Entries by Dr. Blip

MIT Technology Review - The emergence of ultracheap netbook computers has been one of a few bright spots for the PC industry over recent months. Last year, some 14 million netbooks were sold against forecasts of 5.3 million, according to research company Gartner. And at this week's Computex industry conference in Taipei, Taiwan, computer makers and hardware manufacturers will demonstrate a host of new models and netbook-specific hardware.

But the battle to provide the software that runs these streamlined computer systems is becoming increasingly interesting. The first netbooks, released in 2007, provided a rare opportunity for the Linux operating system to reach a wider audience. Since then, however, Microsoft has reasserted its dominance, pushing Windows XP and its next major operating-system release, Windows 7, for netbook computers.

The latest version of a Linux-based netbook OS called Moblin could be set to challenge this dominance. Originally developed by Intel and optimized to run on its Atom netbook processors, Moblin version 2 beta was released last month.

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MIT Technology Review - Flexible, full-color video displays could be closer to market because of a new advance by researchers at Arizona State University's Flexible Display Center (FDC) and at Universal Display, in Ewing, NJ. The researchers have made bendy organic light-emitting diode (OLED) displays employing processes and tools that are used to make today's flat-panel LCD screens. They demonstrated a new 4.1-inch video-quality display at the 2009 Society for Information Display conference last week.

OLED displays, which are lighter and less power hungry than LCDs, are used in cell phones and MP3 players. OLEDs can also be printed on plastic and offer the promise of bright color screens that can be rolled up and stowed in gadgets, worn on wrists, or plastered on clothes. Electronics makers Sony, LG, and Samsung Mobile Display have unveiled small flexible prototypes over the past two years. But these are very expensive, mainly because there's no simple way to make high-performance flexible electronics that go behind OLED pixels.

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MIT Technology Review - Want to share your genome online with friends and family? Find out how well you metabolize B vitamins? Determine if you're genetically susceptible to forming blood clots on long flights? All of this is possible with a credit card and an Internet connection, thanks to the growing field of direct-to-consumer genetic testing, which aims to move genetic tests out of the doctor's office and into the hands of individuals.

The first annual Consumer Genetics Show, which started today in Boston, highlights some of what's available to today's consumer. A number of genomics startups have booths lined up along the conference hall, offering everything from genetic tests that give individuals insight into their heart health, nutritional requirements, and optimal weight-loss strategies to full genome sequences. Inside the hall, meanwhile, scientists, physicians, and entrepreneurs are grappling with some of the controversies that have grown along with the field. Foremost among these concerns: How good is the information delivered by these tests? How well can people understand the results? And how effectively can they help people manage their health?

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PCWorld - As Asia's largest tech show comes to a close, we round up a Taiwanese buffet of impressive gadgets.

Ming Dynasty Vase with Intel Atom, Anyone?

This plastic vase decorated in traditional Chinese lacquer style houses a computer with an Atom processor--Intel’s CPU for small devices like netbooks. The vase PC also has a Blu-ray Disc drive that plays back video in full 1080p high-definition. The design from Elitegroup Computer Systems is supposed to be prettier to put in your living room, and it hides the PC cables by running them out the bottom of vase stand. ECS wouldn't say whether this PC will go to market. Read more details here. --Owen Fletcher

Netbooks vs. Smartbooks

Intel's Atom processor currently powers the vast majority of new netbooks as well as many handheld PCs (such as Yukyung's new Windows 7-loaded Viliv S5), but some challengers hope to change that. A handful of companies including Compal and Inventec unveiled "Mobile Internet Devices" based on nVidia's rival Tegra platform. With carrier subsidies, Tegra-based netbooks or handheld PCs may start as low as $99 when they debut later this year. Both Intel and nVidia will face further competition from similar "smartbooks" that incorporate Qualcomm's new Snapdragon platform, which, like Tegra, is ARM processor-based. Snapdragon was built into a number of portables at the Computex, including models from Asus, Compal, Foxconn, HTC, Inventec (pictured here running the Millos Linux OS), and Toshiba.

Tegra and Snapdragon tout improved battery life, potentially smaller size, and better integration with 3G networks. However, their use of ARM-processor cores prevents them from running Windows. Instead, they run Android, Windows Mobile, or other Linux-based alternatives. --Danny Allen

Speaking of Android…

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PCWorld - The guessing game is over: Apple's iPhone 3G S has arrived. Don't let appearances fool you. On the outside nothing looks much different with the 3G S. The real difference is what's inside. So how will Apple's iPhone 3G s compare to the Palm Pre? I've put together a chart for a quick glance at how they stack up (see below). For a more in-depth analysis read on.

The main difference is quite obvious -- for the same price as a 16GB iPhone3G S you only get a 8GB Palm Pre. In comparison, the current generation 8GB iPhone 3G dropped in price to $99, going after Pre's lower capacity storage.

For just $100 more than the Palm Pre (that is if you get your $100 mail-in rebate) you can get a top-notch iPhone 3G S with a whopping 32GB of storage (four times more than the Pre).

However, the Palm Pre offers a better deal against the iPhone 3G S when it comes to the data plan. AT&T did not reduce its iPhone tariffs, so the Pre on Sprint still offers more for the buck when it comes to data, voice and text plans.

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PCWorld - A mouse is such a simple device that not even the worst inventor could screw it up, right? Wrong! We'll give you 13 examples.

Input Insanity

“Build a better mousetrap and the world will beat a path to your door,” the cliché says. Try to build a better mouse, though, and there’s a good chance that people will smile nervously and edge away from your door. At least, that’s the case with many of the “improved” mice we found – they’re not so much better as just plain weirder. And then there are the mice–three of them!–that might just get you fired. Read on for more about the Peep Hole Mouse, the Busty Mouse, and the Instant RSI Mouse.

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PCWorld - Microsoft will release Windows 7 on October 22, the company has confirmed. The date will put Windows 7 on store shelves a full three months earlier than originally planned. It follows Microsoft's recent announcement that Windows 7 would ship "in time for the holidays" and matches rumors of a fall release spread around the Web in April.

Of course, there are still plenty of things that'll take place between now and October. Here's the breakdown of some key events and revelations leading up to the Windows 7 release.

Windows 7 Upgrade Option

Microsoft is expected to unveil an upgrade program for the Windows 7 release. The program will likely let you get Windows 7 for free or with a discount if you've recently bought a Vista-based PC that meets certain conditions.

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PCWorld - Verizon has rolled out its first cloud-computing service aimed at giving enterprise customers a secure way to host applications not only on virtual resources but also on physical, dedicated network servers.

Verizon's Computing as a Service (CaaS) is available now in North America, Europe, the Middle East and Africa; the company will roll it out to Asia-Pacific customers in August, said Patrick Verhoeven, senior product manager of IT solutions at Verizon.

Verhoeven said that while competitor Amazon Web Services' Elastic Compute Cloud is well-suited for small businesses, Verizon has outfitted CaaS with features that make it a better option for enterprise customers.

Daniel Golding, vice president and research director for The 451 Group's Tier1 Research, said comparing the two is like comparing "apples to oranges," and that Verizon is one of only two enterprise-class public cloud offerings. The other is from Terremark, a company based in Miami.

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NY Times - In January, YouTube rolled out a version of its popular video-sharing site that was tailored for the television screen. It offered a stripped-down interface that did away with extra features like comments and scroll bars. The result looked more like the screen on your cable service’s channel guide than a Web site.

But YouTube.com TV only worked on game consoles connected to a TV set, such as a Nintendo Wii or a Sony PlayStation 3. (YouTube, which is owned by Google, has also made its clips accessible on televisions through TiVo, Apple TV and select TV sets.)

On Tuesday, the company unveiled YouTube.com/XL, a revamped version of YouTube.com/TV that works on any Web browser that can be connected to a TV, whether it is a game console, a PC or another device. It is intended to be viewed on a television set or on a large PC screen. It can be controlled not only with a keyboard, but also with some remote controls. And it can be made to display a series of clips continuously, a bit like photos on a digital photo frame. The viewing experience is especially striking for high-definition videos watched in full-screen mode on a TV set.

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NY Times - MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. — The computer industry has a lot riding on your fingers.

For years, companies have dabbled with the touch-screen technology that lets people poke icons on a display to accomplish tasks like picking a seat at an airport check-in kiosk. Apple elevated such technology from a novelty to a must-have feature on mobile devices with its iPhone. People can flip through pictures with a flick of a finger or make a document larger by pressing two fingers against the screen and stretching them out.

Now both personal computer manufacturers and software makers hope to do more with touch on larger devices by giving people a 10-fingered go at their screens.

“You don’t even operate your TV with two fingers,” said Amichai Ben-David, the chief executive officer of N-trig, which produces touch-screen technology for PC makers. “In order for this to feel really natural, you need more than two fingers for sure.”

The PC industry hopes the feature spurs sales. PC makers like Hewlett-Packard and Dell have been clobbered during the recession as struggling businesses drop computer upgrades to the bottom of their to-do lists. Consumers have shown more interest in new machines, but they are buying cheap, tiny laptops rather than decked-out goliaths.

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