Windows 8 Consumer Preview first impressions: Still more for tablets than traditional PCs

I’ve had a chance to put the Windows 8 Consumer Preview through its paces, and it's clear that this is an operating system built more for tablets than for desktops and laptops. Although Metro and the Desktop are better integrated than in the Developer Preview, Windows 8 still feels as if it's two different operating systems bolted together.

As with the Developer Preview, in the Consumer Preview, all of Microsoft's creativity has been lavished on the Metro interface rather than the Desktop. You boot directly into Metro where you are greeted by nearly two dozen tiled apps that are "live" -- that is, they tie into the Internet to receive constant updates, such as changing stock prices, social networking updates, the weather, and so on.

In this Consumer Preview Microsoft has added a number of new apps, such as XBox Live, which lets you go through games you've played, make changes to your account, and even play games. There's also a Skydrive app, and several other new apps.

All in all, the Metro interface and its new apps is an impressive piece of work.That makes the Desktop all the more a letdown. Head to the Desktop and you find little more than a bare screen, lacking even the Start button. The Desktop is an afterthought, and so little work has been lavished on it, it's almost as if Microsoft is embarrassed by it and wishes it would simply go away.

Microsoft has put some work into better integrating Metro and the Desktop, and only partially succeeds. The Desktop runs as an app on the Metro interface, so click it to get to it. When you're in Metro, you can also press the Windows key and you're sent straight to the Desktop; when in the Desktop do the same and you're sent to Metro. You can also move your mouse to the lower-left corner of the screen, where the Start button used to be, and click the thumbnail that appears to switch between the two as well.

That's useful, but doesn't always work. If you're running a Metro app, pressing the Windows key brings you to Metro; pressing it again brings you to the app. So you won't get sent to the Desktop. The same thing holds for when you hover your mouse in the corner. So if you're in a Metro app, to get to the Desktop, you first switch to Metro, then click the Desktop app. That serves to make Metro and the Desktop feel even more like unconnected interfaces.

What Microsoft calls "charms" help tie together Metro and the Desktop, though. Move your mouse to the upper-right corner or lower-right corner of the screen, and several large icons move into place along the right side of the screen, one for searching, one for sharing, one for switching between the Desktop and Metro, one to change settings, and one to manage devices. That helps to bridge the two different interfaces, but at this stage of development, it simply doesn't feel like it's enough of a bridge to turn Windows 8 into a single, seamless interface.

Metro still takes center stage in the Consumer Preview, and although it works fine with a keyboard and mouse, it invites you to touch and has clearly been designed for touch...something you can't do on a traditional desktop or laptop. So it's clear that Windows 8 is aimed more at tablets than at your existing computer, with two somewhat separate operated systems bolted together.

Source: http://blogs.computerworld.com/19805/windows_8_consumer_preview_first_impressions_still_more_for_tablets_than_traditional_pcs
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Home | News £22 PC Raspberry Pi Launches, Crashes Retailer Site

Demand is high for the new programmable micro-PC endorsed by game development legend David Braben.

Revolutionary new programmable micro-PC Raspberry Pi is now available to buy with stock incoming from China - although retailer sites are struggling to cope with demand - the Raspberry Pi website has revealed.

"Although we are still waiting for units to arrive from China, you can start buying the Raspberry Pi today," reads the site.
"We have entered into licensed manufacture partnerships with two British companies, Premier Farnell and RS Components. They'll be manufacturing and distributing the devices on behalf of the Raspberry Pi Foundation, and handling the distribution of our first batches as they arrive in the country. The Foundation continues to make a small profit from each Raspberry Pi sold, which we'll be putting straight back into the charity."

The Raspberry Pi was developed by the Raspberry Pi Foundation which aims to "promote the study of computer science and related topics, especially at school level, and to put the fun back into learning computing."
The budget PC has the involvement of Elite creator and game development veteran David Braben as well as the endorsement of computer science campaigner and Eidos life-president Ian Livingstone.

The Raspberry Pi measures just 85mm by 54mm and is available in both Model A (£16) and Model B (£22) versions - the single-board device features HDMI, USB, Audio and SD card ports, with Model A featuring 128MB of RAM and the Model B upping that to 256MB and an ethernet port.

The Raspberry Pi can reportedly run Linux - as well as Quake 3 at 1080p and HD video.

"We are launching with Model Bs as there has been a much larger demand for them from the community," adds the site. "This first launch is aimed at software and hardware enthusiasts, makers, teachers and others who want to build exciting things with the Raspberry Pi before the official educational launch, which will happen later in 2012."

"This means that when we launch into the educational market, there will be an experienced community of people using and making things with the Raspberry Pi. Software will be more mature and free of obvious bugs, and easier for children and educators to use."

Source: http://www.nowgamer.com/news/1264384/22_pc_raspberry_pi_launches_crashes_retailer_site.html
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Citrix teams up with Dell to deliver VDI Appliance

Citrix Systems announced that it has teamed up with Dell to deliver a new VDI appliance that simplifies and accelerates desktop virtualization deployments for the mass market. As per the company’s media release, Dell DVS Simplified solution with Citrix VDI-in-a-Box is an easy, repeatable solution. The solution will be sold through Dell’s global sales team and channels, reaching millions of customers who want to take advantage of the significant business benefits that desktop virtualization offers, such as enhanced mobility and streamlined IT management.

Leveraging the all-in-one Citrix VDI-in-a-Box software, Dell and Citrix have created a simple integrated hardware VDI appliance that is pre-certified to support defined numbers of desktops. Based on the unique VDI-in-a-Box grid architecture running on Dell servers, the Dell DVS Simplified VDI appliance can be installed to create and rapidly scale a virtual desktop deployment in response to business needs, making VDI easily consumable by light IT organizations that may have previously lacked the resources and data center infrastructure needed for desktop virtualization.

The industry is moving rapidly from the PC era to the cloud era, and small and medium businesses want to capitalize on the business benefits of desktop virtualization, including driving efficiencies, enabling mobility and improving business continuity, but typically have much tighter budgets and far fewer resources. Citrix VDI-in-a-Box claims to address these needs head-on. Chris Wolf, Research VP, Gartner, said, “We have seen strong interest in virtual desktop technology among our client base. However, cost and complexity have been barriers to entry in certain use cases, namely with small businesses and branch office environments. Virtual desktop appliances represent an emerging virtual desktop solution that delivers desktop virtualization’s flexibility and TCO benefits at a reasonable cost and simplicity that many organizations demand.”

The VDI appliance is backed by a full Citrix Ready verified ecosystem, providing customers with workforce mobility solutions, supporting over one billion devices, including PCs, Macs, thin clients, tablets, smartphones, along with peripherals such as web cams, printers, mice and keyboards.

The VDI appliance works “out-of-the-box” with existing end-user technology. The VDI-in-a-Box design eliminates multiple moving parts that can potentially result in higher costs and complexity of infrastructure. “We are seeing tremendous customer and partner momentum with Citrix VDI-in-a-Box as SMBs and departments within enterprises seek to capitalize on the benefits of delivering IT services from the cloud by virtualizing desktops. Our relationship with Dell and the new integrated VDI appliance is aimed at making the transition to the cloud a no-brainer for our mutual customers, ultimately breaking down the barriers to VDI adoption for this very important customer segment through a repeatable, simple, affordable and predictable hardware VDI solution,” said Krishna Subramanian, Vice President, Marketing & Business Development, SMB Solutions, Citrix.

Source: http://www.informationweek.in/Virtualization/12-02-29/Citrix_teams_up_with_Dell_to_deliver_VDI_Appliance.aspx
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Backup Camera Rule With $2.7 Billion Cost Delayed Again by U.S.

A U.S. rule that may require all cars and light trucks sold in the country to have rear-view cameras won’t be issued by today’s deadline and may be delayed until after November’s presidential election, regulators said.

A 2008 auto-safety law signed by President George W. Bush mandated the Transportation Department to issue the requirement by the end of 2011. It’s now being pushed back a second time by Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood and will be issued by Dec. 31, the department said in an e-mailed statement yesterday.

“If we have a strong safety agenda, then we have to deal with the issue of people injuring or killing children as a result of backover accidents,” LaHood said yesterday in an interview. “We want to make sure we have a good rule.”

The proposed rule, estimated to cost $2.7 billion, was listed as one of the five most expensive pending U.S. regulations in an Aug. 30 letter President Barack Obama sent to House Republican leaders. Requiring backup cameras would add $58 to $203 to the cost of a vehicle, depending on the model and whether it already has a video screen, the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has said.

“While the department has made progress toward a final rule to improve rearward visibility, it has decided that further study and data analysis -- including of a wider range of vehicles and drivers -- is important to ensure the most protective and efficient rule possible,” the agency said in its statement.

Gentex Benefit

The rule may save about 146 lives a year by improving rear visibility of vehicles, NHTSA estimated in 2010 when it issued a proposed rule. While the law doesn’t explicitly require a rearview camera, no other technology currently meets the standard.

Back-over accidents cause 292 U.S. deaths annually, most frequently killing children and the elderly. At a cost of $2.7 billion a year for an annual fleet of 16.6 million, the regulator’s highest estimate, each life saved would cost $18.5 million.

The rule will benefit Gentex Corp., a maker of rearview mirrors that include camera displays, David Leiker, a Robert W. Baird & Co. analyst, said in a Dec. 28 report. Gentex, based in Zeeland, Michigan, may have revenue growth of as much as 20 percent on shipment growth of as much as 14 percent spanning three to four years, Leiker said in the report. He recommends buying Gentex shares.

The company, which reported $1.02 billion in revenue in the year that ended Sept. 30, competes against Magna International Inc. as well as makers of systems that display images from backup cameras in navigation systems.

Gentex rose 4.5 percent to $27.64 at yesterday’s close in New York. The shares have slid 6.6 percent this year.

Two Deaths

Fifty children are backed over each week on average, and two are killed, according to KidsAndCars.org, a Leawood, Kansas- based group that advocates a camera requirement. Seventy percent are backed over by a parent or other close relative, with 1- year-olds being the predominant age, according to the group’s data.

Automakers through the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, whose members include General Motors Co. and Toyota Motor Corp., criticized the proposal issued in December 2010, saying a single standard doesn’t make sense because bigger models have larger blind spots.

Backup cameras are standard on 45 percent of 2012-model vehicles sold in the U.S., according to data compiled by Edmunds.com, a Santa Monica, California-based website that tracks automotive sales.

Source: http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-02-29/backup-camera-rule-with-2-7-billion-cost-delayed-again-by-u-s-.html
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Asus peddles three-in-one smartphone, tablet, netbook

Asus has officially launched its anticipated Padfone at MWC 2012, the all-in-one smartphone, tablet and netbook it announced almost a year ago.
 
The phone itself features a 4.3in display with the choice of either 16GB or 32GB of storage. There's also an 8Mp camera and 1GB of memory, with the dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 processor powering Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, and not Nvidia's Tegra 3, as rumoured last year.

It's accessories that make the Padfone stand out, with the option to take the device into the tablet and netbook domains.

Dock the phone into the 10.1in Padfone Station and users not only have a tablet that extends battery power, but reconfigures the ICS platform for a larger screen at a resolution of 1280 x 800 pixels. It also shares data and 3G internet access over a single Sim, not unlike the Motorola Atrix and its Laptop Dock.

Add the optional keyboard dock and voila - you get a netbook as well.

The Asus Padfone will hit shelves this April. Prices have yet to be revealed. ®

Source: http://www.reghardware.com/2012/02/27/asus_unveils_three_in_one_padfone/
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Appliance Makers Surge on Policy Expectations: Shanghai Mover

Feb. 27 (Bloomberg) -- Hisense Electric Co. and Sichuan Changhong Electric Co. rose by the daily limit in Shanghai, leading gains by Chinese home appliance makers on speculation measures may be rolled out to bolster buying of electronics.

Shares of Hisense rose 10 percent as of the mid-day break in Shanghai to 19.68 yuan, the highest the stock has been since its listing in 1997. Sichuan Changhong climbed 10 percent to 2.72 yuan, the biggest gain since March 2011. China’s benchmark Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.7 percent.

Investors are anticipating the government will introduce measures that encourage purchases of home appliances after an earlier program giving shoppers as much as 400 yuan in subsidies ended Dec. 31, according to James Hu, an analyst at Capital Securities Corp. The earlier policies were issued in 2009 to bolster domestic consumption as the global financial crisis eroded demand for Chinese exports.

“It may come as early as the National People’s Congress next month,” Hu said by telephone from Shanghai, referring to the annual meeting of the nation’s legislature that’s scheduled to start Mar. 5 in Beijing.

China’s exports fell for the first time in more than two years in January as trade was disrupted by the weeklong Chinese New Year holiday and Europe’s debt crisis hurt demand.

Qingdao Haier Co., China’s largest home appliance maker, climbed as much as 6.3 percent in Shanghai. GD Midea Holding Co. gained as much as 5.5 percent in Shenzhen trading.

Source: http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-02-27/appliance-makers-surge-on-policy-expectations-shanghai-mover.html
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Investigating appliance fires takes sleuthing

The Sacramento Bee, a newspaper in California, published an article on Feb. 2 about the defects in appliances that can cause a fire. Much of what I am writing today comes with permission from Consumer Reports, which supplied the data used in this eye-opening story.

The Web site address www.SaferProducts.gov should be written in your personal directory because it may be of great help to you once you have read this column. This a Web site where you can go back years to check out the model number of your appliances and check to see if they were ever under a recall published by the Consumer Product Safety Commission, (CPSC).

In the past five years, more than 15 million appliance units have been recalled by the CPSC and manufacturers for defects that could cause a fire; 7.3 million (almost half) of the recalled units were dishwashers. Almost four of every five recalls in Consumer Reports' analysis involved products made outside of the U.S. with the majority coming from China. The biggest recall in Consumer Reports' analysis was for 2.5 million GE dishwashers in May 2007. In March 2009, 1.6 million Maytag refrigerators were recalled because of electrical failure in the relay, the component that turns on the compressor.

National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS) data from 2002-2009 showed more than 69,000 fires in which the appliance was the primary cause. Most incidents were attributed to ranges, followed by dryers, air conditioners, refrigerators and dishwashers.

Since March 2011, consumers have logged more than 850 instances of appliance fires on www.SaferProducts.gov, a site maintained by the CPSC that allows consumers to report product safety problems. The site has proved to be a useful forum for sharing safety concerns, but it has encountered resistance from companies that contend the information publicly posted is unverified. Consumers Union supports efforts to protect and promote the Web site as a way to publicly provide early warning of potential product problems. Consumers should be encouraged to share their experiences with unsafe products on the site to provide real-life experiences that can contribute to safety.

You will have to agree that the above information is all pretty good stuff and I urge you to pass it around. I have spent the past 30 years writing books, this column, and doing radio shows across this country and always in my own polite way trying to scare the pants off of home owners. I have such a passion for this subject as most service technicians carry the same feelings. Talk to any appliance repair guy or gal and they have seen so much in regards to appliance safety. Don't you ever think I have a great love for these manufacturers who I know could do so much more for the customer who purchases their product? I honestly think that appliance manufacturers don't have a clue what the words “quality control” means and if government put the same emphasis on them that they do on the automobile industry we would certainly have safer products in our homes.

Register new appliances: The large number of recalls is a sobering reminder of how important it is for consumers to register their products with manufacturers in order to be promptly notified in the event of a recall. Consumers concerned about their privacy or junk mail need only provide manufacturers with their name, contact information and the appliance model and serial number. I talk with thousands of homeowners every year and it still shocks me at how many people have plugged up vent lines on their clothes dryers. I will continue to scare every person I can in regards to the use of appliances and don't forget the Web site in this column. It could prove to be the most important address you have. Stay tuned.

Source: http://www.hometownlife.com/article/20120226/LIFE/202260388
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HTC bets on cameras, music to recover smartphone mojo

(Reuters) - Taiwan's HTC Corp, the world's No. 5 smartphone maker, launched a range of models on Sunday, packing advanced cameras and music functions into new designs in a push to recover from a rapid fall from grace in a challenging and fickle market.

The new phones, unveiled at the Barcelona Mobile World Congress, are crucial for HTC in its battle with Samsung Electronics and Apple Inc, a fight it was losing at the end of last year when its sales slumped and investors dumped its shares on concerns it had lost its edge.

That fall had been as rapid as HTC's rise from obscure contract maker to designer of must-have smartphones, and analysts said that its approach with the new devices represents a pragmatic choice for a company that lacks the resources of its big-pocketed rivals.

"HTC seems to have learned from mistakes it made in 2011," said Malik Saadi, Principal Analyst at Informa Telecoms & Media.

"The company aims now to concentrate on what they do best and have built their brand on: bringing innovation through design of premium devices rather than spreading efforts across all segments of the market."

The HTC One series consists of three models, the One X, One S and One V, running the latest version of Google's Android software.

The phones feature HTC's ImageSense camera technology that the company says offers photography on a par with traditional digital cameras, including fast autofocus and low-light shooting. They also have photo storage and sharing software.

The phones have fast processors for graphics and either polycarbonate or metal cases the company says are harder and more resilient than standard ones.

Music features include integrating Internet radio and using audio technology from Beats Electronics, which HTC bought last year, for games as well as music.

LOOKING OVER THEIR SHOULDERS

HTC said 144 mobile operators -- the widest carrier support for the firm so far -- have agreed to carry HTC One range models starting from April.

"The products look competitive, but HTC executives will be looking over their shoulders nervously to see how these new devices stack up against rival Android smartphones also being announced at the show," said Ben Wood, head of research at CCS Insight.

Analysts note however that, as most mobile vendors are building their phones around similar themes, making it harder to differentiate models, companies will need to look to software, innovation, distribution and building partnerships to stay ahead of the game.

"HTC's strategy to streamline its branding and to offer fewer, better-differentiated products is a reaction to both market forces and engineering necessity," said Tony Cripps, principal analyst at Ovum.

"Its decision to focus on perfecting core smartphone functionality around camera and music playback is an extremely pragmatic one."

HTC said earlier this month that it anticipated a drop in revenue of as much as 36 percent for the first quarter, well below analysts expectations.

The former contract maker had a fairytale ride in 2010 and early 2011, when its shares more than tripled in the 14 months to April 2011 and sales grew four-fold in 1- years as consumers snapped up its innovative phones with their distinctive large clock numerals.

But an equally rapid fall from grace saw its stock become the worst performer among global smartphone companies last year, down 42 percent.

Source: http://uk.reuters.com/article/2012/02/27/us-mobile-fair-htc-idUKTRE81P0R320120227
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CCTV cameras in the street - are they a good or ban investment?

"The cameras are there for a reason, as long as they are doing their job in cutting down crime then I have no issue with Leicester having the highest number of CCTV cameras in the country."

Gurmeer Singh, 21 Retail manager, Evington

"The cameras crack down on crime, littering and what the blind eye doesn't see. CCTV will pick it up straight away."

Mark Sawbridge, 39 Sales supervisor, Hamilton

"CCTV is good for everyone. People can't hide and if it makes Leicester safer, then that's the most important thing."

Elizabeth Roff, 69 Retired, Leicester

"When they first came out I wasn't that keen on them, but since then CCTV has proved its worth and it helps police prevent crime."

Beryl Scott, 76 Retired, Houghton on the Hill

"I have nothing against them – it's a shame we need monitoring but if you have nothing to worry about then there should be no problem with CCTV cameras at all."

Tom Ishmael, 18 Unemployed, Anstey

"I hate them, it's a violation of our human rights and I don't believe it stops crime."

Melody Catley, 21 Student, Leicester

"It not only prevents crime but can also aid in the prevention of accidents too, which is definitely beneficial to Leicester as a whole."

Hannah Nuttall, 21 Student, Leicester

"If you're not doing anything wrong and abide by the law, then why should people have a problem with CCTV cameras?"

Akila Jussab, 48 House husband, Highfields

"CCTV cameras are good in many ways. They are useful to the police and protect the community from car theft and vandalism too."

Rajen Tank, 40 Civil servant, Birstall

"I feel that the cameras have not been maximised to their full potential. They do a good job but don't seem to provide clear enough images to acquire evidence."

Yemi Adevinto, 37 Psychologist, Hamilton

"I was a bit taken aback when I heard Leicester had the most CCTV cameras in the country, but I think it not only creates a deterrent for criminal behaviour but also helps police in investigating crime and searching for missing people."

John Jude Wong, 25 Student, Leicester

"I think it's brilliant that Leicester has the most cameras. If we have the most it can only be in our best interests, we choose to live in a safe society and it's the way we have developed."

Lauren Harris, 22 Student, Leicester

"I think there are many things that would have benefited better from all the money spent on CCTV cameras, such as community projects to get kids off the streets."

Jane Hill, 65 Market trader, Leicester

"I don't feel crime is any less because of the CCTV cameras as there are still lots of shoplifters that get away with crime because of a camera that's not facing the right way at that moment in time."

Rachel James, 19 Sales assistant, Leicester

"I was attacked outside MunchBunch near the Haymarket. I went straight to the police after it had happened and no footage was captured – it upsets me that people can get away with actions like these."

Source: http://www.thisisleicestershire.co.uk/Big-Brother-s-watching-closely-ndash-care/story-15291844-detail/story.html
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HP cuts outlook as PC unit takes hit

HP cuts its outlook for the second quarter as its personal systems group suffered. CEO Meg Whitman said that the company was "taking the necessary steps to improve execution", in a statement.

The company reported first quarter earnings of US$1.5 billion, or 73 cents a share, on revenue of US$30 billion, down 7 percent from a year ago. Non-GAAP earnings were 92 cents a share. Wall Street was expecting HP to report first quarter earnings of 87 cents a share on revenue of US$30.67 billion.

HP's second quarter outlook was weaker than expected. HP said that second quarter non-GAAP earnings will be 88 cents a share to 91 cents a share. Wall Street was looking for earnings of 95 cents a share. HP said GAAP earnings will be 68 cents a share to 71 cents a share.

HP said that it still thinks it can hit its fiscal 2012 target of non-GAAP earnings of US$4 a share.

According to HP, the company saw first quarter revenue slide in multiple regions. In the Americas, first quarter revenue fell 9 percent to US$13.2 billion. Europe, Middle East and Africa sales fell 4 percent from a year ago to US$11.7 billion. Asia Pacific revenue in the first quarter fell 10 percent to US$5.2 billion. International revenue represented 66 percent of HP's total revenue.

On a conference call with analysts, Whitman said that HP was hit by an ongoing hard drive shortage as well as currency fluctuations in Japan.

Whitman added that "we are still experiencing a weak consumer market and those that are investing cautiously."

She said that HP would focus on investing in innovation, executing better and a "multi-year journey" to fix the business. "It took a while for us to get into this and it will take a while for us to get out," said Whitman.

By unit, HP took hits across the board. HP's enterprise server and networking, printing and personal systems group suffered. PC unit shipments fell 18 percent in the fiscal first quarter. Consumer PC sales fell 25 percent and commercial revenue fell 7 percent.

The bright spots included services revenue which was up 1 percent, and software revenue which was up 30 percent in the first quarter from a year ago.

Source: http://www.zdnetasia.com/hp-cuts-outlook-as-pc-unit-takes-hit-62303974.htm
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The tablet or the laptop?

Mobile devices have had a good run lately. First there was news that more wireless devices are being used in the United States than there are people to use them. Then we learned that accessing the Internet by mobile device doubled in 2011. Now we have the prediction that tablet sales will approach 500 million per year by 2015.

This, of course, is bad news for traditional PCs — desktop and laptop computers alike — that also officially will fall behind tablets in sales by 2015, according to projections from Business Insider Intelligence, an Internet industry research firm.

Alex Cocotas, a BI Intelligence research analyst, went so far as to declare that "the post-PC era has arrived." That's clear at home, where reading a book, checking your email and finding recipes has become a far more fluid activity on a tablet than a PC. But how that impacts business travelers — for whom laptops are only slightly less essential than oxygen — is to be seen.

Apple said last year that more than 90 percent of Fortune 500 companies are testing or using iPads and iPhones. But don't expect laptops to disappear any time soon, especially among business travelers, Cocotas said. The following discussion was edited from a longer conversation.

Q: Does the "post-PC era" mean the end of the laptop for business travelers?

A: The main knock on the tablet has been that it is a leisure device, and for business travelers, how useful it is depends on your needs. If you're trying to run programs running a lot of data, a laptop is still the perfect device. Tablets are great but not suited to that kind of work.

Q: Is the issue simply hard-drive size and the fact that tablets are rarely (if ever) larger than 64 gigabytes? Can they catch up?

A: Tablets don't have as much memory as laptops, but also the number of shortcuts and functional features make using and searching large data sets quicker on laptops. It's tough to say if that will ever come to tablets, but I imagine storage and battery life are two things they're working on.

Q: So where will tablets make inroads over laptops among business travelers?

A: We'll see a lot more customized tablets with customized apps, like product or inventory information unique to particular companies. You can really use tablets in any number of ways. That's one of the exciting things about them.

Q: How big is the role of smartphones for business travelers in the "post-PC era?"

A: Huge. People are increasingly using smartphones over computers. Every business traveler has a smartphone, which most people really use as a mobile email device more than anything. It has become a cliche to see a business traveler walking through the airport, looking at their phones. You certainly see that much more than them looking at laptops in the airport lounge.

Source: http://www.baltimoresun.com/travel/sc-trav-0221-business-class-20120221,0,7742450.story
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Dell misses estimates amid sluggish PC sales

Dell Inc. forecast fiscal first-quarter revenue that missed analysts’ estimates as lackluster demand from consumers and governments eroded growth at the world’s third-largest maker of personal computers.
Revenue for the period ending in April will decrease 7 percent to $14.9 billion, Round Rock, Texas-based Dell said today in a statement. That missed the average $15.1 billion estimate of analysts, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The shares fell in late trading after the report was released.

The sluggish sales -- coupled with shrinking profit last quarter -- have raised concerns about Dell’s comeback plan, which has relied on streamlining operations to boost earnings. After an almost 25 percent gain in Dell’s shares this year, some investors may have been overly optimistic about the company’s ability to turn around its operations, said Brian Marshall, an analyst at ISI Group Inc. in San Francisco.

“The ship is so big that to move the needle is a herculean feat,” said Marshall, who has a “neutral” rating on the shares. “Expectations are way too high.”

Dell declined as much as 5 percent to $17.30 in extended trading. Until now, the stock has outperformed the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index, which has climbed 8.3 percent this year.

Fourth-quarter net income declined 18 percent to $764 million, or 43 cents a share, from $927 million, or 48 cents, a year earlier. Sales rose 2 percent to $16 billion, in line with analysts’ estimates. Excluding some items, earnings will be at least $2.13 a share this fiscal year, Dell said.

Sales in the consumer division fell 2 percent last quarter, evidence that Apple Inc. is winning over buyers with its Mac and iPad devices. Revenue in the business that caters to governments slipped 1 percent amid “weakness” in purchasing by U.S. federal agencies and governments in Western Europe, Dell said.

“When do we see revenue growth for the company start to show up?” said Abhey Lamba, an analyst at Mizuho Securities USA Inc. in New York, who initiated coverage of Dell this month with a “buy” rating. “They’ve been able to grow earnings because of cost management and supply-chain improvements. But you can do that for only so long. At a certain point, revenue needs to start growing or else earnings will come down.”

Tight Purse Strings

Dell is suffering from competition with Apple at the high end of the market and Lenovo Group Inc. and Acer Inc. at the low end, Shaw Wu, an analyst at Sterne Agee & Leach Inc., wrote in a research note earlier this month.

Consumers are keeping their wallets closed as they cope with a slow economic recovery, and some are opting for iPads instead of traditional notebook computers. U.S. PC shipments declined 4.9 percent last year, the worst performance since 2001, according to research firm IDC.

In addition, last year’s flooding in Thailand crimped disk-drive production. The supply disruption will continue into the quarter that ends in October, the company said.

Microsoft Corp.’s Windows 8 operating system, due later this year, may provide a lift to consumer PC sales, Chief Executive Officer Michael Dell said today on a conference call with analysts. It also will entice business customers that want to buy tablets running Windows, he said. Until now, most tablets have run software from Apple or Google Inc.

“With Windows 8, there’s great excitement in the corporate space for us,” Dell said. “There’s pretty strong appetite for Windows 8 tablets in the enterprise.”

Dell also is selling more of its own data-storage and networking gear, instead of relying on products made by such companies as EMC Corp. Business computing demand is “pretty strong,” Chief Financial Officer Brian Gladden said in an interview. Sales to large corporations rose 5 percent last quarter, while the unit that sells to small and midsize businesses got a 6 percent boost, the company said.

Dell and rival Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ) are counting on sales of thin, lightweight laptops called “ultrabooks” to spur sales. Dell’s new ultrabook, called the XPS 13, starts at $999. It’s made of aluminum, carbon fiber and glass, sports a 13.3-inch screen, and will go on sale later this month.

Dell also is diversifying beyond PCs. It bought computer networking company Force 10 Networks Inc. last August for an undisclosed price and storage maker Compellent Technologies a year ago for about $856 million. On Feb. 2, it hired former CA Inc. CEO John Swainson to head a new software group.

Dell may be scouting for a software acquisition worth $1 billion to $3 billion, said Peter Misek, an analyst at Jefferies& Co. Misek has a “hold” rating on Dell shares.

Computer and data-management software makers Quest Software Inc. and CommVault Systems Inc. are possible targets, he said. BMC Software Inc., which makes tools to manage servers, may be too large, considering its $6.4 billion market value.

Dell plans to hold a Feb. 27 event in San Francisco with Michael Dell to discuss its data-center products. The company will continue to acquire software companies, he said today on the conference call.

“There’s significant opportunity for us to build a big business here,” he said. (Bloomberg)

Source: http://www.koreaherald.com/national/Detail.jsp?newsMLId=20120222000839
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Install an Old Laptop Hard Drive in Your Desktop

You might need an adapter or two, but it is possible to recycle those old platters.

PC World - Reader Fred wants to know if a laptop hard drive can be plugged into a desktop PC. "The pin out appears to be the same," he notes, "but there is no separate power-supply connector."

Short answer: yes. Long answer: it depends on a few things. For starters, Fred, you neglected to tell me what kind of drive it is--IDE or SATA--or what kinds of drive(s) you have in your desktop.

However, you did give me a clue. Because there's "no separate power-supply connector," that means it's most likely a 2.5-inch IDE drive. (Newer SATA drives for laptops have the same interface and power connectors as their larger desktop counterparts.)

If I'm right, you can use your laptop drive inside your desktop--but you'll need an adapter. Fortunately, they're cheap; Newegg, for example, has the Rosewill RCW-616 Laptop 2.5" to Desktop 3.5" IDE Hard Drive Adapter Converter for just $4.99 shipped. It includes the necessary Molex adapter for connecting to your desktop power supply.

However, your desktop might not have a drive bay that can accommodate a 2.5-inch drive. If that's the case, there are adapters available.

On the other hand, consider an easier and more versatile solution: an enclosure that turns your old internal laptop drive into an external USB drive. That not only saves you from having to tinker around inside your desktop, but also gives you a drive you can easily use with multiple PCs.

Source: http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9224425/Install_an_Old_Laptop_Hard_Drive_in_Your_Desktop
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Android tablets are doomed without a single OS version

Summary: A lot of ink has been spilled decrying the Android fragmentation problem, and while the smartphone space is surviving in spite of it the tablet space will not.

This weekend has been an Android tablet weekend. I’ve been updating all the tablets I have, both OS and app updates. I like doing it as it is fun to get under the hood with Android and tinker. All of this updating has driven one point home that Google hasn’t understood yet — until there is one OS version on all Android tablets they will never compete well.

The tablets I have are varied, yet have something in common that is giving me fits. All but one of them is running Android 2.3 (Gingerbread), which is not even an official tablet OS version according to Google. The one exception, the Galaxy Tab 10.1, is officially running Honeycomb, a “real” tablet OS. The latest version of Android, Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS), has been out for a few months and there are even apps appearing that require it, but it is only available on one or two tablets.

That is a huge problem for Android tablets in the marketplace — it’s bad enough to not have the latest OS version but with tablet apps now requiring the latest version that no one has it is a deal-breaker. Google likes to spout an insane number of apps in the Android Market that are optimized for the tablet, but the fact is very few tablets in customers’ hands can even install them. Tablet apps require Honeycomb or later to install, and the vast majority of tablets sold (thanks to the Kindle Fire) are running a non-tablet version, Gingerbread.

Pre-Honeycomb tablets are restricted to running phone apps blown up to fit the tablet screen. Apps actually written for tablet use require Honeycomb at least, so only a fraction of tablets sold can even run them. Now apps are appearing that require ICS, Google’s own Chrome browser is at the top of the list, and those can run on maybe a few customer’s tablets.

The system has evolved so that most tablets sold cannot run tablet apps. That makes no sense on any level, but it is the way things have been allowed to happen. Now Honeycomb tablets cannot run the best tablet apps, even though they are genuine tablets. Android tablet owners have everything stacked against them at every turn, and Google is firmly to blame for that situation.

The real group impacted by this tablet OS situation is the app developers. They are expected to write tablet apps for the platform with few tablet owners able to run them. Now they are dependent on only the latest version of Android to take advantage of the platform, aka Google Chrome, and yet they can’t expect much return due to the lack of tablets in the market that can even run those apps.

Owners can take matters into their own hands and root their tablet and put an unsupported ROM onboard. I’ve done that with my Galaxy Tab 10.1 to get ICS installed so I can run Google Chrome. That’s not the way it should work, however, and why Android will never aggressively compete in the tablet space. While the smartphone space can survive the fragmentation issue, tablets cannot.

Even Microsoft understands that a single tablet platform is required to have a chance in the market, and while I’m not sure it will compete well I respect its approach. Android on tablets is floundering, however, and will continue to do so until Google gets a single tablet OS version on all tablets sold.

Source: http://www.zdnet.com/blog/mobile-news/android-tablets-are-doomed-without-a-single-os-version/6860
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Traffic cameras protect privacy by not showing victims

Q: I just wanted to write to you because I have a few questions regarding the online "traffic cams" around the Capital District.

Question No. 1: Why is it that every time there is a traffic accident on, say, the Northway or 787, when I try to view the camera nearest the accident, almost without fail that particular camera feed says: "Camera Temporarily Unavailable?" Is it that the DOT or whoever controls the cameras is trying to protect us from seeing the "carnage" on our Capital District highways? (I'm half-joking with this question, of course.) However, on numerous occasions, for example, I'd be listening to a radio or TV traffic report, and then immediately I'd check the camera closest to that incident, but the "Camera Temporarily Unavailable" picture is shown. What gives here?

Question No. 2: In most other metropolitan cities such as Philadelphia, NYC, etc ... the Internet traffic cams show real-time streaming (or close to real-time) video of the traffic cam feeds. However, here in the Capital District, we only get one still image every few minutes. Why is this the case? On local TV stations they show streaming video from those exact same traffic cam feeds; why do all the Internet feeds only show a still picture? This just doesn't make any sense to me.

Question No. 3: Why are there no traffic cams between exits 23 and 24 of the Thruway? I should hope that with the new widening of the Thruway to six lanes, that cameras will be installed near the more heavily traveled sections, such as near the Delaware Avenue overpass or at the overpass of Route 85.

— Anthony B. Martino, Cohoes

A: We'll tackle your questions as you asked them, one at a time.

As to the first question, the camera angles may change for police purposes or to protect privacy.

"Typically, during an incident involving an accident our camera operators will work with State Police to determine the severity of the accident and to evaluate if injuries are present," she said. "This may involve moving the camera from its wide-angle view and zooming in close to the accident scene. Operators may at this point restrict the camera to the NYSDOT 511 website because they are prohibited from transmitting any personal identifier information. For privacy reasons, traffic cameras cannot show images that: identify an individual, driver or passenger; identify license plates of vehicles; identify contents of the enclosed interior of passenger vehicles; or track the individual travel pattern of a specific vehicle."

Once an assessment has been made, Breen said, the camera operator will zoom back out to the original wide angle view so no identifying information can be seen. The image would then return to unrestricted.

"If an image is deemed disturbing, or inappropriate for public view, the camera image will be restricted until the incident is cleared," she said.

R.W. Groneman, spokesman for the Thruway Authority, agreed the main purpose of the camera is not for public consumption.

"The reason we put the cameras up is for traffic control and management," he said.

The camera shots are provided on the web as a public benefit, he said, but the chosen angles and views are meant to help control traffic. The views shown are for the benefit of traffic engineers and may differ from what the public might want to see at any moment.

As for your second question, Breen said, the reason for the still images on the 511 site is that the technology is old.

"The video system for the Capital Region was first installed more than a decade ago before many of the advances in streaming video were available," she said. "Recently, we have upgraded the roadside traffic system with fiber-optic cabling and network cameras, reducing maintenance costs and increasing stability. An added advantage has been high-quality video that is easily delivered to local TV stations on their video network. Getting video to the 511 system on the NYSDOT network is a bit more complex due to information security concerns. We are reviewing the 511 feeds as part of our total system upgrade, and plan a system update later this year."

And to answer your final question, Groneman said a new camera will be added on the Thruway.

"As part of the reconstruction of the Thruway between Exit 23 and Exit 24 in Albany, a new traffic camera will be installed near the Delaware Avenue overpass," he said. "It should be operational in the near future."

Source: http://www.timesunion.com/local/article/Traffic-cameras-protect-privacy-by-not-showing-3343201.php
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Recycling bin for electrical appliances in Southwark Bridge Road

A new recycling bin for small electrical appliances such as hairdryers and irons has been installed outside Mint Street Park by Southwark Council and Veolia Environmental Services.

Southwark's waste contractor Veolia this week announced that it has placed six banks for waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) across the borough.

WEEE banks will accept all small handheld electrical items that are no longer wanted or are broken and not operational. Accepted items include handheld electrical tools, radios, hair dryers, kettles, computer keyboards, small laptops and mobile phones.

The Mint Street Park recycling bank is located on Southwark Bridge Road opposite the Great Guildford Street junction (close to the Welsh Chapel).

The other five Southwark WEE banks can be found at Peckham Rye Park, Bel Air Park, Surrey Quays Shopping Centre, Camberwell Green and Sainsbury's at Dog Kennel Hill.

The new bin at Southwark Bridge Road is the second such WEEE bank in SE1: a similar recycling bin was installed in Baylis Road at Waterloo by Veolia and Lambeth Council last spring.

Source: http://www.london-se1.co.uk/news/view/5835
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Smart Appliances Closer to Reality

By now, most of us have heard all about the possibilities of smart appliances. A refrigerator that checks your expiration dates. A washer that emails your serviceman the second it detects a malfunction. A dishwasher that only runs when electricity is at its cheapest.

But like the closely-linked market for home energy management systems, the smart appliances market has, so far, failed to take off in the manner many originally anticipated. Many products are still involved in small pilots and have failed to hit retail outlets in any large number.

However, according to a report released this week from ABI Research, www.abiresearch.com, shipments of smart appliances will soon begin to pick up and exceed 24 million units by 2017.

With smart meter deployment growing apace, energy costs following a seemingly upward trajectory, and progress made on improving interoperability of all aspects of the smart grid, ABI says it is only a matter of time before shipments gather momentum.

The number of major appliance manufacturers that have used recent trade shows as launch pads for new products is a good sign that the market may soon see substantial growth. At this year’s CES, LG Electronics, www.lg.com, unveiled a new series of smart appliances, including a smart refrigerator, oven, washing machine, and vacuum cleaner. Samsung also showed updated apps for its connected refrigerator and unveiled its Wi-Fi-enabled WF457 washer.

Last month, GE Appliances, www.geappliances.com, announced the launch of a two-year smart grid pilot with and Flint Energies, www.flintenergies.com, based out of Georgia. The goal of the pilot is to understand the potential for GE's line of networked appliances, which use the appliance maker’s Brillion communication technology.

Other big name appliance makers BSH, www.bsh-group.us, Miele, www.miele.com, and Electrolux, www.electrolux.com, have also unveiled one or more smart products. Whirlpool, www.whirlpool.com, announced in January that throughout the next 18 months, it plans to launch a connected refrigerator, dishwasher, washer, and dryer.

And while the smart appliance market seems to being forward, ABI expects high prices to remain a barrier, at least for the short term. The research firm says it will likely take a couple of years for ultra-premium price tags to erode and for dynamic pricing structures to become more widely implemented in order to titillate consumer demand.

Source: http://www.connectedworldmag.com/latestNews.aspx?id=NEWS120216074006197
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Rugged laptop computer makers take aim at unique demands of battlefield computing

PRODUCT INTELLIGENCE, 16 Feb. 2012. Demands are high on rugged laptop computer technology for military applications. On the network-centric battlefields of today, users rely on rugged laptops to deliver and process mission-critical information quickly. New applications are being designed as soldiers, sailors, and airmen carry these rugged computers on the front lines to provide intelligence and ever-increasing functionality for warfighters.

Of course, the first thing military customers want from their rugged laptops is right in the name: ruggedness. “The most important aspect is that rugged laptops do exactly what they say they do; the term rugged gets thrown around a lot, says Tim Collins, director of federal defense & intelligence at Panasonic Solutions Co. in Secaucus, N.J.

When the information being sent and received from a laptop can save lives, system failure is not an option, despite the many threats to laptop computer reliability in the field. Dust and water particles can enter a system and prevent pieces from working properly. Laptops can be dropped, or suffer through heavy vibrations while on an airplane or helicopter. The companies that design these products have been working to keep up with these threats.

“A lot of improvements are around materials management, improving the durability and survivability of the system; how can we look at the way the plastics are designed to absorb more impact?” explains Joe Trickey, rugged mobility and digital forensics marketing manager at Dell Inc. in Round Rock, Texas. Manufacturers are creating new materials and improved casings constantly to shield laptops from complete submersion in water, physically jarring drops, and hostile-environment conditions.

Ruggedness isn’t the only hardware advancement expected for rugged laptops. "I think the next thing you're going to see is going to be twofold, probably in the glass -- active touch screen and resistant touch through gloves, multi-touch technology," says Dell’s Trickey. Innovations in the glass also will facilitate affordable laptop displays that are outdoor- and sunlight-readable, or even readable through night-vision goggles.

In addition to hardware improvements, new applications are being designed to provide more utility to warfighters. A recent example is the Biometric Automated Toolset (BATS) that scans fingerprints and documents at military checkpoints to keep IDs on suspects and keep track of movement. Panasonic’s Collins describes the BATS as “One of the greatest non-invasive tools available to warfighters.”

With the constant advances in rugged laptop technology, there are many possibilities buzzing about. "Once you have the platform as a base, there is a solutions capability that you can now evolve upon,” Dell’s Trickey says. "Mobile digital forensics product that allows the warfighter to go into an enemy combat situation and retrieve enemy hard drives off notebooks, memory sticks, cell phones or cameras. Using that rugged notebook and giving it to military collections teams in the field provides a great benefit that now gives them things that they need to do to extract information and support the overall mission."

The rugged laptop seems to have found its niche in high-performance tasks that also require high mobility. "I think you're probably going to see the rugged laptop will always have its place in a vehicle or tactical environment," Dell’s Trickey says. "The individual warfighters aren't going to need as much, so they may use a slate." Laptops will have a use by performing the heavy lifting, such as the applications mentioned earlier, that needs to be done less frequently.

Rugged laptops look like they’re here to stay, and will continue evolving to fit the warfighter’s needs. Panasonic’s Collins explains the industry’s outlook on the future, "You just don't know where the next theater will take place, but we will be designing for that environment.”

Source: http://www.militaryaerospace.com/articles/2012/02/rugged-laptop-computer-makers-take-aim-at-unique-demands-military-users-on-the-battlefield.html
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Review Now that everyone and their dog has or wants a smartphone or tablet, the recent drop in netbook sales can hardly be a surprise. Yet does this mean there is no space for a small, cheap laptop? Of course not and HP’s recently refreshed Pavilion dm1 is a fine example of why I hope the breed never dies.

Down from a RRP of £549, HP’s on-line store asks for a perfectly reasonably £350 and in return you get a smart little machine with an 11.6in 1366 x 768 screen. It features proper graphics card that can easily handle 1080p video, a spacious and solid if unlit chiclet keyboard, Gigabit Ethernet and an full-sized HDMI port.

Eschewing the wholly plastic construction of many netbooks, HP has gone for a metal banding around the Pavilion dm1 which helps make the body and everything else – the lid, the keyboard, the nicely responsive trackpad – feel reassuringly solid.

At 1.5Kg and 292mm x 215mm, the Pavilion dm1 is petite enough to go into even the smallest rucksack without a problem. Admittedly, 32mm is twice the thickness of some Ultrabooks, but I’ll happily forgo the difference in order to get a decent selection of ports and a profile I can hold onto with a human hand.

Driving everything is the latest version of AMD’s E-series Fusion APU which pairs the E450 1.65GHz dual-core chip with an AMD Radeon HD6320M graphics card. This combo supports 1333MHz rather than just 1066MHz DDR3 memory on the slower and older E350 chip.

It’s a marriage that delivers the sort of performance Intel Atom netbooks can only dream about. For the sake of comparison with Windows Starter-running netbooks, I ran the PCMark05 benchmark test and got a score of 3,320 which is nearly double the best score I have ever seen from an Atom netbook.



Source: http://www.reghardware.com/2012/02/15/review_hp_pavilion_dm1_4125ea_amd_cpu_netbook/
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Apple CEO Cook Says iPad, Tablets Will Outsell PCs

Apple CEO Tim Cook believes that tablets such as the iPad will outsell PCs in the coming years thanks to the explosive popularity of one-panel slates as well as innovation from tablet makers and app developers. "From the first day [the iPad] shipped, we thought that the tablet market would become larger than the PC market," Cook said Tuesday during the Goldman Sachs Technology and Internet Conference in San Francisco. "I feel that stronger today than I did then."

Following its 2010 launch, the iPad quickly became one of Apple's most popular products, outselling the Mac in nearly every quarter, and, since mid-2010, even the iPod. More than 55 million Apple tablets have been sold to date. "This 55 million is something no one would have guessed, including us," Cook said, noting that it took the iPhone three years to sell 55 million, while the iPad did it in less than two. "It's on a trajectory that's off the charts."

All about innovation
But sales are only half the picture, Apple's chief also pointed to the innovation surrounding tablet hardware and the excitement among developers to build new apps for the devices as a big driver for the tablet's success. "If we had a meeting today in this hotel and we invited everybody that's working on the coolest PC apps to come to the meeting, you might not find anybody in the meeting,” Cook said. “But if you did that same thing for iOS or that other operating system [Android] ... you couldn't get everybody in this hotel ... that's where the innovation is."

But don't peg Cook as someone who thinks the PC is on its way to the grave. Apple's chief believes there's still life left in desktop and laptop PCs, but the rise of one-panel touch tablets will eventually push the PC off its perch as most people's go-to computing device.

Of course, the end of the PC era is an argument you'd expect to hear from Apple, since its dominant position among tablet makers would make the company a big winner in the so-called post-PC era. But it's not just Apple that believes the importance of the PC is waning. Market research firm IDC in September predicted that by 2015 the majority of U.S. Internet users would get online from smartphones and tablets instead of PCs. Gartner, another research firm, predicts that over the next five to 10 years PCs will incorporate tablet-like features to stay relevant. To a certain extent this is already happening thanks to Intel's Ultrabook effort with devices such as the Asus Zenbook and the popularity of Apple's MacBook Air lineup.

Cook's comments come just a few weeks before Apple is rumored to be unveiling the third iteration of the iPad on March 7. The next iPad is expected to have a faster processor and higher-resolution screen.

Source: http://www.pcworld.com/article/250008/apple_ceo_cook_says_ipad_tablets_will_outsell_pcs.html
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Acer Aspire One D270 netbook arrives with 32nm Intel Atom CPU

Intel's making so much noise about Ultrabooks that the company's 32nm Atom refresh for low-cost netbooks almost went unnoticed.

But here we are in the first quarter of 2012 and netbooks are continuing to trickle out, and they're doing so with new CPUs at the helm. We've seen HP get the ball rolling with the Mini 1104, and now Acer is getting in on the act with the Aspire One D270.

We appreciated what the Aspire One D260 had to offer back in 2010, but the upgraded model pictured above arrives with an Intel Atom N2600 processor acting as the new brains of the operation.

The dual-core, four-thread Atom chip, part of Intel's latest Cedar Trail architecture, operates at 1.6GHz while keeping within a 3.5W TDP. Users shouldn't expect any significant increase in terms of CPU performance, but the shift to a 32nm process and improved power-saving features should result in greater battery life.

Graphics are provided by the chip's integrated Intel GMA 3600 processor - which itself is said to offer a 2x performance boost over the previous generation, as well as a built-in hardware-accelerated decoder that enables full-HD video playback.

Ideal for entry-level computing? Perhaps, and Acer's system attempts to meet those simple needs with a 10.1in display that offers a basic 1,024x600 resolution, a couple of USB ports, HDMI output, integrated webcam, 1GB of memory and a 320GB hard disk.

The quoted eight hours of battery life sounds promising, and if the US pre-order price of $280 really does translate to £215 inc. VAT, then the Aspire One D270 could become interesting as a highly-portable companion that isn't as limited as a tablet.

Source: http://hexus.net/tech/news/laptop/35165-acer-aspire-one-d270-netbook-arrives-32nm-intel-atom-cpu/
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Laptop-shooting dad is no role model

Is pistol-packin’ pop a poor parent or a hero? (Feb. 13)

This article is disturbing to me for a couple of reasons. The first is that we are heading to North Carolina this week to attend our daughter’s graduate studies interview at Duke University in North Carolina, the same state where this cowboy is located. The second is that you have an angry man with a pistol proud of the fact he can pull out his .45 pistol and shoot at a helpless laptop. Imagine being his neighbour and getting him upset if you have a loud pool party. Would he jump the fence and start shooting holes in your pool?

I don’t feel this is the proper behaviour to get respect from a teenager. Sure he has proven a point, but if he didn’t have her respect before this adventure, he surely won’t have it now. I understand parenting is a tough role, but so is being a teenager. I feel he needs to show a little more understanding with his child’s behaviour and figure out why she feels she is so overworked. Possibly she has a tremendous amount of pressure with her school work.

Also, I have some concern with the trust factor with him snooping around in her computer. Apparently he’s an IT whiz. I’m sure any of his present or future customers will think twice before handing over their laptops to him with confidential information.

Andy Price, Ancaster

Source: http://www.thespec.com/opinion/letters/article/671275--laptop-shooting-dad-is-no-role-model
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Google's Motorola takeover could trigger fresh patents battle with Apple

The European Commission and the US Department of Justice have given the go-ahead to Google's $12.5bn (£10.4bn) acquisition of Motorola Mobility (MMI), the US handset and set-top box maker – a move that will open a new and potentially explosive chapter in the fight over smartphone patents.

China must also do the same before the merger can be completed.

The approval puts Google and Apple at loggerheads as the Motorola subsidiary tries to squeeze the iPhone maker for payments on patents that chipmaker Qualcomm, an iPhone chip supplier, says have already been licensed.

But in a clear shot across Google's bow, the US Department of Justice said in a statement accompanying its approval that while Apple and Microsoft had made clear commitments over licensing of "standards-essential patents" (SEP) for use in smartphones, "Google's commitments were more ambiguous and do not provide the same direct confirmation of its SEP licensing policies." For that reason, the DoJ would continue to monitor the market and "will not hesitate to take appropriate enforcement action to stop any anticompetitive use of SEP rights".

The EC had a similar warning. Following an extended review of the proposed merger, on which the two companies shook hands in August, the EC declared on Monday evening that it has decided that the deal would not affect the supply of Android software to other handset makers. But Joaquin Almunia, the EC's competition commissioner, warned that "the commission will continue to keep a close eye on the behaviour of all market players in the sector, particularly the increasingly strategic use of patents."

Google has said that it is buying MMI, which made the first mobile phones, because of the strength of its portfolio of 17,000 existing and 7,500 pending patents covering a huge range of essential standards in the wireless and mobile fields, as well as other areas. The acquisition will allow Google to provide patent protection to device makers using its Android mobile operating system, who are now facing legal attacks over patents from companies including Apple and Microsoft.

Microsoft has already forced companies including Samsung, which makes almost 50% of all Android handsets, and HTC to sign per-handset royalty deals where it claims patent ownership. The software giant claims that 70% of Android handsets sold in the US are covered by such deals – and it is after more, such as China's Huawei, another Android handset maker. Microsoft is also locked in patent battles with MMI.

Apple last week filed a potentially explosive lawsuit in the US, claiming that MMI is abusing its ownership of essential patents used for mobile phones, after it wrote to Apple and chipmaker Qualcomm in January. In the letter, MMI revoked Apple's ability to use two patents embedded in Qualcomm chips used in the iPhone. Such specific revocations are not normally allowed under the terms on which "essential" patents are licensed: if Motorola is found to have breached the "FRAND" (fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory) rules around the licensing of its patents then it could face sanctions from standards bodies, and damages from Apple.

Apple is seeking to extend the case to Germany, where it is fighting attempts by Motorola to impose bans on sales of its iPhone 4S handset and on the use of its iCloud web storage and synchronisation service.

If Apple can show that MMI is abusing FRAND patents, that could bring the case to the attention of Joaquin Almunia, the EC's competition commissioner, who warned in a speech on Friday that "Owners of such standard essential patents are conferred a power on the market that they cannot be allowed to misuse."

In approving the takeover, Almunia added that the decision "does not mean that the merger clearance blesses all actions by Motorola in the past or all future action by Google" and that any action on "the question [of] whether Motorola's or Google's conduct is compliant with EU antitrust law" would be taken separately.

Almunia could impose fines for abuse of up to 10% of a company's global turnover – which, following the merger, would amount to billions. Google's largest previous fine was $500m, exactedlevied by the US government last August, for its role in the illegal sale over the internet of pharmaceutical drugs from Canadian outlets to the US.

MMI was spun off from the larger Motorola company in January 2011, but has since struggled financially, recording net losses in every quarter and losing both money and market share in its handset business. While its revenues of around $3.4bn per quarter will be small compared to Google's, which passed $10bn in the fourth quarter, it is expected to bring tax benefits which will mean it has no net effect on profitability.

Google has said repeatedly that it will run the MMI business at arm's length, and will not favour it over other handset makers using the Android software. But analysts suspect that it will increasingly look to its subsidiary to showcase handsets with new versions of Android, as it tries to enforce greater conformity on the rapidly growing use of the software.

Almunia's team has yet to rule on a separate investigation into Google's behaviour in Europe, where it is deciding whether to mount a full antitrust investigation over advertising and search practices. A decision is expected in March.

How Motorola bid itself up by 33%

Last July Larry Page, chief executive of Google, contacted Motorola Mobility after losing the bid for a series of patents being auctioned from the bankruptcy of Canadian communications company Nortel. Google, bidding with Intel, had given up when the bids by a team of Apple, Microsoft and BlackBerry-maker RIM reached $4.5bn – but its Motorola bid would go far beyond that.

According to a SEC filing made by Motorola following the agreement of the acquisition, Google indicated it would be interested in buying the company – and two weeks later, on 20 July, the famed "corporate raider" Carl Icahn, then holding about 11% of the company, told Sanjay Jha, MMI's chief, that the company "should explore alternatives for the MMI patent portfolio". In other words, Icahn was saying: sell. (Icahn disclosed this advice in a filing on the day he made it.)

A week later, Google said it was considering buying the company for a price "in the high $20s or low $30s". On 1 August, Google made its first formal bid, of $30 per share – valuing MMI at $9.4bn.

But Jha held out, and by 7 August had Nikesh Arora, Google's lead negotiator - who is now tipped to take over from Jha in the merged company - calling him to offer a raised bid of $37.

On the same day. Jha made a speech in which he mused very publicly about suing the other makes of Android handsets for infringing Motorola's patent portfolio, and raised the possibility of teaming up with Microsoft, rather than Google, and adopting its new Windows Phone software and dropping Android.

It did the trick: by the end of the day Google had raised its price to $40 per share - which was good enough for Jha and the MMI board. They had squeezed Google to a $12.5bn offering; Icahn's stake had risen in value from $750m when Google first approached MMI, to $1.34bn when the deal was done. Icahn owes Jha a big favour - and if, as some expect, the chief executive is pushed aside in favour of Arora when the merger is complete, Icahn may be in a position to repay him.

Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2012/feb/14/google-motorola-mobility-apple-patents
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