Epson Artisan 800

Epson's Artisan 800 color inkjet multifunction printer has many tempting photo features. It's expensive--and not quite perfect--but it's still worth considering, especially for serious shutterbugs.

The Artisan 800 boasts a large (7.8-inch), tiltable touch-screen control panel, with a 3.5-inch color LCD. I found navigating the menus easy, but the sheer number of options made me wish for a comprehensive overview (Epson doesn't provide one). Two media slots take CompactFlash, Memory Stick, SD Card, and XD Picture Card; the unit has a PictBridge port too.

This model's star feature is its integrated CD/DVD printing mechanism. The caddy lowers itself automatically from its lair in the open front bay. I like this self-contained design even better than what HP offers on models such as the Photosmart C5280.

The Artisan 800 has speed to spare. In the PC World Test Center's speed tests, it churned out plain-text pages at an impressive rate of 9.8 pages per minute. Its 5.4-ppm graphics speed topped the charts.

Given this model's photography slant, I probably shouldn't have been surprised that the Artisan 800 performed better on photo paper than on plain. But given that its six separate inks offer a wider color palette, I was disappointed in its results, as all the samples we printed on plain paper looked dull, feathery, or grainy. On Epson's own photo paper, colors occasionally erred on the pinkish side but otherwise looked natural. The ink is reasonably priced: Based on the industry-standard ISO test pages for ink yields, each color costs 1.8 to 2.2 cents per page, while black costs 3.3 cents. Scans were good; copies seemed a bit fuzzy.

The Artisan 800's paper handling wants to be versatile but is sometimes annoying. A 30-sheet photo tray piggybacks atop the 120-sheet, letter/legal main tray. The 50-sheet output tray--a series of telescoping panels--pulls out from the photo-tray area. Loading the main tray is an involved process: You must retract the clumsy output extensions, slide and lift the photo tray, fish for the width adjustment underneath said tray, and then put everything back the way it was before. At least the 30-sheet automatic document feeder ADF is simple.

Most of the manuals are good, but I'll never understand why Epson buries the parts diagram in the troubleshooting section of the HTML-based user guide. A few of the Artisan 800's features aren't covered anywhere. And although automatic duplexing requires a $30 optional accessory, you can choose the feature in the printer driver regardless, which is confusing.

The Artisan 800 offers so much that one might forget its less-friendly aspects. Business-minded users looking in this price range might find a better fit in the Canon Pixma MX7600, or one of Epson's new Workforce multifunctions (which we have yet to test).

For home or school, the Pixma MP620 inkjet MFP offers impressive features and connectivity for a low price.

For home or school, the Pixma MP620 inkjet MFP offers impressive features and connectivity for a low price.

Canon's Pixma MP620 color inkjet multifunction printer offers connectivity and capacity galore. While its design has a few shortcomings, overall the Pixma MP620 offers a good deal, especially for a busy home or school setting.

A few premium features distinguish the silvery Pixma MP620. The control panel replaces a raft of buttons with a scroll wheel that lets you spin through options shown on the adjacent, tiltable, 2.5-inch color LCD. The remaining buttons are clearly labeled and easy to use. Standard connectivity covers USB, ethernet, and Wi-Fi; you need a $50 extra-cost adapter to enable Bluetooth. It has two media slots that take most kinds of cards, but you'll need to buy a third-party adapter to use the XD Picture Card format. The PictBridge port accepts only Canon-compatible devices.

The 150-sheet output tray automatically unfolds itself from the front panel when you initiate a print job. You get two 150-sheet input trays: one underneath for letter-size plain paper, and a second in the rear for larger or thicker media. Unfortunately, on my test unit, raising the telescoping guides for the rear vertical input involved a lot of tugging and clattering, and I accidentally collapsed them numerous times. Another drawback: The MP620 lacks an automatic document feeder (ADF) and duplexing capabilities; if you need those features, check out the similarly priced Dell 948 All-in-One or Lexmark X6570.

The MP620 performed fairly well in our tests. It posted average speeds, producing 7.6 pages per minute (ppm) with plain text and 2.2 ppm with graphics. The printer's pigment black ink produced impressively crisp, dark letters.

On color graphics it uses a dye-based second black, plus cyan, magenta, and yellow. We found a bit too much yellow in some of our color graphics samples; flesh tones, in particular, looked orangey on plain paper and a little jaundiced on Canon's own photo paper. Despite that and a slight graininess, images otherwise looked vivid and natural. Scan and copy tests yielded good results as well.

At the time of this writing, Canon had yet to publish yields for the five separate ink cartridges. Other Canon printers with a similar design have had reasonable costs.

Canon's usually solid documentation had one notable problem this time: The printed Setup Guide features a confounding flowchart of installation options that stymie rather than advance the process. Aside from that, Canon's better-than-average rating in our Reliability and Service survey bodes well for your overall experience.

The Pixma MP620 delivers a wide variety of features in a well-designed package. Its connectivity and generous paper handling make it particularly well suited for families or students.

IPhone 3G Launch in Taiwan May Foretell China Debut

Taiwan's largest mobile phone service provider will launch the iPhone 3G in December, a deal that may foretell a launch in China soon.

Chunghwa Telecom finalized a deal to be the sole supplier of Apple's iPhone 3G in Taiwan, the company said in a statement Saturday. The popular smartphone will be available by the end of next month.

The company indicated that it will be part of the third round of Apple's global iPhone 3G rollout.

Apple in late August concluded the second phase by adding 21 new countries to the iPhone 3G fold, including Argentina, Estonia, Slovakia and Uruguay.

The third round could include China.

Taiwanese mobile phone service providers never launched the original iPhone because a Chinese language input system for the device had not yet been developed. Two Taiwanese executives at the time said the iPhone would launch in China first because the Chinese language input system, Pinyin, would be finished before the one for Taiwan, Zhuyin (Bopomofo).

They said Apple was more interested in China for its much larger market, so the company was putting more resources into finishing the Pinyin input system first.

The announcement of the iPhone 3G in Taiwan means the Chinese language systems for both the China version and Taiwan version are likely finished.

There have been other signs an iPhone 3G deal may be nearing completion in China.

A few Web sites that closely track Apple said the company posted a job listing for an iPhone quality assurance engineer in Beijing.

But the link they supply to Apple's Web site goes to a page that says, 'This job is no longer posted.'

A Chinese language input system makes a big difference to operators in Chinese speaking nations.

The company that launched the BlackBerry in Taiwan last year blamed slow sales on a lack of Chinese (Zhuyin) input software. Executives at Taiwan Mobile said it could have sold three times as many of the handsets had they come with a Chinese input system.

Small Businesses to ISPs: Deliver or We'll Switch

72 percent of businesses say they would change ISP if their Internet connection became unreliable. The independent research carried out by Shape the Future Limited on behalf of Zen Internet, the award winning ISP, surveyed over a 1,000 Small Medium Enterprises (SMEs) between September and October.

An important decisive factor for SMEs is the level of support provided by ISPs: 85 percent stated that the level of support was the most important criteria when choosing an ISP while the highest number of respondents, 80 per cent, considers UK based support to be very important. Some ISP providers have been criticised for taking telephone support overseas and cutting staffing costs.

Despite the concerns over poor service and reliability, the survey found businesses change ISP infrequently. Just over half of those asked, 55 per cent were happy with their current supplier and were unlikely to change, 68 per cent had not changed ISP in the last year and only 13 per cent are considering changing ISP at present.

When they do, it's mainly when there are issues with reliability, quality of service, cost or for higher speeds. It was found that 72 per cent of SMEs said they would change provider because of unreliable connection, but note only 40 per cent would change to save money.

98 per cent of SMEs consider reliable Internet access to be critical to the needs of their business. 71 per cent of SMEs thought it was important that their ISP was business orientated, as 80 per cent use the Web to locate suppliers and 76 per cent use it for purchasing activities.

Apple Launches Internal University

Apple Inc. has long been in the educational market, but now the educational market is working its way into Apple Inc.

The company has hired Joel Podolny to helm an internal "Apple University" program. Podolny was most recently the head of the Yale School of Management (note that his bio had him there until October). Before that, he was at the Harvard Business School and taught sociology to the larger Harvard population; and even earlier, he taught at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, so there's a connection to the greater Cupertino area.

Apple is being tight-lipped about the what, where, who (aside from Podolny), why, and so on of its new University program. All an Apple representative would say is that the company is "thrilled that he's joining our team to lead an exciting new project." But similar in-house learning institutions have long been in place at corporations such as McDonald's (Hamburger U.) and -- what a coincidence! -- Pixar Animation Studios. Pixar, you'll recall, was co-founded by Steve Jobs before his return to Apple as CEO.

Of course, MickeyD's and Pixar are vastly different companies in structure, product and staffing, and the two "university" programs at each company reflect that. The former focuses on management training and includes, admirably, a college degree program, while the Pixar operation offers courses focused on creative skills, allowing even bookkeepers to learn the theory and technical details involved in Pixar's style of filmmaking.

Since Apple isn't saying much about the content and goals of Apple U., I have to speculate a bit about what's up here. Stepping back from the specifics, it's important to note that Silicon Valley companies have often relied on employee churn: It's not uncommon for engineers, managers and workers at all levels to jump from company to company to educational institution and back to the original company. Rinse. Repeat. In fact, as evidence of that churn, Apple is now facing a lawsuit for hiring Mark Papermaster, a former vice president at IBM, and a judge has ordered that Papermaster not begin working at Apple until the fight is resolved. Perhaps the Apple U. project simply reflects bad economic times. Anyone paying attention of late knows the economy's headed down, IT spending is off, and a lot of tech workers are getting nervous. I'm no management expert, but maybe cutting staff and then having to hire new people when times improve isn't as cost-effective as training (or retraining) existing employees. Or maybe this is a bid to keep that employee churn to a minimum, the better to avoid watching all of that institutional knowledge constantly walking out the door. Or perhaps this is merely another, though oddly timed, Silicon Valley perk -- similar to a gourmet cafeteria or packs of roving massage therapists. (Note to self: Need to track down one of those.)

There doesn't seem to be a shortage of relevant new talent Apple could draw from, either in the industry or in the region -- hardware, software and tech service companies have cut loose thousands of workers -- and both the Pixar and McDonald's examples aren't about training people from scratch, either.

One thing those two have in common, though, is the goal of enhancing existing employees. There are examples of a PR assistant at Pixar taking in-house courses and moving to the 3-D rendering team, while at the same time retaining and expanding his share in the Pixar culture. And at Hamburger U, a promising line cook can get professional management training on his way to becoming a loyal -- and company-trained -- manager.

At Apple U, you may not see wholesale career changes, but it can't be a bad idea to have various teams learn more about what others do and why (though, one assumes, doing so without the potential security risks to Apple's famous industrial secrecy). After all, Apple is the exception in the PC industry in that it builds the whole widget, from motherboard designs to external casings to the OS to the final packaging.

Perhaps there's a simpler reason for the arrival of Apple U. Jobs has long relied on close, long-term connections up at -- well, near -- his rarefied level. You don't see annual shuffles at the senior VP level the way you do at some computers-as-commodity companies. Perhaps Apple U is being built as one way to keep familiar faces around even at lower corporate levels.

Dan Turner has been writing about science and technology for over a decade at publications, including Salon, eWeek , MacWeek andThe New York Times .

Hotmail Users Object to New Design

As Microsoft Corp. continues to roll out its redesigned Windows Live Hotmail, angry users are pushing back by complaining online that the new interface is a step backward and the Web-based e-mail service runs slower than before.

Most of the complaints stem from the revamped look and feel of Windows Live Hotmail, which Microsoft started to unveil Sept. 22. The new interface does away with what had been two options: the years-old "classic" interface and a newer "full" interface that was first offered in 2006. Instead, Microsoft tossed those choices in favor of an interface that merged elements of both, and that the company claimed was much faster to render in a browser.

Users weren't amused.

"It's a big step backwards," said a user identified as "Dave the Red" in a message from late October on a Microsoft support newsgroup. "I want my old Hotmail back!!"

"Don't like it!!! Don't like it!!! Don't like it!!!" added an anonymous user in a comment posted Thursday to a short Microsoft FAQ on the new interface. "Everything seems to take up more space on the page. I feel like I'm looking at a book in large print for old folks! Please put it back the way it was!"

Others commenting on the same blog were a lot more blunt. "The new version is the biggest bunch of s**t, ever. I can't do anything, I mean anything at all," said another unidentified user.

Although there were some positive comments on the Microsoft FAQ, they were greatly outnumbered by gripes. By Computerworld's count, only three of the 100 most-recent comments applauded the change. The FAQ has collected more than 850 comments so far.

Some users reported more serious problems than an awkward interface, claiming that they weren't able to read, delete or print messages; couldn't access some of their folders; and were unable to compose and send new messages. "Come on Microsoft! First Vista, now this!" ranted a user labeled as "Joey" in a message Thursday. "I've used Hotmail for 8 years and never experienced any problems till now," he added, then ticked off nine problems, ranging from fuzzy fonts and missing contacts.

Many of the users called for Microsoft to bring back the "classic" interface option, or asked where it had gone. "You have distroyed [sic] a perfectly good Hotmail!!!!" ranted another anonymous user. "Everything is so messed up that it is almost impossible to use. Give us back the Hotmail as it was."

Users also disputed Microsoft's claim that the new Hotmail was faster. Numerous comments added to the FAQ argued otherwise. "Much slower than the old," said "JackC" late Wednesday.

"This version is slower when opening mails," added another user earlier in the day.

Microsoft Friday defended the new interface, its performance claims, and the decision to ditch the "classic" and "full" mode options.

"When we originally rolled out the full version of Hotmail, we learned that much of the new technology we incorporated didn't perform well in narrowband markets, resulting in the re-release of the classic view," a company spokeswoman said in an e-mail. "However, with our new combined platform, we offer great performance in all markets by putting the best features from both versions in one well-designed platform. Because of these performance improvements, it is no longer necessary to offer the classic version."

But by the tone of users' reactions, Microsoft has made a big mistake. "Please put it back the way it was," begged an unidentified user commenting on the FAQ. "I use Hotmail for work and home, and it is now taking me twice as long and the end result is unsatisfactory. How long is it going to take to get this fixed and put it back the way it was?"

The ongoing rollout of the new interface will continue over the next few months, the Microsoft spokeswoman said.

Wii Speak Voice Chat Works With New Game

When Animal Crossing: City Folk launches for the Wii on November 16, the ballyhooed voice chat feature, provided by the Wii Speak microphone accessory, will be fully operational.

The Friend Code-protected voice chat feature works with Animal Crossing as an in-game service. It will also be available as an independent chat channel, that will be accessible through the Wii's main menu. Called the Wii Speak Channel, the service will be free to those who purchase the Animal Crossing/Wii Speak bundle, as well as to those who purchase the microphone separately.

The Wii Speak accessory is going to be sold separately for US$29.99, or in the aforementioned Animal Crossing bundle for $69.99. The Wii Speak accessory comes with a code that allows users to download the voice chat Channel for no additional charge.

The Wii Speak Channel will be available via the Wii Shop Channel in December, according to a Nintendo.

Nintendo is promising worldwide chat functionality with the Wii Speak Channel, so long as you get those Friend Codes buttoned up beforehand.