Shak's Blog » hardware http://www.shakeeltariq.com Technology bites Tue, 27 Jul 2010 22:17:05 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0 Google Releases Chrome OS Code http://www.shakeeltariq.com/2009/11/20/google-releases-chrome-os-code/ http://www.shakeeltariq.com/2009/11/20/google-releases-chrome-os-code/#comments Fri, 20 Nov 2009 03:32:17 +0000 Shakeel Tariq http://www.shakeeltariq.com/?p=371
google chromium
google chromium

Google on Thursday released the code for its upcoming Chrome OS, and plans to have a netbook running the operating system available for sale before the 2010 holiday season.Chrome OS has now been open-sourced as part of the Chromium OS project and is open and free to the development community. It includes the current code base, user interface experiments, and some initial designs for ongoing development.When Chrome OS makes it to the market by the end of next year, all activity will be stored in the cloud, Sundar Pichai, vice president of product management at Google, said during a technical preview at the company's Mountain View headquarters. Therefore, if you lose your Chrome OS-based netbook and buy another one, all of your information will be recovered as soon as you log into the new machine.Pichai did not reveal pricing information, but said that it would “be in the range of what people expect today” for a netbook.Google does, however, plan to introduce a slightly larger than usual netbook to accommodate more comfortable typing and viewing, and it is, therefore, “hard to predict” what type of prices to expect a year from now. Google has not specified a price target that it wishes its partners to hit, he said.Google will initially focus on netbooks, but plans to eventually expand that to laptops and desktops. That will not happen in the 2010 timeframe, however, Pichai said.Specific hardware partners will be unveiled in mid-2010. “The goal is to run it as a very open project and we'll be working with a full variety of partners,” Pichai said.He said that Chrome OS currently works on an x86 processor, but there is “work underway” for it to function on ARM as well.”We don't want to go into all the technical details, but we'll make sure that you can run native-based apps on x86 and ARM,” said Matt Papakipos, engineering director on Chrome OS.A Google Chrome OS device is “primarily intended for connectivity” through Wi-Fi as a “fundamentally different model of computing,” Pichai said.That said, there will be instances where users can cache programs locally and use them offline, like listening to music or reading books. As part of HTML 5 capabilities Google is also looking at offline capabilities, with access to local storage.Wi-Fi efforts are primarily focused on 802.11n, Papakipos said.Pichai was not concerned that the OS is too tightly integrated with the browser, which has earned Microsoft some antitrust scrutiny.”We dont have 95 percent market share in the OS market,” he said. “What we are doing is open source. If a competitor wants to bring a competing product to market under a different name, they can.”Google has not had conversations with regulators, he said.Co-founder Sergey Brin said Google does not think about Microsoft. “We think about how we save end users,” he said. “We take data and try to make sure how we make sense of it.”There will be no charge for the Google OS itself, Brin said. If a partner wants to call it a Google machine, then they can, but there will also be a business negotiation that follows to pay Google a fee.

via Google Releases Chrome OS Code – Reviews by PC Magazine.

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]]> http://www.shakeeltariq.com/2009/11/20/google-releases-chrome-os-code/feed/ 4 It’s Google’s World And Handset Makers Just Live In It http://www.shakeeltariq.com/2009/11/15/its-googles-world-and-handset-makers-just-live-in-it/ http://www.shakeeltariq.com/2009/11/15/its-googles-world-and-handset-makers-just-live-in-it/#comments Sun, 15 Nov 2009 18:48:13 +0000 Shakeel Tariq http://www.shakeeltariq.com/?p=368 When the Motorola Droid launched this month everyone was amazed that a company so down on its luck was able to put together a well-designed phone running a powerful, “brand new” OS. The whole package – hardware, software, and marketing – seemed flawless. In fact, phones running Android 1.5 now look hopelessly outdated and with 2.0′s gesture, CDMA, and search support you’d wonder why handset manufacturers like HTC, LG, Kyocera, and Samsung are using 1.5 at all.The reasons have more to do with Google than any decision on the carriers’ part. In fact, according to a source close to the handset business, Google’s Android team directly assisted Motorola and Verizon in building the Droid’s software from the ground up and is currently assisting another, unknown, handset maker in Korea to create a finely-tuned hardware and software combination. Most important, however, is that this is sort of assistance most manufacturers do not receive and, in the end, they are dinged for running an “older” version of Android.

via Washingtonpost.com.

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]]> http://www.shakeeltariq.com/2009/11/15/its-googles-world-and-handset-makers-just-live-in-it/feed/ 0 PC processor shipments break record http://www.shakeeltariq.com/2009/11/10/pc-processor-shipments-break-record/ http://www.shakeeltariq.com/2009/11/10/pc-processor-shipments-break-record/#comments Tue, 10 Nov 2009 08:22:30 +0000 Shakeel Tariq http://www.shakeeltariq.com/?p=355 PC processors are the latest tech segment bouncing back from the recession.Third-quarter shipments of computer processors, or CPUs, climbed 23 percent over the second quarter of 2009, doubling typical growth and setting a record for sequential growth, according to an IDC report released Monday.Revenue from processor sales also bounced back to hit $7.4 billion, a 14 percent gain over the second quarter, according to IDC’s “Worldwide PC Processor 3Q09 Vendor Shares” report.IDC viewed the record levels in shipments as a promising sign in economic recovery.”Most meaningful about 3Q09 is that, since PC processor shipments overall just slightly exceeded shipments in 3Q08–which was itself a record quarter at the time–we know that the processor market is recovering,” Shane Rau, IDC’s director of semiconductors for personal computing research, said in a statement.With the popularity of Netbooks, mobile processors such as Intel’s Atom chip drove much of the growth. Shipments of the mobile CPUs jumped 35.7 percent over the second quarter, while desktop processor shipments rose 11.4 percent sequentially. Since mobile processors are cheaper than their desktop counterparts, their growth in revenue trailed the growth in shipments.

via PC processor shipments break record | Business Tech – CNET News.

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]]> http://www.shakeeltariq.com/2009/11/10/pc-processor-shipments-break-record/feed/ 0 Steve Jobs Conquers the Decade – Now What? http://www.shakeeltariq.com/2009/11/08/steve-jobs-conquers-the-decade-now-what/ http://www.shakeeltariq.com/2009/11/08/steve-jobs-conquers-the-decade-now-what/#comments Sun, 08 Nov 2009 17:16:06 +0000 Shakeel Tariq http://www.shakeeltariq.com/?p=350 Steve JobsApple CEO Steve Jobs has been named the chief executive of the decade by Fortune, and it’s hard to call that a bad pick, considering the turnaround Apple has undergone since Jobs returned to the helm in the mid-’90s. What’s next on the list for a tech leader who’s already changed the way we use computers, how we listen to music, and how we use our cellphones?

Now that Fortune has named Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) CEO Steve Jobs CEO of the decade, where will he go from here?

Throughout his career, Jobs has typically led the market, bringing out products that consumers didn’t know they wanted until they saw them — products like the iPhone and iPod touch, for instance.

He will probably continue doing so, but in the future he may delegate more responsibilities.

In declaring Jobs CEO of the decade, Fortune looked at how Jobs rebuilt Apple from a company on the edge of failure to the cash-rich behemoth it is today. Oh, and he also survived two brushes with death and a securities-law scandal.

That was then; the market appears saturated with new products now. Can Jobs come up with more eye-popping, highly profitable new ideas? The products Apple introduced over the past year — new iPod models including the iPod touch, the iPhone 3GS, and new Macs and iMacs — have mainly been refinements of existing products, after all.

There’s still plenty of opportunity for someone of Jobs’ caliber, argued Carl Howe, director of anywhere research at the Yankee Group. “Apple’s future opportunities are defined by areas where technology and design have traditionally been separate, but that consumers want combined,” he told MacNewsWorld.

These areas of potential include home entertainment systems and vehicle telematics, Howe said. Telematics is the integrated use of telecommunications and information — sending, receiving and storing information on telecommunication devices. It is used in GPS systems, for instance.

Apple could make significant inroads into the home entertainment and vehicle telematics markets, Howe contended. “We keep hearing rumors that Apple will enter the TV market, but don’t dismiss the auto opportunity — it begs for a branded integrated solution rather than an open, anything-goes one,” he said. “It’s another one of those global multi-billion dollar profit pools that Apple seems well-positioned to tap into.”

Read More @ Technology News: Business: Steve Jobs Conquers the Decade – Now What?.

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]]> http://www.shakeeltariq.com/2009/11/08/steve-jobs-conquers-the-decade-now-what/feed/ 0 Nokia N-Gage gaming platform to be closed http://www.shakeeltariq.com/2009/10/30/nokia-n-gage-gaming-platform-to-be-closed/ http://www.shakeeltariq.com/2009/10/30/nokia-n-gage-gaming-platform-to-be-closed/#comments Fri, 30 Oct 2009 17:53:05 +0000 Shakeel Tariq http://www.shakeeltariq.com/?p=346  

N-Gage

 

While the gaming industry is busy celebrating today over the Golden Joysticks awards, there’s one company which is looking at its gaming division with a rather sour expression – Nokia. They’ve never had much luck with their N-Gage gaming platform, whether it be N-Gage devices which launched in 2003, or just their N-Gage downloads store, but finally it looks like they’re set to scrap it completely.

Speaking to Mobile Entertainment, Nokia’s director of X-Media Solutions, Media & Games, Mark Ollila said “We are not releasing any more games on N-Gage, although the store – the ability to buy N-Gage games – will remain open until at least September 2010, and the N-Gage service will run through to the end of 2010.”

 Classic example of a corporation cutting off one of its arms, but letting it bleed slowly until all the blood’s dried and crusty? Yes, but Nokia’s quick to point out that “The message is that Ovi Store is the place to find and purchase mobile games. It’s our one-stop shop for games.”

 While N-Gage has been struck off the list, Nokia still has high hopes for its Ovi app store. Facing impressive competition from the likes of Apple and Android, Nokia is still “committed to mobile gaming overall”, but it’s obvious that instead of rolling out a download store purely for games in early 2008, they should’ve looked further afield and launched Ovi there and then

via Nokia N-Gage gaming platform to be closed | T3 magazine.

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]]> http://www.shakeeltariq.com/2009/10/30/nokia-n-gage-gaming-platform-to-be-closed/feed/ 0 Internet Turns 40 Today: First Message Crashed System http://www.shakeeltariq.com/2009/10/30/internet-turns-40-today-first-message-crashed-system/ http://www.shakeeltariq.com/2009/10/30/internet-turns-40-today-first-message-crashed-system/#comments Thu, 29 Oct 2009 21:09:55 +0000 Shakeel Tariq http://www.shakeeltariq.com/?p=333

Everyone surfing for last-minute Halloween costumes and pictures of black Lolcats today—what you might call the 40th anniversary of the Internet—can give thanks to the simple network message that started it all: “lo.”

On October 29, 1969, that message became the first ever to travel between two computers connected via the ARPANET, the computer network that would become the Internet.

The truncated transmission traveled about 400 miles (643 kilometers) between the University of California, Los Angeles, and the Stanford Research Institute.(Watch video about the birth of the Internet.)

The electronic dispatch was supposed to be the word “login,” but only the first two letters were successfully sent before the system crashed.

Still, that humble greeting marked the start of a phenomenon that has become such an important part of modern life that many experts argue access to it should be a right rather than a privilege.

In fact, earlier this month Finland became the first country in the world to declare broadband Internet access a legal right for all of its 5.2 million citizens.

“I don’t think it’s quite on the level of food and water yet, but it’s pretty close,” said Jeffrey Cole, director of the Annenberg School for the Digital Future at the University of Southern California.

Packet Technology

Created by the U.S. Department of Defense’s Advanced Research Projects Agency, the original ARPANET was a network of just four computer terminals installed at universities and research institutions in California and Utah.

With its truncated missive 40 years ago today, ARPANET became the world’s first operational packet-switching network.

“Packet-switching was the original transmission mechanism [for our network] in 1969 and is still the underlying technology of the Internet today,” said Leonard Kleinrock, a UCLA computer engineer who was involved in ARPANET’s creation.

In a packet-switched connection, a message from one computer is broken down into chunks, or packets, of data and sent through multiple routes to another computer.

via Internet Turns 40 Today: First Message Crashed System.

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]]> http://www.shakeeltariq.com/2009/10/30/internet-turns-40-today-first-message-crashed-system/feed/ 0 Verizon’s Mystery Droid Takes Aim at Apple’s iPhone http://www.shakeeltariq.com/2009/10/22/verizons-mystery-droid-takes-aim-at-apples-iphone/ http://www.shakeeltariq.com/2009/10/22/verizons-mystery-droid-takes-aim-at-apples-iphone/#comments Thu, 22 Oct 2009 09:58:10 +0000 Shakeel Tariq http://www.shakeeltariq.com/2009/10/22/verizons-mystery-droid-takes-aim-at-apples-iphone/ New Ad Campaign Targets iPhone With Tagline, ‘Whatever iDon’t, Droid Does’

In an aggressive new ad campaign teasing a mystery phone with the potential to slay Apple’s leading smartphone, Verizon Wireless appears to have thrown down the gauntlet.

Its Web and TV ad lists the iPhone’s most notorious flaws, such as the lack of a physical keyboard, the inability to run several applications simultaneously and a camera that can’t take shots at night, and then ends with the tag line: “Everything iDon’t, Droid Does.”

Verizon has not said anything about the phone outside of its ads, but some say the new device, which has the backing of Verizon Wireless, cell phone maker Motorola and tech giant Google, could shape up to be the iPhone’s biggest threat yet.

The popular blog TechCrunch called it “the first phone that will pose a significant threat to Apple’s iPhone” and the tech blog VentureBeat went even further, saying “it will likely have the glitz and power to bury the iPhone.”

Apple’s popular touchscreen phone, which helped the company post a 47 percent profit jump in just the last quarter, has successfully fended off attacks from wannabe “iPhone killers” in the past.

Read rest of the article at ABCNews

]]> http://www.shakeeltariq.com/2009/10/22/verizons-mystery-droid-takes-aim-at-apples-iphone/feed/ 0 Barnes & Noble Aims to Take Down Kindle, by Hook or by Nook http://www.shakeeltariq.com/2009/10/22/barnes-noble-aims-to-take-down-kindle-by-hook-or-by-nook/ http://www.shakeeltariq.com/2009/10/22/barnes-noble-aims-to-take-down-kindle-by-hook-or-by-nook/#comments Thu, 22 Oct 2009 09:56:19 +0000 Shakeel Tariq http://www.shakeeltariq.com/2009/10/22/barnes-noble-aims-to-take-down-kindle-by-hook-or-by-nook/
It doesn’t matter whether Amazon’s (Nasdaq: AMZN) More about Amazon.com Kindle has 60 percent market share, or that Sony (NYSE: SNE) More about Sony has its powerful brand backing its Reader. Barnes & Noble (NYSE: BKS) More about Barnes & Noble wants in on the nascent e-reader market.


For reasons not apparent at press time, Barnes & Noble is calling its new electronic reading device the Nook, officially launching it during a late-afternoon Eastern time press event Tuesday in New York City. A Wednesday conference call was scheduled for media, but plenty of Nook information had already leaked out before the Tuesday afternoon event via a Gizmodo report last week, a Tuesday morning Wall Street Journal story — and Barnes and Noble’s own Web site, which went live with images and details about the Nook several hours prior to the press event.

Those details make it clear that the real-world bookseller, with more than 700 physical locations in the U.S. and an online store, is making a serious attempt to dethrone the Kindle as the early e-reader market leader. What’s also clear is that the entire e-reader market is getting as crowded as the Stephen King section in a Barnes & Noble.
The Nook’s Details

Starting at the end of November, the Nook will sell for US$259 — same price as the domestic-only Kindle. Like Amazon’s device, the Nook features instant wireless downloads of books, newspapers and magazines. The Nook will use AT&T’s (NYSE: T) More about AT&T 3G network for its over-the-air downloads, similar to the Kindle’s Whispernet service, which uses the Sprint (NYSE: S) More about Sprint Nextel network.

Both devices store about 1,500 books and are about eight inches long and five inches wide. Both take advantage of a wide selection of books available for download — Amazon touts 350,000 books, while B&N says it will have “1 million” choices, but appears to be including newspapers and magazines in that number.

The similarities end there. Barnes & Noble has added a color touchscreen section to the bottom portion of the device’s face. Most of the upper portion supports 16-level grayscale e-ink, but the 3.5 inch touchscreen section enables navigation, browsing and flipping through book cover art.

Another key difference: the LendMe technology that allows users to lend the books they’ve downloaded to anyone else who is using another Nook, or is using Barnes and Noble’s e-reader software on a smartphone, PC or Mac. The “borrowed” books disappear after 14 days. The Nook can also access Barnes & Noble WiFi hotspots in stores for downloads and browsing.

“They definitely did not want to come out with a Kindle clone,” Frost and Sullivan digital media analyst Mukul Krishna told TechNewsWorld. “They have added something with the multi-touch color display and sharing books — that is all good. And they kept the price point at a level that gives them some wiggle room during the holiday season, when they are trying to grab market share.”
Hurdling the Kindle

“Barnes & Noble is playing catch-up here,” said Forrester Research analyst Sarah Rotman Epps, who pegs Kindle’s share of the market at 60 percent. “Everyone has been waiting for them to make a move.”

Indeed, B&N has spent most of 2009 making various acquisitions and building the foundation for an e-book business. “So to make up for lost time, B&N is offering a device with more features at the same price as a Kindle. They really do see Amazon as their competition,” despite the Sony Reader and forthcoming devices from other manufacturers.

However, the consumer’s willingness to give up the smell and feel of hardcovers and trade paperbacks remains the biggest obstacle, Rotman Epps added. “It’s certainly an attractive product for the price. Consumers have a lot of curiosity about the devices, but a lot of uncertainty. Our research shows 40 percent have heard of but never seen an e-reader device. There’s a lot of education to be done before consumers are fully swayed to buy one,” Rotman Epps told TechNewsWorld.

An August research report from NPD also highlights the difficulties Amazon, Sony and now Barnes & Noble will face with book lovers. Consumers like the idea of instant downloads and being able to stuff a lot of reading material into a single device, wrote Ross Rubin, NPD director of industry analysis. However, they still love the idea of holding a book in their hands. “Today’s e-reader offerings are delivering capabilities that are in demand by consumers,” Rubin wrote. “However, some features that could enhance the appeal of more popular content, such as color, remain on the drawing board. Consumers may overlook their attachment to a book’s tactile attributes, particularly for reading materials where timeliness and convenience takes precedence over leisure.”
Reading the Competitive Landscape

While the Nook does have some color screen functionality, it’s unclear whether it will be enough to engage users that are already seeing bright shades on their iPhones or iPod touches. Those devices are also a part of the e-reader competitive landcape, not just Amazon’s and Sony’s products, Krishna said.

“They’re not only fighting for consumers against the Kindle and other e-readers, they’re fighting for dollars that people have saved up for various other consumer electronics items, including gaming consoles and portable media players,” Krishna explained. “It will be interesting to see how these companies will market these devices, because it’s been an older demographic of late” that’s been buying e-readers, he added.

Via TechNewsWorld.Com

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]]> http://www.shakeeltariq.com/2009/10/22/barnes-noble-aims-to-take-down-kindle-by-hook-or-by-nook/feed/ 0 Apple, Win7 products unveiled http://www.shakeeltariq.com/2009/10/22/apple-win7-products-unveiled/ http://www.shakeeltariq.com/2009/10/22/apple-win7-products-unveiled/#comments Thu, 22 Oct 2009 08:45:00 +0000 Shakeel Tariq

Apple Inc. has made significant upgrades to its venerable iMac computers and several other products.
The announcement of the new wares came Tuesday, which is perhaps not coincidental. On Thursday, Microsoft Corp. is set to unveil its Windows 7 operating system, and concurrently reveal several new computers created with the system in mind.
Via LATimes

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]]> http://www.shakeeltariq.com/2009/10/22/apple-win7-products-unveiled/feed/ 2 Microsoft Prepping Minor Windows Mobile 6.51 Upgrade http://www.shakeeltariq.com/2009/10/22/microsoft-prepping-minor-windows-mobile-6-51-upgrade/ http://www.shakeeltariq.com/2009/10/22/microsoft-prepping-minor-windows-mobile-6-51-upgrade/#comments Thu, 22 Oct 2009 08:00:00 +0000 Shakeel Tariq

While Windows Mobile 6.5 platform isn’t apparently turning out to be a success on several handsets, Microsoft Corp. has decided to come up with a more user-friendly stopgap version of the operating system, version 6.5.1, before it upgrades the platform to the next-generation Windows Mobile 7.

Microsoft has only recently released Windows Mobile 6.5 – on October 6th – but the software maker has reportedly been working on an update which will incorporate features that were left out.

The new stopgap iteration will bring in a host of improvements, such as the inclusion of a rewritten, touch-friendly contact application, according to the reports from the tech blog DownloadSquad.

In addition, the company is also bringing several user interface (UI) tweaks, like check boxes, re-designed buttons, and radio buttons in a bid to significantly enhance the visual appeal to the overall looks of the operating system.

The release date of the updated version hasn’t been declared yet, though some unofficial copies of the build for some specific handsets are already been available in the wild.

Read rest of the article at ITProPortal.com

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