dialogue Box 10: The best of Series One

Dialogue Box introduces an unsuspecting online world to the Axis of Awesome, radiation, a potato, lightbulbs, sore thumbs, supercomputers, speech recognition, thin clients and UMPCs [31 Jul 2007]


Dialogue Box 9: Putting the 'Um...' in UMPC

Dialogue Box 9: Putting the 'Um...' in UMPC

The first ultra-mobile PCs got roundly ridiculed for, well, everything. Now the second generation is out on the street — and in the Dialogue Box studio [23 Jul 2007]

Talkback 3 Talkbacks


Dialogue Box 8: Thin client, fat chance

Dialogue Box 8: Thin client, fat chance

You're here but your data is there. Dialogue Box takes a look at PC remote control and its cousin, the thin client, upon which the Axis of Awesome passes judgement [16 Jul 2007]

Talkback 1 Talkback


Dialogue Box 7: Giving Vista a fair hearing

Dialogue Box 7: Giving Vista a fair hearing

If computers are so smart, how come they don't understand a word we say? That's perhaps unfair — but, as Dialogue Box found out, even the state-of-the-art speech recognition in Windows Vista has its problems [09 Jul 2007]

Talkback 1 Talkback


Dialogue Box 6: Attack of the 20ft blade server

Dialogue Box 6: Attack of the 20ft blade server

If small computers are powerful, how mighty are the big ones? Dialogue Box looks at the ups and downs of cramming supercomputer power into a desk-sized box [29 Jun 2007]

Talkback 2 Talkbacks


Dialogue Box 5: The ultramobile laptop face-off

Dialogue Box 5: The ultramobile laptop face-off

Dialogue Box gives Sony's ultramobile Vaio VGN-UX1XN the Axis of Awesome treatment, and a usability test results in sore thumbs [25 Jun 2007]


Dialogue Box 4: Projecting projector costs

Dialogue Box 4: Projecting projector costs

Inside a modern projector, you can find the latest million-mirror nanotechnology — and a light bulb. Guess which costs more [15 Jun 2007]

Talkback 6 Talkbacks


Dialogue Box 3: Wi-Fi and hot potatoes

Dialogue Box 3: Wi-Fi and hot potatoes

Dialogue Box goes wireless this week, with the Axis of Awesome testing the Wi-Fi-enabled touch-driven smartphone from HTC and a demonstration of the real perils wireless can bring to the office [08 Jun 2007]

Talkback 2 Talkbacks


Dialogue Box 2: Solid as a hard disk

This week's Axis of Awesome looks at one of the most desirable yet unashamedly technical add-ons you can get: a 32GB solid state hard disk [06 Jun 2007]

Dialogue Box 1: The 'Axis of Awesome'

ZDNet.co.uk's regular video magazine show chews over the latest happenings in tech, and rates all the newest enterprise IT products and development on the 'Axis of Awesome' [06 Jun 2007]

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Dialogue Box 4.1: A unique peek at a bright LED future

Dialogue Box 4.1: A unique peek at a bright LED future

Last year, we wanted it. This year, we've got it. In the first of a brand new series of Dialogue Box, Charles and Rupert throw light on a revolutionary new LED technology that gives you more than just a glow more

Dialogue Box 4.2: Atom power hits the desktop

Dialogue Box 4.2: Atom power hits the desktop

Intel's Atom is out on the streets, promising a new era in low-power computing. But is it more spin than win? more

Dialogue Box 4.3: Does the iPhone 3G mean business?

Dialogue Box 4.3: Does the iPhone 3G mean business?

Dialogue Box hooks up its shiny new iPhone 3G to Exchange Server, and has an 'email-off' with a keyboard-equipped Windows Mobile smartphone. Rupert also finds a characteristic way to demonstrate the iPhone's motion sensor more

Dialogue Box 4.4: Dual-band 802.11n shoot-out

Dialogue Box 4.4: Dual-band 802.11n shoot-out

Which 802.11n frequency band goes fastest and furthest — 5GHz or 2.4GHz? Dialogue Box fires up its new router and takes a laptop on a wireless walkabout more

Dialogue Box 4.5: The Axis of Consumerisation

Dialogue Box 4.5: The Axis of Consumerisation

Remember the Axis of Awesome? Dialogue Box reckons that, if a product is both cool and useful, and satisfies four simple criteria, you're likely to find it appearing at work, by stealth more